'Comrade Mayor, the Captain is here'

'Send him in.', The Mayor looked up from the papers he was reading, as the 29 yr old Captain of the local police command entered the room. 'Drink?'

'No vodka while I'm working thank you, Comrade Mayor.'

'Very well. I assume you have seen the people outside?'

'Yes. And I have ordered all my men to deploy around the Town Hall, to ensure public order. I have also sent a message to my headquarters in Temnikov, and they say that assistance is on the way.'

'So everything is under control?', the Mayor inquired.

'Perfect control, Comrade Mayor., came the answer.

'Yes Comrade Colonel?', enquired the civilian as he leaned back in his chair.

'We have reports from the town of Koza, on the shores of Lake Primarsc, of some form of civil disturbance.'

'Nothing else?'

'No, not at this time. The captain in charge, a…Captain Volkv, replied the Colonel, consulting the dispatch in his hand, 'reported to Ekaterine Area Command, and that incompetent pig, Ainiskua decided to forward it to you.'

'Very well'. Eduard Lobanov rocked forward in his chair, resting his hands on the desk. The brother-in-law of President Pyotr Gerasimov, he was just four weeks into his new role as Interior Minister. Formerly employed as a lawyer in London, accepting his new role had been a great personal and financial change for him, but he decided loyalty to his sister and brother-in-law was more important than his apartment on the Thames and shopping on Bond Street. Although his wife certainly did not enjoy the Novistranian lifestyle, she was slowly warming to it.

Having served in the police for four years, before deciding practicing law was more to his liking than enforcing it, he was not entirely new to the job, and certainly more qualified than his predecessor who was now sunning himself on a beach somewhere enjoying his retirement. 'What can we deploy?'

'I have ordered an Mi-8 from Primarsc to head in and give us a report from the air, and land a squad of men on the ground. Our nearest units are the local commands in each town and village of course, but we have our rapid response force in Ekaterine ready to go, and Temnikov has a riot team ready to go, in addition to the local force there.', replied the Colonel glancing down at his boss.

'The army?'

'No sir, it is not customary for us to ask for assistance and they do not appreciate our requests anyhow'

'Well that's something we will have to change quickly. Set up a meeting with the President and dinner with General Titov immediately. Now, Koza. Tell the riot team to deploy to the town with its troops. Order the rapid response team to come to full alert and prepare to offer assistance. The local commands? Best to leave them?'

'Yes sir'

'Very well. See Colonel I am learning', Eduard replied with a chuckle.

'Yes, you are sir. I will get these orders out immediately', answered Colonel Baranov. And with that he turned on his heel and walked out the office door, past the Ministers male secretary and into the corridor.