"Special Purpose Military Detachment." Because they wore black berets to distinguish them from other MVD troops, they were called the Black Berets by many in Lithuania and in the West. They soon gained a terrible reputation as ruthless enforcers, and were charged with murdering many Lithuanian citizens, along with citizens of the other Baltic republics, before those countries declared their independence from the Soviet Union.

When Lithuania became independent in 1991, the Black Berets were supposedly disbanded. But they weren't. They still existed, in smaller numbers, in the most important Soviet facilities in the Baltic states. At the Fisikous Institute in Vilnius, they were called

"private Security employees" and placed under the command of Viktor Gabovich, who was no longer part of the KGB (since technically the KGB did not exist as of 1992) but was an officer of the Commonwealth of Independent States' Inter-Republican Council for Security, or MSB, charged with maintaining security for Commonwealth facilities in Lithuania during the transition period.

But because of the treaty for the transition of control of former Soviet facilities between Lithuania and the Commonwealth, Commonwealth troops and Lithuanian officials had equal access to Fisikous to monitor compliance. Military personnel wearing all sort of uniforms paraded around the place all the time, making it nearly impossible for the scientists to get anything done. This went up Viktor Gabovich's ass sideways. The Institute was his domain, his base of operations, and even though he wasn't a scientist, he sure as hell had authority over what they did. Turning Fisikous into the premier weapons-and-aircraft-design facility in the Commonwealth was not only his goal, it was his obsession.

It was the reason he had brought the American from that hellhole in Siberia, and the reason he'd expended so much time and energy turning him from a prisoner into a collaborator.

It was also the reason he put up with these petty interruptions by the Lithuanians, on whose soil the Institute unfortunately sat. Every day he was tempted to simply lock the doors and gates, tell these Boy Scouts to fuck off, and seal off access. But Viktor Gabovich knew that his Black Berets did not have the numbers needed to keep the Lithuanians at bay, let alone the might of the Byelorussian-equipped Commonwealth forces.

But just because Gabovich had to let these popinjays in did not mean he had to stand for their petty interrogations. To Kolginov he replied, "You asked if he's all right? That is none of your business."

Kolginov's eyes narrowed, and Surkov instinctively took a defensive step backwards, immediately drawing his walkie-talkie to summon help. "Your identification cards, please,"

Kolginov demanded.

Gabovich produced his identification card and replied hotly, "What the problem is, Major, is that you are skulking around here and observing Private research activities that do not concern you.~~