The Sky Is Falling

"You must. You must find a way. My life is in danger."

Dana was thoughtful for a moment. "I can talk to the American ambassador and - "

"No!" Sasha Shdanoff's voice was sharp.

"But that's the only way - "

"Your embassy has traitors' ears. No one must know about this but you and whoever is going to help you. Your ambassador cannot help me."

Dana felt suddenly depressed. There was no possible way she could sneak a top Russian commissar out of Russia. I couldn't sneak a cat out of this country. And she had another thought. This whole thing was probably a ruse. Sasha Shdanoff had no information. He was using her as a means to get to America. This trip had been for nothing.

Dana said, "I'm afraid I can't help you, Commissar Shdanoff." She got to her feet, furious.

"Wait! You want proof? I will give you proof."

"What kind of proof?"

It took him a long time to answer. When he spoke, he said slowly, "You are forcing me to do something I have no wish to do." He rose. "You will come with me."

Thirty minutes later, they were going up the private back entrance to Sasha Shdanoff's offices at the Bureau for International Economic Development.

"I could be executed for what I am about to tell you," Sasha Shdanoff said when they arrived. "But I have no choice." He made a helpless gesture. "Because I will be killed if I stay here."

Dana watched as Shdanoff walked over to a large safe built into the wall. He spun the combination, pulled open the safe, and took out a thick book. He carried it to his desk. On the front of the book it said in red letteringKlassifitsirovann'gy.

"This is highly classified information," Commissar Shdanoff told Dana. He opened the book.

Dana looked closely as he slowly started to turn the pages. Each page contained color photographs of bombers, space launch vehicles, antiballistic missiles, air-to-surface missiles, automatic weapons, tanks, and submarines.

"This is Russia's complete arsenal." It looked enormous, deadly.

"At this moment, Russia has more than one thousand intercontinental ballistic missiles, more than two thousand atomic warheads, and seventy strategic bombers." He pointed to various weapons as he turned the pages. "This is the Awl...Acrid...Aphid...Anab...Archer...Our nuclear arsenal rivals that of the United States."

"It's very, very impressive."

"The Russian military has grave problems, Miss Evans. We are facing a crisis. There is no money to pay the soldiers, and the morale is very low. The present offers little hope, and the future looks worse, so the military is being forced to turn to the past."

Dana said, "I - I'm afraid I don't understand how this - "

"When Russia was truly a superpower, we built more weapons than even the United States. All those weapons are sitting here now. There are dozens of countries hungry for them. They are worth billions."

Dana said patiently, "Commissar, I understand the problem, but - "

"This is not the problem."

Dana looked at him, puzzled. "No? Then what is?"

Shdanoff chose his next words carefully. "Have you heard of Krasnoyarsk-26?"

Dana shook her head. "No."

"I am not surprised. It is not on any map, and the people who live there do not officially exist."

"What are you talking about?"

"You will see. Tomorrow I will take you there. You are to meet me at the same cafe at noon." He put his hand on Dana's arm, squeezing hard. "You must not tell anyone about this." He was hurting her. "Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Orobopeno. It is agreed."

At noon, Dana arrived at the little cafe in VDNKh Park. She walked in and sat at the same booth, waiting. Thirty minutes later Shdanoff had still not appeared. What happens now? she wondered anxiously.

"Dobry dyen."Sasha Shdanoff was standing at the booth. "Come. We must go shopping."

"Shopping?" she asked incredulously.

"Come!"

Dana followed him out into the park. "Shopping for what?"

"For you."

"I don't need - "

Shdanoff hailed a taxi and they rode in a strained silence to a mall. They got out of the taxi, and Shdanoff paid the driver.

"In here," Sasha Shdanoff said.

They walked inside the mall past half a dozen stores. When they came to a shop with a display of provocative, sexy lingerie in the window, Shdanoff stopped.

"Here." He led Dana inside.

Dana looked around at the sleazy garments. "What are we doing here?"

"You are going to change clothes."

A saleslady approached them, and there was a rapid exchange in Russian. The saleslady nodded and a few moments later returned with a hot pink miniskirt and a beribboned, very low-cut blouse.

Shdanoff nodded his approval. "Da." He turned to Dana. "You will put these on."

Dana recoiled. "No! I'm not going to wear that. What do you - "

"You must." His voice was firm.

"Why?"

"You will see."

Dana thought, The man is some kind of sex maniac. What the devil have I gotten myself into?

Shdanoff was watching her. "Well?"

Dana took a deep breath. "All right." She went into a tiny dressing room and put the outfit on. When she came out, she looked in a mirror and gasped. "I look like a whore."

"Not yet," Shdanoff informed her. "We are going to get you some makeup."

"Commissar - "

"Come."

Dana's clothes were stuffed into a paper bag. Dana put on her wool coat, trying to hide her outfit as much as possible. They started walking through the mall again. Passersby were staring at Dana, and men were giving her knowing smiles. A workman winked at her. Dana felt degraded.