“I’m his cousin,” Judy added.
“And where did your parents die?” Jane hesitated. “I was so upset when it happened…” She turned to Judy uncomfortably.
“We were on the run,” said Judy, with more confidence now. “They were killed somewhere along the highway from Minsk, near Smolensk.”
“And where exactly was your collective farm?”
“Just south of Smolensk.”
“What was it called?”
“The Smolensk Collective Number Two.” The guard studied her face for a moment, apparently without more questions.
“You sustained an injury, comrade,” said the other man, more patiently. “What happened?”
“My cousin was wounded in the Battle of Leningrad,” Judy said proudly. “He was nearly killed. When he could walk, they sent him home to take care of us.”
“Welcome, comrade,” said the second man. “Let them in, Yevgeny. We cannot have them freeze all night.”
The first man nodded and stepped aside.
Hunter led his team inside. They found themselves in a very large, single room that took up the entire ground floor. Two stories high, with windows that had been painted black, it was already crowded. A few people had brought chairs or cots, but most were spreading blankets on the bare wooden floor to mark their personal territory.
“Looks like a warehouse,” said Judy. “It probably housed industrial materials that were shipped east with the factory equipment.”
“People are favoring the sides and the front,” said Hunter. “The back corners are not taken yet. Let us move there quickly and take one for its relative privacy.”
Hunter patiently picked his way through the crowded room to the right rear corner. It was far from the heating vents, but not too cold. He set down the duffel bag.
“Over there,” said Judy, pointing across the room. “Look. An old woman is passing out blankets to some people.”
“We should get some for the two of you,” said Hunter.
“You stay here,” said Judy. “Protect our space. I’ll get them.”
“Take Jane,” said Hunter. “I shall watch you carefully from here.”
“Oh, I don’t think we’re in immediate danger.” Judy headed for the blankets and Jane followed her.
Hunter observed that his concern was overstated. Under stress, humans could be short-tempered and violent, but the people here had fallen into a regular routine, beaten down by the hardships of war and exhaustion. From what Judy had said, this society itself also regimented them severely.
Judy and Jane returned with some blankets.
“They’re wool,” Judy said, handing one to Hunter. “Scratchy, but clean and heavy.”
“I’m not complaining,” said Jane. “It’s the only padding we’ll have on the floor, too.”
“Use mine for your padding as well.” Hunter gave his back to Judy.
Judy and Jane spread out the blankets to sit on. Hunter sat down on the bare floor and leaned back against the cold wall. He saw that no one was close enough to overhear him if he spoke quietly.
“Judy, where would MC 4 go in order to prevent the most harm with the least effort?”
“Well…” Judy glanced around. Then she whispered, switching to English. “He might try to stop the NKVD-the Soviet secret police. They act paranoid, and are irrationally cruel to everyone. Their own people are their primary target. They are always hunting out potential security risks to the government, but that often means execution or lifetime imprisonment for people who merely ask for information or express an opinion. And for talking about them, English is even better than Russian. We can’t chance being understood.”
“Are they actually a greater danger than the upcoming battle itself?” Hunter shifted to English, leaning close to her and lowering his own voice to a whisper.
“The battle will cause a lot of suffering,” said Judy. “But the Soviets will win the Battle of Moscow. It’s their first major victory of the war.”
“Are you sure it’s safe to speak English?” Jane whispered, glancing around. “If we’re heard, they’ll know we aren’t Russian peasants.”
“For the NKVD, yes,” said Judy. “We’re better off raising suspicion than being overheard clearly.”
“On this subject, then, we shall risk it,” whispered Hunter. “However, Judy, the Soviets do not know they are going to win. MC 4 mayor may not know; I cannot assume his motives or information in choosing to come here. Jane has surmised that he has come here because of his responsibility for ethics in Mojave Center, but we have no certainty. So my question about the danger from the NKVD still stands.”
“All right,” said Judy. “I’ll give you the whole picture. Despite their impending counterattack, the Soviets are still on the defensive because this is their territory. As they see it, they must either surrender to Nazi cruelty or run. If they flee, they expect to suffer even more from the winter and the pursuing enemy than if they fight. The Russian people are caught between Stalin, Hitler, and the Russian winter. Those are unbelievably horrible options.”
“You are saying what?” Hunter asked.
“I’m saying that the Russians don’t feel they have much of a choice about whether to fight. So MC 4 can’t go to Stalin, or the Soviet generals, and talk them out of the violence. And if he tries to persuade the NKVD to be more reasonable, they’ll throw him in prison or blow his electronic brains out.”
“The German army is the aggressor on the military front, then,” said Jane. “Maybe he’ll try to stop them.”
“He doesn’t really need to,” said Judy. “Since the Soviets are going to drive them back anyhow. By this time, the German army is almost frozen in place.”
“What happened to them?” Hunter asked. “How could they get this far and then fail without being defeated?”
“They were handled with tremendous incompetence by Hitler. And one of the top German generals refused to issue winter clothing to his troops. He was afraid they would lose confidence in his personal guarantee that they would take shelter in Moscow before the winter turned cold.”
“That’s crazy,” said Jane.
“That’s right,” said Judy grimly. “If it weren’t for the suffering of all the ordinary people caught in the middle, I’d say these two regimes-Hitler’s and Stalin’s-simply deserved each other.”
“Suppose MC 4 convinced the Germans to turn away from Moscow,” said Hunter.
“I don’t see how,” said Judy. “Hitler’s not at the front, and he makes the ultimate strategic decisions.”
“Please consider the supposition.”
“Well-if the battle doesn’t take place, that would be a change of some magnitude,” she said slowly. “But I can’t see it reversing the course of the war. The Soviets will still have the initiative on this front.”
“Perhaps the German command should not be our first priority,” said Hunter. “I brought us here because the data in the sphere console told me that Moscow, not the German lines to the west, was MC 4’s destination. The site of the nuclear explosion confirmed it.”