electric carts and Doctor Alexsova gestured toward one of them, the Comrade Chairman nodding, breaking the silence he’d begun when Antonovitch had first accompanied him from Party headquarters. “You told me, Comrade Marshal Antonovitch, that you need troops. Here, you will find that you will not need troops.”
As they seated themselves in the cart, Doctor Alexsova at the controls, her dress shooting up to her thighs for an instant, Antonovitch quickly averted his eyes out of politeness, asked the Comrade Chairman,
“What is it that you intend to show me, Comrade Chairman?”
“The future of Soviet power.”
Antonovitch turned and faced forward. He sat beside Doctor Alexsova and he savored the experience…
Beyond the double doors, at which security personnel were posted, lay a shorter corridor, set into the wall of the corridor a bank of elevators, at the corridor’s end another set of double doors, electronic security here. Beyond these doors lay the laboratory complex, all one giant laboratory the size of some huge stadium, a kilometer square at least, the individual laboratories without any walls separating them for the most part. Doctor Alexsova spoke, addressing Antonovitch’s unasked questions. “All personnel live on the level above us, complete educational, recreational, medical and cultural facilities at their disposal, Comrade Marshal. Their elevator keys only work in the second lift battery which you have seen between the sets of security doors. Without special authorization, they are not allowed beyond the second set of doors. It has been found that an atmosphere of scientific openness, where one team knows the work of the other, is best for rapid progress. Yet, the security difficulties such a system imposes are monumental. Hence, the system utilized here. You may have noticed a few of the laboratories are walled. This is not for secrecy, but for reasons related directly to the nature of the work.”
The electric cart stopped near the center of the complex, the hum of equipment, whiffs of chemical odors, a hum of conversation all around him as he stepped down, offered to help Doctor Alexsova. She was already out of the cart.
The Comrade Chairman spoke, saying, “This is what I would never show to our so-called Hero Marshal, Comrade. He would have seen the work going on here and been obsessed with possessing it. Who knows whether spies brought him some information of this and it is for this reason he launched his so savage attack against the underground city with gas?”
“Then why do you show me this, Comrade Chairman?” Antonovitch’s eyes riveted to the Chairman’s impassive face, the drooping lids, drooping jowls, the impression almost of a face molded in wax and once partially melted.
“I have no choice, Antonovitch. You wish peace through victory. You wish to avoid the use of nuclear weapons. And so do I. Here is the way.”
Doctor Alexsova waited a respectful distance away, the Comrade Chairman’sf ace brightening as he turned toward her. “Show him everything. I shall be waiting in your office, Comrade Doctor.”
“Yes, Comrade Chairman,” she nodded.
As the Comrade Chairman climbed back into the electric cart, then drove off, Antonovitch watched after him, after a moment feeling Doctor Alexsova at his side. “Much work has been done here, Comrade Marshal. It is now at your disposal to lead the forces of the Soviet people to victory, to our finest hour.”
Antonovitch turned and looked at her. “Yes, Comrade Doctor.” He was reminded of the Judeo-Christian myth concerning the Garden of Eden. He wondered vaguely whether the Comrade Chairman or the beautiful Comrade Doctor had the role of the snake. Because he was about to be given all the forbidden fruit he could ever Want, he realized …
Yuri Kulienkov was indeed quite young. No more
than twenty-five. As he powered up his apparatus, he spoke. “I have a considerable difficulty, Comrade Marshal, talking about things in
As they seated themselves in the cart, Doctor Alexsova at the controls, her dress shooting up to her thighs for an instant, Antonovitch quickly averted his eyes out of politeness, asked the Comrade Chairman,
“What is it that you intend to show me, Comrade Chairman?”
“The future of Soviet power.”
Antonovitch turned and faced forward. He sat beside Doctor Alexsova and he savored the experience…
Beyond the double doors, at which security personnel were posted, lay a shorter corridor, set into the wall of the corridor a bank of elevators, at the corridor’s end another set of double doors, electronic security here. Beyond these doors lay the laboratory complex, all one giant laboratory the size of some huge stadium, a kilometer square at least, the individual laboratories without any walls separating them for the most part. Doctor Alexsova spoke, addressing Antonovitch’s unasked questions. “All personnel live on the level above us, complete educational, recreational, medical and cultural facilities at their disposal, Comrade Marshal. Their elevator keys only work in the second lift battery which you have seen between the sets of security doors. Without special authorization, they are not allowed beyond the second set of doors. It has been found that an atmosphere of scientific openness, where one team knows the work of the other, is best for rapid progress. Yet, the security difficulties such a system imposes are monumental. Hence, the system utilized here. You may have noticed a few of the laboratories are walled. This is not for secrecy, but for reasons related directly to the nature of the work.”
The electric cart stopped near the center of the complex, the hum of equipment, whiffs of chemical odors, a hum of conversation all around him as he stepped down, offered to help Doctor Alexsova. She was already out of the cart.
The Comrade Chairman spoke, saying, “This is what I would never show to our so-called Hero Marshal, Comrade. He would have seen the work going on here and been obsessed with possessing it. Who knows whether spies brought him some information of this and it is for this reason he launched his so savage attack against the underground city with gas?”
“Then why do you show me this, Comrade Chairman?” Antonovitch’s eyes riveted to the Chairman’s impassive face, the drooping lids, drooping jowls, the impression almost of a face molded in wax and once partially melted.
“I have no choice, Antonovitch. You wish peace through victory. You wish to avoid the use of nuclear weapons. And so do I. Here is the way.”
Doctor Alexsova waited a respectful distance away, the Comrade Chairman’sf ace brightening as he turned toward her. “Show him everything. I shall be waiting in your office, Comrade Doctor.”
“Yes, Comrade Chairman,” she nodded.
As the Comrade Chairman climbed back into the electric cart, then drove off, Antonovitch watched after him, after a moment feeling Doctor Alexsova at his side. “Much work has been done here, Comrade Marshal. It is now at your disposal to lead the forces of the Soviet people to victory, to our finest hour.”
Antonovitch turned and looked at her. “Yes, Comrade Doctor.” He was reminded of the Judeo-Christian myth concerning the Garden of Eden. He wondered vaguely whether the Comrade Chairman or the beautiful Comrade Doctor had the role of the snake. Because he was about to be given all the forbidden fruit he could ever Want, he realized …
Yuri Kulienkov was indeed quite young. No more
than twenty-five. As he powered up his apparatus, he spoke. “I have a considerable difficulty, Comrade Marshal, talking about things in
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