William Wu - Dictator

“I realized that this vehicle is one I have some knowledge about. It will start a couple of other ways than by normal use of the key.”

“It will?”

“Use your other foot on the other two pedals. Those are the brake and accelerator.”

“All right. That’s the same as in our electric vehicles back home.”

Ishihara hurried to the rear of the car. His hearing revealed three sets of footsteps inside the warehouse walking resolutely toward the front door. Hoping that his information about this car was reliable, he leaned against the back of the car and used all of his strength to push it. Slowly, the car rolled forward.

The vehicle was on a fairly level stretch of pavement. In a moment, Ishihara had it moving faster. Suddenly the car jerked a couple of times and the engine made a coughing noise. Finally it roared to life.

“Halt! I order you to stop!” Agent Konev’s voice came from the front door.

Ishihara ran around the right side of the moving car. He yanked the passenger door open and jumped inside. Then he slammed it shut.

“Now what?” Wayne asked frantically, pushing the accelerator to the floor. “It won’t go very fast!”

“Push down the clutch.” Ishihara reached over at the same time and put his hand over Wayne’s on the gearshift, moving it for him. The engine roared and jerked; then the car sped up as it moved into second gear.

“Halt!” A gunshot followed the shout.

Wayne yanked the steering wheel to turn a corner, making the tires squeal.

Ishihara turned to look behind them just before they completed the turn. In the shadows, Agent Raskov held his gun pointing into the air. Next to him, Agent Konev was holding Hunter by one arm.

“Now what do I do?” Wayne shouted over the roar of the engine as he gripped the steering wheel. “This can’t be right! It’s going a little faster, but it doesn’t sound like it did before!” He was driving down a city street now, but much too slowly.

“Push down the clutch again.” As before, Ishihara grabbed his hand over the gearshift and moved it into third gear. Instantly, the engine noise lowered and the car sped up.

“Okay,” Wayne muttered. “I’m getting some idea about how this works now. But where am I going?”

Ishihara pointed into the shadows ahead. “Turn left at the next corner.”

Wayne turned too fast. The tires squealed again and they both were thrown to the right in their seats. He hit the brake and slowed down, belatedly.

“Uh, sorry,” said Wayne. “I’ll need a lot of practice to get this right.” As soon as he had the steering under control again, he pressed the accelerator and sped up.

“Right now, we need to use an evasive pattern,” said Ishihara. “Our hosts are probably telephoning their main office for help right away.”

“Yeah? What are we going to do, then?”

“Once we have put some distance behind us, we can plan where to go. At the moment, however, I suggest you slow down. We do not want to attract attention by going unusually fast.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess not.” Wayne carefully braked slightly. This time the car slowed down smoothly. “There. That wasn’t too bad.”

Ishihara looked around. The streets of Moscow were empty and scoured by the wintry winds. So far, he could see no one following them.

“I am not certain what to recommend now,” said Ishihara. “The NKVD at large, of course, will have the description and license number of this car as soon as the agents call in a report.”

“Oh, yeah,” said Wayne. “Shouldn’t we stop somewhere and leave it behind, then?”

“We can risk using it for a short time. Then, as you say, we must find a place to hide the car. We shall have to flee on foot again after that.”

“Okay,” said Wayne. He clenched the steering wheel hard in both hands, tense with his crash course in learning to drive this vintage vehicle. “Just tell me what to do.”

Steve remained flat on the floor of the warehouse as Hunter toyed with the NKVD agents. When the agents took Hunter out, Steve cautiously sat up. Then Jane and Judy pushed themselves up, too, and looked around.

Most of the weary Russians around them lay back down again to go back to sleep. Some whispered fearfully to each other. A few people lined up for the rest room.

“They’re used to it,” Judy whispered. “That’s the worst part of it.”

“Is that why they’re just going back to sleep?” Jane asked, looking around.

“Yes,” said Judy. “Everyone has become so used to this sort of treatment that they just hope no one is coming for them or their loved ones.”

“That’s horrible,” said Steve.

“Yes, it certainly is. And beyond their own personal safety, the oppression doesn’t matter that much to them anymore. After the back-breaking work they do all day, going back to sleep is enough.”

“I thought they’d come for us, too,” said Judy. “This doesn’t make any sense. The guards at the front must have told them we came in together.”

“I don’t get it, either.” Steve patted the bulge made by the belt device inside his shirt to make sure it was secure. “I’m using the latrine. Be right back.”

He got to his feet and joined the line at the rest room. While he waited there, he kept one arm over the bulge in his shirt to hide it. Before his turn came, the people at the front table turned off the overhead lights, leaving on only a small lamp at their table. Steve relaxed a little, knowing that no one could any longer see him clearly in the shadows.

When Steve finally got inside, he turned on his lapel pin and began whispering. “Hunter, Steve here.”

“Yes, Steve.”

“What can you tell me? What’s going on?”

“I know very little. At the moment, the agents who arrested me are escorting me down the street on foot. Clearly, they had not come for Judy after all.”

“Why didn’t they take all of us?”

“They only gave my name and description to the guards. The guards merely pointed me out. No one told them that the rest of you were with me.”

“How did they get your description?”

“I believe Wayne Nystrom and R. Ishihara gave it to them.”

“Huh? How do you know that?”

“The agents’ car was stolen just as we left the warehouse. From my glimpse of the thieves in the shadows, I am certain that R. Ishihara and Wayne Nystrom took the car.”

“What do you want me to do?” Steve asked. “While you’re alone with those guys, you could get away and meet us somewhere. Should we slip out the back door again?”

“No,” Hunter said firmly. “I do not want the team on the run in the cold again. Remain sheltered there for the night. For now, remain calm and patient. I shall not risk calling you, so call me when you can.”

“All right.”

“Be warned that I may have to change my appearance before I return.”

“Okay.”

“Hunter out.”

Steve worked his way back to Jane and Judy in the dimly lighted room and sat down. No one else was moving around now. He relayed the conversation with Hunter to them in a whisper.

“I guess Hunter’s right,” Judy whispered back. “We can’t do much to help him anyway.”

Steve nodded. “I guess.”

“Definitely,” said Judy. “Besides, how could we agree on a place to meet? We don’t know the city.”

“That’s true,” said Jane. “And Hunter has so many more abilities than we have. He has a lot more flexibility without us. He won’t have to worry about us this way, since we’re sheltered here.”

“All right, all right,” said Steve. “Suppose we focus on our main target, instead. We’re spending all our time just trying to get along here. But what about MC 4?”