Sidney Sheldon - The sky is falling

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 café 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 café 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.

«In here!»

They were in front of a beauty salon. Sasha Shdanoff went inside. Dana hesitated, then followed him. He walked to the counter.

«Ano tyomnyj,»he said.

The beautician showed him a tube of a bright red lipstick and a jar of rouge.

«Savirshehnstva,»Shdanoff said. He turned to Dana. «Put it on. Heavy.»

Dana had had enough. «No, thanks. I don't know what kind of game you think you're playing, Commissar, but I'm not going to be a part of it. I've had—»

His eyes bored into hers. «I assure you it is not a game, Miss Evans. Krasnoyarsk-26 is a closed city. I am one of the select few with access to it. They allow a very, very few of us outsiders to bring in prostitutes for the day. That is the only possible way I can get you past the guards. That and a case of excellent vodka as payment for your entry. Are you interested or not?»

Closed city? Guards? How far are we going with this? «Yes,» Dana reluctantly decided. «I'm interested.»

THERE WAS A MILITARY jet waiting at a private area of Sheremetyevo II airport. Dana was surprised to see that she and Sasha Shdanoff were the only passengers.

«Where are we going?» Dana asked.

Sasha Shdanoff gave her a mirthless smile. «To Siberia.»

Siberia. Dana felt a knot in her stomach. «Oh.»

The flight took four hours. Dana tried to make conversation, hoping to get an inkling of what she was facing, but Shdanoff sat in his seat, silent and grim-faced.

When the plane landed at a small airport in what seemed to Dana to be the middle of nowhere, a Lada 2110 sedan was waiting on the frozen tarmac for them. Dana looked around at the most desolate landscape she had ever seen.

«This place we're going to—is it far from here?»And will I be coming back?

«It is a short distance. We must be very careful.»

Careful of what?

There was a short, bumpy drive to what looked like a small train station. Half a dozen heavily bundled-up uniformed guards stood on the platform.

As Dana and Shdanoff approached them, the guards were ogling Dana's skimpy outfit. One of them pointed to Dana and smirked. «Ti vezuchi!»

«Kakaya krasivaya zhenshina!»

Shdanoff grinned and said something in Russian and all the guards laughed.

I don't want to know, Dana decided.

Shdanoff boarded the train and Dana followed, more confused than ever. Where could a train be going in the middle of a bleak, frozen tundra? The temperature in the train was freezing.

The engine started, and a few minutes later the train was entering a brightly lit tunnel cut into the heart of a mountain. Dana looked at the rock on both sides, inches away, and had the feeling she was in some weird, surrealistic dream.

She turned to Shdanoff. «Will you please tell me where we're going?»

The train jerked to a stop. «We are here.»

They debarked from the train and started toward an odd-shaped cement building one hundred yards away. In front of the building stood two forbidding-looking barbed-wire fences, patrolled by heavily armed soldiers. As Dana and Sasha Shdanoff approached the gates, the soldiers saluted.

Shdanoff whispered, «Put your arm in mine and kiss me and laugh.»

Jeff will never believe this, Dana thought. She put her arm in Shdanoff's, kissed him on the cheek, and forced a hollow laugh.

The gates swung open and the two of them went through, arm in arm. The soldiers watched enviously as Commissar Shdanoff walked in with his beautiful whore. To Dana's astonishment, the structure they entered was the top of an elevator station that went below the ground. They stepped into the cab of the elevator and the door banged closed.

As they started down, Dana asked, «Where are we going?»

«Beneath the mountain.» The elevator was picking up speed.

«How far beneath the mountain?» Dana asked nervously.

He said, «Six hundred feet.»

Dana looked at him incredulously. «We're going six hundred feet under a mountain. Why? What's down there?»

«You will see.»

In a few minutes, the elevator began to slow down. Finally, it stopped, and the door opened automatically.

Commissar Shdanoff said, «We are here, Miss Evans.»

But where is here?

They stepped out of the elevator and had walked no more than twenty feet when Dana stopped in shock. She found herself looking down the street of a modern city, with shops and restaurants and theaters. Men and women were walking along the sidewalks, and Dana suddenly realized that no one was wearing an overcoat. Dana began to feel warm. She turned to Shdanoff. «We're underneath a mountain?»

«That's right.»

«But—» She looked at the incredible sight spread out before her. «I don't understand. What is this place?»

«I told you. Krasnoyarsk-26.»

«Is this some kind of bomb shelter?»

«On the contrary,» Shdanoff said enigmatically.

Dana looked again at all the modern buildings around her. «Commissar, what is the point of this place?»

He gave Dana a long, hard look. «You would be better off not knowing what I am about to tell you.»

Dana felt a fresh sense of alarm.

«Do you know anything about plutonium?»

«Not very much, no.»

«Plutonium is the fuel of a nuclear warhead, the key ingredient in atomic weapons. Krasnoyarsk-26's sole purpose for existing is to make plutonium. One hundred thousand scientists and technicians live and work here, Miss Evans. In the beginning, they were given the finest food and clothes and housing. But they are all here with one restriction.»