The Threat

The other officers guffawed when this was translated. But they sounded hostile. He was beginning to think this wasn’t a good idea when Yermakov snagged his sleeve. Dragged him close, and said in English better than Gaponenko’s, “You think you have defeated us. That there is only one great power now. But alone, you will become everyone’s target. This is the dialectic of history.”

“We’ll be smart enough to tread lightly. But I don’t want to argue with you, sir.”

“Don’t want to argue? Then listen! De Bari thinks he can threaten Russia. Make us destroy arms. Well. You can tell your people this president will not be so for long. Then we will step back into the light. Regain all we lost. We will not bow. We will restore the might of our armed services. Tell that to your people, so they do not make further mistakes.”

Dan was confused until he realized that by “this president” the three-star must mean not De Bari, but Yeltsin. An aide put a restraining hand on the admiral’s arm. The senior officer shook it off. Raised his voice. “He will not be there! It is us you will have to deal with. You will learn this soon.”

Gaponenko pulled him away. “The viz admiralya is very potted,” he said. “Too much khanyahk o eysse. Sorry to subject you to such no-culture behavior.”

Dan said that was all right, but the captain begged Dan not to report the conversation. He didn’t want his boss to get in trouble. Dan nodded, half agreeing, and Gaponenko, looking worried, moved off.

* * *

He caught up to Blair and pried the hopefuls off her. It was getting late. But they were in one of the great palaces of the world. “Let’s go for a walk,” he pressed her. “See the gardens.”

“It’s awfully cold out there.” But at last he got her into her coat.

They walked beside a long pool, drained except for black ice at the bottom. The fountains were shrouded with canvas. The sea wind breathed of the imminence of Russian winter. He looked up and halted, watching gauzy draperies of delicate light ripple against the unwinking stars.

“The aurora,” she said, and he made out her face, upturned, just barely visible in the unearthly fire.

After a time he said, “I just had an interesting conversation.”

They walked on, the wind buffeting them as he told her about it. “That sounds like something you should report,” she said.

“I don’t think so. Some disappointed admiral shooting his mouth off?”

Blair said she meant the reactions of the younger officers, the colonel types, when he’d threatened Yeltsin. “There’ve been rumors. Some of the bureaucrats are trying to persuade the generals to turn back the clock. Restore their privileges. That’s why I’m not sure De Bari’s going in the right direction, trying to downsize.”

He blinked. “That’s administration policy, isn’t it?”

“Just because it’s policy doesn’t mean I don’t have my doubts. Gerry Edwards thinks maybe it’d be better to wait a few years, make sure they’ve really changed.”

“The veep? I hear he’s kind of out of step with the rest of the party.”

“He’s out on the right wing, if there is a right wing. But that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s wrong.”

Dan wasn’t really paying attention. He slipped his hand under heavy cloth, discovered within a velvet warmth. He nuzzled her ear. “Let’s go back to the hotel.”

“You feel like it?”

“Yeah.”

“Really?”

“Well, we have to try to find out.”

“I don’t mean just that,” she said quietly. “I’ve been trying to bring this up for a while.”

“What does that mean?”

“The worse things get, the less you say. Maybe that’s good at sea, but between two people, it’s counterproductive.”

“Guilty.”

“It’s not funny. We don’t have much time together. When we do, and I try to talk about something important, you dismiss it or change the subject. As if you’re embarrassed. Or don’t really care.” She looked out over the darkness. “I guess I’m just losing my illusions about us. And that’s not easy to deal with.”

That hurt. “What’s important to me is you and Nan, and my duty to my country and the people I lead. Those are my priorities. If you’re talking about my career again, that comes out at around item five or six. It’s just not that all-fucking-important to me.”

“You think it’s easy trying to close bases? Keep the machine running on less and less money, and the brass fighting me every step of the way? But since what happened on your ship … you’re someplace else. I’ve tried to not add to your problems. But there’s something going on I don’t understand.”

He wanted to punch the stone wall. She didn’t understand at all. “I’m just trying to hold myself together, Blair. I have to control what I think, what I say. I feel guilty. I feel angry. If I just let it all hang out—”

“I’m trying to allow for that. I know you’re trying not to take the drugs, and I respect that. And I guess not being able to … get it up, can’t be that great for a guy. Though obviously I have no idea. I certainly won’t find out from you.”