"He is calling for you."
"Already?" Malenkov was hoarse, found it difficult to swallow. "How
long has he been calling for me?"
"Several minutes. He is laughing as if something is quite funny."
Malenkov said he would be right there, returned the phone to its
hook. He shuddered again. The thought of the thing in its small round
glass case was terrible. Should he tell the people? Already rumors
were afoot. Who couldn't he trust? The Comrade Doctor. Shuddering was
becoming habitual. He _had_ to trust the Comrade Doctor, or die of
fright every time he got the sniffles. The Comrade bio-chemist, Zhubin?
But Zhubin had the thing in the glass case and might be considered the
second most important man in the Communist hierarchy.
Then who was first?
Malenkov?
The thing in the glass case?
Shuddering Malenkov bid the Comrade Doctor make himself comfortable.
He excused himself, entered the hall and started walking. Who was
first? He suddenly remembered something. Malenkov was not first, nor
was the thing in the case. Someone else--someone none of the Russians
knew anything about, except for Malenkov, and Stalin before him, and
perhaps one or two others.
But Mulid Ruscar, the quiet man impossibly (and yet it was so) from the
future, preferred to remain in the background.
After all, hadn't the thing in the glass case been Ruscar's idea?
* * * * *
"But of course, Vladimir, my dear--of course I missed you! Could it be
otherwise, ever?"
Laniq sat curled on a chair, talking into the telephone. Her
transformation had been amazing, thought Tedor. Not many hours before,
they had set their conveyor down a score of miles south of Moscow, in
a heavily wooded area. Dressed like city folk and equipped with all
the counterfeit documents they needed, they had confiscated an auto
(Laniq's forged paper placed them high in the Communist nobility) and
motored to Moscow.
There they entered the apartment Laniq maintained, Laniq excused
herself, left Tedor in the living room with some good vodka, and went
into the bedroom to change her clothing.
Tedor had to whistle when she returned.
The gown clung to her body, dazzling white, patterned with gems,
slashed boldly from throat to waist revealing Laniq's shapely breasts
as much as it concealed them, revealing and concealing in a breathless
rhythm as she moved about. The skirt also was slit on one side to
mid-thigh.
"I'm going to call Chenkov and have dinner with him," Laniq had said.
"Find out what's going on."
For answer, Tedor took her in his arms and kissed her. It was one of
those things, a sudden impulse which he regretted in the first split
second. Regret turned to delight. Laniq seemed surprised, tried to pull
away, but all at once her lips melted under his, her arms were flung
about his neck, her body thrust against him.
"Laniq," he had murmured. "Laniq, I--"
"Shh!" And they were kissing again.
"Laniq--it's crazy, wild, impossible. We hardly know each other, we....
I came into time looking for you wanting to kill you!"
"We have been through all of civilization together. I know you for five
thousand years. Umm-mm, don't stop, Tedor."
And he hadn't, not for a long time. She burned like fire and she cooled
like a clear mountain lake on a hot summer day and Tedor had whispered
in the dark, "I love you, Laniq."
"Tedor! I love you. Tell me again."
"I love you."
And afterwards, he had prepared drinks and they toasted the future and
discussed plans and then Laniq had gone to the telephone and called
Chenkov.
"I have to see you, Vladimir. I missed you every minute." Tedor stood
nearby; she kissed the tip of his nose.
Tedor was so close he heard the voice faintly over the receiver. "I'm
busy, but I'll put it aside. Dinner and then my dacha for the night,
darling Anna."
That was Laniq's name here in Russia, Anna Myinkov. As Anna Myinkov she
had on previous visits captivated the hearts of Chenkov and others.
Only fat Georgi Malenkov, she had told Tedor, had been impossibly
aloof. Of course, the extent of her captivation was information. She
could learn what was happening, but Tedor somehow would have to put it
to use.
"I'll pick you up in an hour, Anna."
"An hour, then," and Laniq cut the connection, turning into Tedor's
arms.