«Well, what do you want, dear,» said Oleg with a little drawl, «Take me, lock, stock and barrel. If you like, Ill plow your land, and dig up a well, and cut down trees for a sauna, and»
«No, no, Oleshka,» interrupted his companion, «I want you to, well, work as a watchman for me. You know how many scums there are around now, climbing in windows, stealing, and they can even burn you. Well, maybe, you can be a courier for our office. You know, bring this, take that»
«What, the post doesnt work?»
«Yes, it works. But we dont need its services. Im sure you know how they work every second package, bye-bye. Its not around Moscow youll have to deliver them, but to far away. To all, so to speak, corners of our great motherland. Well, thats it cmon, lets go. Details later.»
«Drugs or something?»
«God forbid, who do you hold me for? Im one of yours, Im a bourgeois,» insisted the thug. The joke sounded out of place.
He helped the homeless man up. Only some of the very few passersby still out at this late evening hour paid any attention at how an expensively dressed man held a foul street beggar by the arm and seated him into an expensive foreign car. The right back door slammed, and Oleg fell on the soft leather seat, which was covered its entire length by a sheet of transparent plastic. The car pulled slowly away, sharply honking at clumsy, crooked Ladas, and with its tires squealing, raced up the Malo Ivanovo alley of Moscow. Eyeing the big city lights from a window of the expensive car, Oleg was sweetly falling asleep. At one turn, he even fell to the squeaky polyethylene, curled up and fell asleep, resting his unshaven cheek on his dirty fist. Meanwhile, the cars stereo system blasted a Nautilus Pompilius rock hit at full bass:
If youre drinking with thieves,
Be afraid for your wallet,
If you walk on muddy roads,
You cant avoid soiling your feet
«Turn off that nonsense!»
«Whats wrong? Its their last album its good stuff!
«Whats so cool? If you drink with thieves dont be afraid for your wallet! Dont be afraid! you got it?»
CHAPTER 7
To: Head of Intelligence Directorate,
General Staff of the Red Army,
General I.I. Ilichev
December 4, 1942
OPERATIONAL REPORT
Comrade General,
As part of Operation Trigger, I offer you the latest intelligence information, analysis, archival documents, and historical references. We also found that the OGPU6 organs, and in particular the Deputy Chairman of the OGPU G.G. Yagoda, were already interested in the subject in 1931.
***
FROM THE INTELLIGENCE ARCHIVES OF THE 7th BRANCH OF THE GENERAL STAFF OF THE TSARIST ARMY
From: Ciphered reports of the Russian Embassy resident in the U.S., Joseph Grabbe
To: Head of the 7th Branch of the General Staff, Gen. V.A. Tselebrovsky
Copy: Russian Ambassador to the United States, Mr. R.R. Rosen
July 27, 1902
Your Excellency,
With the help of our agent at the central post office in Colorado Springs, we have received a copy of a letter from Mr. Tesla to Mr. Johansson in New York regarding our matter of interest. I bring to your attention the translation of the highlights of this document:
Dear friend!
in the sketches of the high electromagnetic discharge instrument made on the basis of a familiar object to you, «Trigger,» I came across a thought.
dear Johansson, soon you will be able to read your poems to Homer himself! Meanwhile, I will be discussing my findings with the great Archimedes. Give me time, and I will send you a copy of my research diary, and you will see for yourself that I am not sick in the head, as many around me are already beginning to assume. Unfortunately, even Mr. Morgan, my good financial backer, is also beginning to lean towards this view. All that excited him was my successful experiment with the disappearance of the old power generator in Philadelphia, as well as the presence of my most important his, Mr. Morgans incredible object, a round catalyst (which he jokingly calls the «ball of Gods,» and I «Trigger»). Some other time, I will write to you in detail how he jumped and slapped his thighs when I showed him the green electromagnetic waves which appeared during the disappearance in Philadelphia, unbelievably resembling a fog. I held the ball in my outstretched hand, and it lit up in my hands like a little sun of cold and lifeless plasma.
Your Excellency,
We have also found that after returning from Colorado Springs, Mr. Tesla informed journalists of the Herald Tribune that he had established contact with extraterrestrial civilizations. Few took this statement seriously. However, there are indications that Mr. Tesla is continuing his investigation of «parallel worlds» by himself, with the help of the object of our interest, without publicizing any of the results. He discusses all of his experiments only personally with Mr. Morgan during garden walks or in a completely closed laboratory that does not give us the opportunity to listen and learn the contents of their conversations. During their garden walks, Mr. Tesla and Mr. Morgan sometimes play with a ball (that is, the «subject» of our interest). The dimensions of this ball do not exceed 5 to 7 inches in diameter. They play the so-called English football, which is now becoming in vogue in Russia. At all other times while on the territory observed by us, Mr. Tesla did not part with the ball at any moment.
The report of our scientific consultants concludes that Mr. Tesla uses the subject known as «Trigger» to make machinery for altering the electromagnetic vibrations of his own brain. In other words, he uses the ball to control his mental activity, and thus he can communicate with time-shifted realities. I also report that the German intelligence is keenly interested in Mr. Teslas activities. In particular, a certain Mr. Krauser entered employ as a part-time assistant at Mr. Teslas laboratory; to our knowledge, Mr. Krauser is an agent of the German General Staffs intelligence organ.
Mr. Tesla is decisively transferring his work to Long Island. Thus, in order to speed up our work, I am requesting your sanction for the possibility of extraction and subsequent copying of Mr. Teslas research records as well as the actual «Trigger» by any means necessary, including extreme measures.
Considering the importance of this object to the interests of the Russian state, we will inform you immediately upon receipt of new information.
First Deputy Russian Envoy to the North American United States
Joseph C. Grabbe
***
The extraction of the subject of interest and of Mr. Teslas archive using extreme measures is strictly prohibited. Find an opportunity to obtain the materials by other means. Embed our agents in all of Mr. Teslas accessible communication channels. Report personally to myself and General V.A. Tselebrovsky on any new developments concerning Mr. Tesla.
7th Dept. of the 1st Division of the 2nd Quartermaster