Chapter 62: The Cold War

September, 1983, Washington, DC

When the plane touched down at National Airport in Washington, I grabbed my carry-on bag and tucked my copy of The Brothers Karamazov into the outside pocket. I hadn't brought a suit, but I did bring a sports coat, which I grabbed from the coat closet at the front of the MD-80 that had brought me to DC nearly on-time. I walked out the door onto the Jetway and then into the gate area.

I saw Tatyana, Colonel Anisimova, and a very pretty young blonde girl who had a close resemblance to Katya Sergeyevna, and had to be her daughter, Lyudmila. I walked up to the trio of women and greeted them in turn.

"Good evening, Comrade Colonel," I said formally, kissing her Russian style.

"Good evening, Stephen Rayevich. How was your flight?"

"Very good, Katya Sergeyevna!" I grinned.

"And you must be Lyudmila Alekseyevna," I said to the pretty young blonde.

She blushed and nodded. I kissed her the same way.

"Is nice to meet you, Stephen Rayevich," she stammered.

I smiled and then pulled Tatyana into a tight hug and kissed her softly on the lips.

"A special greeting for you, Tatyana Ivanovna!" I grinned.

"You are «некультурный», Stepa!" she sighed.

"Do not object, Tatyana Ivanovna!" Lyudmila giggled. "I should have such a greeting!"

I wondered if I'd get shot if I kissed Colonel Anisimova's daughter that way and decided that if she didn't shoot me, her husband might! Fathers had a way of protecting their daughters! On the other hand, I could make this girl's day if her mother permitted it.

"With your permission, Comrade Colonel," I said.

I saw a twinkle in Katya Sergeyevna's eyes and she nodded almost imperceptibly. I quickly stepped in front of Lyudmila, hugged her and then gave her a quick soft kiss on the lips. She blushed bright crimson and gasped. Her mother, the hardened KGB agent responsible for the protection of a senior diplomat, giggled!

"You have just given my daughter her first real kiss and the thrill of her life, I am sure!" she said with a smile.

"Come, Stepa, before Lyudmila decides she wishes to keep you!" Tatyana said, taking my arm.

We walked quickly to the waiting limo, which had diplomatic plates and Soviet flags on the front fenders. The driver held the door for us and we climbed into the back. He got in and we were quickly whisked away from the terminal. Colonel Anisimova was sitting facing the rear, and I was sitting between the two girls, holding Tanya's hand. I saw the Colonel frown.

"Problems, Comrade Colonel?" I asked.

"Two FBI cars are following us. I suspect I do not need to tell you why."

"No, I think I know. I suspect things are more than a little tense at the embassy right now."

"Yes. The accusations from your government are making things very difficult for me, and even more so for the ambassador and Minister Voronin."

"Katya Sergeyevna," I said gently, "it seems that the evidence is clear that the aircraft was shot down. But I did not come here to discuss geopolitics nor make accusations. If the reports are true, and I believe they are, it will mean even more trouble between our countries, and I fear for my friendship with the Voronins, especially Tatyana. I also do not wish to lose my friendship with you. This is a bad situation and it could be very dangerous for all of us."

"Well spoken, Stephen Rayevich. I cannot speak for my government. This is for Minister Ustinov or Comrade Chairman Andropov to do. But I, too, fear for relations between our countries. The KGB is indeed the sword and shield of the Party, but the sword and shield take the first damage in conflict. And I certainly do not wish to lose your friendship. I think my daughter might be devastated if she could not see you again!"

"Mother!" Lyudmila objected, sounding just like Melanie when she objected to something her mom had said.

"Stepa, I do not wish to discuss this." Tatyana said firmly. "I hope that is OK with you."

"More than OK. I had feared we would debate President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, but if you refrain from talking about that, I can refrain from talking about the aircraft that was shot down."

"Yes, I think this is good. No politics this weekend. I think Father would prefer that as well. He is quite unhappy; events this year have made his job much more difficult. It is hard to trade with your enemies."

"Very true. We'll change the subject. Lyudmila Alekseyevna, how old are you?"

"Fifteen, Stephen Rayevich," she said, again blushing slightly.

"And how do you like being in the United States?"

"I like. Of course, I cannot travel as I would like because of rules, and I go to school at embassy, but is much to do here. I very much like American television!"

"She watches a lot of television," Colonel Anisimova said. "Her favorite show is the one about the decadent oilmen in Texas, called Dallas."

"On that we agree, Katya. JR is about as decadent as they come!" I turned to Lyudmila and asked, "Who shot J.R.?"

"Kristen Shepherd, his lover!" she said instantly. "I think at first wife shot him for having so many lovers!"

I chuckled, "A logical conclusion! What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"I am fifteen, Stephen Rayevich! I am no little girl! But I wish to be scientist. I do not like guns, so I do not wish to be like Mother. And all Father does is talk and write things. Very boring."

I nodded, "And what kind of scientist?"

"I am not sure. Perhaps rockets. My hero is Comrade Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova. Do you know her?"

"I do indeed. The first woman to go to space! She flew on Vostok 6. She was far ahead of Sally Ride, who just went into space in June of this year on the Space Shuttle, Challenger. One of my heroes is Neil Armstrong, the first man to step on to the Moon. He flew on Apollo 11 and is from Ohio, where my family lives."

"Then we have something in common! We both like rockets and space!"

"Now, if we had more cooperation between our countries, like the Apollo-Soyuz missions in 1975, perhaps we could improve relations between our countries."

"Comrade Aleksey Arkhipovich Leonov is another hero. I assume you know him?" Lyudmila asked.

"Yes, of course. He was on that mission. More importantly, he was the first man to walk in space on the Voskhod 2 flight. I know my space history, Lyudmila Alekseyevna!"

"Perhaps one day I will ride on a Soviet Space Shuttle, which I hope our scientists are designing now. If not, perhaps I can ride the American one!"

"I wish I could do that, but I would have needed to join the Navy or become the right kind of scientist. Instead, I program computers."

"But this is good job, yes? I read about man and his friend who built computer in garage and became famous and wealthy!"

"I see you are a capitalist at heart, Lyudmila Alekseyevna! Unlike Tatyana Ivanovna, who constantly reminds me that world socialism will prevail," I said, squeezing Tanya's hand.

"I do not care about politics. I wish to invent things. And if I have chance to be rich, why not?"

"Well spoken!" I said, repeating Colonel Anisimova's phrase from earlier.

We pulled up in front of the Voronin's residence and the driver got out to open the door.

"Stephen Rayevich, will you speak with me again before you leave?" Lyudmila asked.

"I believe that is up to Tatyana Ivanovna," I said.

"I told you he was smart!" Tanya said with a smile. "We shall see, Lyudmila Alekseyevna."

We got out of the car and went into the house. Tanya took me straight to the sitting room, where I greeted both of her parents. Ivan Konstantinovich asked me to please change into comfortable clothes and join them for drinks in twenty minutes. I followed Tanya up to her room, hung up my clothes and quickly changed into my sweat pants and sweat shirt.

"I believe Lyudmila Alekseyevna has a crush on you, Stepa! That kiss really sent her over the moon!"

"I hope you weren't offended, Tanya," I said, pulling her into my arms.

"Not at all. Perhaps you like young girls, but I think you prefer me to her."

"I am here to see you, Tatyana Ivanovna, not a young girl like Lyudmila!"

"Good! Then perhaps I will allow her to speak with you before you leave! I think she would try to steal you away!"

"Impossible, Tatyana!" I said, hugging her tightly and giving her a quick kiss.

If I was honest with myself, I wouldn't usually reject advances from a girl like Lyudmila, though the 9mm castration that would certainly follow any action such as that on my part would render those concerns moot forever!

We joined Tanya's parents in the drawing room and the vodka immediately began to flow. I had learned to pace myself with Vanya, and he was kind enough not to push me too hard on the matter. I made a point of eating enough black bread and butter, as well as pickles, to keep the effects of the alcohol to a minimum, but I was very glad that I'd had no real homework to worry about during the weekend.

"How have you been, Stephen Rayevich?" Ivan Konstantinovich asked.

"Good, Vanya. I hope everything is well despite the recent unpleasant events."

"We are in good health, though I am sure you know that it is difficult to make trade deals in the current political environment. And I am sure you have heard what happened yesterday, which only makes things worse, no matter what the truth of the situation might be."

"Yes. I promised Tanya that I wouldn't discuss politics, I hope that is OK with you as well."

"Absolutely!" he said with a laugh. "I get enough of that all day! Tanya tells me you have bought a house in Chicago."

"That's right. My dad and I bought it in April. You're welcome to come visit when you come to Chicago, and Tanya and I are already planning for her visit in January."

"I will let you know when I am there next," he said. "How is school?"

"Good. Straight A's for two years now. This semester will probably be the same, but I have to work hard and study."

"Tanya says that your father is quite a charming man, and that he was in Russia during the Great Patriotic War."

I chuckled, "My dad knows a pretty girl when he sees one! And yes, my dad was on destroyers protecting convoys to North Africa, as well as to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk."

"Ah, if only such cooperation were possible now!" Vanya said wistfully.

"I said the same thing about the joint space program to Lyudmila Alekseyevna in the car on the way here."

We talked for more than two hours, with Vanya and Anya finally releasing Tanya and me to go to bed. We made love twice before falling asleep spooned together. When we awoke, Tanya winked at me, and then moved to pleasure me with her mouth. Afterwards, we showered together and then joined her parents for breakfast.

When breakfast was finished, we went back to Tanya's room and a young woman brought in a tea service for us. We sat on the settee and sipped our tea from glasses in an ornate silver holder.

"We shall have lunch with Colonel Anisimova and her husband, then dinner with my parents. Otherwise, I hoped to just spend time with you here. I'll have breakfast brought up in the morning, and lunch tomorrow as well. Dinner tomorrow is with my parents again. On Monday, it is just you and me, because Mother and Father are going out. Your flight is at 5:00pm?"

"That sounds good! And yes, my flight is at 5:00pm."

"Then perhaps on Monday before you leave, I will let you speak with Lyusya!"

"As you wish, Tatyana Ivanovna!"

"Shall we talk about our situation, Stepa?" she asked, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Things are getting worse between our countries, which makes things even more difficult," I said.

"Yes. And this is in addition to the things we have spoken about. I am afraid that perhaps I was naïve to think that this would work. You and I wish to be together, but we wish different things and those things cannot both happen. You will not be happy in the Soviet Union and I will not be happy without the career I have planned. We have an impasse."

There was also the situation with Jennifer, but there was no reason to bring that up when it didn't matter and especially give that it might hurt Tatyana, which I did not want to do.

"Sadly, I agree with you. I suppose the question is, what do we want to do about it?"

"For the next three days, I wish to make love with you. And I wish to visit you in January. I see no reason to stop doing so at this point, and I don't wish to stop! I like loving with you Stepa. It makes me feel wonderful. But, I think when I go home to Russia, it will end and we probably will not see each other again. Until then, though, I hope you will want to keep seeing me."

"Tatyana Ivanovna, I very much enjoy being with you! And I enjoy making love with you and you make me feel very good. And yes, we can keep seeing each other. We both acknowledge the situation and neither of us is foolish enough to expect things to change."

"Good. And, even though it is extremely unlikely, things could change. I will not count on this, of course."

"Tatyana Ivanovna, no matter what happens, I love you and will always love you!"

"I love you as well, Stephen Rayevich. I will never, ever forget the man who was my first lover!"

I smiled, and we finished our tea. Tatyana took my glass and led me to her bed, where we made love before showering and dressing for lunch with Aleksey and Katya Anisimov. We met them in the foyer of the house and walked to a bistro that was about five blocks from the house. The FBI minders were so obvious that even I noticed them. They loitered outside the bistro while we ate.

"Stephen Rayevich, it is good to finally meet you," Aleksey said.

"I'm sorry, I don't know your father's name," I said.

"My father's name is Nikolay," he said.

"Then it is very nice to meet you, Aleksey Nikolay'ich," I grinned.

"Tatyana Ivanovna, your young man is «культурный»! I'm amazed that an American knows the proper way to construct my name!"

"He is quite smart, Aleksey Nikolay'ich!" Tanya said with a huge smile.

"Stephen Rayevich, if I may call you Stepa, you may call me by my informal name as well," he said with a smile and a wink at Tanya.

I thought about how to shorten his name, and know that it most likely had to end in 'sha', so I made a logical guess.

"Very good, Alyosha," I said, hoping I had it right.

"Amazing!" he laughed. "Where did you find this young man, Tatyana Ivanovna?"

"In Austria in 1980. We skied together, and he put his arm around me. Later, he kissed me. We didn't see each other again until I traveled to Chicago with Father two years ago."

"Yes," I continued, "and I met Katya Sergeyevna on that trip to Chicago, though she was a major then."