the road ahead."
"The 48th from Kiev?" Kodorovich exclaimed. "What is a brigade of the48th doing up here?"
"Looking for its sister brigades from which it was separated when the116th Mechanized, in its hurry to reach Moscow, cut through theircolumn."
"The 116th Mechanized?" Kodorovich exclaimed again. He wanted to stoptalking in questions but all this was coming so fast and unexpectedly.
"Don't even inquire of me about them," Plekoskaya said, shuddering."They are so disorganized and tangled with two other armored divisionswhose designations I don't even know. It all happened because they weretrying to outrace each other to the trunk highway and they arrived atthe intersection almost simultaneously. You can't possibly imagine thehideous clatter when you have two stubborn armored divisions and anobstinate mechanized one all trying to occupy the same road at once. Icould hear it all the way back here." Plekoskaya belched delicately."General, do wash off the dust of the road and join me at table."
"No thank you. If that's all the delay is, it should be cleared soon andwe'll be moving again. I'll want to be with my division."
"General Kodorovich, you evidently don't understand what has happened.The word that has been passed from the most forward units, which are inthe city itself, to the rear ones, indicates that Moscow is the hub ofone vast military traffic jam thirty to perhaps fifty miles deep andgrowing worse all the time as new groups are moving in."
"But I must get to the city," Kodorovich insisted. "I have orders tosurround the Kremlin, seal off MVD headquarters and--"
"Ease your mind," Plekoskaya interrupted. "The Kremlin is wellsurrounded. General Smolledin is deployed around the walls; GeneralAlexeiev is deployed around General Smolledin; General Paretsev isdeployed around Alexeiev and so on to the outskirts of the city. Thoseof us out here, of course, cannot deploy off the roads, for, who knows,tomorrow the Minister of Agriculture may be Premier and he may not takeit kindly if we trample the collectives."
"How can you just sit there and do nothing when the people's governmentis in some kind of danger?" Kodorovich said with some heat.
"It is very simple," Plekoskaya said with mild irritation and sarcasm."I merely bend at the knees and hips and have a lunch of a weightadequate enough to keep me from floating off my chair and rushing aboutseeking trouble. Of course it takes years of experience to learn how todo this and most important, _when_." In kindlier tones Plekoskayacontinued. "Whatever it is that is happening in the Kremlin and theother hotbeds of intrigue will have to happen without us. There is notelling who, if anyone, is in control. Conflicting orders have beencoming over the military radio depending upon which clique controlswhich headquarters. Why do you know, my dear Kodorovich, already thismorning the 124th has alternately been ordered to march to Moscow and adozen other places including downtown Siberia."
Kodorovich did not smile at Plekoskaya's slight humor. He was squintinganxiously through the bright sunlight at the immobile column of men andvehicles jammed along the road into the far, blue distance.
* * * * *
Plekoskaya took a sip of wine. "There is obviously some kind ofpolitical readjustment going on within the government and the unpleasantthing about these little disturbances is that one can never be certainwho will emerge to inform the people that he is their unanimous choicefor leader. So don't be in so much of a hurry to rush off to Moscow tocommit yourself. You might pick the wrong one."
Kodorovich shrugged and sat down at the table. "Perhaps you are right.Do you have any idea who is involved this time?"
"Who isn't involved?" Plekoskaya snorted. "You and I know, as sensiblemen must, that in our milieu there are at any given moment thousands ofintrigues and plots and counterplots simmering away in the Party halls,the ministries, the barracks and anywhere else you care to look. Ofcourse it is treason, don't misunderstand, general, but most of it isreally quite harmless. It is the national pastime of the power elite; asort of political mah-jongg and most of these little bubbling kettlescool and sour from inaction. However, this time, it is evident thatsome drastic catalyst has caused a most violent reaction of thesesubversive ingredients and the incredible, one in a million possibilityhas occurred. All the pots are suddenly, all at once, boiling over ...erupting into action!
"By the way," Plekoskaya continued with a smile, "you might beinterested to know that when I reach Moscow I am supposed to relieve youof command of the 71st and place you under arrest for unsocialisticactivities."
Kodorovich, looking dazed, took a glass of wine. "Who signed yourorders?"
"Major Lemchovsky of the MVD."
Kodorovich smiled for the first time since they had met under the trees."I have orders for your arrest also, to take effect when we reachMoscow; signed by Major Kamashev, MVD."
"I'm sorry," Plekoskaya said, "but you will have to wait your turn. Thecommanders of the 116th and the 48th are both ahead of you."
Kodorovich suddenly stood up frowning and stared around at the fieldswhere the peasants were working. "I don't like the way those people keepglancing at the troops and snickering. I can hear some of theirremarks."
"Don't trouble yourself about it. They've been doing it all morning.It's only good-natured jesting."
"It breeds disrespect of the Army. And disrespect of authority is thefirst step on the road to anarchy," Kodorovich said severely.
"Well at least that's a movement to somewhere," Plekoskaya said. "Canyou blame them for smiling? That's the 124th, the famous 'lightning'division, that's been glued to the road in front of them for the pastsix hours. In that time it has moved perhaps a hundred or so feet and Isuspect it is only because your 71st is very ill-manneredly pushing frombehind."
"I still don't like their smirking."
Plekoskaya became suddenly solemn. "It is when they begin to laughopenly that we should become concerned."
* * * * *
"How did you get the American lieutenant out of Moscow?" Colonel Peng'ssuperior was asking him.
"Bushmilov was conducting the interrogation," Colonel Peng replied,"when suddenly somebody started shooting through the window from anotheroffice across the way. I heard Bushmilov yell something about plottersand counterrevolutionaries and he and his men started shooting back.Within minutes the entire building was like a battlefield. In theconfusion we snatched the American and hustled him away. The corridorswere full of groups of MVD men running and shooting and I have no ideawhat it was all about but whatever it was it didn't affect us for wewere allowed to pass unmolested. We managed to escape stray bullets andget out of the building with whole skins to our embassy.
"Getting out of Moscow was the real problem. Within hours the city wasclogged with troops. Slowly, as supplies were choked off by thecongestion, offices and factories and shops closed down and the peoplewere on the streets strolling about as if on holiday, laughing andjoking about the tangle of tanks and vehicles and military equipmentthat was effectively strangling the city.
"It appears that not even the highest officers and officials were makingany effort to clear up the mess. Each one seemed to be afraid to takeany responsibility beyond the last coherent orders that had broughtpractically the entire army converging on Moscow.
"We tried to get out by air but that proved impossible. All civilflights were canceled so that the fields could accommodate the armadasof military aircraft that swarmed into the area. We couldn't even get awireless message out because of the spreading chaos. We had to proceedout of the city on foot and by then affairs were beginning to take anugly turn. Food supplies were becoming exhausted and as long as themilitary refused to budge nothing could be brought in, even their ownsupplies. Once out of the city we took to the river. No one attempted tostop us but neither did any official attempt to help their Chinesecomrades. The curious paralysis had spread. It was as if the entirecountryside was holding its breath, waiting for some positive sign ofauthority. In Gorki, where there was less air-congestion, we managed tosteal a plane and flew
it to Finland. The rest you know."
Peng's superior nodded. "Our Russian friends are losing their grip. Thatis because they do not practice pure Communism. Upon China now falls themantle of leadership of the people's republics as we knew, long before,it was destined to be." He rose from behind his desk. "Come, let us nowturn our attention to this strange American lieutenant and see how theinterrogation is proceeding."
As Peng and his chief stepped into the hallway, they heard a shatteringof glass and a cry of pain from a room at the far end of the hallway.
"It sounds like