The Charm School

nothing.
    Hollis whispered, “Keep a sharp ear and eye out. Be ready to make a quick getaway. If I’m not back within the hour, you go on to Mozhaisk and take care of the morgue business. Tell whoever asks that I didn’t come along. Get behind the wheel and lower the window. See you later.” Hollis got out, softly closed the door, and began walking through the woods on a course parallel to the road.
    Lisa came up beside him. “You’re crazy.”
    “Go back.”
    “No.”
    They walked side by side. The forest floor was springy, covered with a carpet of pine needles and cones. The spaces between the trunks were clear except for clumps of ferns and pine saplings. There was no wind, and the resinous pine scent was overpowering. There was little sound except for the soft tread of their shoes on the needles and the occasional crunch of a pine cone. The forest was very dark. Lisa whispered, “Sam, we have no business here… no… cover… even with diplomatic immunity.”
    “Our cover is that we’re gathering mushrooms. The Russians are great mushroom gatherers. They’ll relate to that.”
    “There are no mushrooms in pine forests.”
    “Really? Then we’re on a sexual escapade.”
    “Then we should be in the backseat of the Zhiguli.”
    “Well, think of a cover yourself then. In the meantime, let’s not get caught. I assume you’re coming with me.”
    “Yes.”
    Within a few minutes they saw signs nailed to the trees at intervals. Hollis and Lisa approached one, and she turned the red-filtered flashlight on it and read: STOP ! GO BACK . YOU ARE IN A RESTRICTED AREA . YOU ARE SUBJECT TO ARREST .
    Hollis put his mouth to Lisa’s ear and whispered, “There may be sound sensors. Step lightly, like a deer.”
    She nodded.
    Hollis put his hand on her shoulder and felt her shaking. “Do you want to go back to the car?”
    She shook her head.
    Hollis drew his Tokarev pistol from his ankle holster and slipped it into his pocket. They continued through the forest. A half moon was rising and cast a weak blue light into the patches of clearing, which they avoided. Occasionally they saw signs with the same message, then Lisa pointed to a new sign in a clearing. They approached it cautiously and read: STOP ! ARMED GUARDS HAVE ORDERS TO SHOOT .
    Hollis whispered, “We’re almost there.”
    They heard a noise behind them and spun around. Hollis dropped to one knee and brought out his automatic. Lisa crouched beside him. The pine boughs on the far side of the small clearing moved, then parted. A small doe entered the clearing and came toward them, then abruptly stopped not ten feet away, sniffed the still, heavy air, turned, and ran.
    Hollis holstered his pistol and stood. They moved on. Within five minutes they found themselves facing an eight-foot-tall fence of barbed wire, tipped with coiled razor wire. A metal sign on the fence warned: HIGH VOLTAGE .
    On the other side of the wire, the pine trees had been cut to a depth of about fifty meters. Hollis could see an inner ring of more barbed wire at the far edge of the treeless zone. A watchtower rose up from the inner wire. He whispered, “Mrs. Ivanova’s Charm School.”
    She nodded. “Not charming.”
    Hollis peered at the watchtower, then scanned the inner fence, beyond which he could make out the glow of lights. He took Lisa’s arm, and they walked carefully along the barbed wire, coming across the decomposed carcass of a deer that had been electrocuted. Lisa said, “Sam, let’s go now.”
    He pulled her down. “Listen.”
    The stillness of the forest was broken by the sound of a diesel engine, then they saw headlights coming toward them. Hollis whispered, “Get down.” They both dropped onto the pine carpet, facing the wire. The headlights grew brighter, and they could see the vehicle moving slowly through the raked sand of the clear zone between the barbed wire fences. The vehicle got closer and louder. Hollis could see it was a half-track with an open troop compartment in the rear. There were two men in the cab, and in the rear he saw six helmeted soldiers. Two were manning a swivel-mounted machine gun, two manned a searchlight, and two stood at port arms as though ready to spring from the vehicle. Hollis hoped it was a random patrol, but the soldiers looked too tense and alert. As the vehicle drew within ten yards of them, Hollis could make out the special green uniforms of the KGB Border Guards. He whispered to Lisa, “Pull the scarf over your