Written by M.L., edited by K.A.
*
"We must remember that we're all Soviet citizens," Klavdia Ivanovna was saying, midway though her promenade around the darkened classroom. "Citizenship, like love of the homeland, is in our hearts long before we join the Party or even get our first passport!" Pausing, she fanned herself with her loose-leaf binder, struggling to get any measure of respite from the hot, dry desert air. "As Soviet citizens," she continued, "it is our most sacred duty to defend our homeland's borders. Cynics would have you believe that we, as women, have only a marginal role to play in the defense. False! Our tasks, though different from those of the opposite gender, are no less vital. We must support the fighters at their posts, be it by comforting them with letters and packages, faithfully waiting for them back home, or by lifting their spirits with visits such as this! Pardon me girls."
Completely exhausted by the heat, Klavdia Ivanovna propped her corpulent whole against the teacher's desk, reached for her bag, and extracted from it her prized flower-patterned thermos. Turning her back to the class, she proceeded to drain its contents.
"Aw jeez, just listen to Guard-Dog go on," Anya whispered to Vikki at an opportune moment, "same boring drivel every lecture." Vikki replied with a conspiratorial smile. She was almost used to the fact that Clavdia Ivanovna, terrifying at school and in the first few days of the trip, could now be spoken about irreverently, albeit in hushed tones.
"So Vik, what's with the dopey smile you've had all lecture? Whatcha thinking about?"
"Shh.. I'll tell you after class."
"Now girls," Guard-Dog continued, somewhat recovered, "Our presence here, at Training Base Four of the Far East Military District will certainly lift morale, but you mustn't look at it as simple amusement. What we do, what we WILL do cements our fighters' resolve, ensuring the impregnability of our borders and guaranteeing our nation's sovereignty and our people's happiness!"
Sensing a pause, Vikki looked at Guard-Dog with a dutiful expression and nodded in agreement. Truth be told however, she hadn't heard the part about resolve and sovereignty because she hadn't been listening to the lecture. Instead, her furtive smile, her attention, and in fact most of her afternoon's thoughts, were focused on the wonderful boy she had seen at the station.
For the fifth time in a row, she was running through the details of their brief encounter. Their group had just gotten off the train and were milling about on the dusty platform, shuffling their luggage and squinting in the afternoon sun. Katya was being a primadonna as usual, complaining about the heat and dust. Vikki was just glad to be outside, out of the cramped, stuffy wagon. Her neighbors started talking about boys and goings-on at school again, but Vikki had had enough gossip during the nonstop two-day ride. Instead of joining the pack, she chose to park her suitcase at the edge of the platform and sit on it, her back turned to the gossiping gaggle. That's when she saw him.
The boy was part of a cadet work-detail assigned to unload the freight wagons. He was dressed in camo slacks and a white-and-blue striped sleeveless, like all the rest. However, there was a certain lively bounce in his step and a certain intangible lightness to his movements that set him apart. He was right in the middle of the group, joking, roughhousing with his buddies, totally engaged and for now completely oblivious to Vikki's presence.
The army boys, being sharp and in their element, were quick to notice the new arrivals. As soon as they did, they immediately started over to say hello. That's when a vicious-looking drill sergeant jumped in and barred their way. Stopped in their tracks the boys just stood there, stalling for time and craning their necks to get a better view of their guests. The boy, Vikki's boy, was scanning the crowd absentmindedly when his gaze met Vikki's.
Vikki was stunned – she had never seen such piercingly blue eyes. She could liken them only to the Caspian Sea, which she'd seen as a toddler and which had amazed her with its shimmering, boundless expanse. The laws of boy-girl encounters demanded that she avert her gaze, but Vikki found herself unable to act. The boy seemed similarly stupefied.
A moment passed, and as Vikki continued looking into his eyes she felt something click deep inside her. Suddenly she felt as if they were connected by a sort of wordless, ethereal link. Vikki felt frightened, because she instinctively realized the link was part of something great and ancient, and also because she knew she wouldn't be able to break it even if she tried. At the same time, she felt exhilarated by the unimagined things that were bound to happen next.
Vikki stepped outside herself and reached out to the boy with her mind. As she reached, she felt air rushing against her temples and a tightening in her tummy, as if she were in an open-top racecar that was picking up speed. Her vision narrowed until there was only her, him, and the link between them, the rest of the world having receded beyond its boundaries.
Their exchange had lasted for only a few short seconds when the sergeant yelled, "Get to work you useless trash!" and the boy's head turned around, startled. Severed by the absence of his eyes, the link burst into empty air. Vikki could do nothing except watch him, dumbstruck, as he hurried after the rest of the soldiers.
Under the sergeant's watchful eye, the boys quickly organized themselves into a human chain and started to unload crates. The right end of the chain disappeared into a freight car, the left into a shady warehouse twenty meters away from the platform. Thankfully, Vikki's boy joined the chain in the middle, in full view.
As he worked, every once in a while he'd lift up his eyes to find her. When he did, Vikki would inevitably feel the same rushing sensation she had felt when they first locked eyes. She could only stand to look at him for a moment, then shyness would overwhelm her and she'd bite her lip and look away. When he wasn't looking, she'd devour him with her eyes, noticing everything about him.
He had the build of a gymnast - strong, with firm features but without the unnecessary bulk that made so many army boys seem like oversized gorillas. His hair was of an otherworldly hue, bleached from its auburn shade by the relentless sun and reddened by the fine clay dust that endlessly swirled in the hot desert air. His eyes were piercingly blue, beautiful and terrible to look into. Vikki couldn't hear his voice over the din of station, but his entire manner, his every smile and unheard word was permeated with a deep, lively intelligence. Boys like him didn't belong in dusty out-of-the-way army bases. They didn't even belong in real life. Rather, they belonged in old war movies, galloping around on thoroughbred horses and leading brave bands of partisans behind German lines.
Meanwhile, the other girls had also taken notice of their informal greeting party. They crowded around the platform's edge and were trying to outdo one another in coquettishness, giggling and waving coyly to any boy who happened to look up. Vikki giggled too, for appearance's sake, but didn't wave – she didn't want her boy to think she'd wave at someone else in his presence.
The exchange continued until Guard-Dog, who had until then been preoccupied by arrival-related paperwork, heard the giggling and came over to investigate. Upon seeing this (admittedly-contactless) debauchery, she wasted no time in shushing and subduing the cooing, giggling mass. Driving herself into the fray like a wedge, she separated the girls from temptation. Then, using her enormous paws as pummels, she shepherded them off the platform and toward the administration building for their orientation …
"Victoria Moiseyevna! Did you hear a word I was saying?"
Vikki, listed by the formal, "Victoria Moiseyevna Zaitseva" in all school records, jumped up in surprise.
"You were...saying about friendship and collaboration...for the good of the country?"
"Wrong, Miss Zaitseva. You get a verbal reprimand, and I'll mark you down with an F for the lecture if I catch you daydreaming again."
"Yes ma'am."
Vikki daydreamed again, of course, but she managed to pay enough attention to draw Guard-Dog's wrath away from her until the end of the lecture.
***
After the lecture, there was dinner in a military mess-hall. Military food was as bland as the pastel-colored furnishings, even though it was served by Red Army boys who were extremely eager to please the mess-hall's present patrons. These boys were far from the best however - mostly pudgy commanders' sons and sickly-looking soldier rejects, so the girls concentrated on food and gossip.
"No question about it, I'd pick the drill sergeant," Katya was saying.
The group had been debating the relative merits of the recently-met boys, and Katya was voicing her preferences. While most of the group listened with rapt attention, Vikki had chosen to demonstratively ignore to her arch-enemy. At present moment Katya was dominating the discussion, so Vikki had been passing the time by mentally composing the letter she was going to write to her friends back home.
