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Page 118
Kondratiev returned Kalinin's gaze steadily. There is magnetism in the man, Kalinin thought, beyond argument, but at the same time a streak of recklessness. Since "retiring" to Sochi, Kondratiev had taken to indulging many fantasies and fancies, designing a colorful new uniform for himself covered with gold braid. Ah, thought Kalinin, if playing dress-up would bring down those fools on the television screen and wipe out the memories of a near-century of rule by the dirty-fingernailed proletariat. If only . . .
Kalinin walked to a side table where a forest of liquor bottles stood and poured himself a glass of vodka, a huge one. Supplies for an expedition into the open air. The stink of old liquor and stale tobacco smoke in the room was overpowering, and he had to get out.
He stepped past the porcelain stove, fully stoked and radiating heat like a blue-and-white sun, and walked along the side of the room to the door. The orderly guarding it came to attention and asked, "You wish to go out, Excellency?"
Excellency? None of that Comrade General shit at Sochi. He nodded, and the man opened the door, bowing slightly. Kalinin glanced at the gross face as he passed. An informer? A Chernyite spy? He thought not. The man was a prime example of what the Germans used to call the lumpenproletariat. The orderly was an urban peasant who, without the state to house, clothe, and feed him, would be found frozen and dead some winter morning, because he had got drunk and had no comrades to lift him out of the snow. Kalinin had a strong feeling that Kondratiev understood this very well.
Once outside, he breathed in the cool, wet air, dilating his nostrils like a hunting animal. Yuri Kalinin had seen some action as a fighter pilot in Afghanistan as a junior officer, but his role there had been minimal. He had not arrived in country until after the Afghans received their American Stingers. The presence of that weapon had changed the entire nature of the war. A predator sought prey, not a contest. He had understood this well the first time he violated his commander's orders and

 
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