Stalin lowered himself shakily into thechair. Stanski re moved his officer's cap. Stalin stared in shock at the face,then at the ungloved hand.

"YOU. - you're not Lukin. Who areyou? What do you want?"

"I'm sure the answer to the firsttwo questions should be obvious by now. As for the last, I want you."

There was a terrible look of icy fear onStalin's face, as if the alcoholic haze had suddenly lifted, everythingbecoming perfectly clear.

Stanski smiled chillingly. "Butfirst, comrade, I'm going to tell you a story."

Lukin opened his eyes in the freezingblackness of the air-raid shelter and shivered violently.

Icy cold seeped into his bones and hisbrain throbbed. He shook his head and a million stars exploded inside hisskull.

He sat there groggily for severalmoments, rubbing his neck, before he found the strength to stagger to his feet.

He found a damp, cold wall to support him,and as he stood shakily he smelled the garbage and saw the snow falling be yondan open door. It took several moments before the throbbing in his skull ebbedaway, and then he staggered out of the door and up the steps of the shelter,blinking in pain and taking deep breaths, the air steaming in front of hisface.

He realized where he was and what hadhappened.

Then all hell broke loose inside his headand his heart raced wildly. How long had he been unconscious? He looked at hiswatch and tried to focus in the poor light.

One-twenty A.M. He must have been outcold for over five minutes.

He suddenly remembered the van. Half akilometer away. Five minutes if he ran. Nadia's face flashed before his eyes.His grief returned, but he forced the image and the emotion away, letting onlyanger in, a powerful anger and a terrible Just for revenge, knowing what he hadto do, that he wasn't going to be cheated of this moment.

He could still make it to Stalin's villa.

He fumbled madly for the keys, foundthem, then staggered through the trees toward the road.

"My father's name was lilia IvanStefanovitch. Do you remember him?"

Stalin shook his head.

"No."

"wrong again."

A clock ticked softly somewhere andbeyond the oak doors came faint sounds, distant voices; the click of heels onwood approached and faded. Stalin's nervous eyes flicked to the door, thenback.

"I don't remember him."

Stanski pressed the Na gant hard into histemple.

"Think.

"I ... I don't know who you'retalking about."

"Yuri Lukin is my brother. IlliaIvan Stefanovitch was our father. You killed him. You killed his wife. And hisdaughter. Our sister. You killed them all. Our family."

Stanski stared hard into Stalin'sfrightened eyes. "And you haven't stopped trying to kill us. You pitted mybrother against me.

"No ... you're mistaken. Who toldyou this? Who told you I was responsible? Lies!"

The old man ran a trembling hand aroundhis tunic collar. Stanski wrenched it away.

"Move again and I'll tear your heartout."

A wind gusted flurries of snow outside,rattling the windows. Beads of sweat glistened on Stalin's face. His breathingcame in short gasps.

"Please, some water ..."

A crystal water decanter stood on thedrinks cart opposite but Stanski ignored it.

"Then let me remind you of the liesyou speak of. My father was a village doctor. We lived near Smolensk. One daythe secret police came to our village. They demanded the summer harvest. It wasthe time of the kulak wars and there was a famine raging. A famine deliberatelycaused by you. The villagers barely had enough to feed their children. Alreadythey were starving. Men, women and children thin as corpses and dying by thedozens. So the people refused. Half the men of the village were shot in reprisaland their grain stolen. There was nothing to eat. Women and children starved.My father was spared but he couldn't believe Comrade Stalin would allow such athing to happen to his village. So he decided to do something." Stanskiremoved the file from his tunic and placed it on the table. "Open it. Lookand read," When Stalin hesitated, Stanski said again, "Open it!"

Stalin opened the file with shakinghands. He glanced at the pages, the photographs, then looked up, "I don'tremember this man."

"What you see was in my file. Youread all this before you sent my brother to find me."

Stalin swallowed, ashen-faced.

Stanski said, "I want you toremember what happened to my family. Let me remind you. Illia IvanStefanovitch, my father, called on the local commissar and told him he wantedto speak to Stalin, to condemn what had happened in his village in Stalin'sname. It was his right as a citizen. He was given a pen and paper and told towrite his grievance and it would be passed to Moscow. He wrote about what hadhappened in his village. He expressed his revulsion and resigned from theParty. You read the letter, but the reply wasn't what my father expected.

"You sentenced him to death as atraitor. The secret police came to his surgery. They thought they'd make thistroublesome doctor's death a little more interesting than merely shooting him.So they made his wife watch while they held him down and injected him with alethal dose of one of his drug-" Adrenalin. Do you know the effect such anamount of Adrenalin has on a body? It's not a pleasant way to die. The heartraces, the body weakens and trembles, the lungs swell, the stomach vomits. Afatal dosage can cause the blood vessels in the brain to burst, but death maystill come slowly. My father's did.

"They made my mother watch everymoment. And then they raped her. All of them raped her. Until one of them hadthe pity to put a bullet in her head. Only it didn't kill her. They left herlying there, bleeding to death, slowly, for hours. I heard it happen becauseone of the men held me in the next room. I heard her screams and later I sawher die. Everything that happened after that is in the file. But then you knowthat, don't you? You knew when you selected Yuri Lukin. You chose him becausehaving him kill me would be another of your sick jokes. One more laugh at yourvictims' expense."

Stanski leaned in close, his eyes wet,his voice almost a whisper. "You say you don't remember my father, but youwill. Illia Ivan Stefanovitch. Remember that name. It's the last name you'regoing to hear before you go screaming to hell."

Stanski placed the Na gant on the tableand removed a bypodcrmic from his pocket. With one finger he flipped off themetal sheath and exposed the needle. The glass was full of clear liquid.

"Pure Adrenalin. And now I'm goingto kill you the way you killed my father."

As Stanski moved in, the old man rose andlunged at him like a bull.

NO! "

Stalin grabbed at the Na gant and theweapon exploded. As the shot rang around the room Stanski struck him a hardblow to the neck and he slumped back in the chair.

Then everything seemed to happen at once.

The dacha went mad, screams and voiceseverywhere.

The doors burst open and the big colonelwas the first in, crashing into the room like an enraged animal, staring at thescene in horror.

Stanski stabbed the needle into Stalin'sneck and the plunger sank.

"For my father."

Then the Na gant came up smartly andpressed against Stalin's temple.

"And this for my mother ... andsister..

The Na gant exploded and Stalin's headwas flung back.

As the colonel frantically wrenched outhis weapon, he watched in disbelief as the major smiled in certain death, turning the Na gant toward himself, slipping the barrel into his mouth.

The weapon exploded again.

The Emka's wipers brushed away the snowbut it was ceaseless.