Love and Adventures in the Far East

"Don't cry," Medvedev said when he noticed. "It's not as bad as you think. You've done nothing wrong."

"Nothing wrong? Then why are you taking me to the commandant's office?"

"I'm not," said Medvedev, smiling.

Before Vikki could ask him what in the world was happening, he suddenly stopped and waved to a person in the darkened doorway of a storage bunker.

"Hey Andrew," Medvedev yelled. "Here she is!" The person walked out into the sunlight.

It was the boy. He was just as Vikki remembered him, filled with grace and poise, complete with his gorgeous reddish hair and his indescribably wonderful eyes, which were now looking straight at her. He was smiling with a disarming, almost apologetic smile.

"Hi Vika," he said. "It's Vika, right? Do you remember me from the station?"

"Of course!" Vikki answered at once.

"Sorry about the ruse – they wouldn't have let me see you in normal circumstances, and this is the best we could come up with on short notice." The boy smiled apologetically. "My name's Andrei, by the way. Tolya here is a good friend of mine."

"Wait," said Vikki, "didn't he call you 'Andrew?'"

"Oh yes, that," The boy smiled sheepishly again. "They started calling me that in English class and the nickname kinda stuck."

Vikki just looked at him for a moment, thinking how impossible, how cosmically preordained such grand coincidences must be.

"Can I call you Andrew?" she asked. "In return, you can call me Vikki."

"Vikki," The boy repeated. "Vikki. What a beautiful name. "

"You said that in a dream I had yesterday."

The boy smiled. "Vikki," he said. "You'll probably think I'm a fool, but I've searching for you nonstop ever since I saw you. I've had to ask favors of all the people I know in the higher echelons…Vikki, you can't imagine how hard you were to find without a name! Then I found you, but I couldn't approach you. All I could do was take a huge gamble, trust an unreliable person…and then this…but it was all worth it, because we've finally met."

"You really searched for me?" asked Vikki, her heart filling with both tenderness and excitement. She hadn't just imagined it – what she felt during the practice session was real! Her boy, her wonderful boy, had been searching for her all along!

"I did! I told my right after mates right after you left: 'Guys, I saw the most beautiful girl'. They were all saying that train girls are hussies, but I just couldn't shake you off. Then I was shaving, looking in the mirror, and there you were – it was like my eyes were still reflecting yours. I had to do something, so I got out my grandma's Tarrot – totally illegal, but Tolik, our barracks warden, he's great - he lets me keep em, and I played your hand. And it matched! See the cards never lie, and they told me you were my Other."

"Other?"

"It's hard to explain, and kind of silly," Andrew gave her another apologetic smile, his bright eyes looking directly into hers.

"Andrew, I think I understand." Vikki answered, "There's a link between us. Let me show you." She bit her lip and was about to reach out for him, but the serious expression on his face stopped her.

"Vikki," He said, "I have to know something. Something that's really important to me. Back in the session room, were you...do you have an oval birthmark on your right thigh?"

Vikki's eyes lit up. "I do!"

The boy's eyes answered in kind. "Then I was your first! Gran always told me my Life Line breaks halfway up the palm, and the Other is at its crossroads… Vikki, it makes me so happy that be that my first was someone I love…" The boy suddenly stopped, scared that his revelation hads frightened Vikki.

Vikki smiled and took him by the hand. "Andrew," she said, "I'm happy you were my first too. It really is wonderful that we got to meet."

"Vikki," he asked, "can I see you again?"

Vikki almost burst out laughing. "Yes!" she said, running her hands through his hair. "Yes, you silly boy. Isn't it obvious? Just look into my eyes - they'll explain everything!"

She expected him to kiss her right then, but he was too anxious to get the hint. Instead he took out a folded piece of paper and pressed it in her hands.

"Here's my address at the base, and a friend's address, in case you can't reach me. I'll be stationed here for another year, then my father wants me to enroll in an Officers' School in Moscow. He thinks it's possible nowdays, even with his reputation. Where do you live?"

"With my parents, near Krasnoplesnenskaya Metro Station in Moscow."

The boy drew an excited breath. "Then we'll only be an hour apart!"

Vikki smiled again, marveling at how easy providence made things for them.

"Can I write to you in the meanwhile?" asked Andrew.

"Yes. Can I write to you?"

"Of course!" Andrew looked into her eyes, and Vikki looked into his.

This time he did reach toward Vikki's lips, and she knew his wonderful, intoxicating embrace for the first time.

"So where are you heading now?" Andrew asked when their lips parted.

"Towards Vladivostok, I think," Vikki answered. "We're doing community service, then some sight-seeing. Probably visiting another army base…" As she said the words, Vikki saw the boy's elated smile vanish, and could almost feel his heart sinking..

"Don't worry silly," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "that stuff's not real. I'll be thinking only of you the entire time."

In the distance, the train's steam whistle blew. Five minutes to departure.

"I have to run!" Vikki said, and then her own heart sank. "But what do I tell Guard-Dog… I mean, our chaperone?"

Andrew took an antique-looking brooch from his pants pocket and handed it to her.

"Take this, it belonged to my grandma. It's sort of an amulet – she always called it her Binding Charm because she used it to bind her hair. But you can just tell Guard-Dog you lost your heirloom brooch at the station, and the Commandant found it. Tell her he wanted to speak with you because it reminded him of his grandmother."

"Andrew, you're wonderful! You've thought of everything! Really, you're the best!" Vikki kissed him again, and put the brooch in her hair. "I'll wear it all the time!" she promised.

The train whistle blew again.

"I guess this is goodbye," Said Andrew.

"No it's not." Vikki looked into Andrew's eyes. She saw herself reflected in them, and Andrew reflected in her image, and she in his, a thousand times over. The link between them was palpably present, as strong and unbreakable as it's ever been. Vikki kissed Andrew deeply, just to reassure, then gave him a final squeeze and ran off towards the platform.

***

Vikki got to the station at exactly the right time – the platform was consumed by departure-related bustle and Guard-Dog, busy with her duties, had only enough time to hand Vikki her bookbag and give her a severe glance. Vikki stepped inside her assigned wagon and pushed her way through the corridor, glancing inside each open compartment door. She found Anya alone in a middle compartment, leafing distractedly through a magazine. When Anya saw her, she jumped up and gave Vikki a huge hug:

"Vik, thank God you're fine! What happened?"

"An, you won't believe this, but I met him!"

"Met him? Your boy? Vik, you're the luckiest person ever! Here I was, thinking you were a goner, and you were just out on a date!"

"An, he's wonderful. He searched for me, just like I told you."

"Really? Vik, you must have some sort of telepathic gift Seriously. And it's wonderful about the boy too. What's his name?"

"Andrew."

"Neat! An English nickname, just like yours!" The girls just stood there, grinning at each other for a second. "But Vik, you must be exhausted," Anya remembered,

"A little." Vikki lied.

"You can tell me all the details in a bit – for now, let's get you on the top bunk and get you some rest."

Anya fussed about her, unpacking Vikki's bookbag, helping her out of her shoes and into her pajamas. Just as Vikki was about to climb up onto the top bunk, their compartment door burst open and two girls barged in. It was Katya and Lena.

"Hey, these bunks are free!" Katya heaved her things onto the top bunk. "Guess you'll be our neighbors!" Then she turned to Vikki. "Hi little pigeon – did you get chewed out for misbehavior? Or…" Katya bent down and glanced into Vikki's eyes, before Vikki had a chance to hide the truth reflected in them. "You saw your boy, didn't you, you coy little thing?"

"Maybe."

"Come on Katya, don't tease," Anya threw her arms around Vikki protectively, "Let's get some rest, we've all had a long day."

"Hey I'm not teasing, I'm jealous! I'm usually the one to cause the most mischief, but Vikki has me beat hands-down this time. You're gonna have to tell us all about it, girl."

Anya shooed her away. "Rest, Katya… some other time."

"But I want to tell you." Vikki's eyelids felt heavy.

"And you will. We've got the evening. And we've got tomorrow. We've got all the time in the world."

In ten minutes, Vikki's train rolled away from the platform. Vikki lay on the top bunk, shadows of the passing countryside fluttering across her closed eyelids, her mind on sleep's doorstep. "Look at those storm clouds," She heard Katya say somewhere far away, "You've heard the reports - must be our Chinese brothers messing with the weather again." But Vikki didn't look, having already given in to sleep's warm, comforting embrace.

In thirty minutes' time, her train had left Training Base Four far beyond the horizon, headed for distant lands, and though they didn't know it yet, a stormy future.