Act of God Read Free

over looking the May Day parades in Red Square? If so, it was too far down the left end of the lineup of notables to be remembered. They shrugged and went back to work.
    Nekrasov kicked at the steel decking and sniffed the fresh breeze off the Aral. The big piers enclosed wide basins. "It looks more like a naval base than a space facility." He looked up. The sky was clear, with some cumulus clouds massing on the southern horizon. "I wonder what the Americans are making of all this? They must have plenty of satellite pictures by now."
    "If one just passed overhead," Tarkovsky said, "some American will be studying your expression this evening. Their high-resolution cameras are that sensitive. We got orders just last week not to let any sensitive documents be exposed to aerial surveillance. Personally, I don't believe their cameras are that good, but one never knows."
    "The order came from my office," Nekrasov said.
    Tarkovsky's shaggy eyebrows went up a trifle. Security orders for his project emanating from the Deputy Premier's office? That sounded ominous. This was no routine visit. He knew he was about to hear some bad news.
    "Let's take a walk," Nekrasov said. He set out toward the end of the pier, nearly a third of a kilometer out over the sea. Behind them, the brief-cased KGB man trailed at a discreet distance. As he walked, Nekrasov made polite conversation and Tarkovsky was aware that every word was loaded.
    "I've been keeping current with your end of Project Peter the Great, Comrade Tarkovsky. I'm very keen on the space sciences, you see." Tarkovsky knew this to be a falsehood but he let it pass. Like most such men, Nekrasov was an ignoramus in everything except power.
    "Project Peter the Great is just one of many we shall be carrying out at this facility, Comrade Nekrasov, although I admit it's my pet. Since you have been studying it, you realize there are many experiments I wished to have included in it, but the budget—"
    "I wish to speak to you about that." Nekrasov stared out at the piling clouds to the south as if trying to forecast the weather. He nodded to the KGB man and was handed the briefcase. The faceless man backed away out of hearing range. Nekrasov reached into the briefcase and withdrew a sheaf of papers. Tarkovsky recognized the title. It was one of his own scientific papers, but it now bore a security stamp above the title that had never been there before.
    "Two years ago," Nekrasov continued, "this paper was brought to my attention. Do you recognize it?"
    "My paper concerning the Tunguska event," Tarkovsky said. He wondered which of his colleagues had shown Nekrasov the paper. Probably no friend of his. His sense of foreboding increased.
    "A most fascinating document, Comrade. Its implications struck me immediately. I have also read your complete, original proposal for Project Peter the Great. Far too grandiose, I was told, far too expensive."
    Tarkovsky shrugged, hands in pockets. "It's how these projects work the world over. One proposes the optimum in hopes of receiving the minimum."
    "Short-sighted fools," Nekrasov said. "They couldn't see what this means. Comrade Tarkovsky, from now on, my office is in full charge of Project Peter the Great. All results will be reported directly to me." Tarkovsky was stunned, but he was well-schooled in hiding such things. Nekrasov continued: "You will receive the fullest possible funding to carry out your project as first proposed."
    "Comrade Nekrasov," Tarkovsky pointed out, "this will mean stripping half the projects in our entire space program."
    "Just send your requests through my office," Nekrasov said. "If your colleagues have any complaints, they may address them to me." An oblique way of saying that there would be no complaints. "As of now, this project has Class One priority, right along with our missile defenses. It is also under maximum security." He took several more papers from the briefcase and handed them to Tarkovsky. "Here are the names of