The Sakharovsky Ruby

PETER The Great

Peter walked along the aisle of the near-empty train car. Of course, it was empty, he thought. Who would willingly take a train that travelled for seven days before reaching its final destination? Peter had never taken the train for such a long time before. Thankfully, he wasn't travelling the entire length of its route. It would only be three days until he reached his stop. To Peter, that meant three days without a proper bed. True, he had gone much longer without a bed in the army, or even without sleep. However this wasn't the army, it was civilian life.

Peter looked out his window as the big city of Moscow transitioned to smaller towns, eventually becoming nothing but trees and mountains. He stopped staring outside long enough to notice an attractive brunette in her late twenties sitting across the aisle from him.

"Where are you headed?" he asked, genuinely curious about why anyone would be here.

She didn't answer his question. "I'll be here another four days. Makes me regret not spending the extra money for the sleeper cabin."

"Sleeper cabin?" he asked, getting seriously annoyed that his boss didn't book him one.

"It's like a hotel on rails, they even have a restaurant with a five-star chef...next time." She kept her answers very matter-of-fact, showing no emotion.

"How often do you make this soul-sucking trip?" he asked while getting more upset at his boss with each word she spoke.

"I take this trip every six months from Moscow to Vladivostok, and before you ask, it's for work and I'm terrified to fly." She studied Peter, looking him up and down before focusing intensely on his eyes. Her gaze sent shivers down his spine. "You're not scared to fly so that means you, or whoever booked this trip for you, wanted to make sure you went as anonymous as possible. The airlines collect far too much information. You don't need to respond. I know I'm right. I've met far too many people on this train."

"You're right," Peter replied, very impressed by her power of deduction. "I didn't book this trip and my boss is going to hear about it when I return. As for you though, why not just find another job?"

"If you knew how much money I made you wouldn't say that. You'd probably be jealous."

Who is this incredible woman? Peter thought before he instinctively reached out his hand across the aisle.

"I'm Svetlana. It's a pleasure to meet you, Peter." She shook his hand and then placed her other over his. "It's nice to have someone to talk with otherwise this trip can be quite boring."

The train was nearly empty so Peter asked Svetlana to sit with him. She accepted.

They spoke all afternoon and into the evening. Peter talked about his fake job as a land surveyor. Svetlana said very little about herself. Instead, she spent much of her time trying to convince Peter to come work for the same company as her. Land surveying fits in nicely with her firm. She was also open and honest about the fact she would earn a very sizeable bonus for recruiting a successful candidate. Peter would never leave his employer. Still, it gave Peter pause for thought. Supposedly the money was fantastic. His current real job, not so much.

After dinner, they both fell asleep. When Peter woke up Svetlana was gone. He checked all train cars to which he was permitted access. No Svetlana. She must have found a way to switch to the sleeper car. Good for her.

The rest of Peter's three-day train ride through the Russian countryside was unbearable. The scenery, endless kilometres of half-dead pine trees would only briefly change to barren fields of rocks. Missing was any sign of human civilization until the train stopped at stations that could best be described as dilapidated shacks.