Good Morning and Good-bye, Part Twenty-Four

    Silas held the jar of holy water for a moment, casually, calculating in his head the distance and angle needed to strike Stalin.
    Mariana weak and on all fours looked from the blood soaked body of Stroganov to where she thought the jar had rolled. She saw Silas with it and nodded weakly.
    Stalin/Boris was laughing at the look of fear on Andropov’s face after he had threatened to kill him next.
    “Don’t worry comrade. I’m sure you will come up with something.”
    “Yes,” said Andropov, “In the plane, I have a full medical kit.”
    Silas now brought the jar of water in front of him, but he was spotted.
    “Comrade Stalin!” barked one of the guards, “The American!”
    Boris/Stalin turned towards Silas.
    “Were you going to do something with that?” Boris/Stalin asked.
    “I was thirsty,” said Silas sardonically.
    “Yes, of course,” said Boris/Stalin walking over to Silas. As he came closer he looked a bit confused and was squinting.
    “You. Silas. Silas Whowood, Nell’s old friend from Moscow. She’s told me so much about you. So much that I could be insanely jealous. My transformation, as it were, has made me feel that personal relationships are in fact meaningless. Obedience to the state is all that matters.”
    “So you are just insane, but not jealous.”
    “Humor out of the American!” laughed Boris/Stalin.
    He walked up to Silas and snatched the jar out of his hand.
    “Touch my face,” instructed Boris/Stalin.
    “Why?” asked Silas.
    “Because your jar of water cannot harm me! I am Stalin, the man of steel!”
    Silas touch his face. It certainly was not human flesh, though it seemed to move like it. It felt like solid metal with a gold cast.
    “The tin man from Oz you’re not,” said Silas.
    “You see,” he said with grin. He turned and hurled the jar of water into the river. It shattered on impact.
    “Oh! This place bores me so! Perhaps we should leave for Moscow. It will be triumphant!  I’ll be back to destroy America soon enough.”
    He turned to the guards. “Bring the Ukrainian witch with us. We will find out where her family lives and start the extermination from there. And bring Nell with us.”
    “No!” cried Nell.
    “But Nell, I am your husband.”
    “Not any more,” she said.    
    He moved close to her. Silas tried to move forward, but machine guns stopped him.
    “Oh Nell, my dear wife. The Motherland needs its mother, at least for propaganda needs and that means you. Come Nell!”
    “No! Silas, do something!”
   “Mr. Whowood is going to do something. He will come along as well. We’ll put him on trial as a spy and send a message to foreigners to stay out of our affairs. Yes, nothing like a show trial. I could have him sent to the gulag though, or have him executed, if you’re not a good girl and obey me. Either way, it’s just like old times. Come!”
    “No!” cried Nell again.
    With consulate guards and Dr. Andropov having guns trained on them, Silas, Nell and Mariana made their way down to the water’s edge and the gangway that boarded to the “Mermaid”. 
    Nell helped Mariana to rise and walk. Weakly, Mariana whispered to her, “God help us.”
    Behind the police cars, Jim Dawes assessed the situation grimly.
    “Volkswagen, we’ve got to stop that aircraft.”
    Hans rolled his eyes at Dawes stating of the obvious.
    “Yup, you’re right Jim,” he said with a sigh, continuing to stare at the scene before him.
    “What are you going to do then? You said you have this under control,” said Dawes back sarcastically.
    “I’m thinking,” said Hans.
    Silas kept scanning his brain for options also as he entered the aircraft with Stalin in the lead. The “Mermaid’s” crew saluted. Out in the middle of the river, no one noticed that a small pool of water started to form and swirl.