The Last Train To Heaven

Vassily climbed back into the car. He heard another roar and held his breath, waiting for the pager to go off. It remained silent. He let out his breath and started up the car. That had been the third missile. He didn’t think he’d missed any. Besides, the pager had been on and even if he had missed one earlier, it had not activated the pager. Vassily quickly turned around and began the trip back over the road going southeast. The truck seemed content to remain about 50 meters behind him. After driving for a minute or so Vassily thought he heard another roar. By craning his head forward he could see more of the sky through the windshield. He was rewarded with a short glimpse of rocket number four. He was obviously getting closer. From the map, it appeared that the southern roadblock, if it were at the southern junction of this road and another that led back to the highway, would be at least a kilometer closer than the northern roadblock had been. But, what if it was still too far away? There was no way he could cut across country without being seen. At that moment, Vassily made a decision. If the pager went off while he was still on this road, he would slam on the brakes, jump out and use the camera transmitter. They were too far behind to stop him. But, what would happen if they inspected the camera and discovered the transmitter hidden in it? Vassily would have to chance it. The camera still operated as a camera. It took real pictures and unless it was inspected very carefully, the transmitter would not be detected. After all, they knew he wanted a picture. If they just confiscated his film… that would be great. Vassily heard another roar and strained to see the rocket. He was close enough now to make out the attached booster rockets, though they were still mere specks. That was number five, but still the pager was silent. Vassily suddenly realized that the camera-transmitter was still in the bag on the passenger side of the car, half under the front seat. He would waste precious seconds getting it out. He reached down and grabbed the bag and pulled it to him. Luckily, he didn’t have to worry about traffic on this road. With one hand Vassily unzipped the bag and removed the camera. For all practical purposes, it was a camera. As he drove, he checked it over. He removed the lens cover and turned the lens to the setting, which would allow the transmitter to function when the shutter release was depressed. Now he was ready to go. Vassily, no sooner set the camera down on the front seat next to him than he saw smoke rising from the ground out of the right front window of the car. Then he heard the roar and saw the rocket slowly lift from its silo. It was a spectacular sight. He wished he could stop and watch it but, with his escort so close behind him, he dared not risk it. His pager remained silent. “Too bad that wasn’t the one,” he thought. I’m almost directly even with the launch area now. If it would only be the next one,” he wished with all his might. That had been number six. Number six, somewhere he had heard or read that six was the number of man. Man, oh man, why hadn’t it been number six? Vassily turned his head and peered at the launching area. There should be three or four more to go. He checked out the road ahead and looked back again to the base. Again he saw smoke through the right rear window of the car and then came the roar. Again, it was a spectacular sight. He could make out almost every detail of the rocket. He could see the red star painted on the missile, but could not quite make out the inscription beneath it. “Nuts!” Virtually exploded through Vassily’s half clenched teeth. That was number seven. Oh well, maybe number eight will be the one. I hope it comes before I get too far away. Then he just about jumped out of his seat as the pager went off. “Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.” Vassily was so shocked that, for a moment, he didn’t know what to do. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the beeping pager. “Beep, beep, beep,” it continued. He found the off switch and turned it off and tossed it on the seat beside the camera. He had only a few seconds left to get his shot in. He slammed on the brakes and brought the car to a rumbling stop on the gravel. Vassily opened the door, grabbed the camera, stepped out, aimed the camera at the missile and pushed the shutter release. He held it steady for about three seconds. As the truck ground to a halt behind him, he jumped back into the car, put it in gear and continued on toward the next roadblock. Apparently the Lieutenant and his driver had also been impressed by the launch and had an eye on the rocket, which was fortunate for Vassily, because they did not even attempt to stop the truck until Vassily had already pushed the plunger on the camera. At that point their main task was to stop the truck without hitting the car. As the truck slid to a stop on the gravel narrowly missing the car, Vassily was able to get underway again and avoided an immediate confrontation with the Lieutenant, who at this point, was not very happy with him. He could tell by the string of profanity he heard, issuing from the open window of the truck as he began to accelerate down the road. As the truck closed the gap between the two vehicles Vassily tried to watch them in the rear view mirror. It looked like one of them was talking into a radio microphone. At least it did not appear that they were going to try to force him off the road. Then Vassily remembered that they had mentioned another roadblock at the other end of the road. Vassily was under no illusion that he had gotten away with anything. It was such an impressive sight that he felt he would have no trouble convincing anyone that he just had to get a picture of the launch. He sighed. This was not over yet. He heard the rumble of one more launch, number eight, before the roadblock came into sight. There as expected, was a truck as well as a wooden barricade. The truck was sitting across the road making it impossible to get passed without going into the ditch. There were two soldiers with rifles at each end of the truck. They were holding their rifles at ready. Obviously the Lieutenant had called ahead to advise them of the situation. It would be very foolish to try to run that blockade, although for a moment, in the spirit of this high adventure, he was tempted to try. He slowed down and came to a stop a few meters short of the truck. The truck that had been following him pulled up close behind and both men got out. Vassily also opened his door and stepped out. He had planned on thanking the Lieutenant but was somewhat taken aback when he realized that all the weapons were trained on him. “Uuhh, Lieutenant, I want to…” He was interrupted by the Lieutenant who angrily demanded, “Give me the camera!” “I beg your pardon?” Vassily said, somewhat lamely. “Give me your camera!” the Lieutenant repeated. “I warned you not to take any pictures.” Vassily reached into the car and retrieved the camera. As he handed it to the sergeant, he admitted his guilt. “I know you said ‘no pictures’, but it was just such an awesome sight that I couldn’t help myself. I just had to get at least one shot.” “You are very fortunate that you are not the one shot.”