The First Billion

A half mile down the road, a blue strobe flashed urgently. Gripping his hands on the dashboard, Byrnes leaned forward, willing his pilot's eyes to focus. He made out a stubby automobile bestriding the narrow road. The car was white with green doors. The traffic militia, Byrnes groaned inwardly. On his ride in from the airport, he'd noted several similar automobiles parked in the center of tangled intersections. In each case, an olive-smocked policeman had stood nearby paying no mind to the horns blaring around him, doing damned all to right the congested thoroughfares. In a country famous for its corruption, the traffic militia had a reputation second to none. He didn't care to imagine what had brought them this far into the countryside a few minutes before nightfall.

"Shit," spat the driver, clearly sharing his anxiety. Shooting a worried look Byrnes's way, he braked to a halt and produced his papers.

A pug-faced militiaman approached the car. Ducking low, he peered into the windows, looking between Byrnes and the Tatar. The disparity between the two couldn't have been greater: Byrnes in his custom-tailored suit and five-hundred-dollar shoes, the Tatar in worn wool trousers and a frayed red pullover. The militiaman said a few words, then backed away from the car.

"A bad accident ahead. The road is closed," explained the Tatar. "We must go back. But first he wants you to get out and show him your passport."

"I have to get out? How come?" Byrnes didn't know why he was so surprised. In anticipation of the request, he'd already removed his passport and slipped a hundred-dollar bill inside the cover. Preparing a servile smile, he stepped out of the car and walked toward the militiaman.

"Good evening," he said in halting Russian, wanting to show he was one of the good guys.

The militiaman approached slowly, rolling his boots, thumbs tucked into a heavy utility belt. He was a block of a man, more chunky than muscular, heavy around the shoulders and neck. He was dirty. Visibly dirty. Dirt flecked his cheeks. His hair was greasy and uncombed, his mustard uniform dotted with stains. Deliberately, he slid his baton from its holster.

"Passport," he grunted.

Byrnes eyed the baton. Dents and chips and scuffs decorated its length. Losing the smile, he handed over the passport. The baton flicked through the air, so fast as to be a blur, cuffing Byrnes's wrist and sending the passport tumbling to the road. "Hey," he shouted, grabbing at his hand. "Watch it, you sonuva-"

The next blow was faster, if that was possible. Harder, too- a lightning-quick jab to Byrnes's unsuspecting gut. The baton disappeared into his midsection before caroming back a split second later, robbing Byrnes of his belligerence as well as his breath. He fell to a knee, eyes bulging as he prayed for his lungs to start working again.

The militiaman pointed at the hundred-dollar bill lying on the ground. "Yours?" he grunted in English.

"No," coughed Byrnes.

The militiaman motioned for Byrnes to hand it to him. Struggling to his feet, Byrnes picked up the note and his passport and handed them to the policeman.

"Spaseeba." The unkempt cop stared at the passport for a few seconds. "What hotel, please?"

"The Baltschug. In Moscow." From the corner of his eye, Byrnes could see the Tatar, standing at the rear of the car, hands folded in front of him, eyes making a meticulous study of the rocks near his shoes. The militiaman returned to his car, placed a call on his radio, smoked a cigarette, talked a little more on the two-way, then came back. Curling a finger, he motioned for the Tatar to join them. He barked a few words, looking at Byrnes.

"You are not guest at the Baltschug," the Tatar translated. "The hotel does not know you. The officer would like to know where you are staying, please?"

"The Baltschug." Byrnes could not keep the irritation from his voice. "I checked in at four o'clock. Room 335. Look, I have a key." He delved into his pocket for the room key. Not finding it, he tried the other pocket, then his jacket. He remembered the tempting blond leaning close to him, rubbing his leg. "Please tell the officer that he can accompany me back to the hotel. I'll be happy to show him my room. My suitcase, my clothing, everything is there."

But the militiaman was already shaking his head. An amused grin said he'd heard this one a hundred times before. "No," he said in his brusque English before rattling off a few more bursts at the Tatar.

"We must go," said Byrnes's chauffeur worriedly, pulling at his sleeve. "The road is closed. A bad accident farther on."

"Go? Hold on a goddamn minute," cried Byrnes, freeing himself. "The guy still has my passport. I'm not going anywhere." He took a step toward the police officer, his ingrained belief in law and order overruling his common sense. "I'm an American citizen. You have no right to keep my passport. Please, I'd like it back."

"When you check into a hotel, you are to call police," explained the Tatar, scuttling back to the Lada. "They will bring you passport. Now please, we go."

"Ask him how much he wants for it. Here, here's another hundred." The militiaman feinted with the baton, and Byrnes jumped back. "You go," barked the policeman, ignoring the proffered currency. Then slipping the passport into his breast pocket, he ambled back to his beat-up patrol car.

Furious, Byrnes climbed into the Lada. The Tatar started the car, executed a neat three-point turn, then steered them back toward Moscow. Turning in his seat, Byrnes stared behind him. Fading into the distance was the same featureless vista that had played out before him for the past thirty minutes, a rutted, dusty road rolling like a draftsman's straightedge into the horizon. The Tatar began humming a tuneless melody, his breath whistling through chipped teeth. The car bumped along and Byrnes kept staring over his shoulder at the blinking strobes, feeling cheated and unjustly persecuted, asking himself what he might have done differently to effect a better outcome. He had no doubt he'd get his passport back- or that it would cost him another hundred dollars, if not more. He was sure the cop had never called the Baltschug. Of course, there was no accident, but his mind did not allow him to go any further. He waited until he could no longer see the militiaman, then said, "Stop."

The Tatar dashed an a

Byrnes slipped his wallet from his jacket and took out a hundred-dollar bill. "Stop," he repeated. "Please."

The Tatar sighed painfully, as if he knew what Byrnes was going to ask, then slowed the car.

"I must go to Rudenev," Byrnes said. Using his hands, he indicated his desire to make a bell-shaped detour around the militiaman. He was sure the Lada was sturdy enough to handle a few miles through hardscrabble fields. When the Tatar hesitated, Byrnes took out another hundred and pressed both bills into the man's creased palms. Two hundred dollars was probably double his monthly salary. "Please. It's important."

The Tatar stuffed the bills in his pocket and grunted as if Byrnes's request was but the final depredation forced upon him by a world going to the devil. Pulling off the road, he said, "I am Mikhail. Pleased to meet you. You are millionaire, maybe?"

Byrnes shook the callused hand. What was it about this place? "Graf. Likewise."

They drove through the fields for half an hour. The Lada bounced and groaned and rocked, keeping up a steady assault on the Russian potato industry. Never did the needle on the speedometer surpass twenty kilometers per hour. The sky was darkening quickly, and Byrnes thought if they didn't find the network operations center soon, he'd be spending the night in the countryside instead of in his four-hundred-dollar hotel room.