: The Police Station

Beth asked, “Where is the police station?”

The man in black said, “Go around this building, turn left at the coffee shop, and then left again. The building has two flags. The top one is the red Soviet flag with the hammer, star, and sickle in the corner. The other flag is black with a gold double eagle on it.”

The man stepped out of the alley and was gone.

“Let’s wait a minute before we go to the station,” Beth said. “Let him get away first.”

Patrick peeked around the corner of the building. He gave Beth the thumbs-up signal. Then he walked at a normal pace down the sidewalk. Beth followed.

The cousins were twenty steps away from the alley when someone shouted in Russian.

The cousins turned to see what the shouting was about.

“Look!” Patrick said. “The guards! They are coming this way! I thought that woman would report us.”

Beth and Patrick dashed around the building and turned left. Beth soon saw the flags flying on a pole outside the police station. She felt torn inside. Are we moving toward safety or danger? she wondered.

The guards shouted at them again. The men’s voices sounded much closer.

She grabbed hold of the door handle. She pulled hard on the glass door, but it was too heavy. She heard the heavy footfalls of the guards.

Patrick’s hands joined hers on the handle. They yanked the heavy door open together.

Inside, they released the door. The shouting was shut out.

Beth looked around. The station was filled with wooden desks. Officers in black uniforms with red and gold trim sat at the desks.

A guard from Lenin’s tomb opened the door and marched in. He seemed angry and shouted at Patrick and Beth.

The guard took hold of Patrick’s arm.

“Let him go!” Beth said.

A man in a plain black suit stood from a wood bench leaning against the wall.

Mr. Kozlov!

He approached the guard. “Let the boy go.”

The guard shook his head. He didn’t understand English.

Mr. Kozlov then spoke in Russian. He took something out of his jacket pocket and showed it to the guard. This seemed to make the guard less angry.

The guard said something in Russian. Beth caught the word Bibliya. He did know about the Bibles, Beth thought.

“Mr. Kozlov must have shown the guard his ID card,” Patrick whispered to Beth. “KGB guys outrank the guards.”

“Are we under arrest?” Beth asked.

Mr. Kozlov raised a hand. “I work for the space department. They do not worry about religious things. You are not under arrest.”

Beth smiled. Relief filled her heart.

“At least not yet,” Mr. Kozlov added. “You two disappeared from the apartment. Did Amelia Darling do that? How? Was it mirrors? Some sort of illusion?”

Beth’s heart sank.

“I can’t explain what she did,” Beth said. “I’m still in elementary school.” It was technically true. Beth had no idea how the Imagination Stations worked.

Mr. Kozlov stroked his chin.

“Come to her cell with me,” he said. “Perhaps you can persuade Miss Darling to tell the truth. Things will go better for her if she does.”

“What about Pastor Lars?” Patrick asked. “You said you don’t care about Bibles. Can’t you let him go?”

“Aah,” Mr. Kozlov said. “It’s true that I don’t care what Mr. Lars Spens has done. But the police do. Come with me and you can speak with him, too.”

Beth thought about the mysterious man and his missing fingers. She remembered Pastor Volkov and his bandaged hands. Would they torture Pastor Lars? she wondered. He could never play a violin again if they hurt his hands.

Beth exchanged a glance with Patrick. He nodded.

“Okay,” Beth said. “We’ll go with you.”

Mr. Kozlov motioned to a police officer, giving the man orders in Russian. The police officer led them out of the lobby.

The walk to Amelia’s cell felt like a death march to Beth.

She and Patrick dragged their feet as they followed the officer. He led them down long, dark hallways. They passed dozens of metal doors. Each door had a six-by-six-inch grate in it. Prisoners pressed their thin, dirt-streaked faces against the grates and shouted out words in Russian.

The officer ignored the men’s cries. So did Mr. Kozlov. They walked a little farther, and the two men stopped at the end of a hallway. A cardboard box had been left sitting on the floor.

The police officer stood guard outside the last door. His black and red hat covered his face because his head was bent. He seemed to be staring at the floor. One of his black shoes was resting on the cardboard box.

The police officer stepped aside so Beth could look in the cell. She stood on her tiptoes and looked through the metal grate. Tears sprang to her eyes.

Pastor Lars and Amelia were bound. They were wearing striped prison uniforms and their ankles and wrists had shackles that were bolted to the floor and ceiling.

Amelia said, “Finally, someone to get me out of here.”

Pastor Lars stayed silent. He looked tired. His eyes were closed. He made no effort to look at Beth.

She turned her head away in the direction of the officer. He looked at Beth and winked. She finally got a good look at his face. She bit her lip to keep from gasping.

The police officer was Whit!

Patrick saw the police officer’s face. He inhaled deeply. Why is Mr. Whittaker pretending to be a police officer? he wondered. Does Amelia know he’s here?

Mr. Kozlov said, “Miss Darling, please tell us how you made the children disappear.”

Amelia said, “You’ll have to get me out of here first.” She shook the chains on her wrists. “In the laboratory I can build you a . . .” She paused and then said, “I can build you a Disappearing Station. So unlock me.”

Mr. Kozlov looked at Patrick and Beth. “Is that true?” he asked. “Can she build a machine that makes people disappear?”

He held their eyes for a long time. Finally Beth nodded. “Amelia is very smart,” she said. “I think she can probably build anything.”

“She should have made herself disappear from here,” Mr. Kozlov said with a frown.

Silence filled the hallway and cell.

Patrick perked up and lifted his chin. He had an idea. And having Whit there inside the adventure made him bold. He said, “What have you arrested her for anyway? I don’t think making someone disappear into thin air is against the law.” He paused and then added, “Holding her in a cell is illegal. She has rights!”

Mr. Kozlov laughed. “This is not the United States,” he said. “The Soviet State has a right to protect itself against foreigners. They can be locked up to protect state security.”

He scratched his head. “But I suppose there is no law against making something disappear. Still, she needs to tell us how she did it. One second you were in the Gorky Street apartment building. The next you were seen in Red Square. That’s . . . teleporting.”

Patrick looked at Amelia. He knew the fame-seeking scientist would tell the Soviets everything.

Beth seemed to be more worried about Pastor Lars. “Does that box have Pastor Lars’s things in it?” Beth asked.

Whit moved his foot off the box. Beth bent and looked inside. Amelia’s bag was inside along with Pastor Lars’s things. She pulled out a Bible and the violin.

“Is this evidence?” Beth asked.

Mr. Kozlov nodded. “Those were in the van he was driving,” he said. “We have his passport linked to that VW. We have witnesses who saw him preaching and playing the violin to encourage praising God. That box proves he is a Christian.”

Pastor Lars finally said something. “Have love one to another. So said Jesus himself in John 13:35. Love toward others shows that you’re a Christian.”

Whit’s voice still sounded like a police officer’s. “The woman seems to be your main concern,” he said to Mr. Kozlov. “What if Mr. Spens pays a fine? The State could always use funds to promote the Soviet way. I can authorize his release if we collect a fine.”

“Hmm,” Mr. Kozlov said. “It would have to be a large fine. He had several Bibles in the van.” The KGB agent paced. “If he promises to leave, he can pay a fine to me, and I will see that he is released.”

Patrick said, “Done deal!” He unbuckled his belt and opened the belt’s hidden zipper. Bundles of rubles fell to the cement floor.