Read The Sisters for Free Online Page B

agriculture whose star was considered to be on the rise. "I hear he has a mistress stashed away in one of those new buildings behind the zoo. So: where were we?"
    The Potter said, "I lost three sleepers in six months. One of them simply disappeared. He was a physicist by training. He was inserted into America so that he could eventually take over a network of subagents working at various atomic installations. With his background in physics, he would have been in a position to evaluate their information, direct them to fill in gaps in our knowledge, that sort of thing. Four of the subagents were eventually caught and put on trial in America. Two others were never identified. I don't know the names of the two, but I could supply enough information about them-where they worked during what years, their professional qualifications, a description of the family of one, the sexual preferences of the other, so that your clients can identify them."
    Oskar pulled up at a red light. Just abreast of them, a man and a woman in a Czech Skoda were arguing bitterly. "I go over it again and again,"
    the Potter could hear the man yell, "and I can't find the beginning."
    "The beginning of what?" the woman cried.
    "The beginning of where it went wrong," the man replied. "The beginning of-" The light changed and the Czech car raced off.
    Oskar threw his taxi into first and started down the street after the Skoda. "So: it went wrong," he called over his shoulder, "right after the Bolshevik revolution when some comrades proposed opening a special restaurant for members of the Party. Those who were against it argued that Communists should starve along with the working classes. Those who were for it argued that they couldn't lead the working class to paradise if they didn't have the physical strength. The matter was brought to Lenin. You know the story, yes? Lenin ruled in favor of establishing a special restaurant, Things were never the same after that, yes? I will let you off in front of the Hotel Ukraina. So, enter the lobby and buy a newspaper from the kiosk, then go on about your business."
    "What about my offer?" the Potter asked.
    "I will call you when I get a response, yes?" Oskar said without noticeable enthusiasm.
    The blind man's white baton came down like a whip against the legs of his chair. "So much for your pulling,” he announced in a voice that left no room for discussion. "Now we will do some pushing"
    The Deputy Assistant Procurator, a burnt-out middle-aged time-server with long clumps of hair pasted across his scalp like fingers, kept the Potter waiting ten minutes before he even looked up. There was a chair in front of the polished table that served as his desk, but he never offered him the use of it. "You have been summoned," the Deputy Assistant Procurator eventually said-it was at this point that he glanced at the Potter for the first time-"summoned, eh, in accordance with-" He named an article of the penal code. The Deputy Assistant Procurator shuffled through a sheaf of official looking papers with seals and signatures on the bottom of each one. "You are informed..." He removed his eyeglasses and cleaned them with the tip of his tie, then carefully hooked them back over his ears. ". . . informed, eh, that criminal proceedings have been opened against you in connection with charges of, eh, pilfering state property from the warehouse annex of the state security institution that you were formerly in command of." He lost his place and peered at the paper he was reading. "Eh, in command of. You are advised to retain a lawyer. You are further advised that the penalty, if convicted of violating the particular article of the penal code with which you are charged, is ten years at a strict-regime labor camp, confiscation of alt personal property, annulment of pension and, eh, voting rights." The Deputy Assistant Procurator looked up. "Do you have any comment to make?"
    The Potter said in English, "I hear it was charged against me that