We bumped to a halt in a field by a miserable shack in the middle of nowhere. "This prospector guy, his health was ruined in the mines. He got out with me in 52, went to look for gold. Said it was his only chance. Strange you got lucky but he didn't" he said, as we pushed open the door of the shack to find a freezing room draped in cobwebs, with dry dusty air and a foul stench. The room was full of mining stuff, mess, some beer glass, a photograph. "Strange, I wonder where Ondrej is" Dmitri said, going through the drawers of a battered old desk before triumphantly holding up a piece of paper "He's not here, but here's his mining permit and ID!" "We can't just steal it, what if he needs it." Dmitri inhaled the air, looked around the room.... "Doesn't look like he's coming back" Then I spotted what looked like a pile of rags in one corner of the room, and lifting up one part only confirmed what I already knew. "You're right. Doesn't look like he'll be back". We made our way out into the light, a strange taste in our mouths.
While we flew on to Novosibirsk he outlined his plans. We both know how to forge documents, right? All those years in prison didn't go to waste. We're going to get you a new identity. We're going to exchange some of that precious gold for money. We're going to get the truth out of the records office about my wife. And then we're going to get the hell out of Siberia.
I didn't have any other better ideas so I nodded and went on flying. Soon Novosibirsk was in sight. Maybe I would get a new identity, and shake the authorities off my tail. Could we fool the KGB? Maybe long enough to get out of Siberia? Out of Russia!!
Cleared as an agroplane visitor, we floated down to Novosibirsk....
One of the big Lisunovs held while we came in.
This mammoth radar must eat enough electricity to electrify the whole of Siberia.
Taxiing to the ramp.
We scrabbled together a few roubles for the landing fee, and soon we were in Novosibirsk city centre, gazing through the harshly lit shop windows at the shelves. I had never seen so many shelves! They were mainly empty, it's true, but the capacity!
We bought what we needed and found a very dark joint in which to forge my papers, and went on a trip to the goldsmiths... he looked at me funny, seemed very surprised that I'd found some gold (If he'd seen the whole lot I had he'd have probably collapsed - I just exchanged a portion for a fat wad of dog-eared roubles). Then it was time for the record office. Dmitri was a mess of nerves. "I'll wait outside" I said. When he'd gone in through the doors it started to rain. I bought an umbrella nearby and waited....
More grim Siberian adventures to come
Here...
http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb/ ... 1128290181
Thanks for looking at this mammoth lot!!!
Krigl
