Stars by Tal Bauer

Author:Tal Bauer [Bauer, Tal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-11-20T18:00:00+00:00

They walked back toward Dr. Sevastyanov’s home, squinting against the slanted sunbeams that carved through the football stadium and the city park. A creaking Ferris wheel spun slowly in the wind, the hold-down chain long gone, rust crawling up the frame and over the buckets and bonnets that used to ferry riders in lazy circuits over the city. Grass grew around abandoned rides, a caterpillar and a train steaming around a long-dry pond.

“Do you smell that?” Ethan sniffed the air, trading worried looks with Blake.

Jack breathed deep. Grass and damp air, rust and old concrete, mildew and age. And, faintly, smoke.

“Lots of fires in Siberia,” Ilya grunted. “People burn fires every night.”

“Look at that—” Pete pointed, jogging to Jack’s side. “Smoke ahead. Maybe two hundred yards.”

“That’s the university!” Jack took off, Pete, Ethan, and Blake hot on his heels. Cursing, Ilya followed, jogging behind them across Lenin Avenue and up Moskovskiy Trakt.

Black smoke billowed from the medical school courtyard, mixing with shouts and cries and the ringing of old fire alarm bells. Men and women screamed in Russian, and students and professors milled in the courtyard, rubbernecking a blaze consuming one of the slender faculty townhomes.

“It’s Dr. Sevastyanov’s!” Jack shouted. “We have to—”

Ethan collared Jack, holding him back from running up the steps of the home as a fireball blew out the windows. Glass rained down on the crowd, and the onlookers scattered, screaming. Across Tomsk, the wail of police and fire engines rose. “Jack, don’t!” Ethan shouted. “It’s not safe!”

“We have to see if she’s alive!”

“I’ll go.” Ilya shouldered past, pulling off his coat and covering his mouth and nose before jogging up Dr. Sevastyanov’s front steps. Her flower pots, the carefully tended blooms and bulbs, were shattered and toppled over, mountains of dirt and trampled petals scattered on her stoop.

“I’m going with him.” Jack shook Ethan off and ran to catch up, Ethan chasing Jack.

They followed Ilya into Dr. Sevastyanov’s house, Pete and Blake hot on their heels. Smoke clung to the walls and the ceiling, thick and hot, scratching at their lungs with every coughing gasp. Jack dropped to a crouch, Ethan at his side, and they trailed Ilya as he crab-walked through the foyer.

“Jack!” Ilya shouted. His voice was muffled by his coat. Through the haze, Jack saw him wave and beckon to them. In moments, his figure was lost in the smoke again. Jack pushed on, ducking his head and pulling his shirt up to cover his mouth and nose. His eyes watered and ran, rivers cascading down his face as he tried to blink away the burning smoke.

His foot hit something soft. He looked down.

He saw a delicate foot inside a high-heeled shoe, a thin leather ankle strap wrapping around a slender leg.

“She’s dead!” Ilya roared, suddenly right beside him, grabbing Jack’s shoulder. “She’s gone!”

“What happened?” Was it the fire? Was it the smoke? They could drag her out, get her breathing again—

“Someone murdered her!” Ilya stabbed his finger in the center of Jack’s forehead, then twice in his chest.

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