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"Di now"

"When then?"

"I will tell you when First ill break the blockade Yes, it will take all we have, but ill do it, and then in the spring--"

Dimitri chuckled "Maybe we should just send Tania to do it"

For a ht he had misheard

Did Dimitri just mention Tatiana?

"What did you just say?" he asked quietly and slowly

"I said, maybe we should just send Tania She is quite the little blockade runner"

"What are you talking about?"

"That girl," Diet to Australia by herself if she wanted to!" Howling, he threw his head back "Before we know it, she’ll be rad"

"What the fck are you talking about?"

"I’ you, Alexander," Di two hundred thousand of ouryou and me, we should have Tatiana Metanova break the blockade"

Stubbing out his cigarette, Alexander said, "I have no idea what you’re talking about" Hoping Dimitri wouldn’t notice, he clenched his hands around the chair posts

"I said to her, I said, ‘Tania, you ought to enlist You’ll be a general in no ti--"

"What do youit hard to continue "What do you o She made me dinner on Fifth Soviet They finally had their pipes fixed The apart there, but" Di to be quite the little cook"

It took most of what Alexander had to reht?" Dimitri said with an a about, Dima? Is this another one of your little white lies? Tatiana is not in Leningrad"

"Alexander, believe ood She told hed "Can you believe it? Our little Tanechka Who would have thought that she would be the only one left standing?"

Alexander would have liked to say stop it, but he did not trust his voice He said nothing, his hands reotten a letter fro for me at the barracks Made rad since the ot there, too!" Dih the Volkhov front, as if Manstein and his thousand-kilo boet into the good fight, I want her withhimself under barest control, Alexander said, "And when is it, Diht?"

"Very clever--"

"Diive a shit This doesn’twith General Govorov in a few minutes You will have to excuse me"

After Dimitri left, Alexander became so upset in his tent that in his stricken fury he broke apart the wooden chair he had been sitting on

Now he kneas wrong with her letters Alexander eak froh tier continued to cloud his judg he went to Colonel Stepanov

"Oh, no," said Stepanov, co from around his desk "I see that look in your eyes, Captain Belov" He smiled

With his hat in his hands, Alexander nodded and said, "Sir, you have been very kind to me I haven’t had a day off since I came back in July"

"But, Belov, you had over five weeks off in July!"

"All I’ for is a few days, sir If you like, I can drive a supply truck into Leningrad That way it will be partly for ar on, Alexander?" Stepanov said, coave a s is fine"

Stepanov studied hi out of here to Molotov every ht, sir, maybe we should stop the money transfers to Molotov"

Stepanov lowered his voice another notch "Does it have anything to do with the staistry office in Molotov that I saw in your passport when I was signing you in?"

Alexander kept silent "Sir, I a to collect hihed "If you don’t come back by ten o’clock roll call on Sunday"

"Sir, I will be here It’s h tiet this"

As Alexander was leaving, Stepanov said, "Take care of your personal business, son Forget the supplies You won’t have another chance for personal business until we break the blockade"