“What does it mean?”
“I think it means that your father wants you to finish what he started, Alexei.”
“He wants me to get information about Chernobyl out of Russia?”
The man shook his head. “It’s too late for that. I think he wants you to find another way.”
“Another way to do what?”
“To get to America. And to try to prevent the most powerful nation on the planet from self-destructing.”
The boy shook his head. “I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not old enough.”
“Old enough for what?”
“For anything. I can’t even leave this place.”
“How do you know your age and the fact that you’re an orphan aren’t actually advantages?” the man said. “Have you thought it through?”
“How could they be?”
“For one thing, the government seems pretty interested in you. My guess is, if you were to play your cards right, you might eventually gain access to some pretty elite and influential circles.”
“That would take years.”
“Exactly. Which is the one thing you do have. Alexei, you have to start thinking in four dimensions rather than three. You have to learn to use time to your advantage. Don’t just think about who you are, and what you have, and what you’re able to do right now. Think about who you want to be, and what you could have, and what you will be able to do at some point in the future. Then all you have to do is work backwards from there to find the path you have to follow.”
“But one person cannot change an entire country,” the boy said. His jaw was clenched and his lip trembled, but he did not let himself cry.
For the first time, the man smiled at the boy. He picked up the fur cap, gathered his coat, and stood. The woman beside him stood up, as well.
“I happen to know for an absolute fact that’s not true,” he said.
“Then tell me how.”
“Two ways,” the man told the boy. “Gradually, and then all at once.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
© 2013 MICHELLE CANTRELL
Christian Cantrell is a software developer from Northern Virginia. He writes the technology blog LivingDigitally.net and takes photographs for microkosmic.com. Cantrell is the author of several self-published short stories, including “Brainbox” and “Farmer One.” His first novel, Containment, was published by 47North in August 2012, and he is currently working on the sequel. You can follow Cantrell on Twitter at @cantrell.
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