I knew precious little about guns. Surely Sir knew that. He must know as well that I needed no weapons to kill. Why give me a gun? Was the safety on? Was it even loaded?

One of the guards was 5 meters away. I dredged his mind for information about the gun. An MP-448 Skyph. The safety, this piece, was on. I turned it off. I ejected the magazine and checked it. It was empty. I looked Sir directly in the eye and dropped the gun onto the carpet.

I turned and walked to the compartment door. I opened it, stepped inside, and closed the door behind me. Polkovnik was catatonic on the bunk.

Val, is there anything at all that we can do for him?

Nothing, Kat. As I said, when she lashes out, people get hurt.

There were hurried footsteps in the corridor. I sensed that the steward had just entered the car. I listened through him.

“Sir,” he said rapidly, “the train is to be stopped and searched by the police at Volokolamsk Station.”

“When will we arrive there?”

“In less than 5 minutes.”

“Thank you, Georgiy.”