Initial Arrival 25

Day 3
30 September 1956
Yakutsk, Siberia, USSR

There was a slight pause before the man responded quietly and calmly, “If you need to lie, you need to accept that you will lie. Presumably the risks are greater if you tell the truth. And they can't tell what you are thinking, they don't know you, they won't immediately figure you out. Don't be too specific, stay as close to the truth as possible, and they will fill in the details for themselves. And tell them what they want to believe. They want to believe you are a spy, so they will believe this even if you can't prove this. So, let us put this together. Why were you in the clearing?”

“I was lost. I heard voices, so I went in that direction, hoping someone could help me.”

“How did you get to the forest?”

“I don't know. There was a wormhole or something. … But I can't tell them that. … I could have gotten there by ground or from the sky. But from the sky I don't have a parachute or a vehicle.”

“If you were lost, it would be unlikely to find the same location. Your gear may just be lost, or taken by criminals. From the ground you would have had to come a long distance unless you had been in this city. An American would be out of place here. You would have needed to be hidden somewhere.”

“An analyst, someone working on signal intelligence maybe.”

“Perhaps. Or you could have been a prisoner of the criminals.”

“I don't know anything about the criminals or any potential American spies here.”

“So, when you fell, you forgot your contact here. ”

Jennifer thought for a bit. “I got into a fight. I was forced out with the wrong gear. Perhaps I was the technician and was either sexually assaulted or disagreed with their politics.”

“You don't think that is too complicated?”

“It is far less complicated, or at least far more believable than me being a spy. I can't do the social stuff, but the numbers I can, so I wouldn't be a spy or a secretary. But there used to be these women who did the calculations. I have been trained in physics, so can do calculations. I don't have a husband so I need a job, but most jobs wouldn't hire women. And I can't deal with the concept of working for a private for profit corporation, so a government job would make sense. … Sexual assault would be common in the 50s since men believe they own womens' bodies. Also, I frequently disagree with Americans on political issues, and there were the communist witch hunts in the 50s. This would explain why I don't know anything and why I don't have the right supplies, as well as why I don't trust the US. Besides, the Soviet authorities would be happy to see someone fleeing from the 'backwards American society.' ”

“You have thought about this before.”

“I disagree with Americans a lot. And I imagine things often.”