Binary code: Mystery number one - стр. 29

It was a huge underground railroad station. There were tracks through tunnels in different directions. Everything was painted in yellow and white stripes. Instead of trains, there were short narrow gauge tracks. There were quite a few people in overalls who were busy unloading oddly labeled cylinders. There was an interesting emblem on the cylinders in the form of a scrawled globe with a griffin on it, one paw covering a nuclear mushroom.

– This is Metro-2," said Yuri Vasilyevich. – In the secret department you will take special literature, you must know by heart what and where it is, how it works. How it turns on, how it turns off. Communications, control stations, stockpiles. Right down to which pipe goes where, what's in it, every wire, cable, communication line, every marking. You gotta know everything! That's our law, it's not just a whim. In case of emergencies, every specialist of your level must be able to take over the management of facilities.

Vasilyevich, telling him, gestured him to the platform. They boarded the narrow gauge train and drove off. It was like a regular subway with stations, but a little simpler. There was no pompous beauty or large spaces. At each station Yuri Vasilyevich told what strategic object it was connected with, what it served. It was a city within a city. All strategically important organizations had their duplicate centers in Metro-2. Warehouses, factories, communication centers, military storage facilities were scattered over a huge area upstairs and secretly interlocked through Metro-2 downstairs.

On the wall of one of the stations hung a diagram of both subways, secret and civilian, with their adjacent communications. "Metro-2" was much larger in diameter than the regular subway.

***

On one of the usual working days, Zhidkov came to Rutra's office. It was clear from the expression on his face that Vasilievich was preoccupied with something.

– Hello, Rutra Tigrovic.

– Hello, Yuri Vasilyevich. Is something wrong?

– Almost.

– Nothing momentous, I hope?

– The fateful thing has already happened.

Ruthra didn't answer or ask any questions. He waited for the chief to continue.

– You've probably realized by now that our special treaty with those whom ordinary citizens know as opposing parties looks not like a treaty, but a conspiracy.

– Maybe. How could it be otherwise? This whole scene is played out in the way people are used to historically understand the events.

– What I'm about to say is not for us to talk about. All the more so, it is not campaigning. However, I can, by virtue of my age and record, say it. Whatever treaties are proclaimed, there is a concept of rulers and those over whom the rulers have authority.