Gagarin is the mystery of the mission - стр. 4

Chapter 2: Mom's message

Someone was shaking me. I opened my eyes. My father, or rather his body, was lying next to me. I was helped to stand up. I looked at the monitor. The dolphin on it winked at me. I wasn't thinking straight. Was it a dream?

Madame Magdalene, as Dad called her, with the real name Magda, led me from the room. I was still in a state of shock. My father's sudden death, the upheaval in my mind, the revelation of my virtual dad. The last one was the one that bothered me the most with its mystery. What was it?

Magda took me to the clerk's office, and there was Mom on the screen. She was crying.

– Son," she said, wiping away her tears. – How could this have happened? Was Daddy complaining about his health? Son, I miss you very much, I'll be there soon.

I cried again. I wanted to hug her. I felt so alone.

My mother worked in a joint program of our research center and a similar one in the USA. Already from my childhood I realized that the cooperation was secret and concealed more than the very purpose of this cooperation. Since my childhood years I heard about classified centers, about the secrecy of which, by the way, I learned as if just now, from the information that came to me. Before that, life itself, the work of the research institute, everything I had heard at my father's lectures was something to be hidden from the whole world, but the world itself seemed illusory to me. It was as if it didn't exist.

– I need to talk to the supervisor," Mom finally said very firmly.

It was addressed to Uncle Gostomysl, who approached, as usual, unnoticed and quietly. His demeanor, like his name, was mysterious. He nodded to Magda, and she stood up and hugged me, whispering in my ear:

– Come on, Butterscotch. Say goodbye to your mom. You'll talk to her alone soon. We should go out for a while.

Already on my way out, I heard from Gostomysl:

– You realize that's impossible. At least not yet.

***

We went back to the office. Mom was still on the screen, Uncle Gostomysl was sitting a little farther away. When I approached, my mother wiped her tears, moved closer to the screen and said:

– Come closer son, I want to kiss you… Let's kiss through the screen.

I came close, close and nestled into the screen, just like my mother.

– Look me in the eyes," she asked.

I tried to do it, but my eyes were blurry. What happened in the next second I didn't understand, much less explain to myself. A faint light flashed in my mother's gas, and a slight shiver ran through my nerves.

My mother broke away from the screen, I did too, more by reflex than consciously, and Uncle Gostomyslom jumped up and stared intently at the screen and into my eyes. Then he turned to the unknown observer with a question: