Summary

In Moscow in June 1952, Lyudmila is frustrated with her work. Sometimes she can work for ages and make no real progress as a KGB officer. No matter how many people she catches, there are always more. There are always more people who put their self interest above that of the state. It is not possible to simultaneously feel and think, so she has learned to get rid of feeling. She trusts no one. While trying to catch ASCOT, she learned to focus only on the facts, not even trusting her judgment of the man’s character or his past service.

Marina, Lyudmila’s daughter who goes to school with Kip Digby, was fathered by someone Lyudmila turned in for possessing a radio which he used to listen to Western media. Lyudmila had known Marina’s father, Dmitri, since she was 12 years old. He was...