Part I, Chapters 1-3, pgs. 63-100 Summary

The time is now spring-summer of 1992 and the driver of the Lexus is driving the car across the desert. The driver wants to see Klara Sax. He stops where there is a group of people and the project control center. The man, who is 57 years of age, has not seen Klara Sax since he was 17. Klara is a celebrity artist.

Klara is being interviewed when he first sees her. She explains how her people are painting old aircraft. She is creating art in the desert.

The Lexus driver, Nick Shay, knows Klara from when he lived in New York. They sit and talk. They had been lovers in the Bronx many years ago. She tells him that her former husband, Albert, has recently died. They discuss the Soviet threat and bombs.

After they...