“The first time I went to Moscow, it took me a month to get there,” he recalled, as always speaking in Vietnamese. “I left by train from Ha Noi, traveling north through China and then to Vladivostok, where I changed to a Soviet railroad line. And then west, west, forever west. It took two weeks, day and night, just to cross Siberia. No food on the train, only what my wife had packed for me before I left Ha Noi. No blankets, no bed. I have never been so cold, shivering on that train, looking out at the dark, empty tundra and wondering if this was what all of Russia except Moscow itself would look like. Or maybe even Moscow! I had seen a few pictures of the city, but I don’t need to tell you, Cong Ly, that pictures lie if governments want them to.”

He drained the last half inch of scotch from his plastic cup, his face warm with memories. He was wearing an old gray sweater that he had saved for all those years after coming home. The sweater stank of mothballs. “But Moscow was so beautiful. And its people were so warm. I know that most Americans will never truly like Russians, Cong Ly, and also the other way around. To the Vietnamese you are both like jealous suitors, wishing to be understood. Both cultures are so strong, and yet so completely different. Power in Russia has always come from the top, even before communism. The people are used to it. In fact, they expect it. But my impression of power in America is that each individual feels he is powerful and believes he has the right always to resist those at the top.”

Colonel Pham looked at Condley. “Your Scottish and Irish family, yes? As you say, always fighting. Sometimes in a war, but even when there is no war. Maybe fighting their own government, or when the government is calm maybe just fighting each other. Such people are impossible to rule completely from the top.”

“Like the Vietnamese,” grinned Condley, sipping on his own scotch. “Fighting and golf, right, Colonel?”

The colonel nodded, as always enjoying these little exchanges that showed he understood Americans. “Very good, Cong Ly. Very clever. But you are right. Our present system pretends to adore the Soviet model, but it knows it must adjust. The Vietnamese do not like being ruled from the top either, so maybe we are a little bit like the Americans. Someday there will come a different style of government.”

“A dangerous thing for a communist official to say.” Condley was taken aback by the colonel’s bluntness.