And then he realized there were sounds of pain coupled with the sights.

A lot of men in pain. He could make out a door at the far right side of the ward, and by the sound and numbers of men moaning, he expected a nurse or doctor or even an orderly to enter the room-but none did.

Luger waited several minutes, but the men's cries went unanswered. He could see shadows move past the doors, but no one entered.

What kind of hospital was this? If this was a Russian military hospital, Luger could understand getting poor treatment as a prisoner-but these other men weren't foreigners. Some of them cried out in the Russian language. Didn't they bother taking care of their own?

Luger extended a shaking hand to the railing on his bed. It rattled easily. He continued to rattle it and was rewarded a moment later with the rail collapsing alongside the bed. The sudden noise caused the moans to intensify, as if the men knew a nurse was nearby and wanted to be sure they were heard. Luger waited for what he thought was a few more minutes to see if anyone would come, and was surprised to find he had dozed off-for how long, he did not know.

But the brief rest was helpful. He found he now had the strength and control to move his legs to the edge of the bed. As first his right leg, and then his left emerged from under the sheets, he was overjoyed to see little evidence of his injuries-a lot of deep scars, large hairless spots where skin grafts were taken from farther up his thigh, thick bandages all around his legs, but little pain or discomfort. Skinny as hell, but all in one piece. He commanded his toes to wiggle, and after having to wait a measurable moment, was rewarded with a faint movement. He was weak and obviously emaciated, but he was in one piece, and the collective pieces seemed to be operable. Thank God for that.

With renewed vigor Luger swung his legs off the right edge of the bed and onto the floor.

The linoleum was gritty and cold, but at least he could feel it. The movement forced his torso to turn to the right, and he let his body roll right until he was facedown on the bed with his knees almost touching the floor. Luger dragged his feet closer to the bed, took a deep breath, braced himself, and began putting weight on his feet. His legs immediately began to shake, but with a lot of effort he managed to push himself upright.

Success!

Luger found a plastic hospital I.D. bracelet around his wrist, but there was not enough light to read it. He was dressed in a long armless hospital gown, much like a poncho, made of rough white cloth with the back slit open but with no ties to close it. No matter-he was going right back to bed anyway, right after he explored a little and got someone's attention at the nurses' station outside. The thought of escape crossed his mind, but the room was really cold and he didn't think he had a chance-even if he did manage to get out of the hospital, he was probably still in eastern Siberia. Where was he going to go? Alaska? Yeah, right. Not even if he had two men's strength.