He didn’t get one. He discovered the movie wasn’t over yet, because the Soviet ambassador somberly shook his head. “He told me we were entitled to nothing from the Midlothian object, nothing at all. He said the United States salvaged it from international waters, and under international law had the right to keep for itself what it found. Under international law, as I understand it, this position may possibly be justified.”

“So you’re going to let him, Russia’s going to let him, get away with that?” Jerry couldn’t believe his ears.

But Dobrynin held up a hand like a cop halting traffic. “I did not say so, young man. It is more complicated than that. Also, it is more dangerous. In 1945, your country used two atomic bombs against Japan. You had this new, very strong weapon. You had it. The Soviet Union did not. You could have used the threat of it, or the thing itself, to force concessions from my country. I was just entering the diplomatic service at that time. The concern was very great.”

“We didn’t do anything like that, though,” Jerry said.

“You did not. That is to your credit. Still, you could have, and we would have been powerless to resist. Comrade Stalin understood this very clearly.” Anatoly Dobrynin held up that meaty hand again. “I have not many good things to say for Stalin. He was harsh and brutal. But he had proper care for the security of the USSR. We used a maximum project to create our own nuclear bomb. By 1949, we succeeded. My country could speak again to yours as an equal on the world stage. We did not have to let ourselves be dictated to or bullied. Are you with me so far?”

“Yes, sir.” Jerry hoped so, anyhow.

“Good. I do not know how much of the history you take in, but that does not matter. You see what is important is the balance of power, or you would not have done what you did. From 1945 to 1949, the balance of power was tilted. The USSR stayed free and independent only because the USA let it stay that way. After 1949, my country stood on its own two feet once more. We will not exist on American sufferance again. The Midlothian object gives you the potential to claim such power over us. This is intolerable. We will not permit it.”

Jerry liked the sound of that not even a little bit. In his mind’s ear, he heard alarm bells ringing. He heard civil-defense sirens wailing. He heard fifty thousand high school teachers yelling “Drop!” In his mind’s eye, he saw a million high school kids diving under their desks and kissing their asses good-bye.

“What will you do, then?” he asked.