- Young Alex has a big problem: His entire family has gone missing. It happened in the middle of the night, but he didn't hear a thing because he was stuck in his isolated, closet-like room.
- This is horrible, but not entirely unusual—for citizens of Soviet Russia, sudden arrests by the secret police (known as the GPU) are terrifyingly common.
- Naturally, Alex is pretty shaken up. He pretty much just walks around the house in full-on zombie mode.
- With nothing else to do, Alex heads to school. If nothing else, he can get some advice from his favorite teacher, Katriana Sergyeva. Alex really likes Katriana, if you catch our drift.
- After school ends, Alex approaches the lovely Katriana; it takes him about a half a second to blurt the whole story out.
- Concerned, Katriana tells Alex to head to her apartment immediately and stay there for the night. He does.
- Katriana doesn't make it home until "dark" (1.41) thanks to being held up at the government-run bread store.
- After chowing down, Katriana gets down to brass tax: She wishes Alex could stay with her, but it just isn't feasible. Instead, she wants Alex to head to Moscow, where he can stay with his Uncle Dmitri.
- For her part, Katriana wishes that she could leave this whole stinkin' country. She might even have a chance someday—her brother, Basil, helps Russians escape the country from his home-base in St. Petersburg.
- With a plan finally in place, Alex collapses into a deep, much-needed sleep.