Enough with the sewing. You’re not particularly good at it anyway. Make the beautiful Russia of the future.
I moved into the Kremlin’s den and began by pulling Navalny and Saakashvili out of their cells: “Enough with the sewing, you’re not particularly good at it.” I gave them one task: remake the country into a place of happiness for everyone except the most hardened villains. The carrot: a post and a third of the missiles. The stick: political-prisoner status until the project is done. Then I phoned Muratov to apologize.…
“Dibs on being the first to be reshuffled,” I said when he spoke of shake-ups. Then I explained the first and second signaling systems: officials, like infants, don’t grasp words until backed by incentive. I chose a dress. The rest we decided together.
They took me from the colony and handed me a task. I don’t know if it’s a joke or a sharashka. I’ll work. As for “sewing”: I really wasn’t any good at it.
The world saw reforms, amnesties, and a ship to Mars in a single week. But the reforms were devised by an amateur, not a seasoned player. Only a narrow circle of the elite and American intelligence knows it. The real fun begins in the next book, when the double travels to the USA.
Read the complete story in “Putin in Space.” This page contains only a short excerpt; the book has the rest.
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