“No, no, no, no, no!”
Fred gaped at the fussy woman in front of him, exasperated.
Sung Chong, proprietor of the fanciest clothier in Harbin, Lonja Province, looked him up and down like a runway judge at a fashion contest. “No, no, no, no, no!” she said again, clucking in discontent.
Outside, a breeze shook the few withered trees, the sky gray with impending rain. Harbin"s constant moisture and pervasive cold gave the planet a foreboding feel, a menacing mood. A faint patina of fog half-obscured the view out the window.
Across the room, Kate was admiring herself in her Adjutant Inspector uniform of the Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti, complete with epaulets, a field of decorations at the left breast broad enough to make a general weep, and a skirt tight enough to make him drool. If
