EXTRACT FOR
The Soviet Secret
(Anna Mann)

Low buildings lined the concrete road, each as bland as the next. Cyrillic script was bold on every wall, as though labelling each building. The ubiquitous hammer and sickle showed on every facade, there was no doubting where the girls were, a true taste of behind-the-scenes Russia.

Are they training athletes here, or brainwashing them? She asked herself, everything was so formal and stiff, there was no hint of frivolity, almost like the mindset of the coaching staff was that a hint of colour would destroy focus and concentration.

Amber pictured colleges back home, the grass, the brightness even on a rainy day... then shuddered to imagine how depressing the Soviet equivalent would be if the rain was falling.

The bus rounded a corner and drove out onto a wide expanse of tarmac. Weeds grew up through the cracks and in the distance a radar spun slowly atop a metal frame tower.

Airport!

The open space. The radar tower. They spoke of an airfield not a training centre.

Maybe we have to fly the rest of the way? Amber shifted in her seat and tried to peer through the front window. Her view was blocked by a large woman in a grey uniform. A guide she'd presumed, although the woman hadn't uttered a single word since their departure.

The bus turned slightly and Amber saw an Antonov AN-148 on the apron, mobile steps leading up to the cabin. We must be flying the rest of the way she thought, then decided that it was strange that no one had mentioned an air trip.

Military surrounded the aircraft, Amber felt a little alarmed but soon relaxed, they were security, they were there to ensure the safety of the US delegation, nothing more sinister than that.

The bus coasted to a halt and the front door swung open with a hiss. The grey uniformed woman stood and turned to face the girls, Amber had expected a smile but saw only distaste in the woman's expression.

"Get off." she barked in heavily accented English.

Manuela, who was sat beside Amber gasped softly, this was not the kind of respect that had been displayed since their arrival.

"You heard me, sluts. Get off now!"

Murmurs ran through the stunned teens, this was something that none of them had expected. As the eldest, Amber stood and walked calmly to the front of the bus.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly, "Why are you calling us names, don't you know who we are?"

"I do not care who you are." the woman spat, then grabbed Amber by the front of her dress, snatched her necklace breaking the fine chain, and dragged her to the steps. Just in time Amber grasped the handrail as she was pushed hard. She missed the first step but managed to steady herself avoiding a painful and embarrassing face-first fall onto the tarmac outside. 

Furious, she began to turn, and it was then that she saw a ring of soldiers facing the doorway, their weapons levelled menacingly. Swiftly Amber bit back her anger, for the girls to start a fight was maybe what the Soviets wanted, maybe they wanted them to be an excuse to increase tensions between the super-powers?

I won't be the reason she told herself as she stepped down and raised her hands.

"Just do as you are told girls," she called over her shoulder, "Don't give them a reason to make this worse."