his uniform, then followed him downstairs to the UAZ jeep waiting on the street. On his way out, the young lieutenant snatched the half-empty bottle of Sovietskoe shampanskoye from the kitchen table. As the UAZ yawed into the sharp left-hand bend on Lesi Ukrainki Street, Khmel held tight to the bottle. He drained it to the dregs. Whatever the emergency, there was no need to waste good Soviet champagne.
