“
Oh.” Svetlana smiled warmly. She and Zoe had been smitten with each other from the moment they met; that was one of the main reasons Svetlana had defected. “That’s a good point. I vote for this French Riviera training too.” “Well, it’s not going to happen,” Erica said curtly, seeming annoyed with all of us. “This isn’t the movies. Spies don’t get caviar-level expense accounts and stay at ritzy hotels on the French Riviera. Most likely, you’re eating cold room-service borscht at a run-down hostel in Vladivostok.” “That’s still better than this,” Mike grumped, indicating the rain. Since our camp was located in a stand of old-growth forest, the thick canopy of leaves above was protecting us from the elements somewhat. Out on the open mountain passes we had been constantly drenched; now we were only getting moderately drizzled on. However, this wasn’t exactly a good thing, as the drier ground had attracted bears. Dozens of bears lived in the area surrounding our camp. They were all black bears, which meant they were significantly smaller than the grizzlies that roamed much of Alaska, but that didn’t mean they were small. Each weighed at least a hundred pounds, and some of the adult males were five times that. In addition, the bears had far more sense than we did and had sought shelter from the rain, rather than hiking in it for hours. They were all lurking in the forest around us. I had caught sight of a few in the distance, ripping apart logs in search of grubs or curled up and snoozing in dry spots. In general, the bears stayed away from us, but that wasn’t because they had signed a treaty. They were still wild animals. It was always possible that one might feel threatened and decide to attack.
”
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