A Pinch in Saint Petersburg, Howard A. Sherman [dark books to read txt] 📗

Welcome to the eBook edition of A Pinch in Saint Petersburg. This is a transcript of an actual session of the interactive version of the novel in which the reader - who is the main character in the story - decides
to take the novel in a certain direction. One of the most moving and most powerful aspects of interactive fiction is its non-linear nature; that almost anything can be tried at any point in time with unknowable degrees of success -- until you try.

Although nearly every room of any importance in The Hermitage is faithfully implemented in this novel, A Pinch in Saint Petersburg is much more than a virtual tour of The Winter Palace. Art lovers will be delighted by the enhanced attention to detail to be sure.

Enjoy this transcript. At the end is additional commentary about the interactive nature of A Pinch in
Saint Petersburg begging you discovers more for yourself.

[“I have a firm, an absolute conviction that the fate of Russia - that my own fate and that of my family
- is in the hands of God who has placed me where I am. Whatever may happen to me, I shall bow to His will with the consciousness of never having had any thought other than that of serving the country which He has entrusted to me." - Nicholas II, The Last Czar of Russia.]

It's a perfect summer day in Saint Petersburg. Westerners are well aware of Russia's punishing winters
but are far less informed of the sensational summers. The on-and-off sunshine is all on this morning with
the bright sun shining atop a blue sky with large puffs of cumulus to provide contrast. You had the smart
insight to beat the crowds that converge on Palace Square and arrive early with your spouse and daughter to be among the first in line to explore The Hermitage today.

Standing in front of the impressive facade of The Winter Palace you make no pretense of pretending you are not in awe of this positively palatial palace. Your eyes run from left to right and cannot follow the full length of this majestic monument to imperial Europe without blinking.

Half the royal families of Europe were somehow connected to The House of Romanov before their fall but that historical footnote is lost in a sea of separate singular synergies dancing in your head; The Flemish gallery, the works of Impressionist masters like Monet, Manet and Gauguin that you've never seen before among a myriad of murals and centillions of art of every aspect.

Your young daughter is frolicking at your feet; certainly excited by the atmosphere but unaware of its importance to the art world. She's not hailing the history books either. She's with her mommy and daddy again at last after three brutal weeks of involuntary exile; daddy had to work and mommy had the time to travel with daughter in tow. That's all in the past now as your family is reunited with the perfect first repose - a day at one of the world's most important museums.

Your spouse is smiling as talk of special dinners, quiet walks alone and other important and deeply personal interludes are hinted at in code that youngsters are oblivious to. Your interest is enhanced as much as by the tantalizing laugh of libido's lilt as by the exotic surroundings of a far off land and the fantastic food so promised. Holding hands and looking into eyes seems not so sophomoric today. Ah, what a magnetic magnifier nearly a month's absence can be.

Your revelry at the prospects of a delightful dinner, tight hugs and warm kisses from your daughter and more amorous meanderings with your partner are shattered by the screech of tires that slices through the air.

In reflex you turn your head away from the onrushing car for just a moment and snap it back just in time to watch the love of your life and the apple of your eye stuffed into the back seat of a slick black Mercedes at gun point. Before you can even open your mouth to speak the Mercedes races off and turns a corner.

As you juggle your options in your head a mature, well-dressed man walks up to you. "I know who took your family and why." he starts in a rich Russian accent. "There is a criminal element at work here, an element that the authorities cannot assist you with. Police cannot help, your Embassy is powerless to intervene. I know the kidnappers to be ruthless with vast resources at their disposal. But I know a way to help you. If you want to see your family alive again, the only intelligent option is to meet me at the Cossack Cafe just a few steps away east of here. Come alone." With a wan smile the older, dapper man melts into the crowds and is gone.

A Pinch in Saint Petersburg Interactive Suspense Fiction Copyright (c) 2010 by Howard A. Sherman
Type "about" for information about this game. Type "disclaimer" for important legal information.

Release 1 / Serial number 100523 / Inform v6.30 Library 6/11 D
ORLibrary release 1.3C (2004.06.08)
Type HELP to access the Online Help System.

Palace Square, Near Palace
The fantastic facade of The Winter Palace of the Czars stretches out across the equivalent of perhaps four city blocks, it's green and gold gables beguiling your eyes as you briefly imagine what sort of wealth the Russian Imperial Family once held.

The Hermitage, majestic for its past glory and the present treasures it contains is directly in front of you due north while south leads to the General Staff Building. The cobblestones of Palace Square also extend to the east and the west.

>east

Kiosks & Carts
Mobile kiosks and merchant carts are lined up in a row offering soft drinks to slake the thirst of tourists and souvenirs to satisfy the hunger of visitors who wish to remember their trip to this historic place. Collectibles such as matryoshka dolls, small hunks of amber jewelry, tiny teaspoons and (faux?) fur caps are easily obtainable. Palace square is just west.

>east

Tourist Parking
Long rows of luxury tour buses are parked here with various power and sewage feeds getting these plush coaches ready to shuttle their passengers back from whence they came. A zigzag path around buses, hoses, cables leads east or a much straighter path is due west.

>e

Canal Corner
One of the many arteries of Saint Petersburg's vast canal system cuts through this street, a bridge eastward allowing access onward over the water. A cafe is on the northeast corner across the street next to an art gallery. You can follow the canal which runs north and south there or head west to The Winter Palace. Cracked concrete steps lead down to the river.

>ne

Cossack Cafe (Outside)
During the reign of the tsars, the Cossacks were the fiercest fighters the Imperial family could always turn to and expect unwavering loyalty. To the very last days of the Empire, the Cossacks died fighting for Mother Russia along the fronts of World War I leaving the palace sorely undefended just a few steps away.

Set into the side of an otherwise dour brick building, the entrance to a chic and very metropolitan cafe is here.

>in

Cossack Cafe (Inside)
The minimalist approach so popular across Europe today is the first thing to strike you as you enter the cafe.

Four comfortable chairs more at home in a living room than a coffee house stand along the eastern wall opposite the coffee bar north of here. Opposite the coffee bar is a tiny round table with two comfortable seats by a window. A bathroom is west and a well-dressed man is sitting in a chair in the southeast corner. There is a matching pair of huge Phillips high-definition TVs mounted on the east and west walls.

You can see Dmitri and Boris here.

>north

Coffee Bar
Barristas are stationed here to serve hot beverages and scrumptious pastries to patrons. A cozy corner is just east as the entrance lays south. Twin swinging doors lead into the kitchen.
You can see a long narrow counter (on which is a long knife) here.

>take knife
Taken.

>in

Kitchen
Judging from the simple menu of pastries and sandwiches it strikes you that this fully-equipped kitchen is hardly living up to its full potential. Gleaming kitchen gadgets are all over the place with the unmistakable impression all brand new equipment radiate. Swinging doors lead out to the cafe.

A Siemens refrigerator hums quietly in one corner.

>open fridge
You open the Siemens refrigerator, revealing a brick of putty.

>take the putty
Taken.

>close the siemens
You close the Siemens refrigerator.

>out
Coffee Bar

You can see a long narrow counter here.

>s

Cossack Cafe (Inside)

You can see Dmitri and Boris here.

>look

Cossack Cafe (Inside)
Four comfortable chairs more at home in a living room than a coffee house stand along the eastern wall opposite the coffee bar north of here. Opposite the coffee bar is a tiny round table with two comfortable seats by a window. A bathroom is west and a well-dressed man is sitting in a chair in the southeast corner. There is a matching pair of huge Phillips high-definition TVs mounted on the east and west walls.

You can see Dmitri and Boris here.

>se

Cafe Corner
A large comfortable chair covered in tan fabric is parked in a corner allowing its occupant to have his back to the world. Something tells you he prefers it that way.

You can see Sergei here.

Glancing at the nearest plasma TV, the wizened Mafiya boss shakes his head and frowns at something the announcer said.

>look at sergei
The fine cut of his Italian suit and the brilliance of the shine on his shoes already mark this man as someone serious. His grooming reinforces that image; there's not a whisker out of place in his goatee and his balding head hasn't a hair out of place. If not for the amused look on his face he'd make a passingly good impersonator of Lenin.

Sergei takes a short sip from a tiny espresso cup.

>wait
Time passes.

The well-dressed Russian man is paging through a newspaper.

>wait
Time passes.

Sergei taps away at his cell phone for several seconds. He seems to be using the phone's calculator function.

>wait
Time passes.

Sergei looks across the cafe by the kitchen, scanning the area carefully.

>search sergei
You find nothing of interest.

Sergei taps away at his cell phone for several seconds. He seems to be using the phone's calculator function.

>sergei, hello
You might as well be talking to a brick wall.

"You're anxious to get your family back, aren't you?" the man asks you, his gaze deeply penetrating your soul. "Ask me about the kidnapping and I shall enlighten you."

>ask sergei about kidnapping
"We know who captured your spouse and your child and we can get them back for you." he says, his hands motionless and his eyes boring into your eye sockets. "If you want them rescued just ask."

Sergei taps away at his cell phone for several seconds. He seems to be using the phone's calculator function.

>ask the man about rescue
"Your family was kidnapped by a crazy monarchist faction who wants