Metafire

But no one except Andrei knew there had been thirteen devices shipped in total. No one, alive, except George Davis and Dr. O'Leary knew that thirteen devices had been received. These three people shared the secret even from the others. The secret of horrible foreboding, the secret of the existence of the remaining two devices, was guarded by George, Dr. O'Leary, and by Andrei for entirely different reasons.

For Andrei, it was kindness and a slavic sense of fate.

Andrei was born in a small town in the Ukraine. He was a small, frail, child. He never understood how small and frail he was until he was sixteen years old and had seen pictures of himself in his school groups. By now, though, he was off to Moscow University to study Nuclear Physics. He had tested among the elite. He was to be among the elite of the Soviet Union. His future was assured.

Then the Soviet Union collapsed, almost overnight. Andrei had been put in charge of manufacturing in the Ukranian bomb making facility. His fluency in Ukranian, and his loyalty to the Soviets had left him in charge. During the times of extreme distress, when bomb orders had dried up, and Ukranian facilities had been frozen, Andrei had had a chance discussion with Stan.