1. Fishing near Moscow.

1. It was a long time ago… I was a graduate student at the Physics Department of Moscow State University back then. Yes, the M.V. Lomonosov University on Lenin Hills in Moscow. It was the 1990s.

And grad school—it’s really stressful… by the end of the three-year program, you’re supposed to write your dissertation… but I just couldn’t get it together at all…. My advisor dumped a problem on me—here, figure this out… and then the jerk took off to Paris to give lectures… But I needed to discuss it with him… to talk to a smart person… I didn’t have a damn chance to do that… I’d approach people in my own theoretical physics department… tried to get some advice there… they’d smile condescendingly… “Go with the flow,” they’d say…

So, in that rather depressed mood, I decided to take a trip out into nature…. To think things through. To figure out what was what.

I used to travel like that sometimes, just me, my backpack, and a fishing rod. And even out on the water in kayaks… if I was with good company. So pitching a tent, building a fire, and fishing for my dinner was no problem at all for me.

I knew some lake spots there… got on a commuter train to the Moscow suburbs… an hour’s ride… went into the woods, a two-hour walk with my backpack… pitched a tent near the lake shore… started casting my line… and mulling over my thoughts… that was the challenge… I had a delicate sense of emptiness. I’d read a lot—but nothing—to catch anything new there. Caught a fish... well, enough for dinner... plus three potatoes in my backpack... enough.

There was a thunderstorm at night—it poured. I slept poorly... felt a bit queasy... even had a twinge—I thought—what’s going on... But I pitched the tent right—I’m dry… . So I stepped out of the tent in the morning—started stretching… and suddenly the world seemed brighter… walked over to the lake — holy cow, a bear family… a mother bear with her cubs splashing in the water—about 200 meters from me… Then I look the other way—a huge moose is standing there—about 50 meters away... I think—what kind of zoo is this... you see these animals once a year... something’s off... It’s kind of beautiful... the sun is shining, and the animals are nearby...

But somehow it feels dangerous here… I need to get out of here. Something deep inside… a bad feeling is telling me… get out of here…

I packed up the tent quickly… without even letting it dry… I think I need to get to the road… I headed toward the road along a trail through the forest—took a couple of steps—suddenly I heard this roar… I look—a bear is coming through the woods roughly in my direction and growling... well, I duck behind a bush—neither dead nor alive... I hear the bear approach the bush I’m hiding behind... panting like a steam engine... I think—I’ll just drop my backpack and dash over to that tree... to climb up... but the bear suddenly turned away from me—a wild boar attacked it... and they started fighting...

I bolted toward the road, dodging some bugs that were flying into me—I ran out onto the road... I guess I wanted to keep running... There was an explosion behind me in the woods... it threw me to the other side of the road... What the hell is going on here? Explosions—is it the military, some idiots doing exercises, where are they shooting???

Then it got so quiet... minor explosions... and I’m sitting by the road... and I realize—it’s on the other side...

Then there were some smaller explosions over there—and then everything went quiet… I’m thinking—what on earth was that… maybe the military really was shooting…. And I’m sitting by the little river, half-concussed by the last explosion… shaking my head…

Suddenly, a voice—so clear—popped into my head… “The main thing now is not to get nervous... because that’s dangerous...”

And silence... and I think—that’s exactly what was missing in my head... everything’s screwed... I need treatment...

I have to go to a psychiatrist... I’m done for.

The voice appears again—it tells me—“Well, how can I convince you—just get up and go into that river...”

I reply—I’m not crazy yet… the voice tells me—get up and go into the river...

So convincingly… I got up and went into the river—and walked on the water—like Jesus—stood there, hopped a bit—like on the floor… went to the shore—sat down and thought…

And the voice again… so insinuating… “Well, you understand that something happened, that you’re different now…”

I cautiously ask, “Well, explain…”

“Last night, a lens of opportunity passed through your planet… and through the place where you happened to be… a very rare occurrence… and I caught your signal here, connected…”

And who are you… I didn’t send any signals…

The answer was this—what should I be called… with a sigh… well, call me Basil… .

And where are you anyway… I ask…

He: I’m very far away… but that doesn’t matter…

I ask—what do you mean, far away…

Basil: Many light-years, in your terms…

I told him—what are you talking about—I’m a physicist after all... what do you mean, light-years?

Basil laughed... You study the fine structure of the vacuum... the vacuum is a tubular structure—it determines the speed of light... It’s like that for you... in other places it’s different.... Is that clear??

Basil continued—the vacuum is tubes pointing in different directions in other dimensions that you don’t even know about… but you can align them in one direction… and the signal will travel faster than the speed of light… instantly… but of course there are technical issues there… . But those are minor details.

Basil continued—I’m really far away from you… but right now—they’re after your soul… run to the right… there’ll be a ditch and a pipe… climb into the pipe… and stay there… they’ve flown here for you…

And then I heard a noise—a helicopter had landed on the highway… I bolted as the voice said and climbed into the pipe… and sat there in the mud until I heard the chopper fly away...

And I just felt it — when the soldiers were walking nearby, right here, they were close… that’s the danger... but I was lying there—like a pile of trash. I got lucky

Afterward—I climbed out of the pipe…

Basil appeared again — Get into the river… and rinse yourself off there, then tell yourself — I want to dry off.

… I got into the cold water of the little river… it stung… I swam back and forth... I got out — told myself—dry off—and I dried off…

Well, if you’re not a fool—listen to what I’m going to tell you… You can tell me—disappear— and I’ll disappear… and you won’t live three days… I guarantee it.

Or don’t flinch… calm down… listen to me…

And then I decided to walk through the stream again… I just started walking, stepping carefully… and the water was holding me… about two meters below me… And I’d just rinsed off in it…

I got back to the bank—I said—Basil —one more time, tell me what happened to me and how you ended up in my head…