"Don't shoot!" yelled Scone in Russian. "Americans! USAF!"
The captain, whom both Americans had seen several times before, lowered her burper.
"It's fortunate that I recognized you," she said. "We just killed three Axes who were dressed in Russian uniforms. They shot four of my men before we cut them down. I wasn't about to take a chance you might not be in disguise, too."
She gestured at the dead men. "The Axes got them, too?"
"Yes," said Scone. "But I don't know if any Axes are in there."
He pointed at the door to the control room.
"If there were, we'd all be screaming with pain," said the captain. "Anyway, they would have had to take the key from the officer on guard."
She looked suspiciously at the two, but Scone said, "You'll have to search him. I didn't touch him, of course."
She dropped to one knee and unbuttoned the officer's inner coatpocket, which Scone had not neglected to rebutton after replacing the key.
Rising with the key, she said, "I think you two must go back to the dome."