"The Extra Twin" by Kir Bulychev, summary Automatic translate

This science fiction novella was written in 1997. It’s an ironic tale of a stealthy space invasion of the Soviet hinterland. The invaders employ a tactic of social mimicry: they plant infant agents, who grow up to be obedient citizens and build impeccable careers within the nomenklatura. The work is part of the author’s "Veryovkin" series. This book is the second in the series. Other well-known works in the series include "The Cauldron," "The Future Begins Today," "In the Claws of Passion," and "Cinderella at the Market."

Strange events of 1968

The story takes place in 1968 in the provincial town of Verevkino. The story is told by Semyon Semyonovich, an ordinary school teacher of Russian language and literature. He lives in a wooden house with his wife, Nianila Fedorovna. Nikolai and Klavdiya Stadnitsky occupy the second apartment on the floor. Nikolai works at the local consumer union, and his young wife is expecting a child. The teacher notices strange things happening at the antenatal clinic. The real doctor, Dina Iosifovna, is suddenly replaced by a tall, red-haired, limping woman who answers to the same name. No one but an observant neighbor notices this disturbing substitution.

Klavdia goes into labor unexpectedly early. The cause is a birthday cake eaten at her tyrannical mother-in-law, Lilia Yulianovna. The cake contained pickled mushrooms. Her mother-in-law is known for her stern temper: she had previously given Klavdia a box of Italian shoes containing a live viper. Klavdia manages to reach the maternity ward with a piece of cake in hand and successfully delivers a single boy. The young mother is greeted home by her husband, neighbors, and drunken workers from the tinsmith shop located on the ground floor of their building. The celebration is noisy, but soon a long-awaited silence descends.

A few days later, a huge scandal erupts in the Stadnitskys’ apartment. Semyon Semyonovich and Nianila Fedorovna rush to the rescue and find Nikolai in a rage. Two identical babies lie in the crib. Nikolai accuses his wife of infidelity, suspecting the second child is fathered by a colleague. Klavdiya swears she only brought home one son from the hospital. Semyon Semyonovich suspects an unknown external force is at work. To avoid gossip, the men go to the reception desk. With the help of an old friend, Daria Tikhonovna, they correct the medical records. Now, officially, Klavdiya is considered the mother of twins.

Growing up brothers

Twenty years pass. The children receive traditional Russian names — Kirill and Methodius. While the boys remain perfect copies of each other in appearance, their personalities are radically different. Kirill has a lively, restless nature. He frequently changes interests, shoots accurately, and asks his teachers frank questions. One day, at a meeting, he proposes erecting a monument not only to Soviet militiamen but also to ordinary German soldiers. Methodius grows up to be an obedient, athletic, and dull teenager. He leads the Red Pathfinders, carefully irons his clothes, and always follows the rules. The teacher keeps a secret diary, hoping to identify the alien spy.

In the fall, Czechoslovakian astrobiologist Milan Svazeki arrives in town. He finds Semyon Semyonovich and shares his discovery. In April 1968, a gas belt crossed the Earth. Along this belt, lonely women suddenly gave birth to children, and in some cases, the babies were switched. The scientist shows a map of the gas belt but doesn’t have time to reveal the true cause of the phenomenon. A meter-long block of icy ammonia falls from a clear sky. The ice crushes Milan to death. The local fake Dina Iosifovna quickly declares the meteorite to be frozen waste from a passing airplane’s toilet.

Semyon Semyonovich hides the dead scientist’s map and intends to devote the rest of his days to secretly fighting aliens. In high school, the brothers fall in love with the school beauty, Zina Kovaleva. She chooses the local crime boss, Maksudov, who controls the local market. Kirill gets a job as a security guard at Maksudov’s beer stand, gets into fights, finally quits the Komsomol, and leaves his family home forever. He leaves a short note for his parents: "Citizen of the Universe." Methodius graduates from high school as an external student and confidently pursues his party career.

The global plan of the aggressors

The year is 1998. Methodius is making a brilliant career as a civil servant. Having risen from Komsomol leader to governor of a neighboring region, he establishes the international charitable foundation "Malyutka." The organization plans large-scale children’s festivals around the world. Methodius drives expensive cars and demolishes a cluttered tinsmith’s workshop, setting up a quiet gold processing plant in its place. Kirill occasionally sends telegrams from exotic countries, sails on sea vessels, and once even appears in a television report about a mixed-race flight to an orbital station.

Elderly Semyon Semyonovich continues to await an alien invasion. One day, on the street, he encounters the aged, false Dina Iosifovna. Their tense conversation is interrupted by a sudden gunshot. An elderly black man driving by kills the doctor. Before the teacher’s eyes, the woman’s corpse instantly dissolves, turning into a crumpled aluminum Coca-Cola can. Late in the evening, Semyon Semyonovich falls into a deep pit of quicklime, cunningly dug by criminals in a park alley. The teacher is saved from certain death by the strong hand of Kirill, who emerges from the darkness.

The rescued man discovers the truth in his apartment, where Kirill comes for tea with Nianila Fedorovna. The real space alien turned out to be Methodius. The aliens programmed him to become the perfect careerist. Klavdia’s early birth disrupted the replacement schedule. The aliens didn’t have time to take the real baby, so they were forced to plant a clone. Kirill spent many years in hiding, exploring the world and preparing a fight back. The enemies’ global plan is terrifying: through the Malyutka Foundation, the aliens intend to kidnap millions of Earth’s children. Children’s festivals will serve as a trap for the little ones.

Defeat in Transylvania

In the morning, Semyon Semyonovich receives a prearranged signal over the radio. He secretly leaves the house through the back window of the tinsmith’s shop, descends to the Verevka River, and boards a military helicopter. The combat aircraft is piloted by retired Major General Vladimir Butt. The helicopter comes under machine-gun fire from the ground but safely takes off. The heroes land in Transylvania, where they are met by Kirill’s black car. A small detachment of tough European special forces, including a Romanian Olympic tug-of-war champion, escorts the Earthlings to a gloomy ancient castle.

After passing through an icy tunnel, the squad ascends to a dusty gallery of a huge oval hall. Below, the top leaders of the alien conspiracy are gathered around a long table. These thirty-year-olds of various nationalities hold the posts of presidents, prime ministers, and opposition leaders on Earth. An elderly black man from a car conducts the meeting. Methodius details the plan: tomorrow, children in six hundred and seventy cities will be given sleeping candies and then loaded onto spaceships. The abductions will be repeated regularly, replenishing the slave supply.

The aliens notice the witnesses in the gallery. With a wave of his hand, the leader paralyzes Semyon Semyonovich and his brave companions. The villain orders the earthlings thrown into a dank cell, planning to make convenient scapegoats of them. At the most critical moment, a familiar voice is heard. Nianila Fedorovna, Klavdiya Stadnitskaya, and other members of the World Committee of Grandmothers and Mothers burst into the gallery. The elderly women are armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles. Shots ring out. The high-ranking aliens, struck by bullets, one after another turn into empty soda cans.

The insidious headquarters is destroyed. The Olympic champion quickly eliminates the mechanical guards. Kirill warmly embraces his mother, and Semyon Semyonovich sits down on a stone bench next to his faithful Nianila Fedorovna. However, the battle still lies ahead. A tall Chinese woman reports that alien warships are already entering Earth’s atmosphere. Nianila Fedorovna urgently flies to New York to address the UN Security Council. In the morning, Semyon Semyonovich takes up his post on the concrete platform in his native Verevkino. The teacher is determined not to allow a single child to attend the celebration.