He came down near what had been the border of the motherland and Poland. He began to walk. A farmer and his son spotted the parachute, came after him. The son was a Red Army man on leave. The son had a gun. He fired prematurely, and Johnny ran. It was hopeless, he decided. He would never make it. He would never even reach the capital alive, where they were holding Jo-Anne. He ran. He wished for rain. A blinding rainstorm. The clouds scudded in. The rain fell in buckets. The farmer and his son soon lost sight of Johnny. Just to make sure, Johnny ran and let it go on raining. * * * * * "Floods in their motherland," the Secretary of Defense told the President. "Naturally, their news broadcasts are trying to keep the reports to a minimum, but these are the biggest floods we've ever heard of over there." "Our man is there?" the President asked. "He was dropped by parachute, sir!" * * * * * It was snowing when Johnny reached the capital. He had been parachuted into the enemy's motherland, naturally, because propinquity alone assured the success of his strange talent. He was tired. His feet ached. He'd been the only one heading for the capital. Hundreds of thousands had been fleeing from the floods ... "There he is!" a voice cried in the enemy language. He didn't understand the language, but he understood the tone. His picture had been flashed across the length and breadth of the motherland. He had been spotted. He ran. Down an alley, across a muddy yard, floundering to his knees, then his thighs, in thick mud. They came floundering in pursuit. They fired a warning volley of shots. He stumbled and fell face down in the black, stinking mud. They took him ... * * * * * Dark room. One light, on his face. A voice: "We can kill you." "Kill me," he said. "My last wish will be for rain. Rain, forever." "We can torture you." "And I will say, before you start, let it rain and go on raining. Let me be powerless to prevent it. Rain!" "We can kill the girl." "Your country will float away." A fist came at him out of the darkness. Hit him. It was tentative torture. He sobbed and thought: rain, harder. Rain, rain, rain ... Water seeped into the dungeon. This had never happened before. The fist went away. Outside it rained and rained. * * * * * "What does he want, comrade?" "We don't know, comrade." "Give it to him--whatever it is. He has disrupted our entire economy. We face economic disaster unless he--and his rain--leave us in peace." "Perhaps that is what he wants. Peace." "You fool! We are supposed to want peace. Shut up!" "Yes, sir. Comrade." "Better ask the party secretary." "Yes, comrade." The party secretary was asked. The party secretary sighed and nodded. Johnny saw the light of day. And Jo-Anne. * * * * *