Cadets from the Alexander Cadet Corps accidentally discover a strange device in the basement and, for two days, travel from their year 1908 to 1972—from their own reality to ours. Now, to understand their true present, they must unravel the mysteries of someone else’s future and also track down those who are running things in their time and world as if they own it. Because in six years, when the empire is swept up by revolution, they will have to make their own—each of them difficult—choice. They will face military games and a Christmas ball, ancient underground passages and the streets of Leningrad, chases across rooftops and an armored train flying through the night, red banners… and golden shoulder straps with the imperial monogram…