Maid of Baikal: A Novel of the Russian Civil War

Preston Fleming MAID OF BAIKAL A SPECULATIVE HISTORICAL NOVEL OF THE RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR

Author’s Introductory Note

Maid of Baikal tells the story of how the White Russian Armies might have deserved to win the Russian Civil War, and thus might have won, in a better world than ours. For despite the Whites’ manifold sins, the best among them strived mightily to achieve a free and democratic Russia, and most of these suffered a worse fate than what they deserved.

—Preston Fleming

List of Characters

*An asterisk indicates a character who is an actual historical personage.

*Barrows, Col. David Prescott

Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, U.S. Army, AEF/Vladivostok

Borisov, Boris Viktorovich (Paladin)

Standard Bearer to the Maid of Baikal

*Buckner, Col. Edmund G.

Chief Lobbyist for the DuPont Company

Buckner, Corinne

Daughter of Col. Buckner

*Chapayev, Maj. Gen. Vasily

Division Commander, Fourth Red Army

*Denikin, Gen. Anton Ivanovich

Commander, Armed Forces of South Russia (White)

*Dieterichs, Gen. Mikhail Konstantinovich

Military Advisor to Admiral Kolchak

Dorokhin, Stepan Petrovich

Father of Zhanna, Maid of Baikal

Dorokhina, Zhanna Stepanovich

Maid of Baikal

du Pont, Capt. Edmund (Ned)

U.S. Army, RRSC, AEF/Vladivostok

*du Pont, Pierre Samuel

President, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.

*Embry, John

U.S. Consul, Omsk

*Frunze, Gen. Mikhail Vasilyevich

Commander, Southern Army Group, Eastern Front, Red Army

Fyodor (Bishop Fyodor)

Judge at the Maid’s trial in Ryazan

*Gaida, Major General

Commander, Northern Army, Siberian Armed Forces

*Graves, Gen. William S.

Commander, U.S. Army, AEF/Vladivostok

*Guins, Georgi (George) Konstantinovich

Assistant to Admiral Kolchak/Finance Minister

Holt, Col. Charles

Staff Officer, U.S. Army, War Department

Ivashov, Staff Capt. Igor Ivanovich

Staff Officer, General Staff, Siberian Armed Forces

*Kappel, Gen. Vladimir Oskarovich

Division Commander, Western Army, Siberian Armed Forces

*Khanzin, Gen. Mikhail V.

Commander, Western Army, Siberian Armed Forces

*Knox, Maj. Gen. Alfred A.W. T.

Chief, British Military Mission to Siberia

*Kolchak, Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich

Supreme Ruler, Commander in Chief, Provisional Siberian Government

Kostrov, Kirill Matveyevich

Zhanna’s uncle, brother of her deceased mother

*Lebedev. Maj. Gen. Dimitry Antonovich

Chief of Staff, Siberian Armed Forces

*Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich

Bolshevik Party Leader, Premier of the Soviet Union

Leo, (Father Leo)

Chief Examiner at Zhanna’s trial

*Lloyd George, David

British Prime Minister

McCloud, Mark Evans

American syndicated journalist in Russia

*Morris, William

U.S. High Commissioner to Siberia

*Neilson, Lt. Col. John

Intelligence officer, British Military Mission at Omsk

Nestor (Father Nestor)

Deputy Examiner at Zhanna’s trial

Panin, Colonel

Staff Officer, Western Army, Siberian Armed forces, at Ufa

*Preston, Sir Thomas

British Consul at Omsk

Rawlings, Lt. Col.

Intelligence officer, British Military Mission at Ufa

*Regnault, Eugene

French High Commissioner to Siberia

*Reilly, Sidney (aka Zhelezin)

Russian-born intelligence operator for Great Britain

Ryumin, Father Timofey Makarovich

Russian Orthodox priest

*Savinkov, Boris Viktorovich

Russian Socialist Revolutionary Party leader

*Sukin, Ivan

Minister of Foreign Affairs (Acting), Siberian Provisional Government

Sweeney, Jake

American Red Cross official in Siberia

*Sylvester (Archbishop Sylvester)

Russian Orthodox Archbishop of Omsk

*Timiryova, Anna Vasilyevna

Mistress of Admiral Kolchak

*Tolstov, Gen. Vladimir Sergeyevich

Commander, Ural Cossack Host

*Trotsky, Leon

Chairman of Supreme Military Council, Red Army, Politburo Member

*Volkov. Gen. Vyacheslav Ivanovich

Governor-General of Irkutsk Province

*Ward, Colonel John

Commander, Middlesex Regiment, British Military Mission at Omsk

*Wilson, Thomas Woodrow

President of the United States of America

*Wrangel, Gen. Pyotr Nikolayevich

Commander, Caucasus Volunteer Army (White)

*Yudenich, Gen. Nikolay Nikolayevich

Commander, White Russian Forces in Northwestern Russia

*Yurovsky, Yakov Mikhailovich

Senior Cheka official responsible for the Maid’s trial at Ryazan

Yushkevich, Yulia Yekaterinovna

Widowed owner of Beregovoy estate near Omsk and mistress of Capt. Ned du Pont

Musical Themes by Chapter

To enhance the reader’s enjoyment, I have created a musical score for Maid of Baikal, consisting of selections by Russian composers of the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries. Each selection is intended to evoke the emotions of the chapter to which it is assigned.

For maximum enjoyment, I recommend listening to the chapter’s musical selection before reading. Each piece is available (with free sampling) on iTunes, and most can be downloaded without cost at Classic Cat or Wikipedia.

Chapter 1: Spartacus & Phrygia, Adagio, by Aram Khachaturian