Sashenka

“Hey, girl, wait, what’s the hurry? Please tell Mr. Getman we hope this is the start of a relationship. And for you as a historian. We have some espionage materials about the Cold War period that would interest the Western media and publishers. Now you know Londongrad, you flew there. We would share a commission with you if you could interest newspapers or publishers in London…”

“I’ll tell Mr. Getman.”

“A little taste of a malt whiskey much favored by the royal families of Europe? It’s Glenfiddich, a famous name,” suggested the Magician. “A toast to our English historical partnership?”

“I’m late,” answered Katinka, longing to be away from these disgusting hucksters, the successors of the Chekists who had arrested Sashenka and Vanya.

She fled outside. Spring in Moscow seethed with the tang of new life, and the ponds were surrounded by cherry blossom and new growth. She bought an ice cream and sat admiring the daffodils growing under the trees and the majestic swans on the pond with their grey-feathered cygnets.

At the pay phone, she called Satinov.

Mariko answered. “My father is ill. He fell. He also has respiratory problems.”

“But I’ve got a lot to tell him. I’ve found Snowy, and Lala Lewis who told me what a hero he’d been to help those children—”

“You’ve talked enough to him already. No more calls.”

And Mariko slammed down the phone.

16

Sitting of Military Tribunal, office of the Narkom L. P. Beria, at Special Object 110 [Sukhanovka Prison, Beria’s special jail in the former St. Catherine’s Nunnery at Vidnoe, outskirts of Moscow] 3:00 a.m. 21 January 1940

Chairman of the Military Tribunal V. S. Ulrikh: Accused Palitysn, have you read the indictment? You understand the charges?

Palitsyn: Yes, I, Vanya Palitsyn, understand the charges.

Ulrikh: Do you object to any of the judges?

Palitsyn: No.

Ulrikh: Do you admit your guilt?

Palitsyn: Yes.

Ulrikh: Did you not meet with Mendel Barmakid and your wife Sashenka Zeitlin to plot the assassination of Comrade Stalin and the Politburo?

Palitsyn: My wife was never involved in this conspiracy.

Ulrikh: Come now, Accused Palitsyn, we have before us your full signed confession that states how you and said accused Sashenka Zeitlin…

Palitsyn: If the Party wants…

Ulrikh: The Party demands the truth. Stop playing games with us now. Speak up.

Palitsyn: Long live the Party. I have been a dedicated and devoted Bolshevik since the age of sixteen. I have never betrayed the Party. I have served Comrade Stalin and the Party with absolute fervor all my adult life. So has my wife, Sashenka. However, if the Party demands it…

Ulrikh: The Party demands: do you confess your guilt to all charges?

Palitysn: I do.

Ulrikh: Do you wish to add anything else, Accused Palitsyn?

Palitsyn: I remain in my heart devoted to the Communist Party and Comrade Stalin personally: I have committed grave sins and crimes. If I face the Supreme Measure of Punishment, I shall gladly die a Bolshevik with the name Stalin reverently on my lips. Long live the Party! Long live Stalin!

Ulrikh: Then let the judges retire.

3:22 a.m. The judges return.