Heads You Win

“He actually turned the whole disaster to his advantage,” said Kolya. “Told the commandant that he didn’t go to the cup final because he’d been tipped off that someone might be trying to escape.”

“Then why didn’t he arrest both of them?”

“Said he was on his own when a dozen men took him by surprise, and that if it hadn’t been for him, a lot more dissidents would have been on that ship.”

“And they believed him?”

“Must have. But I hear he’s unlikely to be promoted in the near future.”

“Did he try to pin anything on you?”

“No, he couldn’t. I was back at the stadium well in time to watch the second half of the match. I drifted around the north terrace for the next hour, so by the time the final whistle went, over a thousand of my workmates were able to confirm they’d seen me, so I was in the cl

ear.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Not altogether,” said Kolya. “Polyakov remains unconvinced, which is another reason why he’s so determined to stop me becoming convener of the trade union.”

“And who won?”

“Won what?”

“The cup final. Alex keeps asking me to find out.”

“We beat Moscow two to one, despite the referee being a KGB officer.”

Dimitri laughed. “Anything else you want to tell me?” he asked, aware that their time was running out.

“Yes,” said Kolya, turning another page of his newspaper. “Alexander might be interested to know that his old school friend Vladimir has been elected to the committee of the university Komsomol. Don’t be surprised if he’s chairman by the next time we meet.”

“One last thing,” said Dimitri. “Elena wants to know, if I was able to fix a visa for you, would you consider coming to New York and living with us?”

“Thank her for her kindness, but Polyakov would make sure I was never granted a visa. Perhaps you could try and explain to my dear sister that I’ve still got important work to do here.” He folded his newspaper, the sign that he had nothing more to say, just as a train shunted into platform 17 and screeched to a halt.

Dimitri rose from his place, joined the jostling passengers now crowding the platform, and began the long walk back to the ship, making the occasional detour to be sure no one was following him. He couldn’t help worrying about Kolya, and the risks he was willing to take because he detested the communist regime. Unlike most of Dimitri’s other contacts, Kolya never asked for money. Some men can’t be bought.

14

SASHA

University of Cambridge

Once Sasha had read through his essay and made a couple of alterations, he glanced at his watch, then hurriedly pulled on his long black scholar’s gown, ran downstairs, and across the court. He charged up another staircase, stopping at the third floor, just as he heard the first of ten chimes.

He couldn’t be even a minute late for Dr. Streator, who began his supervisions as the great courtyard clock struck, and finished them when it chimed again an hour later. Sasha caught his breath, knocked on the door, and walked in on the tenth chime, to find the two other scholars already sitting in front of the fire enjoying toasted crumpets.

“Good morning, Dr. Streator,” said Sasha, handing over his essay.

“Good morning, Karpenko,” said Streator in Russian. “You’ve missed out on the crumpets, but then, being on time doesn’t appear to be one of your strengths. However, I can still offer you a cup of tea.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Streator poured a fourth cup before he began. “Today, I want to consider the relationship between Lenin and Stalin. Lenin not only didn’t have any respect for Stalin, he actively despised the man. However, he recognized that if the revolution was to be a success, he needed money to make sure that his political opponents were removed one way or another. Enter a young thug from Georgia who was only too happy to carry out both tasks. He raided banks, and didn’t give a second thought about murdering anyone who got in his way, including innocent bystanders.”

Sasha took notes while Dr. Streator continued his discourse. It hadn’t taken him long to realize how little Russian history he actually knew, and that his teachers in Leningrad had parroted words from a book that had been vetted by the KGB in a blatant attempt to rewrite history.

“I am only interested in proven facts,” said Streator, “with reliable evidence to back them up; not mere propaganda, endlessly repeated until the gullible have accepted it as the truth. Stalin, for example, was able to convince an entire nation that he was in Moscow in 1941, leading from the front at a time when the German army were within twenty miles of the city. Whereas it’s far more likely that he actually fled to Kuybyshev, and only returned to Moscow once the Germans were in retreat. Why do I say far more likely? Because I don’t have irrefutable proof, and for a historian, odds of ninety percent should not be good enough.”