The Margin of Evil! (41 page)

In
fact the reunion, if at all it could be called that, bordered on the emotional. It was now clear that Georgii and Yulia had developed strong feelings for each other. Feelings that he'd not experienced in a long time returned and, suffice it to say, he had not enjoyed himself like this since before 'The Great War'. And that seemed, to him, almost beyond living memory.

The Captain of the tugboat was a Greek.
His name was Adrastos Constantinou and he seemed alright. Telling the captain about some of his ordeals, Georgii was assured to find out that the captain would try to do what he could for them. But being a Greek he could make no promises.

So none of them noticed, when
, in the middle of the night, the tug changed course and steamed back up the river. Next morning Georgii had the shock of his life when he went up on deck for a smoke and saw the Kremlin moving past on the starboard beam. Almost at once, he was gripped by fear and panic. Constantinou, whom had been on the bridge all night, reading his mind, convinced him, that, if they were being tracked, they would be looking for them much further down the river. Georgii Radetzky, knowing his pursuers, was not so sure.

So
convinced that the Greek captains about manoeuvre was paying off; even if the belligerent Royston O'Reilly was not, he decided to defer to the captains better judgment. Moscow was left far behind and up the river they went.

Later that day they anchored by the shore and waited for night to fall.
After three days of lying up close inshore; the captain did an about turn, and the tug set off for the capital again. This double manoeuvre became the main topic of conversation at that night's meal. The captain assured them that any pursuer, by simple virtue of the times they were living in, would have thrown in the towel by now.

But when Pyotr pointed out
that, even the idlest of sentries was bound to notice a Greek tug, just happening to fly the Greek flag, sailing up and down the river; a river that Royston O'Reilly pointed out had almost no traffic on it. Georgii was beginning to think that this Greek was a bit of an idiot. But there was some logic in what this Greek said, even if he wasn't altogether sure what that logic was.  So for the second time, in a few days, they found themselves sailing, at night, past the ancient sites of Moscow.

As it was, no one onboard heard the old man
's body thump the side of the tug, as it went floating past.

Part Five

Chapter Thirty
Five

It was pretty much an informal gathering of the 'Central Committee's kitchen cabinet'.  Those present were Lev Kamenev, Grigorii Zinoviev, Leon Trotsky, Auguste Gerhardt and Felix Dzerinhsky.  The meeting was chaired, as always, by Vladimir Lenin.

The main topic of discussion
was the ending of the Civil War and the imminent conflict with Poland. All parties present decided that it would be in the interests of the state, if a member of the 'Central Committee'; with the reputation for the 'Hands-on approach' was present to report back from the, rapidly developing, front.  It was also discussed that victory in this war might enable a 'Bolshevik' westward thrust. Inevitably, the repressed peoples of Eastern Europe would join with the liberating 'Red' forces and victory in this sphere would soon be theirs. The consensus of opinion of those present was that, for once, everybody was thinking along the same lines.

Auguste Gerhardt nudged Trotsky
's arm, then made a suggestion.  'Comrades I suggest that we send, none other than, Joseph Stalin.'

As he made the sugg
estion Gerhardt looked around.  He saw, pretty much, that everybody seemed to nod in agreement.

Trotsky spoke next.
'Then I think it's only fair, that we get the Georgian in and tell him ourselves.'  He smiled when he said it.

Auguste Gerhardt had read his mind; he knew exactly why the Commissar for War was smiling.
War with Poland would solve a problem, get Stalin out of the day to day decision making and, if they were lucky, they might all be paying their respects for the late Commissar of the Nationalities in a few months time. What was it the English liked to say, 'Killing two birds, with one stone?'  Gerhardt felt good.

'
Then I suggest we get him in right now and tell him,' Lenin said. 'Trotsky, you make the call!'

The Russian Leader, it had to be said
, actually liked the Georgian. Yes he had heard ludicrous things about him from others. But you had to be fair to him, nothing had been proven against him and it seemed that nothing would be either. Trotsky and his sidekick Gerhardt had bellyached to him, that Stalin's continued presence in the inner sanctum of soviet life represented a bigger threat to national security, than all their other enemies put together; but so far when given the opportunity, they had failed to provide any evidence to the contrary. Besides, Joseph Stalin was an able man of the 'Can do' variety; he just saw things differently, that was why the Russian leader valued him.

The Russian leader told The Commissar for the Nationalities his plan.

'I am deeply flattered, gentlemen, that you have chosen me for this task. But if I may be allowed to say ...  I think war with Poland is right, if only to secure our western frontier, but if we are thinking of a farther Westward thrust, right into the heartland of Europe; I think, with all due respect, that you are wrong. It is my belief, and that is the belief of a, humble, cobbler's son from Tbilisi, that right now Socialism can only be achieved here! Right here, right now!'  He stopped to take in the reaction from the others present. As he thought he detected a faint murmur of disapproval from the Trotskyite corner. He carried on, 'but if it is your wish I will go and serve you to the best of my ability. I am honoured that you have placed your trust in me; remember I am not a soldier. I will see what I can do; besides I have to go to the Ukraine on urgent business, so I can go to the front from there.'

L
enin watched the Georgian leave and then summed up the informal meeting. Trotsky and Gerhardt indicated to him that they wanted to stay once the others had all gone. He prepared himself for what they had to say. Vladimir Iilyvich Lenin had the feeling that he'd heard it all before.

'
Comrade, I applaud your ratification of our suggestion. Comrade Stalin is most definitely the man to send in this hour of crisis,' Leon Trotsky said.

Lenin felt slightly agitated
in so much as, in situations such as this, especially when he felt that he did not have a complete grasp on events, for a moment he got the feeling that alternate agendas might clash, this only served to aggravate the wound on the nape of his neck. But one thing still baffled him and it was this. Now these two men, whom had come to him only months before with a wild-tale of woe; that the Georgian Commissar for the Peoples, was none other than the 'Devil Incarnate'; a man who simply could not be trusted, a man who was simply too slippery to touch, a man who was involved in everything from the blackmarket to subverting the party, now Trotsky and Gerhardt, apparently having had second thoughts, had completely changed their tune.  It all seemed rather odd to the ailing Lenin.

His mind worked overtime, yes he had been warned, by many different people of the aggressively careerist Stalin; but now they were going along with, if not sugge
sting, that their Public Enemy Number One might actually, or could actually, be the saviour of Soviet Russia!',

'
Tell me gentlemen, why have you two changed your long held opinion on Joseph Stalin? Why,' the leader of all Soviet Russia's said.

Gerhardt answered,
'Maybe you were right; maybe we are all guilty of tarring him with the wrong brush!'

'
As you have said to us on many an occasion, where is our evidence,' the head of the 'Red Army' said.  He carried on.  ' My personal opinion is the man is a villain. Smart villains don't get caught; or shall we say, they are difficult to catch. He'll get caught, he's not that clever! We'll just go along with him for the time being!'

Adding,
'It is my belief that Sverdlov was onto something. I just can't prove it; I just don't have the evidence to give you. In fact I know for a fact that the ''Good' Comrade' was onto something, because, and I have thought about this a lot; the more I think about his untimely and almost mysterious death. The more I think about it, it couldn't have happened at a better time; but our mutual friend was always one step ahead!'

'
Conjecture and coincidence mixed with a little obsession on your parts I think, that's all it is. All I ask of you is bring me the evidence and then Felix can deal with him! If you can't do that comrade, just let it go! Goodnight gentlemen!'

Chapter Thirty Six

So down river it was. The captain's ploy seemed to have paid off. Nobody seemed to pay any interest in a tug boat flying the Greek flag.  Until that is they were at least one hundred miles from Moscow and heading for the Oka river.

Even
so, conditions on the tug boat were decidedly cramped. The tug had a crew of four, which included Adrastos Constantinou the Greek captain, the tugs mate George Popodopolous, one deck hand and a Chief Engineer. They seemed to get on well, even Royston behaved himself.

Georgii
sat down on the third day and decided to ask this Adrastos Constantinou a few nagging questions. The first question was what on earth was a Greek tugboat doing on a river which basically flowed into the wrong sea, The Caspian Sea. Georgii thought he would get this one off his chest first.

'
Comrade Radetzky, it's a very long story. If you have the time, I'll tell it,' the captain said.  Georgii nodded and Constantinou carried on. 'Like most people I got caught up in the Great War. In nineteen fourteen I was working as a mate on a barge that worked the Danube River. July of that year found me in Vienna in Austria. I was paid off and living on the streets. My only friend there was an artist named Adolf Hiedler
[28]
, but I found out that he had moved to Munich. So, with war in the air, and my command of the German language was reasonable, I joined the Austro Hungarian army. When I think back on it, it was possibly not the best move that I've ever made, but needs must ... Were you in the war Georgii?'

'
I was,' but whilst the captain had rambled on about his Vienna days; Georgii had resolved, that when the time came, he would tell the captain a selected version of his war service.

'
When I say that joining the Austro-Hungarian army was not the smartest move, I'm referring to my Orthodox faith. Most soldiers in that army were Catholic and it became obvious that I was not going to be doing any fighting in Serbia! In fact they sent me to the Russian front. So I spent four years ducking and diving. Got taken prisoner on a couple of occasions, and it was as a captive prisoner of war, that I finished the war in nineteen seventeen. You see Comrade Radetzky I was being held in Siberia with the rest of the Czech legion, the Provisional Government had gone and with it went law and order. They were interesting times, Georgii, interesting times indeed!'

'
Why didn't you up sticks and go back to Greece,' Georgii said.

'
I could have, but it was this Orthodox thing hanging over my head that worried me. You see, having fought on the wrong side, I was not altogether sure how my return home to Piraeus would be accepted. Maybe I was better off here; certainly until the dust settled,' the captain said.

'
My experience of war is that, after four years, people are only too glad to see you, they tend to bury the hatchet!'

'
Yes, but I didn't want them to bury it in my head,' Constantinou said.

Anyway, please carry on,
' Georgii was keen to hear the end of this man's story. Adding, ‘so how did you end up cruising on the river; commanding a tug flying the Greek flag?'

'
Well I'll tell you! In the turmoil of nineteen eighteen we were promised repatriation. We were going to be taken to Vladivostok
[29]
. But in the end we roamed up and down the Siberian railway ...'

Better humour him Georgii thought, but he had the distinct feeling that this man was making it up.
He definitely smelled a rat. He was going to find out who this Adrastos Constantinou was.

'
... It was after the third trip and finding ourselves, that is George, myself and the other two back in Penza, that we found this tug and started working the rivers Volga, Oka and Moskva.'

'
But what do you do? Surely there is nothing for you to do?  The economy has collapsed,' Georgii said.

'
You'd be very surprised. The 'Bolshevik' economy may have collapsed!  But it is not the only one,' the captain said.

Fair-point Georgii thought.
In that light, he must have been making a fortune. It was a known fact that there were no warships, of any kind, working these rivers. Those that had, had gone off to fight for Kolchak at the beginning of the Civil War.

'
So who do you work for,' Georgii asked.