Romanov Quest

By Sam Cromartie

Valentina Kovalova, a cousin to Tsar Nicholas, fled Russia in 1917 after Bolsheviks slaughtered her family. She took her infant son to Germany but left his twin brother whom she thought was dead. She married a man who became a close confidant and friend of Hitler.

As WWII commences, her husband commands a U-boat, and her sons fight on opposite sides. She moves in the inner circle of Nazi society while hiding Jews and occasional Allied soldiers in her home until Himmler discovers her involvement in the resistance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543432084

Sam Cromartie

Sam Cromartie M.D. is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and a veteran of the Vietnam War. He served as a thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon on the faculty at Indiana University School of Medicine and as chief of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. He has published numerous articles in medical journals and is co-author with Richard J. Duma M.D., Ph.D. of High-Tech Terror: Recognition, Management, and Prevention of Biological, Chemical, and Nuclear Injuries Secondary to Acts of Terrorism (Charles C Thomas, Publisher). He has published three historical novels and three thrillers prior to this political thriller. He lives on an island off the coast of Florida. For detailed information, check his webpage at www.samcromartie.com.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

MOSCOW (September 2, 1939)

Yuri stared into darkness and marveled that he was alive. Lifting his head brought on a wave of dizziness. He surrendered to it, collapsing back onto the bed.

When he reopened his eyes, the only light came from a dim kerosene lantern on the dresser. His gaze turned to the woman sleeping beside him. Her flannel gown failed to conceal her tall, slim figure. He wanted just to lie there watching her breathe. Nothing seemed important except being near to her—not even the dead NKVD agent in the woods behind the cottage.

He moved a lock of blonde hair from her face but recoiled when he saw the blood on his fingers. He sat upright and fought the dizziness that swept over him. We should not be here.

Tania sprang awake, placed her hand on his chest, and guided him back to his pillow. Lie still, Yuri. The bleeding will start again.

He stared at the blood-soaked dressing on his arm. Clots covered its surface, but they were dry. He threw his legs over the side of the bed. We can’t stay here.

Tania frowned. I know, but you’re too weak. I could barely get you to bed.

He recalled the flowers he had brought and the wine, dinner, and sex that had preceded the arrival of the secret police agent who had staked a claim on her. All you had to do was ask.

She blushed. I meant after the unpleasantness.

Yuri thought that was an odd description of the way Valdislav interrupted their love making, slashed his arm with a knife, and tried to kill them. The bastard would have succeeded if Tania had not struck him with a stool and given Yuri the opening to stab a knife into his heart. Yuri had no regrets for killing the man. It was something he had planned for a long time. Valdislav had sent him with his stepparents to the gulag. They died there.

His goal in life had become revenge until he met Tania. Now he just wanted to be with her. Last night had been a turning point. She had at last admitted her feeling for him, and he had realized he did not want to live without her.

Valdislav would not bother Tania again, but their lives would never be the same. I left his body in the woods. I should have buried it.

You lost a lot of blood. I was afraid you would die.

I’m fine now. He stood and walked into the kitchen. The dizziness returned. He slumped onto a straight chair at the table.

Tania removed the dressing from his arm. The gash from Valdislav’s knife was deep, but the bleeding had stopped. He touched the bruise on her face and thought of what had almost happened. She turned away. It’s nothing. She peeled off his torn, bloodstained shirt. You still have glass in your back.

I know. It hurts like hell. He had fallen onto a broken wine bottle during the fight. Now with every movement, he could feel the shards shift under his skin.

Hold still. She picked the pieces of glass from his wounds and washed the cuts with soap and water.

Yuri gritted his teeth and tried not to move. This was not the way he had planned to spend his first morning with Tania. He had hoped for a day for earning her trust and for telling her how he felt.

She tossed his shirt to him. We have to dispose of the body.

I know. Until yesterday, Valdislav had been her friend. She had been his personal pilot and had lived in his house, helping him recover from a bullet wound. She had left when he demanded more than friendship and she realized that she wanted to be with Yuri. His henchmen would come looking for her as soon as he failed to report for work.

As Yuri fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, Tania turned her back to him and removed her robe. Seeming oblivious to his presence, she dressed quickly, never once glancing toward him. He, on the other hand, tried to look away but failed. Her smooth skin and sleek body made him forget his pain. He wanted to hold her again and to relive the part of the last evening before the unpleasantness.

Tania walked outside without saying another word. Yuri retrieved his flight jacket and followed. Do you have a shovel?

She kept walking. We don’t need one.

Why not?

She stopped beside the stiffening body. We can’t bury him here. His friends know about me.

He stared at his dead enemy and thought he should experience some sense of triumph. Instead, he felt nothing except relief that the body on the ground was not his own, or worse, Tania’s. What do you want me to do?

Tania bent over the body and gripped its ankles. Take his shoulders. We need to hurry.

Yuri lifted the corpse. Where are we going?

Tania stepped backward, straining to hold her half of the weight. To Valdislav’s car. I need to drive him to the airport.

Why?

She kept walking. This is my day to fly the cargo plane. Valdislav is going to take his last flight.

Tania slipped the gears of the shiny, black ZIS into first and pulled onto the deserted dirt road. She felt more comfortable soaring through the sky in an airplane than driving an automobile. After all, she had been flying for years but never owned a car. Her first lover had been a pilot. Pavel had taught her to fly when she was only fifteen. She would have married him if he had not died in a plane crash. Yuri said that Valdislav had sabotaged the aircraft. At the time, she had not believed him. Now she suspected it was true.

She looked at the man who had lured her away from Valdislav and thought how much he had changed in the brief months since she first met him. When he had arrived as a new student at the flight school, he had been so thin that she wondered if he was sick. She had not realized that he had just escaped from the gulag. He had gained weight and put on muscle by running and working out at least two hours every day. It was as if he were training for an athletic contest. In retrospect she realized that he had been preparing for one night—this night.

Driving in darkness with no headlights proved to be difficult, but she managed to stay on the road as they approached the airport. One hundred meters from the gate, she pulled into the woods and stopped under a canopy of trees. Yuri stepped out of the car before she applied the emergency brake. He opened the back door, grabbed Valdislav’s hair, pulled the body off the seat, and tossed it over his shoulder.

Tania placed a finger over her lips and walked through the woods toward the terminal. They reached the edge of the trees about twenty meters from the entrance. She helped him set the corpse on the ground. Stay here. I’m going to distract the guard.

She returned to the road and walked to the tall fence. Matvei stood at the gate. The thirty-year-old Siberian native had served as a guard since Tania had arrived as a kid. He was friendly then, and his interest had grown as she matured. She hoped that would give her an edge and that he would not call the NKVD.

Removing her hat to allow her hair to flow over her shoulders, she stopped in front of him. Hi, Matvei.

The huge man lifted his head and grinned. Good morning, Tania. It is only five o’clock. You’re early.

She smiled. I know. I have the cargo flight this morning. Do you know if I will have any passengers? She already knew that no one would accompany her, but she had to get him to abandon his post.

He shrugged. I wouldn’t know.

Could you look at the manifest and see?

Frowning, he shook his head. It’s in the main building. I can’t leave my post.

Please. I can stand here and watch for you. She moved closer to him.

His eyes filled with doubt. I could get in trouble.

She folded her hands in a begging motion. It will only take a minute. I will call you if I see anything at all.

He clasped his big hands over hers. All right.

Tania kissed his cheek. Thanks, Matvei. You’re a dear friend.

He headed toward the terminal building. Before he was out of sight, Yuri approached with Valdislav in a fireman’s carry. She waved to him as the terminal door closed.

Yuri sweated and panted for breath as he reached the gate. Tania pushed it open. Be quick. He will be back any second.

Yuri hurried into the hanger. Matvei stepped out of the terminal building and stared at the closing door. He ran toward it.

Tania yelled, What’s wrong?

Matvei pulled his pistol from his holster and slammed through the door.

No! Tania barreled after the guard into the hanger and almost collided with him. Yuri stood by the airplane with the door open. Matvei aimed his pistol at him and then spun it toward Tania. Who is this?

Tania breathed so heavily that she could hardly speak. It’s only Yuri. He’s my co-pilot.

The disbelief on Matvei’s face intensified. What is he doing here?

Yuri answered for her. I’m a flight student. I came to check out the plane.

Matvei extended his arm, pointing the pistol between Yuri’s eyes. So why sneak in here in the middle of the night?

Yuri kept his hands in the air. It’s not the middle of the night. It is five o’clock in the morning, and we leave soon. I just wanted to study the controls and to get my feel for the plane.

Answer my question. Why did you sneak in here? Matvei’s face grew red.

Tania saw that he was getting more agitated, and less in control. She was sure the gun would discharge just from the trembling of his hand. Taking a deep breath, she stepped between the pistol and Yuri. He didn’t sneak in. I opened the gate.

The guard’s body tensed. Why?

Tania struggled to keep her lips from trembling. If Matvei was going to shoot Yuri, he would have to send the bullet through her. She placed the palm of her hand against the muzzle of the pistol. I thought you wouldn’t mind. He arrived right after you left, and all he was doing was checking on my plane for me. I was going to tell you as soon as you came back.

Matvei cocked the weapon with his thumb. He arrived the minute I entered in that building. Why?

Tania sighed. We were supposed to meet here at five. He was just a few minutes late.

Matvei shook his head in frustration and motioned Yuri out of the way. He stuck his head into the fuselage of the plane and looked both ways.

Stepping back, Matvei holstered the pistol and turned to Tania. You should not have let him in. You were supposed just to watch until I came back.

I’m sorry. It will not happen again. I promise.

He stormed out of the hanger, slamming the door. Tania ran to Yuri and wrapped her arms around him. I thought he was going to shoot you.

He winced as she squeezed his arm, but it did not stop him from kissing her. You saved my life.

He was covered in sweat and needed a bath, but never had it felt so good to hold someone. I guess that makes us even.

There is an old Chinese proverb that says if you save someone’s life, you’re responsible for them forever.

Tania rolled her eyes. You made that up.

Maybe, but it is a good concept.

Sure, but we aren’t Chinese. She released him and looked around the room. Where’s Valdislav?

Yuri nodded at the corner of the room. Under that tarp.

You moved fast.

I heard you calling.

Yuri held to his seat as Tania taxied down the runway at 7:00 a.m. She leaned back in her seat and exhaled slowly as the plane gained speed. Flying was second nature for her. She smiled as they took to the air. We’re safe now.

Yuri was not enamored with flying, and safe was not the first word to enter his mind when they left the ground. His twenty-second birthday was only weeks away, and it would be nice to reach that landmark. He had soloed once and had been relieved to land alive. If he had learned one thing in flight school, it was that he was no pilot. Becoming one had a single purpose for him. It was a means to escape from the Soviet Union.

He did not like being in an airplane, but he had to agree that it felt good to be away from the airport. If someone had checked the fuselage before they left, he could not have explained the cold body on the floor. The remainder of his and Tania’s lives would have been brief and painful. I’ll feel a lot better when we have one less passenger.

It’s a little soon.

I know. He put his hand over hers. I’m sorry I got you into this mess.

Tania kept her eyes on the trajectory of the plane. At least you showed me how dangerous Valdislav was. I thought he was my friend.

If you could have seen him the day he sent my parents and me to the camps, there would have been no doubt. He was evil. He still had not revealed to her, or for that matter to anyone, the details of his heritage. He wanted to tell her the whole truth—that it was actually his stepparents who had died in the gulag. He had never known his real mother and had only met his father a few months ago. Their story was as tragic as his, and even now, their safety, as well as his own, depended upon it remaining secret.

Tania flew for an hour before she slowed the aircraft and brought it low over the deserted wilderness. I think it is time.

Yuri climbed to the back of the plane. Valdislav’s body lay between several stacks of wooden crates. Yuri gripped it by the hair and dragged it to the door. Moments later he watched the corpse tumble through the air. His only regret was that Valdislav was not alive and that he was not watching the ground as it beckoned his body to destruction.

He returned to his seat. It is done.

Tania touched his face with her hand. We are is so much trouble.

When they reached their destination, Yuri stayed in the co-pilot’s seat while workers unloaded the cargo. Tania insisted that he stay out of sight so he remained in the cargo area until the plane returned to the air.

The sky darkened, and rain splashed against the windshield. The turbulence of the flight matched his mood. Valdislav had made no secret of his attraction to Tania. His NKVD friends would consider her to be the prime suspect for his disappearance. I think we should just keep flying until we cross the Polish border. They can’t follow us there.

Tania shook her head. We don’t have enough fuel. Besides, the Germans invaded Poland yesterday. If our own people don’t shoot us down, the Germans or the Poles will.

She was right. They had no choice except to return to Moscow. As the storm grew worse, Yuri wanted to land anywhere. The plane bounced so much that he was sure it would break apart.

When Tania landed the plane and pulled it into the hanger, he wanted to give her a standing ovation. His relief evaporated when the door to the shelter flew open and a wet guard announced to Tania that several men were waiting to talk to her in the terminal building.

Yuri fought to control his fear. He had only known Tania a few months, but already he felt their lives had fused. The thought of anything happening to her brought him to the verge of panic. We should not have come back.

Tania kissed his cheek. They know nothing except Valdislav did not show up for work today. I’m sure they are just questioning all his acquaintances. You worry too much.

Yuri saw the way her hands shook. She is trying to protect me. I’m going with you.

Her eyes widened. "You can’t. If they see your wound, they will know, and we will die.

CHAPTER 2

MOSCOW (September 2, 1939)

Tania left Yuri in the hanger and took her time walking to the terminal. She wanted to give him time to get as far away as he could. NKVD agents had interviewed her in the past, and she knew how cruel they could be. She had told Yuri not to worry because she was afraid he would do something stupid if he thought she was in danger.

The wind blew the rain sideways, and a burst of lightning struck a tree less than fifteen meters away. The thunder shook the ground. Tania wondered if it was an omen.

The guard led her down a hallway to a small room. Two uniformed men stood by the door. A short man with a closely trimmed mustache sat behind a desk. He pointed to a wooden chair. Tania took her cue and sat.

The man waited for the guard to leave the room and to close the door. He did not bother to introduce himself. Do you know why you’re here?

No. There was a chill in the air. Tania held her hands against her thighs to keep them from shaking.

Are you not Valdislav Figner’s girlfriend?

He’s a friend—a good friend—but we do not have a romantic relationship, if that is what you mean.

He slammed his hand on the desk, splashing coffee onto his papers. Then why was he at your cottage last night?

Yuri left the airport and walked into the woods. The wind bent trees almost to the ground and flung rain sideways. The storm had changed all his landmarks, and he was not sure exactly where he had hidden the car. It was nowhere in sight, and he worried that NKVD agents may have found it. He looked back at the building where they were interrogating Tania. He wanted to run back through the gate to rescue her, but he knew it would be futile and would only increase the danger for her.

He ran from shrub to shrub, ignoring the mud that splashed over his pants and shoes. He found the ZIS parked behind a clump of trees. He had never owned a car and had only driven one once. He opened the door and climbed into the driver’s seat. The engine cranked on the second try. He looked in every direction. Sheets of rain obscured his vision.

He pushed on the accelerator and released the clutch. The car rocked forward, but the wheels spun. He stopped and then tried once more with the same result. He got out and looked at the holes that the back wheels were digging.

He stepped back into the car and gave less gas this time. The wheels dug deep into the mud. He tried not to think of the consequences if Valdislav’s cronies found the vehicle near the airport where Tania worked.

He pulled branches from the shrubs and threw them under the wheels. Then he climbed back into the vehicle and cranked the engine. The car rolled forward a few inches but slipped back into the holes.

He opened the trunk. It contained a bag with a change of clothes. Yuri stuffed the shirt under one back wheel and the pants under the other one. This time the motor would not start.

He waited ten minutes before turning the key again. The engine sputtered and then roared to life. He rolled out of the mud and proceeded onto the highway. He struggled with the clutch and prayed the car would not stall. If Valdislav’s friends discovered him in the man’s ZIS, the penalty would be death.

Yuri parked the car on a side street in Moscow and stepped out into the rain and heavy wind. He locked the door, tossed the keys into a vacant lot, and walked away.

After an hour, he reached a small house a couple of kilometers from the Kremlin. It was not a place to which he had planned to visit. He had only seen his father once in his life and would have preferred to leave it that way. Ivan Maximov had abandoned him as an infant. He had no time for a child. He was a comrade of Lenin and a leader of the Bolsheviks. The only thing that mattered to him was imposing their insane system on the world. Yuri would have preferred to never see him again, but Ivan was the one person who might protect Tania from the NKVD.

Yuri stopped fifty meters from the house and scanned the neighborhood until he was sure that no one was watching. The NKVD spied on everyone, even friends of Stalin.

Seeing nothing suspicious, he approached the building and ascended the stairs to the porch.

Ivan Maximov sat at his kitchen table, turning the knobs on his short wave radio. Static interrupted the German voices, making interpretation of the words next to impossible. He had studied the language in secondary school and in Moscow University, but these people spoke with a different dialect from what he had learned. So far all he could decipher was the transmission originated in Poland and German soldiers were swarming across that border. The invasion was progressing just as Stalin had told him it would.

A tapping sound came from beyond his headphones. He removed them and looked toward the front door. The knocking came again. He slipped the cover over the radio. Stalin knew he had it, but in the political climate in which he lived, it was not a thing to advertise.

He considered ignoring whoever was on his porch. Too many friends had disappeared after answering their doors. Stalin had executed or sent to the gulag millions of people. Ivan had won his trust early by supporting him during the transition after Lenin’s death. If he had only known then what a tyrant the man would become, he would have joined his opponents. Maybe then that great communist experiment would have had a chance to succeed instead of evolving into the miserable failure it had become.

Being the Deputy Minister of Transportation provided him no protection. Stalin had executed most of the leaders of the revolution and had decimated the officer corps of the army, all in an attempt to destroy anyone who could stand in the way of his power. He had sent Ivan to Lubyanka, the dreaded NKVD prison where he had languished for months. He was now free, at least for a while, but his strength had not yet returned. He knew that he would never survive another visit there. The only reason he had not fled the country was his position in the Kremlin empowered him to protect Yuri.

He wondered if the person waiting on the other side of the door had a weapon and if he intended to arrest him. After all, Valdislav had disappeared, and Stalin knew the animosity between the two men extended back to the revolution. Valdislav had done things during that time that Ivan could never forgive. He had murdered the family of the only woman Ivan had ever loved—the woman who bore his twin sons. He was the reason Valentina had fled to Germany with their other son to live with her mother’s sister. He was the reason that she was not living with Ivan now and that Ivan had been forced to hid Yuri on a kulak farm.

Ivan cracked open the door and recognized his son standing on the porch. He pulled him into the house. Yuri, you should not be here.

Yuri winced when Ivan touched his sleeve. We need to talk.

Ivan motioned for him to sit on the couch and pulled out a straight chair for himself. What’s wrong with your arm?

Yuri removed his jacket, revealing the bloody bandage. I killed Valdislav.

Ivan sat bolt upright in his chair. What happened? It seemed impossible. Yuri had no training at all, and yet he had succeeded in assassinating one of the more feared leaders of the NKVD.

Yuri started at the beginning, describing his courtship of Tania, the gory fight with Valdislav, and Valdislav’s last flight.

Ivan smiled. You did good, Yuri. He deserved to die. He walked to the bar, found two glasses, and filled them from a bottle of vodka.

Yuri accepted his glass and lifted it to his lips. I couldn’t let him hurt Tania. I plan to marry her.

Ivan placed a hand on his shoulder. His son was about to make a deadly mistake. You can’t do that.

Yuri pushed his hand away. You’re not going to stop me. You have no right.

Ivan stepped backward, surprised by his son’s anger. Sometimes we have to give up the ones we love to protect them. Why do you think I sent your mother to Germany? The Bolsheviks would have killed her if I had kept her here. He could hardly believe how much memories of Valentina still bothered him. The disappointment, the crushed dream, the doubt, and the guilt all still lingered just beneath his consciousness.

What has that got to do with Tania?

She was Valdislav’s lover. The NKVD will—

She was not his lover. He gripped his glass so tightly that Ivan thought it would break.

Ivan regretted his years of separation from his son. There was no bond of trust on which he could call to convince him to heed his warning. They were strangers who happened to share the same blood. You can be sure the NKVD suspects she was. They will want to question her.

That’s why I’m here. Yuri swallowed the last of his vodka. They were waiting for her when our plane landed. They’re interrogating her now.

Ivan gritted his teeth. She will tell them about you.

Tania will not tell them a thing.

She may not want to, but the NKVD can be very persuasive. He knew their techniques all too well after his time in Lubyanka.

They won’t touch her. He banged his glass on the table beside the couch.

Ivan took a deep breath. How can you be sure?

They don’t know that Valdislav is dead. They will not risk angering him by aggravating his friend.

You may be right for now, but when he does not return soon, that will change.

So, what do you suggest?

Ivan returned to his seat and leaned toward Yuri. First, you need to stay away from her. If they think she has another lover, then the two of you will become their prime suspects.

I can’t do that.

You can if you want to avoid getting her killed. He tried to lock his gaze with Yuri. And that is not all. You both need to get out of the country.

How are we supposed to do that?

You could join the army. Germany has just invaded Poland. Everyone is afraid Hitler will continue into Russia. No one would question your decision to do your patriotic duty.

Yuri lifted his hands in frustration. How will that help me get out of the country?

Ivan leaned forward and spoke in a whisper. Stalin has made a deal with Hitler. We are going into Poland in two weeks. If you can be assigned there, you may be able to go AWOL and slip across the border.

We are going to be allies with Germany? The disbelief in his voice was palpable.

Let’s just say we will be fighting a common foe. Stalin plans to deal with Germany in due time. It was a devious plan, and Ivan had thought Stalin was insane when he first voiced it. He had seduced Hitler into starting a war by promising to attack Poland from the east after Germany attacked from the west. What he failed to tell Hitler was he would wait until France and England had reacted before making his move. That way, their retaliation would be directed at Germany,