Field of Mars

by Stephen Miller

  ‘Do you have a place you can go?’

  ‘My sister, I’ll go to her house, you go now—’ she shooed him out and shuffled off to get dressed.

  ‘I’m sorry, Lena—’ He went to hug her once more. ‘Go, Petrushka. Go—’ She pushed him off and he was back out into the hall and heading for the back stairs.

  He walked all the way to the river and then went into a hotel florist’s and selected two dozen roses to be delivered to Mademoiselle Vera Aliyeva at the Komet Theatre as soon as possible. In the note he told Vera to stay away from his apartment, and that by looking at the morning newspapers she would know why.

  Love, he wrote. Stared at the word for a long moment, and then scrawled a hasty P beneath it.

  The vault belonged to the Abusch family, after whom Abuschskaya Street had been named.

  He paced up and down through the cool long room, reading the epitaphs, noting the carved Neptunes and sinking ships that had been chiselled into the malachite plaques. A whole family of German mariners were recorded here: shipwrights, exporters, and finally accountants and canny investors; immigrants who’d prospered, owing their success to Teutonic connections and an accident of geography that had led the original Abusch to settle at the confluence of the Neva and the Gulf of Finland and begin building ships for Catherine the Great. That same original Abusch rested inside a catafalque which now supported a large canvas bag of groceries Ryzhkov had brought for the wait.

  Where had all the Abuschs gone? Probably abroad, probably somewhere more fashionable, the shares in the business long since sold or placed in trusts, profits gambled away by dissolute offspring—artists without skill, wanderers without a destination.

  For Ryzhkov it was a safe place, a safe place filled with death. There were no longer any Abuschs to notice that the dried flowers had been disturbed, the cobwebs had been mysteriously cleared away, that suddenly there were cigarette butts and muddy footprints across the floor. No one to complain that the family vault had been desecrated.

  Hokhodiev whistled and then Ryzhkov heard him scrape his shoes on the gravel. Ryzhkov moved to the iron gates and swung them open as quietly as he could. He could tell that Hokhodiev had been walking quickly. ‘Dima’s coming,’ he said. He had a cheese inside his jacket and a short revolver that he’d tucked in his belt. They went back and sat down in the back room.

  ‘He’s only about fifteen minutes behind me. Lena caught me on the stairs, she’s gone off to Masha’s place. Jesus …’ he said, staring down at the stones. ‘This is what I think it is, right? This is as bad as I think?’ Hokhodiev pulled off his fedora and fanned himself.

  ‘Fauré asked his minister, Tomlinovich asked Gulka.’ ‘This is, this is just what I thought. Gulka. Oh …’ Hokhodiev said and shook his head.

  ‘We’ll get out and we’ll get her out, get word to Masha.’

  ‘I found Dima at the office.’

  ‘I only drove past.’

  ‘They hadn’t got there yet. And … you know, I didn’t wait to see.’

  ‘We might be out of it. I don’t know if they know us,’ Ryzhkov said. ‘I’d been removed from their case, that was their way of ending the deal. It might be nothing,’ he said. He’d stood up now and was pacing back and forth. It was too desperate. Hokhodiev raised his finger to his lips to quieten him. For a long moment he just stood there, staring at the carvings.

  ‘No … No, brother,’ Hokhodiev said. ‘We’re not out of it. We might be a little ahead, but nobody but Gulka could get a job done like that … those Justice boys … it’s a mine, they have to put it in the street like that? They’d been watching. It’s probably the Parrot,’ he said, meaning one of the other Internal investigators they knew who’d long made explosives his speciality.

  ‘If they are on to us …’ Ryzhkov had been trying to minimize it in his imagination. Now just thinking about it put a catch in his throat.

  ‘When were you at Kryukov last?’ Hokhodiev asked him.

  ‘Before this, not for … three, three or four days.’

  ‘Dima and I have been gone from there for at least a week now. When did they go upstairs to get their permissions?’

  ‘Who knows? But probably right after the whale meeting. Three weeks.’

  ‘Shit,’ Hokhodiev said. They heard a man coughing out on the gravel and Ryzhkov moved to the gate. Across the pathway he saw Dima stop and take his hat off and shuffle about in front of a huge granite tombstone. He dropped to one knee and looked over and saw Ryzhkov nod. Dima stood up and walked away down the path for a dozen metres, then stopped and backtracked directly to the Abusch gate.

  ‘We’re all right, I think,’ Dima said. ‘I ran back in and pulled this before I left.’ He held up an envelope that bulged with fifty-rouble notes. Part of the ‘petty cash’ that Volga Metals Assurance kept inside a windowsill at 17 Pushkinskaya.

  ‘Oh, God …’

  ‘The young man has balls, brother. Take your hat off

  to him.’

  ‘It’s fucking Fatso, isn’t it,’ Dima spat. He pulled off his jacket. His shirt was wringing wet.

  ‘It’s all we can come up with,’ Ryzhkov said.

  ‘It’s not such a good situation,’ Hokhodiev added. ‘

  No.’

  ‘We go, now, yes?’ Dima asked him.

  ‘Now or never. I don’t know how far we’ll get. If Gulka has decided to put out a description of the three of us, we’re gone. We’re just ahead of them.’

  ‘Run …’ Hokhodiev said. It came out sounding like a joke.

  ‘It’s the natural thing, the normal thing,’ Ryzhkov said. Hanging around all the dead Abuschs was making him think about a boat and the Gulf of Finland as a way out. They might only have a few hours if they were ahead of Gulka and whoever he had got working for him.

  ‘And you’re sure you saw nothing when you were back there, Dima? You’re sure?’ It was strange that Gulka hadn’t tried to raid their office. They must be a little ahead of them.

  ‘Gulka … My God …’ Hokhodiev said. Laboriously he climbed to his feet and began walking along the room, running one big hand across the surface of the stones. ‘We have the top man in the secret police running this thing with the Serbs?’

  ‘No one else knew about it that could do the bomb. It’s got to be, it’s got to.’

  ‘We have to go, we have to go or …’ Dima looked up at him. His eyes were moist, his chin suddenly trembled.

  ‘Or what?’ he asked quietly.

  Hokhodiev looked at them. ‘It’s us against Gulka, now. I mean, maybe they’ve found us, maybe they find us in the next hour, maybe we have a whole day, but if they manage to pick us up, they’re going to kill us, yes?’ he said.

  ‘Yes,’ Ryzhkov said. ‘So, if you want to leave, this is the time, Kostya. Go to Finland. Get Lena and get out tonight if you want to try it.’

  Hokhodiev held up one finger for silence, just shook his head. He couldn’t look either of them in the eye and his face was very red. No.

  ‘Yes. All right, then,’ Ryzhkov said quietly.

  ‘So, we go after the bastards, I say, yes?’ Dima nearly shouted, then caught himself. ‘You know, what the hell, we’re dead anyway.’

  ‘No. We’re not dead. We can get him …’

  ‘Yes. Even with just three of us, we can do that,’ Hokhodiev said. They both looked at Ryzhkov. He was right where he had been the whole time, staring at the intricately carved feet of the catafalque. For a long moment he did nothing. It was almost as if he hadn’t heard himself speak. And then he looked around at them and his mouth contorted, spreading like a slash across his face as he smiled his terrible smile.

  THIRTY-FIVE

  Ryzhkov, Hokhodiev, and Dima Dudenko pulled their carriage behind the Kleinmichel mansion and through the trades entrance, officiously demanded from the keeper a secure place to park. Dangling from the pannier was a large sign that proclaimed ‘No Smoking—Explosive Displays!’

  ‘I didn’t know there were fireworks,�
� the old man said.

  ‘Oh, yes,’ Dima said.

  ‘Do you have a boy to watch this wagon? No one closer than fifty metres,’ Ryzhkov called out. A member of the house staff was approaching. He was dressed formally.

  ‘No, no. Keep away!’ Hokhodiev jumped down and put himself between the man and their carriage. The gatekeeper reflexively drew back into his kiosk.

  ‘Just no smoking! That’s the important thing. If this goes, it will take half the house along with it,’ he smiled.

  ‘You can pull up over there, is that what you need?’ the old man said, still sheltering in the doorway.

  ‘That will be fine.’

  ‘Nobody goes near this wagon, eh?’ Hokhodiev jabbed a finger and the servant retreated back toward the kitchens.

  And they were through and across to the far side of the lawn.

  They spent the afternoon, carefully placing terracotta tubes in prominent locations around the lawn, liaised with the gardeners, and met one of the junior butlers, who was perplexed that he hadn’t been informed of the display.

  ‘Something last minute, I guess. It might be a gift, who knows?’ Ryzhkov grumbled at the man. ‘They told us where to go and we were up all night putting this show together.’ Down at the gate a wagon was loading in an ice-sculpture packed in straw.

  ‘And, look, they can’t stop there. This whole lane all the way to the gate has to be kept open for us. I’m sorry, but the fire department makes us do that, eh?’

  ‘Certainly, yes,’ the butler agreed and turned to head back.

  ‘And we need a place to change.’

  The man stopped and turned. Hokhodiev stood on the step of the carriage displaying his costume, the armour of a fifth-century Mongol warrior.

  ‘Oh … yes. I’ll show him.’

  And they were inside.

  By midnight the colossal, fabulous party that had been so carefully organized by Countess Kleinmichel was gathering momentum. That it was a costume party made their task easier.

  Ironically, for the head of the Okhrana, personal security was almost non-existent. In some ways it was a vanity, in others a mark of true confidence. Gulka had made himself a victim of his own ruthlessness; his Internal branch agents had infiltrated every terrorist cell in the empire, his provocateurs had even created their own cells of bombers and assassins in order to better entrap dissidents and neophyte revolutionaries. And besides, unless you were a member of the royal family, to show up at a society party with an entourage of detectives would be a breach of etiquette, tacit implication that the countess was not loved by one and all.

  All evening Ryzhkov had followed Gulka around the party, even stood beside him at one point and laughed at his jokes.

  At eleven Hokhodiev touched off the first of the fireworks. Just simple rockets they had purchased that morning. The idea was to get Gulka and get out before they had to do anything fancy.

  Inside the crowd started heading toward the lawn. Ryzhkov went ahead and waited in the shadows, looking around until he saw Dima, who was in his costume and standing cloaked by the shadows of the carriage. Kostya would do the driving. Both men avoided looking at Ryzhkov, he had been nervous from the beginning.

  ‘He’s so old,’ Dima said. ‘What if he has a heart attack?’

  ‘It will be lucky for him,’ Ryzhkov said, and he didn’t ask any more questions after that. Now he was living the angry life of a policeman, again. Waiting, wishing for it to be over. Yes, yes … a heart attack. Or what if Gulka simply didn’t want to go outside? He’d have to go in and find him, entice him somehow. If that didn’t work, they’d have to try another day. What if he got tired and took the opportunity to rest his feet, watch the show from one of the windows? What if he was with friends, or someone wanted to tag along?

  ‘There—’ Ryzhkov said as the man they were waiting for—General Alexandr Ivanovich Gulka, waddled toward them through the great doors. He was wearing an ornate costume fashioned in the style of a sixteenth-century boyar.

  ‘Is that him?’ Dima whispered.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You first. Good luck,’ Ryzhkov said, pulling his mask down as he followed Dima out of the shadows, transformed suddenly into a happy drunk. Timing his approach across the yard as Gulka was coming down the stairs. ‘Alexei!’ a warm embrace … ‘Alexei, my God! What are you, the devil?’ A laugh to elicit an even greater exhausted laugh from those nearby. Gulka looked at him, smiled, tried to recognize the voice.

  ‘Ay! Good heavens!’ Behind them there was a sudden shriek—a woman jerking her skirts out of the way as a man costumed as Napoleon had suddenly vomited all over the terrace.

  Ryzhkov took the opportunity to steer Gulka away from the mess, to call for someone to come help quickly. The sick Napoleon was causing a panic.

  Behind them Hokhodiev touched a match to a rocket, then climbed up and took the reins. Ryzhkov breathed softly in the old man’s ear, ‘This way—this way now, or I’ll cut you right here.’

  The man whose name Gulka could not quite remember was dressed as some sort of demon, a seagod, or could it be the kikimora, the devil who lived in the tower of Trinity Church and whose cry foretold the destruction of the city? Gulka tried to interpret it all, frowning as he was led along, searching for the name of the monstrous prankster, even laughing nervously.

  ‘Ahh …’ The rheumy eyes opening wide. Now he knew. Shaking his head, the eyes frowning, trying to focus after too much iced champagne. ‘It’s not going to work, you know …’ Gulka whispered.

  ‘Come on … one step at the time, that’s the way,’ hissed the sea-god, and Gulka complied with a gasp, his knees suddenly gone weak. Ryzhkov had to hold him up, thinking as he did so, that this was the worst moment, the most dangerous time, when it could all go wrong, if one of the general’s friends were to call out, to look around, to see them. What if he had the heart attack now? If anything went wrong he’d kill Gulka, kill him right there on the grass. Then finally it would be done. Done and over.

  ‘Quickly, quickly … everything is going to be fine.’

  ‘Oh, I’m so sorry!’ The sick Napoleon was apologizing profusely, screening the two of them as they crossed the lawn. Hokhodiev pulled the carriage around and there was a sudden flurry as they rushed toward the carriage.

  ‘Hurry up,’ he called down to them. ‘The fuses are lit.’

  ‘Step up!’ a generous shove in the ass, and then they were inside the closed carriage and lurching away. Suddenly Dima jumped into the opposite side of the carriage and came up with a sharp sword stick held rigid just below Gulka’s chin. Ryzhkov clipped the manacles on, ripping off the jewelled boyar head-dress, and replacing it with a cloth bag which he knotted around Gulka’s neck like an executioner as Kostya pulled the carriage through the back gates, a ripple of explosions echoing behind them.

  And they were away.

  There was no way to know when Gulka had discovered their investigation, or how long they had been under surveillance. Ryzhkov thought that everything had probably started to fall apart once Tomlinovich had made his report but it was a gamble. He made a careful telephone appointment at the clinic where he’d been interrogated by Fauré, and, once they arrived, warned the doctor to make himself scarce. The man didn’t say much, hovering in the background while they replaced the bag with a blindfold made of gauze bandages, and then led Gulka up to the bed in the upstairs room.

  ‘When do you want to start?’ the doctor whispered.

  ‘Right now,’ Ryzhkov said and watched while the man moved forward with his needle, pushed the drug into Gulka’s arm, unbuttoned the beaded vestments and then put a stethoscope to Gulka’s heart for a few moments. Satisfied, he stood and held the vial up so Ryzhkov could see it, pointing to a mark on the barrel of the syringe. ‘No more than this, eh. You have to wait at least three hours. Too much and …’ He shrugged and made a face. Perhaps it was supposed to be a smile. ‘Day after tomorrow, then?’

  ‘If we’re here, we’re here.’ Now
it was Ryzhkov’s turn to smile.

  ‘Good luck.’ Ryzhkov waited until the doctor had left and then he moved a chair closer to the bed.

  ‘He’s not asleep, is he?’ Dima said.

  ‘We’ll wake him up soon enough. The plan is I talk, you listen, if you think up questions, you pass me notes, yes?’

  ‘Yes … yes …’

  Ryzhkov went down to the kitchen, poured himself a thick coffee and drank half of it. Then he gathered his papers, and climbed back up to the attic room. Gulka tried to raise his head but Dima pushed him back down on to the pillow.

  ‘Hello, Alexei,’ Ryzhkov said quietly.

  ‘Yes …’ Gulka said. His voice was dreamy. The breathing regular.

  ‘We’re almost ready.’

  ‘Good, Sergei, good …’

  Ryzhkov looked over at Dima, shrugged. Gulka’s eyes would open, then close slightly. Dreaming while he was awake.

  ‘I just wanted to go over … everything, is that all right with you?’ For a moment Gulka said nothing. Perhaps the doctor had given him too large a dose. Dima reached over and tapped him on the cheek.

  ‘I wanted to check with you, Alexei, I wanted to confirm our plans.’

  ‘Mmm …’ Gulka breathed.

  ‘So … when, exactly should we be ready?’

  ‘Have to hurry.’

  ‘Oh, yes.’

  ‘Always ready.’

  ‘Of course, but the date.’

  ‘Everything move …’ Gulka began turning his head to the side, like a man looking at a panorama.

  ‘We’re all ready, right now, just as you said,’ Ryzhkov continued in as reassuring a voice as he could manage. Trying to mimic his mother’s tones when he’d been sick as a child.

  ‘Good …’

  ‘Who should I contact?’ he asked and looked up at Dima. The younger man raised his eyebrows. It was as good a tactic as any. For a moment Gulka seemed to struggle with the question and Ryzhkov asked him a second time. ‘Is there anyone I should contact, anyone who needs to know?’

  ‘I’ll tell Nestor …’