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Kremlin guard regiment commander (and Kondratiev's good friend), had suddenly insisted be placed at intervals around the outer walls. By stripping myself of the three rings of security devised to protect the presidency, I proved nothing except my naiveté. I have allowed the Kremlin to revert to its original purpose, Cherny thought. It is again a fortress, not against an external enemy, but to guard its privileged denizens. |
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How could the government that he headed have come to such a state? He had done his best to govern in an enlightened manner, to pry open the cracks in the dishonored authoritarian regimes that had preceded his, letting in modern thought and modern economic methods. All for the good of the Russian people, not for personal gain. |
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Cherny stood looking down at the untrammeled snow with tears in his eyes. It was because of me, my caution, my fears, and my sins of omission that Dovi Milstein, companion of my university days, supporter in exile, coworker in the chaotic fields of Russian politics, confidant and adviser, faithful friend, was dead. Cherny broke down and wept freely, mopping at his face with a large white handkerchief. There would be no state funeral, no open casket, for David Davidovich Milstein. His ascetic face had been destroyed by the explosion of one of Admiral Aleyev's costly British Purdy shotguns. |
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My God, he thought bitterly, did that group of murderers really imagine he would accept an explanation for Milstein's death so transparently false? Kondratiev and his adherents had purposefully killed Dovi, just as certainly as he, Aleksandr Cherny, who stood here alone, with the last light of the dying winter's day on his face, had sent him to his death at their hands. |
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The insufferable arrogance of those bastards, he thought, as they feigned sorrow at my bereavement. Not ten minutes ago they had gathered in this very room, crying their crocodile tears, then trying to bully him into naming one of theirs as Dovi Milstein's replacement. Now that Cherny and Kondratiev had reconciled, Kondratiev, or someone he nominated from |
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