Into The Aether

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Boy

The atmosphere was still as the snow continued to bombard the city. Richtofen sat quietly in the back of the car as it hummed along the road. After his meeting with Mr Merkulov, Richtofen's chauffeur had been given orders to drive him to a nearby hotel - the infamous Hotel Lux. But Richtofen was a brilliant genius and he was not going to fall for such a simple-minded trap by the Soviets. He knew exactly what going there would entail.

The hotel in question had long since become notorious for housing German communist exiles who had fled Hitler's rise to power. Its rooms quickly became overcrowded and conditions were poor. The rat infestation had long established itself back in 1921, hot water was only available twice a week; and crammed communal kitchens regularly boiled food next to pots of diapers which were in the process of being sterilised.

In 1934, Stalin began his first purge and by 1936 the hotel was firmly in his crosshairs. The number of German Communists, as well as those from other countries, had long since aroused his suspicions. He began to suspect the hotel's occupants were spies and conducted investigations. And soon, Hotel Lux notoriously became known as "the golden cage of the Comitern".

The hotel's occupants were kept prisoner during these investigations and nightly raids - conducted by the NKVD secret police - saw men randomly being taken away in the night. Many were subjected to interrogation for false confessions and sent to gulags. Their wives and children were left behind in the hotel, isolated from the rest of the occupants and treated as enemies of the state.

Richtofen knew the Russians viewed all Germans with suspicion and his welcome at the Lubyanka was far from lukewarm. He deliberately carried the manuscripts in his briefcase to entice them into making this kind of move. Logically, it would have been much easier to simply take the documents from Richtofen and throw him into obscurity in a Siberian gulag - rather than meet his list of demands.

But showing them that he was a force to be reckoned with would ensure that they would take his demands more seriously. If he were to quietly leave the country undetected - showing he was impervious to their cheap tricks - the Soviets would have no choice but to attract his attention again by keeping their end of the deal. It would be something he would know the outcome of soon enough once he returned to the theatre.

Amongst the discussion between the chauffeur and the small trembling Russian man who had escorted him back at the foyer; he picked out the words "Hotel Lux" mixed in the Russian. Richtofen made sure to remain unphased as he got in the car. As he looked out of the window, Richtofen methodically counted the number of twists and turns as the driver navigated the city. Once he knew they were near to the infamous Gorky Street; Richtofen ordered the driver to stop.

The chauffeur did not put up any resistance and floored the brakes. He silently trembled as he anxiously watched the German in the rearview mirror. Richtofen quietly leaned forward in his seat - never breaking his deadly gaze from the chauffeur in the mirror. The man trembled, completely frozen in place, as the German stalked closer. Richtofen released a sly malevolent smile before producing a flip knife in one had and a 10,000 ruble bank note in the other. The man quietly looked down at the two items and nodded to Richtofen's right hand which contained the money.

"Ja, I zhought jou vould choose zat one", Richtofen smiled before ordering the man to drive into the nearby alley. The chauffeur turned around and reached for the money before Richtofen snatched it back and waved a finger.

"Nein, not until jou drive in zhere", he smirked.

The poor man shakily put the car in gear and released the handbrake as the car reluctantly rolled into the alley. The buildings were packed close together allowing just a sliver of winter light to pass through.