The romanov sanction, p.1
The Romanov Sanction, page 1
part #1 of Briefings from the Deep Scarlet Compartment Series
The Romanov Sanction
James B. Raper
3.3
7/20/2008
Deep Scarlet Compartment Briefing Number 1.20 Rev. 07
© 2019 by James B. Raper
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, locations, and events depicted in this novel are solely a product of the author’s imagination and bear no relationship to persons alive or dead. However, certain locations and the names of real actors on the world stage are used to provide context for the fictionalized events portrayed.
NOTE: Pseudo classification markings (MOST SECRET – SCI \ Deep Scarlet, declassified on April 1, 2018 by HRH Charlotte III, Regent) at the bottom of text pages are fictional parts of the story line and do not reflect actual classified materials. All referenced material, events and descriptions are from currently open sources.
Cover design by Allison Wynne Raper and maps by AFARS.
ISBN 9781981421886
Other books by the author
The Vault Unleashed
Business Intelligence Architecture for Small and Mid-Size Enterprise 2 Ed: Executive Guide
This book is dedicated to two fantastic educators:
Claire McGirt, my Senior English Teacher at Whiteville High School in 1965, imparted the tools and an enjoyment of writing that enabled me to prosper for forty years at my day job and in writing for enjoyment upon retirement.
and to
Andrew Pudewa, Director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing, whose two-day course, Teaching Writing Structure and Style, enabled our homeschooled daughter to acquire the writing skills needed to excel at the honors level in college. Andrew’s teach-the-teacher DVD course spurred me into writing my first book, The Vault Unleashed and aided me in writing better professional publications and technical papers.
Table of Contents
List of Characters
Prolog
Book One: Sagamore Sedition
Chapter 1: Chip in the Stone
Chapter 2: Dining at George’s
Chapter 3: Visit from the Bootlegger
Chapter 4: The Book that Teddy Wrote
Chapter 5: Disappointing Correspondence
Chapter 6: What Price Freedom?
Chapter 7: Switch
Chapter 8: Blueprints
Chapter 9: The Letters and the Stick
Chapter 10: The Gathering
Chapter 11: Rough Riders
Chapter 12: Pieces Moving on the Board
Chapter 13: Through the Fire
Chapter 14: Into the Darkness
Chapter 15: Rising with the Son
Chapter 16: The Second Edge
Chapter 17: Voices in the Hall
Chapter 18: Engine Builders
Chapter 19: Messengers and Movements
Chapter 20: The Last Supper in Russia
Book Two: Children of the West Wind
Chapter 21: From Hell to Paradise
Chapter 22: New Arrivals
Chapter 23: West Wind’s Owner
Chapter 24: The Letter
Chapter 25: Familiar Strangers from the Train
Chapter 26: Faller’s Shack
Chapter 27: The Prodigal Returns
Chapter 28: Chance Encounter
Chapter 29: Spy Games
Chapter 30: Home Again
Chapter 31: Farmhouse Wedding
Chapter 32: The Seconds
Chapter 33: Riders in the Dusk
Chapter 34: Into the Mist
Chapter 35: The New Tutor
Chapter 36: As you live so you die
Chapter 38: Rim Rocks
Chapter 39: The Letter from York
Chapter 40: Gathering of the Threads
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Selected Background References
List of Characters
Britain
George Buchanan, British Ambassador to the Russian Empire (1910 – 1918).
Clementine Churchill, wife of Winston Churchill.
Consuelo Churchill, wife of 9th Duke of Marlborough, cousin by marriage to Winston Churchill.
Winston Churchill, Minister of Munitions (1917 – 19), Prime Minister (1940 – 45 and 1951 – 55).
Lieutenant Jacobs, military attaché in Moscow (1916 – 1919).
Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister 1979 – 90. Deep Scarlet Regent.
Larry Thompson, veteran cavalry sergeant, 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen’s Bays), seriously wounded at the battle of the Somme in 1916. Trainer and member of Sam Cox’s penetration quad during the West Wind Expedition.
“Yoni” code name for a double agent working for the Russians but loyal to a Deep Scarlet principal.
Canada
Jacques Lafitte, cover name for Cheka agent in route from Russia to Canada.
Captain McInnis, Fisherman and bootlegger from Newfoundland. Rescued Archie Butts from Titanic.
Greece
Seaman Ghanapolos, coal stoker on the Samani.
Captain Nikos Yiannakis, Master of the Samani, a small Greek freighter.
Russia
Antov Bleniski, Cheka agent and courier for the Romanov execution orders.
Yevgeny (Eugene) Sergeyevich Botkin, court physician to the family of Tsar Nicholas’ family. Reportedly executed with the imperial family in Ekaterinburg on 17 July 1918.
Anna Demidova, maid to Tsarina Alexandria. Reportedly executed with imperial family in Ekaterinburg on 17 July 1918.
Felix Dzerzhinsky, aka iron Felix, head of the Cheka and its successor the OGPU (1917 – 26).
Ivan Kharitonov cook for the imperial family. Reportedly executed with imperial family in Ekaterinburg on 17 July 1918.
Vladimir Lenin, Chairman of the Peoples Commissioners (1917 – 24).
Jan Mancewicz, harbor Administrator for port of Vladivostok.
Sister Casimira Piotrovskaya, Nun at the Most Holy Mother of God Catholic Church in Vladivostok.
Sophia Piotrovskaya, “stiff necked” royalist, ordered terminated by the Bolsheviks in Kirov. Cousin of Sister Casimira Piotrovskaya.
Leonid Shebarshin, former head of the KGB First Directorate and acting head of the agency for two days in August 1991. Later a principal in the consulting firm AO Russia. A custodian of the Only Eyes Romanov file.
Father Karol Sliwowsky, priest for the Most Holy Mother of God Catholic Church in Vladivostok. Father Sliwowsky would later be both the first and last Bishop in the port city.
Alexei Romanova, Tsarevich or heir to the Russian throne was the youngest child of Tsar Nicholas II. Reportedly executed in Ekaterinburg on 17 July 1918.
Alexandra Romanova, Tsarina of Russia, wife of Tsar Nicholas II (1894 – 1917 abdication date). Reportedly executed in Ekaterinburg on 17 July 1918.
Anastasia Romanova, Grand Duchess and youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. Reportedly executed in Ekaterinburg on 17 July 1918.
Maria Romanova, Grand Duchess and third daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. Reportedly executed in Ekaterinburg on 17 July 1918.
Olga Romanova, Grand Duchess and eldest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. Reportedly executed in Ekaterinburg on 17 July 1918.
Tatiana Romanova, Grand Duchess and second daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. Reportedly executed in Ekaterinburg on 17 July 1918.
Alexei Trupp, valet to Tsar Nicholas II. Reportedly executed with imperial family in Ekaterinburg on 17 July 1918.
Leon Trotsky, leader in the Russian Revolution, member of the first Politburo (1917 – 24).
Boris Yeltsin, President of the Russian Federation (6 November 1991 – 15 May 1992).
Yakov Yurovsky, Commandant of House of Special Purpose in Yekaterinburg tasked with executing the Romanov family and their servants.
South Atlantic Kingdom
John Anderson, Major, military aide to Queen Charlotte.
Prince Bernard and Princess Mary Drake, only children of Edward Drake, King of the South Atlantic Kingdom and his late wife Mary.
Caroline Drake, Princess, only daughter of Queen Charlotte.
Charlotte Drake, HRH, Queen of the South Atlantic Kingdom.
Edward Drake, HRH, King of the South Atlantic Kingdom (1885 – 1940).
Mary Drake, first wife of Edward Drake, Queen of the South Atlantic Kingdom (1895 – 1918).
Lieutenant John Hartshorne, military aide to King Edward Drake and member of the Black Watch Ranger Battalion.
Jerkins, Butler for Lord Myrtles.
Luke Johnson, navigator on the SS West Wind.
Absolute Kelvin, PhD. Scientific Advisor to Queen Charlotte.
Will Longbow, personal bodyguard for princess Caroline, Captain Royal Rangers, pathfinder, Knight Commander of Royal lancers.
Donald McDuffie, Chief Engineer on the SS West Wind.
Captain Yon Morgan, Master of the SS West Wind, a small coastal freighter.
Charles Myrtles, Lord High Chancellor of the South Atlantic Kingdom.
Olivia Roanwillow, an orphan raised by the elves on Mistime lóna.
Hercules Strombinger, General Manager of the Misty Isle Shipyard.
United States
Rufus Alexander, land attorney and surveyor in Asheville, North Carolina. Member of the West Wind Expedition.
James Amos, personal man servant for Theodore Roosevelt.
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> Father Nathanael Bartholomew, young orthodox priest at the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas in New York City.
Doctor Robert (Bob) Bishop, Hospital Administrator, Roper Hospital, Charleston, South Carolina.
Doctor Gene Botkin retired general practitioner and resident at the West Wind ranch in North Dakota.
Doctor Rufus Bratton, family doctor in York, South Carolina.
Archibald (Archie) Butts, Military Aide to President Roosevelt, manager of West Wind ranch, personal envoy to Russia for Mr. Roosevelt in 1918.
Isaac Carter, inside cook at the West Wind ranch in North Dakota.
William (Bill) Casey, Director of the Central intelligence Agency (CIA) 1981 – 87.
Cookie, chuck wagon cook at the West Wind ranch in North Dakota.
Anne Cox, Chief Executive officer and Chief Test pilot of Cox-Marion Industries.
Sam Cox, cowboy and stunt flier from North Dakota who was boyhood friend and doppelganger for Quinton Roosevelt.
Ann Deming, maid to Alice Roman at the West Wind ranch in North Dakota.
Crystal Goodwin, senior emergency room nurse at Roper Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina.
Jake Jones, foreman of the West Wind ranch in North Dakota.
Jonah Kuhio, hereditary Hawaiian prince known as Ke Alii Makaainana or Prince of the People. Congressman from the Hawaiian Territory.
Henry Habersham, chief butler for Edith Vanderbilt.
Charles Lee, driver for Theodore and Edith Roosevelt at Sagamore Hill.
Daniel Ludy, member of 1st U. S. Volunteer Calvary (Rough Riders), member of the West Wind Expedition.
Doctor Kenneth Lynch, Chief of Pathology Department, Medical College of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina.
Francis Marion, direct descendent of the American Revolutionary hero of the same name. Commander of the West Wind Raid.
John J. (Black Jack) Pershing, General and head of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I.
Alex Roman, son of Nick and Alice Roman, ranchers in North Dakota, currently a medical missionary.
Alice Roman, wife of Nick Roman a rancher in North Dakota. Nickname Sunny.
Ann Roman, youngest daughter of Nick and Alice Roman, ranchers in North Dakota, currently residing in the Asheville area of North Carolina.
Marie Roman, third daughter of Nick and Alice Roman, currently residing on the West Wind ranch in North Dakota.
Nick Roman, owner of the West Wind ranch in North Dakota.
Olga Roman, eldest daughter of Nick and Alice Roman, ranchers in North Dakota, currently living in the South Atlantic Kingdom.
Tanya Roman, second daughter of Nick and Alice Roman, ranchers in North Dakota, currently residing in Charleston, South Carolina.
Edith Roosevelt, wife of Theodore Roosevelt, second American Deep Scarlet Principal, and influencer in the Secret Games.
Quinton Roosevelt, Lieutenant in 95th Bomber Squadron, youngest son of President Theodore Roosevelt.
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, first American Principal of Deep Scarlet.
Isham Scott, elder of the two Catawba Scout brothers on the East Wind Expedition’s penetration team.
Mary Scott, young maid at Sagamore Hill, NY.
John Scott, younger of the two Catawba Scout brothers on the East Wind Expedition’s penetration team.
Georgina Smithson, wife of Frank Smithson one of the West Wind Expedition.
Frank Smithson, a member of Francis Marion’s West Wind Expedition.
Mimi Spalding, Francis Marion’s housekeeper at Green Willows house in Charleston, South Carolina.
Sampson Spalding, Francis Marion’s man-servant at Green Willows house in Charleston, South Carolina.
Alex Troop, houseman for the West Wind ranch in North Dakota.
Lester (Les) Thompson, editor and occasional war correspondent for the Green Swamp News. former special operations officer for the CIA and Army Ranger.
Edith Vanderbilt, widow of George Vanderbilt.
William (Little Bill) Winder, son of a wealthy banker in Charleston, South Carolina.
Cornelia Vanderbilt, daughter of George and Edith Vanderbilt.
Undocumented Nationality
Johnathan, companion and bodyguard to Ann Roman.
Lars Swenson, Master Engineer and engine builder.
Hans Gunter, engineer and engine builder.
Kurt Besoms, master machinist and engine builder.
Stephen, engineer and engine builder.
Brother Veritas, Master Planner of the West Wind Expedition.
Prolog
Return of the Relics
Domodedovo International Airport
Moscow, Russia
55.41N 37.91E
August 21, 1991
Flying over the green Russian landscape, the British Airways jet made a routine approach to Domodedovo, the main commercial aerodrome outside Moscow. Aboard was the usual mix of diplomats, business people, tourists and maybe a spy or spy catcher or two. However, as the BAC Flight broke through the layer of clouds and lowered its main landing gear, a dozen artifacts of the Revolution were returning to their homeland.
As soon as the main cabin door was opened, a tallish military officer rose from his seat in the first-class cabin, struggled into his coat and hat, and headed for the open door. Following closely behind were an elderly lady and her olive-skinned companion.
While most of the passengers had slept or moved about the cabin during the long flight from London, the major had remained in his seat and contented himself with a copy of Clive Cussler’s Sahara.
During the evening meal, several of the first-class passengers nearby noted with amusement the major’s awkward attempt to eat with the silver chain connecting his left wrist to a similar colored metal case on the floor. Mistaking the olive uniform as that of a British officer, most assumed he was a courier heading for Her Majesty’s embassy with the Diplomatic Pouch.
This misconception was reinforced when the major was met at the gate by two officers from Her Majesty’s Military Attaché Office. The major and his escorts moved through immigration and customs without slowing down. Strangely, the elderly couple also traversed officialdom with only the briefest glances at the official passports that the gentleman presented. The other passengers would have been even more surprised if they had seen, or recognized, the double eagle seal engraved in the lady’s deep scarlet passport cover.
Outside of the building, an armored Rolls Royce waited at the curb with the motor running. The major and his two-armed escorts slid into the back of the car. The older couple followed. The Rolls immediately pulled out into traffic and headed for Moscow.
