It had been another long, late night in the capitol with a committee meeting about to come to a close. The topic of debate was the ongoing situation with Germany and whether to pursue a peace treaty. This was something Borya had been in favor of from the beginning, as Germany had allowed him to cross its border into Russia from exile in a sealed train, exempt from being detained. He did not have everyone's support however, and the endless hashing over of the issue, along with the lateness of the hour, was starting to grind on Borya's already easily frayed nerves. Natasha was there that night taking notes and as usual, was carefully following Borya's emotional arc, and sensed if things didn't wrap soon, a blow up might happen.
One particular irritation to Borya was a man named Lev Radek, a generally reliable, intelligent committee member who continued to disagree with Borya over this issue. Tonight Lev was in fine form, laying down argument after argument that Russia had no place trying to negotiate with Germany. Every time Borya seemed to be swaying the majority, Lev used his skills of persuasive debate to illuminate the dangers of compromise.
"The sacrifices are too great!" Lev thundered.
"Nonsense!" Borya would shout back. "There is no good reason to continue this ridiculous battle that none of us approved! This was the czar's war, not ours-and it's time we put an end to it!"
"At what cost, exactly?" Lev shot back. "They want a huge chunk of our country, our very economy, to go away. Our farm land, our coal mines...we'll be crippled! This treaty must be rethought!"
"Coward!" Borya fired off. "Traitor! Philistine! Who exactly are you loyal to? Our new government or the failures and bad decisions of the old world we just conquered?"
"How dare you question my loyalty!" Lev shouted, silencing even the whispers and quiet talk among other committee members, huddled together at the table watching the sparks fly.
"Yes, my mistake!" Borya said sarcastically. "You're right-you HAVE no loyalty!"
Lev's eyes narrowed and everyone was silent as they watched him, sweating and trembling with rage. He looked at Borya and began to speak in an even, controlled tone, his finger raised, pointing directly at Borya.
"If there were five hundred courageous men in Petrograd, we would put you in prison."
There were audible gasps from the men in the room. Natasha looked up from her notes to see what would happen next.
Borya stood there, hands in his pockets, then abruptly turned towards the door, calling out as he left the room.
"FIRED!" You're done, Radek. Off the committee."
A great outcry arose as Borya marched out the door of the main meeting room. Lev was stunned into silence, the others rising from their seats to put their hands on his shoulders and assure him it was only Borya's temper speaking- he couldn't really mean it.
Natasha sat there behind her pile of notes, watching the men crowding around Lev, many loudly protesting indignantly. Others, utterly exhausted from the long night of debates, could only gather up their briefcases, put on their hats and coats and wearily head for the door.
She sighed, organized her papers, put them in her briefcase, then gathered up her coat and gloves. Lev was standing over by the table with a few men on each side of him who were quietly speaking words of support. She always admired Lev. He was a medium sized man with a thick shock of dark brown hair and full beard to match. He gave off the air of a quiet, unassuming intellectual until he really got going on a subject he felt passionate about. She didn't feel he deserved such a public dressing down and certainly did not deserve to be thrown off the committee. Granted, sometimes he could be almost as fiery as Borya, but he was also among the very first of the men to be invited onto the committee and had been a staff member on Borya's newspaper for years in London before the revolution. They had a long history together.
Natasha quietly approached Lev, who looked over at her.
"I'm very sorry, Lev. You know how he gets. Impulsive, unreasonable. He can't mean what he said."
Lev gave a snort, looking at her thru his small circular spectacles.
"He meant every word of it. His level of contempt and dismissal of sound criticism grows like a toxic weed. I genuinely fear for this country, Natasha, if this is how he plans on running things."
Natasha sighed again.
"Let me speak to him, Lev. I may be able to do something."
Lev scoffed as he secured his briefcase.
"I'm sorry to laugh Natasha, but what could YOU possibly do? The man is beyond hope. A stubborn old goat with the little beard to match. Someone should stick a corn cob in his mouth and put him out to pasture."
With that, he bade her goodnight and exited the room with a couple of men in tow. She stood there alone for a moment, collecting her thoughts and listening to the men's footsteps disappear down the hall until everything was silent and still.
***************
Lamplight came from inside of Borya's office, gently illuminating the carpeting and walls as she stepped towards his slightly open door. She peered inside, seeing him at his desk looking over a newspaper. She quietly walked in, then pulled the door in behind her, keeping it open about an inch. She walked over to a nearby chair and set down her things.
Borya shook his head, still lost in the newspaper.
"Just look at this. More reports on the war. Germany still poised to claim new territory. And meanwhile we have knuckleheads like Radek suggesting we just let it happen instead of planning strategically what to sacrifice. All of Russia could end up in their hands!" He disgustedly tossed the paper down on his desk and rubbed his temples, struggling with an oncoming headache.
Natasha walked over to the samovar and poured two cups of hot water, preparing to make some tea for both of them. While she busied herself, neither of them realized that Lev was still in the building. In a moment of reflection on Natasha's comment that perhaps something could be done, he had decided, instead of clearing his office out, to approach Borya before he left that night in hopes of finding some way to resolve the miserable situation. He was at that moment making his way down the long empty hallways with his briefcase, thru the secretarial room to Borya's office. Suddenly he stopped up short at the door, hearing Borya and Natasha speaking to one another.
"Perhaps he's just trying to exercise some caution," she said, dropping in the teabags.
"Caution?!" Borya barked. "He's exercising stupidity, not caution! Even a child would understand how important a peace treaty is right now! We need our armies here to manage internal uprisings, not out fighting some wasteful, bourgeoisie war!"
As she walked over to him, he narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"Why are you taking his side of things?" he said, as she handed him a cup of tea.
She sat down on the couch.
"I'm not taking his side of anything. Just trying to offer some sort of explanation."