Gordon Stevens - Peace on Earth

COPYRIGHT Copyright Dedication Author’s Note Prologue Book One Book Two Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Book Three Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Book Four Chapter One Book Five Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Book Six Chapter One Epilogue Keep Reading About the Author Other Books By About the Publisher

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by Hodder & Stoughton Ltd 1987

Copyright © Gordon Stevens 1987, 1997

Gordon Stevens asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ reproduced by kind permission of J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd from The Poems by Dylan Thomas.

‘I Believe in Father Christmas’ lyrics by Greg Lake, Peter Sinfield. Copyright © 1977 by Leadchoice Ltd, administered worldwide by Campbell Connelly & Co. Ltd, 8/9 Frith St, London WIV 5TZ.

Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

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Source ISBN: 9780006473152

Ebook Edition © SEPTEMBER 2016 ISBN: 9780008219369

Version: 2016-11-03

DEDICATION Dedication Author’s Note Prologue Book One Book Two Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Book Three Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Book Four Chapter One Book Five Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Book Six Chapter One Epilogue Keep Reading About the Author Other Books By About the Publisher

For Emily and Joe, who do not know.

And Souraya and Dyala, and the family

in the photograph, who do.

AUTHOR’S NOTE Author’s Note Prologue Book One Book Two Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Book Three Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Book Four Chapter One Book Five Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Book Six Chapter One Epilogue Keep Reading About the Author Other Books By About the Publisher

Peace on Earth describes situations and events in the mid-1980s. Since then, some things have changed. The Soviet Union, for example, no longer exists.

Sadly, other things remain the same.

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page GORDON STEVENS Peace on Earth

Copyright

Dedication

Author’s Note

Prologue

Book One

Book Two

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Book Three

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Book Four

Chapter One

Book Five

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Book Six

Chapter One

Epilogue

Keep Reading

About the Author

Other Books By

About the Publisher

PROLOGUE

The boys were nine, almost ten.

They sat on the rock, the man beside them, watching the sun rise over the valley of the Jordan, the sweep of light spreading from the east and the shadows of the night disappearing.

‘When will you tell us the story?’ they asked.

‘What story?’ replied the man.

He remembered the morning he had sat on the rock and waited, the morning he had sat on the rock and wished he had never been born, the morning he had sat on the rock and wished they had never set him free.

‘The story that began with a verse from a poem.’

‘The story that began with a dream.’

‘The story that began with the family from the far-off land.’

They knew that he was playing the game with them, that he always played the game with them, and wondered why he would not tell them. The sun was growing warmer.

‘When will you tell us the story?’ they asked again.

‘What story?’

One day, he knew, he would no longer be able to hide the truth from them. One day he would tell them.

‘The story about the little boy.’

‘The story about the little boy who was born in Bethlehem.’

He knew what they were going to say.

‘The story about the little boy who died to save us all.’

He thought about the boy, about what the boy had done when he had grown to manhood, what the boy had done when he had been their age. The shadows had gone from the land. He knew that they were old enough to know, that they were too old not to know.

‘Today,’ he said at last. ‘I will tell you the story.’

Book One

The verse from the poem

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

from Dylan Thomas

‘Do not go gentle into that good night’

The dream

The tunnel was long, filled with smoke, the flames coming at him. He was moving down it, eyes sweeping from left to right. Not his eyes, she dreamt, it was as if he was behind his eyes, as if he could see the destruction around him through the sockets of his eyes. His breathing was deep and rasping, as if it was not his breathing. She heard the voice, guiding him, telling him where to go, what to do. Protecting him, committing him. She tried to wake from the dream, to take him from the tunnel, saw the death around him, unsure whether it was his death or the death of another. He was moving on, the smoke and flames coming at him, engulfing him, as if he was descending into Hell. She heard the voice again, saw the death again. His death or someone else’s, she was still not sure. He was moving on, deeper into the tunnel. She could no longer see him.

The family from the far-off land

The weather that morning was cold, even for Moscow.

Yakov Zubko knew what it meant – that the winter would be long and hard. He rose, moving quietly and carefully so that he did not disturb his wife and children, and left the flat. The streets were still empty. By the time he reached the metro station at Sviblovo it was twenty minutes past five. He paid his fare and hurried down the stairs. There was only one other man on the platform. Yakov Zubko tried not to look at him and wondered if the man was waiting for him. Somewhere they were waiting for him; somewhere the men from Petrovka would always be waiting for him. Him and the likes of him.

He remembered the other man, the man in the house on Dmitrov, and stepped onto the train. There were three passengers already in the compartment, Yakov Zubko heard the doors shut behind him and chose a seat close to them. Never sit in a corner, never sit where they would look for you, where the men from Petrovka would think you were hiding. He looked to see what the man on the platform was doing and counted the kopeks in his pocket.