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Excerpts

Prologue

Ukraine, August 6, 1940

The black sedan, a Soviet version of the American Ford, hurtled along a dirt road from Chernovtsy spreading clouds of dust over the ripening wheat fields. Inside the car were four men dressed like government officials in dark suits and ill-fitting fedoras.

As the road started to climb into the Carpathians near the border with Romania, the men met another car coming down the hill toward them. The car was limping along with a puncture, but when the black sedan stopped it was not to offer help.

"Where is Academician Vavilov?" one of the four men shouted from the car window. "We must find Academician Vavilov."

In the second car was a young botanist, Vadim Lekhnovich, a member of a Commissariat of Agriculture expedition led by the Soviet Union's chief geneticist and plant breeder, Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov. It was August 6, 1940. Europe was in flames, the Battle of Britain was engaged, but western Ukraine was basking peacefully in the summer sun. The botanists had been in the fields looking for rare specimens of wild grasses that could be bred into new forms of wheat able to withstand the inhospitable climates of the northern steppes.

For Lekhnovich, the intensity of the men in the black sedan, even the rude one who was shouting, had broken into their peaceful pursuit of plant hunting, but the urgent request for Nikolai Ivanovich did not seem out of the ordinary. Vavilov was an important scientist who was frequently summoned to Moscow at short notice.

"Nikolai Ivanovich is with the others, collecting specimens," Lekhnovich called back. "Is there an emergency?"

The man in the black sedan glared and spat out an answer.

"Academician Vavilov has important official documents about grain exports. They are needed immediately at the Commissariat of Agriculture."

The cold, demanding voice was suddenly unsettling. This was no idle bureaucrat.

"Where is Academician Vavilov?" the man demanded again.

"Tell us where we can find him."

"He is with the others, in a field farther up the mountain -- " Lekhnovich began, but before he could finish, the black sedan accelerated away, the dust billowing.

Lekhnovich coaxed his crippled vehicle back down the mountain to Chernovtsy and the university hostel where they were all staying.

At dusk, Nikolai Ivanovich returned with his botanists to the hostel. The four men in the black sedan were waiting for him. As he got out of his car, the door of the black sedan opened, and one of the men jumped out. He began talking earnestly with Nikolai Ivanovich, who then got into the sedan and it drove off. The guard at the hostel, who had overheard the conversation, reported to the botanists that the men told Nikolai Ivanovich he was needed urgently in Moscow. He had gone with them, saying that he would return.

Shortly before midnight, two of the four men returned to the Chernovtsy hostel. They carried a note for Lekhnovich from Vavilov, penned in his own distinctive handwriting.

"In view of my sudden recall to Moscow, hand over all my things to the bearer of this note. N. Vavilov, August 6, 1940, 2315 hours."

The two men insisted, politely but firmly, that all Vavilov's belongings should be put into his suitcase, not leaving anything out, not even a scrap of paper. They said that Vavilov was already at the airport and was waiting for his belongings before flying to Moscow.

Lekhnovich and another of the botanists, Fatikh Bakhteyev, did as they were told. As they packed the papers, even scraps of Vavilov's notes, they wondered why Nikolai Ivanovich had not been given a chance to pack his own bag, or, more importantly, to give instructions to the staff on how to continue the expedition in his absence. They decided that one of them should accompany the bags to the airport to get the orders directly.

Bakhteyev volunteered to go. They took the luggage out to the car where the men were waiting, one of them already at the wheel. Bakhteyev started to explain why he had to go with them and began to get into the car. But as he opened the door, one of the men forced Bakhteyev out of the way, pushed him to the ground, and jumped into the sedan as it drove off.

Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov had disappeared into Stalin's prisons.