The Romanov Cross Quotes

“ROBERT MASELLO is the author of many previous works of fiction and nonfiction, most recently the novels Blood and Ice and The Medusa Amulet. A native of Evanston, Illinois, he studied writing under the novelists Robert Stone and Geoffrey Wolff at Princeton, and has since taught and lectured at many leading universities. For six years, he was the visiting lecturer in literature at Claremont McKenna College. He now lives and works in Santa Monica,”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“snow-laden branches drooped down overhead and sharp twigs plucked at the puffy sleeves of his down-filled parka. It was a far cry from his usual postings, where the worst impediments were sunstroke and scorpion bites. Even though it was technically early afternoon, the sun was so dim that the light stanchions, positioned every few yards along the pathway, were all switched on, providing an eerie glow. As Slater approached the cemetery gateposts, scrawled with their anonymous plea to “Forgive me,” he glanced over toward the promontory where he could see Groves and a Coast Guardsman, cloaked in their own hazmat suits, repositioning a jackhammer to loosen whatever frozen soil still remained at the parameters previously demarcated by Kozak. The strips of wet sod that had already been removed had been laid, according to Slater’s instructions, neatly to one”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“the end of earthly existence. The coffin, sealed with four”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“The sight of it made her want to weep. She was alone in the boat—alone in the world—and the tiller was already lurching wildly from one side to the other, screeching louder than the gulls swooping in and out of the fog. The hollow place in her heart, the place where she had already stored so many deaths, would now have to find room for Sergei’s, too.”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“She’d been young and healthy and athletic, and now it was the very strength of her immune system that was threatening to kill her. It was kicking into overdrive … and throwing her whole body into shock. Many patients, he knew, never came back from it. The hospital staff, panicking, looked to him for guidance, and he ordered up a fresh barrage of IV antibiotics—cindamycin and flucytosine this time—along with vasopressors to constrict her blood vessels and treat her hypotension, insulin to stabilize her blood-sugar levels, corticosteroids to counteract the inflammation. The diseases were burning through her like a forest fire, consuming her just as her Inuit ancestors had once been consumed, and he had to find a way to sustain her long enough to let the contagion burn itself out.”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“All day long, her small compact body, sweating through one hospital gown after another, had been racked with coughing fits and spasms. Her long black hair, tied into a tight braid, had lashed the pillows like a whip. Her platelet count plummeted, her blood gases revealed she had entered into metabolic acidosis, her breathing became so faint that a mechanical ventilator had to be wheeled in; her major organs began to shut down like dominoes falling in a row. Lungs, liver, central nervous system; when her kidneys failed, Slater had had to immediately put her on dialysis.”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“His days as a globe-trotting epidemiologist might be over—Dr. Levinson had made that perfectly clear—but his efforts to save Lantos, and now Nika, had reminded him of the satisfaction to be had from healing just one person. What was that old Hebrew proverb he’d once heard Dr. Levinson herself say—“If you save one life, it’s the same as saving the whole world.” Right now the only life he wanted to save, even more than his own, was Nika’s.”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“Under normal circumstances, the cytokines—soluble, hormonelike proteins—acted as messengers among the cells of the immune system, helping to target microbial infections like viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi, and directing the antibodies and killer cells to attack them. But with the Spanish flu, the whole system went into overdrive, the cytokines targeting everything in sight, the antibodies sticking like glue to anything they came into contact with, the killer cells blasting everything in range. It was like a wild shoot ’em up, devastating every cell in the body, compromising every defense mechanism, until the victim ultimately drowned in an overwhelming tide of his own mucus and virus-choked blood.”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“Dr. Lantos had opened her packet, and said, “Prophylactic measures?” “Yes. The blue one’s a standard anti-influenza drug; you’ll need to take it every day for the next six days, whether we’re still working here or not. The white one is a neuraminidase inhibitor that’s shown both preventative and therapeutic results in trials done at the AFIP.” “I never heard of these trials,” Lantos said, examining the white capsule skeptically. “The results haven’t been made public yet. And tomorrow,” he said, with a grin, “may be the best field test we’ve ever run.” “So we are the guinea pigs?” Kozak said. Slater nodded and washed one of each of the pills down with the last of his coffee. Kozak and Lantos did the same, but Nika sat silently, waiting.”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“Although Dr. Levinson had spoken with a touch of hyperbole, Slater soon discovered that she’d meant what she said. He was instructed to draw up a game plan and risk assessment, a preliminary budget (though Dr. Levinson had made it clear on his way out that cost was to be no object), put together a team of whatever specialists he would require, and have it all on her desk in seventy-two hours.”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“She had hoped, in vain, that her voice would not falter. When she tried to reach out to him, he pulled away, still holding on to the tiller with dead-white fingers. “No, no,” he said, drawing back in horror. “Don’t touch me.” His eyes were wild, the stubble on his pale young cheeks flecked”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“out around him like the spread wings of a bat. For a few more seconds, he bobbed on the surface, riding the waves until the weight of his body and his boots and his clothes dragged him down. All that remained was a single wilted and frozen blue cornflower floating on the water. The sight of it made her want to weep. She was alone in the boat—alone in the world—and the tiller was already lurching wildly from one side to the other, screeching louder than the gulls swooping in and out of the fog. The hollow place in”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“white coveralls. As he expected, Kozak was already huffing and puffing to get himself into everything, and Lantos was helping Nika to get properly attired; the leather jerkin wasn’t making it any easier, especially as Slater pointed out that it had to go inside, rather than outside, the hazmat gear. “Otherwise, it’ll have to be disposed of afterward,” he said. “No way,” Nika said, struggling to get the zipper all the way up and over it. “This has been in my tribe for at least two hundred years.” Once she was in, Lantos”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“THE BERING STRAIT, 1918 “Sergei, do not die,” the girl said, turning around in the open boat. “I forbid you to die.” She had hoped, in vain, that her voice would not falter. When she tried to reach out to him, he pulled away, still holding on to the tiller with dead-white fingers.”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“threatening the Red capital of the Urals, Ekaterinburg; that”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“the knife out and searching for the old woman in the”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“equal flaps, one draping itself over the front of the face, the”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“taking the samples, we’d be better off. The drill could get snagged.” Slater knew she was right, but it was”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross

“old”
― Robert Masello, The Romanov Cross