The Oracle Code (19 page)

33

Safe House

Kandahar

Kandahar Province

Afghanistan

February 16, 2013

Anna woke with a start, not knowing what had roused her till she heard her phone trill again. It lay in bed with her because she didn’t want to risk leaving it behind in case she had to leave in a hurry. She felt safe among the ANA men guarding them, but after the past few days, she had learned not to trust everything.

A text message revealed the news:

RUSSIAN MILITARY HAS INVADED UKRAINE! ARE YOU THERE? K

Cursing, Anna pushed herself to her feet. She grabbed her pants and pulled them on, then threw off the T-shirt she’d been given to sleep in and pulled on her blouse. Still barefoot, she rushed to her computer while hitting the speed dial for Kirill.

“So there you are?” The editor sounded annoyed. “I was beginning to wonder if you were still alive.”

“I have been working hard to stay that way.” Anna booted up her computer. “Tell me what is going on. I just got your text.”

“Madness, that is what is going on. Only a few minutes ago, before dawn, the Russian government sent a military expedition—at least, that’s what they’re calling it—into the Ukraine. That precipitated a flurry of violence that has swept through the country.” Kirill cursed, and she could hear him pacing through his office.

“We did not know about this?” Frustrated with the computer’s speed, Anna rushed downstairs. There was a television there with satellite hookups to Western stations and news.

“No. Not one word. Not one hint of gossip.”

“But Nevsky has talked about bringing the satellite countries back into the Federation for months.”

“As invited guests, yes. But no one suspected he would roll an invasion force into the Ukraine. And we should have had some kind of indication.”

“Because we are so well connected? Phah. Believe me, Kirill, not everyone wishes to talk to
The Moscow Times.
I have been turned down several times regarding different stories.”

“None of those stories were this big.”

Anna reached the downstairs area where the television was located and discovered that Captain Fitrat and several of his soldiers were watching the story unfold on CNN. The video footage showed Russian Federation tanks rolling through city streets. Several cars around them were on fire. A few people threw Molotov cocktails at the tanks, but they were quickly shot by machine gunners.

How can anyone try to stand up against those behemoths? They have to know that they are just going to die.
It was like watching moths drawn to a candleflame only to retreat with singed wings. Or drop dead in the street, ripped to pieces by machine-gun fire. She stood behind the couch where Fitrat sat in stunned silence with two of his men.

Layla Teneen, already covered in a
hijab
and
burqa
, stood to one side. Her face was expressionless, but her dark eyes glinted with regret and sorrow.

There was no sign of Thomas Lourds.

“Anna.”

Anna shook herself, realizing that Kirill had been calling her name. “Yes.”

“Can you hear me?”

“Yes. I am just...this is a lot to take in.”

The television view swept to another scene. In this one, fighting had erupted onto the street. Judging from the steadiness of the picture, Anna thought the broadcast was coming from a street cam. The dateline at the bottom announced that the scene was coming from Kiev, the Ukraine’s capital and its largest metropolis.

The male anchor at the desk looked calm and composed. “The violence in Kiev broke out at the same time as the invasion began. Military experts at the Pentagon state that they believe the events spanning the Ukraine were carefully orchestrated. At present, no one knows who has ordered this to begin.”

“Are you watching CNN?”

Kirill must have heard the anchor. “Yes, Kirill. The soldiers here have access to a satellite feed.”

“Good. Keep watching.”

The anchor continued. “There is some speculation that this is the start of a coup directed by Russian President Mikhail Nevsky.”

Stock footage of the Russian president scrolled across the screen.

“But some experts believe that this kind of operation, the utilization of homegrown terrorists and separatists within the Ukraine, was the work of this man.”

Immediately, Anna saw the picture of her father fill the television monitor. He stood atop a Russian tank, and Anna was convinced the image was deliberate, a visual memory tie back to the tanks now rolling through the Ukraine.

“General Anton Cherkshan, a noted war hero in Russia and veteran of the First Chechen War, then a major strategist for the Second Chechen War only a few years later, is currently immersed in military operations within the Russian Federation. Some Pentagon officials believe Cherkshan may be the guiding force behind the Ukraine invasion.”

“He wouldn’t do that.” Anna spoke out loud and didn’t know that she had until Kirill responded.

“Your father’s presence in the Ukraine has been confirmed, Anna.”

“I talked to him only last night. He didn’t say anything about this.”

Kirill laughed bitterly. “I don’t think this is something a Russian general would discuss with his daughter.”

Anna agreed and chastised herself for feeling betrayed. Then again, she had been betrayed.

“Anna?”

“Yes, I am here, Kirill.”

“I know. And I think you should be here. Whatever Professor Lourds is doing, whatever he pursues, it pales in comparison to what is going on here in this country.”

“I agree. Let me see if I can make arrangements to come home. If so, I will be there as quickly as I can.”

“The borders are being tightened. No flights in or out of Moscow have been stopped yet, but I expect that to happen as the Ukraine tries to strike back. Be careful, Anna.”

“I will.” Anna broke the connection and stared helplessly at the television. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing or that her father was involved.

She pulled up her phone’s contact list and punched his number on speed dial. She didn’t expect him to answer, but she had to try. The connection went straight to his answering service. She hung up the phone and turned to Layla. “Excuse me.”

“Yes.”

“I need to get back to Moscow. Can you help me?”

Layla nodded. “Of course. How soon do you want to go?”

“Now.”

***

Lourds woke with a pillow in his face and his eyes burning from too much reading and not enough sleep. He didn’t know what time he’d gone to bed, but dawn was already breaking in the east. From the lethargic way he felt and the pounding in his head, he assumed he hadn’t been resting long.

A glance at his watch told him the time was 6:27 a.m. He couldn’t have been asleep for more than a few minutes.

Knocking sounded on the door, and he deduced that had woken him.

“Yes?”

“Thomas?” Layla called through the closed door. “I need to speak with you. Please get dressed. Anna is with me.”

“Sure.” Lourds reached for his khaki shorts and pulled them on, added a tourist T-shirt one of Captain Fitrat’s men had gotten for him, and stood. “You can come in.”

Layla entered the room, followed by Anna. Both women were already dressed.

Lourds looked at them curiously. “Big plans?”

“I must return to my job, and Anna must return to Moscow.”

Lourds frowned. Although he hadn’t liked revealing everything he knew about the scrolls to a member of the media, he’d gotten rather comfortable having Anna around. When he looked at the young woman, he saw the tension in her. “Is something wrong?”

“I am afraid I must pick up a bigger story, Professor Lourds.”

Lourds shrugged and tried to hide his disappointment. “I understand. Translating documents can be tedious and time-consuming, I’m afraid. There’s not much excitement in it until you have the translation worked out. Then, I promise you, you’ll see some real excitement.” Still, he had to admit that one person’s excitement was not necessarily another’s.

“That is not what is at issue. The bigger story is the invasion of the Ukraine by Russia.”

“Russia invaded the Ukraine? But why?”

Layla snorted in disgust. “If we are to believe the swill President Nevsky is putting forth, it is to free the Russian people who want to become citizens of the Russian Federation once more.”

At that moment, the bells rang, calling the Islamic worshippers to morning prayer. In the moment after that, the keening voices of the people lifted in the
fajr
, the near-dawn ritual, blasted through the streets and were joined by the voices of Captain Fitrat and his soldiers in the rooms below.

34

Safe House

Kandahar

Kandahar Province

Afghanistan

February 16, 2013

Lourds stood in front of the television in the downstairs room of the safe house and watched as updates on the Ukraine Invasion—as the news services were calling it—unfolded. Video footage of several actions streamed across the screen.

In Kiev, a right-wing Blue Party leader had taken control of parliament with the help of a rebellious Ukrainian army led by Russian officers. They carried cameras of their own and filmed their progress through the building and against the security guards. They left several guards dead behind them and added to the body count a few naysayers who tried to engage the invading party in an argument.

Other contingents of the rebel army took over the radio and television stations, assuming command of the airwaves. All of them were on standby, awaiting an announcement from President Nevsky.

Tiredly, Lourds rubbed his goatee. “This doesn’t make sense. Why would Nevsky do this? Why now?”

“We knew he wanted to do something like this even before he took office.” Anna’s voice was flat, monotone, and she watched the television as if dazed. “For years, Nevsky has lobbied about bringing the
deserter
countries back where they belong.”

The anchor broke in the middle of his recap. “It appears President Nevsky is prepared to deliver a statement to accept responsibility for the invasion and to outline his plans for what happens next.”

The television view broke away and opened again on Nevsky standing alone at a podium that sported two Russian flags. He seemed grim and gray and precise, totally unflustered and in command.

“Greetings. I know that many of you want to know what is happening right now. More than that, you want to know
why
. I have come here today to tell you both of those things.”

Lourds cocked his head to one side as he focused on Nevsky. “Listen to that voiceover. That’s Nevsky providing a translation for himself.”

“The presentation is supposed to be live.” Layla pointed at the slug line along the bottom that indicated that the broadcast was live and was coming from inside the Kremlin.

“It probably is, but he made the English translation himself. Maybe he figured no one else could do it right, or he likes the sound of his own voice.”

Nevsky continued speaking. “Since the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Russia has been lost. Our country has floundered and struggled to get by. Many thought that, by embracing capitalism and the Western ways, we would become a new nation.

“In this country, though, we’ve already had our exposure to the many working hard to support the needs of a few. The Russian people got rid of the Tsars. We worked on building together, on helping each other. In the past twenty-four years, we have forgotten that sense of togetherness.” Nevsky paused. “I am here to bring that back, comrades. I am here to save you from the confusion you have been suffering for so long.”

“Wow, he’s impressed with himself.” Lourds grinned sarcastically. “I don’t think he’s ever going to have a self-confidence issue.”

“If he were not so low-key, I would say he is arrogant.” Layla brought Lourds a cup of hot tea. He thanked her and was glad to see that she stood at his side.

“Taking back the Ukraine, bringing back those Russians who were taken from us without a chance to appeal their situations, is just the first step of my plans for
reunifying
Mother Russia. The Ukraine has suffered at the hands of greedy political leaders who stripped away their wealth and crippled their ability to take care of themselves only to line their own pockets.”

“Can you believe this?” Anna looked incredulous. “He is talking about the energy contracts that were signed with Russia to charge the Ukrainian people an exorbitant price. He was on the committee that forced that price on the Ukrainian people, and they bribed Ukrainian officials to accept the contract in the first place.”

Lourds was only vaguely familiar with the price gouging. The political professors at Harvard had talked about it at some length one time or another, but when Lourds thought of the Ukraine, he only thought of Neolithic cultures that lived in the Crimean Mountains and the reports he’d translated and read that had once belonged to Sargon the Great regarding the cultures in that area. The Ukraine was old and well documented by most standards. Today’s history was just a drop in a very large bucket by comparison.

Nevsky stared directly into the camera, showing no emotion. He was flat and matter-of-fact about his delivery.

“Some of my detractors say I have taken a heavy-handed approach to dealing with the Ukrainian situation.” Nevsky looked blandly into the camera. “I say this is not so. I, along with General Anton Cherkshan, took the most merciful course of action we could in dealing with this.

“Instead of sending in General Cherkshan, a noted war hero who has participated in one form or another in many battles and has not shirked at executing Russia’s enemies and terrorists who would cripple her, I could have turned off the oil and gas to that country and brought the Ukraine to her knees in winter.” Nevsky gripped the podium. “I did not want to do this.”

“So now he is doing them a favor?” Anna’s tone was one of scathing disbelief.

“Well, he’s not bashful, is he?” Lourds sipped his tea.

“I did not know such violence would break out in the Ukraine, but it goes to show you how dire the situation is there and how much the people wish to return to a government that is stable and has a clear vision for the future. Here in Russia, we have those things. We know what it takes to be great. We will build on that.

“We remain a space-based superpower, comrades. We have managed to hang on to our space program in spite of everything the Americans and NASA have done. We will follow through on those dreams of continued exploration in near space.

“We have untapped resources that we are now able to get to. We are gifted in emerging technologies and sciences. Even now, we are building housing units where scientists—your sons and daughters—may live together and work together to make Russia even greater.

“For the first time in many years, Mother Russia has vision, and her children have hope.”

The television camera in the Kremlin cut to a crowd standing outside on the street. Most of those people were cheering and waving. Then the camera cut back to Nevsky.

He placed his hand over his chest. “It does my heart good to see things like this, comrades. I knew we could overcome whatever obstacles lay in our path. I knew we would be successful, but I did not know I would be bringing you news of such great successes already.

“General Cherkshan is on his way to Kiev, where he will help empower leaders sympathetic to the Russian Federation to bring our people back to us. We
will
stand together.” Nevsky grew a little more impassioned. “We
will
return to greatness and be able to take care of ourselves and our families.”

The television broadcast went dark, then was picked up again immediately in the CNN newsroom.

Lourds turned to Anna. “I can see why you need to get home. There are going to be a lot of stories there to tell.”

“Yes.” Anna hesitated. “I feel guilty leaving you like this, after we have come this far.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“When you figure out the code that holds Callisthenes’s secrets, will you call me? I would still like to be part of that story.”

“Of course. I promised you an exclusive.” Lourds smiled at her.

Anna stepped up to hug him, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you for everything you’ve done.”

“You’re welcome, but I believe it was more of a team effort.”

She stepped away. “Layla is going to give me a ride to the airport. She thinks she can get me a flight out of Kabul to Moscow today.”

“Be safe, Anna.”

“You too, Professor Lourds.” She ducked back in to whisper. “And you must let me know when you find the right time to deliver that ring.”

Lourds grinned ruefully. “It’s kind of hard to do, what with running from assassins and watching countries getting taken over.”

“I trust you to find the perfect moment.”

“At least one of us trusts me for that.”