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.