“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.”
35
Kabul Serena Hotel
Kabul, Afghanistan
February 18, 2013
As it turned out, Layla couldn’t arrange a flight to Moscow immediately, but she put Anna up in the Kabul Serena Hotel until a flight could be booked. By the second day of being cooped up in the hotel, even with all the diversions that came with her comped package—and the fact that the hotel room wasn’t in her name—Anna thought she was going crazy.
She worked on stories during the day, using the phone lines to contact people and sources in Moscow as well as in Kiev and other parts of the Ukraine. She hadn’t gotten a true picture of the situation in either country, but the Russian people were apparently happy with their “regrowth,” and many Ukrainians seemed relieved that they were part of the Russian Federation once more.
“I feel confident that, once President Nevsky implements his plans for the federation, we will prosper and grow.” The speaker on television was an old man with a weathered face who was missing several teeth. Despite that, he had a genuine smile and didn’t try to hide his lack. “I will work hard under this Reunification. President Nevsky will see that he has made a wise investment in the Ukraine.”
“I am going to be sick.” Even though no one else was in the hotel room, Anna couldn’t keep her feelings to herself. She wanted to throw something through the screen.
But it had all been like that recently. Most of the people interviewed by the Ukraine media had nothing but glowing things to say about the Russians being there. The outside world called the military movement an invasion and now an occupation, but the people on the Ukraine channels—and in the newspapers—referred to the tanks and troops as the Reunification Effort.
Anna was convinced that Nevsky had branded that as well.
There were some in the Ukraine who spoke out against Nevsky, but those were few and far between. Some of the detractors had “disappeared,” and, so far, their bodies hadn’t been found. It was a very sobering thing.
Many of the Ukrainians whom Anna had tried to speak to refused to be interviewed or they wanted to speak out without revealing themselves. Getting the truth of the story from people on the ground was difficult.
Still, she persevered.
Her phone rang on the desk where she was charging it. She expected it to be Kirill. Instead, her father’s face was there.