Mihajlo looked surprised. “Chad, you are as bright as the reports I have on you.”
Chad wondered what reports these were, but gained respect for the Minister’s preparedness.
The Minister continued. “Yes, Chad. There is a concern and it has to do with the Battle of Kosovo.”
Chad said thoughtfully, “Before we go there, tell me more about the solution, money. I think that it is too much of a risk for other countries to invest in the region, as unstable as you have described it.”
“You’re exactly right,” the Minister answered.
“So, you need to prove stability ….” Chad thought.
The Minister waited, allowing Chad to process the information.
“You need cooperation,” Chad said. “You need a Balkan consortium, countries getting together to take actions on specific issues.”
Mihajlo smiled.
“Like you just recently did for Economy and what you did before with Culture from Croatia.” Chad saw where Mihajlo was leading Serbia and all of the Balkans.
“There are tremendous obstacles,” the Minister said.
“Like hate, jihads, religious oppression, and memories of atrocities?” Chad asked.
“To name just a few,” Mihajlo agreed.
“And, the issue that Serbia has not recognized Kosovo, but the USA and many other countries have?”
“That too,” the Minister sighed. Chad thought he could read the politician’s favorable attitude toward recognition.
Chad changed the subject. “Tell me about the Battle of Kosovo.”
“Prince Lazar. Prince Lazar Hrebeljanovic. St. Lazar. The Great Martyr Lazar. In Serbian poetry, Tsar Lazar. Ruler of Moravian Serbia. That’s it. What more do you need to know?” Mihajlo said with a little laugh.
Harry, who had remained quiet through the history lesson, added a chuckle to the conversation.
“Perhaps Harry could give you a summary of Prince Lazar. I’m afraid that my explanation would be much more detailed and too long, probably with more information than you need to start your quest.”
“Right,” Harry said. “I’ll give it a try.”
Chad opened his iPad to take notes. “Shoot,” he said.
Both men looked at him strange, unfamiliar with the idiom. Chad quickly said, “Begin.”
“The very abbreviated version is that in the 1300s the Ottoman Muslim Empire pushed north through Turkey to the Balkans. Serbia was the largest empire in the Balkans. In 1355 it included Montenegro, Albania, part of Bosnia, and extended into Greece. The Muslims pushed forward shrinking Serbia and the followers of the Eastern Orthodox religion. Prince Lazar took his army to make a last stand in the Kosovo region. The Ottomans outnumbered him at least two to one. Some say three to one. He and the Ottoman leader both died in the battle. Some consider it was a defeat for the Serbians, but it took seventy more years before the Ottomans finally pushed through Serbia to Vienna, Austria. Lazar is seen as the defender of the Orthodox religion and of Serbia. His death and those that died with him that day was considered martyrdom by the church. He was canonized a few years later.”
Mihajlo spoke up. “Tell Chad about the grey falcon.”
“The night before the battle the Prophet Elijah appeared to Prince Lazar in the form of a grey falcon. He offered Lazar a kingdom on earth or a kingdom in heaven, either victory or defeat in the coming battle. Lazar chose heaven and told his army, ‘We die in Christ, to live in heaven.’ That is the legend.”
“That was shorter than my version. Thank you, Harry. The result is that Lazar has been an inspiration for Serbians for over seven hundred years. He and the Kosovo curse.”
Chad looked up sharply, “A curse?”
Mihajlo explained. “When Prince Lazar reached out to the Serbian people and the regional leaders to raise an army for this final battle, it is written in our poetry that he placed a curse on those that did not come to help. It is engraved on a monument at the site of the battle.” Mihajlo recited it from memory:
Whoever is a Serb and of Serb birth,
And of Serb blood and heritage,
And comes not to fight at Kosovo,
May he never have progeny born from love,
Neither son nor daughter!
May nothing grow that his hand sows,
Neither young wine nor white wheat!
And may he be dying in filth,
As long as his children are alive!
“That’s powerful,” Chad commented.
“It has been a rallying cry for sometime,” Mihajlo stated. “The battle took place on June 15, 1389. It is a date that is repeated in history. On June 28, 1914, the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by a nineteen-year-old Serbian. That ignited World War I. Nine million soldiers died. Additionally, nine million civilians died.”
“Your emphasis on the teenager assassin ties back to your data on youth unemployment?” Chad asked. “However, you mentioned two dates and they are not the same.”
“I like your assemblage of facts, Dr. Archer. Here is what you may not have connected. In 1389 the western world used the Julian calendar. In 1582 the western calendar was changed to account for an error in the length of the year. It was named after Pope Gregory. The difference was thirteen days, so June 15 became …”
“June 28,” Chad finished the sentence. “I understand the connection. June 28 is nine days from now. You expect something to happen. The imbedded tensions and nationalistic feeling are not new, what makes the danger imminent?” Chad asked.
“A letter,” Mihajlo said. “He rose, went to his desk, and removed a piece of paper from a drawer. “We receive threats in the government all of the time. This one came to me. Our security division has it and is trying to trace it. We have had it for a month and have not made any progress. I read more into it than they do. Here, read this. And, note the reference to the curse.”
It was In Cyrillic. Harry translated:
Minister Brajkovic,
It is time.
Whoever is a Serb and of Serb birth, And of Serb blood and heritage, and, comes not to fight at Kosovo, He is cursed.
Will you be with us? Or will you continue your traitorous ways?
True Serbians will stand with me and the authority of the Buckle. They will raise their arms in battle and then in victory as the Sword of Lazar leads them to take what is theirs away from the non-believers.
The Black Hand
Mihajlo asked, “What do you make of it?”
Chad asked Harry to read it a second time. Then he said, “Seems like someone does not think your politics are aligned with Serbian national interests. Also, the indication is something will happen soon. From your earlier lecture, June 28 is likely. The writer invokes the curse and mentions non-believers, implying it is an action similar to that of the Battle of Kosovo. So, I expect the target is in Kosovo. Does the signature of the Black Hand indicate it is from the Serbian military as it was in 1914? I don’t understand the reference to a Buckle and the Sword. That’s the quest?”
“Those are the same conclusions we have reached. We don’t see a military connection with the reference of the Black Hand. We do think it may suggest an assassination like in 1914. The buckle is a reference to the clasp used by royalty to close their official regal cloaks. Prince Lazar had one emblazoned with the family crests and jeweled with gemstones from Serbia. It has never been found. It would represent his authority as the writer says.”
Chad asked, “Are there crown jewels of Serbia? Exhibited somewhere?”
“Ah, Austria. Vienna. We only have one of four crowns here in Serbia. A sore point with us, but not an actionable issue. They are also from later centuries, not Lazar’s time.”
“I was thinking of some recent museum robberies and wondered if the action implied in the letter might be to steal the crown jewels. Never mind, it seems more likely to be something else. Any sign of the sword?”
“No.”
“Why do you want to find them?” Chad asked. �
��Aren’t they rather irrelevant to whatever is planned? Surely having a buckle and sword won’t be critical to what has to be a more modern attack.”
“I think they have already been found. I think that if we can track them and where they were hidden, we will be able to identify who has them and stop whatever actions are planned.”
“I see. Okay, I’m in.”
Mihajlo smiled with gratitude and relief. “Shoot?”
“Excuse me?” Chad was perplexed.
“Begin?” Mihajlo translated Chad’s earlier idiom.
“Okay, shoot,” Chad smiled. “Where do I start?”
“Wonderful,” Mihajlo said. “I have arranged for you to meet a Serbian historian and a Kosovar archeologist. I also have official passes for travel to anywhere in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Montenegro, and Croatia. If you need to go to Albania or Turkey, let me know.”
Mihajlo took another object from his desk and tossed it to Chad.
Time slowed for Archer as he watched a white envelope sail through the space between them. The black and white images from his dreams returned and with them came a pounding headache. As memories flashed before him, he tried to recall even more. For a moment he blanked out.
Chapter 10
Jovan Zevic parked nearby and watched the scene on his laptop. This was their fourth visit of the day. Luc waited in a second car across the street from Best Pawn. Zevic had the audio and video feed from the button cam worn by the broker approaching Cyrus Best. The broker didn’t like this face-to-face interaction. He preferred coded phone calls, cryptic texts, and cutouts. There was too much opportunity for a set-up by the fence. The broker looked around warily expecting undercover police. He thought about the additional money he was making. It was worth the risk.
Luc didn’t like being this close to the fence either. And, this was too much time with the two brokers he used. He still wore a disguise, well aware of the CCTV cameras, so prevalent in the UK, particularly in London.
Zevic didn’t care about any of that. Their problems were insignificant compared to the disaster if the two photos were not retrieved.
“Can I help you?” Best asked.
“Do you recognize my voice?” the broker asked.
Best swallowed hard but maintained his composure. Zevic noticed and paid closer attention to the small fuzzy image. The button cameras had a short depth of field. Prokleti, damn it, the broker needed to get closer.
“Yes. This is a surprise,” Best answered.
The broker went closer to shake hands. That was perhaps unusual for the business they were in, but that was the distance Zevic needed.
“I have some things that you may be interested in. Things we talked about. I’d like to arrange for you to see them,” the broker said. So far, their conversation was not incriminating. He not only worried about a set-up in the store, but also what the French thief was recording.
Zevic noticed an agitation in Best. The man even glanced left and right.
“I don’t think I am in a position anymore to procure those items.”
“I see. Any particular reason?” the broker asked probing for reaction.
“I have enough of those things at the moment.”
The broker remained quiet to allow Best to give an indication if he was under surveillance. Best remained quiet, but nervously busied himself with some watches in a display case.
“Okay. Well if things change, let me know,” the broker said, then turned and left the store.
Zevic concluded that Cyrus Best was the source for the police. Now, he needed to find out how the pawnshop owner found out and in turn whom he told.
-----
“Are you feeling okay now, Chad?” Harry asked. They went to lunch after their morning meeting with Minister Brajkovic. “You had a moment, there in his office.”
Chad had recovered quickly. The headache was just a momentary stab of pain, if it was that. It could have been a psychological slap in the head trying to retrieve memories. A word had briefly come to his mind, Meissen.
Brajkovic didn’t even notice.
“I’m fine. I had a small concussion a few days ago. I still get flashes of pain. What do I order here?”
The Nebaski Café offered fast service, but tasty plates. That was Harry’s description.
“I like Moussaka, but Duvec is wonderful as well. That is today’s special. Order one of those and I’ll buy.”
“Duvec is stewed vegetables and pork? That sounds good.”
After they ordered, Chad asked Harry, “Tell me the story of how a lawyer, turned translator, and who speaks like he is from London knows his way around the Balkan countries?”
Harry laughed. “One day in 1980, a dashing young man from the British Embassy was smitten with a Serbian lawyer, an exotic princess as he described her. A year later they were married and a year after that I came along. By now we were in London. My father had been transferred and my mother came with him. I grew up in both London and Belgrade. We visited my mother’s family often. I followed her profession but I discovered a knack for languages. I am citizen of both the UK and Serbia. I am licensed to practice in both countries.”
“Wow. What a background. Which profession is the most interesting?”
Harry laughed. “They both have their exciting moments and they both have their yawn moments.”
“I imagine there are less shots taken at translators. Come to think of it, I don’t know any translator jokes, but I know several lawyer jokes.”
“I’ve heard a few translator jokes, but they’re all bad.”
“Tell me one,” Chad prompted.
“Okay. There was an American archeologist who after six long months of painstaking digging uncovered a chest of solid gold artifacts. A Serbian helper stole the treasures and hid them. The archeologist hired a translator, bought a gun, and found the thief. The archeologist cocks the gun and puts it to the head of the thief. He tells the translator, ‘Tell him if he doesn’t tell me where they are hidden, I will shoot him.’ The translator tells the thief who becomes very animated and in rapid Serbian, tells the translator where the artifacts can be found. ‘Well, what did he say?” the archeologist asks. The translator says, ‘He says he wants to die like a man.’”
Chad laughed. “That’s good, Harry. You just made that up, didn’t you?”
“True story,” Harry answered.
“The moral is what? Point the gun at the translator, not the thief?”
“No,” Harry said with concern. “I thought you were supposed to be good at making the right conclusions.” He looked up at the waiter. “Oh good. Lunch has arrived.”
It was excellent. Between mouthfuls, Chad asked Harry, “Have you known the Minister long?”
“About four years. We met at one of his cooperative summits. He likes that I listen well, that I know the law, that I have opinions, and that I keep them to myself.”
“Sounds like the perfect translator.”
“Probably. Are you asking how close we are and whether I’m to keep a watch and you and report back to him.”
Chad liked his directness.
“Yes, are you?”
“No not close, yes to watch over you, keeping you out of trouble, and yes report back to him.”
“I see.”
“But, I’ll choose what to report. He asked you to report daily. I imagine if he does not think it is complete, he’ll ask me. Are we good?”
“We’re good. Tell me on a scale of one to ten what the level of unrest is?”
“If the nineties were a ten, we’re at a two, with pockets of five and six and occasional instances of eight and nine. It is part of a price we pay for freedom. Take Bosnia. In the Bosnian war, the Serbs of that country wrested territory from Bosnian rule, thirty percent of the country. They did this through forced removal and killing. Radovan Karadzic was just recently convicted of war crimes and sentenced to forty years in prison. He served as President of the Republic of Srpska, a part of Bosnia during that war. Yet in t
he Republic, its current President opened a dormitory last week naming it after Karadzic. That type of attitude and action inflames the polarization, not only in Bosnia, but, also Serbia, Croatia, Kosovo, and Albania. ”
“Thanks. What else should I know?”
“My fear is ISIS or some other form of radical Islam. At the moment, the governments in Kosovo, Albania, and Bosnia are sectarian. The majority of Muslims in Albania are non-denominational, and the people are treated equitably. In Kosovo, women are not oppressed. Kosovo has even elected a woman as their president. But, if you do not have a job, if you do not see a future, you will be disenchanted with any government and all processes. That is a sizable number of people. And, that’s the Muslim concern. On the other hand, I share the Minister’s concern that some radical Serbian may start something in Kosovo.”
“The Minister seems progressive.”
Harry took it as a question. “I have heard many of his speeches and have been in many meetings with him. He is a realist. Change will take time. Tolerance and forgiveness will not happen in his generation, not even in his children’s lifetime. He believes if we keep talking about tolerance and if we can break the chain of bigotry from parents to children we can have a prosperous economy and low unemployment. It may take eighty years for memories of the nineties and the first decade of this century even start to fade.”
“Let’s visit the historian and see if we can keep this good work going forward.”
“Okay,” Harry replied. “Let me pay up. I need a receipt for my expense report as a contractor. Meals, billing my time, and mileage.”
“Mileage? We walked here.”
“Yes but if we drove, it would have been a cab to the parking garage and five miles or more of one way streets. I think I saved them money.” Harry was smiling.
Chad poked fun at him. “You’re that cheap? I can see why you recommended the daily special, and offered to buy. I can also see why the Serbian economy is in trouble.”
-----
“Two days is long enough, Sandy. Tonight we stop waiting and start rousting. Wear your rousting clothes,” Dickie told her as they made their third round of places where Alfred Baywater might hang out. Dickie was driving.
The Grey Falcon Page 5