The Midnight Falcon

by Graham Saunders

  Chapter 5

  "I think I should touch base with Equis its been over a month since I've had any contact with anyone at the office." Colby said as he and Valentina drank strong coffee in the small room she used as an office. It was a secluded room normally kept locked. No one was allowed in there – ever. Colby knew this and felt rather flattered that he had been invited into Valentina's sanctum. It spoke of trust or maybe, he wondered was it some sort of test?

  There were several rather powerful looking computers, bristling with megahertz and gigabytes the sort of which any home computer geek might drool over. There was also a bank of communications equipment which, he imagined, was linked to the rather large satellite dish that scanned up into the heavens from the wide mezzanine balcony.

  "Send them a postcard..." Valentina said "Weather fine, wish you were here. That sort of thing." It had been her first display of humour since making landfall. She took a sip of her coffee.

  "No I'm serious Valentina."

  "Is it really necessary Colby? Every call we make is another opportunity for our whereabouts to be traced."

  "I know that but all close protection officers are expected to report back on a regular basis. If not we could trigger an alarm. If Equis starts putting out feelers to find me it could do more harm than good."

  "Wouldn't they know not to do that? I assumed there was a keen understanding of the need for absolute secrecy. In any case I'd rather you didn't use a cell phone to call London... I have a satellite phone that links securely to an office in... I think Budapest at the moment, they keep changing it. It's manned by Sachovian officers and they can redirect calls with minimal possibility of alerting even the most astute surveillance. I'll organise a call for you but keep it brief Colby and do not under any circumstances disclose our position."

  It was was the work of a moment for Valentina to connect Colby with Equis. The call being taken by a somewhat fractious Jane Freeman over a line that was secure but seriously compromised in terms of sound fidelity.

  "Colby is that you?..."

  "Yes, Jane"

  "Christ we've be going frantic here..."

  "Surely not... There's no need, everything is going according to plan. We need to be very discrete... As was made clear before we set off."

  "What?... This line is terrible."

  "The call is taking the long way round. Sorry about that... I said we need to be careful.. Can you hear me? His words were sent one at a time with raised voice as if speaking to some foreigner with little English comprehension. Jane did not appreciate his humour.

  "Yes, yes I'm not deaf Colby. So where are you at the moment?" Jane's voice was snappy but Colby thought he could detect a hint of relief behind the sarcasm.

  "Can't give you any details I'm afraid. The call is just to let you know my status is nominal."

  "Understood Colby. I've heaps to ask but I guess you won't be answering... Colby are you still there?"

  "Still here Jane."

  "There's some news starting to surface. The fact is, and you may not know this from your place of seclusion, but there's talk of renewed political unrest in Sachovia. Looks as if things may not be as 'nominal' as you thought."

  "What sort of political unrest Jane? Can't you be more precise?"

  "What?... Speak up will you?"

  "I said what sort of political unrest?"

  "It's not hit the media yet but the rumours are that the government might be under threat from a coup."

  "What's the source of this information?"

  "Something Toby Fitch picked up... He's got dealings in Slovakia at the moment and has been keeping an ear to the ground in that part of the World."

  "Ah Toby..."

  "What's that supposed to mean Colby?"

  "No... Nothing... If he's got the right end of the stick, it could change everything Jane... Look I'll certainly talk to Valentina about this. Naturally she has her own links with Sachovia which are likely to be more relevant than sweeping up gossip via Slovakia."

  "Toby's a good man Colby I won't hear a word against him."

  "Of course Jane and thanks for the information... Don't expect to hear from me again for a while; If I need help I'll get in touch."

  "You might if you can. Colby... Just take care of yourself, its a harsh world out there."

  "Jane I just love how you mother me."

  "What... Don't be ridiculous. Just wait 'till..."

  The line went dead with a foreboding crackle that sounded like distant fireworks heralding the beginning of some spectacular event. Valentina had been standing within earshot. Her antennae had picked up something that had raised a worried expression.

  "What's this about political unrest?"

  "Just that... Jane had no details. I suspect it's just rumours but it seems there may be the rumblings of a coup in Sachovia."

  "That could put all our plans in jeopardy. She didn't tell you any more?"

  "She doesn't know any more Valentina, it came from a source that I would treat with caution."

  "OK I need to check this out, could you excuse me Colby... I have some calls of my own to make."

  "OK... let me know if the plans have changed."

  He wandered down the mosaic tiled passage to the dining room leaving Valentina the privacy to make her calls. The view from the windows was of another glorious day, blue and golden with enough freshness in the breeze to stop the heat from becoming oppressive. To Colby's surprise the remains of breakfast had not been cleared away yet; the table was scattered with half eaten croissants and the molested remains of over-ripe fruit.

  Andrej and Katrina were overdue in making their regular shopping expedition to Kamari on the holiday island of Santorini. Apparently there was some issue with the motor launch; 'A blocked fuel line... should be fixed today'. According to the sullen Andrej Kowalski. As a result the mansion's supply of fresh produce was starting to wilt at the edges and the breakfast fruit had shown its age.

  The cups and plates had been tidily stacked but left where they lay is if the stacker had been called away on some urgent business. Such a scene was not typical, normally young Katrina had tight control of her domestic duties and performed them swiftly with good humour despite wondering why it was always the women who got stuck with the domestic tedium while Andrej got to play with his new tools on the stricken launch.

  In fact Kowalski was not busy making repairs to the launch... Colby noticed him skulking in the shadowy corner behind one of the broad supporting columns that braced the upper floors. He was gnawing at a hunk of bread which he had no doubt found in the kitchens. Since the troubling moonlight encounter, Andrej had rather kept his distance and had not made an appearance at breakfast. The cut on his cheek that Colby had administered looked purple and painful there was some minor swelling to his right eye. Colby wondered if he might be biding his time, letting his rage mature until he chanced upon an opportunity for revenge. He didn't need this distraction and decided to try and play down any feelings of animosity... Last evening forgotten.

  "Captain... Nice morning." He said.

  Andrej scowled from his shadowy corner and moved slowly with the sway of a western gun-slinger towards Colby. His face hovered too close with breath smelling of tobacco and the unpleasant tang of yesterday's Tsipouro. The captain was not afraid of the Englishman; no way.

  "Does Valentina know that you've been playing your dirty little games with Katrina as well as with her." He whispered through a leering smirk. "Maybe she expects more loyalty from her tame Englishman. It would be a shame if she found out. If I were you I'd be very careful... Old Chap."

  Old Chap, Colby found the quaint expression amusing, Andrej must have picked it up from watching old English films. No one ever used it these days and certainly the words had never crossed Colby's lips as far as he could remember.

  "Colby smiled. It was a broad smile, the sort you might keep in your repertoire for the welcome return of a dear friend. Behind it was a trace of menace that Andrej did not qui
te appreciate. "It might be better if we kept out of each other's way for the next two days. I'll be gone then and you can return the important work I'm sure the SSB have lined up for you." He tried to take a step back but Andrej followed and kept his face uncomfortably close.

  "Do you think Valentina would be happy for you to escort Natasha if she were to discover that an old man like you has such a taste for young girls."

  Before Colby could summon a suitable reply Andrej turned on his heel and made for the door.

  "Don't think that was my only gun." He said as he sparked up a cigarette between his cupped hands. He made some undecipherable but clearly antagonistic gesture with a thrust of his chin before pushing arrogantly though the swing door.

  Colby shrugged off the incident. He knew from experience not to go looking for trouble when it could be avoided. Something Andrej had yet to discover. He carefully collected the crockery from the table and made for the kitchen. It was a large and airy room, with a well equipped work space. Clearly designed for a number of cuisiniers to simultaneously prepare food for a large household. Windowless to avoid distraction, he thought, the room was cast in semi-darkness. He snapped on the array of light switches and a bank of LED lights burst into brilliant blue-white life. There was a bank of stainless steel gas ovens along one wall and a central granite topped work island with sinks and preparation surfaces. In one corner was access to the walk-in cool-store. There were two large freezers and an array of kitchen implements that would have kept the Savoy going over a busy weekend. Huddled in the opposite corner Katrina was sitting on the floor her head lowered and her knees drawn up tight to her chest. Her carelessly disordered hair fell across her face. She was gently crying and Colby felt the stab of resentment that someone so young and beautiful should willing accept the attention of a man like Captain Kowalski.

  "Katrina... What's wrong?"

  Colby crouched down and lifted her face. There was bruising already darkening on her cheek and her left wrist. She seemed to have withdrawn into a state of mindlessness, hovering in the shadows. It was something Colby associated with the effects of trauma, something he was not unfamiliar with.

  "Did Andrej do this?"

  Katrina sniffed back her tears.

  "No I fell." She said. Colby lifted her to her feet. She was without make-up and with the teary face she looked hardly any older than Natasha. He noticed for really the first time how thin she was; catwalk thin, another five kilos to certified anorexia. And yet such a short time ago, she had seemed so ebullient, flirty as if filled with the pleasure of life.

  "You don't need to put up with this." Colby said with a gentleness that had the girl's tears flowing again.

  "I love him... He thinks you have made love with me. I told him it was not true." She wrapped her thin bronzed arm round Colby's neck and let the tears come."

  "Come on now, no need for tears. I'll help you clean up the breakfast things."

  Katrina seemed to brighten, she managed a watery smile and wiped her eyes. The work done he took her out into the early morning. The air fresh and filled with the scent of wild sage. Against their backs the Sun was already warm as they walked along the cloistered walkway than ran across the entire south side of the mansion. They found themselves at the terraced garden. It was planted in flowering shrubbery for easy care with gravel paths and a small central orchard of citrus trees. There were oranges still green and hard among the waxy leaves.

  "What are you going to do when Natasha leaves?"

  Katrina shrugged "I will miss Natasha, she is like a little sister to me. Maybe when she is queen she will send for me and find me a handsome prince. But life is not a fairytale... I have to go back to Sachovia. Andrej said he will marry me."

  "You should think carefully about that; I'm not sure he's the man for you. You could do much better."

  "You think?... Life is not that easy easy in Sachovia, he's a captain. A girl must do whatever she must do to get by. Maybe you could marry me." She said with a little laugh.

  "How old are you Katrina?"

  "I'm twenty." She said with complete conviction.

  "Really?"

  "I will be soon."

  "How soon?"

  "Oh eighteen months or so."

  Colby laughed. "Valentina told me as much. You are too young to rush into a marriage especially with someone like Andrej..."

  "Mm... maybe." She said as if she were just the observer of her life as it unfolded before her.

  "Katrina where are your parents now? Your family?"

  I was orphaned in the civil war ten years ago. I had to make my own way. There was an old lady who had lost her granddaughter to a fascist bomber. I called her my sweet Babushka, she's dead now, died in the harsh winter of 2014... She took me in and raised me on her small holding until I was grown. And then Valentina found me and offered me a job."

  Colby knew there must be much more to her story but did not press her.

  "I must go..." She said. "It would not be wise to let Andrej find us together." She touched Colby's arm. "Thank you... You are a very nice man, I'm sorry I made Andrej hate you."

  He watched her walk away, still so innocent despite everything, so pretty, so damaged. In another world she could have been a film star he thought.

  Valentina and Colby conspired to have lunch together away from the others. One might think that after a month in each other's company confined within the 30 foot length of a wooden Ketch, there might be a need for the two to find some separation. That was not the case.

  They dragged a small wooden table into the alcove that Natasha had made her own. They lay cushions against the marble seat and Valentina delving into a wicker hamper and produced a light lunch she had prepared for them to share. They watched the gulls playing with the warm air that rose up the sheer cliff. Feathers the colour of sun-bleached cotton and a call as poignant as a lost child calling for his mother. They ate their lunch, content in each other's company.

  "Did you find anything more about the political instability?" Colby asked.

  "Not much to tell really. I've contacted my people and was told not to worry. It seems one of the top men of the opposition party, Edward Walenski, was killed in a helicopter accident while returning from some international mission. The official story is mechanical failure but video clips clearly show that the helicopter was brought down with a missile they think an American FM 92 stinger. It seems there are still plenty around left over from the 06 war; the Americans were very generous... Apparently Walenski was manoeuvring to take over the opposition leadership and didn't quite watch his back. You see now how vulnerable Natasha would be to an open entry into Sachovia."

  "It brings things into stark reality, how do you propose keeping Natasha out of the firing line when she's home?"

  "It's not really possible to keep her completely safe but a recent pole shows seventy percent of the population are supportive of a return to a monarchy. To openly go against that would be political suicide." Valentina sighed as if the weight of the worlds troubles rested on her shoulders. "I knew Edward, he was a nice man, nice but but naive, his wife will be in torment."

  It seems you know everyone who lives In Sachovia?" Colby said.

  "Only the important people." She smiled. "So nothing has really changed, Adam Prochniak remains leader of the opposition Republik party. The government is completely unaffected, if a little shaken. Importantly, our mission remains the same."

  "Do you know Prochniak? He sounds as if he might be dangerous."

  Valentina shook her head. "Do you know everyone who lives in London?" She countered.

  "Oh I'm on first name terms with less than half I'd say..." He smiled but then regretted the attempt at humour. "Valentina, my reading of the situation in Sachovia suggests that the country is tinder dry just waiting for a spark to set things off again. The place seems to be balancing on the edge of new civil war to me. I really have grave concerns about taking Natasha back there in the present climate."

  "Of c
ourse it's not damn-well safe Colby..." There was the snatch anger in her voice now as if the frayed edges of a raw nerve had been probed. "What do you really know about Sachovia Colby? It's my country, its pulse is my pulse. Each new tragedy it suffers I feel as a physical pain."

  "I know, I know... My feelings can't compare but I left a part of myself there ten years ago Valentina."

  Valentina sighed, she could not maintain her anger at him; it was never focussed on him in the first place. She knew their time together was short, far too short to squander in pointless anger.

  "I know, I'm sorry Colby I didn't mean to make light of your feelings." She gently rested her fingers against his arm.

  "My feeling for Sachovia are coloured by those I have for you Valentina."

  "Please stop I can't hear this."

  "I need to tell you this Valentina. I'm obsessed by you. I can't get you out of my head. There's no logic to it, there's not even any pleasure to it. Every time I think of something funny, I need you to laugh at it, and when I'm feeling down, it's you I want to cheer me up. I don't know who you are any more Valentina I think you've left me behind. But that doesn't change a thing, it just makes me sad... I'd take the sadness if it came with the deal."

  "Don't... Please... There can be no 'deal' Colby. I wish things could be different. If I could turn back the clock those ten years, I would never let you escape my arms but the civil war has changed me, there are things I must do now that go beyond my personal happiness. Things that test my understanding of right and wrong." She paused searching for a way to explain. "Colby can you remember telling me when we were sailing down through Biscay how insignificant it made you feel bobbing like a speck in the vast ocean. I had the same feelings and it's true; our individual lives don't count for any more than a dandelion seed on the wind. The happiness of a single man or a woman... or a child, means nothing in the scheme of things."

  "Well just keep on telling yourself that Valentina... One day you may even come to believe it... Look let me just say one more thing then I'll stay silent on the subject...Valentina while I still have breath in my body... My arms will be waiting for you."

  Valentina was committed to her path, it had been set on course long ago. She turned her face away from his gaze, fearful that the tears that rimmed her eyes might show how close she was to abandoning everything for him. It would be so easy...

  They sat together sipping wine in reflective silence until maybe half an hour had passed when Natasha stumbled over them seeking her own escape.

  "There you are." She put her arms round Valentina and kissed her cheek. "Can I sit with you for a while... Andrej and Katrina are arguing again. I hate it when they fight."

  "Come and sit next to me." Valentina said as she made room on the cushions.

  "Has Andrej fixed the launch yet? If not we'll have to get a mechanic sent over from Santorini."

  "He was testing it earlier I think it's OK. Andrej is in a foul mood today."

  Valentina put her arm round Natasha and the girl snuggled close desperate for someone to care for her, the touch of compassion and understanding that she was starved of.

  "You don't really like him do you?"

  Natasha shook her head. "Is it true – are we leaving tomorrow?"

  "The day after..." Valentina said.

  "I wish I didn't have to go. Sachovia seems like a terrible place to me."

  "We've talked about this... You must be strong Natasha Kashinka... You are of royal blood, the people of Sachovia are calling for their Queen. We must all answer the call of destiny even when it seems unbearable."

  The path that Valentina had chosen had always been a bitter one, not for the outcome, but for the innocents who would be sacrificed like lambs to the slaughter and she included herself among the tragic number.