The treasure of Galdan

by Andrej Andrejew

  “In that case you can count on me. Actually I’ll start right now.”

  “Oh no, tomorrow will...”

  “Don't worry about that, really. If the inspector will go to the mines tomorrow, we will have one truck less. Then why should we wait?”

  “That’s a good point. I really appreciate it.”

  “No problem at all. By the way have you visited the hill since our last visit?”

  “Yeah, once. But as you know the chief engineer is not interested and currently we are so busy that I don’t have time to care about that. What do you think about reporting the find to Urumqi?

  “This is a very good idea. They are not clueless about ancient objects like the folks here.”

  “But if we circumvent the chief, then...”

  “We can tell the Chinese in Altay and they will report it further. After all it is territory under Chinese sovereignty here.”

  Voronov trusted Chun but decided not to tell him that he had moved everything to the airfield store building.

  In the late afternoon the trucks were busy levelling the ground. At nine o'clock Chun went to the place where the trucks were parked. He had changed the plan. Obviously damaging them could raise suspicions early. He threw a few cubes of sugar in each truck’s tank and went to his tent to wait for the night.

  Voronov was also preparing to sleep when suddenly Novikov entered his tent.

  “Good to see you again!” said Novikov “Should we take a stroll?”

  “It's a bit late but why not?”

  They walked along the river behind the camp. During the day the stream was quite turbulent when the snow on the mountains feeding the tributary was melting but late in the evenings the flow of water was slow and calm.

  “The people from the department were inquiring about you,” said Novikov.

  “Really? What did they want?”

  “Apparently they have a warrant for your arrest.”

  “This is impossible! It must be a mistake, when I…”

  “Kolya (abbreviation for Nikolay)!” interrupted Novikov, “are you not aware what has been going on during the last months?”

  “It’s been problematic for a year or so, I know. But after all I am not a Trozkist or something of this sort, I’ll just...”

  “It became worse. Only at our squadron two persons have been arrested since August. We have never seen them again. And the designer of the airplane which brought you here, just a few days ago we have been asked to paint over his acronym on all the planes.”

  Voronov was staring at the water: shocked and perplexed. He was silent for a minute or two.

  “Do they know where I am now?”

  “They do. And they have asked the squadron commander to ensure that I bring you to Almaty on the next flight. That’s approximately a week away.”

  “With an escort?”

  “As far as I understand it – no.”

  “I just don’t think I have any other choice. I’ll explain everything to them. It must be a mistake. What can they have against me?”

  “I don’t know the reason behind it. And I assume that those two from our squadron as well as many others arrested during last two months all tried to explain too. And I am not aware of any case where this was of any use.”

  “But what should I do?! I can’t stay here indefinitely and you know they have asked me to provide the contact details of my relatives before I left, thus I can hardly…”

  “I am not saying you should,” Novikov’s voice indicated that he understood what Voronov meant without mentioning the word. He paused. “Kolya, everybody has tough times nowadays, everybody. And we must make decisions ourselves. I thought it was my duty to inform you. You know that I could be shot should they learn that it was me who has given you a hint?”

  “Don’t worry about that! Please trust me. I will never mention your name. Never and to nobody!”

  “Oh, Kolya! I would not do it if I were not sure about your innocence. Somebody as naïve as you are just cannot be a saboteur or spy! Why do you think all those poor guys confessed so quickly after their arrests?”

  Voronov was feeling shell-shocked, he really did not know what to say.

  “I will never forget it Roma! Let’s go sleep now. It has been a long day.”

  Voronov could not sleep at all. The situation seemed to be hopeless. Escape? But where to and how? And what would happen to his relatives? Will they have to suffer the wrath of the NKVD?

  He remembered when his wife Tonya was alive. They met at a power dam construction site in the Ukraine. Both were proud to contribute to the “Benchmarking Project of Socialist Construction” as it was called. Tonya was even a secretary of the Young Communist League (Comsomol) of the electricians’ brigade. After the horrors of the Civil War, life seemed to be exciting and the future promising. It was at the next assignment in Krasnoyarsk when Tonya contracted tuberculosis and spent the next seven long months slowly dying. Every day he tried to persuade himself that he could see signs of improvement. But everything was in vain. Tonya was sent to a sanatorium in Pyatigorsk in the North Caucasus. The place was famous for its fresh air and mineral water. After she returned home it even looked as if she felt better. Anyway the effect, if any did not last for long.

  After Tonya’s death Voronov decided to move far away and drown his grief in work. That’s why he immediately accepted the assignment to Almaty.

  What would Tonya say about all this, were she alive? –he was thinking

  Then he realized that Tonya sacrificed her health and life for the country. On the one hand this sounded heroic and noble. But at the same time he remembered many others who had lost their health or life at numerous construction sites, be it due to accidents, exposure or malnutrition. He’d never thought about it deeply before. Apparently people were not of any value. They were part of the construction materials and could be disposed of at any time. No sacrifice was too big to discourage ambitious objectives.

  Now Tonya was dead and Voronov could not remember anything else except hard work. And what was the reward? Absurd unsubstantiated allegations? There was not even a chance to seek justice and prove his innocence.

  No! – thought Voronov. – I will not obediently deliver myself to them. What for?

  He thought about his brother and cousin. But would it really make a big difference if he were arrested and imprisoned or even sentenced to death? And if he escaped here in Xinjiang then they would not fall under suspicion of hiding him.

  While the thoughts were boiling away in his head he heard the sound of an engine and looked at his watch.

  A vehicle at this time? Very strange – thought Voronov. But he really had other things to think about than a vehicle driving at unusual hour. He was not sure when he fall asleep but it was around four or five o’clock.

  2

  Chun approached the store building from behind. The bottle of sorghum brandy was in the left pocket of his coat. In the inner pocket he had a hammer. The plan was to make use of it should the sentry refuse to drink.

  “Hey brother!” said Chun “When will you be released?”

  “At seven.”

  “At seven!? The nights have become quite cold these last two weeks, right?”

  “Oh yes, I am really looking forward to when they will switch the uniforms for winter clothes.”

  “Not before November, I am sure. You must be freezing standing outside here for many hours?”

  “Yeah – just a bit!”

  “Here, take a gulp. This will help.”

  “Hmm, being on duty, I am not sure…”

  “Ah, come on! The inspector from Moscow arrived today. They’ve had a nice dinner in the chief’s tent. And I have even received a present,” he showed the bottle.

  “Well, I think a gulp or two can’t do any harm....”

  “Definitely not! Do you remember Romashkin, the driver who suffered hypothermia last week after being stuck in the desert for two nights with his broken truck ? Even our teetotaller
doc ordered him to drink some brandy!”

  The sentry drank a bit from the bottle. Chun continued to talk about his home town and the life there.

  About 10 minutes passed. The sentry started to hear Chun’s voice as if it were coming from far away. He looked at the sky. How beautifully the stars were shining between the clouds! Why hadn’t he noticed that before? They looked exactly like the sky in his village near Orenburg. He took a glimpse down the valley. Here is it! His village! Where are all the people?

  After that the sentry couldn’t remember anything else.

  Chun was impressed by the effect. Since the “Watchmaker” dealt with medicines he must have acquired some knowledge about drugs.

  Chun hit the store room lock full power with his hammer. The lock opened immediately. Actually neither the door nor the lock were worth their names. But Chun thought that kicking the door would produce too much noise.

  He entered the store room and switched on the torch. On the floor there were about 20 big bags filled with ore. Each bag had a letter and a number written with a chalk. Apparently the codes corresponded to the tunnels of the mine. Chun realized that he didn’t have any smaller bags with him and nothing to write on. But he discovered an empty bag lying on the floor. Chun cut the bag into several pieces and wrapped a sample of few stones from each of the bags into each piece. On each stone, he scratched the bag code with the knife point.

  The whole action took about ten minutes. He inspected the broken lock. It looked like it wasn't necessary to replace it, he could simply lock it again and fix the bow with a small wooden wedge.

  Chun waited for the rest of the group. Another few tense minutes passed until he could hear the sound of a truck. A minute later the truck approached the store building.

  “Jump in!” shouted the “Owl”.

  “I have twenty small bags with me and need some help.”

  “Aquarius” jumped out of the driver’s cabin and helped to bring the parcels to the cargo room. They wrapped some ropes around each parcel and drove off.

  “Where is the stuff from the hill?” asked Chun.

  “The cave was empty” said “Aquarius”.

  “What?! That’s impossible!”

  “It might be impossible but that’s how it is. I found some old coins on the floor, that’s all. Listen, we can talk about it on the way. Now let's hurry up!”

  The plan seemed to work. They reached Altay, switched the truck and headed for Urumqi. But Chun was still worried. First of all they failed to complete one part of the operation. Another question was why Voronov hadn’t told him the truth. Perhaps somebody else got wind about the cave and stole the contents. Or Voronov convinced the chief engineer to bring the objects to the camp. But why did he say they were still there? Did he suspect something?

  In any case it was how it was. And after all he had one script roll from the first sortie to the hill. Better than nothing.

  3

  Short before seven in the morning the soldier Zaidulin went to release the sentry and found him sleeping outside the door.

  “Comrade! What's going on?!”

  “Oh, what was that! No idea, really. I didn't feel well and just before seven decided to sit down for a few minutes. Apparently I have dozed off.”

  “That has happened to me also. Just be careful in the early morning hours. Not that somebody will notice. Now go back to sleep, you really do look a bit sick.”

  Voronov went to the airfield at eight. The newly arrived radio equipment was thought to be installed in one of the auxiliary buildings and he was assisting the electrical engineer Malyshev.

  The chief engineer had left with the guest from Moscow to see the mines. They wanted to be back by the afternoon and then try sending a radio message to Almaty.

  At 10:00 one of the drivers, Timohin walked into the camp looking exhausted and in a bad mood.

  “This damned vehicle!” - he started to shout, “It broke down just 15 minutes after we left the camp. I have tried everything but you can forget it. Can you imagine how furious the chief is? Now they have to walk for a good hour to the mines. I have to fetch them with another truck in two hours.

  “Take this one and you better go now,” said the technician Golovanov. “It can rain in the afternoon, they might want to return earlier.”

  When Timohin started the engine, Golovanov waved at him to come out of the cabin.

  “Look at that!”

  The fumes from the exhaust pipe were blackish and smelled of burned butter.

  “Stop the engine!” commanded Golovanov, “What actually happened with the first truck?”

  “The same, just not from the very beginning. At first the engine started to cough then I saw the same black fumes and then it just stopped.”

  Golovanov summoned all the drivers and asked one of them to disconnect the fuel pipe of the third truck from the tank. Than he collected the first litre of fuel squirting out of the orifice into a tin box.

  “Who re-fuelled the trucks the last time?” he asked

  “Romashkin and myself.”

  “Where did you take the fuel from?”

  “As usual, from barrack number four.”

  “And when was the last uneventful drive?”

  “Yesterday at 07:30, we brought the workers to the mine and collected them at four in the afternoon. I can ask Romashkin but I didn’t notice anything unusual.”

  “Now listen to me. Remove the tank of this truck and wash it at least two times. Then fill it taking the fuel from the surface of the cistern, not from the tap. Got it? And do the same with the other truck. But in addition clean the fuel pipe, fuel pump and all the cylinders.”

  “But what actually happened?”

  “I can only see that the tanks of both trucks and very likely the one you were driving this morning contain something which does not belong there.”

  “But Comrade Golovanov, I really don't...”

  “Nobody is accusing you,” interrupted Golovanov. “Try to get it fixed as soon as possible. I will report this to someone appropriate.”

  He found Kalnins near the food tent.

  “Comrade Kalnins, I think we have a problem. Looks like the fuel in the tanks of the trucks has been adulterated.”

  Kalnins swore loudly in Latvian.

  “Do you mean the fuel has been diluted with water or something like that?”

  “No, that’s unlikely. Fuel is usually diluted in order to sell it illegally but who can you sell it to here? And in case of water the fumes are bluish or white but not black.”

  “Then what are you thinking?”

  “To me it looks like sugar.”

  “Sugar?!”

  “Yes, sugar. Somebody must deliberately have put it in the tanks.”

  “But what for? I mean, I agree that we should take it very seriously but couldn’t it have a sort of trivial background? You know, our chief is not very popular. Perhaps somebody wanted to embarrass him in front of the visitor from Moscow? Anyway I will immediately look into that. Whatever the reason, this is a deliberate damaging of socialist property and this at the institution of state's importance! Were any other incidents or anything unusual noticed?

  “No, at least I am not aware of any. Just one thought in addition...

  “Fire away!”

  “The newly arrived airplane. Aviation fuel is stored in a different cistern but I suggest we check it.”

  “Absolutely! Get in touch with the board technician immediately and I will take care of the rest.”

  The third truck was only available by five o'clock and the driver picked the visitor and the chief engineer from the mines. The mood of the chief can only be imagined.

  When Kalnins entered his tent Kozelsky immediately started a monologue of complaints.

  “This is just unbelievable! What a disgrace! What will the Comrade from Moscow think of us? I am sure we’re too lax with them all the time. Because of the importance of the project we are privileged to have brand new trucks. And these
folks don’t even bother to ensure proper maintenance. I suggest that we...”

  “Comrade Kozelsky,” interrupted Kalnins, “I am afraid there’s more behind it than just negligence.”

  “What?!” Kozelsky's face became pale “No! This is impossible! I can't believe it!”

  “And what makes you so sure? Do you know that somebody put sugar in the tanks of all three trucks?”

  Kozelsky felt paralysed.

  “Comrade Kalnins! I would really ask you to keep this low profile as long as the visitor is here. Please initiate your investigations but as quietly as possible.”

  “I will, but not because of the visitor,” answered Kalnins dryly, “If we have a saboteur among us then we must be careful not to alert him. When does the visitor leave?”

  “Tomorrow at eight we load 500 kilograms of ore into the plane and the departure is planned for ten.”

  “Good. Then let's do it this way. I hope the new radio is operational now, I’ll go and check with the electrician. I’ll send a radio message to Urumqi. If another two trucks are repaired this evening, the third one should go to Urumqi tomorrow and bring a sample of the fuel to the specialists there. The truck can bring some spare parts which are waiting there anyway.

  “Up to you, I don't mind.”

  Kalnins immediately went to the airfield.