The Venetian Betrayal

“And I would.”

“Yet you apparently have no problem inciting treason.”

“I’ll ask again. What do you want?” His tone had lost all civility.

“Your loyalty.”

He said nothing.

She grabbed a remote control from the table. A flat-screen monitor resting on the corner of the desk sprang to life with the image of five men milling among a crowd, examining stalls beneath bright awnings burgeoning with fresh produce.

Her guest rose to his feet.

“This surveillance video came from one of the cameras in the Navoi market. They’re quite useful in maintaining order and fighting crime. But they also allow us to track enemies.” She saw that he recognized the faces. “That’s right, Enver. Your friends. Committed to opposing this Federation. I’m aware of your plans.”

She well knew his party’s philosophy. Before the communists dominated, when Kazakhs lived mainly in yurts, women had been an integral part of society, occupying over a third of the political positions. But between the Soviets and Islam, women were shoved aside. Independence in the 1990s brought not only an economic depression, it also allowed women back into the forefront, where they’d steadily reacquired political influence. The Federation cemented that resurrection.

“You don’t really want a return to the old ways, Enver. Back to the time when we roamed the steppes? Women ran this society then. No. You just want political power. And if you can inflame the people with thoughts of some glorious past, you’ll use it to your advantage. You’re as bad as I am.”

He spat at her feet. “That’s what I think of you.”

She shrugged. “Doesn’t change a thing.” She pointed at the screen. “Each of those men, before the sun sets, will be infected, just like you were. They’ll never realize a thing until a ru

“You’re as evil as I ever believed.”

“If I were evil, I would have let you die.”

“Why didn’t you?”

She pointed the remote and changed cha

“This is what we’ve achieved. A unified Asian state that all of the leaders agreed to.”

“You didn’t ask the people.”

“Really? It’s been fifteen years since we achieved this reality and the economies of all the former nations have dramatically improved. We’ve built schools, houses, roads. Medical care is markedly better. Our infrastructure has been modernized. Electricity, water, sewage disposal-nothing like it once was with the Soviets-now works. The Russian rape of our land and resources has stopped. International business is invested here in the multibillions. Tourism is on the rise. Our gross national product has increased a thousand percent. The people are happy, Enver.”

“Not all.”

“There’s no way to make everyone happy. All we can do is please a majority. That’s what the West preaches all the time.”

“How many others have you pressured like me?”

“Not all that many. Most see the benefit of what we’re doing on their own. I share the wealth, and power, with my friends. And, let me say, if any one of you has a better idea, I’m willing to listen. But so far no one has offered anything better. The little bit of opposition we’ve faced, you included, simply want to put themselves in power. Nothing more.”

“Easy for you to be generous, while your germs can whip us all into line.”

“I could have allowed you to die and solved my problem. But, Enver, killing you is foolish. Hitler, Stalin, Roman emperors, Russian tsars, and just about every European monarch all made the same mistake. They eliminated the exact people who could sustain them when they really needed help.”

“Perhaps they were right? Keeping your enemies alive can be dangerous.”

She sensed a slight thawing in his bitterness so she asked, “Do you know about Alexander the Great?”

“Just another Western invader.”

“And in a dozen years he conquered us, taking all of Persia and Asia Minor. More territory than the Roman Empire acquired after a thousand years of fighting. And how did he rule? Not by force. When he claimed a kingdom he always allowed the former ruler to keep power. By doing that he cultivated friends who sent men and supplies when he needed them, so more conquests could be made. Then, he shared the wealth. He was successful because he understood how to use power.”

Hard to tell if she was making progress, but the Kazakh had made one valid point. Enemies did indeed surround her, and the assassination attempt from earlier still loomed fresh in her mind. She tried always to either eliminate or recruit the opposition, but new factions seemed to spring up daily. Alexander himself eventually fell victim to an unreasonable paranoia. She could not repeat that mistake.

“What do you say, Enver? Join us.”

She watched as he mulled over her request. He may not have liked her, but reports noted that this warrior, an aviator trained by the Soviets who fought with them in many of their foolish struggles, hated something else far worse.

Time to see if that were true.

She pointed at the screen toward Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. “These are our problem.”

She saw he agreed.

“What do you plan to do?” he asked, with interest.

“End them.”

FOURTEEN

COPENHAGEN

8:30 A.M.

MALONE STARED AT THE HOUSE. HE, THORVALDSEN, AND CASSIOPEIA had left his bookshop a half hour ago and driven north, following a seaside route. Ten minutes south of Thorvaldsen’s palatial estate, they’d veered off the main highway and parked before a modest one-story dwelling nestled among a grove of gnarly beechwoods. Spring daffodils and hyacinths wrapped its walls, the brick and wood topped by a lopsided gabled roof. Gray-brown waters of the Øresund lapped a rocky beach fifty yards behind.

“As if I have to ask who owns this place.”

“It’s run-down,” Thorvaldsen said. “It abuts my land. I bought it for a bargain, but the waterfront location is wonderful.”

Malone agreed. Prime real estate. “And who’s supposed to live here?”

Cassiopeia gri

He noticed that her mood was lightening. But his two friends were clearly on edge. He’d changed clothes before leaving town and retrieved his Magellan Billet-issue Beretta from beneath his bed. He’d been ordered twice by the local police to surrender it, but Thorvaldsen had used co

They stepped inside the house. Sunlight poured through windows clouded with salt film. The interior was decorated with a mishmash of old and new-a combination of styles that seemed pleasant by merely being itself. He noticed the condition. Lots of repairs were needed.

Cassiopeia searched the house.

Thorvaldsen sat on a dusty tweed-covered couch. “Everything in that museum last night was a copy. I removed the originals after I bought the place. None of it was particularly valuable, but I couldn’t allow it to be destroyed.”

“You went to a lot of trouble,” Malone said.

Cassiopeia returned from her reco

Like he needed to hear that. “While we wait for someone to come and try to kill us-the individual you talked to on the phone three hours ago-could you at least explain why we gave them that much prep time?”

“I’m well aware of what I’ve done,” Thorvaldsen said.

“Why are these medallions so important?”

“Do you know much about Hephaestion?” Thorvaldsen asked.