Day of the Long Knives, page 20
‘And do you trust Vizirov?’
‘I think so, yes.’
Lionidza took out a cigarette and lit it. ‘I quite like Vizirov, but I’m not sure how far we can trust him. Him and Machabeli have always been as tight as a fat boy’s shirt, and from what I hear, Machabeli is Korgay’s go-to person for dirty tricks now that Alavidza’s gone.’
Ruslan shook his head. ‘Vizirov’s genuine, I’m sure of it. You know what happened to his son?’
‘He lost an eye or something?’
‘And a hand. I met his son on Monday. He hasn’t come to terms with it, I could see that, and Vizirov’s heartbroken and very angry.’ Ruslan told Lionidza Vizirov’s story about how Korgay had promised to come to a deal with the Russians and how Vizirov blamed him for the war.
‘Is Vizirov your source for the Security Police spies?’
‘I can’t answer that question.’
Lionidza grinned. ‘Well, I’ve purged my spies anyway. I brought them into my office one by one and said, “I know you’re working for the Security Police, so go and find yourself a donkey to fuck.”’
‘How did they react?’
‘One protested his innocence but the other two couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I took that as an admission of guilt.’ He took a long drag on his cigarette, after which he dropped it and stamped on it. ‘You know I’m seeing Qipiani tomorrow morning?’
‘Are you? No, I didn’t know.’
‘I’ll speak to him, see how he reacts.’
‘Don’t just speak to him. Interrogate him in detail. We need to know.’
‘Leave it with me. I’ll get to the bottom of it.’
*
‘So let me get this straight,’ said Ruslan, as he and Lionidza sat in his garden the following afternoon. ‘You asked Qipiani if Korgay had anything on him and he said, “No” and that was that. And you believed him? You didn’t interrogate him?’
‘I did interrogate him. I asked if he’s ever paid a bribe and he said, “Have I ever fed the children of some sleazy official in order to get a permit he’s supposed to give me without a bribe? What do you think? They’d make you bribe them to turn the traffic lights green if they could.” And I asked about sex. He just laughed and said, “You wait until you’re my age. It’ll be all you can manage to keep your wife satisfied, never mind go chasing after other women.”’
‘God’s teeth, Sergo. Did you ask what’s the biggest bribe he’s ever paid and who he paid it to? Did you ask whether he’s ever had an affair or slept with a man or been with a prostitute?’
‘Well, no. I didn’t go into that kind of detail.’
Ruslan found it difficult to avoid raising his voice. ‘So I’m not allowed to take the Russians’ word for it that we’re falling into a trap? Not even when Vizirov says Machabeli knows something we don’t. Not even when a source in the Security Police tells us Korgay’s got something on Qipiani. But you find it a bit embarrassing to press him, so you take him at his word?’
Lionidza started to sweat profusely. The June sunshine in Ruslan’s garden was warm, but Lionidza had already taken his jacket off. Ruslan knew he was sweating because he realised he had blown it.
‘Sergo, do you have any idea how much I’ve sacrificed to get rid of Korgay? Do you have any idea? I spent eleven days being interrogated round the fucking clock. They beat me up for six days and nearly drowned me. Tamara came within a millimetre of being gang raped and having her throat slit.’
Lionidza looked down and said nothing.
Ruslan hadn’t finished. ‘If we lose this election, Korgay will come after us, big time. You know that, don’t you?’
Lionidza nodded.
‘This is the only chance we’re ever going to get,’ said Ruslan. ‘It’s destroy or be destroyed. We have to win. I’m not going to spare Qipiani’s feelings. I’m going there right now and I’m going to give him a proper interrogation.’
‘You can’t.’
‘What do you mean, I can’t?’
‘He’s gone on a speaking tour.’
‘Where is he tonight?’
‘Ch’Ko Galatar, I think.’
‘I’ll cancel my meeting tonight and follow him.’
‘And where will this great interrogation session happen? You need somewhere safe from prying ears. Even if the Security Police aren’t listening, in West Ksordia, you can’t be sure Dolgoruky hasn’t got ears. And you know how far you can trust that cockroach. He’ll sell us out to Korgay as soon as the price is right.’
(West Ksordian strongman Batiy Dolgoruky was the least trusted of all ‘Together’ party leaders.)
‘Blood and damnation,’ said Ruslan.
They sat in silence for a long time. Ruslan was seething.
‘Well, there’s only one other option. I’m going to give the Russians what they want and hope they tell us what the trap is. I need you to back me up.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’ll go on TV tomorrow morning and say we have to give the Russians guarantees, and when Kakhi and Orbeliani blow their top, I need you to back me up.’
‘Ruslan, now isn’t the time for that.’
‘Christ’s nails, Sergo. Nominations close on Friday. If we’re going to change candidate, we have to do it now.’
‘It’s too late for that.’
‘Sergo, if Qipiani’s the trap, we need to know now.’
Lionidza sighed. ‘Okay, I’ll back you up. But you said you needed a third person. Who will that be?’
‘Nina.’
‘I don’t think she’s in Ronkoni.’
‘Do you know where she is?’
‘I’ll phone headquarters and let you know.’
‘Okay. Speak to you in a minute. I need to speak to Tamara.’
Tamara was just putting Shota down for his afternoon nap. Ruslan waited anxiously for ten minutes until she came downstairs. He led her into the living room and turned the radio on.
‘I need you to make contact with the Russians. It’s very urgent.’
Tamara visibly flinched. ‘Okay. But today’s a Sunday. The kiosk might not be open.’
‘Hell and damnation. I hadn’t thought of that. We have to try.’
‘Okay. I’ll get some of the boys to take me.’
Lionidza was downstairs. He and Ruslan headed into the garden to speak.
‘She’s speaking in Ushanore tonight.’
‘Fuck.’ This was a four or five-hour drive, about as far from Ronkoni as you could get, which made communication extremely difficult. The opposition always had to assume that telephone calls to or from landlines would be monitored, and Ronkoni was the only city with a mobile phone network. Ruslan could send one of his staff with a letter, but he could never be sure who was working for the Security Police, so he would have to word it carefully.
‘Do you know where she’s staying?’
‘The one we always use, the Olympic Hotel.’
‘Ah, I know it. I’ll send a courier with a message.’
‘Send it twice,’ said Lionidza. ‘That way, you can be sure she’ll get it.’
Ruslan went into his home office and wrote out on a piece of paper:
Nina,
I need you to trust me and I desperately need your help. Tomorrow I’m going to pick a fight with Kakhi. I need you to back me up, on TV, as quickly as possible. It’s VERY important.
Please trust me on this. I’ll explain in person next time I see you.
Ruslan x
He wrote exactly the same thing again and sealed both notes in envelopes, signing across the aperture.
He phoned downstairs. ‘I need two members of staff and two cars for two urgent messages. They need enough cash for a long drive and an overnight stay. Send the first up to me as soon as they’re ready to go. Send the second ten minutes later.’
‘Will do. Can I ask where they are going?’
‘It’s classified, sorry.’
When the first member of staff came in, it was Elene, a young woman Tamara had identified as one of those members of his staff who had a crush on him. Ruslan told her to leave the door open and invited her to sit down. He gave her one of the letters and told her to hand it to Nina personally in the Olympic Hotel.
‘Do you know Ushanore?’
‘Not really.’
‘You’ll go in on the A-147. It’s on the right just after a petrol station as you go down the hill, just before you get to town. If you get to some lights with a big sign for the hospital, you’ve gone past it.’
‘Okay.’
‘When you get downstairs, please don’t tell anyone where you’re going. I need to keep this under wraps.’
Ten minutes later, he had exactly the same conversation with a second member of his staff, though this time, he did so behind a closed door.
*
Tamara’s car dropped her off in the city centre, 50 metres from the intersection between Wirustam II Street (formerly Lenin Street) and Aviation Street. Two bodyguards stayed a few paces behind her.
She spotted the newspaper kiosk at once, just the other side of Aviation Street. It was almost 15:00 and the vendor was in the middle of closing up for the day. With his thick-framed glasses and a grey moustache, he was the man she had been told to expect.
She trotted over the road and approached him. ‘Hi. Do you have a copy of Zdorovye Magazine by any chance?’
He looked at her and she could see that he recognised her.
‘I don’t sell Russian press.’
Tamara hoped she could remember her lines properly. ‘Do you know where I can get it?’
‘The train station.’
‘I haven’t got time to go there today.’
‘It’ll still be there tomorrow.’
‘Thank you.’
She looked at watch. It was exactly two minutes to three. She sighed with relief: she had come to the right place and everything had gone to plan. She just hoped the Security Police weren’t following her and that neither her driver nor either of her bodyguards were working for them.
*
That evening, Nina telephoned just after Ruslan and Tamara had gone to bed.
‘Hi, Nina.’
‘Hi. Funny thing happened just now. Two people came up to me and they both gave me exactly the same thing.’
‘Maybe it’s extremely important and the sender wanted to make sure you got it.’
‘Understood. What time are you on tomorrow?’
‘Twenty past eight, Channel Two.’
‘Okay. I’ll make sure to watch it. Do I need to get my face on TV?’
‘Please. As soon as possible afterwards.’
‘Will do. Will you-know-who-be very angry?’
‘Yes.’
‘Great. Can’t wait.’
‘Thank you, Nina. I really appreciate this. It is important.’
*
The next morning, Ruslan got to the Channel Two studio just after 7:30. He was greeted by a producer, who said he would have six minutes exactly.
‘There’s a question I want you to ask me. I’ve written it down for you.’
He handed a note to the producer, who seemed very surprised.
‘Trust me, I’m giving you your eight-thirty headline. It’ll be the biggest story of the day.’
The producer smiled. ‘You know how to tempt me.’
Once makeup was applied, Ruslan endured an anxious wait. Whatever response Tamara got from the Russians, the next few days were going to be very stormy.
The question came two minutes into his interview.
‘One issue that hasn’t been discussed in this election is our relationship with the Russians. Where do you stand on that?’
‘Now this is a personal view, it’s not official “Together” policy, but I think we have to be realistic. We’re a small country next to a very big country, and we need a good relationship with that country, particularly since the Ukrainians stopped supporting us last autumn. We have to take Russia’s legitimate strategic interests into account.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Well, number one, we should forget about joining NATO. Any attempt to do so would just antagonise the Russians, and I don’t think we can realistically expect the Americans to defend us. Number two, Russia has a legitimate strategic interest in securing passage for its ships from Rostov to the Black Sea. We need to find a way to accommodate this.’
Ruslan could see that the interviewer was astonished. He obviously knew that the nationalists in ‘Together’ would find what he had said completely unacceptable. After more than 200 years of Russian rule, anti-Russian sentiment came second only to anti-Akhtarian sentiment in the minds of many Ksordian nationalists, and membership of NATO was the bedrock of Kakhi’s foreign policy platform.
As Ruslan predicted, his comments were headline news at 8:30. By 09:00, they were headline news on all Ksordian TV and radio stations, pro-Korgay and pro-opposition.
Kakhi was the first opposition leader to weigh in against him, followed quickly by Qipiani, Orbeliani, Dolgoruky and several van party leaders. By 10:00, Nina and Lionidza had both appeared on TV to back him up. Korgay’s TV and radio stations were crowing at this ‘major split’ in the opposition.
Ruslan had turned off his mobile and asked his staff to tell anyone who phoned that he was in a meeting and they didn’t know when he would be free.
He spent some time playing with Shota but was too wound up. In the end, he retreated to his office and passed the time playing Tetris on his Vector 06C computer. It was the only thing that could take his mind off the turmoil that he had unleashed.
*
Tamara put Shota down for his nap half an hour after lunch. She went into Ruslan’s office. He turned his chair round to face her and they embraced. She cradled his head against her breasts.
‘I have to go quite soon.’
He nodded. ‘Take three bodyguards.’
‘Will do.’
She left 20 minutes later, with two cars, two drivers and three armed bodyguards. They took her to the Sheraton Hotel (formerly Hotel Intourist) in the city centre. At exactly two minutes to three, she nervously entered the coffee shop.
Tamara had turned the heads of men ever since she was a teenager, but now it felt as if every woman in the coffee shop stared at her too. She wondered how many saw a lying Rebel slut who wanted everyone to think she was Anastasia, and how many saw a woman who had heroically faced down death and saved her husband’s life.
In the most crowded part of the coffee shop, she spotted a slender woman in her fifties with sunglasses raised up on top of her head and a copy of Zdorovye Magazine on the table in front of her.
‘Olga?’
The woman looked up and smiled. ‘Tamara my dear,’ she said in Russian. ‘You’re more beautiful than ever. Motherhood must agree with you.’
Olga (if that was her name) stood up and the two women embraced and kissed four times, Ksord-Akhtarian style.
‘You’re not looking bad yourself,’ Tamara said in Russian.
Olga invited her to sit and called the waiter.
Two of Tamara’s bodyguards positioned themselves at a table just out of earshot. Everyone sitting nearby had recognised Tamara and was looking at her. The bodyguards’ job was to check whether this was normal curiosity or somebody eavesdropping.
‘How are you?’ Olga asked.
‘Very well.’
‘And how’s that gorgeous husband of yours?’
‘Busy. How’s your gorgeous husband?’
‘I didn’t know he was gorgeous. Maybe twenty years ago, before he got fat.’
Tamara ordered a coffee and a slice of medovik honey cake.
The two women spent some time talking about their children (if Olga actually had children). Tamara reeled off a number of anecdotes about Shota and spoke about the lovely holiday they had had in the Meshchyora National Park, without mentioning the SVR bodyguards or the visit from a Foreign Ministry official.
Once Tamara had finished her cake, Olga grinned and said, ‘Do you want to hear some juicy gossip?’
Tamara nodded and the two women leaned towards one another.
‘I’m going to tell you something,’ Olga whispered, covering her mouth with her hand. ‘When I finish, don’t forget to grin and say, “Wow, that’s really funny.”’
‘Okay.’
‘Korgay has a video of Qipiani. He’s with a whore and she ties him up and spanks him. Apparently, it’s definitely him and you can see everything.’
Tamara was stunned. She leaned back and somehow remembered to grin. ‘Wow,’ she said. ‘That’s really funny.’
*
She got home 40 minutes later and took Ruslan and Shota out into the garden, where she told Ruslan what Olga had said, speaking English so that Shota wouldn’t understand.
‘God’s nails.’
‘Yes.’
Shota looked up. ‘What’s God’s nails, Papa?’
‘What’s God’s nails? Papa has to go to work, that’s what’s God’s nails.’
‘Will you be on television?’
Ruslan laughed. ‘Tomorrow, definitely. Maybe not tonight.’ He turned to Tamara. ‘Thank you. I’m so, so grateful to you.’
Tamara grinned. ‘It was quite exciting.’
‘We’re in for an exciting week. The you-know-what is about to hit the fan, big time.’
Ruslan went into the staff area and motioned his senior assistant into the garden.
‘Where’s Qipiani.’
‘In Ormi, I think.’
‘I’m going there to meet him. Can you assemble cars and bodyguards? Don’t tell anyone where we’re going but tell them to bring an overnight kit. I don’t think we’ll need it, but just in case.’
‘Okay.’
‘Do you know which hotel he’s staying in?’
‘I’m pretty sure it’ll be the same one you stayed at, the Grand Black Sea.’
‘Okay. Do nothing for an hour and ten minutes after we leave. Then get a message to him to say I’m coming.’ He looked at his watch. ‘I should get there by...what do you think?’
‘Six thirty?’
‘Yes, I should think so. Tell him it’s super-super-urgent. We’ll stop and call you after ninety minutes, just to confirm the location.’
The senior assistant nodded. ‘What about your meeting tonight? Presumably I have to cancel it.’
