*

The night Shade tagged after him at midnight. Turusbek felt that somebody was following him. Turusbek stopped, the Shade also stopped. Then Turusbek ran and fear seized him. Turusbek understood that he shouldn’t turn back. But he also felt that he would do it. The thing he saw was his last awful vision.

*

The Boeing 747-300 was flying silently above the Indian Ocean. Bright south stars started lighting up at the dark violet sky.

Gerhard asked a nice Chinese stewardess to bring a strong coffee. A big business he has been having was accompanied by the mess of meetings in different countries. He had a rest during such flights. As in any business, lucky streaks changed unlucky ones. But he has been having success for the last five years. Gerhard wiped his glasses, opened his suitcase Vincenzo Palermo which he, at one time, bought in Las-Vegas and was absorbed in a book. He was looking through a voluminous folder. That was dossier on his rivals. His secretary Alexandra with faded bluish eyes has been collecting that odd information for almost a year: quotes from the journals, ocean information in the Internet, discharge from hospitals, theft of which has been paying. He was getting the important information by his main informer from the establishment ruling top in Vienna. Gerhard understood that if somebody found out about who had informed him the consequences would be absolutely unpredictable. Sudden accidental shove with an elbow woke him up. A swarthy tall man who was trying to apologize to him appeared in front of him. Gerhard didn’t know that all the documents were secretly photographed by the best Israeli candid camera ViewSonic which had been plugged in the back of the passenger’s seat ahead. Moreover, he didn’t know that his Ipod had been, for some time, replaced by the copy during the airport bustle. And he didn’t know that he was kept under twenty-four-hour observation.

*

Late in the morning, when Colonel fell asleep by profound sleep, his telephone became awfully ringing. The result was zero. Several minutes later, his cell-phone became peeping with the same result. The blood red dawn in the mountains dispelled, small lapwings were twittering and loudly rustling and first early market women had extended along the shore. And Dux had a dream about warm Leonie.

Vasiliy Ivanovich turned on with sadness the second level of the alarm.

- I really didn’t want it!

Colonel was bug-eyed with surprise and his extremities became jerking as newborn crying baby’s ones. That formerly nice vision became decaying.

And again soundless death began to hiss in his dream. Before waking up he had discharged his new smart gun with tungsten system which was lying under his pillow.

- Yes, boss.

- Wake up, - the general muttered discontentedly, - the flight to Bishkek is today, the instructions are written, your convoy and the visa is at the airport. Rejoice, this is a young girl.

- I got it, Vasiliy Ivanovich.

- Yes, it’s a problem. From the top circles. It’s some kind of politics, the category of the third level of complication, don’t get dirty.

At last, the sound of the alarm calmed down.

- A swine, - thought Dux,- probably, next time there will be the first level of the alarm.

20 minutes later, Dux left the room, a taxi driver was waiting for him downstairs. The car was driving along the Istanbul road.

- Misha, you have such appearance,- grinned Dux.

Colonel liked stared at the road but this time he will be in a deep sleep.

*

At 10 AM the local time, Mr. Brenner left the big ultra-modern Chek Lap Kok Airport in Hong Kong. Having screw up his eyes, he looked at the bright sun, beautiful green contours of mountains, blue sea and went to the parking of yellow taxi. Flocks of birds were flying over the bottomless sky and European flu was vanishing instantly with humid overheat air. If Mr. Brenner could know he would return. But the taxi was driving at high speed along good left-side road with skyscrapers, micro-districts and fantastic big bridges. Below everywhere one could see pieces of the sea with ship bands crossing green sheer waves’ whitecaps. That town has always amazed Gerhard: amazing City and various crafts of all types from all over the world and this smell of crazy money. In an hour of a trip along the center of the city the taxi reached the main shore called Tsim Sha Tsui. The hotel called “De Peninsula Hotel” and was built in the twenties of the last century. Gerhard has usually rented a room in a five-stars hotel but here he needed to cut a dash. The room de luxe costed six hundred fifty dollars per twenty-four hours but the view on the Victoria shore was so exciting, that he immediately stopped pitying about money.

Gerhard, fresh in a starched shirt had a good dinner and went out to the shore.

*

The flight GI508 from Istanbul to Bishkek was delayed. Colonel liked the airports bustle, instantaneous psychological portraits of unusual people from different countries and waiting for new meetings. He had a real rest only in such long trips where he was rarely kept under the observation.

Dux has always sat next to the window. Moreover, he has never slept and for hours has been looking at the Earth below. Ex-physicist-experimenter used to seek for analogy and appropriateness which have often been obvious. The Earth, the sea, clouds were for him as an open book. There is the Iranian plateau with raised huge banks of mountains, volcanoes craters and recent flood tracks. Toy fanciful rounded green hills of the former Byzantine Empire near the warm Mediterranean Sea were like a paradise. Iraq’s desert was covered with blood and petroleum. He suddenly remembered as he a young student was at the discussion of the human evolution issues and types origin at the biology department. The youth, with acute feeling of justice and seeking of the truth, was very difficult to force his way through obvious lie of the official science of cosmogony, the Earth and the life origin. Over the years he started inclining to that the world was very young. The indicator “to fasten seatbelts” has lit up and the Boeing 737-800 started descending.

*

Osvald passed the second turnstile and waited patiently for the end of the inspection procedure. The guard attentively examined him from all sides because a black collar covered him till the chin. When the scanning of the small suitcase on the wheels has ended, the security thought a little bit and gave the green light.

Osvald pressed the lift button of the 16th floor at 38d street not far from the UNO building. The web-cams dispassionately filmed his full face and profile. He was waiting for and a big gorilla wearing all black took him to the boss. Osvald saw the boss, a man called Death. His black hat which he has never taken off swinged a little bit. Osvald became quickly laying out the cash. There were several kilos in the package. The piles were new and crumpled and many small changes about six million dollars.

- I won’t count, - said the boss.

His smile was more frightful than his nickname.

- Take more from the airport in Miami in two weeks.

When Osvald left Hayvery he looked with surprise at his fingers. They were white.

*

Colonel was observing the crowd of the meeting. Their look wasn’t positive. She was wearing a white blouse and a dark skirt and an odd hat. And there were dark high heel platform shoes on her feet.

But an hour later he cheered up. She was speaking easily and quickly on business with good humor. The hotel was by local measures beautiful with the view on mountains not far from the governmental quarter of Kirgizia. Colonel had a rest, had a good dinner and went out to the fountain which was not far from the American university. She was wearing an amazing white dress.

She was speaking and he thought that one could fall in love with her.