King of All I Survey-Chapter 175: A Broken Man Revived

"General, who else do you know that might testify against him? The more credible witnesses we have, the better."

"Vasily Artemov would do it. He always hated Volkov, though he hid from him." The general turned around and shrugged.

I sighed, "He’s dead. He... fell out of a window eight months ago."

Lisek nodded, "I figured that would happen sooner or later." He smiled grimly, "I told him to stay away from windows. Too clumsy for his own good, that one. What about Assistant General Sokolov? Dead, yet?"

"No, he’s actually here in the hotel. He refused to testify. Do you think you can convince him?"

Lisek shrugged again, then noticed the glass of vodka on the table where he left it. He took a couple of steps toward the table and picked it up. He held the glass up in front of his face and looked at the clear liquid through the glass. "Maybe," he said, and took a drink. "It depends on what leverage Volkov has on him. I’ll give it a shot, if you want."

I smiled, "I do want, Thank you. Do you mind talking to him right now? We can just walk over to his room." I nodded toward the door to the hall.

He looked his nearly empty glass of vodka and said, "Sure, why not?" He drained the glass and put it back down on the table. "Lead the way." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

I stepped back and opened the door. I stepped into the hallway and saw Miguel a few paces away, close enough if there was trouble, too far to be eavesdropping. "Miguel, which room is Sokolov’s?"

Miguel looked down the hall away from where I was standing, "Third from the end on the right side, sir."

"Thanks, General Lisek and I are going to pay him a little visit. Shouldn’t be too long."

"Yes, sir."

General Lisek stepped out into the hall and made a show of stretching his arms out to the side. "Ah, Elbow room at last."

I shook my head, "Oh, please, General, your suite is huge... and you been there what less than a day? It’s practically a palace compared to your old prison cell, I’m told."

"A gilded cage is still a cage," he shrugged, "but a cage with vodka is nothing to complain about. My apologies."

I laughed, "you need to be careful with that, it’s really not good for your health."

"As long as I stay away from windows, I should be ok. After all, I’m Russian, alcohol is in my blood," he started giggling, then burst into a full laugh, "Quite literally, right now. Get it? Alcohol is in my blood?"

I noticed Miguel trying not to laugh. I shot him a disapproving look, it didn’t help. "Yeah, I get it, good one, General."

"I know, right, it’s in my bloodstream!"

We walked a few paces down the hall. I put my hand on the doorknob, and looked at Lisek, "It’s probably better if your not actively laughing when we walk in," I said quietly.

Lisek’s tried to put on an exaggerated serious face, "of course, of course. Shhh." He raised a finger to his linger to indicate silence. I sighed and shook my head, turning the knob and swinging the door open.

Lisek pushed past me and rushed into the room. "Alexei! Where are you?"

The television was on showing a local news station with a reporter standing in front to the Hague. Assistant General Alexei Sokolov sat on the couch watching the report, he was sitting forward on the edge of the cushion, leaning forward. As Lisek burst in, he jumped up scanning the area about him as if looking for a weapon. Then, he saw that it was General Lisek. He looked at him, then looked at me, clearly suspicious. "Gennady!" He nodded toward me, "Who’s this?"

Gennady Lisek stopped, and half-turned as if he had forgotten anyone was with him. A sudden look of recognition crossed his face, and he turned back to Sokolov. "Him, he’s paying for the vodka, he’s all right." Sokolov raised an eyebrow, looking from Lisek to me, back to Lisek, then back to me, only slightly less suspiciously.

"I’m Timothy Bailey, Chairman and CEO of United Earth Concord. I’m the one that brought you here."

"What do you want from me?" He asked tersely. He backed up a step toward the window.

Lisek, noticing Sokolov’s suspicion and tension, stepped forward with his hand extended, "No, no, Alexei, he’s a friend. Nothing to worry about. Listen. He even arrested Volkov, right out of his private fortress!" Lisek pointed at the TV, "you’ve been watching the news. You’ve seen what’s going on. This is the guy! The Earth Concord thing, that’s him."

Sokolov stared at his old colleague General Gennady Lisek, trying to make sense of his slightly slurred words. Lisek strode back toward me, putting a hand on my shoulder and pushing me forward toward Sokolov, "Tell him, tell him Volkov’s not coming back. He’s finished Alexei, once and for all!"

Sokolov looked at me expectantly.

"Yes, I’ve delivered him to the International Criminal Court for trial on charges of genocide and other war crimes. General Lisek, has agreed to testify at the trial. He thought you might be willing to add your voice to his, adding more evidence to put Volkov away for the rest of his life."

Sokolov took a few seconds, glanced quickly at Lisek, then turned his attention back to me. "I’ve already told your people no." Then he turned toward Lisek again, "Gennady, think of your family! Are you crazy, or just too drunk to think straight?"

Lisek pulled back, with a hurt look on his face. "My family will be safe, the UEC has people watching them, capable people. If Volkov’s people try to make a move, POW! They’ll take ’em out before they know what hit ’em. Even snipers. Christ, Alexei, they took Volkov himself from the middle of his security compound. With zero casualties! Zero!" If we don’t do this now, the best we can do is live in fear for the rest of our lives, with our families hostage. Let’s say, Tim drops you off with a new identity or something in Estonia or Canada, wherever you want to go. If Volkov gets out and he says, "Alexei Sokolov, come back to Russia to finish your prison term, or else. What are you going to do? I’ll tell you what you’d do, the same thing I’d do. You go back, just like I would... or fall out of a god damned tenth floor window onto the sidewalk in Ottawa!"

Sokolov was shaking his head no as Lisek spoke louder and louder. An increasing look of desperation on his face. "I can’t Gennady. I can’t go back..." His eyes were watering, tears started rolling down his cheeks as he continued. "I know they have Katya, but... I can’t... It’s bad in my prison, Gennady... I can’t..."

His pain and desperation overwhelmed him, leaving unable to speak. Lisek stepped closer and wrapped his arms around him. "Alexei, Alexei... It’s going to be ok... It’s going to be okay..." Lisek looked over his shoulder as he continued to hold his sobbing friend. "You can get his wife, bring her here?"

I nodded, "Yes. Alexei, do you want her here, safe with you?"

Alexei lifted his head, tears still streaming down his face, "I... yes... please."

For effect, I took a hand-held communicator from my pocket, one like those used back in Guatemala to communicate with the paramilitaries. I held it to my face, and spoke into it. "Joe, can you find and extricate Alexei Sokolov’s wife, Katya from..."

Lisek swung his head around sharply, "His daughter!... His wife is dead already."

I swallowed hard. "Joe, his daughter, Katya..."

Joe’s voice came through the communicator, "Acknowledged, target located, in sight. I can pull her out now, on you command, sir."

"Do it. Bring her to this hotel, as fast as possible."

"Acknowledged, target is secure."

I put the communicator back in my pocket. Five seconds later there was a knock on the hallway door.