Its architecture triggered something buried in Sam’s memory banks.
He was in St. Petersburg… but it was more than that. He knew this place. It was familiar to him. Not just like a tourist might feel having been there, but more like a local, or someone who had spent a significant amount of time there recently.
Sam started to search his new found memory of the place for more information.
St. Petersburg was a Russian port city on the Baltic Sea. It was the imperial capital for two centuries, having been founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, subject of the city's iconic Bronze Horseman statue. It remains Russia's cultural center, with venues such as the Mariinsky Theatre hosting opera and ballet, and the State Russian Museum showcasing Russian art, from iconic Orthodox paintings to Kandinsky works.
On 1 September 1914, the name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd, on 26 January 1924 to Leningrad, and on 1 October 1991 back to its original name. Saint Petersburg is one of the most modern cities of Russia, as well as its cultural capital. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world. Many foreign consulates, international corporations, banks and businesses have offices in Saint Petersburg.
None of that mattered.
He thought about the all-important Betamax tape that he was carrying.
What he needed was a local pawn shop — known as a Lombard in Russia and Eastern Europe, to hopefully find an antique Betamax player.
Sam closed his eyes, and instantly formed a mental image of the outline of St. Petersburg with all its grand buildings and intricate labyrinth of Venetian canals. He started walking quickly, heading east until he reached a small canal that ran north to south, and turned right. He followed the rich canal.
He passed the Mariinsky Theatre, where the great Russian masters, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov all once performed their debuts. Sam continued south, leaving behind the wealth of St. Petersburg’s center, with its palatial monuments and rows of banks, before entering a darker, dingier, strip of town.
Sam reached a smaller, abstract canal, which meandered in a southeasterly direction. The shopfronts appeared to darken, the glistening gold and marble monuments now replaced with high rise government housing. A few people walked the streets, their movements stoic and decisive. Gone were the tourists who wandered. In their place were locals who moved with the purpose of the needy.
He watched a man stop at a dark alley. His eyes furtively darting backward as if to see if he was being followed, before disappearing inside its tenebrous confines.
Sam stopped at the entrance.
He grinned.
There wasn’t a shred of doubt now that he’d been to this place before.
It was a Lombard, most likely financed by a local arm of the Russian Bratva — Brotherhood.
Sam bit his lower lip, wondering for a moment whether this was the best place to go. It probably wasn’t, but then neither was anywhere else in St. Petersburg, so he may as well take the risk here. Besides, he might just get lucky.
He thought about the concept of a Lombard.
The human race, he recalled, was uniquely capable of adjusting their perspective on sin to achieve their individual goals. The Lombard had been just such a tool since Pope Leo the Great forbade charging interest on loans by Canon Law in 440 A.D.
Since Christian prohibition on profit from money without working made banking sinful, it was discovered that it was not forbidden to take collateral on loans. Pawn shops thus operate on the basis of a contract that fixes in advance the "fine" for not respecting the nominal term of the "interest free" loan, or alternatively, may structure a sale-repurchase by the "borrower,” where the interest is implicit in the repurchase price. Similar conventions exist in modern Islamic banking. Various ways around the prohibition were devised, so that the lowly pawnshop contractors could bundle their risk and investment for larger undertakings. Christianity and Judaism generally ban usury, but allow usury toward those outside their faith. Thus, Christians could lend to Jews and vice versa.
The only real necessity for a young man who desired a future in the financial world of the Middle Ages was the ability to read and write; the methods used for bookkeeping were carefully kept within families and slowly spread along trade routes. Therefore, this knowledge was available most readily to Jesuits and Jews, who consequently played a major role in European finance. Later the Jesuits took the role of go-between with heads of state, while the Jews manned the low-end pawnshops. This explained the disproportionately large share of Jews in the goldsmith trade and early diamond market.
Sam opened up his backpack and retrieved the second Makarov pistol. This one was fully loaded. He tucked it into his pocket, mildly concealed by his long shirt.
Feeling better, he stepped into the pawn shop.
A man behind the cashier looked up. For a moment, Sam thought the man’s eyes registered recognition, but if they had, the man wasn’t going to show it. His eyes darted away furtively.
Sam waited for the man to greet him.
When he didn’t, Sam asked in Russian, “I am looking for something very particular.”
“Then you’ve come to the right place…” The cashier made an obsequious grin, and waved his hand toward the back of the shop, pointing out how large his collection of other people’s worldly goods was. “As you can see, we possess a great wealth of items. What are you after?”
“A Betamax player.”
Sam expected him to ask what that was, but instead, the cashier said, “Right this way… we have three.”
Sam arched an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yes.” The cashier, picking up that Sam was an American, said, “You see, when VHS eventually beat Betamax on the global videotape format war, the price of Betamax fell. When they were cheap, some importers, more concerned about the price, brought in Betamax players.”
“Betamax lost to DVDs, not VHS?”
“That’s right.” The cashier picked up the Betamax player. “But, as you can see, some people still have Betamax.”
Sam asked the man how much it was and then immediately paid him double.
The man looked at the money and frowned — undecided whether or not he could get away with the stupid foreigner’s accounting ability. But the cashier looked wary. “What’s the second amount for?”
Sam said, “That’s a bribe.”
“For what?”
Sam said, “I’d like to plug it into a TV somewhere and watch a tape.”
The cashier folded his arms across his chest. “Hey, this isn’t that type of establishment.”
Sam shook his head. “It’s not what you think. It’s an old family tape. I want to check whether or not I can see what’s on it.”
The cashier considered that for a moment, pocketed the money, and then brought Sam to a store-room out the back.
The man looked concerned.
Sam said, “Look, can’t I just buy it, use it, and then leave it here for you to keep?”
“You’ll pay me the full price?”
Sam nodded. “Sure.”
That clinched the deal. The pawn shop guy stood aside. “Be my guest.”
Chapter Forty-Eight
Sam plugged the Betamax into the TV connections and inserted the tape.
The video started playing immediately.
It showed himself, with his hands open, in what appeared to be a hospital room.
Sam swallowed and listened to the recorded version of himself — presumably from a few days ago, before he’d lost his memory.
“I bet you’re pretty pissed right now. I get it. I would be too.
“You want to know why? Why you would possibly willingly lose your memory? I’d love to tell you, but I can’t. I’m sorry. All I can say is that this was the price you had to pay to keep everyone you care about safe.