Double wooden doors in the center of the museum’s ground floor provided the only entrance. They opened outward and were barred with a thick piece of blackened lumber laid across their center, held close by iron brackets. Padlocks at each end clamped the bar in place.
He motioned at the doors and said, “Burn them off.”
Rafael removed a plastic bottle from one of the shoulder bags. He followed his partner to the doors where Rafael carefully doused both padlocks with Greek fire. He stood back as Rafael removed a striker and sparked both locks into a brilliant blue blaze.
Amazing stuff. Even metal succumbed to its fury-not enough to melt, but plenty to weaken.
He watched as the flames burned for nearly two minutes before consuming themselves.
CASSIOPEIA KEPT HER VIGIL THIRTY METERS AWAY AS TWO POINTS of intense blue light, like distant stars, glowed and then extinguished. Two thrusts of a crowbar and the thieves unbarred the museum’s main doors.
They carried their equipment inside.
She saw that they’d brought one of the robotic gizmos, which meant the Museo di Torcello would soon be ash.
One of the men closed the double doors.
The piazzetta once again loomed dark, damp, and sinister. Only the click of rain finding puddles disturbed the silence. She stood on the basilica’s porch and contemplated what she was about to do, then noticed the wooden bar that had secured the doors had been left outside.
VIKTOR CLIMBED A SPIRAL STAIRCASE TO THE MUSEUM’S SECOND floor, his eyes adjusted to the murky night. He’d discerned enough shadows for him to navigate his way through the sparse ground-floor exhibits and up to the equally sparse top level, where three oversized glass-topped cases waited. In the middle case, right where he’d noted earlier, lay the elephant medallion.
Rafael was below, positioning Greek fire packets for maximum destruction. He carried two packs earmarked for the second floor. With a quick blow from the crowbar, he shattered the glass and, from among the shards, carefully retrieved the medallion. He then tossed one of the three-quart vacuum packs into the display case.
The other he laid on the floor.
He pocketed the medallion.
Hard to say if it was genuine but, from a casual long-distance inspection earlier, it had certainly looked authentic.
He glanced at his watch. Ten forty P.M. Ahead of schedule. More than enough time to meet the Supreme Minister. Maybe Zovastina would reward them with a few days’ rest.
He descended the stairway to ground level.
They’d noted earlier that the flooring on both levels was wood. Once the fire below started to rage, it would only be a few minutes before the packs overhead joined the mélange.
Through the darkness he saw Rafael bent over the turtle. He heard a click and the device began to roam. The robot halted at the room’s far end and started dousing the outer wall, spewing odorous Greek fire.
“Everything’s ready,” Rafael said.
The turtle continued its task, unconcerned that it would shortly disintegrate. Just a machine. No feelings. No remorse. Precisely, he thought, what Irina Zovastina expected from him.
Rafael pushed on the main doors.
They did not open.
His partner shoved again.
Nothing.
Viktor stepped close and pressed his palm flat against the wood. The double doors were barred. From the outside. A surge of anger swept through him and he rammed himself into the wood, but all he did was pound his shoulder. The thick slabs, held upright with iron hinges, refused to yield.
His gaze raked the darkness.
While reconnoitering the building earlier he’d noted bars on the windows. Not an obstacle since they planned to enter and leave through the front door. Now, though, the barred windows assumed a greater significance.
He stared at Rafael. Though he could not see his partner’s face he knew exactly what he was thinking.
They were trapped.
PART THREE
FORTY
SAMARKAND
TUESDAY, APRIL 21
1:40 A.M.
VINCENTI CAREFULLY DESCENDED THE STAIRWAY FROM THE PRIVATE jet. The trip east from Venice to the Central Asian Federation had taken nearly six hours, but he’d made the journey many times and had learned to enjoy the jet’s luxury and rest during the long flight. Peter O’Conner followed him into a balmy night.
“I love Venice,” Vincenti said, “but I’ll enjoy when I finally live here. I won’t miss all that rain.”
A car waited on the tarmac and he headed straight for it, stretching his stiff legs, working his tired muscles. A driver emerged and opened the rear door. Vincenti climbed inside as O’Conner sat in the front passenger’s seat. A Plexiglass partition assured the rear compartment privacy.
Already sitting in the back was a black-haired, olive-skinned man with eyes that always, even in the face of adversity, seemed to find life comic. A heavy stubble coated a square jaw and thin neck, the youthful features, even at this late hour, quick and observant.
Kamil Karimovich Revin served as the Federation’s foreign minister. Barely forty, with few or no credentials, he was generally regarded as the Supreme Minister’s lapdog, doing exactly what she commanded. Several years ago, though, Vincenti had noticed something else.
“Welcome back,” Kamil said to him. “It’s been a few months.”
“Lots to do, my friend. The League consumes much of my time.”
“I’ve been dealing with your members. Many are beginning to select home sites.”
One of the arrangements made with Zovastina had been for League members to relocate to the Federation. A good move for both sides. Their new business utopia would free them all from burdensome taxation. But the influx of their capital into the economy, in the form of goods, services, and direct investment, would more than compensate the Federation for any taxes that could be imposed. Even better, an entire upper class would be instantly established, with no trickle-down effect that Western democracies loved to impose, where-quite unfairly, Vincenti had always thought-the few paid for the many.
League members had been encouraged to purchase tracts and many had, including himself, paying the government as most Federation land, thanks to the Soviets, lay in public hands. Vincenti had actually been part of the committee that negotiated this aspect of the League’s deal with Zovastina, and had been one of the first to buy, acquiring two hundred acres of valley and mountain in what was once eastern Tajikistan.
“How many have closed deals?” he asked.
“One hundred and ten so far. Lots of varied tastes in locations, but in and around Samarkand has been the most popular.”
“Near the source of power. That town and Tashkent will soon become world financial centers.”
The car left the air terminal and began the four-kilometer trek into town. Another improvement would be a new airport. Three League members had already drawn plans for a more modern facility.
“Why are you here?” Kamil asked. “Mr. O’Conner was not all that forthcoming when I spoke to him earlier.”
“We appreciate the information on Zovastina’s trip. Any idea why she’s in Venice?”
“She left no word, saying only she would return shortly.”
“So she’s in Venice doing who knows what.”