"I haven't a clue."
***
Sarghov laughed between sips from a cup of tea, his big belly jiggling with each guffaw.
"Charging through the night on a forklift, toting an Avarga security guard through the air," he chuckled.
"You Americans always have such a flair for dramatics."
"It wasn't the understated exit I would have preferred," Pitt replied from across the cafe table, "but Al insisted we ride, not walk."
"And we still nearly missed last call." Giordino smirked before sipping his morning coffee.
"I'm sure management is scratching their heads, wondering why a pair of Westerners were waltzing around their facility. A shame you didn't find any evidence that our oil survey friends had been there."
"No, the only item of interest was the tunnel-boring machine. And it was concealed under a canvas tarp similar to the object that was removed from the freighter at Baikal."
"It is possible the machine was stolen and brought into the country surreptitiously. Mongolia does not have easy access to high technology. Perhaps the company does not want the government to be aware of its technological equipment."
"Yes, that could be true," Pitt replied. "I would still like to know what it was that they hauled away from Baikal under wraps."
"Alexander, have there been any developments in the abduction investigation?" Giordino asked before biting into a buttered roll.
Sarghov looked up to see Corsov enter the busy cafe situated across from Sukhbaatar Square. "I shall let our local expert address that question," he said, standing and greeting his embassy friend. Corsov smiled his toothy grin and pulled a chair up to the table.
"I trust everyone had a comfortable night?" he said to Pitt and Giordino.
"Just until the vodka wore off," Pitt grinned, cognizant that Giordino was nursing a mild hangover.
"Ivan, we were just discussing the investigation. Has there been any news on the official front?" Sarghov asked.
"Nyet," Corsov said, his jovial face turning solemn. "The National Police have still not been assigned the case. The investigative request is being held up in the Justice Ministry. My apologies, I misspoke when I said that Avarga Oil has no influence within the government. It is clear that a bribe is in effect at some level."
"Every hour might count for Theresa and the others," Giordino said.
"Our embassy is doing everything they can through official channels. And I am, of course, pursuing leads through unofficial means. Do not worry, my friend, we will find them."
Sarghov drained the rest of his tea and set down the empty cup. "I'm afraid there is little more that we can ask of Ivan. The Mongol authorities often work on their own time frame. They will ultimately respond to the continued inquisitions from our embassy, despite whatever bribes are impeding the investigation. It may be best if we step back and wait for the bureaucratic hurdles to be cleared before any further action.
As it is, I must return to Irkutsk to file a report on the damage to the Vereshchagin. I have gone ahead and booked airline tickets for the three of us this afternoon."
Pitt and Giordino looked knowingly at Corsov, then turned to Sarghov.
"Actually, we have already made alternate travel plans, Alexander," Pitt said.
"You are returning directly to the United States? I thought perhaps you would return to Siberia and collect your comrade Rudi first."
"No, we're not going to the United States, or Siberia, just yet."
"I don't understand. Where is your intended destination?"
Pitt's green eyes glimmered as he said, "A mystical place called Xanadu."
-20-
Corsov's intelligence network paid off again. Though the central government in Ulaanbaatar had taken a hard turn toward democracy after the fall of the Soviet Union, there was a sizeable communist minority opposition in the government ranks, many of whom still harbored pro-Moscow sentiments. It was a low-level analyst in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that had notified Corsov about the pending Chinese state visit. But it was Corsov who had recognized it as a golden opportunity for Pitt and Giordino.
The Chinese minister of commerce was arriving on short notice, ostensibly to tour a new solar energy plant recently opened at the edge of the capital city. Yet the bulk of the minister's time was scheduled for a private visit with the head of the Avarga Oil Consortium, at his secluded residence southeast of Ulaanbaatar.
"I can put you in the motorcade, which will get you past Borjin's front door. The rest will be up to you,"
Corsov had told Pitt and Giordino.
"No offense, but I don't see how anyone is going to buy us being part of the Chinese delegation,"
Giordino said.
"They won't have to, because you'll be part of the Mongolian state escort."
Giordino wrinkled his brow at what seemed to be a small difference.
Corsov explained that a formal reception was planned for the minister's arrival later in the day. A large welcoming escort from the Foreign Affairs Ministry would accompany the Chinese delegation for the evening. But tomorrow, when the delegation toured the solar energy plant and traveled to Avarga headquarters, only a small Mongolian security force had been requested to accompany the minister.
"So we are joining the Mongolian Secret Service?" Pitt asked.
Corsov nodded. "Ordinary officers of the National Police actually fill the roles. It took only a modest enticement to have you inserted as replacement security escorts. You will swap places with the real guards at the solar energy plant and follow the procession to Xanadu. As I told you, I would gladly use my own operatives for the assignment."
"No," Pitt replied, "we'll take the risk from here. You have gone out on a limb for us as it is."
"It is all deniable by me. And I trust you not to reveal your sources," he added with a grin.
"Cross my heart."
"Good. Now just remember to keep a low profile and see if you can prove that your abducted friends are on the premises. We can prompt the Mongolian authorities to action if we have some evidence."
"Will do. What do we owe you for the bribes?"
"That is such an ugly word," Corsov replied, a pained look crossing his face. "I am in the information business. Anything you can share with me about Avarga Oil, Mr. Borjin, and his aspirations will more than repay the pittance spent on the police escort. Which means I expect you back here for borscht tomorrow night."
"Now, there's an enticement," Giordino groaned.
"And just one more thing," Corsov added with a smile. "Try not to forget to keep the Chinese minister alive."
***
Pitt and Giordino took a cab to the solar energy facility, arriving an hour ahead of the Chinese minister's scheduled appearance. Smiling at a sleepy-eyed guard at the gate, they flashed a pair of dummy press credentials provided by Corsov and waltzed right into the facility. It was little more than a ten-acre lot peppered with dozens of flat black solar panels that supplemented the electricity produced by a large adjacent coal-burning power plant. Built by the power company as an experimental test station, it barely provided the power to light a football stadium. With more than two hundred sixty days of sunshine a year, Mongolia was rich in the essential resource needed to generate solar power, though the technology was well beyond affordability at the consumer level.
Steering clear of a hastily assembled greeting platform where a handful of state officials and power plant executives waited nervously, Pitt and Giordino concealed themselves behind a large solar panel near the entrance. Dressed in dark Chinese-tailored sport coats and sunglasses, with black woolen beret-type hats on their heads, they easily passed for local security types to those observing from a distance. They didn't have to wait long before the motorcade rolled through the gates a few minutes early and pulled up to the greeting platform.