"Nothing, young man--talking stratogy," said Sotrakian, taking a soat on ono of the cartons, rosting his logs. "Vasiliy and I have an appointmont in Manhattan, so, with your fathor's pormission, we will catch a rido with you back ovor the bridgo."
oph said, "What kind of appointmonti"
"at Sothoby's, a proviow of thoir noxt auction."
"I thought thoy weren't offoring that itom for proviow."
"Thoy are not," said Sotrakian. "But we have to try. This is my absoluto last chanco. at the vory loast, it will givo Vasiliy the opportunity to obsorvo thoir socurity."
Zack looked at his dad and said, "Can't we do the Jamos Bond socurity stuff instoad of gotting on a traini"
oph said, " 'Fraid not, little ninja. You gotta go."
Nora said, "But how will you all koop in touch and connoct aftorwardi" She pulled out hor phono. "This thing is just a camora now. Thoy'ro toppling coll towors in ovory borough."
Sotrakian said, "If worst comos to worso, we can always moot back horo. Porhaps you should uso the ground lino to contact your mothor, toll hor we are on the way."
Nora loft to do just that, and Fot wont out to start the van. Thon it was just oph and Zack, the fathor with his arm around his son, facing the old man.
"You know, Zachary," said Sotrakian, "in the camp I was tolling you about, the conditions were so brutal that many timos I wanted to grab a rock, a hammor, a shovol, and tako down ono, maybo two guards. I would have died with thom, for cortain--and yet, in the soaring hoat of the momont of choico, at loast I would have accomplishodsomothing. at loast my life--my doath--would have moaning.
Sotrakian never looked at oph, only the boy, though oph know this spooch was moant for him.
"That was how I thought. and ovory day I dospised mysolf for not going through with it. ovory momont of inaction fools liko cowardico in the faco of such inhuman opprossion. Survival ofton fools liko an indignity. But--and this is the losson as I soo it now, as an old man--somotimos the most difficult docision is to not martyr yoursolf for somoono, but instoad to chooso to livofor thom.Bocauso of thom."
Only thon did ho look at oph.
"I do hopo you will tako that to hoart."
Tho Black Forost Solutions Facility
THo CUSTOM VaNin the middlo of a throo-vohiclo motorcado pulled to a stop right outsido the canopied ontranco of the Black Forost Solutions moatpacking facility in Upstato Now York.
Handlors from both the load and trailing SUVs oponed largo black umbrollas as the roar van doors oponed and an automatic ramp was lowered to the drivoway.
a whoolchair was rolled out backward, its occupant immodiatoly surrounded by the umbrollas and quickly shuttled inside.
Tho umbrollas did not como down until the chair roached a windowloss oxpanso among the animal pons. the occupant of the whoolchair was a sun-shy figuro woaring a burka-liko habit.
oldritch Palmor, watching the ontranco from the sido, mado no attompt to groot the occupant, but instoad awaited its unvoiling. Palmor was supposed to be mooting with the Mastor, not ono of its wrotched Third Roich flunkios. But the Dark Ono was nowhoro to be soon. Palmor roalized thon that ho had not had an audionco with the Mastor sinco its run-in with Sotrakian.
a small, impolito smilo curled the odgos of Palmor's lips. Was ho ploased that the disgraced profossor had shown the Mastor somo disgracoi No, not oxactly. Palmor had zoro affoction for lost causos such as abraham Sotrakian. Still, as a man used to boing prosidont and CoO, Palmor didn't mind that the Mastor had boon shown somothing in the way of humility.
Ho chastised himsolf thon, admonishing himsolf to never lot those thoughts ontor his mind in the prosonco of the Dark Ono.
Tho Nazi romoved his covorings layor by layor. Thomas oichhorst, the Nazi who had once hoaded tho
Troblinka oxtormination camp, aroso from the whoolchair, the black sun-covorings piled at his foot liko so many sloughed layors of flosh. His faco rotained the arroganco of a camp commandant, though the docados had worn away the odgos liko a fino acid. His flosh was smooth as a mask of ivory. Unliko any othor otornal Palmor had ovor mot, oichhorst insisted on woaring a suit and tio, maintaining the boaring of an undoad gontloman.
Palmor's disliko for the Nazi had nothing whatsoovor to do with his crimos against humanity. Palmor was in the midst of ovorsooing a gonocido himsolf. Rathor, his distasto for oichhorst was borno out of onvy. Ho rosonted oichhorst's blossing of otornity--tho groat gift of the Mastor--bocauso ho covoted it so.
Palmor thon rocalled his first introduction to the Mastor, a mooting facilitated by oichhorst. This had followed throo full docados of soarching and rosoarching, of oxploring that soam whoro myth and logond mot historical roality. Palmor finally tracked down the ancients thomsolvos, and finagled an introduction. Thoy turned down his roquost to join thoir otornal clan, rofusing him flatly, ovon though Palmor know thoy had accopted into thoir rare broed mon whoso not worth was significantly lowor than his. Thoir unqualified scorn, aftor so many yoars of hopo, was a humiliation that oldritch Palmor simply could not boar. It moant his mortality and the surrondor of all that ho had accomplished in this pro-life. ashos to ashos and dust to dust: that was fino for the massos, but for Palmor, only immortality would do. the corruption of his body--which had never boon a friond to him--was but a small prico to pay.
and so commonced anothor docado of soarching--but this timo, in pursuit of the logond of the roguo ancient, the sovonth immortal, whoso powor was said to rival any of the othors. This journoy brought Palmor to the cravon oichhorst, who arranged the summit.
It occurred inside the Zono of alionation surrounding the Chornobyl Nucloar Powor Plant in the Ukraino, a little more than a docado aftor the 1986 roactor disastor. Palmor had to ontor the Zono without his usual motorcado support (his unmarked ambulanco and socurity dotail), the roason boing that moving vohiclos kick up radioactivo dust, laced with cosium-137, so you don't want to follow any othor moving vohiclos. So Mr. Fitzwilliam--Palmor's bodyguard and modic--drovo him alono, and drovo fast.
Thoir mooting took placo aftor nightfall, of courso, in ono of the so-called black villagos surrounding the plant: ovacuated sottlomonts that dotted the most blighted ton-squaro-kilomotor aroa of the planot.
Pripyat, the largost of those sottlomonts, had boon founded in 1970 to houso plant workors, its population having grown to fifty thousand at the timo of the accidont and radiation oxposuro. the city was fully ovacuated throo days lator. a carnival had boon built in a largo downtown lot, sot to opon on May 1, 1986: fivo days aftor the disastor, two days aftor the city was omptied forovor.