The Before Short Story Series. Part 1. Иван Перепелятник

this basis gives me a clear understanding of how we will achieve our goal. We need access to an analytical resource that is not burdened with imposed restrictions. That’s the key question. The base you are talking about is just an additional pleasant bonus. Nothing more.’

      Heng blushed and stopped chewing cookies. He was clearly making a lot of effort to keep himself under control. Heng quietly said something to his assistant in Chinese. She got up and went somewhere.

      ‘Very well, Mr. Richardson. What do you suggest?’

      ‘It’s obvious. Our countries should be much more active in fulfilling the potential of co-operation, which does not manifest itself in any way today,’ Robert looked at his counterpart, who seemed not ready for such a conversation at all. It was obvious that he also did not have the authority to take any such obligations either. But no one would have expected it, to be fair. He knew that the guy sitting opposite was only an intermediary—such were the rules of the game.

      ‘I understand,’ Heng took a napkin and wiped his lips. ‘If we go back a little. As you called it—the resource base that you mean. I would assume that the deal won’t work without this component.’

      Robert was holding a glass of apple juice with ice obviously in a completely unnatural way—his two fingers were turned in the direction of Heng. Heng, unable to restrain himself, with his eyes widened, blushed again. Robert smiled.

      ‘Well, Mr. Richardson. I have only to thank you for the meeting. You’ve chosen a great place to talk,’ pointing towards the window, Heng noted, bowing slightly. ‘All the best to you.’

      Tourists were flowing in. New visitors were crowding at the entrance, wishing to enjoy the view of the buildings of the Palace of Westminster with its hundreds years of history at lunch. Next to the table where Robert and Antonio remained sitting, a group of teenagers settled down, vividly discussing something with the outbursts of swearing of all the possible sorts from time to time.

      ‘Why wouldn’t you eat fish? Really very good.’ Robert took a napkin and began carefully wiping his greasy hands.

      ‘Have you had too much, Robert?’ Antonio took wet wipes out of his bag and handed them to his boss.

      ‘Thanks. What do you mean?’

      ‘You know what.’

      ‘An eight-digit number of the resource base or something?’ Robert smiled.

      ‘That’s right.’

      ‘First of all, they need us much more than we need them. We can do without them, as you know well. But they won’t without us. So, we have nothing to lose if friendship is not in place. Then I thought I should take care of you, too. Let’s see what decision our Chinese friends will make.’

      Robert looked across the river at the parliament: ‘Today, bathing in the sun, it shines like never before, reflecting the rays of power and greatness. We will definitely come back to the conversation with this Kim. He will remember this meeting for the rest of his life, and I won’t even recall his name.’ Robert felt excited.

      Cheremkhovo

      Two hours after the tedious flight from London to Irkutsk, and finally Antonio took a transfer to the hotel in the city centre by an air taxi drone. He was alone in the car—nothing prevented him from taking a bird’s-eye view of the Siberian city where he was for the first time.

      ‘What’s the temperature outside, … taxi?’ having decided how to put it, Antonio asked a question.

      ‘It is currently 29 degrees plus in the city center. It’s not going to rain today,’ the digital assistant replied.

      ‘How much longer will it take us to fly to the hotel?’

      ‘The journey to the Siberia hotel will take no more than 12 minutes.’

      ‘OK.’

      The city center with high-rise buildings stood out ahead in a light haze. Skyscrapers tore apart the horizon, piercing the cloudless sky with sharp spikes. Antonio looked down. Apparently, they were flying over the suburbs of Irkutsk. Private houses, wrapped in a green blanket of foliage, were gradually thinning out, giving way to modern multi-storey residential quarters, through which groups of church domes could be seen in the distance. Their golden arches dazzled the eyes, reflecting the sun rays. He has counted at least six churches already.

      ‘And where is Lake Baikal, taxi?’

      ‘Lake Baikal will be on the left side all the way through the flight of the drone. But at this altitude you will not be able to see Lake Baikal. We will soon fly up to the Angara River. I can give you a sightseeing tour of the city center.’

      ‘Not this time. I don’t have time for this.’

      Antonio was pleasantly surprised. He expected to see a provincial town in the middle of nowhere, but there was Brussels or maybe Munich in front of him. Only the Orthodox churches along the way would not let anyone to be misled about the city origin. The well developed infrastructure of the modern centre, surrounded by cosy and green suburbs of one of the largest Siberian cities, fascinated Antonio.

      The taxi flew up to a high-rise building, on which roof he noticed a landing spot marked with circles. The taxi slowly started to descend. As soon as the hum of the electric motors died away, a hotel employee approached the drone.

      ‘Mr. Vidalgo, welcome to the Siberia Hotel.’

      ‘Good afternoon,’ Antonio replied. His headphones with a built-in translator on, he could communicate with others, continuing to speak English and understanding perfectly his interlocutors.

      ‘Did you have a good flight? Can I help you with your luggage?’

      ‘Thank you. Everything is OK. I only have this bag.’

      ‘Of course. Will I take you to your room or would you like to go down to the lobby?’ the hotel employee asked checking.

      ‘Straight to the room, please.’

      ‘Very well, Mr. Vidalgo. Would you follow me, please.’

      While waiting for a guest in his room on the fortieth floor, Antonio ordered coffee to cheer himself up a little. Initially, the meeting was supposed to take place not far from Irkutsk, in Cheremkhovo, which had a rather ambiguous reputation. Earlier, over a hundred years ago, coal was mined there. But today the fate of the town was related to completely different opportunities. Cheremkhovo was considered to be one of the world’s informal hacker centers. It was possible that such a fame was to some extent supported and cultivated by certain government agencies. They said that the Russian security services were related to the activity in Cheremkhovo. It would be naïve to assume that the authorities did not know what was going on under their very noses. Most likely, once a free and informal community of talented programmers got close or was forced to make certain contacts with the state. But it didn’t bother Robert at all. So it shouldn’t bother him either. And yet Antonio preferred to hold a meeting in Irkutsk.

      He came up to the window looking at the city centre, where cargo and passenger electric drones were flying in-between high-rise buildings along several air corridors. Each corridor was dedicated to movement in one direction only. From a distance, it reminded Antonio of ants’ paths where they would diligently carry all day long whichever sticks, bugs and larvae. The Angara River was visible between the buildings, its water surface illuminated with the bright sun, and pleasure boats and yachts gliding. For a moment it seemed to him that there was something familiar about the view—it was as if he were in his favourite bay in Naples. A knock on the room door brought him back to reality.

      The guest, who introduced himself as Alexander, was sitting opposite Antonio in the living room at a round table in front of the window.

      ‘Won’t you mind my closing the blinds—the sun hits right in my eyes,’ Antonio approached the window and began to close the blinds.

      Alexander continued to silently scrutinize his potential client, taking sips from a bottle of coke.