The Emperor Awakes

by Alexis Konnaris

  ‘I agree. But it will be a new life for that … thing over there in the whole sense of that word. I wouldn’t risk leaving him here once I return time in this house to normal.’ Michael paused as if in deep thought. ‘I think he will enjoy a holiday in isolation on his nemesis that is the Holy Mountain. I’m sure the monks there will entertain him by making good use of him. But first we need to erase his memory.’

  Giorgos took out his mobile phone and send a message to Vasilis Symitzis. While he waited for him to arrive he busied himself studying the intruder and Maria, but he made no attempt to disturb the scene of utter devastation. He wanted Vasilis, and Maria for that matter, to see it. It had to be seen to be believed.

  Less than fifteen minutes had passed when Giorgos heard the screeching of brakes as a car pulled up outside and came to a sudden stop. It was surely too soon for Vasilis to have had the time to get there unless he was only somewhere down the road.

  Giorgos feared the worse. Perhaps their frozen friend had called for reinforcements or his friends had been watching. But he visibly relaxed when he saw Vasilis Symitzis, very smartly dressed, walking through the wreckage of the front door.

  ‘Hi, Giorgos. I see you’ve been having fun without me.’

  ‘Thanks for coming. I wasn’t sure you got my message.’

  ‘I would always respond to a call for help from you, especially in these dangerous times.’

  ‘Sorry for interrupting whatever you were into, but I thought you would have liked to see our guest.’

  Vasilis turned to Giorgos. ‘Indeed, I would. And don’t worry. What you dragged me from wasn’t something I couldn’t miss. Besides, I’ve got the car waiting outside to take me back when we are finished here.’

  It only took Vasilis a moment to take in the scene and to recognise the frozen intruder as one of his arch-enemies. He then looked at Michael’s ghost and nodded in acknowledgement.

  ‘It’s good to see you old friend. So … Giorgos here can see you too. He’s managed to dredge you out of whatever hole you were messing up in.’ Vasilis’ eyes briefly rested on the visible parts of the small bust nestled innocently in Giorgos’ hand, his fingers wrapped around most of it as if he didn’t want to let go, as if it was a live bird or insect that was going to fly away, if he didn’t keep it firmly and securely covered. Vasilis went closer to inspect the intruder. He shook his head amused.

  ‘Guest, indeed. In need of a generous dollop of Cypriot hospitality, no doubt?’

  Michael chipped in. ‘Vasilis, I thought our friend here could do with a “monkish” holiday. The clean air, healthy diet and peace of Mount Athos will do him good. Would you mind flying him over there in supreme comfort, courtesy of “Vasilis Airways”, and arrange for him to have luxury accommodation in the bosom of a famous Holy Mountain prison cell. None other than “Vasilis Airways” can do the transportation better.’

  ‘It will be my pleasure.’ He took out his mobile and made a brief call. He then turned his attention to the present company. ‘I think we are all done here. I need to get back to my board meeting. I’m standing in for my mother.’

  ‘Is she alright?’ Giorgos was a bit concerned.

  ‘She’s absolutely fine. But she had to attend a charity event. I have to thank you for the welcome diversion. I needed an excuse to get out of there. I said a friend was rushed to hospital and I had to make an urgent telephone call to find out what had happened. Then I said that I had to go to the hospital to sort out things. I told them I wouldn’t be long and decided instead of adjourning the meeting, as it was important, to continue it after a brief recess. It’s not easy to gather all these busy board members together at a convenient time for all. So I told them to wait there.

  ‘You gave me a welcome respite from Lazaros, a board member who was becoming very tedious with his usual objections to my plans and his long-winded explanations. It’s as if he’s giving a diatribe every time. I think he believes that he’s the only sane and intelligent person surrounded by cretins. I think the time has, perhaps, come to get rid of him. I have been thinking about it for a while and I think this is the time to act decisively.’

  Vasilis paused. ‘I’m sorry. I am rambling. We have to sort out the small matter of our friend here.’ Vasilis indicated the frozen intruder. ‘And we have to act quickly in case his friends come looking for him.’ He turned to Giorgos. ‘I still have time to make the rest of the meeting and later, assuming I have time, I have to attend the same event my mother is attending. It’s an awards ceremony for services to charity. Giorgos, are you sure you don’t want to come with me? I’ve got an extra ticket.’

  ‘With respect, Mr Symitzis, but I think I’ll pass.’

  ‘By the way, Giorgos, you look as if you’ve been dragged backwards through a hedge.’

  ‘I’ve been inside the tunnel.’

  ‘Ah, that would explain it. And what have you found there?’

  ‘I think you should see for yourself.’

  Giorgos led him to the sarcophagus of the Sultan.

  ‘Does my mother know about this?’

  ‘No, we’ve just found it.’ Giorgos was about to tell him about the scroll, but at that moment Vasilis’ men came and in the distraction it slipped through his mind. The scroll stayed in his jacket pocket. The men restrained and gagged the intruder.

  Then Michael reinstated the scene by returning time to normal and disappeared. The intruder struggled in vain to get free of his restraints. Maria was a bit disorientated, but recovered soon enough. She enjoyed her handiwork on the intruder and, looking around, assessed the aftermath and both hers and the intruder’s handiwork on her house.

  But she felt as if she had missed something that her memory refused to surrender. She started to fire a million questions a minute. Giorgos raised his hand to shush her. ‘Later, Maria, later.’ The men were gone and so was Vasilis.

  ‘Maria, I have to go to the hospital to see Katia. And I think you should come with me. Not just for company, but I think you need to have those checked by a doctor.’ He indicated the scratches and bruises on her face, arms and legs when he said that.

  ‘No, don’t worry about that. It’s nothing. It will heal in no time. I’ve been through worse. I don’t need a doctor. But I’ll come with you for the company.’

  ‘Maria, you are a good friend. I’m really sorry for getting you into this. I’ll pay for a new door and the damage done to your house.’

  ‘Don’t be stupid. First of all, you would have done the same for me. Second, don’t be sorry for anything. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I haven’t had so much fun in months. Third, I will accept your offer to pay for the damage. You are considerably more well off than I am.’

  ‘Great. I’m really glad you said that, because I was half-expecting you to decline my offer to pay and I wouldn’t have that. You wouldn’t be able to wriggle out of that one.’

  Giorgos didn’t tell Maria that he also had to find a safe place to hide the scroll until he had contacted Elli about showing it to her. Perhaps it would be safer at his parents’ house.

  CHAPTER 48

  Limassol, Cyprus

  Present day

  It was early afternoon when, having had an uneventful flight from Crete and having landed back in Cyprus only an hour earlier, Katerina rang the bell of Giorgos’ house. She had asked Vasilis to meet her there. She waited, but there was no reply.

  Aristo was still missing. Katerina didn’t know what had happened back at the house in Crete after she had left for the military hospital with the injured Iakovos in the chopper. She tried to call Aristo’s mobile, but it seemed to have been switched off.

  She considered asking for someone at the military base to take her to the house, but then thought better of it. Her first duty was to Iakovos. It wasn’t safe for him to be left on his own, unguarded, considering what had happened at the house. And she wouldn’t dare to leave Iakovos’ bedside until he came out of unconsciousness and could walk by himself.

  She t
hought about telling them at the military base about what had happened and asking them to send someone to check out the house. But she did not want to do that. She called Elli and told her what happened. She told Elli that she could not get in touch with Aristo and had not heard from him.

  ‘I will deal with it. It is sharp thinking of you to stay there with Iakovos. Keep him safe. Make sure he’s well looked after. I’ll send people over. I will speak to you soon.’

  The people that Elli sent out to the house in Crete reported back that they had found lots of blood just inside the front door, but no body. Elli feared the worst. Then Katerina remembered about Iakovos’ father and tried in vain to locate him. All their enquiries, even with Elli’s resources at her disposal, drew a blank.

  She arranged for blood analysis. The blood was not Aristo’s. They were relieved, but not happy. The result was still horrible. The blood matched that of Iakovos’ father.

  Katerina rang the bell again and then knocked on the door. Still there was no reply. She looked at Vasilis, concern clouding her face. Under normal circumstances she would not have been worried about Giorgos. He lived a very active and unpredictable life, jumping in and out of Cyprus to visit the locations of his projects.

  But these were not normal circumstances. They were dealing with dangerous people, with objects and matters that people were prepare to kill for. She did not want to worry her parents, but, seeing no other way, she called her mother, Anna.

  Anna confirmed that she had not seen or heard from Giorgos for a few days, but had not found anything odd with that as he had told them he was going on a short holiday. A holiday? In the midst of all this excitement? He wouldn’t even remotely have contemplated it.

  Her brother had lied to their mother to conceal the real reason of his absence. Katerina knew for one thing that what they were all working on was dangerous and she understood Giorgos’ reasons for not wanting to worry their mother. She had not told their mother anything either.

  Katerina wondered why Giorgos had not told her about what he was actually working on or where he was planning to go. But then she had been away so he had no chance. Although there were no missed calls from Giorgos on her mobile or even a text, perhaps he did try to contact her or left a sign, a clue for her.

  It was unlikely he would have called her office. She had to find out as much as she could from her mother, knowing as she was doing it that it would not yield anything useful. ‘Mother, where exactly did he say he was going?’

  ‘He said something about wanting to check an archaeological dig in Cappadocia.’

  Now that was really odd. He had nothing to do there. She knew the excavation had ended and the archaeological team had disbanded, packed up and returned home.

  Katerina’s senses were immediately alerted to danger. She looked at Vasilis and shook her head. He understood she was telling him that it didn’t look good.

  She was astute enough to realise that she should get off the phone before her mother started asking her uncomfortable questions for which she had no answer. That would really panic her mother. She quickly wrapped up the conversation and hung up.

  ‘Vasilis, we need to get inside.’

  Katerina pushed the door, but it was locked. They walked round the back of the house and saw broken glass scattered on the ground. It was then that they saw the shattered back door. They walked cautiously towards it. They could hear nothing.

  The place appeared deserted. Inside they encountered havoc. Their first thought was that it was a burglary. But then they saw the blood on the walls and the floor, and everywhere there were signs of struggle.

  The whole place looked as if a hurricane had passed through. This was definitely not the place of someone who had willingly gone on holiday. There could be no doubt about it. He had been forcibly taken.

  They searched all the rooms. Giorgos’ laptop seemed to be missing together with the hard drive of his personal computer with the cables just hanging there, as if they were arteries of life support severed from the head and body of their subject. Vasilis turned to Katerina.

  ‘It seems that he’s gone, and not willingly by the looks of it.’

  They searched the house again, very carefully this time, but found no clues.

  ‘I have an idea.’ Katerina took out her mobile and dialled a number. The phone was answered on the second ring.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Hi, dad.’

  ‘Hi, darling. Your mother told me you were back. How are you?’

  ‘I’m fine, dad.’ Katerina did not have the time for niceties. ‘Dad, have you received anything in the post from Giorgos, a letter or a package, perhaps?’

  ‘No, why?’

  ‘He was supposed to have sent something for mum before he left, a gift for her birthday from the both us. I was just wondering whether you’ve received it.’

  ‘No, honey, nothing. Why wouldn’t he have left it here himself?’

  ‘Well, it wouldn’t be the same, would it? Dad, I have to go. Thanks.’ She was about to hang up when she caught her dad saying something and brought the phone back to her ear.

  Andros sensed a hint of edginess in his daughter’s voice. ‘Katerina, is there something troubling you?’

  Katerina knew she couldn’t fool her father, so she couldn’t completely deny it. ‘It’s nothing I can’t handle.’

  His daughter was her own woman and brilliant at her work. He didn’t want to pry further. That would have been as good as insulting her to her face and belittling her abilities and her strength. ‘You will let me know if I can be of any help, won’t you?’

  ‘I will, dad. Thanks.’

  ‘You are having dinner with us tonight, aren’t you? We’d love to see you.’

  ‘I’d love to see you too. The offer is accepted. However nice food was in Crete it could never compete with home. I couldn’t go another day without mum’s cooking. I need my fix. It’s a date.’

  ‘See you tonight then.’

  ‘See you tonight. Bye, dad.’

  ‘Bye, love.’

  CHAPTER 49

  Limassol, Cyprus

  Present day

  Twenty minutes later Katerina walked into her office. Vasilis was with her. Dora, her loyal personal assistant, stood up when she saw her, her face wreathed in smiles and bathed in bright light.

  Katerina’s troubles always shrank when she got a dose of “Dora-induced” warmth, perspective and a reality check. She was back to being a member of the workaholic routine-chasing human race.

  ‘Welcome back.’

  ‘It’s good to be back. They couldn’t keep me away long.’

  ‘They …?’

  ‘The Cretan men of course.’

  ‘Have you managed to smuggle in any, and maybe one for me?’

  ‘Oh, Dora. You don’t need my help to find someone and you don’t need to use subversive means by abducting them either. But no, I didn’t manage to smuggle in any and not because I didn’t try. But unfortunately the package was confiscated at Customs. Which is the same with the sun I see. Crete was in the throes of a heat wave. It’s nice to have a bit of cloud for a change. Even if it’s only a day’s respite, I wouldn’t say no to it.’

  ‘I couldn’t agree more. Pity about the good weather, though. But more’s the pity about the men.’

  Dora launched into her usual efficient updates and was picking up stuff from her desk ready to follow Katerina into her office. While Dora was talking Katerina studied her personal assistant.

  She was a rare individual and, dare I say, indispensable assistant, the model of efficiency. Katerina loved Dora’s trademark no-nonsense approach. She was warm, but she did not suffer fools gladly. A woman after my own heart, she thought. Unless she was a very good actress, which after all this time working for her, Katerina knew couldn’t be true.

  She knew Dora truly adored her and worshipped the ground she treaded on. After ten years of working for her, Dora was like a member of the family. Dora couldn’t help being ver
y protective of her boss and very often acting more like another mother to her than a personal assistant.

  Katerina knew that Dora would only leave her job there if she could no longer do it to her usual exceedingly high standards.

  Dora was talking when she suddenly stopped, her mouth going dry, the rest of what she was about to say staying on her lips and flying from her mind. Vasilis had at that moment come through the door.

  Now, Vasilis, though younger than Aristo by three years, had an uncanny resemblance to him. They were not identical, but their colouring, body shape and height were the same.

  But it was their similar mannerisms and gestures and voice that sometimes made people do a double-take, as if seeing a ghost, wondering how a person could be at two places at the same time. That was of course the initial brief reaction, which did not last. They did have their own distinctive individuality after all.

  Dora was aware that Aristo was missing in Crete. It was as if she had seen a ghost and she went as white as chalk to match a ghost’s bright colouring and shiny complexion. Katerina realised what had happened.

  ‘How …?’ Dora started to say, but even though her mouth was willing to form the words, her brain was not, as the rest of the sentence flew from her mind.

  Katerina saw that Dora was about to faint and was immediately at her side grabbing her arm and pushing her gently down to her chair.

  ‘Dora, this is Vasilis, Aristo’s brother. Please, sit down. It’s alright. Take your time.’

  Dora obeyed. Katerina brought her a glass of water and waited. Dora gulped the water down and then sat there staring at Katerina and Vasilis as if frozen. It took her a good few minutes to recover.

  When Katerina and Vasilis saw the colour returning to her face and were confident that the shock had passed, Katerina walked into her office with Vasilis in tow.

  As if on cue, Dora came in behind them with coffee and Katerina’s mail. It was as if nothing had happened.