Siberian Treasure

23

Lev’s frail hands shook as he faced Roman.

Only less than twenty-four hours ago, he’d confronted him about Viktor’s arrival. Now, he had been made aware of another incident of which Roman had again neglected to apprise him. He thrust his fingers into his lap to hide the emotion he needed to suppress.

“Is there nothing else you wish to tell me? No other reports? Nothing untoward that occurred during the test phase?” Lev was gratified to see the faint red that mottled his son’s forehead. Indeed, Roman would keep no secrets from him.

“There was one small mishap; an unexpected glitch at one of the test locations.”

“I am fully aware of the papers that were released with our — Gaia’s — mark on them. How did that occur?”

Roman’s throat constricted, quickly and then stopped as if stuck, then constricted again. Lev heard the friction in his son’s dry swallow. “I do not know. Varden first reported it to me; he managed to gather them up before they were noticed. Even pulled them out of the trash and destroyed them.”

Lev felt only a faint surprise that Roman did not ask how he knew of the problem. It was never prudent to rely on someone else for critical information; and much as he loved his son, Lev did not fully trust anyone, including his own flesh and blood. He’d learned the depth of betrayal from the one closest to him.

“And you did not intend to inform me of that occurrence? What right do you have to keep such information from me? It could have jeopardized our cause, Roman. You are not foolish enough to believe I would not want to know. And would not want you to locate and disable those responsible.”

“Varden collected all of the papers. No one gave them any attention; they were too busy pulling people out of the rubble to notice or care about the papers.”

“But if someone should recognize the mark of Gaia, Roman ….if someone should, then we will be in jeopardy. And that is not acceptable.”

“No, it is not. I should have told you, Father, but I hoped to spare you needless worry. Varden has assured me that no one has given any thought to the papers. He has been intimately involved in the rescue operations in order to ascertain what investigations are occurring.”

Lev stared at him for a long moment. “You will not withhold any information from me for any reason again. Regardless of its triviality. Do not forget, I am the one who speaks for Gaia. You and Varden — you do not.”

“Of course, father.”

“And when you have determined which of our people allowed such a thing to happen, you will handle it with the same finality with which you handled Israt Medivir.”

“Of course, father. Only last week, Igor Minofsky was punished when he called into question the direction I gave him. He wanted a greater sign that this was the perfect time. Stegnora believes Hedron may have been involved. His sons Bran and George have been missing from their homes in Madrid.”

Hedron was indeed becoming more belligerent and critical of Roman’s practices, and his leadership decisions. Lev suspected he would risk upheaval in the clan in order to remove Roman from his ruling position, despite the spiritual power still retained by Lev himself. Indeed, Hedron had proven his ability to commune with the spiritual world in a way that eluded Roman.

But Hedron was not of the Aleksandrov or Romanovna lines. Thus he could not be accepted as a leader.

“It is more than possible. I presume you will locate the two young men? Fridkov?”

“Of course, father. He arrived Stateside and has been reassigned to conduct his own investigation on the whereabouts of Hedron’s sons. And appropriate steps will be taken.”

“I would expect nothing less, Roman. Do not disappoint me again.”