CHAPTER 66
— I KNOW YOU HAD NO idea about my past when we met, Paul and I were married and very happy before I met you, a dream that anyone wants to live, but then he, who always wanted to do something for humanity, started to get involved with some influential hackers and bankers around the world.
— The Cicada?
— It wasn't Cicada yet, it was a group of friends who exchanged stickers about computer systems and breaking bank codes. With that, Paul made a lot of money working for banking institutions, making the virtual security system and was even called to work at MI6, obviously he denied it, there was no logic in not earning millions of dollars to earn some change as a salary.
— That's when the scandals and arrests came.
She nodded.
— As you know, Paul was wrongly accused of rape so that they would force him to work for them developing security systems, as a way of compensating for not being arrested, but when he entered MI6, he discovered a lot of rotten stuff, including the plot against him, and it's not like Paul to work for people like that, especially for those who played dirty just to recruit him, and he ended up becoming a spy who served several lords, but was not loyal to any of them, after all, who knows Paul would never say he would rape someone.
— He's no saint either.
— This is a matter of point of view, I don't believe that loving someone is tied exclusively to their sex life, with a single person, Paul has always been open about it and I never cared, I also believe in the theory of free love before you ask me.
— It's very strange to know this other side of you.
— We only show people that we love our best side, so that when we have to show the worst, she puts it on the scale and decides to keep the good part indifferent to the bad, or keep the part that interests her the most, whichever people call it love, it's just an exchange of interests.
— Sounds noble.
She acquiesced.
— It seems, but it isn't... if there was a counterpoint, I'm sure Paul would find out, we live in a world of darkness, you just have to choose which darkness suits you best...
— No one is obliged to agree, Yuliya.
— But nobody can deny that this is a fait accompli, Igor. It was then that it was my turn to meet the darkness.
— When your son died.
She nodded.
— It was the worst pain anyone could ever feel in life, I could be ready for any ordeal except losing my son, no one in the world should feel that pain, he disappeared and we couldn't even give him a decent burial, that's when...
She stared intently at him, hoping for some twist in the story.
— We found out our son was alive, his death was reported as drowning at sea and his body was never found, we recently found out that MI6 had faked his death, kidnapped him and held him in custody while Paul was in prison, trying to blackmail him into turning himself in and going back to work for MI6.
'And how did they find this out?'
— Paul has many powerful enemies, but he also has several influential friends who owe him their lives, including within MI6, so they leaked a clue to him.
— Then you joined Cicada...
She acquiesced.
— There's something else you don't know about MI6 that I think you should know.
— What would it be?
— They were the ones who killed your parents and…
Igor was waiting for the answer.
— They tried to kill you too, miraculously you didn't die in that 'accident'.
— But why would they do such a thing?
— To corner me into helping them get Paul, though, he got political asylum, so there wasn't much he could do to help them right now.
Igor couldn't believe it, the lives of his parents, people of the most integrity that England has ever had the honor of having, were cut short by a simple political game, and his own life was almost gone for nothing.
— You mean that all this time, my stay at MI6...
— Exactly, they were keeping you under surveillance so that I would be lured to pick up Paul, so I couldn't return to you on your graduation day to try to protect you, I hope one day you can forgive me.
— There's nothing I have to forgive you for, you acted under pressure.
She nodded.
— We have common interests.
— Common enemies...
— Also... we know that our enemy is very powerful and we can only work with counterintelligence, destroying him little by little.
— But you could go to a TV station and…
— No… they would kill my son, we have to rescue him without the media knowing.
— So this was all just a cover for...
— No... they really want to light up the world, they are the worst race there is to deal with, we have a common interest, they promised me that if I helped carry out the nine nights, they would get my son back, they have an ace up the sleeve.
— And what would it be?
— Unfortunately I can't tell you, but I can only ask you to trust me.
— But you are taking innocent lives.
— Not innocent lives.
— What do you mean, Abbot Nielsen…
— Abbot Joel Nielsen was a monster, he was involved in the most diverse sexual crimes, all of which were muffled by the Anglican Church. MI6 and the Monarchy, due to the involvement of one of the heirs to the throne, ceded his home to Peter Ball and Joel Nielsen throughout the process.
— I remember Ball, he was one of the most despicable human beings there is.
Yuliya agreed and Zumerick continued:
— If there was really this Nielsen involvement with Ball, the church would have taken him out right away.
— I love your innocence, Igor, but a person who reaches the post of Abbot of Westminster, doesn't arrive because he is too kind, he had contacts, knew people, collected some debts, had people in his hand, it's pure political game and when it all came to light, the Bishop of Canterbury dismissed him with a promise that he would soon reinstate him, and he did.
— I knew the abbot and…
— Did you know me too or did you think you knew me?
— I...
Yuliya held Igor's hand.
— Believe me, I would never take the life of an innocent person, Igor, ever. I am a teacher because I love to see people come out of the darkness and into the light of knowledge.
— And Major Midleton?
— History shows her as a hero because she won every battle on behalf of the United Kingdom, it's a beautiful thing to show herself, to take her in the presence of the Queen who is the ultimate leader of the UK Armed Forces and shower her with medals, but I ask you: at what price? How many lives were taken on each medal she wore on her chest? How many people, men, women and even children did the major torture in the war to get what she wanted so badly?
Igor nodded.
— Ben Morant was the exception, he wasn't supposed to die.
So she doesn't know...
— So you really wanted to kill Erick Hughes?
She agreed.
— Erick Hughes and his partners, as handsome and elegant as he is, is involved in trafficking women who are sold as sex slaves, his parties are nothing more than a way to recruit beautiful women, who believe they will be international models, but when they fall into reality, they are living their own hell on Earth, somewhere in the Third World.
'I didn't know that.
— Not you, but MI6 knew and is putting on makeup because of the Prime Minister's involvement.
— But...
— Understand, Igor, for them, a scandal of this proportion could put the country in ruins, the system as a whole is corrupt, it involves the Monarchy, the Church, the Government and MI6 itself, it would only be possible to win a battle like this with an invisible army.
— In that case, you...
— Cicada has contact with the main banks in the world, selling encryption technology and data security, and this also involves the most diverse militias around the world.
— It's a dirty system facing another dirty system.
— You are in a war, there is no way to face a rifle with a bouquet of roses, as beautiful as that seems to be, what we can do is minimize the risks, the minimum involvement of innocents and maximize the effects.
Igor felt like the worst person in the world for working in two institutions that hush up cases for the sake of their own name, their souls eating garbage while selling the luxury image.
— Do you understand now, Igor? As much as I want my son back, I also know that what they are doing is somehow the right thing to do.
— The world we live in is so rotten.
Yuliya took his hand again.
— But you're not, darling, and you can plant a seed of hope in this world.