Chapter 6

Chapter 6

New York City

With the usual agility Jack Berglund stood up and stood in front of the auditorium. He looked self-confident.

“Thanks Dieter.”

He looked at the audience and began his presentation.

“Dr. Von Eichenberg has already referred to aspects of our research that will require field research in the area. Dieter is indeed heir to a whole tradition of explorers and anthropologists who have carried out activities precisely in Mongolia, Tibet, Siberia and China since the end of the 1930s. I am a student of techniques related to documentation and my short exposition will have to do with these themes. I'm not going to use a slide show because we still don't have material to show.”

“We have received reliable news that an encrypted document that had been captured by the Bolsheviks to a close Kolchak aide, and that had been deposited for decades in a Moscow archive, has been quietly analyzed by the Russian authorities, in the belief that it contains encrypted the exact location of the remnant of Nicholas II's treasure.”

A murmur ran through the screening room.

“As you can imagine, this document has been studied by the best Russian cryptologists without success, until chance made it fall into the hands of a young mathematics student from the city of Tomsk, who would have finally broken said code, which would have allowed their mentors from the Russian state access the long-awaited treasure. This young man apart from his studies filled his time as a hacker, sometimes hired by Russian state agencies and other times against them. However, and to deepen the mystery and intrigue surrounding this case, the young man disappeared without a trace without revealing his secret before.”

This time the murmur was accompanied by some agitation from the audience in the room.

“It is also easy to foresee the fury of the Russian leaders when they see once again the long-awaited shipment of gold escapes from their hands. Certain unconfirmed versions affirm that the suspicions of the Russians refer to certain mafias of precisely Russian origin which would be associated with the oligarchies that have robbed most of the heritage of the former Soviet Union to their fall, and although they are believed to have been disbanded by the central government after Vladimir Putin's rise to power still exist. We believe that the purges and investigations must be intense these days throughout the Russian territory, which will make our own search more complicated and dangerous.”

Jack paused for a moment and cleared.

“You can ask me questions at any time and on any topic.”

Madame Swarowska held up a hand.

“Nadia. Do you have a question?”

“Yes. Given how hectic the hornet's nest will be in Russia, is this the right time to send an expedition into the field?”

The answer was left to Dr. Richardson.

“Good question. What happens is that if we don't go now it may be too late. It is a matter of opportunity.”

Berglund continued with his exposition.

“We know that the location of the treasure according to this theory would be in a wide area around the city of Irkutsk. And what follows is highly confidential so I beg your silence outside these walls.”

"Don't tell me we have the young mathematician from Tomsk," von Eichenberg joked.

“No. But we have contacted another mathematician, this time from the city of Krasnodar, who for certain preliminary results could develop an algorithm that solves the incognita.”

"Today everything important in this society depends on some algorithm." grumbled the old Duke Golovkin.

"And who is this new genius?" General Naryshkin asked.

“For obvious reasons we will keep in reserve his name at this point.” Berglund replied. “I can only tell you he works in a company dedicated to Big Data and Artificial Intelligence.”

"Puff." Duke Golovkin couldn't contain his annoyance.

"Is he also a free-lance hacker?" Asked Madame Swarowska.

“ No, that we know but ... we cannot assure anything.”

Jerome Watkins stood up and said out loud.

“Are there any more questions?”

The answer was silence, so the Master of Ceremonies continued.

“In that case we will do a brief interval in which we will again serve coffee in the next room.”

While most of those present stretched out their legs and chatted freely, Irina perceived that Duke Golovkin, General Naryshkin and Dr. Richardson were secluded in a small office closed by a screen.

Concluded the break the assistants resumed their seats and Watkins went ahead saying.

“ Dr. Richardson is going to make a formal announcement.”

In effect the Englishman stood up and taking a marker in his hands and approaching a flipchart that was in a corner near the projection screen began to say as he was writing.

“We have decided to continue with this project, which we have named Project Diadem, in honor of one of the missing jewels of Tsarina Aleksandra Romanov. Its day-to-day monitoring will be carried out by a Steering Committee divided geographically into three parts. A first group to act in the field will be led by our Bluthund Community member Jack Berglund, with extensive field experience in numerous similar activities. This group will also be made up of Dr. Dieter von Eichenberg and Professor Taro Suzuki, who have also participated in dangerous missions in the past. On the part of the Community of Russian Nobility the members will be Madame Irina Fiodorovna, Mr. Igor Fiodorov and Baron Boris Demidov.”

Duke Golovkin interrupted after excusing himself saying.

“Boris Demidov is a retired captain of the Austrian army, he has extensive military experience.”

“Thank you Duke.” Richardson continued.” These six members of the mission will be supported by two groups that will seek to solve all the problems that arise, from the points of view of security, logistics, communications and international relations. A group based in Vienna will be made up of Duke Golovkin and General Naryshkin and a second group based in New York will be made up of Jerome Watkins and two people who, due to their activities, must remain in this city, Lakshmi Dhawan, who as we know works in the FBI, and Thiago Ferrari Fiodorov, husband of Madame Irina who is employed by an international firm in New York.”

Naryshkin jumped out of his seat and ran to shake hands with each of the named exclaiming.

“How I wish I was among you! Were it not for my age and my arthritis!”

Made the announcement and after a short interval of greetings and congratulations Jack Berglund tapped the glass with a spoon to request silence and added.

“Even though we are going to face two presumed locations, which are the ones presented respectively by Dieter von Eichenberg and myself, in order not to divide our scarce forces, we will do it successively and not simultaneously. I mean, all six members of the expedition will go together to explore the surroundings of Lake Baikal near the border with Mongolia, and if we do not obtain positive results there we will meet with the mathematician from Krasnodar, either in that city or elsewhere. In that case we will also ask for the help of an old contact that we have in those latitudes.”

"Who is it about?" Demidov asked.

“His name is Aman Bodniev.”

"And what is his field of expertise?" Igor insisted, usually curious.

“Aman Bodniev is a Siberian shaman.” Berglund replied. At a certain gesture of disdain on the face of one of those present, he added.

“His participation was decisive in the discovery of the Mongolian treasure.”*

(* Cf The Star of Agartha)

That night, as was her custom, Irina pushed her husband to make him fall on his back in the wide box spring, and while he hurriedly took off the street dress with which he had attended the meeting at the headquarters of the Bluthund Community, she said in a fierce tone .

"Now do something I will remember the whole time we are apart."