Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Despite the fact that they had insisted on going to Igor's apartment by their own means, the cousin had finally come looking for them at their hotel. He secretly feared that any delay would cause his relatives to delay the event at his home and that the remaining distinguished guests would be waiting for them. The result was that they arrived early, the children of Frederika and Igor had not yet left their home and the mother was still grooming.

"Do you know how the duke and the other guests coming are?" Igor asked his wife.

"Demidov will bring them, but there is still half an hour to go."

While the homeowners were busy in the vicinity of the meeting, Irina and Thiago were chatting in the living room.

“What can you tell me about the important role that according to your cousin's words you are going to play today?”

“I do not know exactly, because that will depend on the activities that the duke and the steering committee want to carry out. However I suppose it will have to do with relationships that I have in New York.”

“Relationships within the Russian community?”

“Not only those, I ...”

At that moment Igor hurried into the room and said.

“At last the guests arrive.”

Thiago leaned out the wide window and saw that a large dark car had parked in front of the door of the building and three men were getting out of it. Simultaneously two other cars parked immediately ahead and behind, and several robust men also descended looking in all directions.

"Bodyguards." Thiago reflected, addressing his wife who was standing next to him.

"These leaders always have their security people." The woman replied.

“Why? What do they fear? Is it because of the treasure train?”

“Not only for that. They are in diverse political functions and there are enemies.”

After a while Igor entered the room accompanying the Duke Golovkin, the General Naryshkin and Boris Demidov.

"You already know my cousins," He said exultantly. “Please, sit down.”

After serving a round of coffee Frederika joined the meeting demonstrating her importance in the group. The duke directly opened the dialogue.

“Igor, I thank you for once again making your house available for our meetings.”

Then, addressing Irina and Thiago he said.

“This small ad-hoc committee directs the day-to-day activities of our large community, not only in Austria but throughout Europe, including Russia. Luckily, all of us here have also been to the exposition of the subject carried out in my house, so that many previous explanations are not required and I can enter the subject directly. I give the floor to General Naryshkin.”

The aforementioned entered directly into the agenda of the day.

“The purpose of our activities is to find the whereabouts of the part of Tsar Nicholas II treasure of which there is still no record, which according to the best estimates reaches about one hundred tons of gold.”

Thiago let out a barely audible whistle.

“The problem is that we are not alone in the search.” Added the military. “For a century there have been all kinds of adventurers pursuing false leads and paying high costs for doing so, but now we have information about structured groups that have joined the search.”

"Can we know who they are?" Igor ventured to ask.

“As far as we know, there are private groups behind which is the hand of the current government of the Russian Federation, which does not want to appear in an ostensible way. There are also at least two other groups financed by the so-called oligarchs, that is, former leaders of the Communist Party and the Army who, after the fall of the Soviet Union, used their positions to illegally appropriate the companies and assets of the former USSR, obtaining untold fortunes after mafia struggles.”

“Incredible bid between government bureaucrats, oligarchs and aristocrats competing for the remains of the Tsar's treasure.” Unexpectedly said Thiago that until then he had not opened his mouth, according to a kind of implicit pact with his wife. Indeed Irina glared at him with an incendiary look. However Naryshkov replied.

“ Well said, young Ferrari-Fiodorov. Only unfortunately it is an extremely uneven bid because of the resources that the other contenders can put into play, in financial, human and technological matters.”

"Where does that leave us?" This time it was Igor who asked.

“At a point where we must compensate with imagination and creativity for this plane that is strongly inclined against us. The general gestured to Duke Golovkin indicating that he was returning his word; there was no doubt that the division of roles between them was perfect and previously agreed.

"This is where you come into play." The allusion was basically directed at Irina.

“We understand that you have contact with a kind of inorganic group that has already successfully intervened in the recovery of the treasure of the ancient kings of Mongolia in the Gobi desert, brought there around 1920 by the Russian Baron Ungern von Sternberg who was actually an ally of Kolchak and Wrangel fighting in the far east of Asia.”*

(* Cf “La Estrella de Agartha” by this same author)

Irina shifted nervously in her chair and said.

“I suppose you are referring to the Bluthund Community.”

"I think that was the name indeed." the general confirmed.

"What can you tell us about them, my dear Lady Fiodorovna?" Added Duke Golovkin.

The woman stirred again and looked into the void, as if searching for a suitable answer. Then she started to speak. “Bluthund is an informal community, without statutes or protocols but with a body of government established with headquarters in New York and London but with ramifications throughout the planet. It was recruited on social networks but later acquired a hermetic and even secret status. It includes researchers from the most diverse disciplines, who often do not know each other personally but collaborate by these means in solving cases and problems that are difficult to handle. They have no financial support or dependency from governments,

Corporations or other types of organizations, which gives them great independence and flexibility. Many of its members have certain ... peculiarities.”

"What do you mean, dear lady?" Golovkin was doubtless caught in the narrative.

“To their research methods.”

"Please, my dear, be more explicit." Igor urged.

The interest and suspense that his wife's words had created was obvious for Thiago. She continued.

“Well. The methods used by Bluthund members in their research come from both the positive sciences and ... "alternative branches of knowledge."”

“ "Alternatives" What exactly do you mean?”

This time the question came from Frederika, who until then had remained silent.

“Knowledge not based on the positive sciences but on traditional knowledge, in arcana of different cultures.”

"Arcana?" Frederika insisted.

“Yes, hidden, mysterious things, secrets that come from the depths of time and have been exhumed by modern researchers.”

“Sounds like esotericism. Am I wrong?” Thiago asked.

“Yes, but these knowledge are not attributed a sacred value but a practical one. They are used to the extent that they can help solve problems.”

“What kind of problems? “Frederika’s tone had become inquisitorial, due to the interest that the subject aroused in her.

“Bizarre, inexplicable, intriguing themes, often from the past but with current repercussions. Political, cultural or police issues, or a mixture of all of them.”

"Exactly like the treasure of the tsars." The conclusion came from Igor.

“The research topics are proposed by Bluthund members from any part of the world, and if they are approved by the Committee, the members launch into the search, without time frames.”

A moment of silence prevailed. Sighing deeply Golovkin finally expressed.

“As Igor rightly says, the nature of the subject at hand seems to fall into the sphere that this group usually deals with. Do you think they may be interested in coming to our aid?”

“Nothing is lost by consulting them.” Irina's response was an anticlimax to the expectation created by her previous narration.

"Could you consult them?" Igor asked.

“I will do it.”

“Who is your contact?” Thiago asked.

“No one you know…yet. She is an FBI agent born in India. She and her husband are members of the community. They will have to expose the case to the Bluthund government board in New York City.”

“If you give an affirmative answer, the members of this ad-hoc committee will go to that city to present our case.” Golovkin said.

"What is the name of your Indian friend?" Thiago insisted.

“Lakshmi, Lakshmi Dhawan.”