Chapter 76: The Battle

Jenny was looking at me when I woke up. She kissed me and told me to get up since breakfast, picking up our friends, and the jet to Elk were all waiting. She went first and when she was at the bathroom door, I whistled. She smiled and turned back.

“James, it’s fun waiting for your whistle. It shows me that you have not forgotten our ways.”

“Jenny, I’ll never forget what we have started and this little move will always remind you - and Maureen - that we love each other.”

She nodded, turned back, and offered her breasts to me to say good morning, but then walked away.

“My love, I’ll shower on my own. If you join me, we’ll spend time on wonderful and exciting things, but we don’t have that time today.”

I bowed to her rational thinking but did not like it. However, such is life and you cannot get everything you want. We had our showers, ate our breakfasts, picked up our friends, and off we went for battle.

The plane was waiting at the airport, and Mr. Smiley was already sitting in the lobby for business jets. We said hello and boarded. I was tense and staring out of the window, reminiscing about our trip and our past, and what was now waiting for us. Jenny looked at me and was started to smile.

“My love, you cannot hide your emotions; I had you the last days but now Maureen will be here, and I’ll step back - but not forever. You belong to me, too!”

She was right as my thoughts had been around Maureen, who I would finally see after so many days. The flight was short and when we landed in Elk, I saw police cars waiting for us. I looked at Pavel, but he calmed me.

“These are friends, James. Some government agents were waiting for us, wanting to arrest us, but my friends made them disappear.”

He grinned. “But there is another person who is eager to see you.’

He got out first, looked around, and let me go down the stairs. A limousine in front of the plane was waiting for us and went I came close, the door opened, and a beautiful vision stepped out. Maureen!

As always after a moment apart, my heart stopped when I saw her. She was the center of my soul and to see her, made me forget everything else. I only saw her beautiful face, her radiant smile, and principally her sparkling eyes, full of love and laughter.

“You didn’t believe that I would arrive before you, did you? But it’s my duty as your loving wife to receive you when you arrive, my husband.”

Somehow we were suddenly close, my arms closing around her, her arms around my neck, and all I saw were her green eyes, wide open showing her love, her lips ready to kiss, and her body melting into mine. Reality vanished for a while.

After a while, there was a discreet cough behind us, and Jenny touched us.

“Maureen, James, there are other people here also waiting for you.”

Reluctantly we stepped apart and I looked at her. She was dressed in a Polish formal dress in a classic design. It was mainly white with blue and grey flowery embroidering flowing from her shoulders to the hem, which was just below her knees, with a silver belt to display her beautiful tight but also deliciously rounded body. Great God, she was so beautiful!

“My love, now I’m complete again. We’re back together and the world is right.”

We had a frugal lunch, showed Maureen the presentation (she agreed with going forward), and at night, I had a wonderful reunion with my wonderful wife.

After breakfast the next morning, we were waiting to receive our friends.

Maureen had changed to a classic Chanel white and beige tailleur accompanied by a fitting narrow skirt; Jenny was the iconic businesswoman in a dark blue jacket and also a narrow skirt, with a white silk blouse. Their skirts reached their knees, both had elegant sandals with high heels, and they held purses that would probably keep my Porsche in gasoline for years. They were beautiful, and they knew it. Jenny gave the order.

“Let’s go, Count de Winter, and get them!”

When we arrived at the meeting room, our friends and supporters were all waiting for us.

We had planned well - the Governor, the Mayor, the Supreme Court Judge, the Lawyer, even the local Bishop was present. Pavel looked at me.

“Count...” we were formal now “ ... I’ve checked everything and my people are patrolling the area. Some problems were waiting to happen, but we removed them.”

There was definitively a story behind his words, but I could wait for an explanation. He continued that there had been at least four court injunctions trying to stop the proceedings, but the Supreme Court Judge had squashed them all. There would be appeals, but that would be a problem my lawyer could resolve later. The breakfast was short, and I invited them to join me in the meeting room.

Pavel and Andrei had prepared the equipment for the presentation, and I started.

“My friends, you know what we are going to present. It gives us no joy, but we’ve been forced into this situation. We are businessmen...” there was a cough beside me “ ... and businesswomen, but we are citizens first. Our nationality is Australian and German, but we have invested so much in this region and received so much feedback, emotional and financial, that I want to say that we feel very close to the nation and its people also. This makes this presentation very difficult, but also necessary. No nation deserves to be plundered by corrupt politicians, and we tried to give them an option to correct this. It’s not a court suit and the main proofs were obtained illegally; but considering what we have seen and heard, it will be a political judgment.”

I went through the first contacts in the Polish Embassy, the order to come to Poland, and our first meeting with the Premier and his sidekick. There was silence as the people who had not seen this before, tried to digest the information. Then questions started. I asked them to wait until the end of the presentation, and we would then answer as best as we could. I went on showing our second meeting and the chaos that followed as we made our escape. The final part was when we asked the Broughton Investigating Laboratory in London and finished with the certificates that there was an audited uninterrupted flow on images, words, and documents.

Now the questions exploded. How did we get the videos? The audio files? The financial data? I let the Supreme Court Judge speak first.

“Count, this is indeed very interesting and quite damaging to the Premier and his party, but can you use it in court?”

I repeated that this was not a court suit with claims for damages, but a political event. We wanted to show the Polish people who their leaders were - if they believed us, they could use their votes to change the government. We were not on a crusade to change Poland, but to save a private company that has been threatened with expropriation and financial ruin. We were defending our investment and the fate of the people that trusted us. If this meant that we had to show to what lengths certain politicians would go, so be it. And if it meant that these politicians would suffer - it was their choice to go ahead, and they would bear the consequences. The Judge was quiet for a moment and then nodded. It was no coincidence that we had selected a Judge who under the present government would be forcefully retired within three months.

Then the State Governor and the Mayor stepped up. Smirky asked, “Count, what are our plans if you fail?”

Now this was the pivotal question - what would we do? All I could say that we had not come to a final decision, but under no circumstances would we hand the Castle and our company to the present government. We would survive a write-off of our investment; but would the State, the City, and the people survive without us? We could shift the transport hub to another State or even another country, but would the people who would lose their jobs survive? What would happen to the Castle and its hundreds of employees? Would the hospital and the schools go on? All questions we could not answer at this moment, but we asked the people involved to think what a decision forcing us out would mean to their futures? It was a bit melodramatic, but I meant every word, and they knew it.

The discussion went on for some time, but in the end, I had to stop it.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this presentation to the public and media will start in forty-five minutes. I wanted to show it to you so that you would not be caught by surprise. I apologize once more for my words and my pictures, but this is the end. Either the government will step back, or we will close everything down.”

There a moment of silence but then the Governor and the Mayor stepped forward and both shook my hand.

“Count de Winter, we have your back - you can trust us.”

The Judge also came forward. “Count, I would not like to be the Judge in this case, since most of what you have shown would not be admitted in Court, but as a citizen of this nation, I’m behind you all the way.”

Pavel took me aside.

“James, the meeting area is already crowded. Please be careful - we have detained several government agents with guns in their possession wanting to invade the meeting and you can imagine what they would do. We hope that we got all, but one can never know. We have a bullet-proof lectern for you and Jenny, and the Countess will sit in a separate area surrounded by my men. Be careful!”

I looked at him. “My priorities have not changed. You take care of Jenny and the Countess, and I’ll take care of me. Understood?”

He looked at Jenny who was ready to explode, but I stopped it. “Jenny, no discussion. This is what I want, and you’ll obey. If things go wrong, protect Maureen! Understood?”

She stared at me, but then, very reluctantly, nodded.

“Yes, James. I understand and obey, but if something happens to you, I’ll kill you myself. Is this understood also?”

I nodded also and now it was Maureen’s turn. I said, “You, my love, will sit away from us - I want you safe under whatever circumstances. Okay?”

She was indignant. “I will do no such thing. I’ll stand beside you as I always have done!”

I looked at her and she saw the difference in my eyes.

“You, Maureen my love, will sit where Pavel tells you. Is this understood?” She took a deep breath, but I stopped her. “Maureen, I cannot protect Jenny as I like, after all, she is the CEO of this company, but you will sit where I told you. Is this understood? Tonight you can yell at me - and Jenny will certainly be as mad as you are now, but now you’ll sit where I tell you.”

As Jenny before, she looked at me for a long time and then nodded. She took Jenny’s hand.

“Yes, Count de Winer. We’ll obey.”

Pavel was surprised. Where was the easy-going husband, always acceding to my wives’ wishes? But I saw respect in his eyes when he led Maureen away. Jenny came closer and hugged me.

“We’ll do as you say but wait for tonight. You better go back to the loving and gentle husband we adore.” She kissed me and moved away.

The moment had come, and I stepped through the big door into the meeting area. There must have been hundreds of people milling around, all talking and wondering what was going to happen. I had seen press cards from several media - Der Spiegel, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Daily Mirror, and to my surprise, the New York Times, a local and a national radio station, and even a Polish newspaper was represented. I took Jenny’s hand and we walked to the lectern.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we asked you to the meeting to give you an explanation of what has happened to us. But first, let me call my friends.”

The Bishop came forward and prayed that today would be a day of peace and resolutions. Then the Governor, Mr. Smirsky, came and said nice words about the Castle and the efforts we had put into building up a desolate city. And finally, the Mayor, Mr. Tussek, said that he had never before received so much support for his city and that now they were the first among all others in productivity, education, health, and principally lack of violence - there were no drug dealers in the city anymore, since it had become a point of pride for all to defend their city. It was again a city that had life and a future. He ended with thanking Jenny and (with lesser emphasis) the Count de Winter for what we all had completed.

Now it was our turn. We had agreed that Jenny would start and that I would finish. After all, she was the CEO! There were some catcalls and whistles, but they were immediately drowned in the applause she received.

“Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you what we have done for this city, the region, and - at least, partly – for ourselves. I’ll speak in Polish because we are here in this wonderful city, but instant translation into English is available through your earphones.”

She had prepared a very pointed and thorough presentation comparing today’s city and the region’s basic data, with what we had found five years ago. The progress was astonishing and the few calls denying this and that all was fake, were soon overwhelmed by applause.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I was responsible for the investments and I believe that I have done well.”

The applause was thunderous.

“Ladies and gentlemen, life is not always easy and you will remember your Bible and the story about Adam and Eve, and the snake destroying that dream. We have experienced a similar story here and Count de Winter will tell you what we have gone through.”

She stepped aside while still remaining protected by the lectern, and I moved up to stand beside her. There was applause - not as much as for her - and some rude noises from the back. I looked at Pavel and he whispered to go on; we needed support but also some opposition so that the meeting would look balanced.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I want to repeat once more that we are not on a crusade to change the world or this country. We have invested a lot of our money and time in this city and the surrounding region, and the government has threatened to expropriate our business, to be run by themselves. I believe you all know how efficient politicians are running a private enterprise...” there was applause and some jeers “ ... and we also know how this city will suffer once the politicians run the investment.”

Again there was applause and some shouted that they would always support us in any struggle. Now came the moment of truth.

“Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell what has happened. Remember that this investment is funded by Australian money and that we live in Sydney, Australia. I was summoned by the Polish Ambassador to come to Canberra and it was a most unpleasant meeting. He was recently appointed by the government, not well briefed and very annoying, telling me that the government had decided to change the economic laws of this country and that our investment would be taken over by Polish management. They had decided that Poland was still due reparations from the Second World War and a German Count would pay dearly. He ignored completely that this was an Australian investment, run by an Australian CEO, Miss Mary Ann Parker...” Now there was thunderous applause “ ... and told me to be in Warsaw within a week to discuss the handover. There might be a compensation for our investments, but we should not be optimistic about how much and when that would happen. That, ladies and gentlemen, was our first contact.”

It had become very quiet and people were anxious to hear what had happened later.

“We met the Premier, Mr. Wacynsky, and his Chief of Staff, Lukas Bukos, and to our surprise, it was a most interesting encounter. He repeated his diatribe against Germany and overdue reparations and when I tried to tell him that we are an Australian company with Australian investment, he told me that he was not interested and to shut up and hand the company over to the government, which then would decide who would run it. Then he dismissed us.”

I showed the video of the first meeting. People whispered among themselves, but it was still quiet, waiting to hear what would be shown.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we left and Mr. Bukos asked us to step into his office for a moment - there might be another option available. If we were to agree to a profit-sharing deal - with the percentage to be decided by the company belonging to the Prime Minister - and would pay twenty-five million US dollars into an overseas account, they would agree to let us handle the company - at least as long as they received their share. Let me show the conversation.”

When the second video came on, the whispering changed into loud demands asking for proof. When it finished, there was a moment of silence, and then it became ugly. People yelling that we were liars, others that this was all fake, but some shouting that they knew that the government was corrupt. There were no fights yet, but it had become close. I waited until they had calmed down and went to the most important part.

“Ladies and gentlemen, those who know Miss Parker and me, know also that we would never agree to this - but we wanted proof. Miss Parker asked for Mr. Wacynsky to confirm this demand and finally, he agreed.”

Now I showed the third video with the Prime Minister confirming everything that Mr. Bukos had said. It also showed Mr. Bukos handing us the slip of paper containing the foreign account number. Now there was silence, then a roar as people raised their voices; a few contesting, but the vast majority were stunned and wanted proof. A reasonable request, considering that we had accused their Prime Minister of extortion and corruption! I tried to calm the multitude down, but it took a while.

“Ladies and gentlemen,...” I must find different words to address them “ ... you will probably hesitate to believe us, but there is another video.”