Chapter 15: Commandant Babette

On the way back, my companions kept coming up with new ideas for the homeless asylum. They were so enthusiastic about the request that they wanted to help design the house in the best possible way. Many ideas were illusory, not well thought out. But it’s so nice to hear how much they care about other people’s thoughts and worries. I was happy to let them dream something into the future, without giving any counter-arguments. It was so nice just to listen, to feel their enthusiasm.

Back in the valley, I was told that Antonio and Leonie had conducted the funeral of the late Jimena perfectly, both Catholic and also according to traditional Inca rules. After a few bites of dinner, I sat down at my desk to write up the day’s events. Outside there was already a lot of commotion. The invited English speakers from our valley, the 24 young ladies, the English-speaking residents of the Casa and, of course, Ramona and Luisa had gathered. Luca and Diego, as well as Abril and Ana, also attended, although their English was still a little rusty.

Finally, everyone was seated in the large hall. First, we remembered Jimena with a minute’s silence. After a thank you and lots of praise for the work and discipline of the last days and weeks, I came to my points.

“As you know, I’m leaving for Europe on Tuesday for 10 days. So, today I have some important information for you. Recently, the gate to the Palazzo compound hasn’t been locked too often. From today, things will be different, as they used to be. Authorised people will only open the gate. Apart from me, only Sula, Zarina, and Olivia know the code, and since yesterday, Babette, too. Tomorrow the code will be changed and Luisa and Dr Liebknecht will also be informed about. It would be nice if a small waiting room could be built next to the gate, so that those waiting outside don’t get wet when it rains. A wireless bell could also be installed. Olivia, would you please discuss this with the builders?”

Olivia agreed. “Yeah!”

“Thank you, Olivia. Any questions?”

After a brief, unnecessary palaver, I was able to get to the real reason for the meeting, the appointment of my deputy. “In my absence, we are appointing my deputy today. This will be for the next two years. Later, we will elect the Commander of Paradise and his deputy. Only someone who enjoys everyone’s approval, who has been in the valley since 2016, and who is well versed in all matters can be considered. Do you have any suggestions?”

Dr Liebknecht, Luisa, and Olivia were proposed.

“Dr Liebknecht is responsible for the health, education, and advice of the commander, but for defence and security we need another head of the valley, a real commander. Think of the two attacks. You must always be ready to defend yourselves, even in my absence.”

In no time they had all agreed on Babette. My little comment had brought everyone to the opinion I wanted.

“Babette, even though you’ll soon be a mother again, you’re the right commander. Here is the master key to all the locks in the palazzo. On Tuesday, you’ll get my pistol, which you’ll always carry with you when I’m not around. We all have complete confidence in you.”

She stammered a little, but agreed, her face flushed.

“Please stand up, your commander is being sworn in. Babette Manciu, please repeat after me: I swear to do everything in my power to avert harm and danger to our community, to enforce the rules and standards of our community fairly and actively, and to carry out my duties responsibly”.

With a gesture for everyone to stand, I handed the prepared paper to my future deputy. With everyone standing as if for a national anthem, Babette spoke the oath clearly and emphatically. A hearty round of applause ended the ‘swearing-in’.

“The next point is simple. I have two advisors, Dr Liebknecht and Luisa Waskhar, and for certain issues Olivia and Carmen. From now on, we will involve our pastor Antonio. This also applies to the counselling of Babette Manciu. Is anyone against this?

The applause of approval was sparse at first, but grew.

“Now comes a very important point for me. In many questions I was lucky enough to be able to call on the student representatives for important problems, and they helped me a lot to make the right decisions. There shouldn’t be more than five, but I want the younger students to have a say from now on. So far it has been Esther, Lenya, Babette, Zarina, and Mayari. Babette as my new deputy and Zarina because of the trip are out. In my opinion, Ronya and Zelda from class 6 should be elected instead. Agreed, especially you new students?”

Zelda spoke up. “I no English good. I not understand many. Heidy best English. Vote, yes?”

Ramona and I clapped immediately and everyone joined in. The team was reorganised. I was particularly pleased with the proposal to elect pregnant Heidy as team representative. Her development in just a few weeks was extraordinary.

During the evening’s conversation, after some ‘this and that’, Ramona suddenly broke out, “I’m grateful to you, Michael, that I don’t have to take all the responsibility. Babette is a very good choice. You’ve known that for days. I’ve seen how you’ve prepared her. But it’s not good in the long run, the way you manipulate us, your women, to give a democratic veneer to a decision you made a long time ago. Please, don’t do that anymore; just say I’ve decided, Babette will be my deputy. Point. It’s your right, and you’ve helped us all the way and got us here. Eventually, everyone will notice, especially the older students. When that happens, your reputation will be shaky.”

Sarah looked at me expectantly, almost fearfully, but I took my time answering. Luisa added unexpectedly. “Ramona is right. Even I noticed how you tried to pressure us into your decision. But the fact is that our Apunchik has made the right decisions on all the important issues so far. Please, keep it up, Michael. Everyone trusts you. That’s good, isn’t it?”

Antonio and Amira made eye contact with me, also a little worried, I thought. Carmen stared ahead but didn’t say what she was thinking.

“You’re right, Ramona, no more gambling. I’m sure Babette is the best choice. She and her team will protect you and fight if necessary. There is one more important question. What happens if I don’t make it back in time? I’ve prepared Babette for that. She has access to all my and our accounts. She knows all the secrets I have kept from you to protect you. She also knows where my will is, if necessary.”

I pulled one of the small bags of diamonds from my pocket. “Here, for example. Those who attacked us were looking for valuables like this. The bags were hidden in the helicopter. I would have given it to them, but they didn’t even ask. They wanted to take the valuables at gunpoint. We had no chance to ask for peace. Now, I’ll sell the stones in Europe to finance our lives in the future. Agreed?”

“How much are the stones worth?” asked Ramona.

“As much as we can never spend. This little bag here is worth about one million dollars. We have more than one. And the stones are mine. They were lying in my valley and no one has claimed them yet.”

Everyone played with the stones and was amazed.

“Will you please give me a kiss or are you angry with me?” asked Ramona.

Ramona looked at me openly. Of course she got her kiss, and then Luisa, too. I thought my confession was long overdue. “Thank you, Ramona, you’re right, we need to be more open with each other. Sorry. Please help Babette. She can’t do it on her own yet, but if something happens to me, you’re covered. Only she knows where my will is and where there’s enough money for all eventualities.”

We nodded in agreement. Suddenly, Antonio said, “You know, if there were questions like this in my church, there would be intrigues and alliances to push through one’s own interests. You just say what you think and how it is, and all conflicts are resolved. You have no idea how much better you are than those people out there. I am proud to belong to you a little more every day.”

So, I put my hand out in the middle of the table and soon five hands were on mine. Only Carmen didn’t seem to get it, or did she think differently?

Sarah said later, “You’ll get into trouble with this woman. She only loves herself. Unfortunately, my sister was right, but the conflict with Carmen started later.

I shouted: “To our future!”

There was a strong response. “To our future!”

Then there was applause from all sides, even from the students who were nearby. Our team was great!

On Sunday morning, I sat down with Daryna to discuss what she wanted or could do for the inheritance of Michael Alcatra during her trip to Moscow and Kazakhstan. The most important thing for her, of course, was to sort out her personal belongings, clear out her apartment and say goodbye to her friends.

Daryna was well prepared. On her tablet, she showed me the key data on the sixteen Russian companies with investments from the dead Rus, as well as their websites and the latest available company news. She found it remarkable that all these companies had their headquarters or a large branch in Moscow.

The lawyer who had represented Rus at his trial was a so-called public defender, but from a prestigious law firm in Moscow. Daryna was supposed to lure him with a refund of his costs if he was willing to work with us. She was to get the full judgement with the reasons and ask if the lawyer could help us get the accounts and balance sheets of the investments, but if possible not to tell him about the defendant’s death. First we needed a certificate of inheritance.

It was not until the following year that a lawyer chosen by Daryna was to sue the state or seek a settlement, because the verdict against a dead man was certainly not legal.

To finance the trip, I gave her $5,000 and the Russian Sberbank card with PIN. She might be able to get the latest bank statements, as we had no idea what the balance was.

For Kazakhstan, the task was relatively straightforward: find contacts at the three relevant companies, find a law firm as trustworthy as possible to represent us in the country, and find out the rules for transferring the shares. Daryna had all the contacts and was well prepared. After all, the shares were worth forty-five million euros.

The bank in London was recording two and a quarter million euros a year as income from Kazakhstan. We did not know why the transactions there were in euros, but it was the values that mattered, not the currency.

Daryna was a great asset to us. When I went to give her a thank-you kiss on the cheek, she cuddled up to me and started kissing me hard and demandingly. She knew what she wanted. She hadn’t had sex for years, she told me. Today would be her last chance for a long time. And she did everything she could to excite me, to please me, to seduce me.

By the time, she had almost overcome my resistance, all I could think about was how, not if. There was no place left where we could be undisturbed. During the day, there was activity everywhere. Even in the cinema there were almost always a few children. Then I remembered the soundproof security room. I locked the office door from the inside, took Daryna by the hand and showed her the complicated access to the safe room.

The room was cold and unventilated for a long time, but the heating and ventilation were quickly turned on. With a few simple moves, the only bed was ready for use, as I inwardly scoffed. Daryna was as busy as a bee on the honeymoon flight, trying to excite me, to stimulate me to sex. She was obviously used to taking the initiative in love. When she started to undress, I just held her tightly in my arms and waited for her to realise that I was dominant, that I wanted to be in charge, that I wanted to own her, to spoil her, but in my own way. Finally, she calmed down. I began to kiss her very gently, first her forehead, then her cheeks, sucking on one earlobe and whispering sweet words into her ear.

She was still excited, wanting hot kisses, but I stopped her efforts, just nibbling at her lower lip and moistening it with my tongue. Each time, she asked for more, I pulled my head back. Gradually, she understood and let me play. As my kisses became hotter, she joined in, but lovingly, no longer demanding as much. I caressed her very tenderly as I exposed her breasts. It was a splendour, large, dark, swollen nipple surrounded by a sea of red velvet. Her areola was swollen, decorated with tiny pimples, as if she had goose bumps, simply exciting. The breast that had fed Lenya 16 years ago was firm, not too big, but beautifully shaped, a masterpiece of nature.

I could tell she was enjoying my admiring glances when I looked up for a moment. “You have lovely breasts, Daryna. May I?”