Page 96 of Forge the Blade

Sevastyan stood, starting to button his suit jacket.

Yetka spoke again, just as he touched the door. “If you are aiming to sit on the council, mind that you play well with others.”

Sevastyan paused. “The council?” He looked between the three directors, despite not being able to see their faces. “I will take that under advisement, should I ever aim so high.”

Sevastyan

Nothing. He felt nothing. His mind blanked out as he walked through the halls of the Yadro back to his room. A call to central services assured him that his helicopter would be ready in moments. His bag had never been unpacked. He gathered up his winter coat and went back down, stopping in the cafeteria long enough to grab a brown paper filled with quarters of jidanbing and a pain aux raisins. There was bottled water to go. He added one to his coat pocket.

“Heading out?” someone said in German.

Sevastyan turned at the voice. A man just a couple of centimeters shorter than him but slightly broader in a gray tweed coat stood there with a mug of coffee in one hand. He had a short, neatly trimmed beard and gray hair to match. He looked English, not German.

“Do we know each other?” Sevastyan replied.

The man moved his mug to his left hand and extended his right. “No. I came in right after you left. Call me Karl. Karl Sutton.”

Sevastyan shuffled his food to one hand and met Karl in a handshake. “I’m afraid I have a flight to catch.”

“Yes. I was told. I’m sure we will be seeing more of each other.”

Sevastyan raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve been brought in on the Korean idol case. Getting briefed this afternoon. They were just waiting for your report.”

Prickles went up Sevastyan’s back. This felt oddly reminiscent of Dirk barging in. “I’m under a gag, if you’re looking for details.”

“No, no, of course. I would never. Here, let me walk you to the door. I know you have to catch that flight.”

Sevastyan kept his face pleasant. “I don’t know how I can help you, then.” They started walking through the Yadro’s long halls.

“Just saying hello.” Karl smiled genuinely in a way that did nothing to set Sevastyan at ease, even though it was meant to. Why wasn’t the Yadro assigning any locals to the case? Or was this man lying?

“I just wanted to say hello before anything started going down. We might well end up working together. They said you had an in with the lead target.”

Sevastyan smiled. “Still can’t say anything. I’ll need to receive direct authorization.”

“You match your reputation.” Karl shook his head, eyes twinkling. “Tight lipped. Complete opposite of your mother.”

Sevastyan laughed easily. “My mother, yes.”

“My friend was there, at her party.”

“Which one?”

“The one that had quite the show. You were there for the most dramatic part, I believe.”

“Ah. The one in England.”

“That was some move.”

“It was well earned,” Sevastyan said. “Sometimes a message is best delivered personally.”

“I’m certain you will be delivering future messages with the same aplomb.”

“Whatever the message requires, that is the delivery. Not all are the same.”

“True.”