Frank Schätzing - Limit

Palstein dabbed sweat from his brow. It was hot in the lecture theatre. He wished he were on board a ship on a lake somewhere or, even better, out on the open sea with invigorating winds all around him.

‘We can assume the following: if gas and oil had continued to play the dominant role, the world would look a little different today. China might have overtaken the USA instead of just catching up with them. The Chinese, Russian and Gulf states would have made an energy pact. Iran, relatively recently in possession of nuclear devices, would have more power internally than is the case today, despite its nuclear armament, and would probably have exerted more pressure on New Delhi, who, back in 2006, already had its sights on a pipeline project in partnership with Tehran, through which Caspian oil would flow to India. This pipeline was supposed to end at the Red Sea, but then the oil wouldn’t have been able to flow to Israel, so for that reason the US was against it. Not an easy situation for India. A collaboration with Iran ran the risk of angering America, while concessions to Washington would have aggravated Iran. In order to escape this Catch-22, the Indians looked to a third power, to help integrate the existing two, having good contacts with both China and Iran. And so the Russians came back into play in the form of Gazprom, taking every opportunity they had to strengthen their nation, for example by turning off the gas taps to their neighbouring states and blackmailing them. Do you recognise the formation of blocs that this heralded? Russia, China, India, OPEC – that couldn’t have been in Washington’s interest. Faced with this situation, George W. Bush’s successor, Barack Obama, turned to diplomacy. He tried to improve relations with Russia and to take the wind out of Iran’s sails, a clever strategy that worked in part. But of course even Obama would have secured the USA’s energy requirements by force if he had to, if the technological advancement which Washington achieved through its collaboration with Orley Enterprises hadn’t opened up completely new possibilities to the Americans—’

A staff member of the UTD office came into the lecture hall, paced briskly towards him and pressed a note into his hand. Palstein smiled out into the auditorium.

‘Please excuse me for a moment. What is it?’ he asked softly.

‘Someone wants to speak to you on the telephone, a Miss—’

‘Can’t it wait twenty minutes? I’m in the middle of a lecture.’

‘She said it was urgent. Very urgent!’

‘What was her name again?’

‘Keowa. Loreena Keowa, a journalist. I wanted to put her off until later, but…’ Palstein thought for a moment. ‘No, it’s fine. Thank you.’

He excused himself once again, left the auditorium, walked out into the hallway and dialled Loreena’s number.

‘Shax’ saani Keek,’ he said, as her face appeared on the display of his mobile. ‘How are you?’

‘I know I’m interrupting—’

‘To be honest, yes. I’ve got one minute, then I’ve got to get back to educating the future elite. What can I do for you?’

‘I’m hoping it’s me that can do something for you , Gerald. But for that I need a few more minutes of your time.’

‘It’s a bit awkward right now.’

‘It’s in your interest.’

‘Hmm.’ He looked out through the window across the sunlit campus. ‘Okay, fine. Give me a quarter of an hour to finish my talk. I’ll call you immediately afterwards.’

‘Make sure no one’s listening in.’

Twenty minutes later, he called her from an isolated bench in the shadow of a chestnut tree, with a view out over the university grounds. Two of his security people were patrolling within sight. All around, students were hurrying towards unknown futures.

‘You sure know how to worry a man,’ he said.

‘Do we have an agreement on reciprocity?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘We help one another,’ said Loreena. ‘I get information, you get protection.’

‘Sorry?’

‘Are we in agreement?’

‘Hmm.’ Now he was really curious. ‘Fine, yes, we are.’

‘Good. I’m sending you a few photos on your mobile. Open them while we talk.’

His mobile confirmed the arrival of a multimedia message. One after another, he loaded the pictures. They showed two men in sunglasses, and a woman.

‘Which of them do you know?’

‘All of them,’ he said. ‘They work for me. Security staff. You must have met one of them, out on Lavon Lake. Lars Gudmundsson. He has the internal power of command.’

‘That’s right, I met him. Did you order the three of them to guard the building that you were presumably shot at from on 21 April?’

‘Well, that would be a bit of an exaggeration.’ Palstein hesitated. ‘They were just supposed to keep an eye on the surrounding area. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure if I should bring them. Having private security makes you seem like you’re putting on airs, like you think you’re so incredibly important. But there had been a few threats against EMCO, and against me too—’

‘Threats?’

‘Oh, stupid things. Nothing that we needed to take seriously. Just resentful people with existential angst.’

‘Gerald, are the Chinese involved in any way with EMCO?’

‘The Chinese?’

‘Yes.’

‘Not really. I mean, there were many attempts to take over our subsidiaries. EMCO itself is – was – too tough a nut for them to crack. And of course they had a good old poach in our coalmines.’

‘Canadian oil sand?’

‘That too.’

‘Okay. I’m sending you another photo.’

This time an Asian face appeared on the display. Long, unkempt hair, a straggly beard.

‘No’ he said.

‘You haven’t seen him before?’

‘Not that I know of. If you could let me in on—’

‘Of course. Listen, Gerald, this man entered the empty building just before you took to the podium. Your security team was in the building too. In our view there’s very little doubt that Gudmundsson’s people not only let the Asian man pass, but also made sure that he could .’

Palstein stared at the photo in silence.

‘Are you completely sure that you’ve never seen him before?’ pressed Loreena.

‘Not consciously, at any rate. I would remember someone like him.’

‘Could he be one of your people?’

‘My people?’

‘I mean, do you know all your bodyguards personally, or does Gudmundsson—’

‘Of course I know every single one of them, what do you expect? And besides, there aren’t that many. Five in total.’

‘Whom you trust.’

‘Of course. They are paid by us, and besides, a respected agency for personal security provided them, EMCO has been working with them for years.’

‘Then you may have a problem. If this Asian guy really is the man who shot at you, then there’s good reason to believe that your own people are in on it. I need to ask you one more question, please excuse my abruptness.’

‘No, it’s fine.’

‘Does the name Alejandro Ruiz mean anything to you?’

‘Ruiz?’ Palstein was silent for a few seconds. ‘Wait a moment. That rings a bell.’

‘I’ll help you. Repsol. Strategic management.’

‘Repsol – yes, I think – yes, for sure, Ruiz. We were on the same flight once. It was a while ago.’

‘What do you know about him?’

‘Practically nothing. My God, Loreena, we’re not talking about some close-knit family here, the oil trade is huge, there are a zillion people working in it. Even now, by the way.’

‘It seems Ruiz was an important man.’

‘Was?’

‘He disappeared. Three years ago in Lima.’

‘Under what circumstances?’