The Eleventh Commandment (1998) by Jeffrey Archer

Author:Jeffrey Archer [Archer, Jeffrey]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Jeffrey Archer
ISBN: 9780007805198
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: 1998-04-17T23:00:00+00:00

Zerimski’s office could not have been in greater contrast to the Czar’s country palace. The Communist leader occupied the third floor of a dilapidated building in a northern suburb of Moscow - although anyone who was invited to stay at his dacha on the Volga quickly became aware that Zerimski was no stranger to luxury.

The last vote had been cast at ten o’clock the previous evening. Now all Zerimski could do was sit and wait for the officials from the Baltic to the Pacific to count the ballot papers. He knew only too well that in some districts people would have voted several times. In others the ballot boxes would simply never reach the town hall. But he was confident that once he had agreed terms with Borodin, and the General had withdrawn from the race, he was in with a real chance of winning. But he was enough of a realist to know that, with the Mafya backing Chernopov, he would need to poll well over half of the votes cast to have the slightest chance of being declared the winner. For that reason he had decided to make an ally in the Czar’s camp.

The result of the election would not be known for a couple of days, as they still tallied the votes by hand in most parts of the country. He didn’t need to be reminded of Stalin’s oft-quoted remark that it doesn’t matter how many people vote, only who counts them.

Zerimski’s inner circle were working the phones as they tried to keep track of what was happening across the vast nation. But all the state chairmen were willing to say was that it looked too close to call. The Communist leader thumped the table more times that day than he had during the past week, and remained closeted in his room for long periods of time making private calls.

‘That’s good news, Stefan,’ Zerimski was saying. ‘As long as you can take care of the problem of your cousin.’ He was listening to Ivanitsky’s response when there was a knock on the door. He put the phone down the moment he saw his Chief of Staff enter the room. He had no desire for Titov to find out who he had been talking to.

‘The press are wondering if you’ll speak to them,’ said Titov, hoping it might keep his master occupied for a few minutes. The last time Zerimski had seen the vultures, as he referred to them, was the previous morning, when they had all turned out to watch him cast his vote in Koski, the district of Moscow in which he was born. It would have been no different if he had been running for President of the United States.

Zerimski nodded reluctantly, and followed Titov down the stairs and out onto the street. He had instructed his staff never to allow a member of the press to enter the building, for fear that they would discover just how inefficient and understaffed his organisation was. That was something else which would change once he got his hands on the state coffers.

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