Dark Dreams (2 page)

Chapter 2

S
ofia, Jana Matinova’s old chum, called Jana from Transparency in Government, the anti-corruption organization. Sofia had helped set up a chapter in Slovakia three years earlier. They had not talked for some time, not because of any animosity but because each of them had set off in the world in a different direction that required very separate activities, both professionally and socially.

Sofia had assumed she would find the right path for herself, but it had taken her a little longer than Jana, who was now a commander in the Slovak Police. Sofia had first gone with a bank, then a statistical information firm doing corporate analysis, followed by a freelance interpreter’s job for the expatriate business community, loathing each job in turn. But her latest work had opened a door to vast opportunities.

After a few weeks of studying the issues, Sofia had started out with a bang, calling a news conference to deride the government’s award of a building contract to a firm whose head was not only related to a cabinet minister, but a heavy contributor to the present government. Even worse, one of the school buildings that the man had constructed was already beginning to crumble, due to the inferior concrete used in the construction. The story was broadcast on all the television networks and headlined in the newspapers. Even the United States took notice, and Sofia was called in by the American ambassador to Slovakia and publicly commended for her action in revealing the corrupt practice.

That was only Sofia’s first step. Sofia called for reform, not only in government procurement, but in government accounting procedures, for filing property and financial statements by all civil servants and the passage of freedom-of-information laws. She sponsored citizen hotlines to encourage the reporting of corrupt activities and criticized licensing practices that resulted in enormous payoffs being required to obtain business permits. Then she went after the government as a whole. Sofia’s demands called for a massive overhaul of the electoral process and a total review and reform of the way government departments did business.

In the process, with an energy that astonished everyone who knew her, Sofia traveled all over the country, meeting with groups of people, manufacturers and regional representatives of government, attending international conferences and becoming a major figure in Eastern Europe in the anti-corruption fight. Everyone was aware of her; everyone in Slovakia admired her.

Through it all, Sofia and Jana had maintained their friendship. They saw each other less, they telephoned less frequently, but they retained the feeling they’d had for each other since they had been children. To each of them, the other was the same person who had seen a friend through the powerless years of childhood, through the hard teen years, and finally into adulthood.

Today began another chapter.

Sofia’s voice on the telephone was excited, urging Jana to meet her for lunch at a vegetarian restaurant they both liked on Laurinska, halfway between them, almost in the exact center of Bratislava. Sofia assured Jana she had something of great importance to discuss and needed Jana’s input.

Jana tried to put her off until the evening, but Sofia was so enthusiastic, so insistent that Jana agreed to meet her at noon.

Jana generally did not eat lunch, instead snacking on one thing or another that she brought from home. Today, when she finally queued up in the line outside, she was ravenous and glad she had come. The restaurant served a limited numbers of items, cafeteria style. The servers, on the other side of the counter, plopped large portions of the food on customers’ plates when they went by, portions that would satisfy much larger people than Jana. It was not gourmet food, but pleasant enough, and cheap by any standard, so for a police officer it was a good place to eat.

As usual, Sofia was late when she joined Jana in line. A number of people who recognized her from her coverage by the media murmured encouragement to Sofia; one woman even insisted on shaking her hand. Sofia was patient, finally breaking free of her admirers to hug Jana and, still breathless from racing to the restaurant from a meeting that had run on and on, apologized, as she always did, for being late.

“I’m sorry; more than sorry.”

“I accept your expression of remorse,” Jana said, a smile on her face. “True friends are required to accept apologies.”

“Even police officer friends?”

“Particularly police officer friends.”

They hugged again; then Sofia got right to the point. “I’m so happy, Jana. I think I may be starting on an incredible adventure that will bring me the job of my dreams. A new profession.”

Jana was shocked that Sofia was even thinking of leaving work she was so good at and which she obviously enjoyed. “I thought you already had the job of your dreams. You told me on the phone only this morning how wonderful it was, how satisfied you were when you went home. It’s what you’re good at.”

“I am, I am, Jana. But, if you look at it right, this new job is really an extension of what I’m doing now. I’ve already talked to other people at work. I even spoke to the people at international headquarters in Berlin, and they all gave me the go-ahead. In fact, they urged me to do it. Of course, I won’t be able to keep working at Transparency. It would be a conflict of interest. But if I want to come back, the job will probably be waiting for me.”

“Okay.” Jana tried to keep an open mind. “Here I am, your old friend Jana, the arbiter of all things good for Sofia, waiting with hope in my heart and open arms for your glad tidings. So, what’s the new job, Sofia?”

“Jana, I’ve been asked to campaign in the general election for the reform coalition. They’ve promised me a position on the slate. If we get enough votes I’ll become a member of parliament.” She stared at Jana, waiting for approval, her face lit up with excitement. “It’s a tremendous leap up, an opportunity to be involved in something even more important, a job that will allow me to make changes directly in the way the government does business. I can be a real advocate for the people.”

Jana thought it over. It was not all that hard for her to follow Sofia’s logic and to understand Sofia’s enthusiasm. The present government was far from wonderful. It was crooked, led by a man who was a dangerous demagogue. His secret police used strongarm tactics and were becoming even more extreme. A change would be a good thing. Even so, Jana’s main concern was her friend and her friend’s future: would Sofia’s move into politics benefit Sofia?

“You’ve never talked to me before about wanting to be a politician.”

“Jana, what I’ve been doing over the last years is political.”

“Wrong,” said Jana. “Now you’re your own master. You don’t have to answer to the voters. You don’t have to kowtow to a political party. You don’t have to consider expediency and make compromises.”

“Jana, I’ve examined all the arguments for and against.”

“That’s the right start.”

“I’ll tell you something I’ve never told even you. This has always been my secret dream. I pushed it back into a corner of my mind. I never thought that I could get there. Inside, I always see a powerless person in my mirror. How could a powerless woman become a member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic? How could I become a person who people look up to? That Sofia in my mirror could never be a member of parliament. Then, like a gift from the gods, it’s offered to me on a silver platter.”

“If the party wins.”

“Why shouldn’t the party win? This regime of criminals is ready to crumble. The people are turning against it. I can help the slate. They want the people to know that there are reformers in the party. I’ve been working for Transparency; I’m well known as a speaker for truth, so I’m perfect for them. It is a great fit.”

Jana sighed. “The opposition, the newspapers, all the media, will look for everything and anything that they can use against you, not only during the election but all the while you hold office. You’ll have no privacy. The people who voted for you will demand your attention; everyone will be ready to criticize, and to criticize unfairly.” Jana was trying to lay it on as thick as possible so Sofia would realize what she was getting into. “There’ll be blame heaped on you for both what you do wrong and what you didn’t manage to get done and, in reality, couldn’t be expected to do. You’ll only have brief moments of love from the voters, and lots of moments of anger and rejection.” Jana finally ran down. “Can you face that?”

Sofia did not even bother to reflect.

“I am ready for anything and everything.” She threw back her head, raising her fists in the air in triumph. “It can all come, and I’ll survive it; I’ll eat it all up and lick my lips afterward.” Her arms came down. “Will you help your friend Sofia, Jana?”

Jana responded to the plea as any good friend would have. “If you’re sure, then I’ll help.”

Sofia began clapping her hands and jumping up and down in glee. “I knew you would approve; I knew you’d support me!!”

The line moved forward. The two of them went into the café, picked up their trays, and moved to the serving line. There was a moment of silence as they ordered and the food was passed across the counter onto their trays. Sofia’s voice, when she spoke again, was more subdued, scarcely above a whisper.

“The party has plans for a number of us to make a bicycle trip around the country, from city to city, village to village, talking directly to the people. They’ve asked me to participate, and I’ve agreed. I’ll be one of their major spokespersons. And we’ll change Slovakia for the better.”

Jana winced at the thought of all the speeches, all the hand-shaking, and all the holding of babies as their mothers thrust them forward. “Not something I would want. But maybe it’s right for you. You were always daring.”

Sofia giggled. “I can be both daring and good at the same time.”

“Just remember the ‘good’ part,” Jana whispered back.

After they paid, Sofia glanced around the room looking for a place to sit and eat. Her eyes stopped at a table where there was only one person. Even seated you could see that he was tall and dressed in a suit more expensive than the ordinary Slovak could afford, with a dark blue tie and a very white starched shirt.

“Jana!” She nudged her friend with an elbow. “I know that man. He’s already a member of parliament.”

Jana recognized him from television. “I’ve seen him.” She remembered the man as a good speaker with tremendous poise. Even sitting, eating and reading a newspaper, he projected a strong presence. There were not that many people who looked good while putting food in their mouths. “He’s handsome.”

“He’s even better when you get closer.”

Sofia started moving toward his table, Jana following close behind.

“We’ll be interrupting him,” Jana warned.

“All politicians want people to admire them, which is what we’re now going to work at doing.”

Jana thought about the Sofia she had seen today. “Sofia, maybe you’re right for this job after all.”

“Ah, suddenly I’m right for the job?”

“Maybe it’s not so sudden. You were almost always willing to do whatever was necessary to get to where you wanted to go, and damn the consequences.”

“You may take out the ‘almost.’ ”

The man looked up just as they reached his table.

“Do you mind if we join you?” Sofia asked. “Most of the other seats are taken.”

He waved a welcoming hand at the chairs, watching them as they sat, his eyes resting longer on Sofia. Jana could see that Sofia was right about one thing: he looked even better up close, a sprinkling of gray in his carefully combed hair, a straight boned nose, and rather large ears which seemed, for some reason, to add a soft touch to what otherwise might have been too stern a face.

“We know each other,” he said to Sofia. “I’m trying to remember from where.”

“It’s not good for a politician to forget names and events.”

He snapped his fingers in a flash of pleased recognition. “Yes, the lady from Transparency who is always trying to reform the political process. I remember now. We met briefly at that strategy session on the Freedom for Expression bill. You spoke.”

“Right.”

“Now that I’ve remembered, does that put me back in your graces?”

“You were never out of my good graces.”

He reached over and shook Sofia’s hand, then held his hand out to Jana. “My name is Ivan Boryda.”

“The member of parliament?”

He nodded, pleased that she recognized him.

“My name is Jana Matinova. This is Sofia Senec.”

“I remembered Sofia. I promise that I’ll remember you too.”

“I hope we’re not taking you away from anything important.” Sofia indicated the newspaper.

He shrugged, folding the paper up, setting it down next to his empty dish. “They conducted a poll. According to the poll, the present prime minister is going to win the next election. His party took the poll. Since I know how much money they steal, and how much they skew their figures, I would deduct at least twenty percent from their totals, which means we’re ahead.”

“I agree,” said Sofia, staring openly at Boryda. Jana kicked her under the table, trying to bring her back to reality. There was a wedding ring on the man’s finger. As usual, where men were concerned, Sofia paid little attention to Jana.

“I am going into the political arena myself,” Sofia informed him.

He looked at her with new interest. “How so?”

“I’ll be campaigning for our party.”

“Our party?”

“I’m going on the bicycle junket. I think we will be on the same program.”

He stared at her for a long moment. “Then we’re already close associates.”

“I hope so.” Sofia started to reach out, almost as if to take his hand, and then pulled it back. “We’re on a mission together.”

“Here’s to the mission.” He raised his water glass in a toast, the two women joining him, clinking their glasses against his, sipping the water. He set his glass down. “I have to go.” Boryda got up. “Jana, Sofia, I know we’ll all see each other again very soon. Sofia, you and I will have fun together on the campaign trail.” He inclined his head, then walked away.