‘You think you’re a saint,’ said Vladimir.
Sheremetev went to say something, but the gardener quickly held a finger to his lips.
Vladimir snorted. ‘You’ve turned all holier than thou all of a sudden.’
‘We shouldn’t listen—’
‘Shhhhh!’ Goroviev leaned forward slightly, one hand holding Sheremetev back, frowning as he tried to catch every word.
‘You think, all you have to do is say the word “democracy”,’ said Vladimir, ‘and suddenly you’re the nation’s saviour.’
Trikovsky shook his head. ‘That’s not true.’
‘A real convert, aren’t you?’ said Vladimir sarcastically.
‘I’m not saying I haven’t done certain things that I regret, Vladimir Vladimirovich,’ replied Trikovsky.
Vladimir laughed. ‘Certain things!’
‘A man can change course. What I may have done in the past as I constructed my business were things that the conditions of the time made—’
‘Sure,’ said Vladimir, cutting the oligarch off. He enjoyed doing it. Who else told an oligarch to shut up? Outside these walls, in their mansions and the boardrooms of their corporations, they were king. But not here. Not in the Kremlin. Behind the red brick walls, there was only one boss. ‘There were conditions at the time…’ he parodied. ‘Listen to me, Leva. You can be a businessman or a politician, but not both. We have to make a choice in life. One or the other. Riches or public service.’ Vladimir shrugged, not betraying by even the faintest hint of a smile the patent falsity – proven above all by himself – of what he was saying. ‘You’ve made your choice, I think.’
‘All I’m saying, Vladimir Vladimirovich, is in a democracy, any person can speak. Anyone can run for office, businessman or not.’
‘We saw that with Boris Nikolayevich. Anyone can do anything, say anything. What a fucking disaster! He turned Russia into a living corpse, every day being eaten away a little more by mad dogs like you. Which is why you put him there the second time, you and your friends, so you could keep on eating.’
‘We put you there, too.’
‘Ha!’
‘Yes. What do you think Boris Nikolayevich would have done if we’d told him to choose someone else?’
Vladimir smiled. ‘The old man didn’t know what day it was.’
‘He knew enough to listen to us,’ replied the oligarch.
‘Then you should have told him to get rid of me while you still had the chance, because I’m telling you this now, and for the last time, Leva.’ Vladimir wagged a finger. ‘Stay out of politics. It may be true the old man would never have chosen me as his successor if it wasn’t for you and the others. Fine. I couldn’t care less. That’s between you and him. As far as I’m concerned, you were the means, not the reason. The reason I was put in this place was to bring order and stability to Russia, to stop it becoming a place where every mad bird could peck out its eyes. And that’s what I’m doing!’ He slapped a fist into the other palm. ‘I’m putting an end to it. You’ll thank me one day. Even you, Lev Fyodorovich.’
‘I think there’s a way we can do this,’ said Trikovsky. ‘You’re—’
‘No. There’s no way. I’m not bargaining. I’m not negotiating. You see – you’re thinking like a businessman. That’s why you shouldn’t be in politics.’
‘You don’t bargain in politics?’
‘You do what I say in politics. And do you know what you’re going to do? You’re going to go to your television station and your newspaper and fire the nest of oppositionists who work there. Then you’re going to make sure the rest say what I want them to say. Monarov will talk to you from time to time so there’s no misunderstanding. And as far as politics is concerned, that’s it. That’s as much as you’re going to do. Apart from that, you’re going to look after your bank and your oil company and your nickel mine and you’re going to make a lot of money, because while you’re taking care of business, I’ll be taking care of politics, and Russia will have order, and when Russia has order, businessmen can make money, those who allow them to do so are rewarded, and everyone will be happy, including you. That’s what you’re going to do, and that’s what all your friends are going to do.’
‘And if I don’t?’ said Trikovsky quietly.
Vladimir sighed. ‘Have your companies been audited by a tax prosecutor? Show me a company in Russia that comes out of that clean and I’ll show you a cow that shits gold.’
Trikovsky shook his head. ‘My companies don’t owe any tax.’
‘No?’ Vladimir laughed. ‘My guess is that if the tax prosecutor comes visiting he’ll find that you owe plenty of tax, taxes you haven’t even heard of yet.’ He laughed again. ‘You’ll owe so much tax that it will bankrupt your whole company if you have to pay it. Of course he’s totally independent, Leva, so I can’t be sure. Call it a hunch.’
‘That’s an outrage!’
‘The state might be prepared to take the business off your hands in lieu of the taxes, but as for you, Lev Fyodorovich, we don’t tolerate tax cheats in Russia. This isn’t London. Here, we make examples of them! But all of this is so unnecessary. Why are we even talking about it? You’ll stay out of politics, you’ll support me whenever I tell you to, and I’ll support you in your business. You’ll do what I tell you, you’ll make a lot of money, and you’ll be happy.’
‘No one would tolerate what you’re talking about!’ retorted Trikovsky. ‘Confiscating an entire corporation of this scale on the basis of falsified investigations? You can’t do it. I have support in the duma.’
‘Oh, you have support in the duma?’
‘If you do this to me, every other businessman in Russia will be threatened. Do you know what that will do for investment?’
Vladimir smiled. ‘And where will they take their money, Leva? Where else can they do what they’re allowed to do in Russia? Where else can they make such profits? With order and stability in Russia, they can do even more of it. Do you think they’ll throw themselves after you? No, they’ll watch you go down. And as for your support in the duma… you know, I’m a specialist in human relations. In this job, you have to be. One thing I’ve noticed about people with a lot of money, is that they think people are personally attached to them. After a while, after you’ve had enough yes-men around for long enough, it’s easy to mistake subservience for loyalty. Me, when I find myself starting to think that someone is loyal to me, I immediately remind myself that his loyalty only goes as far as the next commission that’s going to land in his Swiss bank account. So let’s remember what you are. You’re a crook. You’re an embezzler. When the Russian state was drowning in debt, when the Afghan veterans and their war widows were starving in the winter, you and your friends, in the goodness of your hearts, paid Boris Nikolayevich ten kopecks on the ruble for your mines and your oil wells and your banks. That’s what people are going to remember when the tax prosecutor comes calling, Lev Fyodorovich. Now, how many of your friends in the duma are going to want to associate themselves with that? And by the way, how many of them would welcome their own visit from the tax prosecutor?’
Trikovsky gazed at him incredulously. ‘Do you really think this is the way to save Russia? To have you and your KGB henchmen deciding everything?’
‘Do you think it’s to have you and your fellow crooks doing it?’
‘I’ll take my chances with the people.’
‘Of course you will. With your newspaper and your television station to tell them what to think, just like any other citizen, huh? You gave an election to Boris Nikolayevich—’
‘And to you.’