Read Online The Manuscript I the Secret by Blanca Miosi, Gretchen Abernathy - Free Book Online

been very difficult at first, but he enjoyed the goodwill of certain government employees. In a country like Armenia, knowing the right people could make life much more manageable. Francesco owed it all to his good friend Claudio Contini-Massera and the money he threw around so wantonly. Thinking of Claudio, he shook his head. They were complete opposites. Claudio liked the good life and stopped at nothing; the harder a goal was to achieve, the happier it made him. It was as if he took special pleasure in going against the status quo. But that night had been different. Francesco had an ominous premonition that the contents of the chest and the tube would entangle them in a mess of problems. He had worked so very hard to earn the Soviets’ trust, and here he was sticking his nose into shady business. He would have to explain things clearly to Claudio the next day. Life had been too easy for his friend in every way. Entirely too easy.
     
    Claudio Contini-Massera walked toward the hotel with his suitcase in one hand and the canvas bag in the other. It was after three o’clock in the morning, a rather unusual time to arrive from the airport. So he lurched forward with the unsteady steps of a drunkard. If there is one thing that brings men together in solidarity, it is getting good and sloshed. He rapped on the glass door a few times. The doorman opened his eyes and, after a concerted effort at blinking, recognized him.
    “Good evening, Mr. Contini,” he rasped out with his dry, sleepy tongue while holding the door open.
    “Good evening, Boris,” Claudio answered, grinning from ear to ear. He stumbled forward and steadied himself with too tight a grip on Boris’ shoulder.
    “Careful now, Mr. Contini,” the doorman warned gently. He gave him an understanding smile and helped him to the reception desk. He tapped the arm of the snoozing employee who stretched, shook himself awake, and finally recognized the guest.
    “Mr. Contini...good evening,” he said.
    “Forgive me for how late...I’ve come at a bad time.”
    “Oh, no, not at all, sir!” The clerk opened the register and added his name then handed him a key. “Your customary room,” he said with a slight smile.
    “Oh, Micha, thank you,” Claudio drawled, slipping Micha a bill with such dexterity that not even the bellhop noticed.
    “Comrade, please, see our guest to his room.”
    The bellhop made to take the canvas bag, but Claudio held onto it.
    “Don’t you worry about that; I’ll get it. You can get the suitcase.”
    “As you wish!” the bellhop answered gratefully.
    The elevator was not working. They went up two flights of stairs and down a hall with six doors on each side. One of them was Claudio’s room.
    After dismissing the bellhop with a tip, he carefully laid the canvas bag on the carpeted floor. He desperately needed to sleep. Later he would look at what was in the tube. He would need all his senses alert and at the ready, but his eyelids were drooping at the moment. He had not slept since he left Rome. He polished off the tiny sampler bottle of vodka which he had gargled before entering the hotel, kicked off his shoes, and fell into bed fully clothed. He was out like a light.
     
    When Claudio awoke, the first thing his eyes sought out was the canvas bag. He wasted no time in opening it and checking the contents once more. It was all there: a box shaped like an antique chest and a tube. He pulled the box out and set it on the small table in front of the mirror. He opened it and studied what was inside. It was a piece of metal, or something similar, but it did not shine in the daylight. Stuck with tape to one side of the chest was a long, small bundle wrapped in thick cloth. With the utmost care, Claudio removed the tape and unrolled the soft cloth. Inside was a capsule made of something like heavy glass, through which Claudio could see a thick liquid. The capsule was sealed. He placed it carefully on the bed and then turned to the metal tube