A Polish Adventure

It had become very quiet and people were anxious to hear what had happened later.

"We met the Premier, Mr. Wacynsky, and his Chief of Staff, Lukas Bukos, and to our surprise, it was a most interesting encounter. He repeated his diatribe against Germany and overdue reparations and when I tried to tell him that we are an Australian company with Australian investment, he told me that he was not interested and to shut up and hand the company over to the government, which then would decide who would run it. Then he dismissed us."

I showed the video of the first meeting. People whispered among themselves, but it was still quiet, waiting to hear what would be shown.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we left and Mr. Bukos asked us to step into his office for a moment -- there might be another option available. If we were to agree to a profit-sharing deal -- with the percentage to be decided by the company belonging to the Prime Minister - and would pay twenty-five Million US dollars into an overseas account, they would agree to let us handle the company -- at least as long as they received their share. Let me show the conversation."

When the second video came on, the whispering changed into loud demands asking for proof. When it finished, there was a moment of silence, and then it became ugly. People yelling that we were liars, others that this was all fake, but some shouting that they knew that the government was corrupt. There were no fights yet, but it had become close. I waited until they had calmed down and went to the most important part.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, those who know Miss Parker and me, know also that we would never agree to this -- but we wanted proof. Miss Parker asked for Mr. Wacynsky to confirm this demand and finally, he agreed."

Now I showed the third video with the Prime Minister confirming everything that Mr. Bukos had said. It also showed Mr. Bukos handing us the slip of paper containing the foreign account number. Now there was silence, then a roar as people raised their voices: a few contesting, but the vast majority were stunned and wanted proof. A reasonable request, considering that we had accused their Prime Minister of extortion and corruption! I tried to calm the multitude down, but it took a while.

"Ladies and Gentlemen ...." I must find different words to address them "...you will probably hesitate to believe us, but there is another video."

Now they saw the last meeting, where the Prime Minister yelled his anger that we had not agreed to his demands, threatened us with bodily harm in his prison, threatened Jenny with very disagreeable moments alone in a cell, even potential involuntary suicide, and when we left, screamed at his henchman to get us.

Now there was silence, nobody believing what they had seen. I used the moment to introduce our proofs: the existence of the foreign bank account, the movements of the bank account with photos of purchases and the wives of prominent politicians (including the Prime Minister, the Chief of Staff, and the Leader of the Coalition Party that supported the government) proudly carrying famous brandmark handbags, wearing dresses and shoes purchased through that account, and finally the report of the Laboratory in London showing the audit trail on the recordings. Mr. Smiley gave details of his methods about the process to validate the integrity of the documents, and confirmed that it was Messrs. Wacynsky and Bukos in the recordings, that the slip of paper with the account information had Mr. Bukos' fingerprints, and that the equipment used for those recordings had not been tampered with. I had pen drives with a copy of our presentation in Polish and English distributed to the audience.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, you have the data that bears our accusation. I repeat: we are not on a crusade to change the world, but we will defend our company with the utmost vigor in Court. Unfortunately, we cannot do this personally in this wonderful country. The Countess de Winter, Ms. Parker, and I have received numerous death threats and our Head of Security has recommended that we go back to Australia until these questions are resolved. Our Lawyers are preparing our defense and we're certain that we'll win. I know that you have questions -- please read the files and any requests for more information you might have, send it in writing to our head office or the lawyers handling the case. We will respond."

I stepped back, still surrounded by silence, but came back for a final comment.

"We are proud to have invested in this country, and we have seen the return we received not only in monetary terms -- I must confess that we expected better -- but principally in the progress of the city of Elk and this region. We gave you the initial push to improve and to hope -- you have taken it and made it your individual and common goal to be better at every step, and the respect and love we have received from all of you make us hope that that improvement will only increase. We wish you luck -- use this information to make a better Poland! Thank you all!"

There was pandemonium, people yelling and shouting, and even fighting between the more agitated partisans. We walked away and hoped for the best. Pavel was satisfied that we had gone through the presentation without getting too much flak.

"James, we have been busy. Some government people were trying to sneak in, with several court injunctions ordering to hand over all documents in your possession, to stop whatever public event you were preparing, and demanding your arrest on charges of treason, defaming and libeling government authorities, and other charges, one more absurd than the other. The Supreme Court Judge squashed all of them -- there might be future appeals, but at this moment you are free. Unfortunately, there is worse. We caught three armed people in the crowd, but took them out. There was also a sniper on a roof a couple of hundreds of yards away, but when you moved the presentation inside, there was nothing he could do. We took him down, and I'll report what he'll be saying, and I promise that he'll sing. But James, I believe that there is nothing you can do here anymore, and I recommend strongly that you and your wives return to Australia. I'll have some people in Sydney who will contact you for information and temporary security."

That was more than I ever heard Pavel saying, and it showed the worries he had for us.

"Pavel, I agree ..." and I heard the sigh of his relief ".... and please arrange the jet. We'll have lunch and off we go. Thank you so much for everything -- without you, we'd be somewhere in jail, forgotten and abused. We'll never forget this!"

"This is what friends are for, James. And don't forget that I have a new job and that Catarina will be happy working in the Castle. We work well together, James!"

Suddenly he stepped forward and hugged me.

"James, I'm happy to call you my friend, and whatever you want from me, I'll be at your side."

This was rather uncharacteristic of Mr. Trotsky, and I hugged him back, touched by his gesture of emotion.

"Pavel, my friend, I agree we are a good team."

Then we stepped back, trying to hide this emotional display, but suddenly there was Jenny at my side, hugging him, too. And when she moved away, Maureen came forward with the same gesture. He was rigid for a moment, but then hugged her back, and even dared to kiss her cheek.

"Countess ...." Maureen interrupted him. "Friends use names, not titles. I'm Maureen, and you are family now!"

"Countess ...." Maureen harrumphed and he corrected himself. "Maureen, I'm so proud of being James' friend, and happy to be your friend also!"

Now it was Jenny's turn to get involved.

"Pavel, I've observed you during these days and I can only confirm James' words -- without you, we would be jailed or dead. Thank you, my friend!"

There was a moment of silence, and then life came back. People circled us, asking questions, demanding answers, and there was generalized confusion around us. It took us some time to calm them down, and finally, we moved to have our lunch. They asked for a speech and I looked at Jenny, but she looked right back.

"James, you started it, you finish it."

I stood up, and people were slowly silent.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, my friends, you have all heard what we wanted to say, and it is out of our hands now. We hope that the Polish people will listen and make a choice. We'll go back to Sydney, and back to our normal life. I believe that staying here at this moment might not be the best choice ..." and people laughed, agreeing with us.

We said goodbye, and it was surprising the see and hear how sincere their wishes for our future were. The Jet was standing by, but before we left, I called Pavel and Catarina aside.

"Catarina, we've talked to the General Manager of the Castle -- he'll retire soon and if you want the position, it's yours. Pavel, you'll stay here and watch what will happen, resolve whatever problem pops up, and inform us every day. We expect you to be in Sydney in two weeks with an update and your recommendations. You'll also have to decide if you want to become the Head of Security for our European operations, or if you want to be the Global Head of Security. We'll discuss responsibilities, salary, and benefits, and you decide. If you want, bring Catarina with you. Good luck!"

They stared at us, and before they could start to argue, I shook his hand and kissed Catarina. Jenny and Maureen followed, but there were two kisses. We waved to everyone, stepped into the waiting car, hopped into the Jet, and off we were.

After the plane had reached cruising altitude, I released the safety belt and turned to my two ladies.

"My two loves, can we relax now? These have been tiring days, and we need to slow down. Does anybody want a drink?"

It turned out that they wanted one, and I poured a generous dose of Glenmorangie into three glasses. Maureen told us that her mother had decided to stay for a few days in the Castle -- she wanted to experience the enjoining confusion; we were happy for her to be entertained. The flight was short, close to two hours, and we had a direct connection to a BA flight to Sydney. It was a long flight -- over 22 hours -- but the first-class tickets and the stopover in Singapore would help. The service was excellent as always and the seats changed to a bed -- unfortunately they were not close together and all we could do was hold hands.

As we arrived in Sydney there was a call from Allan advising me to expect reporters at the exit. He had arranged that one of our people gathered the luggage tickets and we were free to go. There was a small tumult at the exit doors: reporters yelling at us and two TV cameras recording everything.

One reporter was faster than the others and stepped forward.

"Count, what happened in Poland? Did you really accuse the Prime Minister of extortion and blackmail?"

He stuck his microphone in my face and was not happy when I waved him away. The yelling and pushing continued but slowed down when I did not answer. Finally, they realized that I would not respond to this situation and there was a moment of silence. Now I could speak.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the media, let me make a short statement. During the last five years, we made a big investment in Poland; it was going well until we were ordered by the Prime Minister to come to Warsaw. There he told us that he would take over our company, run it with his people, and we would not ever see any payment for the money and the time we had invested. When he left, his Chief of Staff called us into his office and told us that with a one-time payment of 25 million dollars, a certain percentage of our profits (and he would determine the percentage) paid to a company run by the Prime Minister's family, and a Polish person to be appointed by the LaJ party, we could remain as nominal owners of the company. He gave us a slip of paper with the account number of a bank abroad and when we questioned whether this had the agreement of the Prime Minister, he led us back to his office, and there he confirmed the threat and the instructions."

I stopped for a moment and questions were thrown at me; I waited for a moment and continued.

"We had been warned about this possibility and were prepared. We recorded the image and the words and had the paper with the account number analyzed. It gave us the details of the money deposited and withdrawn, and with this, we had proof where it was spent. It was clear that politicians in the government and his coalition partner had used the money for personal gain. When we went back to the Prime Minister to tell him that we would not agree to his demands, he got very angry and threatened us with jail, that we would not survive the time in the jail and that Ms. Parker would enjoy the attention of some very violent prisoners. We also have a video and sound records of this moment. We left and he tried to arrest us, but our Head of Security managed to get us to the airport, and we escaped."

Now the media went insane, yelling questions, sticking microphones into our faces, and generally creating a noisy tumult. I waited again until they had calmed down, realizing that I would not respond to their behavior, and finished.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we had all these records audited and without any doubt, a well-known Investigative Laboratory in London confirmed the veracity and integrity of these records. We knew that a lot of these records were obtained in a way that made them unacceptable in a criminal process, so we went the only way we saw to obtain justice; we went to the Polish people. They have a choice now: believe facts and change the government, or believe the politicians and see their county dive into an inferno. It's their choice, and we wish them luck!"

There was a moment of silence, and I used it to add some words.

"We had some very tiring weeks and a long flight. There is nothing I can or do want to add -- so, wait for whatever will happen, and have fun!"

We turned around under loud cries of "We want information, Count!", "Count, what will happen now?", and even "Miss Parker, tell us something, anything ..."

Allan had arranged some people from the company, and they helped our getaway. When we were in the car, he embraced the two ladies, then turned to me.

"James, do you realize what you've done? Our Ambassador in Warsaw has been declared 'Persona non Grata' and has 48 hours to leave the country. We've asked for an extension and are certain to get one. Their Ambassador has been called back 'For Consultations", and as far as we can see, there is no government in Poland at this moment. At the end of the week, there will be a vote of confidence in the government, and it seems at this moment that they'll lose it. You were right: there are no legal arguments for a criminal process, but the people have taken the street to demand the resignation of the two coalition parties. James, you have changed the political situation in Poland! You don't do things lightly, do you?"

He hugged me. "James, we are very proud of you and Jenny!"

I asked him about the reaction from Germany and they seemed to have stayed out of trouble: they ignored requests from the government to deliver me to Polish Courts and repeated all the time that it was an Australian investment and that I was just a minor employee in the Castle company. Jenny laughed. "Hey, minor employee. I hope that you have learned your position and will bow to your betters!"

Allan asked about Eileen and smiled when we told him that she wanted to stay a few days to see the political explosion develop and detonate. "That's Eileen, and I bet that she'll have fun."

We went home and it was wonderful to see our children running up and hugging us. They missed us, and we had missed them. They told us about school and Horst admitted that he had met a nice girl in his class. Jenny was upset. "When did this happen?" He told us that they exchanged desserts in the lunchroom and that she was of Chinese background, and that he really liked her. We looked at each other -- exchanging dessert pies in their age was proof of love! Finally, they could escape and somehow we knew that this was family.

Lunch was easy and there was an update from Pavel. There was absolute political chaos -- the Prime Minister was in hiding, his party demanding his resignation; the President of his coalition partner was yelling about fraud and fake news but when photographs appeared in the media of his wife showing off in a Hermès handbag and Channel pumps, his party had an emergency session and he lost his job. Pavel said that it was not clear what would happen: the majority of the LaJ members were in favor of a change but were afraid that their lucrative sinecures would disappear in a new general election which they would probably lose. The same applied to the other party, but he said that the no-confidence vote the following day would be rather interesting. He also mentioned that all attempts to take over our company had stopped, waiting for a resolution to this embarrassing situation. A surprise was the Mr. Smirsky, the governor for our region, was suddenly in the news as a probable candidate as the opposition leader.

Jenny looked at Maureen. "Darling, you must be very tired, so why don't you and James take a nap and I've been told by Dad that he'll come for dinner. I'll handle the children."

Maureen hugged her and promised that she would soon return that favor, and then she grasped my hand and pulled me to our bedroom. It was funny hearing the giggles from Jenny and surprisingly, from the children. They were growing up fast!

Maureen closed the door and turned to me. "My love, I missed you so much and I was praying for your safety every morning and night. Thank God you're back."

She sniffled. "James, don't do this again, and if you ever dare to repeat this, I'll kill you. And the next time Jenny has to stay at home -- let's see whether she'll enjoy it!"

I was not quite certain what she wanted to say -- would she kill me before anything like this mess occurred again, or would she be at my side? Probably both.

She looked at me.

"James, my love, now I want just to stay in your arms to know that you're back and I can relax. I promise that tonight you'll get me -- anywhere and anyhow. Please?"

I nodded and embraced her, feeling her love. Then I slowly undressed her, she repeated this gesture and when I picked her up and carried her to our bed, she pulled me down and kissed me tenderly. She lay down and when I slipped under our covers, she took a deep breath, dried her eyes, and pulled me close. One more kiss and she snuggled into my arms.

"Darling, now I'm all right. Just hold me tight!" An easy command to follow!

One more deep breath, a tightening of her arms, and she fell asleep. I couldn't sleep so easily but was happy that we were together again. When I finally was falling asleep, I felt Jenny creeping into our room, undressing and holding me fast from the other side "I love you ..." and we three were in Morpheus's arms.

Unfortunately, an alarm sounded at six o'clock and we had to get up. I wanted to see our children, see what had happened to them, and whether they were still interested in their old father. I was fortunate -- they still remembered me. There were the obvious questions what presents I had bought for them and they were satisfied with the dolls the women of Elk had given me, and some electronics were also appreciated. Then it was dinner and we had Allan with us; as always business discussions were forbidden during meals. Mabel, our cook had prepared a very tasty John Dory in a red wine sauce, with morels accompanying the dish. Maureen looked through our wine cellar and came up with a 2005 Nuits-St-Georges -- an interesting choice I must say! At the end we agreed that the combination was possible, but that we would not repeat it.