Chapters (58)
- Cover
- Also by Oliver Harris
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
‘That’s what we’re worried about. This went live a few hours before the bomb.’ Piper showed me a website on her phone: an organisation called Corruption Watch, based in Helsinki, had come into possession of data hacked from Galina’s financial adviser: emails concerning a BVI-registered shell company used to buy a 23-metre yacht and three properties in London. Someone had got footage flying over a mansion: tennis courts and a boating lake, a chain of interconnecting pools, some sports cars and a helipad. The cover was off the pool, furniture out. It had been filmed in summer. Someone had waited for the right moment.
‘We can get it onto the second page, at least. That may be all. Same accounts pushing photos of Galina with Carter at the party last night, and a story about Galina wanting to take Kazakhstan into NATO.’
It was on at least three reputable sites. Her photo was placed beside one of the NATO Secretary-General. It is unlikely the invitation to begin accession talks will appear anytime soon, but the meeting indicates Galina’s willingness to reorient the country her father has steered for so long …
‘That one appeared about an hour after the bomb,’ Piper said.
A lot of Kazakhs had begun demanding free elections: bots, calling out for representation. The Kazakh people deserve to choose! They had memes: ballot boxes with the Kazakh flag on the side and a cartoon of Galina stealing a map of the country behind the backs of grieving citizens.
‘Get pictures of Galina injured,’ I said. ‘She’s a hero now. She survived an attempt on her life. Remind people that democracy’s divisive and what we need now is unity. Make it clear that any free elections would be won by Islamists. Point towards Egypt.’
‘Okay.’
‘So we’re going to let Galina unite Kazakhstan and steer us through this difficult time. Emphasise that she’s a victim of last night’s attack. Get pictures of her injured face. Everything needs to be about her now. Continuity.’
‘We can’t get access to the hospital.’
‘They didn’t get access to the party but they’ve got pictures of it. Photoshop something.’
Politics has two speeds: glacial and crisis. Crisis is a storm in which all the little laws are up in the air, the dice of history tumbling. You have a window before reality congeals again. Hours, sometimes minutes.
By 3 a.m. they’d managed to assemble all the big names. Those in Kazakhstan stood around a conference table in the corner office. Their London colleagues streamed in on a video screen. I recognised Charlene Hayes, who used to chair the Joint Intelligence Committee. I also recognised John Weston, former British ambassador to NATO and the UN. Walker led with the intel he’d received.
‘The President’s dead. That’s confirmed. The bomber’s believed to be Samat Baysufinov – Kazakh, from Shymkent. Twenty-eight years old, no known affiliations.’