Chapter 1.4. Meeting with Catherine de Graaf

The reception room of the Head of Foreign Intelligence and her two deputies was also on the third floor but in a different wing of the building.

In the reception room, Mike met a tall, slender, middle-aged man in a colonel's uniform. As far as Mike could remember, his name was Theodor de Graaf, also from his clan. He was a confidant of Catherine de Graaf and held the position of her secretary. According to rumors, they came into foreign intelligence together. And that was over 300 years ago.

"Good afternoon, sir. Colonel Tirel de Graaf said that Madame General Catherine de Graaf wanted to see me," Mike said with a slight bow.

"Michael de Graaf, is that correct?"

"That's right, sir."

"So, you are already back," the man asked, as if in the affirmative. " Madame General is absent at the moment. But you can sit and wait; she should be back now," he pointed to an empty seat.

"All right, sir."

There was a cushioned corner in the reception area, and various journals and newspapers were lying on a table nearby to pass the time. Sitting down on the cushioned couch, Mike began looking at the magazines lying in front of him - Politics Today, The Economic Herald, Abern's Time, The Daily Mirror. His choice fell on the Province Chronicle. Opening the journal, he began reading it.

He had to wait quite a long time, more than half an hour. Then three people entered the reception room: two men and a woman. The men were tall, slender, in the uniform of a lieutenant-general, resembling each other in some way. Both were the same height and age, with similar haircuts. Both were dark-skinned. One was Carl Gustav. The other Istas de Reine. Both are deputies of Catherine de Graaf.

Catherine de Graaf herself was also tall, about one meter ninety, middle-aged and slender. She has long black hair, which was now styled in the shape of a crown on her head. She wore a dark green fitted uniform dress with a wide skirt and a small plume with a high collar and gold embroidery. Even from a few meters away, there was an incredible power emanating from her, and her blue eyes seemed to look right through you. Rumor has it she was a rank eleven magical power, but no one knew for sure if that was true.

Mike and Theodor stood up and bowed. Seeing Mike, Catherine smiled and said in a melodious female voice: "Mike my boy. It is good that you are here. But you'll have to wait a little longer until we finish our business. We'll call for you."

She gestured for Theodor to follow them into her cabinet. Mike remains alone in the reception room.

After twenty minutes Theodor came out and gestured for him to follow him into his cabinet.

Catherine de Graaf's office was very similar to Colonel Tirel de Graaf's, just as large and spacious. In the center was a long meeting table for 12 people, with a desk at the end of it. Behind the desk were bookcases. On the right side of the wall hung a map of the continent and a map of the empire. On the left were three south-facing windows.

Catherine sat at her desk, her deputies on the left side of the long table. Theodor de Graaf pointed Mike to a chair on the right side of the table and sat himself also on the right side closer to Catherine de Graaf's desk.

There was a distribution of responsibilities between the deputies. Istas de Reine being more in charge of affairs within the empire and on its borders, while Carl Gustav dealt with foreign affairs far beyond the borders.

Mike sat down, and after a brief pause, Carl Gustav spoke first.

"Captain, we have received and carefully studied your reports. And now we would like to hear from you in person about how you rate the outcome of your mission to the Northern Prairie. As well as your personal evaluation of the result of your actions," Carl Gustav asked him in a measured and calm manner.

Those present had various papers on the table and each had a crystal tablet. Mike considered for a few seconds what to say to him.

"The result of my mission I rate as successful, sir, although beyond the scope of the original plans. A criminal group engaged in sabotage and secret information gathering got exposed. Three of its four members are under arrest. I also uncovered the violations, abuses, and incompetence of several officials. Including in our ministry. My reports indicate all of this. Unfortunately, I was not able to confirm the information about the connection between the Marine Brotherhood and the nomadic tribes. As well as information about a future collaboration between them. This data in paper form I handed over to Colonel Tirel today."

Mike hesitated for a few seconds, pondering how to characterize his actions. Those presents did not disturb him, giving him the time he needed. When he had gathered his thoughts, he continued. "As for my actions personally, I do not consider myself in a position to evaluate my actions. But even if I had the opportunity to go back in time, I would repeat most of my actions, sir. I admit that I may have been a little short-tempered in my dealings with representatives of the Foreign Office. I have already written a letter of apology to them. They will have it tomorrow."

When he finished, Mike looked at Carl Gustav, but it was Istas de Reine who spoke first. "Captain, you do realize that the events in which you were directly involved have created a lot of problems for us. You stirred up this hornet's nest."

"Yes, sir," Mike said, tilting his head in apology. "I understand that."

"The abuse and incompetence of the local administration and the Foreign Ministry. The slowness of the army. The sabotage in our ministry. I honestly did not expect such serious problems in this region," said Istas de Reine. "However, thanks to your involvement and the decisions you made, Captain, we have an opportunity to improve our situation in this region. Although, given recent events, I think we still have a lot of work to do."

"Glad to serve, sir," Mike replied.

Stolen novel; please report.

"I think that the events that have occurred have left our Foreign Ministry looking pale. But the media frenzy is starting dying down. And they're contributing to that, I'm sure, in any way they can. They don't like this kind of attention," Istas turned to Catherine and added. "I'd suggest fueling this attention and doing a media leak."

"Istas, you can't do that," replied Catherine de Graaf. "We've talked about this before. Even if we take pleasure in the problems of our friends at the Foreign Ministry. Widespread publicity, especially outside our empire, is a direct threat to our state. It will give foreign states an excuse to carry out various provocations against our state and the Foreign Ministry. And this will significantly add to our work."

"Besides, we're not here to discuss your past mission, Mike. I called you for another reason," she said, turning to Mike. "I signed the order granting you the rank of Major. Congratulations Major Michael de Graaf."

He was very surprised to hear her say that. He didn't expect that.

"Glad to serve, ma'am," Mike replied.

"Go later to the Chancellery to get your new documents. They have everything there," said Catherine.

"Now, since you have a new rank, a little test for you. How well do you know the situation in the south of the continent, and just up to the middle of it," asked Carl Gustav.

There was one huge continent on the planet that measured 28,000 kilometers by 24,000 kilometers. It has a population of about one billion, divided into non-human races of 310 million and human races of over 700 million.

Non-human races inhabit the northern and eastern parts of the continent. They have three states in the northern part of the continent: the Undermountain Kingdom of Hades (100 million), the Light Empire of Gaia (95 million), and the Dark Empire of Hecate (85 million). Another 30 million people in the eastern part have no state but lead a mostly nomadic lifestyle.

The human race inhabits the central and southern parts of the continent. Have a variety of states. The most significant of them are the Magical Enclave (40 million) and the Holy Empire of the Eternal Sun (80 million).

"I know everything that's been in the reports over the last month and in the newspapers and magazines. Plus, fragments of what happened in the last year, sir."

"Go on," Carl Gustav told him.

Mike thought for a few seconds.

"Of the big states in the South, the Magical Enclave in the southeast didn't show any activity in the last year. We haven't heard from them at all. That's very strange to me. Even in the Northern Prairie, there were a few rumors, but not much. Although, they are obviously involved in it. But I have no confirmation of it. The Holy Empire in the southwest, on the other hand, has become very active. It's taking over two smaller states and actively promoting its religion in all human states, sending out its priests and opening new temples. I think it is the number one object of attention to us at the moment. And of the big states, that's probably it. On the smaller ones, there are a couple of conflicts, and a few power changes, including one because of the Holy Empire. But nothing else," Mike replied.

"You're right that the Holy Empire does bother us a lot, Michael," Carl Gustav told him. "But that is not the case this time. What about Artea and the kingdom of Irid Michael."

This time, Mike thought longer. No one present rushed him with an answer, giving him time to think.

"I have heard nothing of the events linking the two states, nor of the influence of the Magical Enclave or the Holy Empire, sir. Though the Empire's influence has long been firmly rooted in the kingdom of Irid. Nothing significant has happened in the kingdom itself lately. In Artea, from what I understand, there is a lingering conflict between factions, but no significant change in the balance of power."

As Mike finished his talk, he looked around at everyone present, pausing at Carl Gustav. There was surprise and incomprehension in his gaze. Mike was about to ask his question when Catherine de Graaf preceded him.

"What about your department and the ministry as a whole," she asked him.

"In my department, as far, as I have had time to read the latest reports, there are no cases involving Artea and Irid, ma'am. If you take our ministry as a whole, however, there was the death of Captain Crocan of our ministry in Artea. It was in the reports."

Catherine handed to Theodor the folder of documents that lay before her, and he in turn handed it to Mike.

"Mike, take a look at these documents," she told him. "Top secret, not for distribution."

Mike took the folder and began to study the documents carefully. Reports, analytical notes, dispatches, pictures from the scene, some newspaper clippings, and orders from the Ministry. It started with an analytical note on the Kingdom of Irid. The analyst collected several reports and dispatches on and around the Kingdom of Irid. He concluded that some important data was being distorted and less important data, in general, might be missing. The analyst recommended sending someone to investigate on the ground and to eliminate the possible incompetence of those on local duty or just coincidences. That man was Captain Crocan. He goes on the River Acheron practically to his destination, plus another 1000km overland. The Kingdom of Irid was very far from the Dark Empire. In a straight line, more than 12,000 kilometers. And by his route, even more. But Captain Crocan didn't make it to the Kingdom of Irid. The ship he was sailing on had to stop in Artea, almost halfway there due to a breakdown. The local authorities found prohibited goods on the ship, and Captain Crocan had to find another transport. But he did not find another transport in time. Two days after leaving the ship, he was killed. Killed at night during a drunken bar brawl. The killer got arrested right at the scene of the crime.

Before this incident, the Ministry of Foreign Intelligence received two detailed reports from Captain Crocan. One on disembarking the ship, and the second after two days, just before his murder. There is also a report from the local branch of the Ministry of Foreign Intelligence. The captain was in contact with them, both to transmit the reports and to search for the transport. The last contact with the captain was at 4:40 p.m., and at 10:30 p.m., he was already dead. Why the captain was in that bar far from his hotel, the department, or even just the river is still unknown.

A team of two officers, Captain Arima and Captain Drake, were sent to support the local branch in the investigation. Captain Arima is a highly accomplished coroner. Captain Drake had previously worked for some time in Artea and knew both the local branch and Artea itself well. Upon arrival, they began to investigate. They examined Captain Crocan's body and his belongings. They found nothing unusual. The body is now sent home to relatives. The next day, after a petition, local authorities allowed Captain Drake to see the prisoner accused of murder. But the meeting did not take place; the captain did not show up at the appointed time. No one has seen him since.

The disappearance took place two days ago. The local authorities, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Intelligence branch, did not find anything. Captain Arima got an order to stay in place until further notice.

Mike was deep in thought. He had several theories on both the murder and the disappearance.

"It seems strange. And from the looks of it, these events fall under our Internal Affairs Department's investigation," Mike said after reading.

"And what are your thoughts, Major," Carl Gustav asked him.

"Sir, I have three theories. The first is that it's all a coincidence. That's unlikely. The second is that there was a personal conflict between Captain Crocan, Captain Drake, and someone in Artea. That's possible. And the third possibility is that it was all set up and executed by a third party, which is quite possible. The Holy Empire, for example. And, of course, a combination of all three versions is possible."

When he had finished his story, he looked around at those present. Judging by their expressions, it wasn't anything new to them.

"Do you think it is possible, Major, to have a traitor in the Foreign Intelligence Office here in the capital with a third party interfering in the events?" Carl Gustav asked him.

"Yes, of course, sir. Why not?" he replied.

Upon hearing his answer, Carl Gustav nodded with satisfaction.

"Major, write your thoughts in more detail," he asked Mike.

"Yes, of course, sir."

"Theodor, provide Mike with paper and pen and see he writes it all down. We'll discuss it further in the meantime," Catherine instructed.