XII

Havana, A Few Days Later

After the shocking event in the hotel in Buenos Aires Lara and Kurtis had packed their gear and travelled to Cuba. In the old town centre of Havana lived an old friend of Kurtis' father Konstantin.

The republic of Cuba is located in the Caribbean area. It's got eleven million inhabitants and consists of one main island and thousands of smaller islands.

The warm weather didn't bother both people much when they left the international airport of Jose Marti, since the climate was basically similar to Argentina.

Havana itself is a big city, housing two million people. The architecture varies from churches and castles from the sixteenth century to flatbloks and community lots built in the late fifties to hi-tec buildings that only recently erected.

From the airport Lara and Kurtis took a taxi, driving them alongside La Malecon, a broad boulevard giving a nice view over the canal.

When they got out of the taxi they had arrived in the old town centre of Havana. Enormous portraits of President Castro were painted on several walls. Usually flanked by his companion Che Guevara.

In the eye of the people in the street Lara and Kurtis perhaps seemed nothing more then two people on a holiday. A man dressed in combat trousers and a white sleeveless shirt and a woman in kaki shorts and a black top. Both examining their surroundings through dark sunglasses. They followed a narrow lane shaded by palm trees. At both sides of the road they saw flats made out of yellowish bricks. From some balconies laundry was draped over the balustrades and the air was filled by the sound of music, voices of playing children and passing cars.

"It must be this house", said Kurtis pointing at one of the front doors. "Number 174, on the second floor."

Lara followed him to the front door and pressed the right button. "What was his name again?" she asked.

"Julio Velazquez", announced Kurtis with a grin. "Sounds impressive, dontcha agree?"

"Is it a long time ago since he saw you for the last time?" Asked Lara.

Kurtis leaned against door and pushed his sunglasses to the tip of his nose. "He never saw me, I only know him from what my father told me."

Lara looked surprised and opened her mouth to ask something but at that moment the door creaked open and a chubby man with short grey hair looked at them for a moment. "Don't say anything", he announced and held up his hand. "Let me guess..."

Lara looked at his hand and saw he was wearing the same type of ring as Kurtis. The man stared long and hard at Kurtis and a bright smile appeared at his face.

"Konstantin... No, no, that is nonsense... Konstantin is dead... and if he was alive... he should be older then that...", he paused and examined both people from top to toe.

"It's Kurtis, his son", said Lara who was to impatient to wait a second longer. "Nice to meet you Julio."

The man raised his eyebrows and then happily hugged Kurtis. "Kurtis, of course. How great to see you boy, you look so much like your father. And who did you bring with you?"

Lara reached out to shake hands. "Name's Lara, I'm a friend of Kurt."

"Well, well, well, what a surprise, how nice of you to visit me. Oh, you must excuse me for letting you wait so long. I was cooking some dinner for tonight, but do come in. How impolite of me to hold you up at the door like this, come in, come in."

AngelTrent

They followed Julio inside the house to a small living room. Two leather sofas stood not far from the door to the balcony. Between them was a low table filled with empty glasses, books, an ashtray, some newspapers and a small wooden box. One of the sofas was flanked by a big green plant in a ceramic pot. The rest of the room was occupied by a wooden dining table and some chairs, a cupboard with many drawers and a small cage with a parrot. Two doors were set into the wall opposite the balcony.

Julio invited his guests to take place at the sofa. "I'm back in second", he said. "I get something to drink for you from the kitchen."

He disappeared behind one of the two doors giving them a glimpse of a small kitchen. He came back with three small glasses and placed them on the table. "Oh, it's a bit messy here, I hope you don't mind." He took some of the newspapers and piled them up at one corner of the table. Then he went to the cupboard and took out a bottle of rum.

"Well, now you must tell me what brings you here to this country Kurtis", he said while filling the glasses.

Kurtis smiled amused. "I can't remember we ordered rum, but thanks anyway. What brings us here is a small island not far from Cuba."

Julio sat down next to him, leaned back and nodded slowly.

"Kurtis is infected with toxic material two years ago", continued Lara. "It so happens the antiserum can be found at a military base on that island. The poison has been in his system for a long time, but he got only a small amount and it is a slow process. We don't know how much time we have left though before it's too late."

Kurtis rubbed his nose bone and coughed. "Lara got it right; I suffer from headaches and dizzy spells. But it slowly gets worse and if we don't find the antiserum..."

Julio took a big swig of rum. "I understand my boy, and I wish I could help you. But I don't know how. Well, I know the island you are talking about, officially its secret but even my neighbours grandchildren know its there. I can show you where it is on the map."

That moment Kurtis' mobile phone rang. He sighed and took the little thing from his pocket, the screen showed the number of Boris.

"Hey Boris."

"Trent, good to hear you are still alive."

"Why?"

"I just found out some serious problems. Is Bex still with you?"

"No, she is gone. And she presumably killed our contact."

"I see..."

"What's this all about man?" Kurtis started to get worried.

"I found out this guy Igor Smertin is a crook."

"You don't say? And what's got Bex to do with that?"

"Remember how Smertin transferred his donation via a small company of a friend?"

"Yes, he called me in Argentina to tell this friend had connections in the underworld but he offered to cancel the whole thing."

"That was a trap, a test to see how you would react. Because Smertin is part of the underworld too, I have his office bugged. That friend is actually his boss and they joined the Lux as so-called investors to use our bank accounts as safe harbour for their dirty money."

Kurtis cursed loudly and emptied his glass with a long gulp. "I knew it", he hissed. "I knew we should get rid of these people."

Boris remained silent for a second. "The point is", he said. "They think so too. In the past few weeks they found out what the LV exactly stands for, and for some reason they decided they didn't want to get involved with it any further."

Kurtis frowned. "So? What's the problem then?"

"They want all their money back. And they think you know too much and want to clean you up. They recruited someone from our ranks do to the job."

Kurtis grinned cynically. "Bex."

"Yes."

"Well", said Kurtis. "Thanks for letting me know, we should watch our toes the coming days. We are in Havana at the moment and will set up a trip to a small island to retrieve the antiserum."

"Good for you", commented Boris dryly. "Can I be of any service? I'm in The States at the moment and I got a fast yacht."

Kurtis laughed. "I don't think you get inside the harbour of Havana. They have coast patrols day and night for Cuban refugees."

"Don't worry about that. I got faked papers to get inside the parliament and sit behind Castro's desk if I want."

"Well, in that case you could get us to that island and help us with some equipment for sneaking into a heavily secured base."

"Will do. See you tomorrow evening in the harbour. I will call." and with that he switched off his phone.