Chapter 7: Burden of Responsibility

Pietor felt the tears flow freely down his face. He felt no shame in showing his emotion, his grief, his impending sense of loss as he sat at Viktor's bedside in the old man's private apartment. The room had been fitted much like a private hospital room. Monitors, an IV stand, an oxygen tent, and a silent attendant surrounded the dying man. Viktor was wasted, his body failing. He barely had strength to raise his hand to place it in Pietor's grasp.

"My dear, faithful Pietor," Viktor whispered. Pietor strained to hear his leader's voice. It was faint but his words were clear and coherent.

"Pietor, last night I was not able to sleep so well. I lay awake, listening to these machines ... they make impatient noises, waiting for me to die, I think..."

"No, Viktor, no!" Pietor protested softly, gently pressing Viktor's hands. "They simply warn your nurse and your physician that you require immediate care. We are not ready to lose you. Please, can you rally yourself ... can you stay with us for a while, yet?

"Nyet, Pietor ... even you must realize that my time is nearly ended. Do not grieve. Wherever my spirit goes, I am sure it will be to receive justice for my deeds. Not even I can tell to which side the scales will tip more heavily..."

The frail old man coughed weakly; instantly his nurse was on his feet and holding a small glass of water and a bent straw to the old man's lips. He drew a brief sip, and waved the glass away with his eyes and a slight move of his head. The nurse withdrew, and Viktor spoke again.

"Pay attention, my son. Last night when I could not sleep, she came to me. She appeared beside my bed, where you are, and she was most kind. She smiled and held my hand, Pietor. I must tell you, my old heart rejoiced. She is such a marvelous creature..."

Pietor was stunned. Fear, anger, disbelief, astonishment ... all flooded his mind. He was barely able to stop his outburst. Instead, he leaned closer to Viktor and whispered:

"Who was this!? Who dared invade your room! What woman ... creature, was this, who dared!"

"No ... no, you do not understand, Pietor ... it was her, the Raven Woman. Her elders had visited before. Remember? I told you? They were ... they remain, they are a blessing in my life ... they have been a salvation to our city, Pietor ... to our beloved city!"

Viktor let his head sink into his pillow, and he motioned with a finger for more water. The nurse appeared instantly, and afterward wiped Viktor's mouth and chin with a soft tissue. He glanced at the monitors with a worried look, and stared at Pietor as if to say 'you must leave, you over-tire him!' But he dare not; Viktor insisted that Pietor remain by his bedside.

"Please, Pietor, attend me. Listen. We have little time, and you must understand. She gave me a message, Pietor, and the weight of it will fall on your shoulders. Please, be still ... remain silent until I finish!"

Pietor stared into the old man's blazing eyes, sunken so deeply into his emaciated, sallow face. He forced himself to be calm. He dare not waste these precious moments. He dare not miss a single word.

"Thank you, Pietor. Please ask the nurse to leave us alone for a moment."

After much protest, Pietor was forced to escort the nurse from the room and lock the door behind him. He returned to Viktor's side.

"My son, I must hasten. She told me of a terrible vision, and that we have a huge burden placed upon us. She saw a terrible weapon, a mushroom cloud over an American city. She saw innocent souls ascending to the heavens. She said the time is not now, but will neither will it be long. She sees the seeds of hatred and violence being sown even now, and when the hatred seizes their nation, the terrible vision will come to pass. She said it might be prevented, but it will be exceedingly difficult. It is like catching one particular rat among millions in the sewers, she said. It will take the greatest skill and vigilance. All must work together to find the one rat and kill it!"

Pietor stared in silence. He could not, dare not speak.

"She did say that she had implored her spirit guides for further enlightenment, and she was told to disregard the troubled desert nations in the east where men slaughter innocents as a perverse expression of their twisted beliefs. There, she was told, they seek indeed to trade in such unspeakable weapons. But it is upon themselves that they will reap utter destruction if by ill chance they obtain the means. But that is for another, more distant day.

"She was told that we must look to the remnants of the Cold War madness that gripped the great nations for so many years. It was in those days that thousands upon thousands of nuclear weapons were created and improved and manufactured in a head-long race toward mutually assured destruction. Some have been lost, she was told, and some of those now lay concealed in unthinkable locations. 'Look there, ' she was warned. 'Be attentive to the whispered warnings, the frightened murmurs from the lips of brave men of good conscience.'"

"There we may find the device and destroy it. We MUST destroy it, Pietor, and those who would use it!

"Pietor, you are my inheritor. You have been my strong right arm; now you must become my body, my purpose, my devotion. You possess my trust; now you will possess my terrible burden of responsibility. Use all of our resources. Hold nothing back. Spare no effort. Waste no moment, and deny no alliance. The vision must not come to pass! You must find and destroy that weapon and all who accompany it.