The Before Short Story Series. Part 1 - стр. 29
‘Thanks. What do you mean?’
‘You know what.’
‘An eight-digit number of the resource base or something?’ Robert smiled.
‘That’s right.’
‘First of all, they need us much more than we need them. We can do without them, as you know well. But they won’t without us. So, we have nothing to lose if friendship is not in place. Then I thought I should take care of you, too. Let’s see what decision our Chinese friends will make.’
Robert looked across the river at the parliament: ‘Today, bathing in the sun, it shines like never before, reflecting the rays of power and greatness. We will definitely come back to the conversation with this Kim. He will remember this meeting for the rest of his life, and I won’t even recall his name.’ Robert felt excited.
Cheremkhovo
Two hours after the tedious flight from London to Irkutsk, and finally Antonio took a transfer to the hotel in the city centre by an air taxi drone. He was alone in the car—nothing prevented him from taking a bird’s-eye view of the Siberian city where he was for the first time.
‘What’s the temperature outside, … taxi?’ having decided how to put it, Antonio asked a question.
‘It is currently 29 degrees plus in the city center. It’s not going to rain today,’ the digital assistant replied.
‘How much longer will it take us to fly to the hotel?’
‘The journey to the Siberia hotel will take no more than 12 minutes.’
‘OK.’
The city center with high-rise buildings stood out ahead in a light haze. Skyscrapers tore apart the horizon, piercing the cloudless sky with sharp spikes. Antonio looked down. Apparently, they were flying over the suburbs of Irkutsk. Private houses, wrapped in a green blanket of foliage, were gradually thinning out, giving way to modern multi-storey residential quarters, through which groups of church domes could be seen in the distance. Their golden arches dazzled the eyes, reflecting the sun rays. He has counted at least six churches already.
‘And where is Lake Baikal, taxi?’
‘Lake Baikal will be on the left side all the way through the flight of the drone. But at this altitude you will not be able to see Lake Baikal. We will soon fly up to the Angara River. I can give you a sightseeing tour of the city center.’
‘Not this time. I don’t have time for this.’
Antonio was pleasantly surprised. He expected to see a provincial town in the middle of nowhere, but there was Brussels or maybe Munich in front of him. Only the Orthodox churches along the way would not let anyone to be misled about the city origin. The well developed infrastructure of the modern centre, surrounded by cosy and green suburbs of one of the largest Siberian cities, fascinated Antonio.