Kitobni o'qish: «The Island of Golden Zandolie 2»

Main characters

Chapter 1
Several years later. An alien seed

Julia had torn herself away from the text of the new science fiction novel and looked into the distance. She sat on the terrace overlooking the garden, swaying in a hammock. A laptop on her lap, a breeze playing in leaves and flowers, small tireless bright hummingbirds and butterflies – everything was pleasant to the eye! Here was Julia's "secret garden", a sanctuary of peace and inspiration, a place where her novels were born.

The terrace was in a garden, enclosed on all sides by the powerful walls and tall trees of her husband Scott's fort-house.

While her husband was breaking the waves on his beloved white catamaran "Albatross 2", his wife in the "secret garden" was creating new worlds and unseen fantastic heroes.

Julia's books became a consolation, joy, a new reality for her. She and her husband had no children. From the outside, their marriage looked quite happy, they felt good together. But apart from each other, they were also not too bad. Everyone had their own world of favorite things. Scott had the sea. Julia had her novels.

Julia lived far from her Russian friends and their families. She was meeting with them, only when Scott himself was organizing a joint boat trip or inviting all of his friends to their fort-house for a barbecue… Julia herself did not strive for communication and enjoyed working on her novels in solitude.

Today Julia was feeling somehow strange. She could not concentrate on working on the next novel. Julia from the very morning seemed to see and hear everything around in a different way. All sights, sounds and smells seemed to intensify and interfere with her.

Suddenly Julia stopped swinging in the hammock. She had started to feel very nauseous; the whole world began to revolve around her. Julia grabbed the edge of the hammock, but could not get up. The laptop crashed from her knees onto the terrace slabs, and the light around suddenly shut off…

When Julia woke up, she was in a hospital ward under an IV. Nearby sat Scott, a huge overgrown red-haired Briton, with a sailor's skin hardened under the sun and wind, in white T-shirt and shorts, in which he went on another fishing trip with tourists in the morning before.

It seemed it has passed a long time, because it was dark off the hospital window.

Julia felt extraordinary weakness, her head was heavy, and in her mouth – an unpleasant bitter-sour taste.

“What happened? How did I get here?” she asked.

“Julie, don't worry, it's okay! I found you unconscious in the garden. But it's okay! We will have a child! And pretty soon! Well, isn't that a miracle? I love you so much!” exclaimed Scott.

He wanted to kiss his wife, but she dodged and his lips touched her cheek and her neck. Julia felt bad again, a wave of nausea with renewed force rose to her throat. Scott just squeezed her small hand and gently smoothed his short, wavy reddish-brown hair.

“Hold on, love!” he continued. “The doctors said everything's fine. You just need rest and sleep. All vitamins and walks - I'll provide you with everything! Any caprice of yours!”

The next day, Julia returned home and insisted on a separate bedroom. She changed a lot overnight. As if she had transformed - or was Scott already looking at her with different eyes? She was quite subdued. She was constantly nauseous.

Scott was very worried, but did not tell anyone about his wife's pregnancy because of her own request. Only the medical staff of the hospital knew about the petite white pregnant woman with severe case of toxicosis.

Then Julia suddenly started bleeding from the uterus. Her gynecologist insisted on hospital observation. Julia felt so bad that she only subdued to obey.

The doctor could not determine the duration of the pregnancy. The size of the fetus turned out to be something strange, Julia was also confused about the duration of gestation. Then ultrasound showed that the fetus was too large and childbirth's impossible without surgical intervention. Julia was too petite for a child of this size. It was a boy, and very big one! Scott was not particularly surprised as he was a giant himself. A sense of guilt imperceptibly crushed him over. Scott reduced his sea trips, stopped communicating with friends.

Of all the Russians, the programmer and “war broad” Zina was the first to notice changes in the behavior of Scott and Julia. Sensitive and observant, Zina was always keenly interested in the life of all friends on the Island. Although Julia was not too sociable, she was still a sweet young woman and a very good writer. A couple of books have already been published and sold quite well. Julia wrote a little naive, but dashingly twisted novels with elements of fantasy. And Zina read everything she found, and did not forget to praise her friend after every new publishing.

Of course, Zina discussed everything with her husband and her always like-minded fellow, angular and impetuous IT specialist Den. And now again Zina immediately shared her thoughts with her husband. They both tried to find out from Scott what had happened. After all, Julia had completely vanished, and they had seen much less of Scott. He also was answering very vaguely to any direct questions. The red-haired giant looked somewhat confused. But he only mumbled, that Julia felt a bit unwell and preferred some solitude and peace for now.

Ever-jolly Roger, the red-nosed owner of the legendary tourist complex named after him, was aware of everything, that was happening on the Island. It was he who hinted to the Russians about Julia's difficult pregnancy. That's how the news spread among all the Russians living on the Island.

Julia’s baby was born via an emergency caesarean section. Julia lost a lot of blood and almost died. She took long time to recover from the surgery. There was no breast milk. For several days Julia was in a borderline state between life and death, and then fell into apathy, which doctors called postpartum depression. She showed no interest in her husband or even her child.

Finally, Julia asked to see her son. The newborn baby was a swarthy, large boy with a slightly oblong skull and huge cat or lizard eyes – the eyes had a vertical pupil! Julia suddenly remembered this unique deep look from the past. This helpless infant gazed at his mom with the eyes of the alien – of Golden Zandolie. It couldn’t be! Zandolie's dead, Marley's dead. Where was this from…?

Julia looked at her son, who finally closed his terrible eyes and fell asleep. She was swaying him slightly, secretly wishing, that he would not wake up for a long time. She could not bear the terrible power of that gaze. Horror finally fettered her entire small body, already exhausted by a sudden and rapid, such a strange pregnancy.

Scott was seeing his son only asleep so far and was rejoicing with might and main. Such a large and such a long-awaited son! He would teach him everything! Together they would go out to sea, fly in the sky, hunt, jet-ski, fish…

Julia was the first to tell Scott that their son had a rare cat eye syndrome, as soon as she returned home with her son. Scott at first did not attach much importance to her words - he was just glad, that everything ended well, that his wife and son were both healthy and finally at home!

They named their son Ray - as planned, in honor of Scott's father.

But when Ray woke up and looked at Scott for the first time, Scott immediately recognized those vertical pupil eyes – the cold, squinting gaze, the Golden Zandolie gaze.

No, these were just old fears. So many years have passed! And the spirit of the evil alien just stuck deep in their psyche. Perhaps this rare syndrome happened to be in their son. So what?!

Scott's and Julia's frightened looks met. Tears streamed down her cheeks… Scott hugged them both, Julia and Ray. Damn you, Golden Zandolie!

…Julia disappeared with her child on one day, when Scott finally decided to go out to the sea for the first time in a long trip. Julia seemed to come to her senses, began taking care for her son again, feeding him with a bottle, even resumed her work on novels, when the child was asleep. She did her best to demonstrate to her husband, that everything was in order. Still Julia was avoiding looking in her son's eyes…

And then Scott had returned from a wonderful fishing trip to an empty house… The car, that Scott specially bought for his wife, was not there either…

Chapter 2
Londongrad. Olga, Vladimir and Lyudmila

No, Olga and Vladimir did not vanish forever on a beautiful tropical island due to the evil whim of an alien freak, loaded with gold.

The Golden Zandolie did not succumb to the temptation of murder as a simple and reliable solution to the problem of information leakage. It was too risky to kill so many people. He simply erased any memories of himself from their memory and instilled a panic about returning to the Island.

Vladimir and Olga left the Island in a hurry and no longer thought of coming back to any point of the western hemisphere of the Earth.

While all their friends on the Island wondered about their fate and were afraid to think of the worst, Vladimir and Olga safely reached London, as planned before. However, their journey to London took several years.

The spirit of anxiety and persecution drove them around the world. They had visited various exotic countries - all of the eastern hemisphere of the Earth. Vladimir could easily manage his business affairs from anywhere in the world. He suddenly longed for something new and wanted to show Olga, that happiness could be bought and you could live smart and fun in many pretty corners of the world.

But in the end, Vladimir was drawn home. He proposed to Olga and decided to celebrate the wedding in London, his hometown. There they settled in the house of Vladimir's late parents, which he inherited with his older sister Lyudmila.

This story is primarily about the Russians in the Caribbean. But the whole life picture of our adventure lovers could not be complete, if London and Paris would not be mentioned in the story. After all, a couple of centuries ago, the British and French were desperately dividing the world into spheres of influence - and were fighting rather vigorously in the Caribbean!

In our time, all the British Caribbean islands have become independent states. And at the same time, they all retained their membership in the British Commonwealth – an alliance of former colonies of the once mighty British Empire.

The French islands remained as a part of France.

This was how the connection between the Caribbean, London and Paris was still existed, and a multi-level one…

No matter how our heroes could seek their happiness in a tropical paradise, the roads would invariably lead them to one of the capitals - on business, in transit or for love!

And it happened like that with Olga, who went to "discover her America" in the Island, a former British colony.

So little time passed, and Olga found herself in London, as the secretary and mistress of a successful businessman of Russian roots. And after a couple of years, Vladimir decided to marry Olga, just like in the case of his first wife Marina, so it has become more convenient for him at the moment in his life as a businessman.

Vladimir was a very successful business man, however he was never travelling just like that, idle, for himself - there were no reason to and nobody to go with. He used to travel the world only on business routes, combining his business with pleasure. Or he simply did not know how to rest…

Now there was a young woman by his side - Olga, with her wonderful childish blue eyes on an angelic face! And everything was so fresh and enthusiastic! She was making so many plans to see this, to visit that! Olga was so much more well-read and versatile, than Vladimir, and saw the world much brighter!

Vladimir has seen a lot during his active life as a major businessman, but his life was black and white, limited by the framework of the business world. Olga brought the whole palette of colors to Vladimir's life. It began to seem to him, that he had never lived before meeting her!…

It has long been known, that London was a city of the rich of all stripes, and Russian oligarchs were at home here. The British capital was true home to several hundred thousand Russians, and about a hundred of them were the Russian billionaires. And they all owned properties in the most prestigious areas of London. Therefore, these areas received the unspoken name of "Londograd"!

One of the most fashionable areas could be considered the Eaton Square in the Belgravia region. That's where Vladimir and his older sister Lyudmila resided. That was where Vladimir brought Olga.

So, it was Belgravia, not Belvedere, as the bear-woman Zina, Olga's former colleague from the Island, once joked. Olga ended up in Belgravia, the most elite district of London!

In the possession of Vladimir and his sister Lyudmila, there was only a half of the house – an apartment on two levels, two upper floors of a four-story building. A beautiful garden, quiet streets with luxurious cars in black and dark blue on the side of the road – everything here is thought out and stipulated in an unspoken code, even the colors of the cars! There was a discreet beauty of very big money everywhere. In fact, it was more of a private park than a square. What an amazing place it was - a garden in a city and a city in a garden. Residents of local houses and apartments even had their own keys to the gates of the garden!

The entire square was surrounded by white houses of four to five floors. All around breathed with history - famous actors, politicians and businessmen lived here at all times… Here was the house bought by Abramovich as well. And the number of this house was kept in the strictest confidence!

…When Vladimir and Olga finally returned from their long journey, it was autumn time. The trees looked in the best traditions of the Pushkin autumn - "crimson and gold"! How peaceful it was here in Belgravia, in the very heart of London! Olga was just stricken with delight! Vladimir was also, to his surprise, happy - now he saw London through Olga's eyes, and he loved it in new way!

Olga and Vladimir walked a little around the outskirts of Eaton Square, went to the nearest church, walked through the park. The dinner was planned at home with the family, meaning, with Vladimir's sister Lyudmila. Olga did not quite understand what the elder sister of her boss and fiancé was, but she was already afraid of her.

Lyudmila was much older than Vladimir and probably considered herself responsible for her brother. Their parents died long ago - the brother and sister were the children of old successful diplomats. Vladimir was born in London and has lived there almost all his life. In Russia, he was only on business.

Lyudmila still remembered Russia; their family was originally from St. Petersburg. In a strange way, she always missed the places where she was not at the moment. She often went to St. Petersburg - to miss London, and vice versa! She was in all tourist centers in Russia and Great Britain.

Lyudmila was in love with genealogy and found the roots of their relatives both in Russia and in England. Their family had been hereditary diplomats for several centuries.

Lyudmila was not a financial genius like her brother. She did not do anything special in life at all - she received a master's degree in art history, but she never worked anywhere for a long run.

From time-to-time Lyudmila gave lectures in various schools and societies. Sometimes she wrote articles or conducted private excursions for the Russians of her circle. Although all this brought her a decent income, but money was never the main issue…

Her beloved brother Vladimir was the center of Lyudmila's life. She felt responsible for his success in the financial business. Although she was poorly versed in business, she was often aware of her brother's plans. And Vladimir always informed his sister about affairs in general terms. Moreover, for many years they both had no one but each other. Lyudmila lived for sake of Vladimir, and Vladimir - for business.

Now Vladimir's unexpectedly serious relationship with Olga became a strong shock for Lyudmila. For the first time in their long life together as a brother and sister, so well-established, dignified, successful, Vladimir spent several years away from his sister. It was difficult to contact him even on the Internet. His answers were rare and scattered…

The very liaison with this Olga was utter nonsense! Complete dissolution of all traditions and rules! Moreover, Vladimir was going to marry her! No previous engagement neither announcements in newspapers and other media!

What happened to Vladimir, did they mix something in his drink!? Was this some kind of Caribbean voodoo!? Lyudmila had read, that on many islands of the Caribbean this black magic was practiced – voodoo! Vladimir has changed so much! He simply was not paying much attention to his sister; he was answering to her as if automatically! And he seemed to completely abandon all business!

The last few years have been a real nightmare for Lyudmila - her whole world collapsing around her like a house of cards was.

Lyudmila had a wish to travel as well, because the house in Eaton Square was so empty! But even the visiting of Russian monasteries did not bring the usual consolation.

Then she traveled to Italy, where she had never visited since her distant youth, she had an affair there right after university! Florence was for her not only a city of high art, but also of love. Venice also kept her most romantic memories.

Lyudmila has long wanted to travel to different cities in Italy, to enjoy the art of the Renaissance and nostalgia for a naive youth… But more than ever she longed to share all her sentiments with her brother. And he almost never answered… And even less often he called and wrote on his own…

Then finally, Vladimir had returned home with his fiancée!!! And this Olga was so weird - a gray little mouse, a pale shadow next to Vladimir, just nobody! What had attracted him to her!?

Their first family dinner was happening tonight. Lyudmila prepared everything in the best traditions. They have a wonderful French chef in the house. He always did the impossible, combined two such different cuisines – French and British, selecting the best from both! He had many of his own unique recipes…

Would this white mouse Olga be able to appreciate all the sophistication of the dishes?

Would Vladimir notice all the beauty of the serving and her, Lyudmila, longing for her brother? He has already arrived half a day, but they have not seen each other yet…

Meanwhile Olga and Vladimir were walking around London. How quiet and peaceful in Belgravia indeed! There are no random passers-by or even cars. It was like a city within a city, or more precisely, an estate with a park in the center of one of the most significant cities in the world!

The young couple finally returned home and climbed to the top floor – the property of Vladimir. Olga could not count the number of rooms or fully understand their purpose. Vladimir told her that it was time to change for dinner and go down to the floor below - one in the possession of his sister. Dinner should start at eight o’clock sharp. They should hurry up…

And so, they met - a fiancée and a sister.

Olga was a young slender blonde with a light halo of wavy hair and the classic beauty of Pushkin's muses.

And Mila (as Lyudmila called herself) - a tall, dry lady of about fifty-five with a short haircut of dark graying hair. She looked a lot like her brother - a little heavy, but regular face features, wide bones, tall in height.

Mila came up to greet both of them - slightly hugged each one and scattered in the usual courtesies. Then the dinner went on with a change of good dishes and nice remarks as if according to some protocol.

Vladimir smiled the most and enlivened the conversation as best he could.

Olga did not feel the taste of the dishes. She looked towards Mila only at the same time with her fiancé. With every minute, fear picked up and fettered all of Olga's movements and thoughts - she never managed to answer intelligently or make a good joke…

Mila even began to smile pitifully and make fun of Olga. She began to sympathetically assure the frozen Olga that she would help her settle in London and would not leave her alone, even when Vladimir would plunge headlong into his work again. Mila’s nicely flowing small talk with a sweet smile and cold gaze made Olga even more nervous.

Olga’s input in conversation was becoming less and less appropriate, and then she fell silent altogether. Vladimir began to say goodbye - Olga was too tired after the flight and the change of climate; it was time for them all to retire.

The dinner brought to exhaustion not only Olga, but also Lyudmila. Everything turned out to be much worse than her worst forebodings. Olga turned out to be not only a pale consumptive shadow, but also a hopeless fool with a complete lack of manners or a sense of humor! Mila could not sleep…

In the morning, Lyudmila tried to work on an article about the influence of Italian Renaissance masters on British artists, but the work was not going well at all… Then she went through the mail, made up a couple of replies to completely unimportant correspondence, just to keep herself busy… But nothing could distract her from sad thoughts.

Lyudmila did not remember herself in such a depressed state… And then her friend Alla called. Mila had never been so happy with her. Alla was a rather annoying friend, talkative and always critical of everything. But now meeting with her could distract her from bad thoughts! The friends agreed to see each other for an afternoon tea.

“Mila!” Alla said on the phone. “I know such a wonderful place, a new Russian restaurant serving tea in a way, you've never seen before, let's go!?”

Lyudmila let herself be persuaded without a delay; a new place was what she needed! She was so tired of everything, all around just had lost its meaning!

The restaurant was really wonderful. Instead of traditional British sandwiches, they served tartlets with caviar, pancakes, black bread with salmon or herring! Instead of tea cups, there were glasses with cup holders - just like servings on the Russian railroad! Lyudmila did not even know whether to resent or admire such innovations in the British tradition of afternoon tea…

Alla was the bored widow of a Russian oligarch, a plump, dyed blonde, a shopaholic and dog’s crazy. She could talk endlessly about herself, but she loved to hear about other people's news so much more. She was aware of everything, knew "who from who" and immediately realized, that Lyudmila looked different. Mila went to a meeting with Alla with a firm intention not to tell her anything, but could not stand it, it was too painful to keep everything to herself.

Alla, as always, chattered incessantly, but then suddenly stopped and looked intently at Lyudmila.

“Mila, something about you is not right today,” she said. “And you barely touched the food! I thought you'd like it here! Yes, a little too Russian, but how elegant everything is, isn't it!?”

“Ah, Alla, you know me, I'm not up to complaining,” Lyudmila sighed. “Life is not only roses… Still, I am always trying my best to be in harmony with my world… However, yesterday my brother arrived with his new “passion”, they finally returned from their long journey! Alla! That's horrible! She's an ugly fool! And he - as if bewitched by her, some kind of possessed!!! I never believed in witchcraft, but how else can this be explained? They both looked like being under anesthesia! Last night I was the one who talking at the table for most time! She is mentally ill, and mental illness can be contagious, like mass psychosis! Lord, what am I saying! Probably, I am too, got sick along with them!”

“Lord, Mila! I've never seen you like this! Did they bring any exotic tea or rum with them? Did you drink or eat anything unusual with them?”

“Alla, hold on! The dinner was completely organized by me, at my premises! But Vladimir has simply degraded in the company of this Olga over the past couple of years! This's not healthy! What awaits us!? He completely stopped all affairs! He stopped sharing anything with me, stopped asking for advice. He does not consult with her either! He just constantly smiles silly and that's it!!!”

“Mila, listen, invite her to tea! I want to see this oddball! I know your brother, he's not a little boy, it's not so easy to zombify him! Maybe everything is not as bad! They are not husband and wife yet! Let's, showing a goodwill, take her to our places, show her to our ladies!”

“I don't know what to do anymore,” Lyudmila sighed again. “We could try… Maybe I just panicked in vain, but I was so tired, everything was so incomprehensible… I waited so long for Vladimir to come home and now… Forgive me, Alla, let's get down to desserts!”

And the two Russian ladies happily took on a purely Russian dessert for tea – cakes “Napoleon” and “Medovik”.

Meanwhile, Vladimir and Olga were planning a wedding. Rather, only Vladimir who was planning. And his sister Lyudmila was the central figure in these plans! She always dreamed of taking the main part in the wedding of her beloved and only brother! She had acquaintances in all relevant circles in London. And salons, and florists, and real estate agents and celebrations – how often did she imagine what her brother's wedding would be like. Lyudmila has long ceased to dream of her own wedding.

And now her brother has decided to marry - and again to a secretary! The first marriage was without a wedding and seemed to be formal, for the business purpose - what an absolute nonsense! And now it was even worse, look like for love, but everything was so naive and completely incomprehensible!

Only what Lyudmila did not know, that Vladimir wanted to rely on her taste completely! Olga did not know about this either! Vladimir believed that wedding chores would bring his two most beloved ladies together!

…And no one knew, that all this was happening due to the hypnosis of an eccentric rich and independent in spirit Golden Zandolie - an alien who had died on his Island, trying to hide from his fellows-aliens and live like a human. It was he who instilled in Vladimir and Olga feelings of fear and mutual dependence, which they took for love…

Lyudmila did not even know how she was right about being under a spell - Vladimir and Olga were programmed by the alien to hold on to each other and not return to the Island.