As soon as Andrei and the colonel disembarked from the helicopter, an unfamiliar elderly man approached them, accompanied by an armed soldier. While the guild had adopted military insignia, the shoulder straps on his well-pressed uniform indicated that their owner held the rank of colonel general. He was corpulent and unattractive: a small head on broad shoulders, a low, wrinkled forehead, and a large, aquiline nose. But the most unpleasant aspect of him was his eyes—deep-set, they stared at the newcomers with insolence and arrogance.
The general walked toward them, smiling broadly, but even from a distance it was obvious it wasn't genuine. In fact, his entire appearance was uninviting, if anything, off-putting. It was incomprehensible how such a man could negotiate at all when he discour
