THE LAST ARK

CHAPTER 15: OPPORTUNITY

Villa Outside of Istanbul, Türkiye Four Days Before Temple Ceremony

Tall, heft y, steel-eyed Russian oligarch Yuri Yankovic lounges by the pool of his private villa a few miles outside of Istanbul on the Bosporus Strait, an unoffi cial guest of President Erdogan. Th e villa is a thank you gift for Yuri’s role in securing S400 mid-range Russian missiles against the wishes of NATO. Yuri makes his money from Cozy Bear, a Russian soft ware company that conducts ransomware hacks. Before the Ukraine sanctions, he held a controlling interest in Russian Television in America. He also owns a Belarus modeling agency that specializes in young girls. Erdogan himself comes to visit the villa, venting over his frustrations of walking the fi ne line between the east and the west, and enjoying the company of Yuri’s models. Cut off from western banking, like many oligarchs, Yuri moved much of his money to untitled accounts in Cyprus. For other transactions, he uses cryptocurrency to get around banking sanctions. 7 When his private cell phone rings, he checks the ID. A known caller. “Da, Gospodin. Yes, Mr. President,” he answers in Russian. “We have a chance to hurt America, but we must hurry,” the voice replies coldly. “The former president has taken temporary asylum in Saudi Arabia, claiming political persecution. He seeks permanent asylum in Israel.” Yuri laughs a loud guffaw. “The CIA must crap their pants, da.” “Lean on Israel. Dissuade them from offering asylum. Convince the former president to announce reelection from Moscow. Take someone young, a blond. Do whatever it takes.” There is no emotion on the line, only a cold and calculating voice. T he Ukraine invasion isolated Putin and devastated the Russian economy. Putin is eager to repay the west for his humiliation. America teeters on civil war heading into new elections, with both parties claiming voter fraud, voter suppression, or a coup with a very unpopular current president. Yuri can imagine the volatile reaction in America if he succeeds. “Brilliant, Gospodin,” he says, still chuckling. “Genius.” A former American president under Kremlin control would be the news headline for the century, clear evidence of a corrupt and self-indulgent American empire in decline. An amazing chance to feed the Russian narrative, extract top-secret intelligence and humiliate an enemy. Then Yuri considers the challenges. He will need to bend wills in both Israel and America. “I need Pavel Borodin to open the vault,” Yuri adds, already thinking about whom to lean on first. Borodin keeps priceless kompromat stored like a tight ass Swiss banker. In 2009, when Jeffrey Epstein was under investigation in Palm Beach, the lead detective on the case, Joseph Recarry, was under intense political pressure to hide evidence. Volumes of world leaders, politicians, CEOs, celebrities, and royalty had fallen into Epstein’s web of s****l influence, p********a, and extortion. There was widespread fear of the enormous loss of public trust. About that time, John Dougan—a sturdy-built, shaved-head ex-Marine and disgruntled ex-cop—developed a friendship with Recarry. Soon afterward, Dougan met a young model from Yuri’s agency. Within a month, the young couple fell in love and traveled to Moscow, where Dougan met with Pavel Borodin, the man who helped elevate Putin to power. Within days, Borodin announced a donation to a Dougan-run charity and granted him political asylum. A few years later, during the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow, Dougan’s girlfriend was a runner-up. “Da, I will call him. No limits on this one,” the voice promises. “Good,” Yuri replies. “I will leave at once.” He will use the superyacht of a wealthy Turkish oil executive to avoid sanctions on Yuri’s own yacht, still docked in the Maldives, where there is no extradition treaty. Pressure points. It all boils down to finding the right people and applying pain to the correct pressure point. Sanctions cost him dearly. Yuri smiles at the chance to disgrace America and return some of the pain.