The old woman recalled with some embarrassment how she had opened up to this foreigner, one of the few that actually spoke Kyrgyz. They’d talked just five days ago in the main room, with the children milling all around them.
The foreigner hadn’t promised any miracles, and she’d made it clear that she was visiting many orphanages in the region. But with several children squirming on her lap, she’d asked questions. Would money to hire an assistant help? Legal help to speed the adoption process? Modern medicine wasn’t a substitute for love, but did the children at least have access to adequate health care?
The old woman remembered how pretty the foreigner had been, despite the scarring on her face. Even the two-year-olds had fought to sit on her lap.
Daria, that was her name. The old woman was pleased with herself for remembering.
Just then, another official taxi appeared in the driveway. The old woman peered out with incredulity. Two in one day?
A man with tousled hair and a face peppered with stubble stepped out of the second taxi. He wore an ill-fitting suit. It only took the old woman about half a second to decide that she didn’t like this new visitor. He was older than the woman in the green dress, and the cynical, dispassionate look in his eyes made her think of mean-spirited government inspectors.
So she was disappointed by the outrageous display of intimacy between them. Some women, she thought, turning away in disgust, just had lousy taste when it came to men.
Acknowledgments
I AM DEEPLY indebted to my agent, Richard Curtis, and the team at Amazon Publishing—particularly Jacque Ben-Zekry and Andy Bartlett.
Christina Henry de Tessan deserves a special thank-you. The story would be incomplete, and in places incomprehensible, were it not for her efforts. She’s an extraordinary editor.
I’m also grateful to David Mayland, my brother and friend, for pitching in as an editor, promoter, and lawyer; to Marine Corps aviator Captain Gavin Miranda, and other members of the US Armed Forces, for their time and expertise; to the people in Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkmenistan who helped bring this story to life; to my uncle, Tim Gifford, who helped copy edit this book; and to my wife, Corinne, and my two children, for their support and love.
I would also like to thank the many reporters, scholars, and ex-CIA officers who, through their books, lent insight to this novel. An annotated bibliography can be found at DanMayland.com.
About the Author
Photograph by Corinne Mayland, 2012
DAN MAYLAND HAS been detained by soldiers in Soviet Czechoslovakia, lived in France, explored Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan, and gone mountaineering in Colombia and Bolivia. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and has written articles for the Iranian.com. Mayland’s first book, The Colonel’s Mistake, was the inaugural novel of the Mark Sava series.
The Leveling
Dan Mayland's books
- Alanna The First Adventure
- Alone The Girl in the Box
- Asgoleth the Warrior
- Awakening the Fire
- Between the Lives
- Black Feathers
- Bless The Beauty
- By the Sword
- In the Arms of Stone Angels
- Knights The Eye of Divinity
- Knights The Hand of Tharnin
- Knights The Heart of Shadows
- Mind the Gap
- Omega The Girl in the Box
- On the Edge of Humanity
- The Alchemist in the Shadows
- Possessing the Grimstone
- The Steel Remains
- The 13th Horseman
- The Age Atomic
- The Alchemaster's Apprentice
- The Alchemy of Stone
- The Ambassador's Mission
- The Anvil of the World
- The Apothecary
- The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf
- The Bible Repairman and Other Stories
- The Black Lung Captain
- The Black Prism
- The Blue Door
- The Bone House
- The Book of Doom
- The Breaking
- The Cadet of Tildor
- The Cavalier
- The Circle (Hammer)
- The Claws of Evil
- The Concrete Grove
- The Conduit The Gryphon Series
- The Cry of the Icemark
- The Dark
- The Dark Rider
- The Dark Thorn
- The Dead of Winter
- The Devil's Kiss
- The Devil's Looking-Glass
- The Devil's Pay (Dogs of War)
- The Door to Lost Pages
- The Dress
- The Emperor of All Things
- The Emperors Knife
- The End of the World
- The Eternal War
- The Executioness
- The Exiled Blade (The Assassini)
- The Fate of the Dwarves
- The Fate of the Muse
- The Frozen Moon
- The Garden of Stones
- The Gate Thief
- The Gates
- The Ghoul Next Door
- The Gilded Age
- The Godling Chronicles The Shadow of God
- The Guest & The Change
- The Guidance
- The High-Wizard's Hunt
- The Holders
- The Honey Witch
- The House of Yeel
- The Lies of Locke Lamora
- The Living Curse
- The Living End
- The Magic Shop
- The Magicians of Night
- The Magnolia League
- The Marenon Chronicles Collection
- The Marquis (The 13th Floor)
- The Mermaid's Mirror
- The Merman and the Moon Forgotten
- The Original Sin
- The Pearl of the Soul of the World
- The People's Will
- The Prophecy (The Guardians)
- The Reaping
- The Rebel Prince
- The Reunited
- The Rithmatist
- The_River_Kings_Road
- The Rush (The Siren Series)
- The Savage Blue
- The Scar-Crow Men
- The Science of Discworld IV Judgement Da
- The Scourge (A.G. Henley)
- The Sentinel Mage
- The Serpent in the Stone
- The Serpent Sea
- The Shadow Cats
- The Slither Sisters
- The Song of Andiene