The Olympus Deception

‘Mr Peterson, I am tired of your American ignorance. I’m talking about the key to decrypt the file—your friend Adrian gave me an encrypted file. It is useless. I need the key to decrypt it, give it to me.’ ‘Firstly, I didn’t know the file was encrypted—and secondly, I don’t have it! I don’t know what it is!’ he answered. ‘I don’t believe you.’ ‘I never had the licence. I don’t know what it is, I didn’t know it was protected, and I don’t care what it is or what it means. The only person who can help you is Athena, you understand? I need her. If I could help you, I would, but I can’t. I don’t know how.’ ‘If you wanted to help, why didn’t you come here? Why did you send Adrian?’ ‘It was his idea. Adrian said that you’d kill me, and if I brought you the file, you would have! You need to listen for a change—I don’t know how to get you the licence.’ ‘Mr Peterson, I am tired of these games—you must understand me—I really am. You need to get me the research, or I will kill her. I know you can see us—I will put a bullet in her head!’ he said, his conviction clear. ‘No. You’re not listening. I cannot help you!’ Vincent said in vain, once again attempting to make his position clear to the Russian. ‘Mr Peterson. All I have heard all day is about how people cannot help me. But you, you, Mr Peterson, you managed to perhaps get me the licence. Did you lie to me? Are you a liar?’ ‘Fuck off! No, I’m not a liar, I got you the licence. I got you the only person who had a copy of it. But I didn’t know that Adrian protected it, I had nothing to do with it. You need to understand that I don’t care what it is, or who you are. I just want Athena. I need her. You do anything to her, then I have no reason to help you—surely you can see that. ‘She’s your only option! She is the only person in the world who can get you the licence. You kill her, and let me make this clear for you—you lose everything! That’s a fact—nothing I can do is going to change that. It’s up to you, it’s your choice,’ he said with an anxiousness coming through in his tone. ‘Mr Peterson. Tell me something, are you there? Are you watching? Can you see what I am doing right now?’ Avgar asked. Vincent paced back to the point where he watched the previous attempt at the exchange just moments earlier, raising the sight up to his eye again. ‘Yeah, I can see you.’ ‘So what am I doing right now?’ Avgar asked, raising the gun to the side of Athena’s head. ‘Wait, wait, wait, stop! You’re making a mistake! She’s your only option. You need to believe me, I don’t know how to help you!’ Vincent said quickly, the pace of his words getting faster under the stress of the situation. ‘Even if you promised me that I was safe and you gave me a day, a week, even if you gave me a month to find this licence, I don’t know where to start! I don’t know what I’m looking for—Avgar . . . I can’t help you! You’re going to murder the only person who can. I know you want the licence, but if you keep going—you’re going to make a big mistake, you’re gonna do something that I can’t get you out of!’ ‘But, Mr Peterson, with the right motivation, you did help me. You’ve done it once and you can do it again.’ Vincent knew the situation was deteriorating quickly. ‘If you want me to say that I can help you or that I can find the licence, then fine—you need to know that I’d be lying to you. ‘I only got to Adrian, who did have the licence, because Athena told me where to go. I need her—more badly than you know. You can’t motivate me anymore—you can’t threaten me! I have nothing left that I can give you,’ Vincent said quickly. ‘I don’t believe you. Athena, Adrian—they have all been liars. Why should I believe you now?’ ‘I don’t even think that matters anymore. You’ve had the chance to get the licence and you’re just abducting and killing people for it. You’d kill me even if I could actually help you because you probably think I’m a liar.’ Vincent watched as Avgar pressed the gun to the front of her head. ‘Mr Peterson, don’t provoke me. I will kill her,’ he stated. ‘No! Stop! If I could help you, I would. You have to believe me. If you kill her, you’re on your own. I don’t have the licence or the decryption key. I can’t help you.’ There was a moment of silence, where Vincent hoped that he might have finally gotten through to the Russian. ‘Well, I guess there is only one way to find out how much she means to you, Mr Peterson.’ ‘What? Wait! Stop!’ Vincent yelled into the handset. He heard the report through the phone before the sound of the gunshot reached him. Vincent felt his life disappear in a cloud of pink spray. He was speechless—frozen as he stared in horror at the scene in the distance he’d just witnessed. It felt like hours until he finally reacted to what he’d just seen, but it was only seconds before he finally spoke. ‘You . . . just lost everything,’ he said softly into the handset, still trying to come to grips with what he’d just watched unfold. ‘Goodbye, Mr Peterson,’ he heard, and the line went dead.