Chapter 28 -- Candidate Vladim Dukov
By the beginning of October, Upper Danubia had reached an important crossroads in its history. The "Progressives", now aided by corporate campaign donors and foreign professional political advisors, were well organized and campaigning aggressively. Their advisors had developed a slick advertising campaign against the Party of the Duchy in particular and against traditional Danubian values in general. Their candidate was a charismatic banking executive from Rika Chorna. He had a flamboyant personality and shady past, but was a gifted speaker and accustomed to appearing on television.
The opposition candidate mobilized the anger of the eastern part of the country into a populist movement of uneducated voters to oust the country's old leaders once and for all. It looked like Upper Danubia was about to be thrust, completely and fully, into a global economy of which its people understood nothing. The capitol's intellectuals saw disaster looming in the frantic rush for change, but were unsure what to do about it.
The first priority for the conservatives was to choose a viable candidate for Prime Minister, someone respected and not associated with the recently defeated government. Finally, in a closed meeting of top conservative leaders, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court suggested an unlikely candidate, a complete political outsider he had confronted many times in court when he was still a prosecutor. Most of the others reluctantly agreed. It was a choice being made out of desperation.
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Two weeks after the Equinox, as Kim and Tatiana were reading over their first major college assignments for the year, a group of old-guard Danubian political leaders entered the office. The two Apprentices were a bit awestruck, since the visitors included the country's ex-Prime Minister, several current Cabinet Ministers, and even the country's Grand Duke, who was a direct descendent of King Vladik the Defender.
The men formed an archaic and pompous group, but they greeted Dukov fully understanding the future of their country was at stake. The group also had enough common sense to realize their time had passed. They no longer were in any position to lead the Danubian people, which was why they had come to the Spokesman's office.
Dukov came out into the waiting area, a bit taken aback by the presence of men to whom he owed allegiance as a public official. He realized that was about to change when the group saluted him. Dukov invited his unexpected guests into the back office, while Kim and the two secretaries scrambled to find enough chairs, make tea, and gather up whatever refreshments they could find from other offices. They quickly entered the back room, distributed seating, teacups, and plates of sweet rolls. The three assistants then saluted and backed out. Kim glanced at Vladim Dukov, sitting at his desk. He looked very nervous.
Kim returned to her reading, although she hardly could concentrate, knowing something very important was happening on the other side of that closed door just a couple of meters away. After two hours the dignitaries came back out, as the three women stood to salute them yet again. Kim noticed the visitors seemed to leave in a much better mood than they had been when they went in.
As soon as the political leaders left, the three women rushed into Dukov's back office. He was standing behind his desk, pale and with a stunned look on his face. After a moment he seemed to partially collect his thoughts.
"I need to meet with this city's other Spokespersons," he began quietly in Danubian. "We will reassign most of my clients, except...well, three...three who I think I...absolutely need to keep. I...I need to have you train under someone else, maybe Spokesman Havlakt...because...I am...I will not be available. And...Tatiana...and Kimberly, I am leaving this office to you."
Dukov turned to his secretaries.
"You need to help me transfer the files. The path of my life...is not to be a Spokesman anymore."
Kim and her companions assumed the worst, that perhaps Dukov had been fired for his political activities. "Spokesman...what happened? Are you in trouble?"
"Trouble? Yes, in a manner of speaking. I am in deep trouble, because the tranquility of my life has just ended. I have been called upon to change my path, and I must serve."
For the first time during the time she had known him, Kim saw Dukov a bit disoriented. He stared straight ahead as he spoke.
"Kimberly, I believe you have an expression in your country: 'no favor goes unpunished' or something similar to that, is that not so?"
"It's 'no good deed goes unpunished', Spokesman Dukov."
"Yes, yes. 'No good deed goes unpunished.' That is indeed the expression you have." Dukov took a very deep breath and continued. "I am not a politician. I never wanted to be a politician. But...now, because of what I wrote earlier this year, and that speech I gave last month...I...have become...a politician. The ex-Prime Minister and the Grand Duke...they want me to lead the Party of the Duchy...in the upcoming election. If they...I mean we...win, I would become this country's next Prime Minister."
"Spokesman Dukov, that's great! Congratulations!"
Dukov angrily shook his head. "This is not something I want to do, Kimberly! At first I refused. I have never been a member of the Party of the Duchy. I do not support much of what they have promoted. In fact, I supported the 'Progressives' until all those foreign advisors took over and poisoned their souls. I want reform, but not reform as the foreigners define it. We need to make our own path for reform, not walk in one laid out by foreign money."
Dukov seemed to recover from the shock of the sudden upheaval of his life. His mind began focusing on his new task, to become a Spokesman for the Danubian nation.
"I do not like the 'Nobility'. I never liked them and I let them know it. I warned those leaders I would demand changes in their party's policies if they insist on running me as their candidate. The conservatives do not really like me either, but they seem to think I am the only public figure from Danube City with enough respect in the east to win the next election. For once they seem more concerned about the Duchy's future than about themselves. They conceded to my wishes on the policy matters, which gave me no choice other than to accept the candidacy. I now am obligated to win an election...as the candidate for the conservatives."
Dukov's mood seemed to shift, as he looked out his window at the distant mountains that rose above the housetops of Danube City. Those same mountains separated the capitol from the Duchy's interior and divided the country in more ways than one. The Spokesman's voice sounded much more distant to his three assistants as he concluded:
"There is much anger in the east, and right now it is a very destructive anger. The government never really understood the rage that arose from all those burnt villages is quite justified, not until it was too late. By ignoring what happened in the east last year the Prime Minister forfeited his right to govern. That is what I told him, and he actually accepted my rebuke. However, the message I must convey to the eastern provinces is that destroying ourselves as a nation is not the way to address that anger. We must not abolish who we are just because of a fire and some foreign money. I will speak for both past and the future of our country, and I can only hope enough of our people will listen."
With that Spokesman Vladim Dukov began the complicated task of ending his career. Within an hour he was giving an impromptu speech to the city's other Spokespersons and seeking their approval to leave his position. Following the official blessing by Dukov's peers, the staff from the 20 offices spent a very long night dividing up his caseload and transporting files.
The following morning Spokesman Vladim Dukov officially turned in his resignation, as did his two secretaries. They would follow him to his new position and cast their fortunes with his. Shortly afterwards he appeared on television in the National Parliament as the official leading candidate for the Party of the Duchy. He lost no time making everyone realize he planned to take both the party and Upper Danubia in a totally new direction and in detail laid out policy changes he planned to pursue if elected.
