Seeing one of his students become a lackey of the dictatorial government left Orka feeling deeply distressed. He ignored James's greeting and sneered, "I'm great! You've brought people here to arrest me. How could I not be?"
James was in a difficult position. The situation left him deeply awkward. The furious old professor standing opposite him made him feel trapped between a rock and a hard place.
On one side was the order from his superiors; on the other was the man who had once helped him. Carrying out the order would mean turning against his benefactor, and his conscience wouldn't let him rest. But if he honored that kindness, his career would be over, and more than a decade of hard work would go down the drain.
James's indecision immediately boosted the teachers' morale. So the police weren't as vicious as the rumors made them out to be.
They began looking among the officers for familiar faces. Before long, someone found a target.
Aleko spotted one and strode up to a young officer. He berated him, "Raul, you little punk, get your ass home right now!"
Raul tried to explain. "But Uncle Aleko, I'm on duty. If I leave now, I'll lose my job!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Aleko pointed a trembling finger at Raul's nose and roared furiously, "You little punk! Is your job all that matters to you? Are you even human? Do you know what a conscience is? Have you no shame?"
Raul staggered backward under the tirade. Clearly, he hadn't expected his explanation to make his uncle so angry.
In no time, several more unlucky officers were cornered by the furious teachers and subjected to a barrage of scolding.
James began to panic. He knew things were going badly. Officially, he was the highest-ranking person on the scene, but everyone with connections had already made themselves scarce.
Yet James had no authority to order a retreat. He couldn't just stand by and watch his men get their morale torn to shreds, either.
He gritted his teeth and said in a trembling voice, "Professor Orka, I'm sorry to have disturbed you! I came here under orders. The police have conclusive evidence proving that the school is sheltering a suspect!"
"If you hand over the suspect, or let us go in and arrest him ourselves, I guarantee no one else will be implicated!"
"Please don't get worked up. I'll be frank with you! This is already beyond my control. I don't want to do this, either. It's all coming from above, and there's nothing I can do!"
Seeing that the moment was right, Adolf Cole stepped forward and drawled, "So, Mr. James, you were forced into this too?"
James nodded without thinking, making it clear that he'd been forced into it.
When Cole saw him admit it, he began spinning a tale in front of everyone. "Very well. In that case, we won't make things difficult for you. This is a protest petition jointly drafted by all the staff at our school. There are three copies. Please deliver this one to your superiors!"
James accepted the petition in a daze. Across its cover, in flamboyant lettering, were the words: "Petition by All Members of the University of Bulgaria: Protest Against the Police's Illegal Encirclement of the School."
James immediately realized what was happening. "Damn! This is serious. The University of Bulgaria's rector is Prince Ferdinand. This is going to be a huge mess! I don't know what the higher-ups will do, but we low-level grunts are definitely going to take the fall!"
"With no other choice, we can only charge in. If we arrest the suspect and establish his guilt, then even if this blows up later, we'll face much less blame."
James still decided to try to salvage the situation, hoping to turn a major issue into a minor one, and a minor one into nothing. He said in a trembling voice, "Gentlemen, it hasn't come to that yet, has it?"
"No, it's already come to that!" Chekhov shouted as he hurried over.
Seeing Chekhov arrive with the palace guard, everyone immediately relaxed. Surely the police wouldn't dare force their way onto campus in front of the Minister of Education! Besides, there was a whole company of soldiers with him. Even if the police wanted to turn hostile now, they wouldn't dare cause trouble!
The old professors now thought Chekhov looked wonderful. "Clever and capable, willing to shoulder responsibility—he rushed over to help at the critical moment!"
Many of them thought to themselves that having a rector with powerful connections really made a difference. The police might arrest people with impunity out on the streets, but once they reached the school, they still had to behave themselves.
Even if they had evidence, they still had to follow the rules. If they broke them, they could complain to the big boss!
Seeing Chekhov made James's head throb even more. Damn it, you're a minister, and you've come in person over a bunch of little nobodies like us? Was that really necessary? You even brought a whole company of soldiers. Was that called for? What could I possibly do to you?
The mission was no longer the main concern. The key was figuring out how to deal with the aftermath. If things went badly and this high-ranking minister detained him, then called the police station to come collect him, he'd be done for!
Chekhov didn't care what James was thinking. A police officer—even the chief of the Sofia police—was far below him in rank. Although he had the least real power of any minister in the government, his rank was still high!
After looking around, Chekhov skipped the pleasantries and addressed James directly. "Listen carefully. Take your men and get out of here at once. From this moment on, the school is under our control. If you have any complaints, you can appeal to the prince!"
James hurriedly nodded. "Yes, we're leaving at once!" Then he blew his whistle and quickly led his men away.
Chekhov ignored the police's reaction and went straight into the school with the others.
Everyone's hearts, which had just begun to settle, were suddenly in their throats again. They all knew the situation had blown up, and there would be an accounting after the dust settled.
Once they reached the meeting room, Chekhov's expression darkened. Calmly, he said, "Bring out everyone you've hidden. Don't bother explaining. Whatever your reasons, you've seriously violated school rules, and you will be punished!"
"Whoever hid someone will be responsible for keeping watch over them and must sign a surety agreement! We'll investigate this thoroughly. If they really are criminals, you'll bear joint liability. Any objections?"
"None! We'll sign right away!" everyone answered in unison.
Chekhov heard their answer and gave a wry smile. "Very well. I'll leave it to you, Mr. Cole. Please register everyone. This company of soldiers will temporarily be under your command and will be responsible for maintaining order at the school!"
"Also, you are all teachers and role models. Think carefully about whether what you did today was consistent with a teacher's code of conduct."
"The prince once said, 'When the beam is crooked, the rafters will follow.' I don't want you passing this selfish side of yourselves on to the next generation!"
"For those among you who directly violated the school rules, the punishments are as follows: 1. You will never be promoted; 2. Half your salary will be withheld forever; 3. You must submit a thorough written reflection and read it aloud in front of the entire school!"
Everyone's faces changed dramatically. These punishments cut them to the quick! Even Chekhov thought he'd gone too far, but he'd been in a hurry to save people and hadn't objected to Ferdinand.
Intellectuals were all proud and aloof—or at least they had to appear that way in front of outsiders. Faced with such painful punishment, they simply couldn't find grounds to object.
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