Chapter 11 - The Artesians

I don't know who or what the Artesians were about, only that they started as a movement and began attracting senior members of the Politiburo roughly more than a decade ago.  They became a cause for concern from the more conservative members of the party and was about the time Wolf Gustafson was pulled from the Army to oversee the secret police and root out the members of this cult.

Oliver and I continued to have conversations, but he refused to ever discuss or tell me more about the Artesians.  He had to bribe multiple sources to find out any details on Ingrid and what he discovered were terrifying accounts of her isolation and imprisonment.

She is being badly mistreated he would lament.  He spent obscene sums, but to no avail to try and alleviate her suffering.  Sophie Gustafson herself made sure anyone caught showing any sympathy to Ingrid would be summarily punished.

Sophie treated Ingrid worse than Karl.  And it was Oliver who then begged me to speak to Sophie on Ingrid's behalf.  Both of them resigned their fate to live out their lives in prison and would cause no more trouble or harm.  Something as little as a blanket, or food that wasn't rotten and crawling with maggots and cockroaches, even a bit of sunlight and fresh air.  The cruelty of Sophie is without ends.  She truly loved her baby brother and would have likely tortured Oliver if she had the chance.

I agreed to do what I can, but on the condition he tell me more about the Artesians.  Oliver sighed greatly and paused for what seemed like a long time then he warned me once I heard such things, they cannot be unheard and I place myself in great danger.  He reminded me of the wrath of Sophie and what is happening to Ingrid, to Michael and even poor, innocent John.  If I was ready to accept Sophie's wrath he would tell me about the Artesians.

Oliver then said he lied about the Perkins.  Michael snuck out a computer backup of all the groups writings.  He gave me the location of a postal box where it was likely kept.  But then he said, his phone is likely being wire tapped and he laughed and said it's likely gone now.  He said the backup tapes are or now were there and the authorities are already on their way to seize them.  He didn't want to drag anyone further down and he said again I am a fool.

But he did say in parting that he honestly believed Karl considered me a friend to have warned me off that day and as he idolized Karl, he too didn't want anything to happen to me.  I agreed to speak with Sophie and on Ingrid's behalf.  Oliver greatly appreciated the gesture.