The Grasshopper (19 page)

Raul got up and walked towards the
toilet in order to take the Mayor’s call and to make it clear to
Pascal that he should stop causing problems.

“If need be I’ll also put Margot
and Liam… and Jagdish on the telephone… The entire staff, each and
every one of them… so that they can tell him the same.”

Chapter 69

“I thought we were going to have
another drink at the bar, Gloria,” said Habib, sitting down next to
her. “To talk a bit more.”

“About what? About work? Like at
the club? I’ve really had enough talk about work.”

“No, no… it was noisy there, you
can’t talk properly.”

“Then about what?”

“About you, Gloria… about
us.”

“Why then didn’t you invite me for
a drink?”

Habib waited for Raul to pass by
them and then said

“How could I when you immediately
ran for the elevator? And while you were running… that hair of
yours…”

“You could have gone after me, you
know where my room is.”

“I wanted to… but you are not alone
in the room.”

“And you visit girls only when they
are alone in their rooms, Habib? You can only dream about that. I’m
not that kind of girl.”

“No, no… I didn’t want to wake up
Dorika. It wouldn’t be right.”

“If you really wanted to talk to
me, you wouldn’t have even considered of. But you obviously
didn’t.”

“I did, Gloria… I didn’t sleep a
wink all night…”

“Why?”

“I was only thinking of you. Do you
ever think of me?”

“Habib, this isn’t the time for
such talks. The elections are coming soon…”

*****

When he had finished the
conversation with Mayor Seneca in the airplane’s toilet, Raul
placed the secure telephone on the sink, looked at himself in the
mirror, turned on the tap, wet his palms and briskly passed them
across his face.

“I’ll tell Liam to give me a gun.
I’ll tell him it’s just in case, if I get caught… because only I
know where Pascal is. So that I don’t give him up, if they torture
me… or if they give me a truth serum. Liam will give me a gun,
he’ll give me one… I just have to be convincing.”

Raul wiped his face and hands, took
the telephone from the sink and put it in his right jacket pocket.
He heard the muted sound of the telephone hitting
something.

“The syringe. The second syringe…
Seneca gave me two. In case one dose wasn’t enough… If Pascal
didn’t go down immediately. I won’t need your gun,
Liam.”

Raul left the toilet and went
towards the front of the airplane.

*****

“Raul,” Citra called out to him as
he passed by her.

“Yes, Citra?”

“Does she know that he eats only
spicy food?”

“Does who know? I don’t
understand.”

“Well that woman. The new
cook.”

“Pascal’s?”

“Whose else, Raul?”

“She knows, Citra. I told her that
straight away.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure. Don’t worry.”

“Does she know that she has to add
chili to every dish?” Citra burst into tears. “A lot of
chilly…”

“She knows, she knows… Come on,
Citra, calm down, please.”

Raul leaned down and wiped Citra’s
single tear with his thumb.

“Raul,” Liam called out as he
passed by him.

“Yes, Liam?”

“I have three
recommendations.”

“What recommendations?”

“What do you mean ‘what’? Three
cities that we could land in.”

“Excellent, Liam… I too have some
cities I was thinking of.”

“Well let’s talk.”

“OK… in a moment. I’m going to see
Aslan.”

“To who?”

“To our pilot. His name is
Aslan.”

“Why?” Liam asked.

“To check the weather situation
with him. You know… that there isn’t a sandstorm somewhere, and
that we can’t land.”

“Ah, smart. It’s good that you
thought of that.”

“Margot,” said Raul while passing
by her.

“Yes, Raul?”

“Margot…”

“What is it, Raul? Are you alright?
Has something happened?”

“No, Margot, it hasn’t… it’s Citra…
she’s still crying, she can’t calm down. Please go be with her a
bit… so that she’s not alone…”

“I will, of course” said Margot and
started walking towards the middle of the airplane.

“Margot…”

“Yes, Raul?” Margot turned
around.

“Thank you…”

Margot smiled and continued on her
way.

“For everything…” whispered Raul,
when Margot had gotten far enough.

*****

“Gloria, do you know that I can’t
wait for Tuesdays, which is when I’m assigned to your Secretariat?”
said Habib.

“I believe you. Five
girls…”

“What five girls? Because of you,
Gloria. Only because of you.”

“Why because of me?”

“Because of your eyes, your hair…
at least look at me, Gloria,” Habib touched her face.

“Don’t touch me, Habib. OK, I’m
looking at you. Are you satisfied?”

“Why shouldn’t I touch you?
Remember how we hugged last night.”

“Hugged? I wasn’t hugging. I was
just dancing.”

“Well, I was hugging. Do you feel
anything for me, Gloria? Anything at all? Please, tell me,” said
Habib as he grabbed her hand.

“Let go of my hand,
Habib!”

“I won’t.”

“Well then I’m not talking to you
anymore,” Gloria said defiantly and looked out the window. But she
didn’t move her hand from Habib’s palm. Not a hair.

*****

“Aslan, hello.”

“Oh, it’s you, Raul,” Seneca’s
pilot looked over his shoulder, sitting strapped into his
seat.

“I’d like to ask you something,
Aslan.”

“Go ahead.”

“Can you already now check the
weather situation at the airports that we discussed with the
Mayor.”

“Here, right away.” Aslan bent
forward and touched the commands on one of the screens. “Perhaps at
this moment I can’t for all of them…”

Standing behind the pilot, Raul
removed the syringe with the tranquilizer from his
pocket.

“…
but for most of
them we will know already now. You’re worried about sandstorms,
Raul?” Aslan asked, still leaning over the
screen.

“Yes,” answered Raul, while
removing the sheath from the needle.

“You’re right. They’re frequent in
this part of the world…”

For the second time that day Raul
plunged a needle into someone’s body. This time it was into Aslan’s
neck.

“Forgive me… if you can...” he said
while locking the bulletproof door to the flight deck.

Chapter 70

Mayor Julius Seneca, standing next
to the window of his office, appeared on the screens of the people
who were watching Megapolis television. He was a man of medium
height with wide shoulders, a square face with a strong jaw, hair
the color of ripe wheat, neatly trimmed and parted. The gaze of the
light brown eyes was once again calm and poised.

The Mayor always dressed elegantly.
His suits, shirts, ties and shoes were always in the seasonal
colors, but always the lightest available shade.

Even though he did not intend on
emphasizing the contrast to Erivan’s black, standing there in front
of the cameras in the beige suit, with his physical appearance, it
was precisely this impression that he made on the viewers, who he
addresses with the following words:

“Dear citizens of Megapolis. I
would like to express my deep condolences to the families of all
the people who died today.

“The war, which the new president
of Earth just declared, does not apply to us, it doesn’t exist.
Because Mr. Erivan, appearing as the president of the Consumers,
has announced war on the Non-Consumers. We, the citizens of
Megapolis, don’t know what this division means. And we don’t want
to know. We will defend our city from anyone who dares to attack
it.

“The Megapolis region, with the
armament, numbers and capabilities of its Inspectorate, represents
the largest individual defensive force on Earth. This is why I am
deeply convinced that no one will dare come even close to
us.

“Dear citizens, I expect you to
continue with your daily lives and work. Megapolis, with its water
supply, fields of wheat, plantations and farms, with its diverse
industry, is completely independent from anyone else. We will
survive autonomously for as long as it takes.

“I also want to send a message out
to those living among us, and who think that they might take
advantage of the moment and impose their ideologies on us,
regardless of what they might be – that I will decisively prevent
that. Any violence in Megapolis will be stopped and
punished.

“And another thing… I’m appealing
to the youths, to the pupils and students. Don’t allow anyone to
lure you onto the path of hatred and conflict. Continue studying,
peacefully as you have so far. That is the only way that you can
defend your city.”

Chapter 71

In the cabin of the spaceship the
Grasshopper watched Kaella’s interview, the footage from Short
Street, Erivan’s declaration of war and Seneca’s announcement of
Megapolis’ neutrality. After that he called Erivan, who immediately
picked up.

“Grasshopper, is everything alright
with you?”

“It is. I just wanted to tell you
‘Bravo! Bravo! Bravo, Mr. President!’”

“I knew that you would immediately
recognize my signature,” Erivan was visibly relieved.

“The end of the Kaellas has finally
come! This world has finally gained a real ruler! And what a genial
strategy with Short Street, Mr. President!” shouted the Grasshopper
with excitement.

“Yes. I had to shed a little blood
to boost the fighting morale of our Consumers. You know, you can’t
expect a Consumer to kill a Non-Consumer just like that. Just
because they are wearing last season’s shirt. The Consumer would
hesitate, right?”

“Of course, Mr. President. And this
with the schoolchildren! That was magnificent!”

“You said it – magnificent! People
are somehow especially sensitive to children. There were parents
with children and the occasional baby, but not enough. And they
were spread out. It could have gone unnoticed. But these pupils,
all of them on that fence, they really drew attention. Now they’re
all anyone is talking about. Television interviews with the
grieving parents are being prepared. It will be a real success. The
Consumers will go crazy. They’ll kill Non-Consumers with their bare
teeth. You’ll see, Grasshopper.”

“They will, they will. All thanks
to you, Mr. President!”

“I must say that I’m relieved
now.”

“Why, Mr. President? What was
troubling you?”

“I wasn’t sure how you would react
to these events. You know what all depends on you.”

“How I would react? How could you
doubt my loyalty, Mr. President?”

“Well… I know how loyal you are to
me. You’ve proven that countless times… But still, you’re a Doctor
of Philosophy, and I’m always suspicious of them,” Erivan
laughed.

“You once told me that you had read
my PhD thesis, Mr. President.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Well what does it say, Mr.
President? Forgive me for asking you like this, but I’m deeply
troubled by your lack of confidence in my loyalty.”

“Alright, I’m sorry. Calm down. It
says that the purpose of man’s existence is to serve the leader.
But to this moment I couldn’t be completely certain which leader
you meant. Who do you consider your leader, me or
Kaella?”

“Kaella?! That miserable patsy!?
You are the only leader! And not only mine. And not only as
president. You, Mr. President, are the greatest leader in the
history of mankind. I still cannot believe that I have the honor to
serve you. This all seems like a magnificent dream. You are the
greatest, most grandiose, most magnificent person that this world
has ever seen.”

“I too am pleased that there is a
man capable of understanding my magnitude, Grasshopper.”

“I understand your magnitude more
than you do, Mr. President. Because your perception of it is skewed
by your excessive modesty.”

“You’re right, Grasshopper. I am
too modest.”

“And your declaration of war. It
left me breathless. And you… and the darkness around you, all in
black. Fantastic!”