The Grasshopper Read online

  THE GRASSHOPPER

  Sasha J.M.

  To the victims

  Part I: Eve

  Chapter 1

  The Grasshopper, wearing a black uniform without any insignia, tall and slim, with a long narrow face, fair hair neatly combed back with gel revealing his tall forehead, watched with the perpetually serious and contemplative gaze of his gray-green eyes, as the body of the president of Earth fell onto the medallion that was woven into the middle of the oriental rug, in fine, regular knots in the color of old gold.

  Blood seeped in a thin stream from a small wound on the president’s forehead, down the root of his nose, past his opened eye and down his cheek, creating a new irregular ornament on the rug.

  The Grasshopper bent down to return the revolver to the holster on his thigh.

  Vice President Erivan passed by the Grasshopper, sat down in the naturally velvety leather armchair, and placed his large fists on the massive desk, made of five different types of wood: mahogany, cherry, chestnut, walnut and Carpathian elm.

  The front of the desk was decorated with a relief of the planet Earth.

  The wall behind Vice President Erivan was interrupted by a long string of large windows, currently covered by heavy dark red curtains. Hanging on it was the state flag, depicting a blue planet on a black background.

  Erivan’s large round head, sitting atop his bull-like neck, featured fat cheeks, a large nose, bulging eyes with now eyelashes, and thinning eyebrows.

  Positioned between the relief and the blue Earth, it created a perfect symmetry of three orbs.

  “Mr. President,” said the Grasshopper, interrupting the silence.

  Erivan raised his eyes from the cramped body before him and looked at the Grasshopper.

  “You, Grasshopper, are the person to first have the right to call me by that name,” he said, with a slight smile.

  “Thank you, Mr. President.”

  “With this act… on this night… starts…,” Erivan stopped, contemplatively, searching for the right word, “…a new era in the history of mankind. You are now going on your most important mission ever. Are you aware of that, Grasshopper?”

  “I am, Mr. President.”

  “Are you aware of all the things that depend on you, what responsibility you are taking upon yourself? The responsibility of protecting the Constitution, the responsibility for the survival of the State, the survival of civilization?”

  “Yes, I am, Mr. President. Fully.”

  “Do you know that I would not entrust anyone else with such a mission? Do you understand the trust that I have in you?”

  “I understand Mr. President and I am grateful for it. I will justify your trust.”

  “I know you will, I know. When do you leave?”

  “Immediately, Mr. President.”

  “Alright. In that case I won’t keep you. Good luck, Grasshopper.”

  “Thank you, Mr. President,” said the Grasshopper and left the office at a fast pace.

  Chapter 2

  Pulling back the drapes, Erivan watched the silhouettes of the Grasshopper and his lads moving at a running pace towards the helicopter awaiting them on the lawn in front of the residence. Beyond the rotating blades sparkled the lights of Capital City, the capital of Earth, and on the rise above it the castle of Mr. Kaella, the owner of the Kaella Cosmic Energy Corporation. The night was dark, without a single star in the sky.

  “Except mine,” Erivan thought. “Mine is the only star out tonight. Finally and irreversibly.”

  Having seen the helicopter take off, he spread his thumb and index finger and released the drape. It swayed slowly and returned to its place, preventing the crystals from the grandiose chandelier from continuing to struttingly gleam in the window pane.

  He turned slowly and heavily, seemingly tiredly but actually magnificently, towards the desk, and turned on the intercom and summoned Alpha, the leader of A Squad, the squad in charge of protecting the president of Earth and his family.

  Alpha was delighted to see the body of his former president laying practically in the middle of the large oriental rug. All it would take was to roll him up in the rug and take him away.

  “Mr. President, where will you sleep tonight?”

  “In my room.”

  “In the vice president’s or…”

  “Yes. The presidential part of the residence should be cleaned out and prepared for me without any hast. I’m in no hurry. Not anymore.”

  Chapter 3

  Having entered his chambers Erivan immediately called Mr. Kaella. “Mr. Kaella”

  “May I call you President of Earth, Erivan?” Kaella asked.

  “You may, sir. I thank you for your trust.”

  “No, no…,” Kaella said. “I have you to thank. If only I had listened to you earlier…”

  “Mr. Kaella, don’t trouble yourself with that anymore, please. Perhaps it is better that the situation escalated. That also created the opportunity for us to once and for all deal with this gang of Non-Consumers. You, Mr. Kaella, as a great humanist, I dare say the greatest in history, also took it for granted that other people are also humane. But they are not. They took advantage of your humanism for their evil ambitions. And that is why we will punish them. Mercilessly.”

  “That’s right, mercilessly! Mercilessly!” Kaella shouted excitedly.

  “Mr. Kaella, be prepared, before the cameras, at exactly 6:07 p.m., your time,” Erivan continued after a brief pause.

  “I will be. I can’t wait for that moment,” Kaella calmed himself.

  “You have made an excellent choice of location for your interview, Mr. Kaella. You will be far from… events. We cannot allow for even the faintest suspicion among our Consumers regarding the perpetrators. As soon as you learn about the heinous assassination of the president, immediately officially declare war on the Non-Consumers. I mean like…”

  “Ominously, I will do it ominously, Erivan. Don’t worry.”

  “Mr. Kaella, your son, Mr. Prince, is he aware of…?”

  “Of course, Erivan. Fully, with all the details.”

  “Well… does he agree…?”

  “Of course. The interview and the location were both his ideas. He too has the utmost respect for you. You have nothing to worry about. You will be President even after my passing.”

  “Mr. Kaella!” Erivan said excitedly. “That’s not why I ask! Something like that didn’t even occur to me! For me the position of President represents the opportunity and honor, in line with my abilities, to serve the State and your family. And don’t speak about your… about your departure. I don’t want to think about that. There are many years before you, Mr. Kaella.”

  “Thank you for your kind wishes, Erivan, but… you’ll see for yourself… When you are far into your eighties like me… then you draw a line. But I will leave in peace. Because I am leaving the Company and the State in good hands. To my son and you, Erivan. And now, it is already very late, we have to all get some rest. You get some sleep too.”

  “I will, a few hours. I want to supervise every detail of tomorrow’s operation.”

  “Yes. I ask that you personally run the operation. I can no longer trust anyone else.”

  “Have no worries, Mr. Kaella. Everything will go smoothly.”

  “Yes, it will. Good night, Erivan.”

  “Good night, Mr. Kaella.”

  Chapter 4

  Mr. Kaella, having finished his conversation with Erivan in the Royal Suite on the last floor of an elite hotel, turned towards his son. Prince Kaella sat in an armchair and placed on the club table in front of him the oval glass of cognac that he was enjoying, after a truly magnificent dinner.

  “So the first act was concluded successfully?” he asked his father, who
was slowly lowering himself into his armchair, holding on to the wide armrest.

  “Yes it has, son. Unfortunately we have to use all available means to protect Humane Capitalism. You know, I’m very sorry…” Mr. Kaella’s voice trembled. “It is very difficult for me… that you, my only son, will have to face such people, to fight against them. I wanted to enable you to peacefully focus on preserving our wounded planet and saving mankind from the ruthless nature. That is the mission that you had chosen, son, as a young man. And that was no coincidence, son. That is quite the logical continuation of our family tradition,” Mr. Kaella’s voice became firm once again. “You are actually continuing what your great-grandfather started, with the discovery of Cosmic Energy. And your grandfather and I were forced to dedicate our lives to organizing human society. He – by creating the State of Earth, and I – by creating the Association of Companies.

  “And trust me, son, there is no job more difficult, more prickly and ungrateful that this job. While doing good for people, instead of gratitude, you are slapped in the face ceaselessly by human envy, stupidity… hatred. It is obvious that I have lived all this time in an illusion that you can change that by persistent goodness and nobleness. And I didn’t listen to the persistent advice and warnings of my faithful Erivan. But now I know, on the eve of my death it is finally clear to me, that with such deviant creatures, such as the Non-Consumers, you can only do away with them by force!” Mr. Kaella raised his voice and slammed his weak hand on the armrest.

  “Please, father,” Prince Kaella interrupted his elderly father. “Don’t trouble yourself with that. Everything will be alright in the end. You will rule the world for many more years, and I will calmly continue with my work. The way that you’ve always wanted it to be.”

  “I’m not some naïve dreamer who doesn’t understand what is going on around him. All these years I have been aware that you are hiding from me the real problems of the State and the Company, that you wanted to spare me these ugly, unpleasant facts. However, the Non-Consumption evil is present and together we can meet it head-on and defeat it. We finally have a real operative as president. He will do this… prickly job, for us.”

  “I know. And I knew all this time that it was clear to you… but I still dreamt that… Perhaps your three beautiful children will rule a better world? Do you know, son, how proud I am of my grandchildren? How happy I am that they are beautiful and smart, excellent students… that they love each other, that they get along well. Son, they are our greatest treasure. And their wonderful mother. How she supports you in your efforts…”

  Prince was no longer listening to his repeated elderly lament. He also wasn’t thinking about the Non-Consumers, or about his children or the world that they would rule. He was thinking about something else. About someone else. Just as it had been every moment since he first saw her.

  “…I’ll be at peace, son, only when that damned Pascal Alexander is no longer among the living.”

  That name interrupted Prince’s train of thought.

  “That man, father, that beast, is the only thing that is troubling me!” said Prince while sitting up in his chair. “He drives me crazy, to be completely honest.” Prince’s eyes were full of hatred. “The fact that he dares to hold his election speech in Magapolis, the largest city on Earth, which I have created, from the very first street, from the first building, over twenty years, day after day…”

  Prince slammed his fist on the club table, which was not sturdy enough to quietly absorb the exerted force, and leaned it over a little. The oval glass fell over, rolling through the spilt cognac to the very edge, then slipped of it and fell on the carpet. Due to table’s low height and the considerable thickness of the carpet, which is appropriate for a carpet in the salon of a Royal Suite - the glass did not break.

  “…twenty years of work, creative thinking, late nights… Megapolis, my Megapolis, a city far from any shore, unburdened by the rising ocean level, beyond the reach of tsunamis, in an area with the fewest storms, hurricanes… best protected from viruses, epidemics…”

  “I know, son, I know everything…” Mr. Kaella whispered.

  “…with drinkable tap water,” Prince got up and started violently walking around the Royal Suite, “…parks, avenues green with trees… Every person on Earth dreams of living in it. In my Megapolis! And that worm will hold his speech in the square that I created, in the largest and greenest square on the planet, a square that bears the sacred name Consumer Square. He’s spitting on my entire life! On everything that I am and everything that I exist for!”

  Prince suddenly became quiet and went to the window. He watched the lights of the city beneath him and breathed with difficulty, trying to calm himself.

  When Mr. Kaella finally managed to raise his feeble body from the deep armchair, he approached Prince and put his trembling hand on his shoulder.

  “Just a little more, son, and we’ll defeat them.”

  “I know that, father,” Prince answered in a much calmer voice. “But that speech will be held. It is clear to me. We have to allow this, in order not to arouse suspicion. But even after our victory, that act will…” he spoke softly, full of bitterness and despair, “will always be a open sore on my heart.”

  After several moments of silence Prince turned from the window towards his father and looked at him tenderly.

  “Forgive me, father,” he said. “Instead of unwaveringly supporting you in these historic moments, I’m burdening you with my actually irrational, solely emotional outbursts of anger. Forgive me.”

  “No, you forgive me, son… for not doing this ten years ago. Had I done so, no scoundrel would have gotten close to your Megapolis. But I didn’t. It is difficult to make such a decision. It’s contrary to the convictions, efforts and results that our family had achieved over four generations. Actually, that wasn’t my decision. The Non-Consumers themselves made the decision. I will just very considerately give them what they want.”

  “I understand, father.”

  “Now go, son. Sleep, get some rest.”

  “I will. Good night.”

  “Good night, son.”

  Chapter 5

  At that moment Svetlana came out of the bathroom into the modernly, tastefully and functionally furnished room in the hotel located on the edge of Consumer Square in Megapolis, adjacent the magnificent building of the television station. This slender girl with symmetrical facial features, long brown hair, leaned over to pick up her thong and bra off the floor.

  “Leave it,” said Pascal Alexander.

  Svetlana stood up and looked at Pascal, who lay naked on a large bed.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “I want you to stay with me tonight… I want to tell you something.”

  Svetlana lay down next to Pascal, placing her head on his shoulder, her eyes following the tips of her fingers while she gently passed them across his chest.

  “You know, until I met you I didn’t believe that a man in his forties can still have such a muscular body and smooth, tight skin.”

  “I want you to leave Megapolis early tomorrow morning,” said Pascal.

  Svetlana trembled but didn’t say anything.

  “You don’t ask why?” Pascal was surprised.

  “Tell me,” she whispered.

  “What is going on with you, Svetlana? You didn’t even ask me what I had discussed with Mayor Seneca and Raul.”

  “Tell me… if you want.”

  “Seneca received shocking news from the Company Sector for Marketing and Public Opinion Polls.”

  Having said that, Pascal looked at Svetlana waiting her reaction. And she continued to silently caress his chest.

  “You’re not interested in what this shocking news is?” Pascal became angry because of her unexpected indifference. “Well, I’ll tell you anyway. According to the latest polls, I will win the elections by a landslide, with sixty-two percent of the votes, becoming the president of Earth.”

  He lifted her chin and made
her look at him.

  “President of Earth, do you hear me? Aren’t you pleased? You’ve been working tirelessly for my campaign for two years… and now… nothing… you’re silent.”

  “I’m pleased. Congratulations.” Svetlana said quietly and again looked down.

  “You have nothing to congratulate me for. This is the official information that Kaella received. And he is surely in shock now, thinking frantically. No one expected such an advantage. Seneca believes, and I think that he is completely right, that Kaella has two options at this moment: either to fake the elections and reelect President Xing, or to kill me. All three of us agreed that an assassination is more likely. And Raul is almost convinced of this. He is convinced that Prince Kaella will not allow me to hold the speech tomorrow in his Megapolis.”

  “So why do only I have to leave Megapolis? Doesn’t the Mayor…” Svetlana whispered.

  “And as far as Mayor Seneca is concerned,” Pascal continued, “for him the most important thing is to preserve peace and order in this city. And that is why he wants us to leave it immediately. But he doesn’t want to force us, to drive us out, escorted by the inspectors. Actually, it was more like he asked Raul and me to leave, rather than demand. I have great respect for Seneca… and I am grateful to him for everything. But Svetlana, despite this, I will hold that speech. I’ve made up my mind. If they kill me, they will make me a martyr, an icon of resistance to Humane Capitalism. I could be more useful to the cause dead than alive. That’s why I told Raul today for him and his team to decide on their own whether they will stay or leave Magapolis. And you, Svetlana, I am ordering to leave.”