The Grasshopper Read online

  The hallway was a bit over a meter wide, and about fifteen meters long. Pascal saw that on the side of the hallway where he had come out of there were three other doors. He went to the one next to his room, on the left-hand end of the hallway, which was also unlocked, and opened it.

  There was a bathroom with a two-sink vanity, which ran along the entire length of the bathroom, as did the mirror above it. On the opposite side were a shower, toilet and bidet.

  He froze in shock. “Where am I? On another planet? How is this possible?” The entire bathroom accessories, colors, vanity design, lighting, tiles… were not only from some previous season, but were also in some black-and-white combination. There were incredibly old. Years old.

  “Well of course. The room too… I hadn’t paid attention… the nightstand, lights… it’s all ten years old… or more.”

  He left the bathroom and went down the hallway, past the door to his room, to the next one. He opened it quickly, without pausing or listening, not expecting any room to be locked. It became clear to him that he was imprisoned in some apartment, a suite, and that the only way out was through the locked door that was across from his room.

  He switched on the light. This room was narrower than his. It had a bed for one person, a dresser and a nightstand, a lamp and a pink cover. The last room in the row was the same size as the previous one. It had two bunk beds with a light-blue covers, and only one dresser that was the entire length of the room. But there were no windows anywhere.

  “This is underground. Some shelter. A bunker. For someone important. For several of them… pink… for a girl… two blue covers… the bunk bed…” he thought. “Two boys… yes, that’s surely it. The underground shelter that Seneca had prepared for himself and his family. Nonsense! How could it be for his family when… he has… She gave him… him… Peter and Eir… one boy and one girl… she gave him. And not two boys and one girl…”

  “What am I doing!? Thinking about covers and bunk bed! What do I care how many children you gave him? It could have been one or ten! What difference does it make?! You’re not mine… and you never will be. And nothing else matters.”

  Chapter 51

  The entire time watching on the monitor the final image that was being aired, in the corner of her eye, Babe saw that the director of the interview and the guy handling the video mixer were keeping to their agreement. She had created a special script – that they must not film when she showed Prince the lace and buttocks, when she bore her breast, when she licked her lips. And to show Prince. And they showed him.

  “That wrinkled old lady of his saw how my Prince looked me in front of the entire world, how he leaned towards me, how he was going mad. Pack your stuff you old hag and get out of my palace!”

  This deal hadn’t been cheap. She had to give the two of them half of the fee she received from the Company sector for fashion accessories.

  “It’s ok. I don’t mind. It wasn’t a great expense. That was the best investment that any girl has ever made.”

  “Miss Babe, do you know what the False Balance was?” Mr. Kaella interrupted Babe’s thoughts.

  “A False Balance? Of course, Mr. Kaella. Our history teacher made us learn that by heart,” Babe smiled.

  “Did he? Good teacher. Tell us…”

  “A False Balance was a period without serious wars…” Babe hesitated.

  “When did this period start?” Mr. Kaella helped her with another question.

  “In the second half of the twentieth century, after some war. I guess the Third...”

  “The Second. They still counted them back then. Just before the permanent war,” said Mr. Kaella.

  “And how long did the False Balance period last?

  “Less than century, I think...”

  “Excellent. What was the False Balance based on?”

  “States becoming indebted.”

  “Bravo, Miss Babe! And how did it end?”

  “It burst. The states couldn’t even pay the interest. There, I remember everything!”

  “Very good, very good!”

  “And then there was a war of money…” Babe continued the history lesson.

  “Currencies.”

  “Yes, currencies.”

  “And what happened next?”

  Babe stopped for a moment. Mr. Kaella helped her.

  “The collapse…”

  “Ah, yes,” Babe remembered. “Then came the collapse of the global financial system.”

  “Bravo. Next…”

  “Then protectionism… then isolationism…”

  “Wonderful, next… what thin line had been crossed?”

  “I know that!” Babe shouted excitedly. “The national social states crossed the thin line and became national socialist states.”

  “Which led to…”

  “To bloody wars…”

  “For…”

  “In the beginning for raw materials, for natural resources… and over time, with the destruction of the planet’s ecosystem, for water, for food, for shelter… for survival.”

  “The national socialist states…”

  “Fell apart.”

  “Because…”

  “Even within them people fought for rivers and lakes that were drying up… they fled from the ocean shores inland…”

  “This led to…”

  “The great migrations of the hungry and the thirsty…”

  “Did hunger and thirst account for the most victims?”

  “They didn’t…”

  “What did?”

  “It was skirmishes with nuclear warheads.”

  “That too. But the greatest number of human lives were taken by…”

  “The pandemics!” Babe remembered.

  “Because…”

  “Because viruses mutated at an accelerated rate due to the climate changes.”

  “Bravo! Bravo! Bravo, Miss Babe! And what happened to the survivors?”

  “I don’t know what you mean, Mr. Kaella.”

  “People…”

  “Oh, yes! People melted together”

  “They created…”

  “New, ad hoc communities around sources of drinking water and fertile land.”

  “Until…”

  “Until your grandfather discovered Cosmic Energy, Mr. Kaella!”

  “Miss Babe, you are wonderful, you are a jewel!” the thrilled Mr. Kaella shouted.

  Babe, proud and happy, looked at Prince. He was completely stiff in the armchair, with both hands on the armrests, as though he couldn’t take it anymore, like he was about to jump up and pounce on her. Having seen this, Babe announced a commercial break.

  Chapter 52

  The vertical cliff of a tall bare mountain reflected the hot sunrays like a mirror. That was until its two halves parted and withdrew into the flanks. This revealed the secret hangar of Erivan’s squads. A silver airplane took off from within the mountain.

  This stolen Non-Consumer airplane was piloted by Zodiac, the leader of Z Squad, towards the nearby Capital City. He had on several occasions fired missiles at cars on the shooting range in the desert, and determined that this Non-Consumer airplane could not guarantee the destruction of such a small target with only one rocket. The aircraft’s other limitation was that it could carry only four missiles. This is why he and Erivan decided that Zodiac would attack the president’s car on Short Street.

  This had several advantages. First of all, Alpha’s two escort vehicles and four motorcycles would be just alongside the presidential limo, because Erivan told them that the attack would be carried out later, on Cypress Avenue. And that they should only then increase their distance. And not before this avenue, so as not to raise suspicion. This meant that with four missiles Zodiac would surely manage to destroy all the cars and motorcycles. Secondly, the people waving flags will also be alongside the motorcade, which guaranteed a maximal number of casualties per rocket.

  “That Erivan really knows how to get the maximum out of every situation,�
�� Zodiac thought. “He’s truly a top-notch strategist. And on the other hand, it’s no surprise. I would be too, if I were vice president of the State and head of the Inspectorate.

  “Erivan says that what pleases him most of all is that he will finally be rid of A Squad. The Repentant - that’s how he calls them. But not because they have done something that they have repented, but because he regretted recruiting them. And then he removed such repentant from other squads and assigned them to guard the presidents. How did he put it at the meeting. ‘You can imagine what the rest are like, if Alpha is their leader,’ he said.

  “Ah, we did laugh… except the Grasshopper. I mean really, what’s up with him? There hasn’t any word of him in a long time. Is he…? I’m sure he is. Erivan is preparing him for the conquest of Megapolis. Wow… that’s not good. We’ll all be placed under the Grasshopper’s command. Perhaps that’s not… It’s… What else could it be? We’re screwed… if you make any mistake… But… what can I do? Whatever will be will be. It’s war. When I clear this Short Street, I’ll eject, my guys will destroy the plane, and then everyone back to Erivan’s residence. And later… wherever he sends us. That’s what this job is like.”

  Chapter 53

  When the jingle for the commercial break rang out over the speaker, Mr. Kaella waved to Prince and nodded towards the toilet.

  “Of course, father. You’ve really held yourself heroically,” said Prince, while lifting his father from the armchair.

  “Yes, I have… but now I have to… you know, not only… prostate but also digestion… we’ll be late for…”

  “Don’t worry, father. We’ll cut the interview short. You take all the time that you need.. I’ll talk to Miss Babe.”

  “Alright, son…”

  Prince nodded to one of the bodyguards. “Take my father to the toilet.” He ordered the other bodyguard to stay and signaled with a glance towards the cameraman who was the only one that didn’t go out for the break, and was looking out through the huge portholes onto the submerged city.

  The body threw out the terrified cameraman into the hallway, gripping his neck with iron fingers.

  “Stay at the door and let me know when my father comes out of the bathroom,” Prince ordered.

  “I understand, Mr. Kaella,” responded the burly lad, and he stood in front of the door which could not close completely because of the cables. He faced the hallway.

  Babe didn’t get compliments from Prince about her thorough knowledge of history, because Prince immediately pounced on her, trying, as he had promised himself, to spread that gap in the middle of her lips. He grabbed her firmly with one hand around the waste and thrust his other hand under her jacket. In shock, Babe pulled her head back and held his hand in such a way that Prince’s fingers only managed to knead her breast only through the jacket.

  “Prince, what’s with you? Do you want to mess up my makeup?”

  Prince realized that Babe was right. He could not kiss her before the end of the interview.

  “Alright, I’m sorry. I was wrong. But why don’t you let me…” he was still struggling with Babe, who was gripping her lapels tightly with both hands.

  “Why don’t I let you?” Babe whispered passionately. “What do you think – that I’m made of stone? That I don’t want you?”

  “Well then let me…” Prince released his grip around her waste slightly, intoxicated by her words.

  Babe took advantage of the moment, broke free from him and ran to the large window.

  “How can I let you,” she said to him while he approached her with a heavy step and even heavier breathing. “If I feel your hands on my breasts, my back, my nails, behind… down… everywhere, all over me… how will I finish the interview with your father? How? Prince… my Prince… I’m already going mad… when I just think of your hands, your body…” Babe was on the verge of bursting into tears.

  Prince approached her and stopped with his hand by his sides. He looked at her with a serious gaze. And Babe was trembling, looking at him with eyes wide open, with the terrified gaze of a doe.

  “From now on you’re only mine,” Prince told her in a firm voice.

  Babe quickly nodded her head in compliance.

  “I need such a wife. A Prince needs a Princess.”

  “My Prince…” Babe whispered.

  “To fight together, to create together… to give me strength when I am tired…”

  “I will, I will, my Prince… Always by your side… always…”

  “To win together… to be one body, one soul…”

  “Yes, yes… one soul… my Prince… on a white horse.”

  Being sensitive as she was, Babe completely surrendered to her emotions when her Prince uttered the word “soul”. She took his hand into her tender palms.

  “Your State needs you, Princess. Even you don’t know what difficult times are approaching. To stand by my side during them, to be the model, the ideal for Consumers throughout the world. My Princess, we face a great clash with the Non-Consumers,” the determined ruler gave away the greatest state secret to his heart’s desire. “That is why I need you. To be my flag, my standard…”

  “I will, my Prince, I’ll be it… We’ll defeat them… I can see it clearly…” Babe raised her visionary gaze towards the ceiling of the submarine.

  Chapter 54

  Mr. Kaella sat on the toilet. He had urinated, that was alright, but number two was somehow a problem. He wasn’t pushing much. He actually welcomed a slightly longer break on the can to calmly prepare for the declaration of war.

  “This isn’t so easy now,” Mr. Kaella thought. “To speak to the camera as though I didn’t know anything… as though I didn’t know that they would be informing the director that the Xings have been killed, that he would burst into the salon and whisper that to me on camera… And then for me, in shock, to get up out of the armchair and declare war. I’m not… some actor. I need time… to be off camera… for at least a few minute, before he bursts in. To prepare in peace for the declaration.”

  “I’ll tell Babe to let Prince talks about the Balance… Hey, wait a minute… It wasn’t my son who created the Balance. It was me. Only me. That is how it must go down in history. Well… my Prince did help a little with the Euthanasias. And he instated mandatory medical checkups and restored the Balance. Yes, he did… That’s all true. But those are the details, not the principle, not the philosophy… Let Prince talk about his work, about the poleis and the ice age… and those things… And I’ll talk about the Balance even longer, in even greater detail, in the next interview. This today felt really good. From now on I’m going to have frequent interviews with Babe. What a great girl. What intelligence.

  “What did she ask Prince? Nothing. That little thing at the beginning. Purely out of courtesy. She knows precisely who is still in charge. She admires me. She understands everything. It’s clear to her how great I am. And I’m still not for the scarp yard. No, no. I’m going to live for some time. I’ll win this war. History will remember me as the ruler who eradicated the last Non-Consumer. And I will eradicate them! You don’t want to spend, do you? But you want water, food and energy, you nits? Well that won’t do, you monsters! That won’t do!”

  “No… I can’t get this excited… I can’t look like this when I declare war. I have to be calm, dignified… Just a little dark, somber… How did Erivan put it? I have to look sinister. For the Non-Consumers to be terrified when they see me. That’s it, of course! Sinister! Sinister!”

  “Sinister!” shouted Mr. Kaella and pushed.

  As though the Inspectorate drums and bugles were playing a magnificent march, the toilet bowl rumbled with the sounds produced by Mr. Kaella’s digestive tract, calling to arms!

  Chapter 55

  “What do you see?” the slightly surprised Prince asked.

  “I see you…” Babe described the scene before her, “ somehow magnificent… on a white horse tearing through the Non-Consumer ranks…”

  “And?
What else do you see, my Princess?” Prince asked excitedly.

  “In your right hand you’re holding a razor-sharp saber…”

  “And?”

  “In broad, strong swings you’re cutting down the Non-Consumers… I see them… I see them falling… like wheat before the scythe…”

  “I’m cutting, I’m cutting… you bet!” Prince was excited.

  “And I am in your lap, your Princess, your flag…”

  “That’s right… that’s right…”

  “And you… while you’re cutting them down… Only you can do it, my Prince…”

  “What?”

  “At the same time, with your other hand,” said Babe, gazing up towards the ceiling, raising Prince’s hand towards the lapel of her jacket and placing his hand on her breast “at the same time you are gently fondling your Princess’ bosom.”

  Prince completely lost it. He tried to be gentle, like in her description, but he failed. And how could he not be when he felt that little Earth hanging from Babe’s nipple. He squeezed Babe’s breast forcefully, wildly, as though it was the hand in which he held the razor-sharp saber.

  “Hey, Prince, that’s not exactly gentle,” Babe laughed.

  “It’s not, it’s not… and you are yet to see… Taunting me the entire time… driving me mad… Driving me mad!!!”