The Grasshopper Page 5

  “Yes.”

  “You are actually in shock now. I can understand that. But you’ll realize that it is normal, natural. Time does its thing, Pascal. We’re getting old. And Svetlana is young. She has the rest of her life to live. Someone her age probably caught her eye… but… where did she meet him? She’s been with us the entire time… Is it someone from the campaign? No, no… someone would notice it. OK, OK… you’re in shock. Svetlana could have waited a bit longer, she could have chosen a better moment. Not like this… to disable you. I did notice, I really did, that she’s been kind of quiet lately… restrained. And you, Pascal, when you calm down you can finally find yourself a serious woman your own age. Well, not exactly your age… just a little younger. And you can have children, create a family. As befitting a democratically elected president. That’s what I’ve been telling you all these years. Now you see for yourself that I was right… Admit it.”

  “I admit it.”

  “There, you see… You’ll be better, I’m not worried… But hey, let’s not talk about women now. We’ll go somewhere. We’ll hide out until the elections, even if we have hide in a foxhole. You won’t appear in public. We don’t need any more speeches. Think about it. You’re the rival of Kaella’s current president. Officially. Your name is printed on the ballots. People take their telephone and circle it. Sixty-two percent of the people. And what do they need you for at that moment? They don’t need you. And after that… we’ll wait for Kaella’s move, and then we’ll decide. You can set up your office in any city. Wherever you are will be the capital of Earth. Understand?”

  “You’re right,” Pascal said softly.

  Raul was delighted, with a huge smile.

  “Of course I’m right. When was your Raul ever wrong? When?”

  “I’m old. I’m very old… and tired.”

  “I didn’t say that you were old for president. You’re tired… Its normal to be tired. We all are…”

  “Raul, I had no idea… I never thought that it was possible to be this old.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. Look at me. I’m fifteen years older than you. But our struggle has made me a young man. I’m full of energy, life. Come on, pack up so that we can get going.”

  “I’m not going anywhere anymore.”

  Raul walked to the door, grabbed the doorknob and turning to Pascal he asked:

  “Will you at least say goodbye to the staff? The bus for airport is almost here. We’re leaving, Pascal.”

  “I can’t.”

  Chapter 19

  Julius Seneca, the mayor and director of Megapolis TV, watched from his office on the last floor of the tall building as a torrent of people converged on the square from four avenues.

  He ordered the Megapolis Inspectorate to use force only in extreme, isolated cases. For example, looting, torching, the breaking of shop windows. This would in any case be done only by delinquents.

  The citizens of Megapolis would not. Nor would he ever use force again them. Megapolis was not made up of its magnificent buildings, avenues and squares. Megapolis was made up of its citizens. They are Megapolis. And he is their mayor.

  The ring of the telephone pulled him from his thoughts. He picked up immediately.

  “Yes, Raul?”

  “Mr. Mayor, as we expected, he is not giving up. He will hold his speech,” Raul said, breathing heavily, while walking down the stairs from Pascal’s room to the hotel lobby.

  The mayor didn’t respond. He wasn’t surprised. “Each of us is fighting his own battle,” he thought.

  “Mr. Mayor, do you hear me?”

  “I hear you, I hear you.”

  “He’s in a worse mood than he was yesterday. Svetlana has left him. It seems that it has completely crushed him. The man simply won’t accept any arguments.”

  “What Svetlana? What does that mean now?”

  “Svetlana… you know… she sometimes came with us to your place for meetings.”

  “How? She is a very young woman.”

  “She is. And that is what has crushed him. He feels terribly old and tired, he says.”

  “But these are things not becoming a presidential candidate. Such a gentleman. I am very surprised.”

  “You didn’t know that? He’s been chasing women his entire life. That is to say, they’ve been chasing him. And now he has been dumped.”|

  “Alright, alright… leave that. These are Mr. Alexander’s personal affairs,” Mayor Seneca interrupted the conversation on this topic.

  “Perhaps it is better like this. The two of us have an agreement, Mr. Mayor.”

  Mayor Seneca didn’t answer.

  “Mr. Mayor, you promised me,” Raul was concerned because of Seneca’s silence.

  “Alright, Raul, we’ll do it…” Seneca finally spoke.

  “Thank you, truly,” Raul sighed a sigh of relief.

  “What did Mr. Alexander say, when will he go to the square?”

  “He didn’t say anything. The stage is gone. Your inspectors have surrounded the hotel. They are appealing to the people to disperse from the square. Pascal is in a strange state, Mr. Mayor. He’s very nervous. He’s going to take a shower, get dressed and go to the square as soon as possible.”

  Seneca was silent.

  “Mr. Mayor?” Raul was uneasy again.

  “Listen to me carefully, Raul. I will not send the bus to take you to the airport.”

  “But, Mr. Mayor…”:

  “It’s too risky. Many people would be involved. I’ll send you my airplane.”

  “Your airplane?”

  “Yes. My airplane has a wide opaque tube, like a large hose. For the event of an emergency, for evacuation. The airplane will hover over the hotel and lower the tube to the roof. Your people have to attach its opening to the door that leads to the roof, so that nothing can be seen. Do you understand what I mean?”

  “I do. So that no one can see who all is entering the tube.”

  “That’s right. In the tube there is a conveyor belt. There are straps that you use to attach yourself to it and it raises you into the airplane. You can also attach your suitcases.”

  “Excellent, Mr. Mayor.”

  “I’ll send a squadron of fighter planes to protect you,” Seneca said and hung up.

  “It’s better that it turned out this way,” Raul thought. “Much better.”

  Chapter 20

  Pascal lay in the bathtub with his eyes closed. “What was it that you said to me, Raul?” he recalled their conversation. “To find a woman my own age… just a little younger. To have children… There is such a woman, my friend. I’d marry her immediately, trust me… immediately, immediately…”

  “Immediately!” Pascal shouted out loud.

  Then he sighed and submerged his head. When he ran out of air he came up and rested his shoulders on the edge of the tub. He barely visibly shook his head.

  “But no. You would never be satisfied, Raul. You would think that a wife that already has two children is not becoming of a democratically elected president. And do you know what I would tell you, Raul? I’d tell you that I didn’t care at all what you thought. And what was becoming and what was not. As long as she’s mine.

  “And I’ll tell you that I’m not going anywhere from Megapolis anymore. I cannot leave without knowing… my Raul. And I always knew. We’re going to that city for three days, then there… for five days… never longer than five days. I couldn’t stand not seeing her for more than five days. How could I?

  “And you were cross, Raul. ‘Since we’re already here, why don’t we just stop by over there,’ you said. ‘What’s a few more days? Better than going back to Megapolis and then hitting the road again.’

  “You didn’t get it, why we always went back to Megapolis. I didn’t either. Actually I did, but I wouldn’t admit it to myself.”

  “And now… I’m not going anywhere from this city, Manami. I’ll die in it. Here, close to you, my love. And what if they don’t kill me? Hmm? What do you think? I ma
ke it through today, no one shoots me… The people disperse from the square. Raul and the team have flown somewhere far away… and I’m left alone.

  “Do you know what I would do? You wouldn’t believe it. I’d climb that chestnut tree in front of your house immediately, tonight, like a teenager. I’d watch the lit windows. I’d see you go into Peter’s room. Kiss your son on the head, tell him good night, turn off the light and leave. And your husband’s not home. He’s at his office, on TV or at the Mayor’s office… or somewhere… wherever. So you enter the room of your little Eir. And she’s uncovered herself. You cover her up and caress her. And then you go to your room.”

  Pascal opened his eyes and abruptly rose up. “That isn’t only your room, Manami! You share it with your husband!” he shouted.

  He covered his face with his hands and rested his forehead on his raised knees.

  “Why isn’t there an ‘our room’, Manami? Why?” he whispered.

  After some time he lowered his hands into the water, raised his head and looked at the bathroom wall.

  “My friends are gone. What am I waiting for?”

  He got up out of the tub. “I’m going out. I’m going to get killed. Immediately. A bullet to the heart, the head. Aim wherever you want, wherever you please. Just as soon as possible! As soon, please…”

  *****

  “I won’t wear something… just usual… like always… Pants, unbuttoned shirt, sleeves rolled up,” Pascal thought, standing in front of the open closet. “I’ll dress elegantly. I’ll wear this dark blue suit… and a tie. This one, with the wide dark blue and dark red stripes. Like blood… But they are diagonal. They will intersect with these gray lines on the suit. Do they go together? I guess they do… these lines are discrete… you can hardly see them. But the shirt must be plain white. Or perhaps that light blue one? No, no, white it is. I’ll unbutton the jacket so the blood on the white shirt is visible.

  “So that you can clearly see how my heart bleeds for you, Manami.

  “And the shoes… these, yes… black, shiny… Like for a evening dance in some lavish hall…. You in a kimono… a gold kimono… in my arms. A huge orchestra… just the two of us. And no one else… in the whole world.”

  Chapter 21

  Having received his orders from Erivan, Alpha left the President’s office and reached the elevator with fast, nervous steps. But he didn’t enter it. He first just stood there and then walked down the hall, looking around, leaning over, crouching, getting up and hitting his fist against the wall several times.

  When he finally calmed down he took the elevator down to the garage. Once he got there, without saying a word he nodded to his subordinate White, he passed around the presidential car and made sure that the interior was not visible through the tinted windows. He then took his telephone from his jacket, took a deep breath, glanced once more at White, and called the driver who worked as a member of the residency staff.

  “Please put on your uniform and come immediately to the garage,” he said without saying hello, after the driver of the presidential car had picked up.

  “Yes, of course, Mr. Alpha,” the driver responded.

  “Why are you calling the chauffer, Alpha? Won’t the care be remote controlled?” his unit member asked.

  “Be quiet, White, just be quiet. Don’t ask anything. That’s the order.”

  “Erivan’s?”

  “Yes.”

  “But…”

  “But what?”

  “Well, I think… the chauffer will see them… as soon as he opens the door.”

  “He won’t open the door, White.”

  “How won’t he? You don’t mean… I can’t do it, Alpha! Call someone else. Why didn’t the Grasshopper also… the chauffer…”

  “I will do it, White. I have to. This is what it’s come to. Life and death struggle. We have to be up to the task.”

  Alpha slowly unbuttoned his jacket and pulled it back. He took out his pistol from the belt holster, raised it and aimed towards the elevator door.

  Chapter 22

  Pascal, dressed in the dark suit, stood in front of the window watching the square filled with people. “You’re not taking the shot?” he spoke without any fear to the imaginary sniper. “Very well, I understand. Who would see that you’ve killed me? They would show my dead body on television. It is better to wait for me to leave the hotel, and then, in front of the crowd… For it to be shocking, to scare them… for them to scatter. It works better for me that way too. Let her see me fall, on her beloved husband’s television channel…”

  “Will you cry when you see me lying in the square with a bloody stain here?” He raised his hand and placed it on his chest. “No, you won’t. Because you can’t. So that your husband and children wouldn’t notice. But tonight… when he goes to sleep, will you at least shed one tear? At least shed one tear for me, Manami.”

  Pascal slowly got up and went toward the door. He left the room and walked towards the elevator with brisk, decisive steps. Then he stopped in disbelief.

  The elevator was at the end of the hallway. Between the elevator and the first rooms was the stairway, from where Mayor Seneca was walking towards Pascal.

  When he saw Pascal Alexander stop in his tracks, Seneca slowed down his pace, waveringly went up to the door of the first room and also stopped. The two men, on opposite sides of the hallway, watched each other in silence.

  “Why is Alexander just standing and not saying anything,” Seneca thought. “Does he suspect something? No, surely not. Why would he? I could have arrested and banished him by now. And I haven’t. It’s probably clear to him that I don’t pose a threat? It’s probably logical that I just want to welcome him and escort him through the echelon of inspectors?”

  “I have to be careful” Pascal thought fervently. “How stupid I am. How is it that I haven’t thought of this earlier? That the man will come and take me through the cordon. Now for the first time I have to look him in the eye and speak to him… while I’m aware of… well yes… That’s why I’m not… of course, that is the only reason why I haven’t admitted to myself earlier… how much… I’m in love with your wife, Seneca.”

  “Don’t be crazy,” Pascal commanded himself. “Stop thinking about her. This instant. Do you understand? What do you want? For him to see in your eyes… and for him to pester and torment her for the rest of her life. Is that what you want? Come on… calm down. Everything is over. Let the man nicely escort you to your death. Be at least a little afraid of dying, you fool! OK, there… I’m afraid. That’s what I’ll look like. As though I’m afraid of dying. I’ll be desperate. How will he know why I’m desperate?”

  Pascal hesitantly stepped towards Seneca, and then continued with a firmer and stabler stride.

  “Mr. Mayor,” he said while approaching him.

  “Mr. Alexander, it’s as though you were surprised to see me. I just wanted to escort you through the cordon.”

  “Yes, yes, of course,” said Pascal, already nearing Seneca and putting out his hand.

  The door to the room that they stood in front of suddenly opened. Pascal turned around and wide-eyed in shock he looked at Raul, who stuck a needle into his outstretched arm through the sleeve of his jacket, and with his thumb he emptied the small injection. Pascal’s body went limp the same moment. Raul and Seneca caught him, not letting him fall to the floor. Without saying a word they dragged the unconscious Pascal Alexander to the elevator.

  Chapter 23

  “There, son, you see how everything is going well today. Even that which we did not plan,” Mr. Kaella told Prince, who was sitting across from him in the limousine driving them to the dock.

  “Yes, really. It’s a good sign. But it won’t save Seneca,” Prince responded.

  “Certainly not, son. He must be held accountable for his crime. Like all the mayors and other officials that have crossed over to their side. We must punish them mercilessly. To make an example of them.”

  “I never thought that
Seneca could be so stupid. He panicked, and drove Alexander out of Megapolis,” Prince responded. “Well, he stopped his speech. That is why I will reward him with a quick death. You know, father, Alexander is the enemy. But one worthy of respect, I must admit. And Seneca is a traitor. He betrayed us, and now Alexander too. He is a despicable guy.”

  “I’m not sure that he betrayed Alexander. It seems to me like some maneuver on his part. Erivan says that Seneca gave him his airplane. And a squadron to escort him.”

  “What maneuver, father? Seneca wants to be sure that Alexander has left and that he will never return.”

  “Yes, you’re probably right. The important thing for me is that he didn’t give that speech. Because I couldn’t sleep all night because of your words.”

  “What words? Why didn’t you sleep? If I have upset you with anything, father, any time… you must tell me immediately. So that I can explain, if need be. And not for my father to worry and not sleep.

  “Well… you said that even after our victory, there will always be a sore on your heart.”

  “Yes, I did. But let’s forget about that now. There will be no wounds on our hearts. And on there’s – I’m not exactly sure.”

  Father and son smiled wholeheartedly as their limousine slowed down, approaching the submarine tied to the dock.

  “Here we are, “ Prince said.