The Grasshopper Read online

  When the bodyguard opened the door, Prince got out of the car and helped his father out. He held him under the arm as they crossed the gangplank, entered the submarine and went past the room where the television crew had improvised a studio control room. All the way to the doors of the grand salon.

  Then, having seen Babe, who was already standing with her hand resting on the backrest of one of the black leather armchairs, he let go of his father’s arm, his eyes and mouth wide open. For Babe was wearing Earth’s flag… She was draped in the flag… No, no… She was… she… Babe was the flag itself. The symbol, the meaning of everything… his work, his creation… his achievements… The reflection, the image of his… being.

  Chapter 24

  In the mayor’s airplane, which took off from Megapolis with Pascal Alexander’s entire electoral staff, everything was quiet. No one was talking to anyone. And previously it hadn’t been so. When they had to leave a city, Pascal would walk among his associates smiling and say

  “What is it? Why are you moping, my nomads? I couldn’t wait for them to throw us out. It was a really boring city.”

  Then everyone would laugh, throw in their jokes, wisecracks and anecdotes about the particular city. But this time they had left Megapolis. And in it certainly no one was bored. They felt the intensive taste of defeat. As though the defeat was definite and irrevocable.

  Even Pascal wasn’t there to joke. He was in the mayor’s salon, in the forward part of the airplane. He was getting over a hangover from last night. He was disappointed because of Svetlana, who had left him. That is at least what their boss Raul said, when he came out of the airplane salon. And after that he too wistfully sat in silence on the front seat, next to Liam, the head of Pascal’s security.

  The other staff members spread out throughout the large airplane. Only the secretaries sat together, as they always did. All five of them in two rows, behind their boss Margot, Raul’s experienced long-standing associate. And Jin, the assistant to the head of PR, sat alone, far behind them.

  Gloria, a dark-skinned girl with a lavish Afro, one of the five secretaries, got up from her seat and sat next to Jin, who looked out the window without paying attention to her.

  “Well?” said Gloria.

  “Excuse me?” said the surprised Jin. “Well what?”

  “You’re pretending that you don’t know anything.”

  “Excuse me?” Jin was annoyed by such behavior. “What are you talking about, Gloria?”

  “What am I talking about? Well, alright… Tell me, what happened to your boss?”

  “To Svetlana?”

  “Yes.”

  “Didn’t you hear what Raul said? She left Pascal and quit the campaign,” Jin said angrily.

  “Well she didn’t,” said Gloria, when she saw that Jin’s surprise was genuine and that she didn’t have a clue.

  “What do you mean ‘she didn’t’?” Jin shouted.

  “Psssst! Quiet, Jin. They’ll hear us. You see that Raul is hiding it from us.”

  “Hiding what? What’s going on?” Jin whispered anxiously.

  “I saw her last night.”

  “What are you saying? What did you see?”

  “You know how it is. I came back late from the club last night… it’s not important. I went to bed and I was falling asleep, but I still hadn’t fallen asleep…”

  “Well, and?”

  “And I hear the elevator. It stopped on our floor. I jumped out of bed. And I thought ‘He couldn’t wait. He’s coming for me.’ And Dorika is sleeping next to me. How will we…? We can’t in our room, get it…?”

  “I get it, and?”

  “I got to the door to tell him to wait while I got dressed… And the steps went past my door… and they weren’t men’s steps. I mean, its carpeting so you can’t hear heels… but I guess I know what men’s steps are like and what women’s…”

  “And?”

  “And I heard, it seemed to me like the person was crying… weeping. Quietly… but I heard it.”

  “OK, OK, cut to the chase. You think that Svetlana was crying last night?”

  “I don’t think so, Jin. I know so. I pried open the door and see her unlock her room. And she noticed me. I don’t know how. I was absolutely quiet. She felt me, I guess, in that deserted hallway and she looked at me.”

  “And?”

  “Eyes red, makeup smeared. Distraught… she looked distraught. I mean not only physically, because of the makeup. But… how should I describe it… psychologically, mentally… desperation in her eyes, desperation on her face… you couldn’t recognize her. You know yourself what she’s like. Beautiful, dignified… all important next to her Pascal.

  At that moment Margot walked towards the two of them, on her way to the toilet.

  “Margot!” Jin rose from her seat.

  “What’s wrong with you, Jin?” Gloria got scared when Jin called her boss. “I told that only to you.”

  Margot had already come up to them.

  “Yes, Jin?”

  “What are you hiding from us?”

  “What do you mean? We’re not hiding anything.”

  “Gloria saw Svetlana last night, all in tears and distraught.”

  “No… it was dark… I’m not sure… Jin, really… Margot, please…”

  “Is it possible?” Margot was surprised and concerned.

  “No, no… I probably thought I saw something…” Gloria stuttered.

  Margot wasn’t listening anymore. She also didn’t continue to the toilet. She briskly turned around and with vigorous fast steps went towards the first row, towards Raul.

  Chapter 25

  The shortest street in Capital City, only a hundred and twenty meters long, was not only referred to as Short Street – it was also its official name. It was located in the very center of the city. It connected Cypress Avenue and Olive Avenue, in the part where the two streets were closest to each other. This is why Short Street was always full of pedestrians and cars.

  It was also narrow. It only had one lane going in either direction. The sidewalks were not very wide either. The few restaurants and cafes could only put two small tables outside.

  Shops selling the most exclusive and most expensive were the norm on Short Street. Anyone who bought anything in any of the shops on Short Street could be certain of seeing envy in the eyes of people they knew. This is why Prince Kaella kept the highest price of rent in all of Capital City for offices on Short Street.

  Short Street also had another characteristic. Motorcades carrying important individuals from the State or the Company very often took it, in order to shorten their route, and therefore the time that they were exposed to potential attacks. It was not always required to cheer and wave these motorcades and the important individuals in them. Only on State Day, on Company Day and of course on the birthdays of Mr. Kaella and his son Prince. Of course, there were exceptions. Today was such an exception, due to the electoral speech. It was necessary to wave to President Xing’s motorcade.

  Short Street was ideal for this purpose. The television crew needed only one crane to shoot the crowd of excited admirers which looked even larger in this small space, with wide and sincere smiles, children on their fathers’ shoulders waving balloons painted like the planet Earth, two young people happily handing hands, a grandpa holding his arm around grandma’s shoulder, while the love for the important individual sparkled in her old wise eyes. And of course, unavoidably, in a space specially cordoned off for them in the middle of Short Street – the pupils from one of the elementary schools.

  Chapter 26

  Having reached Raul, Margot said:

  “Liam, please give us some privacy.”

  The head of security got up from his seat and went towards the middle of the airplane.

  “Why did you lie to us, Raul, that Svetlana had left Pascal and that he had gotten drunk because of her?”

  “I didn’t lie, Margot. That is what Pascal told me.”

  “What is happ
ening, Raul? Something much more serious is going on.”

  “No. That’s it,” Raul looked away.

  “Gloria saw Svetlana in tears and distraught last night. And you’re lying to us that she left Pascal.”

  “Every breakup is difficult.”

  “What are you hiding from me, Raul, from us? What right do you have? Why do you think that you have that right?”

  “This is getting torturous,” Raul thought. “What am I actually waiting for? To land, and for all of them to disappear somewhere and not see that…”

  “Let me by,” said Raul, passing by Margot who also got up. He then turned to the staff and said loudly

  “Pascal is not with us!”

  Chapter 27

  Atop of Babe’s head, with the nape shaved high, created out of her remaining hair, which spanned from a strong deep blue to the light blue color of the sky, without the unnecessary frills on the yellow-green continent, stylized, ultra modernly, and crystal clear – was a depiction of the planet.

  Around here eyes, too. Two Earths, created in a thick layer of blue eye shadow, the poles of which touched her cheekbones and her forehead above her eyelashes, which were completely removed specially for this occasion.

  From the piercing through her… from this distance Prince could not clearly see, but somewhere there… just beneath the corners of her beautiful large blue eyes, dangled two little chains, at whose ends, two little Earths were swinging, lined up with her full, tempting upper lip, covered in thick black lipstick.

  The third little Earth swayed at the end of a little chain hanging from a ring pierced through the center of her massive, heavy lower lip, with blue-gray lipstick which extended towards the protruding, defiant chin.

  “On the mark,” Babe congratulated herself in her mind, blinking once again with the blue and black eyelashes at the stunned Prince.

  She rushed over, with emphasized care, to the old Mr. Kaella, and gently lowered him into the armchair prepared for him, like any good daughter-in-law would.

  “Thank you. You are very kind, Miss Babe,” the old man said while sitting down. “And you look wonderful today. Like our flag. Wonderful.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Kaella. That’s how I feel. Proud, inspired, honored, because you choose precisely me for your interview, out of all the excellent television hosts.”

  “Excellent, excellent… and none of them can hold a candle to you, Miss Babe,” Mr. Kaella sincerely complimented her.

  And while she had her backed turned to Prince, he watched that cascading blue-dyed hair of another woman, which started from the very bottom of her shaved skull, like from the edge of some tall mountain cliff, cascading down her back, along her metallic black leather short-sleeved jacket, and covering the upper hem of her short skirt, it reached the beginning of her strong, femininely protruding provocative spherical buttocks. And a sliver of lace from her fishnet stockings, remissly revealed by her slightly raised light fluttery blue-black skirt.

  “Mr. Kaella, Mr. Kaella,” the hasty and professional director of the interview nodded twice, greeting both father and sun, while entering the salon. “Please, take your seats. We have to do a sound check.”

  “Certainly, certainly,” said Prince, sitting in the armchair that the director waved to. Opposite the sofa, where apparently Babe would be sitting.

  “So, I’ll be able to watch you unobstructed the entire time,” Prince thought, as far as he managed to gather his thoughts. “That is why you immediately placed my father in the armchair to the side. You’re dangerous. Dangerous…”

  Chapter 28

  “Where is Pascal?” the agitated staff shouted.

  “Calm down! Quiet! I’ll explain everything to you,” Raul tried to outshout them.

  “Quiet!” Margot shouted. “Let’s hear Raul!”

  When the voices finally subsided, Raul said:

  “Pascal is in a secure place and he is safe.”

  “How is he safe?!” the head of security shouted. “How do you know that he is safe? How can he be safe if we are not by his side?! Who is protecting him now, anyway?! What do you think, Raul? Who are you to assess the level of his security? Not only you, how can Pascal know whether he is safe? What do the two of you know about that? You’ve been under my protection for years, shielded by my guys and you think that it is a given. I demand that you immediately take us to Pascal! Turn this plane around!” Liam started towards the pilots’ cabin.

  Margot got in front of him. “Back off, Liam! Back off!”

  “What’s with you Margot? So you’ve known the entire time! You lied to us too! How could you?! How can you leave Pascal to someone else?!”

  “I didn’t know, Liam, I didn’t. I too am hearing all this for the first time. We’re all very upset. And scared. We all love Pascal. We all equally care about him. But we’re not the only ones. Millions of people love him. That man means a lot to millions. And neither we here, in this campaign, in his team, nor all those people would know about him had it not been for Raul. Raul motivated him to start the struggle for freedom for all people, to become our leader, to become the meaning, the hope. No one in this world knows Pascal like Raul does. No one respects and loves Pascal like Raul does. None of us understand what Pascal actually represents, and what is the scope of this… like Raul does. That is why I’m ordering you… yes, you heard well, I’m ordering you to sit down and to listen quietly to what Raul has to tell us.”

  “What is he eating now? Who’s cooking for him?” wept Citra, Raul’s distant cousin and Pascal’s personal cook. “He’s picky… he can’t eat just anything…”

  “Citra, calm down, Citra… Don’t overreact,” said Raul. “Pascal isn’t a child. He’ll eat something. You cook for him… I mean, of course you cook the best and he likes it best when you prepare something for him. But… that’s primarily for security. So that we’re sure that no one has gone near his food… that no one’s touched it, you understand?”

  “There!” Liam exploded again. “And now, Raul, how can you know now who all is near his food? How?!”

  “People, people… friends… Do you think it’s easy for me? But that is only until the elections, and after…”

  “Why until the elections?” Margot was surprised. “Isn’t the most important thing that we are together and that we make appearances, that we are present publicly every moment until the elections?”

  “Margot, allow me… I’m trying to say what happened… Why we made this decision.”

  “OK, OK… I apologize, Raul.”

  Everyone was quiet. Only Citra was still sniffling.

  Chapter 29

  Babe was extremely pleased with herself. Having transformed herself into the flag of Earth she reminded Prince of what he had grown accustomed to since he was a child. What was implied. She reminded him of who he actually was:

  Prince Kaella, heir to the most magnificent throne in the history of mankind. Ruler of everything that exists. Having reminded him of his infinite power she injected him with the strongest dose of aphrodisiac. Directly into the vein. Judging by his reaction she had exceeded even her wildest expectations.

  Babe started her interview with this great feeling of self-confidence.

  “Dear viewers, it is my great honor to host on my show two men, father and son, two of the greatest persons today,” said Babe, looking directly into the camera.

  After that introduction she turned to Mr. Kaella.

  “Mr. Kaella, good day.”

  “Good day to you too, Miss Babe, and of course, to your viewers,” Mr. Kaella said with a great smile.

  “Greetings to you too, Mr. Prince Kaella.”

  “Good day,” Prince greeted her too.

  “Dear viewers, as you yourself have noticed, we are in the Kaella family submarine and we are sailing towards one of the numerous submerged cities. You can send your answer to the question which city it is to the number appearing at the bottom of the screen, along with the price of your message. The selected viewer tha
t gave the correct answer will win a submarine trip for two.”

  Babe looked away from the camera and looked at Mr. Kaella.

  “Mr. Kaella, you like this type of outings?”

  “Yes, but before I answer your questions I’d like to say in front of the audience that you look truly marvelous today, symbolizing our State, our planet. This is why I would like to invite our dear Consumers to follow in your footsteps, Miss Babe. Dear ladies, show in your appearance what you carry deep in your hearts.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Kaella. I am truly honored.”

  “To answer your questions. Yes, I enjoy these outings. This silence underwater relaxes me in a way. It allows me to think more clearly, to understand even better the progress that we have achieved compared to the society, well actually compared to the former, fragmented, constantly clashing human communities. Sailing down the avenues of these submerged cities, throughout our planet, I wonder how it is at all possible that in the not-so-distant past man’s level of awareness was so low.”

  “Incredibly low, Mr. Kaella,” Babe agreed.

  “If they had worked so diligently on developing the greenhouse effect and increasing the temperature on Earth, why then did they invest so much, why did they live in coastal towns and why did they defend them for so long, unsuccessfully of course, from the ocean by building futile damns? Why didn’t they realize that the waves of every following tsunami and super storm would easily get over those ridiculous walls? And my son, completely oppositely… I mean, I hope… that your viewers are aware that my son has dedicated his life to the struggle to save the planet and mankind.”