The Grasshopper (23 page)

“Because you weren’t interested in
that. If you had been interested in those things you could have
gotten a PhD in any field.”

“Of course. You’re absolutely
right.”

“Even in several fields. You would
have had five PhDs by now.”

“Five? Ten! …if I wanted,
Grasshopper!”

“But you decided that you can’t
waste time on those trifles. Who then would rule the
world?”

“That’s right, Grasshopper! That’s
right! You read me like a book.”

Chapter 82

The central part of the shelter
that Prince Kaella had built for himself and his family consisted
of one large space.

It included a kitchen, a dining
room table with six chairs, a club table, a commode with a lamp,
three dark brown leather armchairs and a large leather couch,
fluorescent-green. The color of the beam on the Kaella company
logo. There was a door on each wall of the living room
area.

The first was located between the
kitchen cabinets and it led to the sleeping quarters for Kaella’s
bodyguards. These quarters, which consisted of a large dormitory,
bathroom and toilette, was now occupied by Pascal.

The second door, on the opposite
wall, could be accessed between the dining room table and the
leather sofa set. It led to the quarters planned for Prince’s
family. Manami, Peter and Eir now occupied them.

The third and fourth doors,
opposite one another, on the remaining two walls, were exits from
the shelter. The one next to the dining room table led to the
hotel, and the one next to the third armchair led to the television
station.

The corridor that led from the
shelter to the hidden elevator was wider than the corridor that led
to the secret door in the hotel basement.

Behind a thin wall with sound
insulation in the wider corridor were a large refrigerator,
freezer, washing machine, drier and ironing machine.

Chapter 83

The Grasshopper sometimes went
alone on his missions, with a sniper rifle. But more often they
were assignments of a wider significance. Then the Grasshopper
would put together a team. Erivan allowed him to include members of
any squad, for any mission. In some situations Erivan’s entire
squads, including their leaders, were placed under the
Grasshopper’s command.

For this mission the Grasshopper
chose five squires: Kid, Elephant, Victor, Scorpion, and Cupid, and
took them along to the Command.

At the entrance to the Command the
Grasshopper handed the guards Erivan’s written orders to the head
of the Command and the head of its security.

In order to give the orders greater
meaning, Erivan wrote them by hand, signed them with his full name
and stamped them with the magnificent, embossed state seal. It
stated that Mr. Grasshopper was his personal envoy to the Command,
that he had full authorization, and that he was to take absolute
control of the Command and the entire energy system.

When the chief and head of security
at the Command made themselves available to him, the Grasshopper
carried out the following steps, the following order:

1. He ordered that he and his men
be taken to the operations room.

2. He ordered that the shields be
raised around the Command and all the platforms in the energy
system, which the system administrator on duty in the operations
room carried out.

3. He ordered that all those
present in the Command, regardless of their function, including the
guards at the door, go to the amphitheatre where he would convey
President Erivan’s instructions for operation under wartime
conditions.

4. After a while he checked on the
monitors whether all the other areas of the Command were empty.
When he was certain of it, he ordered Scorpion, Kid and Elephant to
go into the amphitheatre, to close the doors, and if necessary
prevent anyone from leaving the amphitheatre until the chief, head
of security, Victor, Cupid and he joined them.

5. He asked the chief and head of
security to approach the command desk, so that he could first
explain to them the wartime regime for the functioning of the
energy system. Because he expected their full support when he
addressed the staff in the amphitheatre.

6. When the chief and head of
security approached the command desk, the Grasshopper nodded to
Victor and Cupid.

7. While Victor fired a shot into
the temple of the head of security and Cupid emptied his clip into
the chief’s body, the Grasshopper, with truly incredible speed,
which completely deservingly represented a significant part of the
legend about him, drew his two (also legendary) revolvers from his
thigh holsters, throwing himself on the ground and before even
touching the floor, firing a single bullet from each revolver,
making holes on the foreheads of the surprised Victor and Cupid,
who had just turned towards him.

8. He approached the command desk,
remotely locked the doors to the amphitheatre and switched off its
oxygen supply.

9. He walked out of the operations
room into the corridor, opened the first aid cabinet and took out
gauze and a bandage. He returned to the operations room, and used a
knife, which he drew from the sheath on his belt, to remove a
bullet from the chief’s body. He placed the bullet on the edge of
the command desk and thoroughly soaked the gauze in the chief’s
blood.

10. He placed the bloody gauze on
his left side and attached it with the bandage, wrapping it around
his stomach.

Chapter 84

“You’re good, Bruce, you’re good,”
said Lolo, the former boxer, while coaching a boy in his
basement.

Lolo didn’t coach just anyone. The
boys had a boxing club for that. His basement was open only to
those that Lolo identified as having a love of boxing. Those for
whom fists were just a means. Those that boxed from the
heart.

“Hey, you!” roared Lolo’s wife,
coming down the stairs with curlers in her hair. “You are to take
the car to the Inspectorate immediately! Do you know that there’s a
war starting?! Do you know that your car is already two months out
of season?! Do you think that the inspectors will look the other
way again?!”

“Leave me alone, woman. You and
that car… Those are all my people… Excellent, kid… That’s it! Hit
it! Hit it! That’s it!” said Lolo, while Bruce ran around him,
punching the gloves he held up.

“Enough with that nonsense! Get out
of that basement! First go buy some sour cream, then go return the
car!”

“Man, you’re such a drag,” said
Lolo, while taking off his gloves. “Don’t ever get married, Bruce.
Listen to what Mr. Lolo has to say. Keep hitting the sack, I’ll be
back in a moment.”

Lolo ran up the stairs without
looking at his wife, and entered the hallway. He was surprised that
his wallet was not on the dresser, next to his car keys. He checked
the pockets of his pants, which were lying on the back of the
armchair in the living room.

“What are you fussing about there?”
his wife asked, having come up from the basement.

“Well… I can’t find my
wallet.”

“You lost your wallet?!” his wife
shouted.

“Well… I didn’t… I didn’t…” Lolo
searched around the living room with his eyes. “It must be in the
car…” he said, and took the keys from the dresser and went out to
the car, which was parked in front of the house on their peaceful
street.

“Moron!” said his wife and returned
to the kitchen.

Sayash and Lucky were dozing in the
shade. Lucky only opened his eyes half-way when he heard Lolo’s
noisy wife, and Sayash didn’t even move.

Chapter 85

The Grasshopper turned on the
camera above the command desk and called Erivan.

“Mr. President… Mr. President…” he
said with a exhausted voice.

“Grasshopper! What’s going on?!”
shouted Erivan in a panicked fear, seeing the entire operations
room on his screen with bodies on the floor.

“Don’t worry… Everything is
alright… please, don’t worry…” the Grasshopper
whispered.

“What do you mean ‘alright’?!”
Erivan asked hastily, but with a calmer voice. “You’re wounded,
Grasshopper!” He shouted again when he saw Grasshopper’s bandaged
body. “Is it a serious wound? Will you survive? Where are the
rest?!”

“I’ll tell you everything… sir… let
me just catch my breath…”

“Alright…”

“I carried out your
orders…”

“Did you? Really? Congratulations,
Grasshopper!”

“But…”

“But – what? Speak up!”

“I’m trying… I’m exhausted…
so…”

“Alright… alright… take it easy,
but what?”

“I was attacked by… my…”

“Who? Your people? Why?
Impossible!”

“Possible… possible… Mr.
Presid…”

“Did you manage to kill them
all?

“I did… don’t be angry…”

“All five of them?”

“Yes…”

“And all the rest in the
Command?”

“Yes… don’t be angry… I was
defending myself…”

“How can I be angry? As long as you
are alive, Grasshopper! Is it a serious wound? Who will help you?
Who will treat you if you are alone in the Command? Will you bleed
out?”

“I won’t… don’t worry… I’ve already
gotten the bullet out…” The Grasshopper moaned as he bent over to
lift the bullet and show it to Erivan. “And I’ve sown up the
wound…”

“You operated on yourself? Without
anesthesia? You’re a hero, Grasshopper!”

“My loyalty to you… my upcoming
mission… it gives me superhuman strength, Mr…”

“Grasshopper, Grasshopper!... do
you see that it was the right decision to send you up
there?”

“I see… Mr…” Grasshopper passed
out. In doing so he hit the command desk with his forehead, right
on the wrong icon, and he disconnected the link with
Erivan.

Chapter 86

Lucky raised his head, opened his
eyes wide and looked at the Inspectorate armored vehicle coming
around the corner. He rushed towards Lolo’s house.

“Hey, Lucky! What’s the matter with
you?” Sayash shouted. “Lucky, stop!”

Lucky started manically digging up
flowers in Lolo’s wife’s garden.

Lolo didn’t find his wallet in the
car’s glove compartment. He had just squatted next to the driver’s
seat and was running his hand underneath it, when Sayash rushed
into his wife’s garden.

“And who are you?” asked Lolo,
catching the red-and-yellow squares of Sayash’s three quarter pants
in the corner of his eye.

“Ah, you peed,” Sayash said while
catching his breath, having run up to Lucky. “What is this new
thing of yours, Lucky? Showing off with your front paws when you
pee?”

Lolo had gotten up and was headed
towards the house. He saw Lucky digging up his wife’s flowers and
Sayash smiling cheerfully.

“What now!?!” Lolo shouted, already
annoyed because of his missing wallet. “You bum, you’re
insane!”

“Lucky, where are you going? Wait
for me, Lucky!” Sayash panted while running after Lucky, who was
sprinting down the street.

“Come back, you bum! You’ll pay for
this! You and that mutt of yours!” It would have taken Lolo only
another step to reach the clumsy Sayash, when the Inspectorate
armored vehicle fired a shell and blew up his out-of-season
car.

Lolo first stumbled from the
explosion, then stopped and turned around. He watched in shock as
his car disappeared in the flames.

“Hey, Lolo!” shouted inspector
Marlon, peering through the turret of the armored vehicle. “Sorry,
buddy, I had to. It’s war, no messing around. In any case I spared
you the trouble of driving this heap of junk to the Inspectorate.
You’re buying beer tonight at Legends. See you, buddy!” Marlon
greeted his buddy Lolo and lowered the hatch after him.

Lolo didn’t say anything to him. He
turned around and looked down the street, but Sayash and Lucky were
nowhere to be seen. He stood there on the sidewalk for a while, in
reflection. And then he ran to his veranda, where standing next to
each other were his wife in curlers and Bruce in red
gloves.

“Did you see that?” the excited
Lolo told his wife. “Do you get what happened? That bum… and his
puppy… How did they just disappear? Do you get it? They saved my
life! That’s why he was digging in your flowers! To make me run
after them, to get me away from the car! They saved my life,
woman!”

“Stop the nonsense! There’s nothing
wrong with my flowers,” Lolo’s wife said.

“What do you mean ‘there’s nothing
wrong’?!” said Lolo looking at the garden where all the rows were
perfectly neat. “What do I care?” he shouted, still very excited.
“I saw them! And I know that they saved my life! Without them I
would have been squatting behind the car and Marlon wouldn’t have
seen me!”