The Grasshopper (42 page)

“I’ll let you know in four, five
days, Dr. Palladino,” the Grasshopper said calmly.

“In five days? What does that mean?
What do you need those five days for? Don’t you dare even think
about shooting at Earth again! Is that clear to you?!” Dr.
Palladino threatened the Grasshopper with his finger, putting his
face in the camera.

“You’ve become quite delightful,
Doctor,” the Grasshopper laughed. “We’ll play Russian
roulette.”

“We will?” Dr. Palladino stopped
breathing.

“Yes, Doctor, we’ll
play.”

Dr. Palladino placed both hands on
the desk, lowered his head and sighed deeply.

“But you will be in
Megapolis.”

“Why do I have to be in Megapolis,
Mr. Grasshopper?” Dr. Palladino again put his face in the camera.
“It’s complicated! How will I get to Megapolis safely? If something
happens to me, nothing compels you to…”

“Dr. Palladino, calm down, please.
That’s my concern. I will arrange it with Mayor Seneca. He, in
cooperation with Charlie, will provide you with safe transport,”
the Grasshopper said calmly.

“But why Megapolis? And why do you
need four, five days?”

“Megapolis is my city,” said the
Grasshopper, lowering his voice. “My University. When I went to
school there… it wasn’t like it is now. I was one of the first
generations of students at the new University. Mr. Seneca became
mayor at that time. He introduced uniforms, emblems, an anthem,
manner… We were full of enthusiasm, pride…

“For a while… no, not only for one
period… it happened several times… Megapolis, the University
managed to shake my intentions. Megapolis was the only thing that
managed to do so.

“In the meantime I was recruited.
And I met Erivan. I haven’t been shaken since.

“That is why I will give Megapolis
one last chance. Giving the world a chance without Megapolis means
nothing. It will quickly turn out new Kaellas and Erivans. And if
Mr. Alexander’s Third Renaissance ever materializes, it will be in
Megapolis.

“Dr. Palladino, Megapolis is the
only excuse that I will agree to.”

“So Megapolis was important to you
the entire time. That is why you never switched off its energy
supply. So that people would swarm to it, and then… Capital City,
too.”

“No, not Capital City. It means
nothing to me. My plan was to direct the beams towards the oceans,
once I destroyed Megapolis. And to lock the energy system in that
position,” the Grasshopper fell silent.

“And?” Dr. Palladino
whispered.

“And?” the Grasshopper smiled. “And
then, Dr. Palladino, I would calmly watch from here as the oceans
heated up and storms ravaged the Earth.

“I would regularly measure the
increase in temperature on the planet, but I wouldn’t get too
excited about it. How could I prove that the temperature was
increasing because of my beams if I didn’t have enough historical
data? What could I compare it to? I would know very well that it
was only a claim by vicious tongues and that such an increase in
temperature was actually a regular cycle in nature… I’m joking, of
course…

“I would direct the beams towards
the oceans, lock the energy system and kill myself. The evaporation
of the oceans would do the rest. I would kill all life. The
collective Thanatos would triumph.”

“And that’s exactly what you will
do, if Megapolis loses against you.”

“Precisely.”

“And five days?” Dr. Palladino was
persistent.

“That is approximately how long it
will take me to redirect the beams towards Megapolis. When I’m
finished, only then will I call Seneca and inform Charlie. I want
you to be in that residence as long as possible, safe. Because I
won’t play Russian roulette with anyone else, Dr. Palladino. So
please don’t tell Charlie anything. I will communicate with
him.”

“I won’t, of course,” said Dr.
Palladino.

“And then I will see what Seneca
and Charlie will say. How much time it will take them to get you
safely to Megapolis. Then we will set the exact time of the Russian
roulette.”

Chapter 150

On the fourth night after Seneca
had left their shelter, Eir, Peter, Manami and Pascal heard the
elevator doors open.

“Noah,” said Eir.

“It might also be dad, “ Peter was
hopeful. “Yes! It’s dad!” He shouted when he heard the shelter door
unlock.

“Dad!” shouted Eir, sliding off the
chair and running with her brother towards the door.

Pascal rose from the table and
looked at Manami. She just calmly nodded to him.

Noah entered the shelter for the
first time. He was a very handsome shapely young man, wearing an
Inspectorate colonel’s uniform.

“Noah!” Peter ran up to
him.

“Hello, Peter,” Noah said and put
out his hand.

“Noah, what are you doing in the
shelter? What has happened?” Manami asked.

“Madam Manami, Mr. Alexander, the
mayor has said that the four of you should immediately come to his
office.”

The shelter fell silent. Peter
stood in silence in front of Noah, and Pascal stared at the
floor.

“Why, Noah?” Manami asked after a
few moments.

“You have to leave here, Madam,”
said Noah. “This shelter is no longer safe.”

“Why isn’t it safe?” Manami asked.
She walked over to Eir and took her in her arms.

“The Mayor has not authorized me to
give you any information, Madam Manami. He told me to remind you of
your agreement, according to which he would not trouble you with
information from the outside world.”

“But that no longer applies,” said
Manami. “You are now taking us into the outside world. I have to
know what’s going on.”

“I’m not taking you. You are just
relocating to a different shelter. There’s a helicopter waiting for
you on the roof of the television station, which will fly you out
of the Megapolis region. You will be put up in a hanger that is
deep underground.”

“And what if we don’t want to leave
this shelter?” she asked.

“Madam Manami,” Noah said calmly.
“The mayor assumed that you would be scared. That is why I am to
tell you that you have nothing to worry about and that everything
will be as you wish.”

Manami looked at Pascal.

“Does that mean that Mr. Alexander
is going with us to the new shelter?” she asked.

“Of course. The safety of Mr.
Alexander is crucial for the future of this planet. People are
worshiping and glorifying you as their savior, Mr. Alexander.
Didn’t the mayor tell you?”

Pascal said nothing.

“No, Noah,” Manami replied instead
of him. “That was the agreement. Julius didn’t tell Mr. Alexander
anything. We didn’t want to transfer the apprehension to the
children. And only now do I see how right we were.”

“Madam, Mr. Alexander, we really
have to leave immediately. Every moment is precious. Leave
everything here. I will have your things brought to you
later.”

“Alright, Noah,” Manami agreed.
“Eir, the gentleman will carry you,” she handed the girl to
Pascal.

“Mommy…” Eir fought
back.

“Listen to mommy, Eir… Be good…”
Manami said.

“Eir, come to Pascal,” said Pascal
while taking the girl.

“Don’t leave my side!” Manami
whispered to Pascal. “Not for a moment!”

Noah and Peter went down the
corridor towards the elevator.

“Wait!” Manami shouted.

The two of them stopped and turned
towards her.

“The elevator is very small,” said
Manami, when she, Pascal and Eir reached it. “This is how we will
go up to Julius. First Peter and I, then you, Noah, and Mr.
Alexander and Eir at the end.” She looked at Pascal. “You and Eir
at the end, sir.”

Chapter 151

The windows in Seneca’s office on
the last floor of the television station building were draped. The
large aquarelle of Megapolis was shifted to one side, at an angle.
The elevator doors opened behind it. When Manami and Peter came out
they didn’t see Seneca from the front behind the painting. And he
didn’t come to them, but stood in silence at the office
door.

“Dad!” shouted Peter, when he and
Manami came out from behind the painting. He ran towards his father
and hugged him around the waist.

Mayor Seneca stroked his son on the
head and looked at his wife. And Manami looked breathlessly into
his empty eyes.

“Julius…” she whispered when she
approached him.

“Don’t worry, Manami. Everything
will be alright. You’re going to a safe place,” said Seneca
quietly. He knelt next to Peter and took his face in his hands. “My
son,” he said and kissed his forehead.

He got up when Noah came out of the
elevator and entered the office.

“There, Mr. Alexander will now come
up with Eir,” Noah said.

“Noah, take Manami and Peter to the
roof, and I’ll come with Alexander and Eir.”

“No!” shouted Manami, squeezing
Peter’s hand and stared directly at her husband.

“Alright, Manami, alright… we’ll
all go together,” Seneca said calmly. “We’ll wait for Eir... Noah
will provide you with large quantities of food and water… you’ll
also have electricity… it will be alright… like here,” said Seneca.
“Noah will explain everything to you. Don’t worry about a thing…
and you, son,” he looked at Peter, “should study hard…”

“And you, dad?” Peter asked with a
trembling voice, looking at his exhausted, worn out
father.

“I’ll be alright too, Peter.
Everything will be alright… Don’t you worry about me. I have Noah
to take care of me. You know how he…”

Seneca rushed to the elevator when
he heard the doors open. Pascal stepped out of the elevator with
Eir in his arms and stopped in front of Seneca. The two men looked
each other in the eye.

Manami couldn’t see what was
happening from the large aquarelle. She let go of Peter’s hand and
ran towards them. “Stay there, Peter!” she shouted.

When she reached the elevator she
saw Eir in Pascal’s arms, leaning, towards her father.

“Daddy, daddy,” she
said.

Knowing that Peter and Noah
couldn’t see them, Manami grabbed Eir by the shoulders.

“No, Eir! Stay with Pascal!” she
whispered fervently. And then her arms dropped to her sides when
her husband whispered

“You’ve gained a wonderful family,
Alexander. Take good care of them.”

Mayor Seneca took his daughter’s
stretched out hands and kissed them. Then he turned around swiftly
and was the first to leave the office.

Chapter 152

Seneca stopped when he went out
onto the roof.

“What is this, Noah?” he asked
angrily.

Noah stood next to him and saw what
the Mayor meant. In the dark night, next to the aircraft planned to
take Seneca’s family and Pascal out of Megapolis, was a silhouette
of another helicopter, with a large television screen and powerful
speakers attached to its side.

“I thought that they had already
taken off, Mr. Mayor,” said Noah. “I’ll tell them to take off
immediately.” Noah stepped out onto the roof.

“Not you!” Seneca shouted and held
him back. “You stay here with them. You’re armed. I’ll tell
them.”

The door to the aircraft was open.
The pilot was surprised and frightened when he saw Mayor Seneca
running towards him from out of the darkness.

“Mr. Mayor,” he stuttered,
nervously unbuckling his belt to get up and salute his
commander.

“Sit!” Seneca shouted. “You are to
take off from here immediately!”

“Yes, yes, Mr. Mayor, just as soon
as the technician finishes…” the pilot calmed down when he saw that
this was the only problem.

“What technician?!” Seneca asked.
“As soon as he finishes what?”

“The screen is loose, Mr. Mayor.
He’s tightening it.”

Seneca ran around the aircraft and
reached the technician who was standing between the screen and the
aircraft fuselage.

“Leave that now!” Seneca shouted.
“The helicopter has to take off immediately!”

The technician stood in
attention.

“The screen isn’t firmly attached,
Mr. Mayor!”

“That’s not important! You don’t
have to go on the mission now. Just get out of here. Land at the
airport… down in the square, wherever – just get out of
here!”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Mayor. The arm will
hold until the airport. And even if it’s a little loose … the
viewing angle isn’t important now…”

“Come on, come on, less talk!”
Seneca was angry. “Get in the chopper!”

The technician got in and closed
the door. The pilot immediately switched on the engine and the
helicopter started lifting vertically.