Any man would be envious of Prince Kaella on such a death. He died looking at his highness basking in Babe’s pubic mound.
Chapter 62
The energy system in space consisted of 96 cosmic energy collectors and the Command. The collectors were actually platforms placed in 12 orbits around Earth. There were 8 collectors in each orbit.
Each collector had 36 so-called cannons. The cannons sent narrow, precise beams of accumulated cosmic energy, which charged the cosmic power plants on Earth. The received cosmic energy was transformed into electrical energy at the power plants. There were no more other energy sources.
The collectors were not geostationary. Each collector could change its position by switching on its engines. In addition to this it could also change the direction of each of its 36 beams. This way the cosmic energy beams covered every inch of the Earth’s surface.
There were no human crews on the collectors. They were operated remotely, from the Command Platform, which was simply called the Command. The Command crew consisted of top experts and security.
The Grasshopper was on a spaceship, on his way to the Command, together with five hand-picked members of Erivan’s squads.
Chapter 63
Screens across the planet Earth went dark and silent. But for less than a minute. After that they displayed the image from a camera mounted on a crane on Short Street. The unpleasant silence was interrupted by the television commentator of the broadcast of President Xing’s last election speech.
“Dear viewers, we have technical problems with the reception of the signal from Mr. Kaella’s submarine. While we are waiting to reestablish the connection and the continuation of the interview, let’s take a look at how Consumers are greeting President Xing.”
The motorcade was just entering Short Street. At the moment when the presidential car passed by fence beyond which pupils from the fifth and eighth grade were waving Earth flags, the screens across the planet again went dark and silent.
“Horrific crime! Heinous!” shouted the shocked anchor from the studio of Capital City TV, after several minutes of darkness. “An assassination has been carried out against President Xing! Here’s the footage from our helicopter!”
Short Street was no more. In its place, beneath a cloud of smoke, was a deep crater. In some places, where the wind had cleared the dust, pieces of the surrounding buildings could be seen scattered at the bottom of the crater.
The footage from the Capital City TV helicopter suddenly disappeared, and the screens displayed the text “We are awaiting an address from President Erivan.”
Chapter 64
Erivan stood in a black suit, black shirt and black tie, perfectly tailored to his demanding figure. There were no state emblems around him, nor was there any indication of where he was located. Only he was illuminated, and around him was darkness.
Erivan was silent while the camera slowly zoomed in on his bust, until it completely filled the screens. Not a single muscle on his face had moved. Only his tight lips and ironclad eyes reflected the unfaltering determination of the new ruler of the world.
“Less than fifteen minutes ago the Non-Consumers carried out a terrorist attack and killed out former President Xing and his entire family…” he said drearily. Then he paused, looked at the floor, sighed deeply, raised his eyes to the camera, now filled with pain and continued “at the same moment, during the interview, the Non-Consumers also slew Mr. Kaella and his son Prince.” Erivan paused, allowing people to accept this horrific news. “On behalf of the State and from me personally, I would like to express the deepest condolences to the Kaella family.”
The pain disappeared from Erivan’s eyes, giving in to deep and sincere hatred. “The State of Earth declares war on the Non-Consumers,” he said menacingly and continued “The State is taking over ownership and management of the Association of Companies. After the war the shares will be returned to the Consumers. They will also be given the stakes previously owned by the Non-Consumers. All civilian courts are suspended and martial law is introduced, enforced by the Inspectorate courts. There is only one punishment for the Non-Consumers: death.”
The camera zoomed out. The spotlight on Erivan slowly grew fainter. His silhouette faded into darkness.
Part II: The War
Chapter 65
“You have no right to be mad at me, Dorika,” Gloria told her colleague and friend. The two of them had sat down alone, Gloria by the window and Dorika next to her, to calmly discuss the newly-arisen problem.
Dorika was silent, staring at the back of the seat in front of her.
“You called me while I was waiting for you at the club and said that you weren’t feeling well, that you had a migraine and that you had to go to bed immediately. Isn’t that right?”
Dorika didn’t answer.
“Isn’t that right, I asked you!”
“Yes.”
“There, you see.”
“But that’s not an excuse,” Dorika softened up and looked at Gloria. “This thing with Svetlana was so important that you should have woken me up. I would have taken another pill for my head and…”
“I know…”
“Well if you know, why didn’t you wake me up?”
“Because… but not a word to anyone!”
“You saw Pascal too?!”
“No… it has nothing to do with them…”
“So?”
“Promise me that you won’t tell a soul.”
“I promise. Tell me already!”
“Last night, when you said that you wouldn’t be coming to the club, I paid for my drink and started for the exit. What was I going to do there by myself, right?”
“And?”
“So I’m already nearing the door when I hear… it was noisy, loud music… you know how it gets there…”
“What did you hear?”
“Well… I wasn’t at all sure in that noise. I thought that I had imagined it. I didn’t even turn around…”
“OK, so?”
“And then, a second time, much louder. I heard someone shout ‘Gloria! Gloria!’, and I turned around…”
“Who was it?”
“A young man.”
“A young man! Really? Was he handsome?”
“Very handsome”
“Wow, tell me more! How did he approach you? How did you get introduced?”
“Well… we didn’t get introduced.”
“I don’t get it. How didn’t you get introduced? Why then did he call out to you?”
“You don’t get it, Dorika. He called me by my name. There was no need for us to get introduced.”
“You know him?”
“You know him too.”
“I know him too. Where do we know him from? What are you trying to tell me, Gloria? He isn’t one of our guys, is he?”
“You promised that you wouldn’t…”
“Yes, I did! Who?”
“Guess!”
“Guess?… alright. You say he’s handsome?”
“No.”
“What do you mean ‘no’? You said…”
“I said ‘very handsome’.”
“Could it be…?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Habib!”
“Yes, him!”
“Wow, Gloria! Tell me, tell me everything! So you turn around and you see Habib calling you! My leg would have turned to jelly.”