“I’m not wondering…”
“I have to save Megapolis. I cannot allow myself to be vulnerable. I cannot allow Erivan’s squires to threaten my wife and children… to abduct them and blackmail me.”
“Certainly, Mr. Mayor. Only you can save this city. You did the right thing.”
“Yes… I hope so. The people, the citizens of Megapolis will judge me for this one day…” Seneca said deep in thought, and continued “And why I agreed to lock you up and safeguard you…” Seneca slightly smiled, recalling his conversation with Raul. “Raul was really talkative… He told me that it was best for me to keep you captive and to simply wait for the situation to unravel. I can always use you to benefit my Megapolis. I could hand you over to the Kaellas if it were necessary to protect the city. You can imagine, Raul teaching me how to hand you over to the Kaellas.”
“My friend Raul…” Pascal smiled also, “Typical of him. Once he starts persuading someone…”
“I told him that if I were to hand you over to Kaella, the citizens of Megapolis would carry me out of the city on their hands and throw me in the nearest ditch. When I think about how the students would react… Alexander, do you know that I allowed you into the city only because of the young people. Otherwise I would have refused Raul when he called me up, a year ago. It’s been a year, since we’ve been together, right?”
“Yes, almost a year… but I didn’t know that… about the students.”
“I had some problems at the University, in the student dorms… and that was very difficult for me to bear. You know, I consider the University the gem of Megapolis.”
“I know. I felt that in you, Mr. Mayor. What problems did you have?”
“Well… that’s not important now. We’ll talk… I’ll come by. But… then my wife recommended…”
“Your wife?”
“Yes. She’s an artistic soul. An art historian… You know what they are like… and she knows the mentality of the students. She was a teaching assistant at the University. And then, when Peter was born, we agreed that she should stay home and be with our son. Eir came along later… and my wife never did return to the university. It doesn’t matter. She is like that. She has a feeling for young people… and I don’t. I’m a practical person, a realist. I don’t understand these things… and that is why I didn’t cope well with the situation. And my wife recommended that I invite you, to visit Megapolis and the University. To speak to the students.”
“You were right, Svetlana. The Mayor listened to her. You were right about everything, Svetlana,” Pascal thought.
“Alexander, I realized that Megapolis couldn’t be isolated from the world. That the entire world must be free so that Megapolis could shine with all its splendor. And only you can change the world, just as you changed my students.”
Chapter 78
Off all the things in the world, what Sayash and Lucky loved the most were the movies. In the theater Lucky would sit in Sayash’s lap, and Sayash would pet his hairy head, passing his index finger between Lucky’s two pointy and unusually large ear, covered in light brown spiky hair, as were his nose and paws, unlike the black, slightly curly hair that Lucky used to cover his small and slender but muscly and tough body from unwanted eyes.
Sayash got all soft. He remembered how the two best friends first met. And he passed the fingers of his other hand beneath Lucky’s chin, even though Lucky did not explicitly demand this type of petting in the theatre.
“Come on, Lucky, pal. I had no idea that you were in that dumpster,” Sayash repeated yet again the same story to Lucky. That was why Lucky wasn’t listening to him at all, but rather was entirely focused on the movie. “How could I know? Right? I’m telling you, it was pure luck that your buddy Sayash came along. I opened your dumpster and what did I see?! Not what, but who did I see! But I barely saw you, Lucky, do you know that? You were a little baby… man, you were… I could fit you in the palm of my hand, that’s how small you were. And completely hairless. You were covered with snot and phlegm. A disgrace, but we won’t tell anyone about it. And look at how tall you are now, buster! Fourteen and a half centimeters, man! Not only fourteen! But a half, too! And Lucky, you really irritated me… I straightened out your tail to measure you, to see how long my little dude is, and instead of stretching your neck as much as you can, you turned your silly little head and looked at me, puzzled by what I was doing. Oh, I was so angry… but it doesn’t matter… somewhere between thirty eight and forty centimeters. Depends on how I cut your hair. That’s a good length! You fit in my arms perfectly. You’re just right for me, Lucky!”
When Sayash would stop petting him between the ears, Lucky would have some understanding for his friend if there were no finger on his head for a moment. He knew that Sayash wanted to look good in the theatre and that he scrunched his eyebrows, and that he would soon put back his finger and continue petting him. And when Sayash would start jabbering like this, or stare at the screen, and when the finger would remain motionless between his ears, Lucky would smack him with his tail on the leg, without taking his eyes off the screen. And Sayash would resume petting him. And this now, when the finger was motionless and the other hand still played with the hairs beneath his chin, which he neither demanded nor deemed important — that angered Lucky so much that he turned his head, shot arrows out of his eyes at Sayash, and whacked him twice with his tail. On the stomach.
“Oh, sorry, Lucky… I got carried away…” said Sayash, quickly moving his finger back and forth. “And you… you have to get mad immediately? And hit me twice, hmm? I’m asking you a question, Lucky!”
Chapter 79
“The man is a beast,” Seneca said to Pascal.
“Erivan?” Pascal asked.
“Yes. He reduced to dust an entire street in Capital City, which Xing’s motorcade was going down. He killed hundreds of people. And children, pupils. A monster! He’s a monster! And that is why I have to safeguard you. I have to convince you to stay in the shelter. Raul is right. He said…” Seneca fell silent.
“What did he say, Mr. Mayor? Tell me everything. I want to know everything,” Pascal said.
“I didn’t want to make things more difficult for you tonight, to tell you the details. I’ll tell you another time. When some time has passed, when we calm down a bit.”
“Tell me now. There are no details more horrific than their deaths.”
“When I called him, while I explained that Erivan’s planes were flying towards them, Raul was silent - the entire time. He didn’t pay attention at all to the fact that your airplanes were taking off, that my squadron was around them… He knew that all of them together didn’t stand a chance, that they were too few… He was just silent. When I finally fell finished, he said ‘Seneca, in the entire world, only you know where Pascal is.’ It didn’t occur to me what he would do, so I was surprised. How was it that only I knew, how about him… and all your people knew that you weren’t on the airplane. And Raul repeated once again ‘Only you, Seneca.’” Pascal bowed his head. Seneca continued. “And he only said that thing… that I must safeguard you, that you are the world’s only hope… and he hung up, Alexander. He simply hung up.”
“Terrible, terrible…” Pascal whispered.
“Julius, you came,” said Manami, entering the living room.
“Why aren’t you sleeping, Manami?” Seneca asked.
“Eir is sleeping restlessly. She’s excited… she turned over and woke me up. And then I heard you. Can I get you anything? Would you like some tea? Do you want something to eat?”