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“Collateral damage.”

“What?”

“Col-lat…” the Grasshopper pronounced the syllables.

“Col-lat…” Erivan repeated.

“…er-al.”

“…er-al.”

“Col-lat-er…” the Grasshopper helped Erivan pronounce the entire word.

“Collat-er…”

“-al.”

“Collateral!” Erivan said. “There! I’ll need that, if anyone asks me. Collateral!” Erivan repeated once again. “Why do I have to know everything? I don’t have a PhD in philosophy like you do, Grasshopper.”

“You don’t… And I know why you don’t, Mr. President.”

“Why?”

“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.