Chapter 17. Stereotype
The companions were approaching the railway station. The Stranger asked the Soldier:
“What do you think why have I been instructed to meet you?”
“And you had such instructions, hadn’t you?” the Soldier was surprised.
“I hope so.”
“How?”
“I understood that I need a man who can discover a deadly threat in a heap of identical stones and neutralize it. I found you using the map with my eyes closed and came to the mentioned territory. I wandered a bit and saw two young men. I thought they were threatened. Something heavy overhung them. I came up closer, and looked in their faces and understood who they were. I wanted to pass by but couldn’t,” the Stranger fell silent and reluctantly continued several minutes later, “I told them the road they chose would lead them to death. And they believed me.”
“Why?”
“I spoke with the presence of the Power and they were jittery and susceptible, and understood at once. Sometime later, I met a gloomy man in ragged jeans and understood that was the person I was looking for.”
“You did,” the Soldier drawled and smiled gloomily, “but not the right one.”
“How come?”
“I haven’t found a land mine among stones. All in all, I’ve found different mine. It’s not as difficult as it seems at first glance, especially if you know your surroundings well. But I don’t disarm them. I communicate with the operations army facility and they send mine pickers.”
“And can you disarm an explosive device?” the Stranger thought he asked a very important question.
“Once several years ago I saw or rather felt danger. I looked around and saw an AP mine hanging from the tree. I shot and neutralized the mobile device, which served as a detonator. Local residents, mostly teenagers ran up hearing the shot, surrounded the place and the bomb exploded,” the Soldier was silent for some time. “It turned out to have two detonators, or the mobile phone was a false detonator; the second one was a chain: you step on it and wires close and… No amateurship since that time.”
The Stranger amicably poked the frowning Soldier in the shoulder.
“That’s all right. People often get in the trap of their stereotypes. First, they build a model and if the events do not fit in with the stereotype, instead of trying to understand what is happening, they destroy everything. The Prince was not accepted in his times because his actions and thoughts did not fit in with the stereotype resulting from incorrect understanding of ancient prophesies.”
“I’ve heard about the Prince,” the Soldier became thoughtful. “He was a good preacher. I liked some of his conversations. Especially, when he had a go at priests, preachers, well, all. He accused them of spiritual bankruptcy and showed them who they were and who he was. The Prince was declared an outlaw, was promised an award for his capture, all were hunting for him. This rabble caught him assisted by an informer, slaughtered without trial or record and left his corpse in the City to be seen by everyone. People were made to pass by and spit on him. Those who refused were beaten up and jailed.
Then as far as I remember, the legend says that angels came to the square at night and resurrected him. Of course, there were people who stated and even swore that they saw him alive, and almost at the same time, in different places, some of which were located at a distance from each other. They were tortured to recant from their words.
Several years later a riot happened in the country. Priests, preachers, and sorcerers were killed especially cruelly. Rebels found a motive to avenge the Prince and they are still taking revenge against anyone who does not honor him. Now he has many worshippers all over the world among pacifists and terrorists. The irony of fate, when alive he was considered mad and when he died, he became a sage. And his offspring still receive donations, a home museum was setup: here’s the stone the Prince used to sit on, and here’s the cup he used to drink from. Well, do I know the history and religion, what you’d say?” the Soldier boasted.
“You don’t know the most important thing.”
“What is the most important thing?”
“The Prince has the power to change the world by changing the man.”
“Why hasn’t he changed it? Look, there’s still as much shit as there used to be.”
“He changes it but it isn’t so perceptible. Without him, humankind would develop in another way, a much worse way. Still, there is much shit, that’s true, because the way proposed by the Prince was rejected by most.”
“You are speaking of him as if he were alive. Do you think he is alive? Do you believe he was resurrected by angels? This is the rebels’ belief.”
“Resurrected, reanimated… supreme forces can do more than that. He is alive, Soldier, he is alive. He was dead but came back to life,” the Stranger said confidently, fell silent and asked, “and would you spit on his body?”
The Soldier shrugged his shoulders.
“I fought against rebels, but I rather like the Prince,” he explained.
“The rebels have nothing to do with the Prince, they are not his servants. They just used his name for their purposes: power overthrow, tyranny, and destruction of their political enemies. They distorted the Prince’s teachings and degraded his name.”
“You think I am the person you need in the City, don’t you?” the Soldier looked at the Stranger slightly squinting.
“I don’t know why I am going to the City, but I am unlikely to get there without you. And God knows what happens.”
“Here’s the railway station,” the Soldier nodded towards a three-storied building. “Briefing first. We enter the building one by one, you go first. You enter, walk like all others, come up to the cafeteria, buy something and sit down with your face towards the counter. Don’t turn around, eat and drink calmly. If you are caught, I’ll find a way to take you out. Good luck.”
“Don’t worry,” the Stranger seemed calm. “We are not alone. The Heaven is with us.”
The Soldier was attentively watching the Stranger; he did not like that almost all passengers stopped at the gate to listen to the musician singing about an unhappy love. The Stranger also halted. The Soldier came up closer; he could hear the words of the songs of a street singer.
“The musician is a decoy bird. The voice is too good and he plays too professionally,” the Soldier was thinking. “It will be hard to make the object out, especially if he looks different than in the photograph. No doubt, they are watching.”
The Stranger was standing nearby for some time, then asked the singer to give him the guitar and started to play with the strings. He sang a rhythmical song in quite a pleasant voice. The Soldier did not believe his eyes but understood that he had to use the chance. His companion attracted the agent’s attention. The Soldier moved towards the gate. He was ready to fight. Listening to the words of the song, he was even more surprised.
Evil autumn at the prospect
Is carrying around dead leaves.
I’m roaming around the city,
Now I’m lonely.
I come up to the store
To buy wine and margarine,
But I can’t understand,
Why I need the margarine.
And you had gone, you had gone
But again remind of you
On the bottle of chip wine
Any letter – W
Having repeated the refrain, the Stranger looked the Soldier in the eyes. The Soldier slowed down, he seemed to hear the order ‘Listen!’ in his head, and the Stranger sang louder:
We’ve been chatting about the life
With my homie all the time,
Drinking wine and frying chips…
He said: "Stop fretting,
We’ll go and gat girls now!
It’s not bad as is:
There are many chicks at the railway here
But there’s much infection there,
Where would I get a normal one
?
When the Stranger was expressively singing ‘There are many chicks at the railway’, the Soldier understood everything.
“It’s not you who must cover me, I must cover you. Stop it! I won’t let anyone draw fire.” The Soldier remembered his army friends who had been killed or mutilated trying to save him. He headed for the ticket offices: “Why do I have to run or hide in my own country? I have served it a lot. Why does the person like the Stranger have to perform a concert to these nonentities? That’s enough, let them tamper and I’ll tear them to pieces.”
“Two tickets to the City,” he said loudly.
The Soldier deduced an agent: he had a caption on his T-shirt “Kill yourself and save the world” and callous slightly swollen knuckles, palm ribs with muscles as a person going in for battle arts would have. That was totally out of place given his drug-addict pacifist image.
Having fetched the tickets, the Soldier approached the agent and felt (his intuition sharpened at the moments of danger) that two stocky guys separated from the crowd and made several steps towards him.
“Hey, bro, give me a cigarette.”
The young man stiffened, turned with his side to the man and answered loudly,
“I don’t smoke brother.”
“And the legend says you should. You are a bad conspirator,” the Soldier said instructively and quietly and moved towards the Stranger.
“The train is in forty minutes, let’s go and have a bite.”
“You are not worried that several pairs of eyes will be watching you closely while you are feasting?” the Stranger asked.
“Not anymore. If I understand it correctly, they detected us long ago and did not take any measures to detain. It means we have a good chance to eat calmly and even take the train,” the Soldier’s jaw muscles moved.
“Their instructions changed,” the Stranger scratched his forehead.
“When you don’t know your adversaries’ plan, be ready to see events develop in any way. I think this time they treat it much more seriously.”
“You are right, but their readiness to act will not mar my dinner,” the Stranger grumbled and headed for the cafeteria.
The comrades ordered cheese buns and tea.
“I’ve bought tickets, and agents know our seats. Spray gas in the compartment and we won’t get to the City, but first bug us to gather intelligence. Most likely they will catch us on the train or when we get out in the City,” the Soldier was thoughtful and then asked, “do we have time?”
“I don’t know. You propose to detour? We are not lonely. We have help.”
“Do you mean heavenly protectors? And so we need to go as an icebreaker?”
“No. This is always a bad idea. Icebreaker breaks, and I do not want to break.”
“There are sideways leading to the City and I can guide you. We will change routes, hitchhike, go across the desert, and mountain paths. I warn you, the way to the City will be difficult, but we will reach the goal. And if we go now in this comfortable train, going the direct way, we’ll land directly in a trap.”
“You couldn’t be more right,” the Stranger smiled.
The Soldier stood up and said loudly,
“Wait here I need to pee.”
“Spare me the details, especially during lunch,” the Stranger grumbled and resumed eating.
In the men’s room, the Soldier asked a cultured-looking but down-dressed man to buy him two tickets to the train from the station called the Oblivion Hill to a small settlement of Victory, the last station before their destination point, the City. The Soldier made up a story fast telling the man about a jealous wife who hired private detectives to follow him, persuaded the man to take a modest payment for his service, and asked him to place the tickets in the toilet booth rather than give them to him directly. The Soldier came up to the Stranger and almost inaudibly told him:
“When I scratch my nose, you will go to the men’s room, the left booth, take out tickets from the toilet paper roll and go back at once.”
Sometime later, the Stranger recollected, “I’ll go pee.”
The Soldier only sighed.
They came into the railcar and closed the compartment door. The Soldier put his finger to his lips, carefully inspected the walls, shelves, and a small table, but found nothing, sat down, and shook his head. The Stranger pointed out with his finger at the ceiling. The Soldier blinked: his eyes ached; the light did not allow seeing properly. He stood up on the table, discovered a small hump on the ceiling near the lamp, nodded to the Stranger and raised his thumb in approval.
“Make yourself comfortable, relax. We’ll be in the city in about eight hours, and I’ll look for our guys,” the Soldier decided to set the agents on the wrong track. If they work on a false version, they will lose time and will hardly enforce actions, if they believe that there are support fighters nearby.
The Soldier left the compartment to watch movements. In case of an attack in confined space, there was a chance to straggle. A young pretty girl was standing in the corridor, looking in the window and rhythmically wagging her head: she was probably listening to music in her headphones.
He came up to her to a disrespectful distance and immediately felt her fear.
“It’s a long way, would you like to chat? Make the way shorter?” he proposed to the girl smiling good-heartedly. The girl went pale, pursed her mouth but turning towards him answered calmly:
“I’m tired of conversations. Leave me alone.”
And without saying anything else, she returned to the nearest compartment where the Soldier noticed a young woman and a guy.
The girl closed the door behind her.
“What has happened? Why have you left your post?” the man from the compartment was indignant.
“The object tried to speak with me. I don’t have instructions what to do in this case,” she answered falteringly.
“You can speak with him, but I warn you again, this man is extremely dangerous. Do not betray yourself and us. Now go back. No, you go,” the agent nodded at the other employee.
The Soldier dropped by for a minute to warn the Stranger.
“We get out in half an hour. Three agents are in the compartment nearby, one of them is in front of the door,” he explained in gestures and mimicry. The Stranger shook his head showing that he is categorically against violence and left for the corridor. He stopped near the girl and scrutinized her.
“I can tell you fortune by your hand,” the Stranger almost whispered to the girl and added, “absolutely free of charge.”
The girl looked at him surprised, smiled, and hiding her palms behind her back asked him:
“Which hand, left or right?”
“Doesn’t matter,” the Stranger answered indifferently. “Let’s just step aside.”
She stretched her right hand. The Stranger was not a chiromancer, he was not even sure that the palm showed fate. But he gently took her hand and concentrated. He thought he could see something hidden, information came to his head in fragments, and he was to put into words his visions and feelings.
The most important thing is not to think too much and say whatever comes to your mind first and needs to be expressed.
“You are from a family with strong family traditions, a well-to-do family,” he started. “You have two sisters and a younger brother. Your father is a military, retired, but he seems to be working somewhere, but it is not written on your hand. Your mother is an excellent woman; she suffered much at your father’s hands but never stopped loving him or caring for him. By the way, tell her that she requires cardiologic screening, she has high blood pressure. She worries about you and doesn’t want you to work in this organization,” the Stranger looked in her eyes.
“What organization?” the girl said in a trembling voice.
“Your mother’s right, nothing good awaits you here,” the Stranger ignored her question. “You have a choice: stay or leave.
Possibly, you can work on there but you’ll see so much dirt that you will drown in it and lose your soul. Go study to be a medical doctor. You have dreamed about that since you were small. That’s your mission.”
The girl’s lips trembled.
“How do you know all this? Do you know me? Most unlikely,” she was peering in his face as if he were a ghost.
“I know that, and that’s enough. The God opens this to me,” the Stranger assured her. “We have to get off soon, please do not turn around. They will necessarily ask you, you won’t lie if you don’t turn around. Service to the God is more important than government service.”
The Stranger returned to the compartment and made a gesture with his hand, “We get off now, you do nothing.”
The Soldier nodded and asked out loudly:
“Do you have a lighter? I’m going out to smoke.”
“Take it.”
The Soldier opened the door and went directly to the girl. The Stranger took him by the collar of the coat and pulled to the exit as he would pull a disobedient dog. The Soldier did not resist.
“She won’t turn around, I’ve spoken to her.”
“I need to tell her something.”
The Soldier came up to the girl and whispered: “You’ll tell them you saw me leave the compartment with a pack of cigarettes, look at the pack and remember. Good luck. Thank you.”
The agent briefly glanced at him and pressed her lips to keep from crying. She was very much frightened.
They silently left, slowly got off the train at the station, sat down onto an empty bench, and waited for the next train, which arrived soon.
“What do you think will happen with the girl?” the Stranger asked.
“I don’t know, they may fire her,” the Soldier showed indifference on his face. “I’ve advised her something. Let them think hard. If they run the girl through the detector, which scans brains and identifies areas responsible for lies, even then everything will look true and they won’t give her truth drugs, she is not a traitor. The girl really did not see you leave the compartment and go to the entrance. She noticed only me: that is why she will surely pass the inspection. How have you managed to persuade her to let us go?”
“The same I did to make you follow me.”
“Well, Ok,” the Soldier agreed. “I can smell great deeds awaiting us. You аre the massager of the God and fulfill His assignment. I am ready to leave everything and help such a man. I owe much to the God. Without belief, working in my job, you can become a psychopath, go on drugs or alcohol. The God has always helped me. I escaped in absolutely mortal situations: was under shelling, caught in traps, surrounded by the enemy was pursued, and several days wandered in the desert without water. Just imagine, it was ten years ago. I left the army car to pee a bit. And hear a car driving fast in my direction, I turn around and it is in front of me. And suddenly time changes, I can clearly see how two muzzles slowly go out of open windows and start firing at me. They are at close range, two meters, but since time moved slowly, I understood where to move and did not get a scratch. It seemed I even saw bullets.”
“An interesting story,” the Stranger said. “Only the time did not change, your perception of the time changed. Probably, this is how birds or flies perceive time. They fly at a high speed without any accidents.”
“So, it means I turned into a fly?” the Soldier guffawed. “But, if the God wishes to turn me into a man-fly to save me, I have nothing against it.”
“Maybe, that’s so. But the body of some people in mortal danger or stress is capable of something you could never guess,” the Stranger was looking through the window all the time.
“You don’t think it was a miracle, do you?” the Soldier was somewhat perplexed.
“Of course, it is a miracle, if you use this word to describe something unusual which still remains unexplained.”
“And is there explanation to everything?”
“I’m sure, there is. I think that secrets and miracles are shown to us so that we could try to solve them… The cognition process develops us. With time, humankind can find answers to many questions. Someone wants us to develop.”
“Who? God?”
“If it serves the purpose of the good, then it is surely God. But the knowledge of the matter without the knowledge of spiritual rules is a way to a great disaster. People use knowledge for mass massacres and destructions. They have neared a very dangerous edge which when crossed, can bring total destruction.”
“What do you think, why has God created humankind at all and provided it with the right of choice?” the Soldier was in the mood to continue a philosophical conversation.
“And why does a poet write poems, a painter paints, and a builder builds?” the Stranger asked.
“It’s a kind of means to express their abilities.”
“If we assume God has abilities, for example to create, then creation of the world is a kind of expression of His abilities. However, I don’t think this is the only correct interpretation. Possibly, we are part of a global process where humankind must play a certain role.”
“And why does a person need the right of choice? Maybe, it doesn’t have it at all. All of us have a role and we play it regardless of our will. If the future is known, it means it is defined.”
“There is a difference between something known and something defined,” the Stranger did not agree and tried to explain:
“Suppose, the Seer can foretell someone’s actions or can mentally make someone take actions. Can you see the difference?”
“Looks like that,” the Soldier hesitated. “For example, God knew I would be a warrior but he was not pulling me by the hand to enroll in the army and did not force me to sign a contract.”
The Stranger made an indefinite gesture.
“Although, I assume that sometimes a man is really pulled by the hand. The Creator made the most complex creature provided with an autonomous program, the right of choice. But He wants to help His creatures, bring them to senses, protect from incorrect actions without disturbing independent development of the man.”
“And haven’t you lost your independence? Do you act guided by your own principles or not?” the Soldier was looking at him attentively.
“I hope so,” the Stranger’s voice faltered. “So far my actions have not conflicted with my beliefs.”
“And what about mine?”
“Your actions do not conflict with your beliefs, but conflict with mine quite often,” the second part of the phrase was spoken by the Stranger sternly.
“Ah… You are against violence, aren’t you?” the Soldier drawled and skeptically nodded his head. “I see. I can’t imagine how you can protect yourself and your dear ones without violent actions or physical impact. You have seen the victims of terrorists, haven’t you? Those mutilated children whose only joy is pain killers? Mothers who have shed tears over the children they lost, handicapped fathers who can do nothing to earn bread for their families? Yes, you can stay aside, you can remain free from blood but that’s all until a disaster enters your home.”
“The actions you take will not bring consolation to the unhappy,” the Stranger answered. “There is another way; there is another solution, not blood for blood which results in eternal hatred and war. I believe in humankind`s change, in returning to spiritual laws, and this change will benefit people and stop wars and violence. This is the way shown by the Prince.”
“Well. Suppose, you are a highly spiritual person, but your neighbor is a scoundrel. And he builds on your decency for his corrupt purposes. And if you have a wife, children, property, and you are not ready to protect them, this neighbor will take everything from you. And outrage over your wife and children to please his vile heart. And you think that the right way is not to wipe him up the floor but forgive him and allow further brutalization? And he always hunts for the kind and meek ones. He is not strong enough to handle the strong. You can’t be a sheep in this wo
rld!”
The Stranger was silent for some time and then spoke:
“There are different types of protection. Fists are not the only means. If your neighbors are armed with rifles, and you have a stick, then only your desire to protect your dear ones is not enough. Understand, that God is a reality and no one will be able to resists Him and His power, and no guns will help. Your belief is stronger than all guns, but if it is time, you need to leave as the Prince did feeling pity to his murderers as his way is to eternal glory and they will go to oblivion and darkness. If we could see the entire picture of the creation and not only a minor portion of it, we would change our priorities, but as is, we only have to believe. But belief is one of the conditions to enter the country of justice. It’s a pity that I don’t have enough words or arguments,” the Stranger was visibly upset. He turned away from the Soldier and watched landscapes passing by in the window.
“How do you manage to persuade people,” the Soldier suddenly spoke peacefully and gently.
The Stranger smiled.
“I don’t persuade, but sometimes, when I’m speaking, the Power shows up and changes the creed of people and persuades them of the rightness of my words. No logical arguments are required anymore.”
“Maybe the Power shows when you are right and when you are wrong, you don’t have it, may this be true? No, you haven’t managed to really persuade me,” the Soldier grinned.
“That is not so,” the Stranger said sharply. “When are we getting off?”
“Get as close to the City as possible and then walk across the desert. If we reach the goal, they won’t risk chasing us. I don’t fear for myself, they won’t touch me, though I am not sure. If necessary, they won’t spare me. But I don’t know the instructions the Seer gave them with regard to you,” the Soldier said.
“I don’t believe the Seer wants my death. I don’t believe the Medium will intentionally act against me.”
“I don’t know, I don’t know,” the Soldier said quickly. “The Seer contacted the security service. He has exposed you to risk. Maybe he wanted to understand your power. He has never encountered anything of the sort earlier and you refused to talk with him. I don’t know. But the service will play its own game and by its rules. They can do anything needed to reach their goal and anything that will benefit them. They will step over not only me, but over you and the Seer and will enjoy that. I know many people who have a grudge against him. People will remember long his exposure of the provocations initiated by the security service broadcasted live. Have you seen the Masks Off talk show where he appeared once? However, that was the first and the last time when he interfered in a dangerous game. Do you remember someone from the audience asking him how one of rebel leaders, chased during many years, managed to escape the army cordon? Who provided him with a corridor, led through all posts and helped to cross to another country?”
“Yes,” the Stranger recollected that and nodded. “The Seer then thought several seconds and blurted out: people above the law, with a headphone in the ear.”
“And those people above the law did not suffer but a very competent person was fired from the army intelligence for letting the rebel boss escape,” the Soldier gritted his teeth.
The dismissed man was the boss who thought very highly of him. After this incident, there were personnel rotations, which pushed the Soldier back. A new director got rid of the former team, which was loyal to the former boss. The Soldier was assigned insignificant and dangerous tasks for several years, he worked without support or companions, therefore he had been thinking of resigning for a long time.
“I think that was the purpose of the operation,” after several minutes of silence the Stranger said. “But I don’t have proof and my word does not bear the same authority as that of the Seer’s. Accept it as a version and forget. We must not interfere with these games.”
“It is important for me to know the reasons,” the Soldier did not agree with him. “I believe you and will have no regrets if I go off my course.”