„Procrastination is the thief of time!”
„Procrastination is the thief of time!“
„Procrastination is the thief of time! “
Frank still fed his illusion and repeated this slogan like a prayer. In the following days he was just concerned about the fact that he would become scared. But retreat was not allowed anymore, he had to remain hard and Kohlhaas did also not allow his resoluteness, to get any cracks.
„Leon-Jack Wechsler must die…die…die!”, he recited himself again and again.
Meanwhile, Alf got out of his way most of the time. Nevertheless, he was fascinated by the idea of creeping through tunnels get into the security zone. And sometimes he even thought about following his crazy buddy to Paris. To kill the governor and to cause riots in one of the most important cities of the continent, was a great chance and could have sweeping political consequences.
Furthermore, the possibility of participating in a “big thing” was offered to him. In this point, he had to agree with Frank. However, he also had nothing to lose and what kind of rebel would he be, if he bitched out now?
The days passed and Alfred could hardly sleep. Should he really join the operation? But how? Creeping through tunnels, then emerging and shooting at Wechsler?
That would be their certain death, even if it functioned. They just wouldn`t survive this. Escaping from the security zone would simply be impossible, Alf was sure. He had to talk to Frank, because the plan was still not perfect.
The first week of the new month had almost passed and hail came from the dark sky outside. Frank and Alfred sat in the kitchen and had a hard day behind them. Kohlhaas had mused for days and was still not completely content. He had asked HOK for more construction plans of sewers and other tunnels below Paris, but he had come to no solution.
Alfred ended the silence. „You have said, we can come to you, if we want to join the operation, right? Okay, I have thought about it and came to the decision, not to let you do this crazy job alone, Frank.”
„Aha, this sounds good to me. You really want to help me?”, returned Frank with a smile.
Alfred looked back and said: „More or less, but I need some more informations about all this. The idea with the sewers and tunnels seems to be not bad at all and HOK has already given some plans to you. Did you meanwhile study them sufficiently?“
„Yes, I did!”
“Anyway, that`s not enough!“, answered Alf.
„Thus, your plan is to come somehow into the proximity of that “Temple of Tolerance“, through these sewers or tunnels, right? And then you want to shoot at Wechsler?“, asked Bäumer with surprise.
„About that!”, said Frank.
“But you should know, that the entrances to the sewers in the direct proximity of the event, will all be weld shut by the police. I think, two or three days before the spectacle”, returned Alf.
Frank recognized that his friend had found a weak point of his plan: „You are probably right. I already have seen this on television, in some reports. This could be! Shit!”
„You have to modify your plan. In addition, I don`t have the desire to join a suicide operation. And it would be nothing else, if we suddenly come out of a hole and shoot at the governor, who is surrounded by countless cops,“ said Bäumer thoughtfully.
„Maybe you`re right...“, answered Frank and moaned. „Then make a proposal, Bäumer!“
„Hmmm...perhaps…“
Alfred took a slip, on which he had written something. He hesitated for some seconds and sifted the small note for the most important details of his plan.
Finally he said: „We go into a channel, a tunnel or something like that, in the distance of two or three kilometers - in an insignificant side street, by night.
I have to study HOK`s documents. However, we need something else than an usual handgun, which we couldn`t use at all in the worst case, if the security forces really had locked all the gully covers around the “Temple of Tolerance” before the event.”
“Get ready with you speech!”, said Kohlhaas.
„I talk about an explosive charge, that we place under Wechsler`s ass and blow him up in front of the eyes of the world public. I thought of NDC-23. The stuff is easy to carry and highly concentrated. Twenty kilograms are sufficient, to destroy a part of the canal system, the square in front of this so called “Temple of Tolerance” and of course this fucking governor!
We could transport it in backpacks into the tunnel system and bring it to explode below the speaker`s platform. Of course, we will use a time fuse so that we can escape before the big burst!”, explained Alfred and seemed to be enthusiastic.
„Damn! A great idea!“, said Frank and banged on the table.
„John or one the others can organize the explosive for us. Above all, the Russians sell a lot of NDC-23 on the black market, mostly remnants of the dissolved army of the former GUS“, added Bäumer. Frank just smiled and said nothing.
„Moreover, we must assume that some tunnel entrances remain blocked for us, either because workers of the public utilities are still working there, or because of the security forces, that had locked them“, explained Alf.
Frank scratched his head and cogitated. Alfred`s plan pleased him.
„We need some blowtorchs to open locks or grids, if necessary“, remarked Bäumer. „We have a few in the village here. It is no problem to take them.“
„Brilliant!”, said Frank enthusiastically.
Alf continued: „And there is one more thing. If they scan the tunnel system with infrared in the morning before the event, we should have some cooling covers to cloak ourselves. John can obtain them. Nevertheless, the whole operation is really dangerous. We must consider everything!“
„Well, we should go to Wilden, and tell him about our plan. Perhaps he has some more good ideas”, praised Frank his friend.
Soon after, the village boss evaluated the plan, which had been introduced to him by both men this time. Julia Wilden, who stood next to her father, also seemed to be impressed. Frank smiled at her and enjoyed her admiration.
Still much more had to be done, and next, the men went to John Thorphy. The Irishman felt disturbed and openly expressed his displeasure, when the two rebels tried to send him out to buy the equipment for them. But finally, Wilden gave him the order to organize the explosive and the other things.
Where John Thorphy had found the NDC-23, he did not tell. But it lastet only three days until he returned with over twenty kilograms of the highly explosive material and gave it to the two men with a big smile.
„Procastrination is the thief of time!“, thought Frank, as he regarded the plasticine-like mass, packed up in blue bags. His deadly idea slowly took shape, and in his mind he already saw the hated politician torn to pieces on the asphalt in front of the “Temple of Tolerance”.
His dark, delusional resoluteness couldn`t even be destroyed by sleep disturbances, panic attacks or nightmares anymore. He was eager to bring death to this man and also to each other person, who would dare to stand in his way. Frank just ignored the fright, that was lurking in the night, and looked forward to the great day of retribution.
Nothing should ever avert his revenge on this cruel world, as Frank covenanted. Sometimes he went down in the dark cellar, where Alf stored the explosive. All the rooms here were cluttered with rotten boards and old crates. There was not even a light switch. And while his friend slept, the young rebel crept secretly down the stone stairs and bent over the blue bags, which were sealed with adhesive tape, stroking them with a dearful smile like a mother her newborn child.
Until middle of February, Frank and Alf spent their time with the intensive study of construction plans. HOK visited them several times, in order to give them still more current and detailed recordings.
They planned, on recommendation of the computer scientist, to enter the underground labyrinth at the “Avenue of Saint-Ouen”, nearly two kilometers away from the security zone.
Here were endless dark tun
nels and some of them lead directly to the square in front of the “Temple of Tolerance“. Nevertheless, the trip to the underworld of Paris was insanity. Apart from the fact, that they could not build on the documents of the authorities of the city, there was also the possibility to get lost in the dark corridors. Some tunnels had been closed many years ago, or were just collapsed. Moreover, even the older employees of the city administration did not know all the paths through the earth anymore. Further, Frank and Alf didn`t want to make the acquaintance of the notorious catacombs of Paris. Those dark places were a necropolis, as there was no second in Europe.
Here rested the bones of over five million people, who were brought into the darkness below the city, because of lack of space on the cemeteries in the early modern times,.
Therefore, the former French capital stood on a gigantic grave field. Alf often talked about these chambers of the dead below the city, which were redundant with bones up to the ceiling. Frank, who always said that he was not afraid to die, became a bit scared, when he thought about these spooky places.
„May the dead of Paris forgive us, that we enter their realm. Their brothers in the netherworld, who look complaining down at this earth, because their life was so early terminated by the new rulers, will thank us, if we revenge them!”, philosophized Kohlhaas.
However, there was a lot to organize now, far away from all ghost stories about catacombs and dark holes in the underground of Paris. Meanwhile, time pressed.
Frank and Alfred should be brought to Compiegne, in the northeast of Paris, by an airplane, in order to penetrate the city from there, behaving like harmless tourists. All the planes in Ivas were registered and had completely inconspicuous owners. Therefore, this approach seemed to be clever.
Then, the two assassins wanted to drive from Compiegne to Paris with a hire car. Their Scanchips were falsified and soon they would see, if HOK`s abilities had been good enough. At least, the journey to Paris should start one week before the 01.03.2029, so that enough time remained, to explore some tunnels in the nights before the event.
The shabby hotel, in which Frank and Alfred should wait for the great day, had already been chosen by HOK. He had booked a room for them on the Internet, and had also contacted the hire car company in Compiegne.
All had to be planned to the smallest detail, because there was no time to waste and uncertainties could become a deadly disaster.
The takeoff of the small transport aircraft, which officially belonged to Mr. Artur Burzius, a Russian insurance buyer, should start from Ivas on 19.02.2029 at 9.00 o'clock. Then, the two resistance fighters would enter the lion`s den. Still two days remained. Time was ticking away and Frank had to admit, despite all frights of the holo cell and the strokes of fate he had overcome, that he was scared. Scared to death. Afraid to die soon.
He tried to hide his nervousness, but his whipping with the foot, when he sat at the kitchen table, and his talking while he was dozing, betrayed him.
However, his friend felt the same. Alfred mostly ran through the village in these days, speaking at each possible opportunity with Wilden, who tried to encourage him. Sometimes, he sat in the brightly illuminated kitchen during the whole night, with a cup of tea and a cigarette, just looking out the window. Bäumer did not sleep very much and waited eargerly for the start of the operation.
„Julia is at the door, Frank!“, called Alf from the side room, while his roommate tried to concentrate on a political brochure. Dusk was already falling outside. The journey to the west was set for 9.00 o'clock tomorrow. During this day, many villagers had come to the two men, to wish them all the best for the operation. Several women had brought cakes and food. Even HOK had visited them again – with some more construction plans in his hands.
Steffen de Vries, the Belgian, who lived with his family in Ivas since four years and had to fly the two rebels to Compiegne, had also been there for several hours. Meanwhile, de Vries was also more than nervous.
“I`m coming!“, answered Frank and left his bedroom. Bäumer had already led Julia in and went with her into the kitchen. She was pleased to see Frank and shook his hand.
„I just wanted to wish you good luck!“, she said and seemed to be concerned and gloomy.
„Thanks! We will need it!“, answered Alfred and took a deep breath.
„Thanks, Julia! It`s just nice to see you!“, returned Frank. „However, still a last beautiful sight, before we will enter the spooky underground.“
Now, the pretty woman smiled shyly and didn`t find the right word for a short moment.
„I wanted to...”, she stammered. „If it will be too dangerous...however...and you have no chance to reach Wechsler, you can always stop the operation!”
Julia stared with her sad eyes at the table surface. Frank turned to the window and said: „We will see! When we are in Paris, there will be no more turning back!”
„I meant… “, she added.
„Don`t worry! We will be successful, and if not, the catacombs are near and we will meet a lot of dead buddies”, joked Alf with a cynical undertone.
Julia Wilden obviously found this not very funny and shook her head. „Don`t say such stupid things!”, she spoke quietly and seemed to be close to tears. Kohlhaas enjoyed it, to see her in such a condition, if he was honest. Now the beautiful Fräulein, who was always a bit precocious, showed some feelings.
But Frank still played the hard rebel: „We will return for sure, Julia! We will kill this asshole without mercy!“
Then she said goodbye with tears in her eyes and shook Bäumer`s hand. Frank was even hugged by her. He was pleased that she treated him in such a way, and briefly, he was nearly inspired. But he checked himself and tried to think about something else, ignoring the pretty, young woman.
„She likes you, Franky!”, teased him Alf, after Julia had left the house.
“No idea!”, answered his friend with a shake of the head.
“She is really nice!”, added Bäumer with a broad grin.
Frank turned away from him, went to the window and stared at the squalid garden behind the house. It was dark and rainy outside.
The two rebels were still awake for several hours. Now they were untwisted and nervous. This last night in Ivas, before the highly dangerous job in Paris, was terrible for Frank. He had weird dreams again, which afflicted him in the short phase of his sleep during the morning hours. He could remember just a few things on the next morning, when the Fleming, his pilot, awaked him with loud banging and calling at the front door:
Frank walked through a strange dreamworld once more. It completely resembled the holo cell, in which he had suffered for eight long months. White, sharp neon light cut into his eyes and he trudged through the bright fog of light without a real goal.
After a while, he recognized that it was his holo cell, but it appeared much bigger as he could remember. The walls could not be seen anymore and only the toilet and the hated plank bed with its light-gray pleather stood in the middle of the white light.
„Frank!“, he heard the deep voice of an adult of man from a distance. „Fraaank!“
He followed the call and soon faced a terrible sight. In front of him was an enormous spider net, full of thick, black spiders. Some hatefully stared at him with their glinty eyes, and their slimy mandibles twitched. Some of the creatures hissed, when he appeared in front of their net, others were busy with eating their prey.
The enormous spider net, which seemed to broaden into the white illuminated sky, was full of screaming humans, who were clinging to thick and slimy threads.
The young man came closer and saw now, who was in the claws of the ugly spider monsters. It were babies. It was Nico. They all were little Nicos. Nevertheless, their voices did not sound like the voices of babies, they were deeper. Voices of men, who were already adult.
„Frank! Look at us!“, yelled one of the babies, in whose flesh one of the spiders had bored its mandibles. „Look at us! Look at us!“
The be
asts munched and refreshed themselves with the warm blood of the little humans, while the babies called: „As you can see, Frank, the holo cell has grown! Can you see it? Can you see, how outstanding perfected it is? This cell does not know walls or borders anymore, because it covers the whole world. It has been improved greatly, hasn`t it?”
And the spiders continued to eat their victims. Soon they had turned away from Frank again, crept over the gigantic net and sucked and ate and devoured.
„Just look at us, Frank!“, chorused the babies. Then it was again black in the head of the dreamer and he forgot, how the dream continued...
Frank and Alf packed their bags and Steffen de Vries helped them. Already in this phase of the operation, mistakes had to be avoided and at first, the list of equipment was checked off.
Flashlights, explosive, pistols, close combat weapons for the case of emergency, meal rations, gumboots, army boots, construction plans of sewers and so on. The list was long and it lasted over one hour until the three rebels had finished their work. Before they went to the transport aircraft, Mr. Wilden suddenly came to them.
„I wish you all the best, my heros!”, he called. „Have you already heard the news today?”
Wilden smiled and was gasping for breath, while Frank, Alf and the Belgian turned around: „No, we had other problems!“
„Japan!”, said the gray-haired man. „Japan has left the World Union! They want their old state back!”
“Aha… “, answered Frank without any interest.
„I wanted to tell you that, before you fly away! There were big demonstrations in Tokyo and in many other cities of the country, one week ago. Governor Kaito Ikeda, the servant of the World Government, and his advisor Ron Baldwin, have resigned and have been expelled from the island. The new president of Japan is Haruto Matsumoto, the leader of the reform movement. Japan has moreover stopped all payments and tributes to the World Government. Furthermore, all the foreign diplomats and supervisors have been expelled from the country too. No country has dared a thing like that since 2018!”, explained Wilden with unconcealed enthusiasm.
„Japan is at the end of the world and we are here”, returned Steffen de Vries.
„However, this is nevertheless a sign! The system is crumbling, my friends. Perhaps, other states will follow Japan!“, said the village boss, somehow disappointed that the three men had not fully understood the meaning of Matsumoto`s rebellion.
Then he added: „If you read between the lines, beyond the lies and the agitation of the international media, you could believe, that even China and Korea are close to a revolt!”
The three rebels, who were waiting for the flight to a deadly mission, just nodded and said goodbye to Wilden.
Finally the village boss shouted: „You see, nevertheless, there is still hope! Our fight is not in vain! Good luck!“
At half past ten in the morning, the small airplane rose into the air. Kohlhaas and Bäumer looked wistfully back at the place of their provisional peace, the village Ivas. Then they disappeared on the horizon.
Below themselves, they saw the landscape becoming smaller and soon the plane flew so high, that they could see the clouds. The hidden and open war, which raged below them on the ground, seemed to be forgotten for a moment. But it would not be vanished, when they would come down to earth again.
They were silent for a while, also the Flemish rebel Steffen de Vries, Alf and Frank only knew volatilely. The Belgian lived with his two daughters, his son, his wife and his dog in the proximity of the village center, in a barely renovated house.
It was just beautiful, here in the sky, much more pleasant than on the rotten earth below them. The nervousness in their minds briefly died down and Frank remembered the words of Mr. Wilden.
„Japan!”, he thought. „This land is far away and has nothing to do with us. Nevertheless...?“
Perhaps it was a sign of hope, also for the rest of mankind, that one day the slave chains could be broken again. But it was so grim. The enemy had become more than superior in this age. The mass media danced his dance of fraud and lie without exception, and they flew each day new attacks on the brains of the people, like on cities, which were already destroyed and still had to be devasteted.
The power of finance, the whole monetary system, was in the claws of the enemy since a long time. And with this weapon, he had crushed the world piece by piece.
The military had been bought by him and he sent out his dull mercenaries, who seemed to have no more own will, against everyone, who tried to resist him.
What would be in the future? The hangman`s noose around the neck of mankind tigthened with every passing year more and more. Something had to be done, there was no doubt.
„Japan!”, said Bäumer with a lack of understanding.
„Wilden, the great analyst of world politics. I don`t know, what I shall think about that.“
„In any case, better than nothing!“, it came out of the cockpit with Flemish accent.
„We`ll see what happens now!”, answered Frank.
„I will tell you what will happen next!“, growled Alf. “Now, the Lodge Brothers will demoralize these stubborn Japanese. Slowly but surely. As they always do, if states dare to act independently.
It will begin with a worldwide press agitation, which will slander the Japanese to the bone. Then the economic boycott will come and in the end another war - or the Japanese will submit to the World Goverment again. That is an old and proven tactic.“
„But it could really be, that other countries will support Japan”, returned Kohlhaas with a tang of confidence.
„No, this is an illusion in my eyes!”, answered Alf. „This new president, this Matsumoto, should be a born samurai, in order to endure, what expects him and his people now. He should have nerves like steel cables and should always sleep with one eye open.“
„Let`s hope that he has the spirit of his brave ancestors”, said Frank.
Anyhow, Japan`s act of restoring its independence, was an incomprehensible boldness from the point of view of the World Government. The country had gone through hard times since the great crisis in 2013. Its export trade and the industry had collapsed and the national indebtedness had been so gigantic, that the highly technicalised country had almost broken down like a house of cards. The Japanese, who had successfully copied the European technology for a long time, had lost their commercial relevance in a few weeks.
Japan`s economy, the cornerstone of its new national pride after the Second World War, had declined. After 2018, it had still become worse and the island had turned into a bubbling cauldron full of discontent. While a great part of the nationalistic and traditional Japanese population had postulated the return to the “old way”, the care for their culture and the preference of Japanese interests, the puppet government of Kaito Ikeda, who had been assigned by the World Government, had done the opposite. So the tensions had risen with time.
Steffen de Vries switched on the digitized radio and a song of the Cyberpop Hipcore star Evan Steele resounded out of the cockpit, which soon got on Frank`s and Alf`s nerves. Then the news followed.
First came a message about the World President, who had opened an „One-World-Kindergarten” in Washington, telling the listeners, that inattentiveness or rebellious behavior, particularly among little boys, had to be fought with new drugs. Early childhood disturbances had to be wiped out by the use of more pharmaceutical products and it was a holy assignment for all great humanists, to liberate the children of the world from these “diseases”.
The chief of the kindergarten was asked about this and seemed to be enthusiastic about the new medicines. Then a representative of a big pharmaceutical company gave an interview and announced that they intensively worked on a new drug programs for infants.
The next topic was Japan and the newscaster said: „This morning, the World Government discussed further measures at their crisis meeting in New York, to handle with the fascist Japanese state.
Th
e World President and other prominent representatives of politics and economics, came to the decision, that the global community has to consider drastic measures, because of the increasing threat to all peaceable people. Matsumoto`s Japan, where political dissidents are persecuted and murdered, has nuclear weapons and seems to be willing, to use them against the free world, as secret GSA reports prove.
The governor of the administrative sector „Eastern Asia“, Mr. Kim Bo-Hung, and his advisor Mr. David Frost, announced a hard course against Japan during the conference.
„We can not permit, that fascist polititians like Haruto Matsumoto become new cancerous ulcers in our peaceful and free world!“, stressed the World President literally.
GCF commander Edward McOwen said that a possible security zone has to be established around Japan and arranged the sending of warships of the GCF Pacific fleet to Eastern Asia. He exhorted all administrative districts and sub-sectors of the world community to watchfulness, in order to make fanatics and dictators like Matsumoto innocuous, before they become too powerful. The plan of Japan, to become independent from world economy, and also the intend to abolish the interest system, the World President castigated as a „perverse act of a mad gone dictatorship“.
„What did I say?“, muttered Bäumer and smiled sufferingly. „Now it starts!“
„We can only wish the Japanese good luck for the future. I hope, they have a thick skin. Now we have our own fight!“, replied Frank.
The airplane flew over Poland and came nearer to the sector „Central Europe“, while time passed. Meanwhile, the three men were seized by a growing nervosity.
They talked quietly with each other, as if they would fear to be intercepted by an enormous ear in the sky. And actually the curious ears and eyes around them became more numerous. The countless radar and alarm systems, supervising the airspace, let Frank think of the spider net in his nightmare. „Central Europe“ was near.
But nothing happened. Nobody noticed the inadvertent guests, who penetrated the completely supervised area. If someone had really scanned the flier, he had only found an insignificant name in the registration card index of the machine. The big eye looked past them, although they were directly in front of its pupil. The hours passed and Frank, Alfred and Steffen breathed again, when they crossed the old border of France and no radiogram of the air traffic control was sent. Compiegne was close now and the airplane started its final descent.
Finally, they reached the ground without incidents, but a feeling of biggest uncertainty tormented them, when they stepped out of the airplane. It was like in former times, when the Europeans could still afford vacation travels to the southern countries. If they had left the cold north and had finally come out of the plane in the south, they had often been confronted with an unusual wall of stifling heat. Today it was different, because the wall, which waited for Frank and Alf here in the center of France, was not made of heat, it consisted of distrust.
In his meticulous fashion, HOK had selected a small village, where there rebels should land. Far away from the attention of the natives.
The Belgian had opted a large field near the village to land. Frank and Alf said goodbye and took their backpacks. Then de Vries took off again as fast as he could.
For safety reasons he flew directly back to Ivas, because he didn`t want to stay just one minute longer in such an extremely monitored zone. If he would have parked his plane somewhere in this rural area for seven days, the danger to be controlled by a police patrol would still have been small, but his nerves were raw.
He had been relieved, when he had left the sector “Central Europe” with his Family in 2019 - never to be seen again. Perhaps, de Vries was a little too paranoid, and he also had a perfectly falsified Scanchip, but only the thought of being caught by the police filled him with panic. The Fleming had already been arrested in 2011, because of smuggling arms, and his name was still listed in all official databanks. Steffen and his family had suffered a lot in “Central Europe” and when he finally came back to Ivas, he was more than happy about this.
Meanwhile, Frank and Alf stood on a field close to a small village near Compiegne - with full backpacks. Their hearts were pounding like mad. Now they were on their own, standing in the middle of enemy country. Therefore, it was important to behave inconspicuous.
„We look like ramblers from the forest“, muttered Alf.
„Let`s go to the village and then we will drive to Compiegne by bus. We still have to make it to Paris today!“, explained Frank and felt uneasy.
They walked along a dusty road, which led from the landing zone directly to the small village, always looking around. The load was heavy, everyone had to carry about 25 kilograms, and they just hoped that no policeman would find them strange.
However, the two rebels had some ordinary clothes. Frank wore some blue jeans and a dark green polo. Furthermore, a light gray baseball cap, which was pulled deeply into his face, covering his head.
Bäumer also wore blue jeans, a brown turtleneck pullover and a reddish baseball cap with the symbol of the the “Cleveland dead Indians“. Under the trouser legs of the two men, black army boots could be seen, because firm footwear was essential on this mission.
Their warm jackets had been stowed in the backpacks. They also had sunglasses in their bags, but the weather was sulky today, and so sunglasses would have looked not very inconspicuous.
On the way to the village, they didn`t see many people. Just an old man, who passed and briefly examined them. Apart from this, there was not a soul to be seen. However, the village didn`t pulsate of life. Everything looked poorly and only a few inhabitants were on the street. Just a little boy on the opposite roadside, who shouted something in French, gave them a bit attention. But Frank and Alf didn`t mind him. They went to a bus stop and drove with line 38 to Compiegne.
„Just cut and run!”, they thought to themselves. The bus driver had warily looked at them, when he had debited the amount for the trip from their Scanchips, Frank was sure. Alfred, however, protested that this hadn`t been noticeable to him. Both were silent and tried to ignore the other passengers. They just sat in the last row of seats of the bus and were glad about everyone, who did not turn around to them. The bus driver talked with an older woman during the trip, and she probably told him her whole life story with wild gestures. „Oui!” and „Non!” it resounded through the shabby bus. Then the vehicle arrived at Compiegne.
„Give me the DC-stick!“, said Frank, after they had stepped off the bus.
Anyhow they had already taken this small hurdle without any problems. Alfred ransacked his black backpack and pulled out a small data medium. On the DC-stick were the construction plans of the canalization of Paris and other files, also a map of Compiegne.
„We are here, in the center. The rental car company is not far away. We can walk!“, said Frank and nervously looked at Alf.
Now they were surrounded by a lot of people. It was not like in the small village they came from. The two assassins were close to a shopping mile and masses of passersby were all over the place. But they didn`t regard them, if at all only as tourists, and gave them no closer looks. Both men heard a tangle of languages beyond their ears, mainly French. Some children, probably Arabs, ran over the street and were screamed. At first sight, Compiegne was an ugly, gray and dirty city. At second sight, it was still more disgusting!
The shopping mile was full of beggars and homeless people, who hung around in the corners, wrapped in covers and drunk. An old man roared loudly with a babbling voice and threw his bottle of cheap liquor on the asphalt. Somewhere, someone tried to play on a guitar and sang flat to get some Globes. It was just odious here. But where was it still pleasant in this age? Anyhow, Kohlhaas and Bäumer hit the road immediately to reach the rental car company in time. It was already after 17.00 o'clock and they had to hurry up.
Frank noticed that the people around him walked with a stoop, as if they would have an interest to look like midgets. Their faces reflec
ted poverty, many looked ill and pale. The two Germans were regarded by nobody and silently walked down the street. Shortly afterwards, they passed some abandoned shops. Probably there had been a flourishing retail trade in former times, but this was long ago. Meanwhile, the shopwindows of the dirty houses in the center of Compiegne looked dead and dusty. The downfall of a once beautiful city was obvious.
What had remained, were the cheap supermarkets of „Globe Food” and „3X6 Market“, which supplied Europe and North America with their bad food.
Here, the homeless people clustered. They gestured, shouted, brought new liquor out of the supermarket and also vomited, when they were drunk enough. From the other end of the long shopping street, which had already lost its gloss, suddenly came a loud scream. A young man had stabbed one of the derelicts, people ran around and started to yell. Frank and Alfred walked faster, if a police car emerged.
A little later, they had reached the rental car company, which lay in a halfdark backyard. A sturdy man with a beard waited for them behind a desk and lolled on his chair. The two rebels entered his office. Now it became thrilling, because Frank had to use his falsified Scanchip for the first time.
„We want a car. We want to go to Paris!”, said Alfred.
The Frenchman, who probably had a lot of contact with tourists, looked up and fetched some papers.
„Oui! You want to go to Paris? Okay!”, he answered and smiled.
„Eh… Yes!”, added Frank. „Which car do you want? A normally car, a combi, a van?”, enumerated the renter.
„Normal car!“, answered Alf.
„Which type?”, asked the man.
„Tell that asshole that it is all the same to me. I want to leave this place as fast as I can!”, hissed Kohlhaas quietly. Alf nodded.
„It doesn`t matter. Any normal car!“, said Bäumer.
„Okay! Where are you from?“, nerved the Frenchman.
„Austria...from Austria!“, stammered Frank. His heart pounded and his hands felt sweaty.
„Ah! Aus Österreich!”, joked the man and tried to talk German.
„Ja!“, answered Alfred.
The renter stood up from his chair and waved the two rebels nearer.
„Come on!”, he called. „Here! This car you can have.”
The friendly man showed Frank and Alf a black and no longer new “Lion”.
„Is der gut?“, he asked, grinned and was pleased that he had made it, to speak German.
„Yes! We take this car!“, answered Frank, whose back began to hurt, because of his heavy load.
„Okay, we go to the office. Than pay with Scanchip!”, said the renter and walked off.
“Now we will see...”, whispered Alf.
„How long do you want to lease the car?”, asked the man from the next room and typed something.
„Till the second of march!“, said Alf.
“Okay!”, it came back.
The Frenchman took the two Scanchips and pulled them over a reader.
„A car is 40 Globes a day, my friends!“, he explained. „Okay!”, breathed Frank and looked at Alf with fear in his eyes.
The reader hummed quietly and for the two men the world seemed to stop turning for some seconds. The tension let their hearts pump faster and the adrenalin shot through their veins.
Then the Frenchman looked up and smiled friendly: „Thank you, Mr. Eberharter and Mr. Willner. Take your car. Have much fun in Paris! Haben Sie vielen Spaß in Paris, mein Herren! Ha, ha!”
The two rebels took a deep breath, walked fastly to their car, threw the heavy bags into the trunk and disappeared.
The trip to Paris was more pleasant than in former times. There were no more traffic jams of considerable size, because the number of cars had increasingly been reduced in the last years.
The breakdown of the automobile industry had begun in the year 2009 and in 2029, cars were luxury articles for the ordinary people. Who could hardly ensure, that there was enough food on his plate, had no more Globes to fund a car. Government officials and other higher earners, who still could afford a car, were an exception. Moreover, the prices for gasoline had drastically risen, particularly since 2018. Meanwhile, a car devoured big sums of money.
Alternative energies, which could have replaced the gasoline, were still suppressed by the oil industry and the oil lords had still all the power, to exterminate any rivals in this sector. In 2019, a worldwide wave of liquidations by the GSA had hit many scientists and entrepreneurs, who wanted to offer free energies. So the traffic jams slowly vanished, and that was a real advantage on this day, because the two rebels could nearly “enjoy” their trip to Paris. However, the motorways and streets were in a catastrophic condition. The administrative district „Central Europe“ used its income for more important things than to repair streets, for example, an improved monitoring or an extended armament.
It lasted for a while, until the two men had found the hotel, which HOK had chosen for them. The streets of Paris appeared endlessly and darkly, and if one didn`t know this labyrinth of lanes, it was easy to go astray.
The hotel was called „Sunflower“ and was in the east of Paris. At 20,30 o'clock, the exhausted men finally arrived and parked their car behind the buidling. In the hotel, a pretty Frenchwoman with light brown hair and a girlish face was waiting for them.
She was very friendly, but somehow busy and reticent. However, this was no problem, because unnecessary talk with other people had to be strictly avoided. Frank and Alf just told her, that they were tourists from Austria.
The Scanchips functioned perfectly again. This was the way it should be. Then, the two men brought their heavy and explosive luggage to room 16 on the 2nd floor. Frank and Alf didn`t see many other guests on this evening. Only an older woman, who greeted them in French. That was all.
They closed the door behind themselves and fell on their beds, which were covered with a brown duvet. Soon this day had come to an end and the two rebels were just glad about this.
Now they were in Paris, but the real trip to hell was still waiting for them. Nevertheless, Frank and Alf banished this fact from their minds at this evening.
Aux Champs-Élysées
Aux Champs-Élysées
Aux Champs-Élysées
Au soleil, sous la pluie
À midi ou à minuit
Il y a tout ce que vous voulez
Aux Champs-Élysées...
(French version, 1969)
Oh Champs-Élysées
Oh Champs-Élysées
Sonne scheint, Regen rinnt
Ganz egal, wir beide sind
So froh, wenn wir uns wiederseh'n
Oh Champs-Élysées…
(German cover version, 1969)
Oh Champs-Élysées
Oh Champs-Élysées
Sonne scheint, Regen rinnt
Wechsler, du wirst mich nicht seh`n
und bald vor deinem Schöpfer steh`n !
Oh Champs-Élysées…
(Modified version by Frank Kohlhaas, 2029)