by Joonas Huhta
Iris threw the rifle over her shoulder and helped Konrad up.
“Come on. War is not over yet. I’ll call my husband on our way.”
“Everything I touch falls apart,” Konrad reasoned. “I can’t do any good.”
“Right, wrong—forget it. You’ll do what’s necessary. Besides you promised her. Gideon might not last for long.”
“They’ve got him? How do you know that?”
“What do you think? That I have forgiven my husband?” Iris shook a menacing finger. “I’ve bugged his office. Gideon is there somewhere. But that is not the least of your problems. Not that I know what’s going on, but the top brass of NATO, General Theo Kraft is over there. Those two sound like they have a recipe for chaos in their hands. They’ve attacked the president of Russia here in Rovaniemi.”
“What in the name of—”
“I’ll explain on the way,” Iris said. “Now, let’s dress you up like a soldier.”
43
GIDEON TOUCHED THE sergeant triple-triangle insignia on the chest of his army uniform. Although skipping ranks, it meant he was taken seriously, capable of doing anything. Breaking walls or go through a stone if needed. The respect he had gotten from Patrick was as immeasurable as it was liberating. The feeling of being someone meaningful filled his heart with content as he recapped the task Patrick had given to him.
A checklist of equipment and arms.
The objects in the storage room varied from binoculars to C4 explosives. He went through the list and let no item past him without touching it first. Then at the last word he frowned.
Bulletproof vest?
He looked around while keeping a pen on his lips.
“Gideon,” Patrick said, holding something in his hand.
Gideon quickly did his best salute.
“Stand at ease, soldier. We don’t salute the rank nor the man during a mission, is that clear?”
Gideon nodded. “I couldn’t find this last item…”
“Put this on.” Patrick handed the vest and helped dressing it. “Come.” Patrick started walking along a long corridor whose end Gideon knew nothing about.
“Where are you taking me?”
Patrick kept walking, kept his silence.
They came to a room at the end of the corridor, where a door stood open.
“He’s expecting you.”
Gideon’s heart started aching in his chest. He entered the room that was half-lit. At the end of the room’s one side was Kaspar.
“Dad?” Standing next to his father, who had been mostly wrapped with bandages and was emerging from sleep, Gideon felt his eyes were deceiving him. “I thought you were dead.”
Kaspar opened his eyes, took stock. He blinked, trying to focus on Gideon. His speech was a slow slur.
“Son… My God. It’s you.”
“Are you okay?”
“Seen better days. Are they taking good care of you?”
Gideon nodded.
“Are you ready to go on the last mission with them?”
“I’m not sure what that means.”
“Taking Viktor out was only the test phase…”
“Are we going somewhere?”
“Where do you want to go? What part of the world do you want to change first?”
Gideon shrugged. “It’s not my decision.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. Ultimately it all comes down to one question you must ask yourself to know where you stand: Mankind—divided or redefined?”
“Dad, it’s not that I wouldn’t want this, as I understand the higher purpose of it all, but I feel strange. I feel I’m not getting all of the information.”
“Nobody ever gets to know everything. That’s why you have to base your action on a certain amount of knowledge. Future missions secure that no gears of war can be shifted anymore higher.”
“You believe I’m up to this?”
“Absolutely. Just like you’re in the process of shaping your identity, it’s your destiny to shape the world’s. The old world is crumbling under our feet, and hell awaits us all if we don’t march on. Besides, I know war. War never changes, only its actors. War never changes things because not everyone can be your ally.”
Gideon said with an attempt at humor, “You sound like mom with ‘keep your friends close and enemies closer’—bull.”
“Words can’t describe your importance. Humanity will be more divided than ever if people aren’t guided. You are the new messenger. The actions you take will be the teachings the world will need to stay in the books of the living.”
Gideon stayed quiet.
“The people around you are all killing machines, pure and simple. But humanity’s best interest is at their heart. Never question that, no matter what you’ll see, hear or feel. The wrong kind of care clouds your judgment.”
“Messenger…” Gideon said perplexed.
“At the beginning of creation, we were all meant to be prophets. We are to be repurposed. That is our destiny.”
“Dad,” Gideon said. “If the team is humanity’s best hope for the future, if you truly believe so, I’ll dedicate myself to it. I’ll stick together with you.”
“Good. We’ll discuss later,” Kaspar said. “Go and rest. I need to gather strength too. Then we’ll work. Remember, this is all about becoming one in heart or letting beating stop. We are The Continuists.”
Gideon took a deep breath. He had the proud feeling that he knew exactly what his father meant.
44
ERIC PANTZAR RUBBED the sweat from his forehead as Iris spoke to him on the phone. Iris’s tone, although calm and decent, revealed she was using the tactics of applying pressure on old wounds.
“Don’t you care about your child?” Iris attacked. “Do I have to spell it out for you? She’s in the hospital, and she might die. I’m coming to get you. And do me a favor—open the Goddamned gates when I get there.”
“Iris,” Eric said, but she had already hung up. Eric felt Theo’s inspective eye on him. “Sure. I understand. See you.”
“Troubles?” Theo asked.
“You know women.”
“Touché.”
Eric took his winter jacket from a hanger. “I need to leave for a few hours. It’s urgent.”
“Your daughter?”
“I don’t know what’s going on. Iris is dead worried. Knock yourself out while I’m gone. There’s vodka in the drawer.”
“A typical Finn.”
Theo took Eric’s place and sat. “My last favor, Eric. Can you get me to the Cave with Iris?” He placed his elbows on the table and crossed his fingers. “We both know your daughter is not in peril.”
Eric nodded. “Iris is overreacting.”
“Is that all?”
Eric scratched his cheek. “I guess this is her weird attempt to add firewood to the cold hearth…”
“Marriage is all about the intimacy, Eric.” Theo leaned back in the chair. “About the timing of touch. After all, on the grander scale, intimacy is our last chance as a species. People have lost their touch.”
“Easy for you to say, you probably see your wife every two months. You don’t have to fight when time’s so precious.”
“Intimacy is not about how much. It’s about timing and how you do it. And that’s what I’m good at, thanks to God.”
“I don’t want God in my office. God is a perverse Beast. And nature is a serial killer.”
“Burdened with an internalized conflict? You’ve got a secret lover?”
“I stepped into a huge pile of shit once.”
Theo cocked his head. “May I ask room service from her?”
“I thought intimacy with one’s wife means honesty and trust. You lied to me.”
“That’s the other thing that is the requirement for a man to attain this job,” Theo said, his chin up. “Master timing and lying and you’ll never lack women to keep you warm.”
“Thanks for the tip,” Eric said. “But when it comes to my soldiers, here I
’m in charge. Arrange your own company of whores. I’ll send someone to take you to the Cave.”
“Can I least get a handshake, a salute or a hug?”
“I’ll salute you when you’re officially retired. When I see your god damned plan hasn’t turned into a nightmare.”
“Don’t lose your sleep.”
“No, I won’t. It’s not my job to worry. Bracing myself for the worse is.”
Theo folded his arms. “You need a new motto. Si vis pacem, para pacem?”
“Easy for you to say,” Eric chided. “But I can’t prepare for peace when your ugly face is still around. Good-bye.”
THREE ARMY TRUCKS stood idly as a lonely Lada appeared on the military grounds. Some Captain was cursing at soldiers who had forgotten equipment in their rooms. “Beat your goddamned faces!” He threatened revenge on another group to shave up their faces in thirty seconds, “…or I will put you to shovel feed your own testicles to the bears in the woods.” One private panicked and cut his face, falling to his knees. The Captain came shaking his head and slapped a backhand across the private’s face, demanding, “Fifty push-ups!”
Konrad sat in the back seat of the Lada, remembering well the time of his own army year, always in a hurry to be somewhere to do nothing at all. He felt the uniform Iris had given to him, and the beret and the eye patch that barely held the bleeding trickle of blood under it. He saw how Iris squeezed the wheel tighter as her epically tall husband approached the car. Thinking of the fiery debate ahead, suddenly for Konrad, this car that no one could heat enough was suddenly as hot as a sauna.
45
KONRAD SENSED THE dagger-sharp rage cutting at Eric’s temples. Fortunately, Iris kept her husband on a short leash.
“That’s why you will give this man your access card and keys he’ll need. Or I swear to God I will turn you and your big shot NATO friend over to the police.”
“You know what,” Eric said, unable to look at her. “I thought we had gone through this issue, but no! You still twist the blade, using my mistake as leverage. As though you never made any?”
“I don’t make mistakes! Have I ever been anything but a loyal and trustworthy companion, who thinks only of what’s good for her husband?”
“This is not companionship! This is…”
Konrad witnessed the flaming conversation and pressed his back tight against the seat, thinking it was the safest spot to wait. While listening, he revisited fights his parents had had.
“Give me your weapon,” Konrad said to Eric, shocked to the core at his sudden act of courage.
“What?” Eric turned around.
“I need a weapon.”
“I’ll give you shit, you piece of—”
Iris slapped Eric with an open hand. “Do not curse in my fucking car!”
Eric held his cheek, his big eyes sad and wide like a little boy who had just received an unnecessarily harsh punishment.
Silence settled in.
Eric took the phone and started looking for a number. “I need to call a friend who will take Theo to the Cave.”
“Give me that.” Iris grabbed the phone.
Eric pressed his lips into a white slash. “I should have brought your ass to the shooting range years ago.”
Iris connected her elbow to Eric’s stomach, and he let out a painful yelp. Tears reached his eyes.
“Now that you’ve reached cooperative mode, you’ll give Konrad your keys.” She took something out of her purse for Konrad. “Here, take this headset.”
“What is it for?”
Iris gave Konrad a little earplug and told him, “It’s a mini electronic sound-canceling earplug. Your ear defender against explosions and gunfire. It’s transparent, so no one will notice. It’s designed so that you’ll hear conversations and orders, everything needed.”
“Ha!” Eric snorted. “A true soldier, my ass.”
“You’ll be his guide.” Iris signaled the headset. “Wear it.”
“I will not let this gormless douchebag on my base. He’s a rat. And I don’t like rats. I will order my soldiers to kill him with Mortal fucking Combat fatality.”
Iris leaned in, grabbed Eric by the clothes and pulled his head in a few centimeters from hers. Konrad couldn’t see what else Iris pulled from her pocket, but whatever she placed on Eric’s groin made the big man whimper.
“I could use some fresh air,” Konrad said.
The intensity in Iris’s menacing stare at Eric continued over the better half of ten seconds before Eric nodded.
Konrad let out a silent sigh while pulling the beret over and back on his sweaty forehead.
“Good,” Iris said. “Now call Theo that General Elvis has left the building. Colonel Keloneva will escort him to the Cave shortly.”
“What? Who?” Eric said.
Iris gave Konrad a sticker where the name was. “I always wanted to put my private time name in use.” She smiled at Konrad, then turned to Eric. “And don’t you think I’m not planning to take my own surname back when this is over!”
Eric seemed now to keep his hatred inside. “A guard is standing outside. A good man. But won’t let anybody in my office.”
“Then call Theo and save your tears. I’ll handle your guards just like last time I went inside and wired your room.”
“What are you going to tell him?” Konrad said.
“That Colonel Keloneva is here to call the shots. I will tell him that he never saw or heard a thing.”
“How do you think you’re going to pull that out?” Eric asked. “You can’t just persuade him.”
“Nancy-boys. Do you honestly think I don’t know who has fucked whom on your base?”
With that Iris stepped out and approached the guard.
Konrad listened to the stillness inside the Lada and thought of all the things that silence hides.
46
KONRAD’S EARS WERE ringing from the conversation as he answered the softened, fearful guard’s salute and entered the building.
The familiar stench of mold hit him in the face. The structures were rotten to the core. Mandatory army service was not only a sacrifice of precious time, but also health. Nobody left the military without some degree of silent lung trauma.
On one side of the corridor were the many portraits of high ranked officials who looked like they would get spooked out at the sight of a gun. On the other side all the Finnish presidents evaluated his intentions as he came to Eric’s office door.
“Knock and enter,” Eric said in his ear. “Beware, Theo is full of booby-traps. His own narrow brilliance seduces him. Especially in philosophy.”
Konrad landed a fist at the door and went in.
The small intense man hunched behind the table seemed to have stopped his meditation. “Colonel! How’s war treating you?”
Konrad found no answer to address the question.
“Your eyes tell me that you have witnessed a death of children, seen bullets wreaking havoc in their bodies, twisting tissue, and splintering bone.”
Konrad nodded. He noted how Theo’s eyes spoke of years’ worth of worry, but now gleamed as if they’d struck gold.
“Where did you come from? Let me guess. Afghanistan? Ghost paleness sticks to you in that country of dust and sand.”
“I came from the woods,” Konrad said. “I played the part of Rambo, and my soldiers tried to locate me and get me killed.”
“Survival in a hostile environment. Sounds important. But doesn’t make a lick of difference. You just get on the wrong side of a board and bull.”
“Excuse me?”
Theo placed his tongue between his teeth—a lizard’s tongue soon springing for a fly. “War has no place in my heart anymore. I would rather get those boys of yours around a campfire and tell ghost stories. I would persuade them to quit the army.”
“Who would then do the work that has to be done?”
“Colonel…” Theo tried to see Konrad’s name tag.
“Keloneva.”
&n
bsp; “Colonel Keloneva,” Theo said bombastically, “what if I told you that soon you don’t have to prepare for war anymore?”
“That would be a fairytale.”
“What would you do if you didn’t have to continue waging endless war anymore, practicing and preparing for it in the cold?”
Konrad evaluated Theo’s what’s-the-rush body language, as impatience gnawed at his insides. “Honestly, sir, although it would require one crazy step of faith from nature toward the infinite… I think I would explore space. And time. Discover extraterrestrial intelligence.”
Theo frowned. “A soldier and a philosopher. A rare combination. Are you a religious man?”
“Irrelevant question.”
“What do you believe in then?”
Konrad cleared his throat. “I believe in the potential of humans.”
Theo paced with metronomic regularity. “When I retire, I’m going to plan a shuttle integrated with a virtual machine that will spin the world we can live in as conscious beings. The hazards of space can only be circumvented if we can remove the clock and hide in intangible information. Then, as space-traveling time loses its meaning, the captain-robot of the ship will go through resurrection files and print us out.”
Is this man for real? “May I suggest, since you started pondering, that shouldn’t the long-term plan be to manipulate the structures of the universe with our intelligence? Since human intelligence is already moving mountains, we could command natural laws. The only reason I can think of why God is giving guidance is that He wants us to grow so that we can decide the destination of the universe. Gradually our power grows, as does our freedom to choose.”
“My thoughts exactly, Colonel! Where did Eric find you? I can hardly mention God or an ism to him, or he looks like a bull had horned his ass.”
“I think Eric speaks with vodka.”
“You know what, Colonel?” Theo’s voice turned liturgical. “You just gave an old dog a new bloody bone to feast on. God didn’t create us to be his image. We are meant to become Him. I always become struck by the sheer grandeur of our possibilities. Replace his supremacy and re-create the universe with better possibilities for life. The new universe fine-tuned for life will be the Garden of Eden. It’s true we can’t create something out of nothing. But the universe is full of something. Our destiny is not to travel around the galaxies, but to re-create conditions where we can flourish!”
