"According to this information, the E.B.E. now lives with a private individual. Tell me, what kind of person is this?"
Mike and the cell phone man changed looks, the cell phone man nodded, looked at the male. "Normal guy. Mid-fifties, forklift driver. Used to be a lecturer in German, medieval studies or something. Uninteresting. Has no more contact with the university. After his divorce, he lives in Cologne. Low income, small apartment. So far inconspicuous. No further social contacts except for his friend and his wife. As far as we know."
"What about his friend?"
"Dead. Accident. Explosion," said the cell phone man.
"Living, armed, anarchistic, now in Cologne," said the male and looked at Mike now.
Mike exchanged a helpless look with the cell phone man.
"Who organized it and who carried it out?" asked the male.
Mike made a helpless gesture. "I didn't order the liquidation."
The cell phone man added. "The order came from me. The operation was performed through official channels. That's what we have specialists for."
"Who performed the operation?" insisted the male. "I'll see who was assigned for it," said the cell phone man.
The male smiled. "Not necessary. I looked it up. Sergej, you've been a little more demanding in the selection of your employees."
The male kept Mike fixed. "What did you do?"
Mike knew this little man already knew everything. "We made sure he lost his job. We've restricted his account. We've made sure that both of them stay here in Cologne. No car, no money, no work, we canceled all requests for vacation homes." The male nodded.
Mike went on. "I assume you know how Target One ..." "Mr. Rachmiel," the male interrupted. "So, Mr. Rachmiel found the alien. We know that the alien was seriously injured and that it had an opportunity to regenerate in this safe environment."
"Sergej, what else?" the male wanted to know.
"The two seem to be getting along. Our attempt to disturb this proximity somehow was unsuccessful."
"Sergej, how could you disturb the closeness?"
"I told Rachmiel she understood him. As we have observed, he has really made an effort, with gestures and acting, to make himself understood. We observed that and we had the impression that he really made a fool of himself and that she had a good time."
"Who is ‘we’, Sergej?"
"I," the cell phone man explained. "So" said the male and turned to the cell phone man, who had slipped back and forth on his chair in a moment of inconsideration.
"Sergej, so you alone decided what information will and will not be disclosed. Is that right?"
The cell phone man nodded. "However, I have a great deal of experience in previous cases. That's why I decided to do it this way."
The male looked at him, nodded. "Sergej, if I understand you correctly, you already have a lot of experience with class five entities. Is that right?"
The cell phone man truncated. "No, not with class-five entities. With Class Four, it's a lot." The male grinned slightly. "Sergej, the difference between class five entities and class four entities is marginal, right?" The cell phone man shook his head slightly. Mike could see him swallow.
The male continued. "No, the difference is not marginal. The difference is huge. But I think you know that, don't you?" The cell phone man nodded and slipped back and forth on the chair.
"Mike..." said the male, "Mike, you have any idea what we're dealing with, don't you?" Mike didn't know exactly where the difference was, so he wiggled his head. The male nodded. "Well, it doesn't matter right now. Sergej will explain it to you later. After he has turned in his gun, his badge, his I.D.'s and goes into civilian life."
The cell phone man froze. "You can't do this!"
The male laughed quietly. "Yes, I can do that. If you do not do anything useful to solve our problem, you are a civilian." He turned back to Mike. "The transition to civilian life is usually linked to a tragic accident. Sergej knows that. Are you, Mike, still on board?"
Mike nodded speechlessly. He took a deep breath, looked at the cell phone man who had turned pale.
The male leaned back in the armchair and laid surprisingly long legs on the table.
"Well, then I'll tell you both how the situation looks from our perspective. Our Class Five entity was found by Mr. Rachmiel when the transport crashed. My clients aren't happy about this. You both know that I represent the so-called greats. The hunt has already been paid for with technology transfer. Various projects are underway, and cooperation is currently paused until the Class Five entity is released for hunting again. Can you follow me , gentlemen?"
He looked at Mike and the phone man. The cell phone man nodded, but Mike didn't know what to say. The male noticed. "Mike, you don't know anything, do you?”
Mike shook his head. "All I know is that the entity must return into custody."
The male shook his head. "That's only half the truth. Sergej has always been very frugal with information. Too economical in this case. All right, I want to go into detail."
The male sat up straight again.
"Class Five is an assessment of the danger. But it does not mean belonging to a species. Unfortunately, gentlemen, my clients have not only been given a Class Five, but an extremely rare specimen of the "hyenas". I think the name is wrong, it's an inaccurate translation of her name. The language of the species is extremely complicated. But I want to go on. This specimen was given to my clients for hunting; due to the danger, two of my clients were also in the car, not just one as usual."
Mike frowned. "Hunt"?
The male nodded. "I'm going to have to go further into it than that. As you may have learned, Mike, there are rules to this game. Rules that everyone who participates in this game must follow. We call it rules, other groups call it codes or plural codes. There are different codes that partly complement each other, but there are codes that overlap and/or restrict each other. The group that makes these rules is uninteresting, only maybe, there's nobody from Earth in this group. Neither does the group I represent."
The male took off his glasses and began to clean them with a cloth. "You have to understand, Mike, that when the rules overlap or constrain, the older rule always counts. If unfortunately, two restrictive rules were ratified at the same time, the rule of the stronger party would apply."
The male put the glasses back on, looked at Mike. "I cannot explain to you all the rules that all parties must follow, but I can explain to you the important rules that apply to us and our project."
Mike took a deep breath. "If an entity released for hunting is able to reach a portal without being killed, it is free, and the hunt is over. Here in Germany, the portal is the Untersberg. But so far, nobody's done it. If an entity released for hunting is able to find someone to take it in, the hunt is paused. If this person sends the entity away again, for whatever reason, the hunt continues. Understood so far?"
Mike nodded.
"All right, let's move on. It is prohibited to harm or kill the person hosting the entity. It is also forbidden to damage or kill the entity in this situation. So, it may be that the entity and its protector live together for years and the hunters end the hunt or simply die before the hunt can continue. Do you follow me, Mike?"
Mike nodded.
"Then, Sergej, you will release the account again and refrain from silly attempts to disturb the two. You can also go away if you want. You will also make sure that Mr. Rachmiel gets a car again. Come up with something. But please, make it quick."
The male turned to Mike.
"Mike, you will understand that my clients are extremely annoyed because the hunt is delayed. Personally, I'm not angry with you, but your unit has taken over the transport. Also, I know that some members of your unit have allowed themselves, say, a joke, or no, several jokes with the entity that were unacceptable. Are you aware that the entity was not enthusiastic about this?"
Mike was trying to defend himself. "It's customary, so my unit was told, that the entit
ies should know that there's no chance for them to survive the hunt."
"I'd like to know who told you that. But all right, I'll sort that out. Mike, I want to make it clear that I don't believe in these rules about shelter and protection. I know the species that lives in Rachmiel's house and if it were up to me, I would do everything I could to eradicate that species completely. We are dealing here with entities that are extremely dangerous. It's only a single specimen, but still. It's not a good situation."
The cell phone man interfered. "So, my attempt to cause a fight wasn't wrong."
The male looked at the cell phone man for a long time. "No, Sergej, not quite wrong. But not really. You have created a fast and pleasant way to communicate. You could have told Rachmiel who he is dealing with. That might have convinced him to kick the entity out the door. But we have considered another solution to the problem in internal consultation. There are, as I have already told you both, rules that partly restrict each other and others that partly exclude each other. But there are, thanks to the bureaucrats, some gaps in the rules. So, areas that aren't covered. One of them is the following: The person providing protection to the entity may appoint a representative in the event that the same person is unable to be present for an extended period of time."
What does "longer time mean", the mobile phone man wanted to know, suddenly electrified and sitting straight on his chair.
The male shrugged his shoulders. "As far as we know, half a moon cycle. At least that's what I know."
The cell phone guy and Mike changed looks. The cell phone man started smiling. It wasn't a friendly grin; Mike knew what he was thinking.
"So Rachmiel's friend is..." the cell phone man thought out loud. "Does this friend need to be explicitly assigned to represent Rachmiel?"
The male shook his head. "No. It is sufficient if this friend is in the immediate vicinity, for example in the apartment. For the entity and then for the friend of Rachmiel, the same rules of inviolability apply. If the friend then ends the protection on his own initiative, the protection is still valid, because then again, the rule applies that the entity is under the protection of our Lord Rachmiel, although he is not present. That, as you both can easily see, is the prior right."
Mike looked at the cell man. The cell phone man stared into emptiness. "Does our entity know the rules?"
"Of course!" said the male, "and she will follow these rules, too."
"What happens if you don't? What happens if one or more people involved don't follow the rules," Mike wanted to know.
The male smiled amusedly. "Gentlemen, you both don't want to know. The person concerned will curse creation. It can't be done without rules, gentlemen, or chaos and anarchy will break out. Not just on this planet. We, my clients and I, also know the rules and we abide by them. When making your decision, please think about how you both want to solve the problem that a lot depends on your solution. We can't rule out a complete withdrawal from technology transfers."
"I have an idea," the cell phone man told Mike, "it's simple. When Rachmiel leaves the house tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, we'll grab him. We make sure that Rachmiel's friend and the entity just stay in the apartment at that point. It's all so simple."
"Please be careful. Because when the entity realizes something's wrong, it'll be looking for Rachmiel. So, she has to be convinced that nothing happened to Rachmiel. In other words, Rachmiel's absence must be reasonable for her. Do you know what I mean? She has to accept the representative as a representative. Rachmiel can't just disappear. You can't just kidnap him. He must voluntarily ask his friend to represent him and he must voluntarily leave the house. That's important!"
The cell phone man nodded. "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse."
"Well, gentlemen, then we have come to a solution. I hope it's going to be quick now."
"I have one more question if that's all right," Mike said.
The male nodded.
"Who or what are the fast ones?"
The male became pale. "You're all lucky that the fast ones have no interest in this matter."
Mike and Sergej looked at each other.
"Many years ago, it was, I think, towards the end of the 70s of the last century, a visionary filmmaker made a film about the fast ..." said the male before he got up. "This movie pretty much hits it. But in contrast to the film, the fast ones are intelligent."
It pointed to the door. "I want to wish you success. This success is necessary for you and for many others. And I don't want to see you again. You'd both regret that."
Mike got up, pulled up his uniform jacket, and followed the cell phone man. Mike opened the door; they both left the office. In the hallway, they both took off their glasses, Mike gave his back to the cell phone man. "What should we do, Sergej?" Mike wanted to know when they went to the elevator. "I've got an idea..." said the cell phone man. "We'll meet tonight at the Sünner at seven, okay?"
The package
When Mike met with Sergej, the cell phone man, at just before seven in front of the entrance to the brewery, it was drizzling. It was a cold, fine rain that made Mike shiver. Mike came in a cab, but as Sergej saw, he was soaked. Mike came up to Sergej with a broad grin and patted him on the shoulder. "I'm curious to see what kind of idea you have. Come on, let's go inside." Sergej wanted to say something, but Mike stormed past him to the entrance, Sergej followed.
The two men entered the restaurant and went down to the cellar. Mike was looking forward to a warm, hearty meal while Sergej looked strangely depressed. While they were still going to the basement, Mike nudged Sergej. "So depressed?" Sergej whispered, "Watch out."
They turned around the corner and Mike flinched back. All four were sitting at the table in the back corner. The alien with his back to the guest room, Rachmiel sat in front of her, head on the wall, and on the long side of the table, Rachmiel's friends sat. They were engaged in a conversation and paid no attention to the other guests. The cellar was full, and a loud babble of voices could be heard.
Sergej pulled Mike to two places at the table at the stairs and the two sat down.
"I saw those four go in an hour ago. I was gonna wait outside for them, but you just walked right in."
"So, what do we do now?"
"Listen."
"What?"
"Yes, listen. I had a little gimmick come from my office. A small directional microphone. And headphones. Standard equipment." He handed Mike a little headset. Mike put it in his ear and could hear without problems what was discussed at the back table.
The alien was silent, he noted, as was the partner of Rachmiel's friend. She either stared at the table or looked at the alien suspiciously. Even with stealthy glances that Mike kept throwing at the table, which made the distrust clear to see. Rachmiel and his friend were engrossed in the conversation, from time to time the friend looked at his partner, who then looked at him with big eyes. Rachmiel made no eye contact with the alien. He hoped that the alien would not turn around and see him and Sergej, but it seemed to slurp with devotion on a drink in neon pink with a straw. Mike hastily took a look at the menu and found out that it must have been a barrel rinse of the Pink Grapefruit flavor.
Rachmiel and his friend were silent for a moment. The waiter came to their table and Sergej nodded, two beers were placed in front of them. Rachmiel also ordered another round and Sergej used the moment to sit with his back to the table where the four were sitting.
Sergej activated the directional microphone and now both could hear what was being said.
Rachmiel: "But you only rented this, didn't you?"
Friend: "Sure. I did a lot of renovations. Everything was a waste of time."
Rachmiel: "So the whole house blew up or what?"
Friend: "Sure, even the roof was blown away."
Rachmiel: "But you already have an idea, don't you?"
Friend: "No, not really. Mine, no, our private things are all gone except for my hunting gear. Even the memorabilia Helga kept in a sui
tcase are gone."
Rachmiel: "Has anyone been in the rubble yet?"
Friend: "Yeah, sure! It was locked, but I asked my neighbor to take a look."
Rachmiel: "How many other people actually lost their lives? “
Friend: "That's it. The guys with the explosives understood their business. Better than I thought. The house is gone, but there is little damage to the other houses, and our fellow tenants were all not there that day. There's no personal injury."
Rachmiel: "Come on, what are you going to do?"
Friend: "Well, I don't have any idea right now. We deliberately took the boars out of the freezer. If everything works out, you know that pigs and humans are genetically very similar, I assume that everything works at first glance, the investigators are convinced that two human corpses are lying in ruins. This will take two or three days until it comes out that wild boar bones are lying on the autopsy table. So, we're out of here for two or three more days. I can come up with a story the day after tomorrow about why we're alive."
Rachmiel: "I already told you that we are in trouble. I'm assuming those who wanted to blow you up, know you survived. I see the problem in the new acquisition of your things and that you find as fast as possible a place to stay. A safe place to stay. If it's necessary, they'll try again."
Friend: "Yo, dude. I got a gun license. A real gun license. I'm carrying my gun on me now. I may. I do. I do. And then when some asshole tries to shoot at me, I shoot back."
Rachmiel: "Oh yeah? What if a sniper squat is somewhere and blows a hole in your skull from a mile away?"
Friend: "Then it would have happened a long time ago. Take it easy, man. It may well be that the initial plan was canceled. We can move here, can't we?"
Rachmiel: "Yes. That's what worries me."
Friend: "Relax. We sit here with her and nothing happens. No funny look, no panic, nothing!"
Rachmiel: "That's true. And I have a damn guilty conscience for involving you in this. I never should have called you."
Friend: "Oh, nonsense. It's an exciting thing. We're happy to help."
Rachmiel: "When I look at Helga, she's not so enthusiastic..."
E.B.E. 21- the Hunt Page 23