¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨. .¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ORANGE-CLAD TRAIN-CLIMBER CREW, MOVING ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨. ALONG THE RUSTY CARGO CARS LIKE SOME .¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.~ SPECIES OF FERROPHAGE INSECT. UP AND ~.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.~† DOWN THE TRAIN, CHECKING BOLTS, OILING †~.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨.~†† JOINTS, DRINKING COFFEE, SMOKING ††~.¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨.~††% CIGARETTES. %††~.¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨.~††%& &%††~.¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨.~††%&@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @&%††~.¨¨¨
¨¨.~††%&@# #@&%††~.¨¨
¨.~††%&@## WE WERE GOING SOUTH THROUGH FINLAND AT ##@&%††~.¨
¨¨.~††%&@# THE TIME, SLEEPING CLOSE TO THE #@&%††~.¨¨
¨¨¨.~††%&@ FURNACE, WATCHING THE AURORA BOREALIS. @&%††~.¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨.~††%& TWENTY-SOMETHING MEMBERS OF THE CREW, &%††~.¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨.~††% MOST OF WHICH WERE MECHANICS, OR %††~.¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨.~†† LOADERS, WITH LARGE AND HAIRY HANDS ††~.¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.~† THAT COULD SWALLOW MY ENTIRE BODY. AND †~.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.~ ME FEATURING AS THE CUTE AND ASOCIAL ~.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨. RADIO OPERATOR, STATIONED IN THE BACK .¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ OF THE KILOMETER-LONG TRAIN, WHICH ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ SERVED ME GOOD AND WELL. ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ AND THEN ONE NIGHT, THERE'S A MISSILE. ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ WE WOULD ROUTINELY PICK UP NEW CARS AT ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨. THE TAIL, AND DROP SOME OFF, AS A WAY .¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.~ OF EARNING SOME EXTRA MONEY. BUT A ~.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.~† MISSILE, AND APPEARING SILENTLY IN THE †~.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨.~†† MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AT THAT? NOT ††~.¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨.~††% ENTIRELY... COMFORTABLE. %††~.¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨.~††%& &%††~.¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨.~††%&@ I CALL IT IN ON THE WALKIE-TALKIE. NOT @&%††~.¨¨¨
¨¨.~††%&@# MANY OTHERS AWAKE, THEY KNOW NOTHING #@&%††~.¨¨
¨.~††%&@## ABOUT IT, AND APPEAR CONCERNED AS WELL. ##@&%††~.¨
¨¨.~††%&@# #@&%††~.¨¨
¨¨¨.~††%&@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @&%††~.¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨.~††%& &%††~.¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨.~††% WHEN I FALL AWAKE IN THE AFTERNOON, %††~.¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨.~†† KARL IS THERE, SMILING AT ME. "HEY ††~.¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.~† BOY," HE SAYS, "WANNA HELP ME MAKE A †~.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.~ CALL?" ~.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨. .¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ AFTER HE'S BROUGHT ME COFFEE, I DIAL ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ THE FREQUENCY FROM HIS NOTEBOOK, AND ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ AFTER A WHILE THERE'S A REPLY IN ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ PAN-SLAVIC. KARL LAUGHS AND MAKES A ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ REPLY IN THE SAME LANGUAGE. EVEN THOUGH ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨. WE BOTH HAVE HEADPHONES I CAN'T FOLLOW .¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.~ AT ALL, BUT I HEAR THE WORD "MISSILE" A ~.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.~† FEW TIMES. †~.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨.~†† ††~.¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨.~††% I'M ALMOST SNOOZING AGAIN AT THE TIME %††~.¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨.~††%& KARL PUTS DOWN THE HEADPHONES AND SLAPS &%††~.¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨.~††%&@ ME ON MY BACK. "ALLRIGHT BOY. I JUST @&%††~.¨¨¨
¨¨.~††%&@# SOLD A MISSILE." HE PRACTICALLY BEAMS #@&%††~.¨¨
¨.~††%&@## AT ME, TEETH FILED SHARP. "WANNA MAKE A ##@&%††~.¨
¨¨.~††%&@# DETOUR?" #@&%††~.¨¨
¨¨¨.~††%&@ @&%††~.¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨.~††%& &%††~.¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨.~††% %††~.¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨.~†† ††~.¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨.~† †~.¨¨¨¨¨¨¨