,~»†%£¤¶## ##¶¤£%†»~,
,,,,~~»†£¶ ¶£†»~~,,,,
,,,,»%%%¤¤ ¤¤%%%»,,,,
,,,~»%£¤¤# #¤¤£%»~,,,
,~»††%££¤¤ ¤¤££%††»~,
,,,~††££¶¶ 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?" ¶£††~,,,,,
,~»†%£¤¶## ##¶¤£%†»~,
,,,,,~~»%¤ ¤%»~~,,,,,
,,,,,~»†£¶ ¶£†»~,,,,,
,,,,,,~†£¤ ¤£†~,,,,,,
,~»†%£¤¶## ##¶¤£%†»~,