¨¨¨,††§@@#                                          #@@§††,¨¨¨
¨,~††††§##                                          ##§††††~,¨
¨,~††§@###                                          ###@§††~,¨
¨¨¨¨¨~†§§#                                          #§§†~¨¨¨¨¨
¨,~†††§@##                                          ##@§†††~,¨
¨,~††§@###  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?"                 #@†~¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨,~†††§@@#                                          #@@§†††~,¨
¨,,,~†§@##                                          ##@§†~,,,¨
¨,~††§@###                                          ###@§††~,¨
¨¨¨¨,†††@@                                          @@†††,¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨~†@@#                                          #@@†~¨¨¨¨¨