¨¨¨-»††£¤¤ ¤¤£††»-¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨»»†££¤ ¤££†»»¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨-†*¤ ¤*†-¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨-»†*£¤¶@# #@¶¤£*†»-¨
-»†*£¤¶@## ##@¶¤£*†»-
¨-»†*£¤¶@@ 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?" ¶¤*»¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨-»*¤@ @¤*»-¨¨¨¨¨
¨-»†*£¤¶¶¶ ¶¶¶¤£*†»-¨
¨-»†*£¤¶@# #@¶¤£*†»-¨
¨-»†*£¤¶@# #@¶¤£*†»-¨
¨-»†*£¤¶@@ @@¶¤£*†»-¨