No More Learning

„Baaah! ", it resounded out of the dark hole.
His partner could imagine, what Frank meant. Then
Kohlhaas shone for Alf, who crawled down into the
unknown, little inviting environment of the underground of
Paris. Baumer pulled the gully cover over the manhole, so
that only a small gap remained. Down here, it was as
disgusting as expected, and the channel did not make the
impression, as if someone had ever cleaned it in the last
twenty years. Wet heaps of dirt were piled up beside the
rivlet, down to the feet of the two men. Some rats scurried
away. Alf shone at them with his flashlight and the animals
quickly disappeared somewhere in a stinking hole.



142



„l_ook at this, gentlemen of the World Government are also

here! ", joked Frank and pointed at the rats.

Alf chuckled. „Here will be a lot of them. If you see a

completely fat and bloated rat, then you can address it with

„Mr. World President"! "

Frank grinned and returned: „To compare these poor

animals with the Lodge Brothers, is an insult for every rat! "

The gossip took a bit of the uncertainty of the two rebels,

who stood now in the middle of an ugly sewer tunnel. Frank

looked at his map again and then they walked about

hundred meters straightforward.

They had to watch out for their heads, because the tunnel

was not as tall as a man and surely already very old. Soon

after, both men came to a bigger canal and heard a car

above themselves. They were under a street. The little river

of wastewater was a bit broader here, just like the roundish

tunnel. Now they had to come to a decision.

„lf the map is correct, we must go to the left", said Frank

after a short look at the DC-Stick.

„lt will hopefully be correct, otherwise we are fucked up",

grumbled Baumer.

„There is always a gully cover somewhere, that can bring us

back to the surface", said Frank and walked forward, waving

with his flashlight. Meanwhile, Alfred sprayed a red cross on

the wall, in order to use it later as an orientation.

The broader sewer tunnel still extended for about two

hundred meters, then they came to a grid, clogged with dirt

and leaves, which was completely rusted. There was no

getting through. At least, not without a blowtorch, which

Alfred fortunately had. It just took a quarter of an hour, then

he had destroyed the rusty lattice.

„What a work! ", gasped Alf, when the dammed up water

poured away between his legs with loud splashing.



143



The tunnel with the old grid still extended for two hundred
further meters, then it ended in a larger room, where the rills
of wastewater flowed together. Gray-green walls gazed at
the two intruders and Frank was sure, that these old
buildings already existed since many decades, maybe since
centuries.

Rusty wastewater pipes came from the ceiling of the room
and on the wall was a sign with something in French on it. It
was completely rusted too.

At least, they could stand tall here. The way forked again in
several directions. Frank looked at some files and was sure
that they had to go into the opposite tunnel, Alfred trusted
him and sprayed another red cross on the wall.
„One of these sewer corridors had not been on our map, but
this must be the right one! Above it, is the "Rue de
Rothschild", as I think", explained Kohlhaas.
Shortly afterwards, they walked through a narrow passage
with some big holes in the walls. Spiders and rats welcomed
them in this dark tunnel and it was smelling rancidly, despite
the breathing masks.

Frank and Alf had to crouch again and watched their heads.
Meanwhile, they had walked this tunnel for about fifty
meters, when they discovered a small source of light above
themselves. Probably it was the light of one of the street
lamps, which came through a little hole of a gully cover.
They continued to creep through the stinking passage, then
they stopped. A black water lode with a very narrow
sidewalk on the side was in front of them, it was
approximately one meter deep. In the distance of ten
meters, rusty and damaged iron pipes led upward. Alfred
marked the way and followed his friend along the stream.
The water was not really deep, but it smelled foul and
appeared somehow threatening. Frank thought that a
terrible kraken would grab them with its tentacles to pull



144



them down into a bottomless black sea. It was just spooky

down here and the stench crept out of every corner right

into their noses.

„lf I have counted my steps correctly, we have walked about

600 or 700 meters yet", said Baumer.

His friend looked at the digital map and nodded. At the end

of the tunnel, they reached a relatively big room, which

looked like a reservoir. Stairs led upward and a large pool

with brackish water was in front of them.

Frank illuminated the basin, then he said to Alfred: . . HOK's

informations have mostly been correct so far. This reservoir

or whatever it is, has been marked with a red spot on the

map. You should spray a sign on the wall here! "

After they had crossed the next tunnel, they had penetrated

the underground labyrinth for more than one kilometer.

Then they reached an area, which reminded them of a small

hall. It must have been a part of the world-famous

canalization of Paris, which had been built in the year 1850

and during the following period. With a tang of admiration,

the two men stopped for a moment and looked around.

Then they continued their journey.

„This must be pumps over there, right? " Alfred pointed at

several enormous pipes with big handwheels on the side,

that led into a deep water reservoir. However, they also

were totally rusted, although they seemed to be still in use.

J think so! ", answered Frank. „This hall is probably in the

east of the "Avenue of Humanity". I think the street is less

than two kilometers far from here. This place is noticeable

enough, we don't need to mark it. "

Alfred put the spray can with the red color back into his

backpack and followed his friend. They went up some

concrete stairs with a handrail on the side. Then they

entered big room, that nearly looked like an underground

hall and was carried by stone columns. Soon after, Frank



145



and Alf went to the right and walked through a narrow, long

passage.

. . HOK's informations have been right yet", said Kohlhaas.

„The construction plans of the canalization of the inner city

seem to be still exact. "

„Well, the World Government has just taken over this

ancient and singular sewerage. They would never build

something for the people! ", remarked Alf.

„This sewer network has been built by hardworking men and

not by dirty parasites! ", hissed Frank and waved his friend

nearer.

„Look! There is a locked door. It obstructs the way, which

we have to take", said Frank and pointed at a dark corner of

the hall. Alfred fetched his blowtorch, but didn't destroy the

door more than necessary, in order to arouse no suspicion.

The tunnel beyond the locked door seemed to be endless,

and after a while the two men discovered a hole in the wall.

But there was no sewer corridor anywhere.

„What is that? It looks, as if somebody had broken some

stones out of the wall there, to dig a way", said Frank and

illuminated the strange hole with his flashlight. „Over there!

Look, there is another tunnel! Can you see it? "

Behind the hole seemed to be a large shaft. In the last

years, many homeless people had revamped the

underworld of Paris at their own discretion and had

extended the endless tunnel system. They had found a sad

home here, in a time, when there was no more room for

them at the surface. Kohlhaas looked at his DC-stick and

read some files. It lasted nearly half an hour. In the

meantime, Alfred sauntered boredly and nervously through

the darkness.

„This could be an abandoned metro shaft! ", explained

Frank.



146



„ln the inner city of Paris, the sewer corridors, tunnels and
passages are sometimes hardly ten meters away from each
other. I will take a closer look! "

Alfred already saw the back of his friend, who jumped into
the little cavity and soon shone with the flashlight in his
direction. Kohlhaas called him out of the dark tunnel and
seemed to be excited.

„Come on! ", he whispered. J can see tracks. You see, I was
right! "

Baumer also crept through the hole and the two men
followed the tracks. Perhaps they could find an abbreviation,
if this metro shaft was really the marked path on HOICs
map.

It lasted a while, because the abandoned tunnel extended
over several hundred meters. Suddenly they heard a gasp
somewhere in the darkness. They twinced and turned
around, looking in all directions. The vein in Frank's temple
began to pound and also Alfred nervously brandished his
flashlight.

The gasp could be heard again and the two rebels searched
for the source of noise. Finally they saw a man, who lay in a
dark corner. Probably a derelict, old and ugly, with a reddish
beard, a shabby trench coat and some brandy bottles in
front of him. The underground inhabitant blinked dazedly,
when Baumer hit him with the blaze of his flashlight.
„Ca va? ", slurred the old man.
"What? ", stammered Frank nervously.
"Ca va? ", repeated the drunk. "Ca va? "
"All right, grandpa! We will go now! ", said Alf and turned
around.
"Ca va? "

„Shut the fuck up, man! ", hissed Frank toward the tramp and
pulled his gun.



147



"Frank, what do you. . . ? ", asked Baumer. „Put that gun

away! "

„lf he tells someone that we have been down here or

remembers our faces. . . ", growled Frank excitedly and

brandished his weapon.

„This guy is just drunk. Leave him alone! Or do you want to

kill him? ", grumbled Alf at his friend.

"Ca va? ", burped the tramp again.

"Shut up, you dirty old jerk! Don't make such a noise!

Otherwise I will give you some „Ca va"! ", screamed Frank

and kicked the man in the side.

The tramp whined quietly and whispered something in

French. Kohlhaas pressed the pistol against his nose. "Just

shut up, man! Or you won't survive this! "

At this moment, Alfred pulled the furious young man

energetically back and shoved him away.

„What is wrong with you, Frank? Are you mad? That old guy

will say nothing. Hundreds of homeless people hang around

here and nobody is interested in the babble of an old tramp!

Let's go back through the tunnels! It's time to disappear! "

Frank slowly calmed down and put his gun away. He had

nearly shot or stabbed this old man. Alfred gave him

another stroke in the side and looked at him with lack of

comprehension.

„lt's enough for now! ", he said. . . Otherwise, I will become

angry! We disappear from here! Come on! "

Frank just followed his friend and was silent. At once, the

whole thing was embarrassing to him and Alfred

reprimanded him again, with sharp words, to control his

rage next time. „He was nevertheless nothing but a drunk

grandpa, man! ", he grumbled.

„Okay, I may have overreacted. . . ", answered Frank and

looked away.



148



When they went back and crept again through the dark
sewer system, Frank had to admit himself, that he had been
close to kill this bum. That he was a safety risk, could
perhaps be an argument, but only a superficial, because it
was more than improbable that anybody would be
interested in the twaddle of a drunk tramp from the
underground of Paris.

Nevertheless, he had almost killed this man, simply cut his
throat, to let him rot in the darkness of the old metro shaft.
Yes, it had almost happened, if Alfred had not stopped him.
Frank thought about himself. . .

Frank and Alf did not continue to explore the abandoned
tunnel, in which the drunk man had lain. They crept again
back through the hole and Kohlhaas took his DC-stick out of
the backpack. Meanwhile, the two men were tired and Paris
seemed to wake up above them. The honking of cars and
the rumble slowly became louder.

„lt probably goes on here.
After the next two passages there
is another room with reservoirs - or whatever! ", explained
Frank and went into the next tunnel.

Alfred sprayed a red cross on the wall beside the hole,
which led into the metro shaft and followed his easily
excitable rebel friend.

They still walked through stinking, but this time bigger sewer
corridors, that had small and smelly rivers inside. Baumer
looked at Frank's back and was still annoyed. Meanwhile,
they had advanced still deeper into the underground. Finally
they found a second underground hall, which was also hold
by stone columns. The wastewater was collected here in
large basins and was moreover rerouted in several
directions. The basins were covered with large grids of iron
and there was a footpath with some stairs, that was secured
with a banister rail. Here one could probably come to a



149



control room. Several water pumps and pipes were all

around them. On the walls, they recognized lamps and thick

cables. Also some crates had been piled up there. This

large and long room seemed to be used very often, because

it was directly below the inner city. But around this time it

was empty. The two men crept further forward.

The old brick walls and the stone archs had something

formidable. Now they recognized some iron stairs, which led

up the wall and ended in a dark hole. At the end of the hall,

there was a rusted steel door with a lamp above it.

„Look at this enormous room! It had already been built in the

good old times. Really impressing! ", whispered Alfred.

"Yes, a very big hall below the earth. Like the old „Moria" in

that film. Just smaller. . . ", said Frank.

„Moria? ", asked Baumer and was puzzled. „What do you

mean with that? "

„Well, there is an old fantasy film. My father had once

brought me a video tape, when I was still a little boy. It was

called „The Lord of the Rings". In that movie, the heroes had

to pass an underground labyrinth too - and it was called

„Moria". An giant underground city, built by the dwarves in

the ancient times of Middle-earth. . . ", described Kohlhaas. „l

really loved that film! "

„You are a dwarf too, ha, ha! ", answered Alf and smiled.

„Where are we here? "

A look at the map seemed to be necessary now. Probably

the steel door at the end of the vault led into a bigger area,

from where the men could reach the "Avenue of Humanity".

J hope that there will be no workers of the public utilities",

whispered Alfred. It was already after five o'clock in the

morning. „We must hurry up! "

"Maybe the workers are more often here, than in the areas

behind us", answered Frank quietly.



150



The steel door was secured with a digital code lock. Apart
from that, the door looked old and was strongly rusted. The
dark green paint on its surface had already peeled. Alfred
started working immediately. He used his blowtorch, but the
door was very solid.

Baumer had to destroy a big part of the lock and needed
nearly half an hour to open it. Meanwhile, Frank looked
nervously around and hoped that nobody would disturb
them.

Finally, the steel door opened with a quiet crunch and the
two assassins came into another room, which was equipped
with some shelves and an electronic control desk. The old
desk reminded them of the seventies of the last century,
because of its design. It was a true relict of technology.
Soon after, they left the area over some stone stairs and
sneaked over a way with deep water reservoirs at the sides.
Finally they disappeared again in one of the sewer tunnels,
because Frank believed, that he had found this passage on
HOK's map. Alf marked the way and they continued with
their search.

„The "Avenue of Humanity" is no longer far! ", called
Kohlhaas and disappeared into another dark hole.
They walked about hundred meters straightforward and
turned then to the left into a further sewer corridor. Again, it
was one of the bigger tunnels, because a small river rushed
beside them here. Now they saw numerous cables, rusty
lamps, old pipes and also a faded sign with some warnings.
A little later, both men stood in front of the next grid, which
blocked their way. Alfred's blowtorch cut through the rusty
metal and he threw a glowing piece of the grid into the
water. After further hundred meters, a rat swarm, which had
probably held a meeting here, fled from the blaze of their
flashlights in all directions. Then the old brick ceilings



151



became higher and they reached a hall with an enormous
water pump and a large basin in its center.
While the two rebels felt safe in the narrow and dark sewer
corridors, which led through the underground of Paris, they
had the impression of being observed in the larger rooms
and halls.

Here they could have encountered another derelict or a
worker of the public utilities. But it was still very early in the
morning and nobody, except for the two rebels, seemed to
be here. From a distance, they suddenly heard the
thundering of an arriving metro. That was a good sign.
„Charles de Gaulle! ", whispered Frank and leaned against a
large, gray column. „lt must be the underground station
Charles de Gaulle. It is close to the "Temple of Tolerance".
We have almost reached our goal! "

The two men looked at the map again, then they climbed
down an iron ladder and disappeared into a larger tunnel,
which led them towards the source of noise. The way
through this passage was long, monotonous and stinky. It
seemed to lead many hundred meters into nothing. Frank
reassured Alf that it was no longer far.
Only one last sewer corridor had to be passed now. Then
they would be directly below the square, that had once been
decorated by the Arc de Triomphe. Again, they heard the
noise of a metro, speeding through the earth. The two
rebels had crept through the guts of Paris with success.
Frank and Alf were proud.

Beside them, a rusty ladder led upward to a dirty gully
cover, where armies of black spiders were waiting for them,
as a closer look proved. A little later it was done. The
"Temple of Tolerance" was directly above their heads. Cars
were humming and honking on the heavily travelled street,
and they heard some people shout. Paris awoke.



152



Now it was time to disappear. Frank jumped up the ladder

like a cat, climbed upward and lifted the gully cover to look

over the square. Frank smiled grimly. They had finally made

their way through the canalization - it was possible!

From the corner of his eye Kohlhaas could recognize an

outside wall of the ugly concrete monument, that looked like

a huge pyramid.

"We have arrived! Great! ", said Frank joyfully and climbed

down the ladder again.

"Over there! Look! About thirty meters away from me! "

Alfred pointed at the darkness of the sewer corridor next to

him. "We will place the bomb there and send Wechsler to

hell! The explosion will be strong enough to tear up a big

part of the square in front of the monument! "

"Yes! We will fucking do that! ", muttered Frank with a

poisonous smile.

"And now we have to move our asses out of this

canalization! ", he added and both men headed back. With

growing internal confidence and contentment, the two rebels

slunk off.

Occasionally, Frank had to study some construction plans

again, but mostly his sense of direction was right. The red

crosses, Alfred had sprayed on the walls, were a good

additional help. Perfectly tired, stinky and filthy, they finally

crept out of the sewer tunnel next to the abandoned factory

hall in the early morning hours. Soon they would spend

many hours in the canalization again.

On their way back to the hotel, at dawn, no one noticed

them. Indeed their clothes were dirty, but this was not

unusual in Paris. There were a lot of filthy guys in the

streets of this metropolis. A warm hotel room was waiting for

them and it was silent on the unlit floor. They just closed the

door behind them and looked forward to a hot shower.

Frank and Alf had no longer had this luxury since years, and



153



both enjoyed the water, washing all the dirt and the stench
away from their bodies. Then they quickly fell asleep. Soon
the great day would come. The day of bloody revenge. And
Frank looked forward to his payback. . .



154



The Lull before the Storm



Frank and Alfred left the small hotel . . Sunflower" in the

following days always alternating, in order to buy some food

in the nearby supermarkets. They never ate in the small

dining room of the hotel together with the other guests and

avoided every contact to them. Only in their hotel room, they

took their meals, which were usually produced by the

"Globe Food" grocery chain.

The television was on, all day long, and overwhelmed them

with dull entertainment and repetitions of old movies,

interrupted by the hourly news. In this context, it was

interesting to see, how the World Government dealt with the

renegade state of Japan. At an interval of a few hours, the

newest reports came over the air.

Japanese were interviewed, who allegedly had left the

country, . . before Matsumotos firing squads could execute

them", because they had fought for . . world peace" and

"freedom". Ron Baldwin, the not very trustworthy looking

advisor of puppet governor Ikeda, who had also been blown

off the country, appeared in nearly each newscast.

He whined and stressed his . . great sorrows about the new

Japan", that he had learned to love soo much, since he had

come to the island in 2020, as a manager of the Greenbaum

Brothers Bank

He tried to look dismayed and affected to convince even the

ignorant viewers. Nevertheless, it was his job to lie in front

of the telecameras and he seemed to be eager to play his

role.

Eight great warships had been sent to the eastern seas of

Japan by the GCF high command, in order to observe the

situation. Furthermore, the World President had demanded



155



an ultimatum to the island people. They had to return to the

World Union until the end of the month.

"Otherwise, unpleasant consequences for the Matsumoto

regime could follow! ", he threatened on television.

The media concealed that the new president of Japan had

come to power by the will of his people. He had been voted

by over eighty percent of the Japanese population.

Meanwhile, the Japanese had abolished any further

elections, and Matsumoto called democracy a "giant play of

mass manipulation".

Moreover, the new president controlled himself and let all

representatives and ambassadors of the World Government

leave the country. And Matsumoto did not lay a finger on

them.

However, during the rebellion it had come to spontaneous

lynchings by the furious people. Some Japanese had just

taken revenge on those persons, who had exploited them

for many years and had destroyed their country. The most

"global parasites", as many Japanese called them, had

been killed in Tokyo and Osaka.

But the "fascist Matsumoto" was responsible for all this, in

the eyes of the international media. Therefore, they

unleashed a furious hate campaign against the rebellious

Asians. Soon after, it changed to an irate and hysterical

choir of slander and lies. A military intervention, however,

was "currently not planned", according to the words of the

World President. The newscasters tried to calm the viewers,

but the whole thing smelled like war.

„We will see! ", thought Frank.

„Now in your KCN-Shop! Call 070023456 and get him!
Sergeant Powers, your supersoldier! He fights them all,
yeah! ", resounded a pithy voice out of the television. A hand
was waving with an action figure - Sergeant Powers.



156



. . Terrorists, fascists, evil people! Sergeant Powers finishes

them all! Get your Sergeant now and annihilate the evil

forces! Only 19. 95 Globes, here in your KCN-Shop or in

every toyshop, yeah! ", it came out of the tube.

Then the voice kindly told the kids, that they could borrow

some money at the "KCN Bank for Children", if their parents

would not have the Globes for Sergeant Powers. But only

for children, who were already six years old.

„Oh, shit! ", sighed Alf. . . Turn it off! "

„ln a few minutes, I want to watch "The Little Whisperer" on

KCN. I always wanted to have a look at this brainwash

show for children. "

. . Please not. . . ", answered Baumer disgustedly.

Shortly afterwards, KCN (Kid Control Network), the biggest

telestation for children worldwide, started its famous show,

called "The Little Whisperer".

Some years ago, KCN had started the series.