No More Learning

The rest of the year 2028 passed without any changes in

the life of the young man. The winter in Lithuania was really

unpleasant and very cold, and there was no sign of that

global warming, the international media had proclaimed in

2011, in order to justify coercive measures and further

restrictions of civil rights.

Frank's fear, his sleep disturbances and his depressions

still came in waves and particularly in these dark winter

months he had to suffer.

Wilden and the other villagers had given him a lot of tasks,

he had to do for the community. And this was good,

because it diverted him. During autumn, the fields around

Ivas were harvested by the inhabitants and the yields were

made winterproof, like in old times.

All this was also a new ground for Frank, since he had only

eaten the cheap food of the big agrarian companies so far.

Moreover, Alf and he renovated the old house, but they

progressed slowly. Apart from this, the young renegade was

not yet ready to join the group of rebels - if it were rebels at

all.

Except for talking, Frank hadn't noticed any considerable

rebellion, although Wilden told him everything about politics,

without having a break.

His daughter didn't seem to think a great deal of him and

Frank was sure that she still distrusted him too. But at least,

he had aroused her compassion. . . Nevertheless, ti is

something! ", thought Kohlhaas.



95



When it was stormy outside and the ice rain pattered
against the still leaky windows, when it was dark and cold,
Frank felt lost. Even if Alf was in the next room, looking for
some new informations on the Internet. Sometimes
Kohlhaas heard him rant and sometimes Baumer jubilated.
„ls this my life for the next decades? ", he occasionally asked
himself. „ls this my fate? Hanging around in this dump in
Lithuania, with this gang of so called freedom fighters? "
If he saw the face of his father and his sister in front of his
inner eye, if he thought about the holo cell and about the
fact, that his little nephew was raised somewhere in an
institute for brainwashing, while his sister, who had never
done something wrong in her life, was rotting in a mass
grave, he was fuming with rage.

„Alf, what is the meaning of the symbol of the "Red Moon"
groups? Please explain it to me again? ", he asked his fellow
one evening.

„l already answered that question! ", remarked Alf, who
wanted to go to bed.

„l want to know it - exactly! ", said Frank with a black look,
which even caused some respect in Alf.
„Well, it is an old cult symbol. The "bloody moon" or „blood-
moon". The old Celts, just as many other people of the
ancient times, knew this mystical indication. In the winter, it
was more important than everything else. At that time, the
cattle was slaughtered in great numbers before the
beginning of the snowfall on a certain full moon night.
Therefore, our ancestors called this moon the "blood moon".
Moreover, it was also a ritual for the old gods, in order to
invoke their protection and assistance in the cold months.
The elders cast a magic circle with blood, drank red wine,
prayed and danced. Some even believed, that during this
ritual not only the souls of the decedents were present, but



96



also the spirits of the animals, which had donated their lifes

to give food to the humans", explained Alf.

„Then it was some kind of ritual for the dead? ", asked Frank

then.

„This is one meaning. The other meaning is the coming war,

the revenge, the bloodshed, the rage of battle. One also

knows the bloody moon as a warning to the enemy. It just

depends on the interpretation of the symbol. The founders

of the „Red Moon" groups thought, that this sign would just

look cool or interesting", said Baumer.

„l like the second meaning! Yes! ", hissed Frank.

Alfred looked at him with surprise, scraping with his fingers

over the wooden table.

„l_et us bring the blood moon upon our enemies! I will talk to

Wilden. If I join your so called rebellion, I fucking want to

make rebellion! ", grumbled Frank.

„We are rebels. . . ", returned Alf and stared at his aggressive

fellow.

"I hope it! I want to take lives! ", screamed Kohlhaas and

banged his fist on the table. „Revenge! Blood moon! "

Frank turned around and went to his room. He slammed the

door behind himself and up to the next morning, Baumer

didn't see him again.



97



Rebellion and Fresh Snow



It did not last long, until Ivas was covered with a thick
mantle of snow and it was bitterly cold. Frank and Alf could
only stay in the largest room of their house, where the old
wood fired oven was located.

This season was more than unpleasant and often both men
needed some blankets to warm theirselves. But at least, the
roof didn't have no more holes and it didn't snow into the
upper floor of the old building. This was better than nothing.
Today, Frank Kohlhaas made the decision to talk to
Thorsten Wilden. He wanted to become a real rebel and
promised himself to join the fight - but he still didn't know
how.

It was a grey winter morning and the few sources of light in
the inhabited houses of the village, had no real chance to
repel the twilight.

A resolute Frank trudged through the fresh snow of the last
night, toward the house of Thorsten Wilden. The young man
finally had enough of the monotonousness in this so called
rebel base.

„You want me? You can have me! ", he whispered to
himself.

After a while, Frank reached the house of the village boss
and knocked on the door. Agatha Wilden opened and Julia
could be seen behind her in the corridor. Kohlhaas gave
them a quiet „Hello! ". Then Wilden appeared on the stairs,
which led to the upper floor.

„Frank! Welcome! What can I do for you? ", asked the gray-
haired gentleman with sursprise. The village boss seemed
to be overslept and was still unshaved.



98



„We need to talk, Mr. Wilden! ", answered Frank with a

vacant expression, which neither Julia nor Agatha Wilden

had ever seen before. Kohlhaas scowled and crossed his

arms.

„Well, we go to my office! ", said the rebel leader.

„Okay! Let's go! ", muttered Frank and went up the stairs.

Then both men sat opposite to each other and Frank started

to talk, before Wilden could begin.

„This is not a holiday camp, you have said to me. Well!

Well! ", spoke Frank with an angry face. „This is a rebel

base, you have told me, Mr. Wilden! "

„lt is! ", returned the older gentleman, looking at his young

guest, who behaved queerly today.

„AII right! Then we shall start a rebellion! First, I would like to

learn to shoot! Assault rifle, machine gun, handguns. Is that

okay, Mr. Wilden? ", said Frank, somehow demanding.

J think you can! ", answered the village boss.

„Great, Mr. Wilden! I am ready now. I know that some of the

guys here talk about me after the slogan: We just feed that

Frank, but he is useless and does not join our great fight.

Well, here I am! Ready for combat! If there is a big fight

here at all, because I haven't noticed a fucking rebellion

yet! ", teased the young man.

„First and foremost, we develop self-sufficient structures.

The armed operation, concerning your liberation, has been

an exception. Otherwise, we plan no further things of that

character for the next time", explained Wilden.

„However! ", said Kohlhaas. „lf any special operations start,

then let me know it. I will join them. My life isn't important

and I will show you, that I have more guts, than most of

these farmers, who treat me with scorn. Thus, you let me

know, if there is some action, okay? Have a nice day and

greetings to Fraulein Julia, Mr. Wilden! "



99



Frank knocked on the table, smiled informally and left the
room. He ran down the stairs, murmured a "Tschuft! " to
Julia and closed the front door behind him. Thorsten Wilden,
his wife and his daugtherwere perturbed. This part of Frank
had been unknown to them yet. And Frank was surprised
about that side of his personality too.

"If I shall revolt, I have to learn to shoot, Alf! Where are your

weapons? ", Frank edged his unnerved friend.

"You make my nerves explode, Kohlhaas! What do you

want from me? ", screamed Alf. His roommate didn't stop his

urging and slowly became aggressive.

J go to Wilden! ", grumbled the young man.

„Okay, I have a gun. If you like, we can do some firing

practices in the forest", groaned Alf.

„AII right! What are you waiting for? ", answered Frank with a

grin.

Baumer went into the cellar and finally returned with a Glock

in his hand. Then the two men left the house.

„rm dying to know if you hit something! ", teased Alf his

friend on the way to the nearby forest behind the village, but

Frank just gazed at the ground. After they had waded

through the high snow for a while, Alf stopped.

„Do you see that knothole in the birch over there? ", he

asked Frank.

„Of course, give me the gun! ", answered Kohlhaas.

Without further thinking, the young man aimed for the tree,

which was about ten meters away from him.

„Bang! Bang! Bang! "

Alfred ran to the birch, after Frank had shot the magazine

empty. He was astonished. Most of the bullets had hit the

little knothole and large pieces of crust had been torn out.

„Not bad, boy! ", he remarked and waved the inexperienced

shooter nearer.



100



„How many times have you already shot in your life? "

„Never before! ", answered Kohlhaas and smiled.

„Your lately grown self-confidence seems to make even a

good shooter of you", murmured Alf.

Shortly afterwards, Kohlhaas shot three further magazines

empty. Then they had to stop, in order to waste not too

much ammunition. Baumer was quite impressed, that his

fellow had hit the target relative exactly.

„Wilden can organize an assault rifle and a machine gun for

you. Then you can practice with them", promised Alf. A little

later, they went back to their house again. Dusk was falling.

So strange and insignificant it was, at first sight - Alf s

compliment had filled the young Frank with pride. He smiled

confidently and looked already forward to the next firing

practices with the bigger war weapons, the real "Wummen".

Apparently, he had a talent for shooting. And that he had a

talent for something, he hadn't heard all too often in his life

before.

Frank spent the first two weeks of the cold and wet January,

the ugliest month the year, with numerous firing practices

and the reading of political and historical books, that Wilden

had given to him. Moreover with occasional works for the

community.

Meanwhile, he felt a little more accepted by the other

villagers, after he had signaled that he was ready to join the

fight.

Even Julia Wilden had smiled at him for the first time, when

he had asked her father for more ammunition for his

weapons at the door. He blustered into the thought of

becoming a rebel. Therefore, Kohlhaas shot during his firing

practices, in his mind, rather at hazy prison guards,

policemen or politicians, as at bottles or trees. Often he

grinned like a happy child, when the cold steel of a rifle slid



101



into his hand. His shooting results became better and better
and when he went to bed, after an arduous day, he often
mused about the blood moon and did not notice, how
malicious his smile had become.

Alfred observed him with scepticism. Frank appeared
calmly, and sometimes he just absently stared out the
window and bit on his lower lip, till it began to bleed.
Usually he did not even seem to notice it. The young man
was eager to learn the art of killing in all its facets.
Often he
talked of nothing else but fighting during the dinner. He
philosophized about the possibilities of resistance, the
revolution and the counter-propaganda. Some ideas
appeared to Alf even ingeniously, others were just childish
and crazy. Something proceeded under Frank's skullcap,
was slowly bred like an evil child.

In these days, in which Frank only talked about assault
rifles, grenade launchers and methods of killing people,
Baumer thought, that Kohlhaas was screwy. Moreover,
Frank asked John Thorphy to buy a whole arsenal of
weapons for him.

„Maybe, your beloved war will find you sooner as you think,
my friend", told him Alf once. "We will have a bigger meeting
at the end of the month, then I can take you with me! "
„A Meeting? What meeting? To shovel some snow? ",
scoffed Frank.

„Fuck off! I can't hear your speeches about the revolution
anymore, Frank. Keep cool and find the way back to reality.
We will not start to run around like a horde of boozy apes to
shoot everybody. Do your firing practices or throw your knife
at trees or do something else! ", grumbled Baumer angrily.
Now, Frank became angry too and went to his undercooled
room. Most of all, he had liked to kick Alf in the face - or
someone else. Meanwhile, Kohlhaas was burning inside like



102



a torch. A stubborn hate had crept into his brain and he had
problems to suppress this feeling. So the young man just
brooded and escaped into a dreamworld full of rebellion and
revenge.

The former citizen 1-564398B-278843 dawdled away till the

end of the month and nervously waited for the meeting, Alf

had talked about. From now on, Baumer didn't tell Frank

any further details, concerning the gathering, and just

ignored him.

It was the last day of January 2029, and the restless young

man had got up early today. The meeting of the villagers

was set for 18. 00 o'clock, and Frank walked through the

cold house for hours, like a nervous tiger. He friendly smiled

at Baumer, again and again, full of expectation.

In the late afternoon, Frank and Alf finally left the house and

went to a brightly lit-up barn, where a few radiant heaters

had provisionally been stationed. Wilden was waiting for

them here, in the middle of a larger group of people.

Frank and Alf briefly welcomed the others and went to a

dark corner. Both crossed their arms before their chests and

looked at Wilden, who started his speech: . . Welcome, my

dear comrades! "

Kohlhaas nodded to Julia, who stood behind her father.

Then he smiled and the young woman smiled back.

. . Tm glad that all of you have come to Ivas. I welcome our

guests from France and all the others, who visit our village

today. "

Kohlhaas' expectation rose to the immeasurable. He gave

Julia a volatile look again. She winked at him and Frank

winced, because he had never seen such a friendly gesture

from her before. Her father continued: . . Tm sure you all

know, what is our topic today. Tve bought this village some

years ago, anyhow, some of the houses, in order to create a



103



retreat for all, who have pure hearts and want to fight

against the global system of enslavement. Since then, we

have achieved a lot and this former ghost town has been

made to a halfway habitable place again. We have our

peace here - so far.

However, I have the impression, that many of us meanwhile

enjoy this calm life so much that they have forgotten, what

the true sense of this base is. The sense is to have also a

place for a free life, for those, who still know, what freedom

really is, but Ivas is more than that. It is a place of

resistance against the World Government.

The last months have been calm, we have behaved calmly.

We have renovated our village and have secured our

subsistence, what is essential before you start a great fight.

This phase is finished now, and the question remaines, how

we can bring back freedom to our brothers and sisters in our

old homelands. The fight must begin now! "

A short applause from the about 100 persons in the large

barn followed. Frank was staring into space with blank

expression.

„Most of you, who are here today, live in Ivas. Others are

from the outside. Andrej is here, from the "Russian Patriotic

Section", Robert and William from the organization „Free

Britain", moreover our friends from Belgium, better from

Flanders. Further, Baptiste and Hugo from France. And also

comrades from Scandinavia have visited us.

Apart from this, I don't want to forget Soheil and Nirvan, the

rebels from Iran, because they probably have the longest

way behind themselves.

Unfortunately, our comrades from the Spanish „Citadel

Group" had not been allowed to leave their country, and I

hope they are fine. Well, I think that I haven't forgotton any

other guests from outside! ", said the village boss.



104



„Now I want to give a lecture on our actual topic: Today we
talk about March the 1 st , 2029, when the World Government
will celebrate the "Festival of the new World". This
worldwide event, which takes place in Kiev this year, here in
the sector . . Eastern Europe", is also celebrated in Paris, in
"Central Europe". For that reason, the new governor of
. . Central Europe", Leon-Jack Wechsler, will come to the
former capital of France, in order to open the ceremonies
and military parades.

The international media will report about this event, whereby
the ceremonies in New York and Paris will be the politically
most important ones, and will get the greatest attention. "
. . That much is clear! ", whispered Alf quietly.
. . Since the official takeover in the year 2018, the
celebrations of the "Festival of the new World" have always
been an enormous spectacle, that even excelled the soccer
world championships and the Olympics! ", said Wilden.
. . Even if the media have hushed it up in the last months,
France is a country, which stands close to big chaos. The
introduction of the "additional water consumption tax" in the
last year has annoyed millions of people.
Furthermore, the poverty of the masses is still becoming
worse, as everywhere in "Central Europe". Meanwhile, the
conflicts between the Moslem Algerians and the other
immigrants, who have the majority in all big French cities,
and the native population, has achieved an explosive
extent. If the GCF occupation troops wouldn't press the lid
on the cooking pot with outermost force, France would fall to
pieces tomorrow", explained the rebel leader, while the two
Frenchmen nodded approvingly.

. . Already in the last year, there have been social and racial
riots in Paris and Marseille with almost 1000 deads. The
police and the GCF have finally shot down the people
without mercy. We all know the pictures", said Wilden.



105



„Anyhow, it has still become worse this year, as I have
already expected it. More monitoring, more unemployed
people, more homeless people, more crime and more war in
the streets, as everywhere . . Central Europe", where the so
called philanthropists give us their political benedictions! "
„He talks about politics again. . . ", groaned Frank.
. . What will we do now? What will we do on 01. March 2029,
when probably between one and two million spectators
come to Paris? ", asked Wilden the others.
„lf the media and so many people are there, why don't we
make any spectacular actions? With transparencies for
example. . . ", suggested a villager.

„We plan a lot of such things, and we don't need any foreign
assistance for these simple campaigns. We have enough
men in France for actions like that! ", explained one of the
Frenchmen and shook his head.

. . Perhaps, we should join the crowd and. . . ", said a young
man.

. . Wait! ", interrupted him Frank suddenly. „We kill that Leon-
Jack Wechsler! Than we would set an example! "
Wilden and the others turned their heads toward the dark
corner, from where the bold proposal had come. Frank
stared back and kept a straight face.
. . Forget about that, boy! Around Wechsler is a security zone
of two kilometers, full of GCF soldiers, agents and cops! ",
said a man and looked disdainfully at Frank.
„No more nonsens! Just shut up! ", hissed Alf nervously.
. . Well, but throwing leaflets at the soldiers during the parade,
or stick out the tongue at the governor, is just pathetic! ",
returned Frank. „l will kill this son of a bitch! Who comes
with me? "

Now Wilden intervened, because many visitors became
angry: „We should be realistic. There is no place here for
macho behaviour, boy! "



106



„l'm not joking! Absolutely not! ", screamed Frank. „l know

that it is dangerous, but I don't fear death. Thus, who wants

to follow me? Let us kill this motherfucker! "

„Enough, Kohlhaas! ", yelled Wilden.

„Who are you, young man, that you have such a big mouth?

You are hardly a few days here and you already play the big

gorilla! ", insulted him a young woman from the other corner

of the room.

. . That's right! You are that crazy guy from the holo cell. And

there, your brain has been damaged! ", shouted someone in

Frank's direction.

„We don't need your show, boy! ", it came from the side.

„Now, shut up! This is just embarrassing! ", railed Alf and

nudged Frank.

„l am Frank Kohlhaas! I say it now, in front of all of you,

although I don't know the most of you very well. I will go to

Paris to kill this fucking Wechsler, if you give me the

weapons and the equipment. Maybe I die! So what? I just

give a shit on that!

I swear, by my honour and my name, the good name of my

father and my sister, who were murdered by people like this

bastard Wechsler. If I change my opinion tomorrow, then I

beg you, to shoot me, because then I have no right to life

anymore! ", screamed Kohlhaas.

Baumer sighed and held his head. Others looked

disbelievingly at Frank. Nevertheless, some of the villagers

seemed to be fascinated by the young fanatic. Julia Wilden

belonged to the latter group, as Kohlhaas hoped.

„The guy is crazy! ", Frank heard someone say.

Wilden tried to interrupt Frank's lecture: . . Well, I would like

to tell you a little more about the political situation. Frank,

just shut up now! "

But the young man had not finished yet: „l have to say

something to you glorious rebels! And you shall listen to my



107



words: I WILL KILL LEON-JACK WECHSLER! Or the cops
will kill me! I mean it. If necessary, I will go all alone. It
would only be nice, if one of you brave warriors could give
me a map of Paris. If I should have changed my opinion
tomorrow, then you have to kill me! I ask you again: Who
comes with me? "

A loud mutter went through the barn. Alf looked
embarrassingly at the ground and tried to explain his
neighbor that Frank could also be "normal".
It took some minutes for Wilden to restore silence.
Meanwhile, the young man had gone back to his corner
again and seemed to have calmed down.