The Harvest of Souls

CHAPTER 35

All the air left Fernand's lungs as he let out a long and excited cry across the dark skies of the cold daybreak. He could see the beautiful lights of Vindobona just below him and a small, darker region to the east of the city. 'Prater,' he thought as he pulled out the hand deploy.

Fernand enjoyed the aerial view of the city as he maneuvered his parachute towards the dark area. He was happy, after all, for the darkness of the night, it would be easier to make a discreet landing. He continued to glide until he reached a lower height, where he could then recognize the details of the old amusement park, wholly steeped in the darkness. He then began pulling the right side of the parachute, making a right turn, and heading for a park with some courts that he knew were tennis, football, and baseball fields.

Fernand analyzed the landing options and chose one of the baseball diamonds, the farthest from any light. As he lost altitude, he looked to his left, seeing the lights of the University of Vindobona with its modern buildings, thinking that maybe this was one of the few examples of something modern he appreciated. He turned then his attention to the ever-closer baseball field, pulling hard on the control lines of the parachute and lifting his two legs as high as possible, landing with a jolt on the wet grass.

He stood up quickly and began untying the leg and chest straps, pulling his backpack off his back. With a wave of his hands, the parachute started to retract back into the backpack that, in a few seconds, looked more like a small school bag than a parachute. He slung his pack onto his back and continued across the field. It was very dark, but Fernand could see the ground close to him. He decided not to use his MC's flashlight so as not to draw attention.

At the end of the baseball field, a small fence separated it from a tramway track. He climbed over the fence and carefully watched that no trams were approaching. Realizing that the path was clear, he crossed the line and walked through some trees to an asphalted pedestrian path. 'Perfect, close to a tram station.' He thought, walking north along Rotundenallee.

Fernand went to the Prater Hauptallee station and sat down on a small wooden bench. He knew that it would take a while for the next tram to arrive at that hour of the early morning. He was wrong, as a few seconds later, a red tram approached the station. Fernand got on the empty tram. He was happy to feel the heat inside the tram and waited a while for it to leave the station and circle back to the city.

Along the six-stop route, Fernand enjoyed the empty city at night. He disembarked at Hintere Zollamtsstraße and took another red tram: Coming Raxstr./Rudolfshügelgasse, getting off at Vindo Quartier Belvedere station. After disembarking, he returned along the tram's street stopping at the corner. Even though there was no car on the streets, he waited for the pedestrian traffic light to turn green, then crossed the wide street, accessing Prinz Eugen-Straße. He went three blocks down the street to number 58. Although his closest friends knew of his residence in Vindobona, the entire building was officially registered in the name of the Representative Office of Tachlovicka, which would allow him to use the apartment without anyone knowing that Gaspar Rocheleau was Fernand.

When he touched the doorknob to the building, it unlocked automatically, and he walked quickly through the dark corridor, heading towards a wooden staircase. He climbed five floors, taking the steps two at a time. Upon reaching the sixth and last floor, there was only one door. Fernand opened it with just a wave and entered the living room. He closed the door and leaned behind it, breathing deeply in relief: 'The first part of the plan went perfectly,' He thought.

With a snap of his fingers, Fernand made all the lamps in the apartment come on, revealing a modern square room with a glass vault at one of its corners. He went to a desk under the glass vault and sat down, writing a message for Lélia on a piece of paper. 'Step 1: ok'. He took a small cylinder from one of the drawers and did the standard procedure. Sealing the cylinder, Fernand got up and went to one of the windows above the glass vault. He quickly opened the window and threw the cylinder out. Despite the cold, Fernand kept the window open and enjoyed the view of Belvedere Palace, just across the street. Its green roofs and white walls were illuminated by floodlights. Fernand then closed the window and left the lush view aside.