The European Enigma (LSD, #9)

16. The Finnish Finish

The Finnish Finish

It was the end.

After six long, dark months above the Finnish pole circle, it was finally time for the 3rd platoon of the 1st company of the Steppenwolf Brigade to return home. It had been cold. It had been hard. It had been boring. But it had to be done: someone had to guard the northern part of the Finnish border against invading Russian troops, against dissident writers hoping for more tolerance in the West and, most frequently, against aggressive polar bears who wanted revenge after losing their properties.

The 3rd platoon (and the 4th, that would take over their task for the next six months) was a unit of lonely wolves, of bachelors and women haters. You can't do this job when you have a family waiting for you at home. The forty soldiers plus ten corporals, five sergeants, one sergeant major, a technician, a medic, a cook, and a lieutenant were nevertheless happy. They would soon see other people after their twenty-six weeks of training and patrols in the snow around the Finnish finish line at the end of the world.

Lieutenant Ahtisaari looked at his watch: "The 4th platoon is already ten minutes late." He picked up his desk phone and dialled a number.

Sergeant Major Holmström grinned: "Ten minutes late? We can't have that. This is the army. You can't be late here. Not even ten minutes. The end of the world depends on us, staying on a prompt schedule."

"Don't be sarcastic, Sergeant Major. The 4th platoon had six months to be here in time. And if something came up, all they had to do was give us a call. There's something wrong. Nobody picks up the phone at Headquarters either. There's something seriously wrong. Send a patrol in a Humvee, a group of four men with Sergeant Virtanen in charge. Order them to go north, to Utsjoki, on the border with Norway, and report about the status."

One hour later, Sergeant Virtanen called on the radio: "There's nobody here, Lieutenant. The village is dead."

"What do you mean, dead?"

"There's no living soul in the entire town. While coming here, we haven't seen anybody on the road either."

Lieutenant Ahtisaari took a decision: "Take all the supplies you can find and bring them to our base, Sergeant. We have to prepare for a longer stay. Then you explore the road south, all the way to Oulu on the Gulf of Bothnia, if you have to. There's something very strange going on."

The Lieutenant started to call numbers from his phonebook: other units, the Ministry of Defence, the home for the elderly where his old father was held prisoner, but no matter how many numbers he called, there was no answer.

Sergeant Virtanen called again: "We're in Inari now, Sir, but it's abandoned too. Do you want us to break into the houses to see what we can find? Or do you want us to go on?"

"What's the status of the environment? Are there any signs of accidents, fires or explosions? Are there cars parked on the streets? Do the traffic lights work? Do you see lights in houses or shop windows?", the Lieutenant asked.

"Everything looks normal, Sir. We are standing in front of a small shopping mall. The moving stairway works, the neon lights are all burning, even the background music plays. I see a pet shop with some dogs in the window. I see birds outside. All that's missing is the people..."

"It's the end of the world...", Lieutenant Ahtisaari whispered, more to himself than to the Sergeant on the other side of the line. Fear is a terrible weapon. But a commanding officer could not show fear to his men. He corrected his pose, shoulders straight, head up, and gave his orders: "Your suggestion to break into some of the houses is indeed a good idea, Sergeant. But stick together as much as you can. Leave two men at the vehicle for backup, and take the other two with you."