The Before Short Story Series. Part 1 - Иван Перепелятник

There was a long row of restaurants along the perimeter of one of the central halls after the Parisian fashion. Tables and burgundy sunshades, decorative parasols carried the ever-hurrying travellers to the French capital in lunch time. Complementing the theme of Paris, each of the five main halls of the station demonstrated its central individual idea, a concept emphasizing the unity of European capitals.

The tourist bustle of London’s Regent Street with its cavalcade of magnificent shops; the masterpieces of the Moscow Tretyakov Gallery and Saint Petersburg’s Hermitage—paintings on huge screens, graciously offered themselves to be viewed; the proud grandeur of Rome, which confidently took its place in the first row of architectural masterpieces of the ancient world; the riot of Berlin’s modern art, balanced by the monumental structure of the Brandenburg Gate—Europe’s largest logistics centre in Munich provided vivid impressions for more than two hundred million passengers, forever fitting into family albums with memories of trips around the world. Over the past seven years, the station had ranked first among the most popular transport hubs in the world. Thomas’ favourite hall was the main and the largest, the Berlin Hall. The high ceiling vaults decorated in Gothic style, combined with the contemporary modern design of shops and cafés, with graffiti, somewhere littered with cardboard and wooden boxes, symbolizing the protest mood of young people, did not contrast at all with each other. On the contrary, the deliberate mix of design elements emphasized how important it was for the creators to show the connection between generations and time, respect for the history of the city and its culture. The light, almost white arch of the main hall of the station was supported by thin columns made of metal, like thin stems overlapping each other in a reed bush. Each group of such supports contained three to ten rods. This approach made it possible to further increase the perception of the total volumetric dimensions of the hall without concealing its space.

A team of three Bild employees led by Thomas Bach gathered in a cafe waiting for the shuttle to depart for Moscow. Peter Weichner, as Thomas’ personal assistant, held responsibility for the entire organizational and administrative part, allowing the main actors to focus at the task itself— to prepare another bright and interesting interview to be of interest for millions of subscribers and technology geeks around the world. One hundred and twelve million views was Thomas’ record. A report on the launch of an ITER-type installation in Germany and networking it to the Pan-European power grid was released more than 50 years ago. Since then, they had worked with Anna together. Anna Neichuk had received more than one professional award as a high-class camera operator.

‘Do you remember, friends’, Thomas turned to his colleagues, sipping from a small cup of espresso, affectedly cocking his chubby little finger, ‘what is our goal for today?’

‘Of course, Thomath!’ Peter readily responded lisping. ‘To shoot a lethal material that will allow uth to break through the theiling of the Bild chartth.’

‘That’s right, my dear!’ Thomas did not hide his relationship with a colleague in a narrow circle, but would not emphasize it either. ‘The task is extremely simple—I want one billion views!’

Anna gave a little whistle:

‘Yeah, there’s only one little thing left. The plot is wonderful. As in my opinion, with good potential. I don’t think, of course, that we will gain one billion. This is rather the prerogative of stories about the illegitimate offspring of the Pope or the murder of the chancellor. But there is a chance to break the previous record. However, let’s be realistic, guys—the chance is not that big. And granted that you, Thomas, will be your best, as usual.’

‘How funny this chubby finger of his sticks out,’ Anna smiled, restraining herself.

‘D’you remember it ever being different, my friends! Our team of professionals has always demonstrated a distinctive approach and remarkable results! We weren’t always lucky with themes. That’s true,’ Thomas sighed heavily. ‘But this time, I feel, everything will work out in the best way possible!’

‘Our shuttle leaves in 15 minutes,’ Peter addressed his colleagues. ‘It’s time to move out.’

The bulky luggage of the journalists’ team was delivered to the station in advance, checked by automated security services and loaded into the appropriate compartment of the shuttle. They had only to walk light to the right terminal, find the gate and wait for departure.

‘Travel! I love travelling!’ Anna was quite interested while looking at the surprisingly bright, colourful design of shop windows on the way to the boarding gate, at tourists and businessmen, busy station employees, and information desks. ‘Everything is so lively and gorgeous here! There is no need to go anywhere—just look around and enjoy the local sights!’

‘I thee, you are feeling great this morning! Peter replied. ‘To tell the truth, I’d rather have a couple of hours of thleep more. No lethth.’ And added ‘these are mostly exampleth of workth by modernithtth, I would have thought, from Berlin gallerieth. I do recognithe thome.’

Thomas waddled along, slightly ahead of Peter and Anna. When they reached the entrance to the shuttle, Peter started bustling around:

‘We need to take a photo and shoot a couple of frameth.’

‘Okay, let’s do it,’ Thomas responded. ‘One photo of us all together, the second is just me. Anna, and take a picture of me entering the shuttle.’

Anna took out a mini photodron from her backpack. Having checked the settings on the

communicator, Anna replied:

‘Everything is ready. Come up closer. The light is optimal for photos here.’

The team looked really great against the background of the bright blue metal body of the shuttle with a silver arrow piercing it from the very head to the end. The shuttle was a solid structure no longer than 70