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Monday, June 30, 2014

90

Bjorn felt a god deal better just stepping out into the cold night air, and his curiosity about the market and how it had changed over the last few days soon made him forget all about his sudden spell of dizziness. He looked briefly around for Frank, but it was clear that he was not among the people strolling among the stalls.

The market was busy but not crowded, and most of the people out among the stalls were people catching a bit of fresh air or having a smoke before returning to the casino. A man having had too much to drink was sitting on a bench a bit away from the stalls, in the continuation of the diagonal going in the direction of the fish processing plant. He was sitting, hunched forward, with a friend at his side. But apart from him, there was little sign of people having had too much to drink.

Bjorn noticed that all the new stalls were placed along the diagonal in the direction of the casino, and that a new lane was about to be established parallel to the street in front of the casino. It was almost as if the casino itself was pulling the stalls in its direction, but it was of course only natural that the market would grow in that direction, with so many tourists and potential customers coming from that side of the square.

The new stalls were mainly selling touristy stuff, like little rag dolls, T-shirts and other gift items. A busker was sitting on a camping chair, playing his guitar, and a woman had put up a small table with two chairs under a paraffin lamp where she sat cutting miniature portraits of people. She was very skilled with her scissors, quickly cutting out impressively accurate profiles in black paper which she in turn glued onto pre-cut white backgrounds before handing them over to her customers.

Bjorn was for a while completely mesmerised by the woman's lightning fast handiwork, and was tempted to have his own portrait cut. But he decided against it after realizing he had no intention of hanging up a portrait of himself anywhere in his room. The portrait would simply disappear into a drawer somewhere and never again see the light of day.

Bjorn pulled a tiny casino chip out of his pocket and tossed it into the hat in front of the busker. Then he went over to a stall selling rag dolls, fluffy animals and T-shirts. There was a bunch of fluffy polar bears on one side of the stall, all wearing little T-shirts with "I Love the Arctic" embroidered on them, and next to this pile were some fliers protesting Pedro's claim to the village square.

"May I take one?" Bjorn asked the stall keeper, pointing to the fliers.
"Sure! And feel free to sign our petition too," he answered.

Bjorn looked at the petition, next to the fliers, and feeling generous and sympathetic towards the stall owners he signed his name on the list. Then he looked briefly through the T-shirts, most of which had the usual popular culture themes, but some having "I Love Lundby" on them too. And to Bjorn's surprise he also found a couple in military green with the single word "5th" printed on the front, and "citizen" printed on the back.

"5th avenue?" Bjorn asked, deliberately pretending to be clueless.
"No... 5th Empire," the stall owner corrected with a chuckle. "We can have your name printed on the back under the word citizen if you please."
"Really? You have a machine to do that here?" Bjorn asked, seeing no such machine in the stall.
"No, but I have a deal with the dry cleaners over there," the stall owner explained, pointing to the dry cleaner to the south of the square.

Bjorn looked over at the shop with its brightly lit store front before asking the stall owner what the Fifth Empire thing was all about.

"Oh... I thought you knew... It is the kingdom of God," the stall owner explained with no hint of irony.
"Is that so?" Bjorn answered sceptically. "And a citizen is a believer? Is that how it goes?"
"Yeah, that's about right."

Bjorn smiled. It was a neat idea if nothing else. But not being religiously inclined, and certainly not interested in associating himself with a cult, he explained that the T-shirt was not for him. The stall owner smiled and nodded. "You'll come to see it differently one day," he said. "I'm sure of it."

Friday, June 27, 2014

89

Bjorn looked again over at the table where they were selling drugs. From where he was sitting it all looked quite innocent, and to risk his life in order to stop it seemed right out absurd. However, it would not surprise him if an order to arrest David and Jan, and the two peddlers too, would come from Oslo one day, and was he then really going to risk his life in order to act on such an order? He doubted it. And thinking about it some more, Bjorn thought it an impossible idea. If Oslo ever was to issue an arrest order on those guys, they would have to send a proper SWAT team to do the job. Bjorn and his colleagues were border guards, neither motivated nor trained to deal with dope dealing gangsters.

Bjorn decided to go over to the men's room, both due to a sudden urge to go there, and out of curiosity for the drug dealing. But even as he passed the drug dealers' table, he got no sense that anything very sinister was going on. And on returning to his colleagues' table, he completely forgot about the drug dealers, suddenly being preoccupied by the whereabouts of Frank instead. He hadn't seen Frank in a while, and it struck him as odd that his boss should have completely disappeared, just like that.

"Where is Frank?" Bjorn asked as he sat down with his colleagues again.
"I don't know," Ante answered. "I last saw him in the room with the roulette table. Why don't you go and check, if you're curious?"

Bjorn did not feel like getting up right away, so he remained seated, listening in on his colleagues making plans for next Friday instead, which was what the conversation had moved onto while Bjorn had been away. Both Espen and Thomas were insisting on including bowling as a part of their program, recounting a favourable review by Ola and Per who had started their evening at the newly opened alley.

"We can go bowling before dinner, just like Ola and Per did," Espen suggested. "But where should we go for dinner?"
"I don't know," Ante commented thoughtfully. "There's only Nora's place and Peppe's Pizza. I don't think there's any other place to go... Unless they serve food at the bowling alley. Maybe we could eat there?"
"We could go to Nora's place again," Thomas suggested. "I wouldn't mind a repeat of what we had today."

And from here the discussion went on without much direction or purpose. And Bjorn quickly became restless, and even tired where he was sitting. He felt like going back to the barracks, and he realized once again that he was a good deal older than his colleagues. They were not likely to return to the checkpoint in a long while yet, and yet Bjorn was already starting to long for bed.

Still feeling a little dizzy and nauseous, Bjorn did not feel like drinking more, and with the conversation around the table not interesting him much either, Bjorn excused himself once again, this time to go and look for Frank. And thinking he might as well get some fresh air while he was up, he found his jacket in the pile under Thomas' balloon, and put it on before leaving his colleagues.

However, Frank was nowhere to be found. He was neither in the roulette room nor outside with the smokers. And looking over at the market, still open and busy over in the village square, Bjorn could not see any sign of Frank there either. But the market looked so attractive with its multitude of paraffin lamps and busy stalls that he crossed the road and entered it anyway.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

88

Ante sat down with his colleagues, drink in hand, and with a big smile on his face.

"I love this place!" he said, looking out on the people at the dance floor. "Have you seen the drug peddlers over there?"
"Drug peddlers? Where?" Bjorn asked, surprised to hear Ante talk so light heartedly about such a sordid business.
"There!" Ante answered, pointing to a table by the entrance to the bathrooms. "You can get whatever you feel like over there."
"Really?"
"Yep! Cocaine, heroine, cannabis... You name it, they got it."
"And no one is stopping them?" Bjorn wondered out loud.

Ante looked over at Thomas, with a grin as if to say, "you go ahead and explain this to Bjorn for me!"

"Well, who's to stop them?" Thomas asked rhetorically.
"Well... eh..." Bjorn stuttered, unable to find an answer.
"Jan could stop them," Espen ventured. "It's his place after all."
"Sure!" Ante agreed. "But I asked them about that, and you know what they told me?"
"No?"
"The table over there has been rented by a guy called David. Jan is in on this. He is making money renting out that table to David."

The men looked with silent wonder at the table where the illicit trade was going on. It was wide open and at the same time so toned down that it had gone unnoticed by Bjorn until now.

"And who is David?" Bjorn asked, curious to know who of the two peddlers was in charge.
"David isn't here," Ante explained. "He is up at his pharmacy, down the road from the church."
"So those guys over there are just working for him?" Bjorn asked.
"Apparently."

Bjorn was speechless.

"It is this kind of thing that's going to be the end of Lundby," Thomas said with a concerned look on his face.
"Everyone will end up hooked on drugs, you mean?" Espen asked.
"No... Of course not... But how long do you think this will last before we will be asked to shut this whole place down?"
"Not very long," Espen conceded.
"And it will be up to us to do the dirty work of closing this down, you know," Thomas continued.
"And you don't think we should?" Bjorn asked.

Thomas looked at Bjorn as if he had said something really stupid. "Why?" he asked.
"Well, it's against the law."
"So?"
"So, it should be shut down. That's what laws are for. To make sure that things like this is not going on in the open."
"Really?" Thomas asked rhetorically. "Is that really what laws are for?"
"Yeah?" Bjorn answered hesitantly.

Bjorn looked over at the table where the two men were helping their customers in a polite manner, as if they were selling something completely innocent, like doughnuts or sweets. There was nothing remotely aggressive or overly assertive about their behaviour, and Bjorn did not feel the least bit threatened by their presence in the room. But it was a silly gamble to let this go on in the open, and Thomas was no doubt right in his prediction that this would indeed be the end of the Lundby project in its present form.

"Kind of stupid of Pedro to let this go on in the open, isn't it?" Bjorn asked.
"He's probably powerless to stop this," Thomas countered.
"Really? I thought he was in charge of law and order down here."
"Sure! But how should he go about shutting this business down? You think he can just go into this casino and demand that things change? Have you seen the bouncers out there?"
"I guess you got a point," Bjorn conceded.

"And guess what?" Thomas continued after a short pause. "It will be our job to go in here and demand the sort of changes that our bosses in Oslo will want to see... How do you like the idea of going in here and try to boss Jan around?"

Bjorn looked over at Ante who was following the discussion with relaxed curiosity. Ante shook his head with a negative grin. "Nope... I'm not going to do it," he said. "I don't feel like ending up at the bottom of the fjord with a hundred kilo of concrete around my ankles."

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

87

Bjorn leant back in his chair, sipping his beer in silence. He felt a fuming frustration with Thomas and his definition of slavery, but also a sneaking suspicion that the real source of his frustration was Ola and Ane, and that the thing that was really upsetting him was a jealousy of their youth and success.

Bjorn was not the oldest one in the casino, but he was clearly a good deal older than most. And what did he have to show for it? Nothing. For a few weeks he had lived under the illusion that he too was rich, when in fact he had signed the papers that would bankrupt him. And the fall had been horrendous, brutal and unyielding, with the tax man showing no mercy as he rejected every single one of Bjorn's arguments. The inheritance tax could not be recalculated. It was set in stone as it were, and would never be forgiven.

Ola's great sin was simply to be the man that Bjorn would liked to have been. His success reminded Bjorn of his own failure, and it was this more than anything that made him feel so edgy and hostile towards both Ola and Ane. But this was neither the place nor time to dwell on the past. Bjorn was on a journey of his own, he thought, even if he was just an observer. Lundby was an exciting place, and the casino was full of life and energy. He was an explorer of sorts, and his success would be a private one, not measured in wealth, but in experiences.

Sipping his beer, Bjorn convinced himself that he would be successful in his own way, and that his life was as exciting as anyone's. And pretty soon he felt almost relieved to know that Ane was living her own life, quite separate from his, for he had better things to do than to be together with a woman obsessed with fish and profits. Bjorn was free. And his very lack of material wealth was the source of this freedom.

Looking out on the dance floor, with people dancing and moving about, some hoping for love, and others looking to make some money, Bjorn felt relieved to know that he was above this. He was beyond this hustling and sentimental nonsense. Bjorn was the observer, separate from the daily struggles, hopes and fears of the people around him.

Bjorn took another sip of his beer, enjoying the sense of calm that was starting to fill his every fibre. Then Espen made a comment out of the blue.

"They were both from Fredrikstad," Espen said, as if announcing something deep and significant.
"Who," Bjorn asked.
"Ola and Per."
"Yeah? And?"
"Well, they said they were from Longyear... But no one grows up in Longyear. It's not a place where people raise families."
"True... The place is so far north it's a wonder anyone lives there at all."
"Yeah! Compared to Longyear, Lundby is almost a tropical paradise." Thomas added. "But what makes you so sure they are from Fredrikstad?"
"Their dialect... I got family in Fredrikstad, and they talked just like them... Toned down a bit, but still..."
"So you think they were lying about Longyear?" Thomas asked, confused by Espen's story.
"No, no... I'm just saying that they must have grown up in Fredrikstad. I'm sure they've been working the mines up at Svalbard. But that's not where they are from originally."
"Okay?" Thomas answered without any sign of interest in what Espen was talking about.

Bjorn didn't find Espen's comment very interesting either and slipped back into his meditative mood rather than making any effort to keep the conversation going. Bjorn looked over at the table where he had last seen Frank and Ante, thinking that it would be nice to have Ante back at their table, but the table was empty. He looked around, but could see neither Frank nor Ante anywhere in the room. However, Bjorn didn't feel like making a point of their disappearance, preferring to sit quietly and enjoy his meditative state instead.

"It's nice how they keep the music down enough for us to be able to talk without shouting on top of our voices," Espen commented idly, apparently trying to start another conversation.
"It's the way they positioned the loudspeakers," Thomas explained. "See how they hang right above the dance floor. That way it is loud where it matters, and more mellow out here."
"So that is how they do it," Espen answered in apparent wonder.
"Yeah, there are no loudspeakers out here, as you can see."

Bjorn looked up to verify Thomas' claim, but felt immediately dizzy.

"Oh my! I'm more drunk than I thought," Bjorn said, turning his gaze quickly to the floor to fight a sudden spell of nausea.
"You're all right?" Espen asked.
"Sure... I just have to stop drinking."
"Need some help getting out in the fresh air?" Thomas asked.
"No, no... I'm fine. I'm not sure why I feel this way... I haven't drunk all that much."

Bjorn quickly regained his balance. "What was that all about?" Bjorn thought to himself with an uneasy feeling that his sudden spell of dizziness was more than just alcohol related. But Thomas broke Bjorn's line of thoughts with a question before he had time to even start speculating on an alternative cause.

"Where is Ante?" Thomas asked. "He's not getting drunk again, is he?"
"I don't know," Bjorn answered, feeling less dizzy by the second. "I haven't seen him in a while."

The three men looked around, unable to find any trace of Ante. And Frank was also nowhere to be seen. But just as Thomas were about to get up to go looking for the two men, Ante appeared from the back of the room, all smiles and with a glass in his hand.

"Is that a cocktail, you got there?" Thomas asked as Ante presented himself at the table.
"No, it's a long drink," Ante answered with a broad smile. "A Rum Fizz to be exact."
"But you are our designated driver!" Thomas said with quiet despair.
"Sure... But I'm not drunk... I'm fine... I'll get you all back safe and sound to the checkpoint when the time comes."

Monday, June 23, 2014

86

Ola leant back in his chair, looking around as if to take in the place one last time before leaving.

"Well, I think we'll leave now," he said to Per. "We can have a few last beers over at my place if you're still thirsty." Then, leaning over towards Bjorn and his two colleagues, he excused himself, putting his hands on his knees, ready to rise and leave.
"So you're staying at Ola and Ane's place tonight," Bjorn asked, looking at Per.
"Yes he is," Ola answered. "The ferry back to Kirkenes does not run at these hours."
"No?"
"No! But we got a housekeeper, so there's no extra work for Ane or me to have people staying over," Ola added proudly.
"A house keeper! That sounds fancy," Bjorn commented acidly.
"Ganga... a Tamil girl," Ola explained, taking no notice of Bjorn's acid remark. "That's one of the great advantages of buying a place in Lundby. You can get a housekeeper for as little as fifty MG a day."
"But that is even less than your wife pays her factory workers."
"Sure, but Ganga gets a room and food for free, so she is in many ways better off than the factory workers."

Bjorn looked blankly at Ola for a second. "So those barracks over by the factory are not free for Ane's workers?"
"No, she rents them out for a hundred MG per night."
"But that's what the workers make in a day!" Bjorn protested, shocked by Ola's revelation.
"Sure, but the workers typically rent the rooms together with three or more other workers. That way they have plenty for food and other necessities."

Bjorn was speechless. Ane's shameless exploitation of her workers was much worse than he had thought. And Ola did not seem the least bit ashamed of it either. "What a loveless cold couple they must be," he thought to himself. But he had the wits to keep this thought to himself, and did not say anything to stop Ola and Per from raising up from their chairs.

"Take care, and enjoy the rest of your evening," Ola said with a friendly smile. Per said goodbye too and the two men left, leaving Bjorn, Thomas and  Espen to themselves.

"I think Ola is right," Thomas said, breaking the silence around the table.
"About what?" Bjorn asked, still shocked by Ola's revelation.
"About the house... Per should buy it now while prices are down... The influx of asylum seekers isn't going to be nearly as bad as people think."
"I agree!" Espen said with a nod. "I don't think Ola was very pleased about the way you put it though."
"Yeah," Bjorn said with a smile. "Mentioning Frank's fence was hardly a winning argument."

The three men smiled and shook their heads over Thomas' silly remark that had set Ola´s arguments back by quite a bit, and possibly stopped Per from ever considering buying a house in Lundby.

"It's a good thing you're not working as a diplomat," Espen commented, still chuckling.
"But you know what I found to be the winning argument?" Thomas asked rhetorically to change the subject.
"No? What?" Espen asked.
"The housekeeper."
"Really?" Bjorn asked in disbelief.
"Sure! Imagine having someone to sort out your house while you're off doing other things. I'd love to have that."
"But it's slavery!" Bjorn protested.
"No, it's not. This Ganga, or whatever, is making just as good a living as any of the factory workers."
"But they are slaves too?"
"No... They can all choose to do other stuff if they please. You're only a slave if you have no say in choosing your employer, or if you have to give away your earnings to a third party without your consent."

Bjorn did not agree, but could not find any quick counter-definition for slavery, so he found himself again lost for words.

"But you agree that the wages are terrible?" Espen commented, apparently agreeing with Bjorn, at least to some extent.
"Sure," Thomas agreed. "But as long as people are not forced to part with their earnings against their will, and have freedom to work for whoever they please, it is totally wrong to call this slavery."

Then, after taking a sip of his beer, Thomas continued.

"There is simply an oversupply of unskilled labour, and that forces the price down."
"And at what point does low wages become so low that it becomes slavery?" Bjorn asked.
"Never," Thomas answered confidently.
"Never?"
"Exactly. Slavery has to do with wage extraction and force. It has nothing to do with the amount a person earns. If Ganga is forced against her will to do a bunch of stuff she does not voluntarily agree to, she is a slave, but we have no evidence of anything like that going on in the Ola & Ane household."
"But she has no choice!" Bjorn protested. "She has no choice but to accept her lot."
"Not true," Thomas countered, still cocksure of himself. "She can work in the factory, she can open a stall at the market, she can start a business herself. She sure as hell does not have to work for Ola and Ane unless they are indeed locking her up and forcing her to do stuff. And only then would I consider her a slave. As long as I have no reason to believe that Ola or Ane are forcing Ganga to be their housekeeper, I see no reason to assume that she's a slave."

Bjorn was again unable to find a good argument to counter Thomas' assertion, but he had a distinct feeling that Thomas' definition was lacking, and he felt frustrated with Thomas insisting that the word slavery did not apply to the misery and hardship doubtlessly experienced by Ane's housekeeper and factory workers.

"But you have to admit that it would be great to have a housekeeper?" Espen asked Bjorn, evidently trying to make Bjorn see things from Thomas' perspective.
"Sure," Bjorn had to admit. "Who wouldn't like to be rich and successful? But if it had to be on other people's expense, I think I'd rather not."
"But it is not on other people's expense," Thomas insisted. "If Ane didn't employ all these people, they might be without work entirely, or working under even worse conditions. Remember, everyone working for Ane is working for Ane because they did not find a better deal with somebody else. They would in other words be worse off without her."
"Unless they are indeed slaves," Espen corrected.
"Sure... But there's no evidence of that."

Saturday, June 21, 2014

85

Bjorn was suddenly speechless, and if it hadn't been for the waitress appearing with four beers, he would probably not have been able to hide his disappointment. But with the other men suddenly all busy paying for their beers, Bjorn could let the initial shock sink in in silence.

It was ridiculous to be disappointed, of course, and this in itself was half the embarrassment for Bjorn. It was not like he knew Ane, and she was in many ways way out of his league, successful, young and beautiful as she was. But he had come to think of her as an heroic lone ranger of sorts, and himself as her trusted ally. And now, that illusion was broken.

Bjorn lifted his glass to his lips, and swallowed a mouth full of beer, not for the thirst, but as a way to hide his embarrassing emotions. He looked at Ola, as he paid the waitress, and he was again struck by the sheer physical size of the man. Had he been just a little bit bigger, he could properly be classified as a giant. And to think that this enormous guy was involved with tiny Ane was almost obscene in its erotic implications.

But Ola had asked Bjorn a question, and it deserved an answer. It also gave Bjorn an opportunity to catch his balance again, and rid himself of his silly immature disappointment.

"I inspected Ane's factory on Wednesday, together with a colleague," Bjorn explained.
"Ah! So you are one of the millimetre guys," Ola said with a friendly smile.
"Is that what she called us?"
"Yep!" Ola answered, still smiling. "Are you the nasty obsessed one, or the nice clueless one?"

Bjorn could not help smiling despite the insult. "Who do you think?" he asked.
"I guess you're the nice clueless one."
"I guess you're right," Bjorn answered. "But was it really that obvious?"
"I'm afraid it was, despite your best efforts."
"Well... Maybe we shouldn't talk more about this," Bjorn continued, looking over at Thomas and Espen who were following the conversation with amusement.

"So you are all from the checkpoint?" Per asked, helpfully changing the subject for Bjorn.
"Yeah," Thomas answered.
"That makes sense."
"How?"
"Well... Five guys, obviously not all from up here, and not working at the mine either... Where else could you be working."
"True..."

Thomas took a sip of his beer, leaning back in his chair to look at the people out on the dance floor.

"But you're not from around here either, are you?" Espen asked.
"No... We moved down from Svalbard when they opened the iron mine down here," Ola said helpfully.
"You worked in the coal mines up there?" Espen asked full of wonder. "I've heard it's a crazy place."
"It is... But not as wild as Lundby."
"You think this place is weirder?" Espen asked. "But at least we don't have polar bears wandering the streets in Lundby."
"Sure... But they aren't sending thousands of people to the Longyear village, are they."
"But if it wasn't for that, then Longyear would be weirder than Lundby."

Ola took a sip of his beer. Then, after swallowing the brew with a thoughtful look on his face, he continued. "Lundby is like Longyear on steroids, minus the polar bears."
"What do you mean?" Thomas asked.
"Longyear is a tiny project in comparison to this. And it is more isolated," Ola explained. "This has the potential to become something really big."

Then, turning to Per, Ola continued. "You know, if you don't buy that house, I think I will... I'll see if I can find the money to buy it, and I'll sell it in a few years and make a ton of money."

Friday, June 20, 2014

84

Returning to the main hall where the music was playing and a few couples were moving around on the dance floor, Bjorn caught sight of Frank and Ante over at a table with two girls. They were obviously flirting and having fun, and Bjorn thought it better to let them have their fun without him interfering, so he turned to the table where he had left his jacket.

Thomas' balloon marked the spot, and both Espen and Thomas were still sitting there, guarding the pile of jackets on the ledge behind them. But they were not alone. The two big Norwegians he had seen at Nora's place were also with them, engaging them in conversation.

Bjorn immediately felt curious to hear what the athletic looking men had to say, and seeing that the chair he had been sitting in before leaving for a smoke was still free, he sat down with a friendly nod to the four men, making a point of not interfering in their conversation.

Bjorn leant back in his chair, looking for the black girl who had served them earlier while listening in on what the men were saying. He soon caught sight of the waitress and signalled that he wanted another beer by making a hand movement as if pulling draught himself. Then, leaning a little forward, he started to pay closer attention to what the four were talking about.

Apparently, the biggest and blondest of the two men was trying to convince his friend to buy a house in Lundby, claiming that there was no better time to buy a house than now while everyone was fearful of the imminent immigration of asylum seekers.

"You see, Per!" the big one said. "Things never get as bad as people think. And this big influx is going to prove me right again. First of all, very few people will choose to go up here. And those who do will be willing to work for peanuts. They are not going to cause any problems at all. And you can have a servant in your house... Heck... You can have two or three if you please."
"Yeah," Thomas agreed. "I'm pretty sure you're right. All this fear is completely misplaced... You know... We're having a fence put up around our barracks up at the checkpoint. It's a complete waste of time and money if you ask me."
"You are?" Per asked. "Isn't that an indication that things are in fact going to turn sour pretty soon. I don't think the military is putting up a fence just for the heck of it, budgets being as tight as they are these days."

The big blond guy looked at Thomas with a spark of frustration in his eye, clearly not finding Thomas' remark very helpful.

"But you have to admit, Lundby is not at all the place it has been made out to be," the big guy continued. "The only ones selling their houses at the current prices are people who have bought the crap they are telling us through the media. This place is thriving, and I can assure you that it will be just as peaceful and thriving in the future too. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

The waitress came with Bjorn's beer, and this caused the conversation to stop while Bjorn fished out a token to pay for his brew. Then, once the waitress left, Bjorn felt like breaking into the conversation.

"So, why are you so eager to push this house on Per?" Bjorn asked. "Sorry to interfere, but I'm curious."
The big guy sighed, as if Bjorn was asking a question for the thousandth time. "It's not me pushing this house," he said in his defence. "Per here has been moaning about how expensive everything is in Kirkenes, and how he wants a proper place to live, and I've been telling him that he should buy a place in Lundby. And now that there is a house for sale, I thought it an idea to bring him along for a tour just to see what a great place this is."
"You guys are colleagues?" Bjorn asked, trying to pin down their relationship to each other.
"Yeah," Per answered. "Ola is my boss. We are engineers... Miners if you like... Over at the iron mine by the port."
"And you've never been to Lundby," Bjorn asked. "I mean... The village."
"No."
"Yeah, isn't that crazy?" Ola blurted out, not able to hold back his frustration with his colleague. "I mean... There we are, going every day to the mines, and Per never once goes to the village to check it out... Not once!"

There was a pause as this insult sank in. Bjorn felt almost embarrassed about it, and took a big sip of his beer to hide his feeling of awkwardness. But Espen quickly filled the vacuum with a quick question.

"But now that you've seen it, you like it? Don't you?" he asked.
"Sure, it's a great place."
"So your only concern is that things may get messy when the asylum seekers come flying in?" Thomas asked.
"Yeah... I mean... You saw the news on TV, right?"
"We did," Thomas confirmed.

There was another pause in the conversation, and Ola leant back, looking for the waitress while asking the men if they too felt thirsty. Espen and Thomas looked at their nearly empty glasses, answering that they too could do with another beer. Per agreed, and Ola signalled with four fingers in the air to the waitress that they were ready for more beer.

"So your concern is purely related to security?" Bjorn asked, continuing the conversation.
"Yeah," Per answered with a nod.
"Have you considered buying insurance... There's this company called Lance..."
"Exactly!" Ola exclaimed, breaking Bjorn off in mid sentence. "That's what I have been telling him all along. My wife and I have bought insurance from Pedro. And it does not cost very much at all."
"You live here?" Bjorn asked redundantly.
"Sure!"
"And you trust Pedro?"
"He's a friend of Jan, and Jan trusts him. That's saying quite a bit."
"You know Jan too?"
"Well, we've only talked to Pedro briefly, so we don't really know Pedro. But my wife and Jan have known each other since for ever."
"Really?"
"Yeah... Jan is a childhood friend of my wife's father, and Jan's father was the one who stopped the guys in Oslo from completely gutting the factory."
"The factory?" Bjorn asked, a little lost.
"The fish processing plant," Ola explained helpfully. "My wife reopened it just this Wednesday."
"You're married to Ane?" Bjorn asked in disbelief.
"Yeah... Do you know her?"

Thursday, June 19, 2014

83

"So, what are you up to here in Lundby?" Bjorn asked the tall Italian as they entered the casino.
"We're carpenters," the Italian answered with some pride. "We're working on the apartment building behind the church."
"The one down by the water?" Bjorn asked.
"Exactly."

Bjorn nodded thoughtfully as he followed the Italians in the direction of the roulette table, in the room  to the left, behind the staircase.

"I'm doing the flooring," the man explained. Then, with a toss of his head in the direction of his colleague to his left he continued. "Mario here is taking care of the skirting, and Lorenzo is our cabinets guy."
"Sounds serious," Bjorn remarked, impressed by the high degree of specialization. "So you don't do a bit of everything each? Wouldn't that be more fun?"
"Not really, the stuff we are doing hasn't been done since Venice was a republic. You really have to be an expert to get it right. And, to be honest, I'm pretty blank on both skirting and cabinets."

Bjorn found it hard to believe that skirting was actually a field that required specialization. Cabinets, on the other hand were another matter. Cabinets may require a high degree of specialization, but skirting? Wasn't that just a matter of cutting some planks into proper lengths before attaching them to the walls?

Bjorn vented his scepticism.
"Well, Lorenzo could probably do both skirting and flooring just as well as Mario and me," the tall Italian explained. "But he's the only one of us who knows how to do cabinets the old fashioned way. I mean... It would be a complete waste to have him do any of our jobs."
"But skirting and flooring is in fact very different fields," Mario added, having followed the conversation closely. "Those are no ordinary floors Georgio is putting in. And the skirting is not just a bunch of narrow planks. We're talking top of the line luxury stuff."

Bjorn was again surprised. The apartment building, although large and elegant, did not look like a palace, but the inside was evidently another matter.

"It looks deceptively ordinary from the outside," Bjorn commented.
"It does," Georgio agreed. "But they have some wild plans for the garden."
"Garden?" Bjorn asked. "Are they going to plant a garden up here in the arctic?"
"They are."
"Really? How? I mean, this is the arctic after all. Hardly anything grows up here."
"They are going to put up glass domes," Mario explained. "And it is not like they will plant tropical plants. Just ordinary sturdy garden plants common further south in Norway."

It all sounded doable, but insane. This was Lundby, after all. A modern day gulag of sorts. And here he was talking to expert carpenters from Venice, describing a building project so luxurious that only the very best carpenters can complete it.

"So, who's behind this project?" Bjorn asked.
"Pedro," Georgio answered.
"Ah... King Pedro the Great!" Bjorn said with a smile. "The mad scientist, or whatever."

The Italians laughed. Even Lorenzo who had been curiously quiet during the conversation smiled.

"He's actually a nice guy," Lorenzo commented. "Surprisingly down to earth."
"Yeah," Mario added. "He's not the only one moving in there when the place is finished. Your foreign minister is also getting an apartment. And so is Mons... I'm not sure who is moving into the fourth apartment, though."
"Mons?" Bjorn asked. "Who is Mons?"
"Oh... You don't know?" Marius asked, genuinely surprised. "He's the owner of the port and iron mine."
"The ship owner?"
"Yeah... Pedro's friend."

Bjorn looked around in the room they were standing. People were placing bets on the roulette table, and over by the wall, there was a Black Jack table with people also betting against the house. Bjorn felt that he had talked enough to the Italians, and signalled that he was ready to go back to his colleagues, thanking the men for the pleasant and interesting conversation.

The Italians too, seemed ready to end the conversation at this point, but Mario had a final question for Bjorn.

"So, what are you doing up here?" Mario asked. "Are you from Kirkenes?"
"No, I´m from Oslo," Bjorn explained. "I work as a guard up at the Lundby Neiden checkpoint."
"Ah... Really!" Mario exclaimed with a sly smile. "So you are watching an arbitrary line, making sure that the rules on one side are not the same as those on the other side?"

Bjorn was caught a little off guard by this comment, and had to think a bit before he answered.

"Arbitrary?" Bjorn asked rhetorically. "It's hardly arbitrary. It's drawn by the foreign minister himself... And, someone has to make sure the asylum seekers don't escape."
"Sure," Mario answered, still smiling. "But just remember, in the Fifth Empire there are no borders, only property lines."
"And what's the difference?" Bjorn asked.
"I'm sure you can figure that out for yourself if you think about it," Mario said with a wave of the hand. "Chao!"

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

82

There was a steady stream of people entering the casino, mostly Norwegians but foreigners too. Bjorn recognized the three Italians from Nora's place among the foreign looking ones, and the two big Norwegian men who had been sitting to the side of their table also appeared a little later.

Pretty soon, just about every table in the room was occupied, and the waiter who had served the men so efficiently when they came in was suddenly busy going back and forth between the bar and her other customers. A big black guy appeared in the bar to help her, and soon afterwards two Asian girls also joined her.

Most people ordered their drinks at the tables, but there were people going up to the bar too, and this was evidently all right with the bartender who managed to serve both the customers at the bar and fulfil the orders coming in from the tables. Everything was dynamic and flexible, and the girls would at times help the bartender draw beer, or do other simple tasks while he put together more sophisticated drinks.

The hustle and bustle of the place was pleasing to watch from where Bjorn was sitting, and he was only half listening to his colleagues' conversations when he caught eye of a man in a black tuxedo entering from a door in the back together with two stunningly beautiful women.

"Is that Jan?" Bjorn asked, breaking into Ante's description of a particularly delicious desert that he once had on a vacation in France.

Bjorn's colleagues turned in the direction of Bjorn's glance, and immediately confirmed his suspicion.

"And those are his two daughters," Ante added.
"They are beautiful," Bjorn said, taking in the sight of them casually and elegantly crossing the floor in the direction of the stage.
"You're not kidding!" Frank agreed, adding a dreamy "yum yum".
"But you better behave when they are around," Ante continued. "Jan has a way of fixing things he doesn't like, so you better not get on the wrong side of him."

Jan, immediately followed by his two daughters, climbed two steps at the side of the stage, and proceeded to the centre, right in front of the velvet curtain. Confidently and dramatically taking up their position, Jan started speaking by lifting a wireless microphone and welcoming everyone to his casino. His daughters then took turns pointing out the facilities of the premises, and going through the repertoire of the evening.

Then there was applause by the guests as the three returned from where they had entered, and shortly after, the stage curtain was lifted, and a small band got going playing an old hit from when Bjorn was a student at a University in England. He was immediately hit by a sense of nostalgia and déjà vu, and for some reason, this gave him an irresistible urge for a cigarette. He could not sit still, and excused himself to his colleagues as he got up and out, first in the direction of the dance floor, and then to the exits.

And Bjorn was apparently not the only one who had a sudden urge for a cigarette. The three Italians were also heading for the exit, and Bjorn almost bumped into one of them as they headed for the same door.

"Excuse me," Bjorn said politely.
"That's all right," the Italian replied with a smile.

Once outside, Bjorn pulled out a cigarette, but even before he had time to put it in his mouth, a bouncer came up to him, asking him politely to go to the designated smoking area a little up to the side.

"We don't want any smoke right here at the entrance," the bouncer explained.
"Oh... I see..." Bjorn replied, taking his cigarette with him to the little row of chairs set out on the sidewalk together with paraffin heaters and small tables with ash trays for the convenience of the smokers.

Bjorn lit his cigarette, and seeing that he was standing right next to one of the Italians he asked him where he was from.

"Venice," the man answered, nodding his head as if this was very significant.
"Italy?" Bjorn added in way of explanation.
"Nah... There's no Italy anymore... Never was, really..."
"But isn't Venice in Italy?" Bjorn asked, not getting what the man was driving at.
"Sure... But what is Italy?"

Bjorn went silent. The question seemed silly, and he got a feeling the man was just being difficult.

"We're from the Republic of Venice, you see," one of the other Italians continued. "We're not very fond of the Romans."
"The Romans?" Bjorn asked, even more confused.
"Well... You heard what happened, right?"
"To your republic you mean?" Bjorn asked, glimpsing some sanity in the conversation.
"Yeah."
"Well... you had a referendum... and it was crushed."
"By the Romans," the Italian added.
"You mean the central government in Rome," Bjorn added helpfully.
"Exactly."

Bjorn thought for a moment before continuing.

"So how can you be from the Republic of Venice when it got crushed by the... Romans?"
"You can't crush an idea," the third Italian explained.
"You can't live in it either," Bjorn countered.
"So why do you think we live in Italy? Italy is just as much an idea as our Republic."

Bjorn went silent again, puffing a few times on his cigarette before continuing.

"Last time I checked a map of Europe I distinctly remember seeing Italy. I can't remember seeing any mention of a Venetian republic."
"And yet it exists," the Italian replied stubbornly. "Just like the empire."
"The empire?" Bjorn asked with a smile of disbelief. "The Roman Empire?"
"Yes and no," the Italian countered. "But I was thinking of the Fifth."
"The Fifth Empire?" Bjorn asked. "What are you babbling about?"

The Italians looked at each other as if deciding among themselves if it would be worth their time to explain their position. Then, one of them continued.

"The Fifth Empire is the place you end up the moment you reject the current world order and embrace the idea of total autonomy."
"You know," Bjorn answered with a smile. "That makes absolutely no sense at all... But go ahead, I'm listening!"
"The current world order only exists because people believe in it."
"Sure... That makes sense in a way."
"If no one took our politicians and rulers seriously, they would be powerless over us."
"Yeah..."
"The Fifth Empire is the community of all those who reject the notion that they need to be ruled over by others."

Bjorn took in this last explanation, and it seemed to make some sense to him, even if he could not imagine any of this having any practical implications. But as a fanciful idea, it was kind of cute.

"So where is the Fifth Empire?" Bjorn asked.
"We are standing in it," the Italian said with a confident smile.
"Lundby is an empire?" Bjorn asked in disbelief, and unable to hide his sarcasm he added "some empire you got her, I must say."

The Italians looked at Bjorn, also smiling, as if they thought him the confused one.

"All empires are in the end nothing more than the sum of the people believing in them," the tallest one of them continued patiently. "National borders are but lines on maps. They are only physical in the sense that people believing in them are spending time patrolling them. Once they stop believing in them, the borders themselves will be gone."

"We," the tall one continued, meaning him and his two friends, "are living in the Fifth Empire. And it makes no difference if we are in Venice or in Lundby, or wherever, because the empire is an idea. And it will dominate the world... You, on the other hand is not in the empire, because you have not entered it."

"And how, may I ask, can I enter the empire?" Bjorn asked.
"You enter the empire by declaring yourself a citizen of it," the tall one explained helpfully, and Bjorn immediately got a creepy feeling that he was talking to a member of some weird sect.

But there was no push by the Italians to convert or otherwise convince Bjorn that he should somehow involve himself in their sect, and since they all finished their cigarettes more or less at the same time, they all headed back into the casino as if they had known each other for some time.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

81

Thomas was clearly embarrassed by the prostitutes, and did not even reply to their advances. However, Frank and Ante made a few quick remarks that were neither rude nor dismissive, before entering the casino.

"Not now Ladies!" Frank said with a smile.
"Let us at least get a few drink first!" Ante continued.

The girls remained outside in the cold as the men entered the casino, and Ante asked a bouncer on the way in to keep an eye on them.

"Don't let them bother us," Ante said. "We're not really up for that kind of fun tonight."
"Sure," the bouncer answered. "We're keeping an eye on them. Just let us know if they get too offensive."

The casino was still relatively empty, but that suited the men just fine since it gave them an opportunity to find a table with a nice view of both the bar and the dance floor, as well as a stage that was hidden behind a velvet curtain.

Almost immediately on sitting down a very attractive black girl appeared from behind the bar, ready to take the men's orders. They all ordered a beer, with the exception of Ante who ordered an alcohol free cocktail.

"We prefer it if you pay as soon as you get your drinks," the girl informed the men in excellent English. "Alternatively, we can put it on your Gram card if you prefer."
"Nah, we all have plenty of tokens," Ante replied. "We'll pay as we go."

The men took off their jackets and laid them on a little shelf on the wall behind them, and Thomas put the weight of his balloon on top of the pile of jackets, so that the balloon became suspended above the pile as an easily recognisable landmark. And when their waiter returned with their drinks, they all paid immediately with their casino tokens. The woman was quick to find change for everyone, and disappeared quickly behind the bar again where she appeared to check the received tokens for counterfeits, just like Aung had done in the restaurant.

"So we can't smoke in here, but guns are allowed," Espen commented, looking over at Frank with his gun and gun belt clearly visible.
"Smoking kills!" Frank answered with a smile. "You know! Guns don't kill people... I kill people... with guns."

Frank leant back in his chair, pleased with his joke, and his colleagues smiled in response.

"But seriously! What sort of a twisted place is this, where smoking is forbidden, yet guns are all right?" Espen continued.
"I guess the owner doesn't like smokers," Thomas replied. "It's his casino after all."
"Or maybe he figures most people actually prefer a smoke free environment, and that he will get more people into his casino if he bans smoking," Bjorn suggested.
"Hard to say," Ante replied before taking a sip of his cocktail. "Only Jan knows... Why don't you ask him when you see him, Espen... I'm sure he'll appear again tonight."

Monday, June 16, 2014

80

Thomas tried to conveniently forget about the balloon on his way out of Nora's place, but was prevented from leaving it behind by his colleagues who insisted on him taking it with him to the casino. And seeing no way around this, Thomas put the weight at the end of the string in the breast pocket of his shirt. He then put his jacket on, zipped it up, and stepped out in the cool evening air with the balloon hanging above his head.

The air was completely still which made the walk back to the village square quite pleasant despite the low temperature. Even Frank, in his light summer jacket seemed to be doing all right in the cold.

Another family from Kirkenes, by the look of it, came walking up the other way, and the mother in the group asked if they were returning from Nora's place.

"Yes, we are!" Ante answered, delighted to help.
"So there will be a table ready for us when we get there?" the mother continued.
"I guess they are preparing the table as we speak!"
"Oh, that's good to hear. You see we are a little early."

Ante checked his watch. "Yeah, I see... We finished our seating early... I guess we could have hung around for another fifteen minutes."
"And it's right over there, right?" The woman asked, pointing to Nora's place.
"Yes! That's it... Enjoy the food! It´s fantastic."
"Yes, we will!" the woman answered before thanking the men and leading her group onwards to the restaurant.

The small talk put a smile on Ante's face, perking him up even more. "I love helping people out," Ante commented as he too was aware of his positive reaction to the woman's simple questions. And his colleagues nodded in agreement.

"There's something wonderful about being nice," Bjorn agreed. "I think that's pretty universal."
"And yet there's no end to the wars and riots, it seems," Thomas continued without dismissing Bjorn's thesis.

But before they had any time to continue their philosophical musings, they were again asked to help. This time by a man in a casual grey uniform, with the logo of Lance Security displayed both on his jacket and on his military style hat.

"Have you seen anyone loitering around here?" the man asked in broken English.
"No!" Ante answered, again quick to be of help. "Only a family heading for Nora's place."
"No teenagers?"
"Among the family members?"
"No. On their own?" the man corrected, looking anxiously in the direction of Nora's place.

The man did not wait for an answer, as he seemed to have caught sight of something, and left the men wondering what was going on as he started running towards the restaurant. Not being in a hurry, the men watched the security officer disappear around a corner, only to reappear a little later right behind the family at Nora's doorstep.

Nothing much happened after this, and the men resumed their walk towards the casino. The last they saw of the security officer was him first talking to Aung, and then remaining on the porch before drifting into the garden, disappearing behind the house, clearly still looking for the teenagers he was looking for.

"I thought they did not have any police in the village," Espen commented on the episode as they neared the village square.
"Well, that guy was working for Pedro," Bjorn replied, happy to show off some knowledge on the subject.
"Really?" Frank asked.
"Lance Security," Bjorn continued. "It's Pedro's insurance company."
"Insurance company?" Espen asked. "But that was a police officer of sorts, not an insurance sales man."
"Sure," Bjorn answered. "But there are no police in Lundby, so I guess the insurance companies have to pay for their policing themselves."

The men went silent on this latest comment until Thomas nodded in agreement. "That does make sense," he concluded, with his colleagues joining in with nods and grunts of their own.

The village square was as busy as always, and paraffin lamps, hung from the roofs of the stands, lit it all up in a pleasant warm glow. And some of the store fronts at the far end of the square were also open, with a few people window shopping in the cool arctic night. There was a kiosk selling all sorts of stuff, including PC's, mobile phones and other electronic equipment, a drycleaner, and a fashion store, all of which had escaped Bjorn's attention on his first trip to Lundby.

Pingo was still open across the square from the casino, and so was the petrol station, both still doing good business, although less so than when the men arrived earlier in the evening. And the men laying down the final bit of side walk in front of the casino were finishing up their work at the far end of the big building that used to be the local administration office for public services, according to Ante who pointed out the irony of a public building being turned into something as un-Norwegian as a house of sins.

"Everything goes in there," Ante said with a smile. "Except smoking your cigarettes."

Ante pointed to the familiar circular signs with a line crossing out a lit cigarette, posted on either side of the entrance and on every door going into the casino. And it was clear that people followed the rule, as there were plenty of smokers standing outside with their cigarettes in hand, huddling around paraffin heaters set out for comfort. But just as Bjorn was about to make a comment on this, they were all approached by two scanty clad black girls commenting on Thomas' balloon. "Hey birthday boy!" they said with mischievous glee. "Are you ready for a party?"

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

79

Aung put a small chocolate cake in the middle of the table while the men were digging into their baked bananas and drinking their liquor and coffee to go with it. The cake had a single candle at its centre which Aung lit with a lighter before leaving the men alone with their deserts. But as soon as they had all finished their treats she returned, asking them if they would like to sing the birthday song for Thomas.

"Of course we do," Frank replied on behalf of them all, and immediately started waving his hands in the air as if to direct a choir. The men started singing, and the other guests in the room also turned their attention to Thomas, some of them joining into the short little song. And as soon as the song was over Thomas leant over towards the cake to blow out the candle.

Everybody applauded as the candle was extinguished, and Thomas got the task of cutting the cake into five equal pieces. An endeavour he managed to the satisfaction of his colleagues. They all got a piece of chocolate cake dished out on clean plates provided by Aung, who swiftly collected their used desert dishes, stacking them expertly up in her hand before disappearing back into the kitchen.

A little later, when the chocolate cake was consumed and the men all sat leaning back in their chairs, finishing their coffee, Aung reappeared, this time with the bill and five mint chocolates.

"Anyone want more coffee to go with that?" she asked as she put the tray with the bill and the mint chocolates on the table.

Frank, Thomas and Ante all accepted her offer with thanks, and while Aung went back to the kitchen with their plates, Ante grabbed the bill to see what it had all added up to.

"Almost exactly one thousand five hundred MG," Ante announced. "That's three hundred from each of us."
"That's all?" Espen asked, genuinely surprised.
"That's all!" Ante confirmed. "You are not being ripped off for a change, huh?"
"No, I guess not... But that casino lady... I don't know..."
"You know?" Frank said, leaning towards Espen as if sharing a secret. "Why don't you stop that whining? I mean... Things are dirt cheap down here... And nobody is forcing you to go here."
"It's not like this is your first time to Lundby either," Ante added. "So why are you so surprised? The tokens were a bit more expensive than you expected, but things are as cheap as ever."
"Okay, okay!" Espen protested. "I'm happy about this... I am!"

"So who has exactly three hundred in change?" Ante continued, focusing again on the bill. "My smallest token is five hundred."
"I got three hundred," Bjorn answered, tossing a two hundred and a one hundred MG token into the little dish where the bill and chocolate mints had been.
"Me too," Thomas added, tossing three one hundred tokens into the tray.

The three other men each put a five hundred MG token in the tray, removing two hundred of the change left there by Thomas and Bjorn, and pretty soon the dish contained exactly three five hundred MG tokens.

"It's a fortune for many people living here in Lundby," Bjorn commented to his colleagues just before Aung once again appeared by the table.

"You can keep the change," Ante told Aung generously as she picked up the tokens.
"Thank you," she replied with a smile. Then she pulled out a small handheld device, the size of a credit card, checking each token before dropping them into a pouch in her apron.

"Just checking for counterfeits," she explained, sensing the curiosity of the men at the table. "I haven't actually ever come across any counterfeits, but with this kind of money it is always good to know for sure."

Aung put the device back in the pocket of her apron, and thanked the men again for their generosity before going over to a neighbouring table.

"What sort of tip are we giving her?" Bjorn asked as Aung headed for the kitchen again.
"Twenty MG," Ante answered shamefully.
"But that's nothing!"
"To you maybe," Espen answered on Ante's behalf.
"Come on!" Bjorn replied, finding a twenty MG token among his remaining change and putting it on the table. "Anyone else have some spare change to give the girl for her excellent service?"

Thomas and Espen each had a ten MG token of spare change, but apart from that they were simply all out of small tokens, so there was noting they could do, short of asking Aung to break a bigger token just to get some smaller change. And finding that just as awkward as leaving a relatively small tip on the table, they ended up leaving the restaurant with just a modest sixty MG in total tip for the young woman who had taken such good care of them.

78

All the tables in Nora's restaurant were occupied, and the men agreed that it was a shame that she did not have a larger place so that she could serve more people. "She should expand her business at the earliest opportunity," Ante said, echoing the sentiment of his colleagues. And everyone nodded in agreement. The food was fantastic and plentiful, and it was tempting to stuff oneself to the point of it becoming painful. However, as the main course drew to an end, Aung asked if everyone were ready for desert and coffee, and this stopped Bjorn from scraping the serving dishes spread out over the table, and appeared to have the same effect on both Thomas and Espen who leant back in their chairs as if to contemplate the offer.

"That sounds great!" Frank replied. "What's for desert?"
"Deep fried banana with ice cream," Aung answered with a smile. "And a birthday cake for the birthday boy."
"In addition to the banana, I hope?" Thomas asked, looking concerned.
"Of course!"

Ante looked at his colleagues, to see if everyone were finished with the main course. "So, are we finished?" he asked, just to make sure, and everybody nodded with a "yeah, sure, it was delicious."

Aung immediately sat about clearing the table while the men leant back to give her easy access to their plates and glasses. Bjorn looked around in the restaurant to see if everyone else were as pleased with the place as him, and there was no doubt about it being a success with everybody.

Three foreigners were sitting at a table by the far wall, talking just loud enough for Bjorn to identify them as Italians. A table in the middle of the room had what looked like a family party of locals from Kirkenes, with parents, a grand mother and three teenage children. And two strong looking men, also Norwegians, were sitting at a table for two by the near wall.

Everybody were enjoying themselves. Even the teenagers looked pleased and not at all bored by their company, and when Aung started coming in with the deep fried bananas for Bjorn and his colleagues they perked up even more, clearly eager to try some themselves.

The men got a cup of coffee and a small glass of banana liquor to go with their treat. And before anyone could stop him, Ante had swallowed his liquor. "Man! That's good!" he exclaimed shamelessly as his colleagues looked with some concern at their designated driver.

"You better stop drinking now!" Thomas protested. "We've all been drinking. Who's going to get us back to the checkpoint?"
"Come on!" Ante retorted. "I have the whole night to burn off this alcohol. Two beers and a bit of schnapps isn't going to make any difference in a few hours time."
"So you're going to quit drinking now?" Thomas asked.
"Yes of course. Stop being so worried!"

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

77

The men were seated at a table by the window which gave them a great view of the water separating Nora's place from Ane's factory. And Bjorn, sitting right by the window, facing North, also had a wide view of the alpine mountains at the far side of the Lundby bay. The bright red glow behind the mountains signalled the end of the day, and the rising moon, coming up behind the church, would soon be the only source of natural light for the village.

Turning his head to look south, Bjorn noticed that very little of the village could be seen. The knoll with the parked cars obscured the view completely, so the only other buildings visible from where he sat, was a couple of wooden houses next to the church, and another house behind the factory.

But Bjorn had little time to contemplate the view. Aung handed out the menu to everyone, and engaged them all in small talk. When Ante told her that they were celebrating Thomas' birthday, she lit up and told Thomas that he would get an extra treat on the house.

"We also have balloons," she added with a smile. "Would you like one?"
"Uh... No thanks..." Thomas answered embarrassed.

But everybody around the table protested and insisted that he accept the balloon, and it ended up with Thomas getting a silvery and blue helium balloon when Aung returned with drinks to everybody. It had "Birthday Boy" written in large gold letters, and it had a small weight attached to the end of its string.

"Just in case you should accidentally loose hold of it later tonight," Aung explained. "The weight will prevent it from flying away... Are you ready to order?"

There were not a lot of choice on the menu, which made it easy to decide on the set menu with a bit of everything. Nora's concept was clearly to stick to a few dishes and do them well rather than to provide a lot of variety and risk doing them poorly, and possibly being stuck with a lot of unused ingredients.

Very soon after placing their order, food appeared on the table, and the men dug into the goodies with eagerness. The review in the Gazette had certainly not been unjust. The food was great and the service friendly and homely, with hardly any waiting for anything. As soon as Bjorn had emptied his glass of beer, he was offered a new one, and the food appeared in such a steady stream that there was no waiting at all.

Ante took a small exception to his no alcohol policy for the night, finding the prospect of trying some authentic Philippine beer irresistible. He had one at the start of the meal, arguing with his colleagues that the alcohol would be worked out of his system by the end of the night, so there was no reason why he shouldn't embrace this unique opportunity to try something new. And when he had his second beer towards the end of the meal he simply said that it was too good to resist, and that the night was still young.

"As long as you stop drinking after this," Thomas insisted. "But don't go all drunk on us again. You're our designated driver, remember?"
"Sure!" Ante answered with a confident smile. "It's not like I don't know when to stop."
"Really?" Frank asked. "It did not look that way last time we were out."
"Hey, give me a break! That was a one off. I'm not like that normally... Have you ever seen me drunk up at the checkpoint?"
"No, but I have seen you pretty hopelessly drunk down here," Espen answered on Frank's behalf.

Monday, June 9, 2014

76

Bjorn too felt let down by the higher than expected price for the tokens, and ended up buying just 500 MG instead of one G which was his original thought. However, he found Espen's reaction ridiculous. Considering all the things they could buy for the tokens, they were still cheap, all be it less so than the gold price had led them to believe. And the lady behind the counter was right. It was not like they were asking for gold. They were asking for tokens, and the tokens were naturally priced according to what people were willing to pay for them.

But Espen kept going on about how they had all been scammed, and did not calm down before all his colleagues started ignoring him, focusing instead on the changes that had taken place during the week since their last visit. "Even the sun is different today," Thomas remarked as they walked in the direction of the bright red sunset. "It was dark by now last weekend."

"And in a month from now there will be no sunset at all," Ante added with a smile. "I love the midnight sun."
"Never experienced it," Bjorn remarked, glad to have something trivial to talk about.
"It's like the long summer evenings down in Oslo, only better!" Ante continued, still smiling.

The men stopped at the street corner next to the knoll with the parked cars, not so much to look out for traffic, of which there was very little, as for reading a sign on the other side, advertising the opening of a bowling alley in an old warehouse behind the casino.

"Anyone for bowling?" Frank asked.
"Yeah, we should do that one day," Ante answered. "But we're already a little late for our dinner at Nora's place."
"Maybe after dinner?" Thomas suggested.
"No! After dinner is casino time." Frank said resolutely. "We'll just have to note bowling down on our to do list."

The men looked at Frank, finding his resolute intervention amusing.

"And what about Thomas? Shouldn't this be up to him? It is his birthday after all?" Ante asked.
"Never mind," Thomas said, not waiting for an answer from Frank. "I'm fine. We can go to the casino as planned... It's not like I'm a die hard bowling enthusiast or anything."

They all continued down the shore line towards Nora's place which was situated directly across the water from Ane's fish processing plant. The little white church above and to the right of the factory was also clearly visible, flood lighted and literally shining as a pearl against the huge rock behind it.

It was a muddy gravel road they were walking down, full of potholes and with a soft shoulder that at places had slid out and disappeared into the water. However, it was not like the road was completely unfit for driving. In places, it was even wide enough for two cars to pass. And being a road only meant for access to a handful of houses, it was no doubt good enough.

Nora's place turned out to be the third house down the road, and was marked with a square box at the edge of the road, functioning both as a sign and as a lamp. It read "Nora's Place" in large friendly letters painted on the translucent surface of the illuminated box.

The restaurant was, as it turned out, simply the living room of a private house, converted into an open dining area with several tables. The house was, as the church across the water, flanked by a rock, all be it a much smaller one than the one by the church. Still, the boulder was as large as the house itself, and shielded it perfectly from any winds coming from the north.

But none of this came as any big surprise to Bjorn. He was getting used to things being ad hoc and improvised in Lundby, and there was nothing uncomfortable about walking into the private sphere of Nora's house. The front door was set with a large glass pane, with an "open" sign clearly visible. And a little desk with a book containing the appointments for the evening was visible through the window in the door.

Stepping into the hallway a bell signalled their entrance, and almost immediately a young Asian woman appeared, ready to help the men find their table. There was something familiar about her, but Bjorn did not immediately recognize her. Only after hearing her speak a few more words as she lead the men to their table by the window, did he suddenly, in a flash, make the connection. The woman was the same one who had welcomed Geir and him over at Ane's factory a few days earlier, and full of curiosity he immediately asked if she happened to be Nora.

"No, no..." she answered with a smile as the men sat down at their table. "I'm Aung. I help Nora out in the evenings."
"So you are still working for Ane?" Bjorn asked, still curious.
"Oh yeah. That's my day job," she answered. Then, taking another look at Bjorn, she blurted out "ah... I see, you are the one we had over the other day."
"Yeah," Bjorn answered with a smile.
She giggled. "Please excuse me... You really all look the same to me."

And with this the men burst out laughing, and the mood was set for a relaxing dinner.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

75

There had been quite a lot of progress made at the building site at the top of the long straight road going down to the village square, and Bjorn, fascinated by the ambitious project, leant forward to take it all in. The concrete walls at the base of the building were in place, and the beginning of a stairwell and two elevator shafts could also be seen together with numerous columns.

Bjorn was about to wonder out loud about the insanity of building anything this large in a small arctic village when Ante made a remark about the road instead. "They really did do a good job of filling in those potholes," he said as he drove the car slowly down towards the village square. And shortly afterwards he commented happily on the activity down at the village square. "Well, things have clearly been happening while I've been away!" he said. "Just look at all those stalls!"

And even over the two days since Bjorn last was in Lundby, the village square had seen noticeable changes. There were more stalls, and all but a few of them were now under improvised roofs. It was now looking more like a real market, and business was as brisk as ever.

"Look at all those people!" Ante blurted out enthusiastically as they entered the road circling the square. "Are there anyone left in Kirkenes? It sure looks like everyone decided to come here for the night."
"Well, there were some people coming all the way from Alta this morning, up at the check point," Bjorn added, confirming Ante's impression that people were coming from far and wide to visit the village. "That's quite encouraging, don't you think?"
"Sure is!"

Cars were lining up for cheap petrol over at the petrol station, and Pingo was evidently doing well too, with people coming out with cartloads of stuff. Not everyone were in Lundby for a night out. Some were clearly heading back home now that the sun was setting.

There were a lot of cars parked over at the knoll down by the water, but there was no shortage of empty parking space to choose from, so Ante had no trouble finding a place for his car. And as soon as he stopped his car, everyone stepped out of it to stretch their legs, eager to get started on their adventure.

The very first thing they needed to do was to buy some local currency over at the casino, since everyone but Bjorn seemed to be short on Gram tokens. So they all headed across the square, skirting the market in order to get to the casino as quickly as possible.

"It makes no sense," Espen complained as they strolled along. "Why do they insist on using those tokens instead of real money? It only complicates things."
"It's to make it all the more difficult for the locals to escape this place," Thomas explained. "The tokens are not legal tender. They cannot be used outside the village, so if someone manages to escape, they will still be stuck since they will have no money to pay their way to Oslo."
"Is that so?" Frank asked, apparently new to this fact.
"The foreign minister said something to that effect the other day, on TV," Bjorn added helpfully, finding Thomas' explanation reasonable and logical, at least on the face of it.

The men walked in silence for a bit until they reached the casino with its new sidewalk being completed. The north corner was still being worked on, but the rest was fully in place, and it looked great. Ante was again enthusiastic about the changes, and was almost besides himself of praise for the fancy bit of artistry that had been accomplished since his last visit. But there was no time to dwell on this as they were all eager to get their tokens to start the evening.

The casino was nothing more than a large space divided into various sections, where the area close to the entrance was reserved for money exchange. There was a staircase going up to the next floor across from these counters, and beyond that there was a bar and a small stage, and off to the right, a section dedicated to gambling. There were hardly anyone in the bar, and only a few people by the slot machines, so the main activity in the casino was at the moment the exchange of real money for tokens.

Bjorn knew from experience, and from being told so by Ante, that many people would not accept any kind of real money, credit cards or electronic payments in the village, making it essential to have cash in the form of Gram tokens even for people like Ante who had earlier acquired a card for himself, as well as a card for paying for produces in Pingo. And when Bjorn's four colleagues lined up to get some tokens, Bjorn figured he'd buy some for himself too, just in case. Bjorn felt confident that he would come back to the village in the future too, so a few extra tokens would not go to waste. "Better to have a few tokens too many than too few," he thought to himself as he lined up behind Espen.

Thomas and Ante lined up at a counter to Bjorn's left, and Frank stepped up to a counter to Bjorn's right, marked clearly with a sign saying "Gold Members Only". Bjorn's immediate thought about this was that Frank must have overlooked the sign, but that was evidently not the case. Frank presented a gold card and was promptly given a small stacks of tokens in return.

Ante on his side, presenting a plain green card to the cashier was informed that he could better use one of the automatic teller machines over by the staircase, unless he had special banking needs he wanted to take care of as well. And realizing that the man in front of him was filling in a form to get a bank card, Espen too headed over to the ATM machines, followed by Bjorn and Thomas.

The ATM machines accepted various types of credit cards as well as real money and the local bank card that Ante was carrying, so there was no need to waste the cashier's time. However, Espen got very upset when he discovered that the exchange rate had actually gone up by a bit since last time he bought Gram tokens, despite the fact that the gold price had cratered a full twenty percent over the last week.

"What the hell is this?" Espen asked rhetorically. "They are ripping us off!" And with this he walked over to the cashier at one of the counters to demand an explanation.

"Well, that is the exchange rate we are offering," the lady behind the counter said blandly. "If you think it too much, feel free to find someone willing to part with their tokens for less."
"But that's absurd!" Espen insisted. "You're the only one selling these things."
"Exactly," the lady retorted, unimpressed by Espen's argument. "That's because no one except us are willing to part with these tokens at lower prices."
"But the gold price is down twenty percent," Espen protested.
"But this is not gold... These are tokens backed by gold... If you are interested in gold, we can arrange for that too. At the current spot price, you can get gold delivered in six months from now. However, if you want your gold now, you will have to pay the current Gram price, plus our service charge."

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

74

They were all in excellent spirits as they stepped out into the cool crispness of the arctic evening. The sun was setting, giving everything around them a warm glow that no doubt further lightened their mood. John too stepped out for a bit of fresh air, even though he was going to stay at the check point to take the night shift after Geir. However, he too seemed festive in his own way, probably taking enjoyment from seeing his colleagues all being so up beat and eager for a night out.

Ante opened the doors of his red sedan by a click of a button on his key, and everybody but John crammed into it, making themselves as comfortable as they could. It being Thomas' birthday, he had the pleasure of taking the seat next to Ante, while Espen had to take the middle seat in the back, being the smallest of the three going in there.

Bjorn, sitting behind Thomas, was suddenly struck by curiosity regarding the cars at the check point, and asked Ante about this as soon as the car started rolling.

"So why are we always using your car?" Bjorn asked leaning a bit in Ante´s direction. "This is your car, right?"
"Yep! This is my car," Ante confirmed. "But it doubles as our shared military vehicle."
"Really?"
"It´s all part of the cuts in the military budget," Frank added helpfully. "They pay Ante a monthly lease instead of giving us one of their own cars. Saves them money, they figure."
"And gives me a bit of extra money to spend," Ante concluded with a smile.

Bjorn leaned back in his seat, pleased with the explanation, and further impressed by Ante's ability to make the most of every opportunity.

"But you managed to convince the guys in Oslo to set up a fence for us anyway," Bjorn asked casually of Frank. "I'm sure that's not going to be cheap."
"Ah! But I'm a master negotiator," Frank answered with a smile. "They are putty in my hands!"

Everybody laughed, and then there was a bit of silence before Espen set the conversation going again.

"Is that your gun?" he asked Frank.
"It sure is!"
"You brought your gun?" Thomas asked, visibly shocked and concerned. Turning in Frank's direction he added "why the hell did you do that?"
"You know what they say," Frank answered with a smug smile, while patting the side of his chest where the contours of his gun could be seen under his thin summer jacket. "When in Rome, do as the Romans."
"Well, we are not going to Rome," Thomas noted dryly.
"But we are going to Lundby. And they are all a bunch of gangsters down there, aren't they?"
"Which suits you perfectly it seems," Thomas added, still dismayed by Frank's decision.

There was again silence among the colleagues. But this time it did not take long before Espen broke it with another question.

"I thought it was against the rules to take arms into the village," he asked.
"Not anymore," Frank answered with a triumphant smile. "In fact, we are from now on always going to carry guns with us when in uniform, and this includes times spent on duty in the village. And there are no restrictions regarding guns when going down there as civilians, as we do now."

There was again a bit of silence, this time to let the news sink in. Then, Bjorn asked when Frank had put on the gun, since he did not see Frank wearing it while in the living room.

"I made a snap decision to put it on when I went up to get my jacket," Frank replied helpfully. "I couldn't resist it, actually. And I figure we might as well start broadcasting the message right away, that we're not going to take any abuse from anyone laying down."