There was a blessed pause and one didn’t want to break this silence. At last, the master raised his hands and said calmly:
- Kodech la Adonai!
*
Some of those present covered black masquerade masks. On the right side, like on the chessboard, there were dozens of impassive men in black suits. A short typical known to us person in a felt hat passed through the phalanx of those brawny fellows. Von Neumann smiled frenzied and bowed to the present. With a terrible fixed smile on his face he opened a black high door as if welcoming there all corners. Some dozens of people entered the dark spacious exposition hall having disappeared there.
Brenner was one of the last who entered the hall. He knowingly nodded Mr. von Neumann, quickly looked over the exposition, having estimated that the level of the works was above praise and was the first one who left the hall. There were two reasons for it. The first one was professional. Gerhard admired looking as, just after viewing people were leaving with wide-open from fear eyes, full of pain and inner ban on what was going. Studying the level of people’s excitement, Brenner proved this profitable business value.
The second reason was something unprecedentedly important for him. Gerhard tried to announce Neumann something very important using all kinds of mimic: wide-opened eyes, puffed up cheeks and rising up eyebrows. However, Neumann ignored him. He was rolling up his eyes, meeting with servility dumbfounded spectators of his awful theatre as if sharing some mystery with them. Some of them said strange phrases or wrote short commentaries in a thick decorated book beginning with a “super” and ending with “you should be killed”!
Gerhard understood that Helmut would be taken up with for a couple of hours. It was obvious that Neumann has been suffering from the disease of applauses for a long time. All the more, that all leaving spectators were one of the most powerful people of the South-East region.
Gerhard asked the Master of Ceremonies who looked impassively but showed him his place to help him take off again the apron and the icon pentalpha.
*
Brenner had one hour left. He could value big cities and treated to them like to the top-model. Gerhard was walking along winding streets going up and found a station, a cog railway which brings tourists to the top of the Victoria Peak. Nice coaches were full of those who wanted enjoy night fairy views on Hong Kong.
Gerhard bought a ticket there and back, hardly got through many Chinese with the cameras into the coach, nearly lost his glasses. Fifteen minutes later the cog railway slowly brought them to the top. He went up to the observation point with the crowd which partially dispersed in restaurants. Hong Kong had a fantastic view at the foot of the Peak. By impulse hundred people took their cameras wanting to take a picture of it. An incomprehensible Euterpe appeared in the air and from the numerous shining toy skyscrapers started the incredible music of laser spectacular sights, fireworks and shining balls. Having an advantage six foot two inches contrary to many short Chinese, Gerhard was taking photos without stopping. Then he decided to leave behind the whole crowd and went to the opposite side to the railing on the south side. Several people were walking with him.
*
He was making panoramic pictures when some tall massive figure shielded him. Gerhard tried to avoid it but no. Then he friendly patted the giant on his back having said “sorry”. The giant slowly made a 180-degree turn. A big hood didn’t allow seeing the face. Gerdi got a terrible fright. A silent giant was keeping silent. Brenner wanted to leave but the hand of the terrible man put with death grip on his shoulder didn’t make it possible. Deep breath of that giant was like sea peals after the storm. Gerhard convulsively looked around. There was a couple of Chinese next to him others were closer to the performance actually back to him. He had a strange feeling of hopelessness. Nevertheless, he tried to cry “help!” but, for some reason, a weak falsetto escaped him. A strong punch in breast concurred with the cry. Seconds dragged on to infinity. He saw as the firework, lighting up the whole plate of the Peak, has been opening for a long time, coming people, as a woman cried scared and he felt another strong punch. A moment of unconsciousness, feeling of flying to nowhere, the extremely tall parting jungles of unknown trees. And he tries to remember the leaves clearly printed close-up which didn’t exist on the Earth.
And, finally, there was the last awful black punch of that night.
*
The alarm-clock rang at seven thirty May 22, 2015. She unwillingly got out of the bed in her room with an air-conditioner, opened the curtains and the south morning appeared in front of her. For a moment she climbed the high niche behind the curtains observing noisy quarters like a big market. Thomas was lowly regaining consciousness. Slight hangover from the old good Burgundy wine was the reminder about the amazing previous rich day. He remembered the night when they tired and happy came to the hotel, and hardly tumbled into bed as they noticed that somebody bulkily rummaged in their room. But the clothes, things and other small things stayed intact. Probably, the thieves had other goals.
- Thomy, look here, go quickly to the reception. Check the tickets, passports and terabytes.
Thomas went down to the hall. Fortunately, the hotel was quite conservative and the most important things were keeping in the reception boxes.
- So? – she was getting at him like his cell-phone.
- Everything is ok, - said Thomas.
- Go to your room.
She tumbled into bed. But Thomas as a real male thought and wrote, just in case, a statement about the forced room, to the management of the hotel. Having remembered the occurred situation, Thomas was finally woken up, he got out of the bed and, just in case, checked both laptops, her and his ones.
After the old theft of the information, the Elshteins were quite attended to it. Specially coded tools became the main defense of the information. In the box on the reception, there was a terabyte of the hard disk for keeping secret information from Buffalo with the backup of the 265 byte coding. Both laptops were also protected by the scan of the retina and demanded being launched by the way of MC-DOC. Trying to start the system direct using Windows, the whole information was deleted and the message on the crack attempt was sent to the owner smartphone. Trying to withdrawing the hard disk from the laptop the last exploded. Good Thomas’ and Mari’s smartphones also had its own operating system, protecting them from the unauthorized access. Breaching the order of certain actions OS considered the situation as an attempt of hard disk withdrawing or cracking and deleted the whole data. The whole daily work outlines and the Elshteins’ ideas were daily duplicated with the German pedantry. Thomas said complacently:
- An elephant on four paws! – meaning the information.
Fortunately, both laptops were safe and sound next to the bed. Thomas’ mood improved. Washing and dressing up he was singing:
- Oh, you dear Augustin…
A naked Mari showed herself from behind the curtain and also cried in English: - Oh, my lovely Augustin, it's a disaster…
As a result, this couple seems to be late. In a jumble in different languages, crying with loud convulsive gasping, nipping and scratching each other they disappeared in a madness of half an hour's duration, settling down. Other five minutes in silence having joined together they lay unconscious.
- We are already late , - Mari whispered silently.
Ten minutes later, Thomas like a tin soldier was dressed up and under its own inertia darted out into the corridor hardly knocked the unknown in shorts down. After that he began a bit howling. Having opened the door, he hopelessly saw through the chink that she was still in the bathroom. To make sure, it wasn’t known for whom, he cried into the darkness: