A talk between partners

The next morning, Yuri found himself in a car.

He still had the same clothes while he was in hospital, and even if his head still hurt, his badge was gone.

And it was still cold.

Not as cold as in the hospital, but still unpleasant.

But then he heard voices and realized he wasn't alone in the car.

In the front seat, he realized that Daniel was the one driving the car while also talking to Frank.

Until now Yuri hasn't really realized it, but now he saw that he liked the look of him, or rather not exactly liked him but, well. . . been interested by him.

''So, if I am not mistaken, you are saying that Jesus never existed, are you not? '' Daniel asked, turning his green left eye on Frank.

''No, you are not mistaken, '' replied Frank courteously. ''I did indeed say that.''

'What the hell are these two talking about?' thought Yuri and frowned.

Glancing furtively out of the window not stopping the car, Daniel continued: ''So am I right in thinking that you do not believe in God either? ''

''Yes, I do not believe in God,'' answered Frank with a faint smile at his partners apprehension. ''We are not in the Middle Ages anymore; we can talk about it with absolute freedom. But I am still shocked that you would still believe in God after all you've been through. Was it because of your upbringing? ''

The driver did not respond.

Frank decided to continue their conversation, by saying: ''In our current times there's nothing surprising about atheism, '' said Frank with diplomatic politeness. ''Most of us have long ago and quite consciously given up believing in all those fairy-tales about God. ''

''Fairy-tales? '' repeated Daniel.

''But might I enquire, '' continued Daniel after some thought ''how do you account for the proofs of the existence of God, of which there are, as you know, exactly five? ''

''Alas! '' replied Frank regretfully. ''Not one of these proofs is valid, and mankind has long since relegated them to the Achile-library. You must agree that rationally there can be no proof of the existence of God. It has been thousands of years already.''

''I find it strange that you have somehow repeated the views of the immortal Emmanuel on that subject. But here's the oddity of it: he completely demolished all of these five proofs and then, as though to deride his own efforts, he formulated a sixth proof of his own.''

''Kant's proof,'' objected Frank with a thin smile, ''is also unconvincing. Not for nothing did Schiller say that Kant's reasoning on this question would only satisfy slaves, and Strauss simply laughed at his proof.''

'' If I could, I would have had Kant arrested personally and brought him to Kallisto for that "proof" of his! '' Frank burst out completely unexpectedly. ''I'd like to see how he would change after these maniacs had their hands of him.''

Yuri then thought to himself: 'Wait, Kallisto, the prison planet actually exists? I thought that was just a myth that was usually told to small children to not violate the marsian laws. '

But the suggestion to pack Kant off to Kallisto not only did not surprise Daniel but rather delighted him. ''Exactly, exactly! '' he cried and his green left eye, turned on Frank glittered. ''That's exactly the place for him! I said to him myself that morning at breakfast: " If you'll forgive me, professor, your theory is no good. It may be clever but it's horribly incomprehensible. People will think you're mad." ''

Yuri's eyes bulged. 'Wait, he what? At breakfast ... to Kant? What the hell is he rambling about?' he thought.

''But,'' went on Daniel, ''sending him to Kallisto is out of the question, because for over a ten thousand years now he has been somewhere far away from Kallisto and I assure you that it is totally impossible to bring him back.''

''What a pity!'' said the ever-impetuous Frank.

''It is a pity,'' agreed his partner with a glint in his eye, and went on: ''But this is the question that disturbs me. If there is no God, then who, one wonders, rules the life of mankind and keeps the universe in order? ''

''If you are not a Kosmanavt, then the man rules it by himself, '' said Frank in answer to such an obviously absurd question. ''And as long as you follow the laws set by the president of the UNOE. ''

''I beg your pardon, '' retorted Daniel quietly, '' So what you are saying, it's the AI and the current president of this nation the ones that rule everything. I am not so sure about the AI that the prisoners of Kallisto worship, so let's talk about the president. Let's not take into consideration that one needs incredible luck to be elected and survive as a nominee, which by itself is for me a really agonizing process, Let's say that some left guy called Ivan from Pluto became newly elected president. To rule one must have a precise plan worked out for some reasonable period ahead. Allow me to enquire how Ivan can control something when he is not only incapable of compiling a plan for some laughably short term, such as, say, a thousand years, but cannot even predict what will happen to him tomorrow? ''

''In fact, '' here Daniel turned the car sharply to the other direction, which almost made Yuri jump out of his seat.

''Be careful, '' said Frank a little on edge ''we need to bring the guy safely. I don't want him to end up with a broken body. We just managed to save his life. ''

Daniel continued: '' Imagine what would happen if Ivan, for instance, were to start organizing others and himself, and he developed a taste for it--then suddenly he got. . . he, he ... a slight heart attack . . . '' at this Daniel smiled sweetly, as though the thought of a possible heart attack gave him pleasure. . .. '' Yes, a heart attack, '' he repeated the word sonorously, grinning like a cat, ''and that's the end of Ivan rule! No one's fate except his own interests him any longer. His relations along the ones that elected him start lying to him. Sensing that something is amiss he rushes to a specialist, then to a charlatan, and even perhaps to some kind of fortune-teller. Each of them as the first, the second and the third is as useless as the other, as you know perfectly well. And it all ends in tragedy: the man who thought he was in charge is suddenly reduced to lying prone and motionless in an iron box and his fellow men, realizing that there is no use in Ivan anymore, throw him out into space, maybe if they are merciful, into the nearest star, incinerating him in the process.''

Frank, thinking for a moment, asked then Daniel: ''In our age you think it's possible to die from a heart attack? ''

''Everything is possible,'' retorted Daniel indifferently ''technology isn't perfect. A little mistake could always happen.''