Perestroika by João Cerqueira

Author:João Cerqueira [Cerqueira, João]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arkbound
Published: 2024-01-24T00:00:00+00:00

IONESCU AND OLIN

Alfred Ionescu no longer read the reports on the economy or the dossiers on the plans for the country’s development. If he had not banned the arts of divination and arrested all the psychics and astrologers, he would have consulted them. But he could not even do that. However, he had received information which, while it did not fit into soothsaying, seemed like something out of science fiction and to which he clung as his last hope of solving the problem of Perestroika.

That was why he had called Igor Olin to his office to explain his plan. It was five in the afternoon when the Commissar for the Economy arrived. Ionescu was on his feet waiting for him and went to greet him. Olin had not seen him for a month and found him frail. However, that weak older man seemed cheerful, with his jacket buttons badly done up and a urine stain on his trousers.

‘Have you ever heard of Ciclosporina?’ asked Ionescu.

‘No, is it a new weapon?’

‘Yes, you could consider it a powerful weapon…’

‘I’m afraid we don’t have the money for military expenses…’

‘Olin, I’m talking about immunosuppressants.’

‘I know little about that subject. Are you suffering from a serious illness, Comrade?’

‘My illness is truly serious: it’s called Perestroika.’

Old man, you finally flipped. Olin felt like leaving and never coming back. He pulled himself together, though, and focused the talk on the only subject that interested him.

‘I imagine you’ve summoned me to analyse the situation in the country, is that right?’

Ionescu’s eyes shone. ‘Right. That’s why I spoke to you about Ciclosporina.’

‘Comrade, maybe it would be better for you to rest now; we could meet again tomorrow. The reforms we agreed to make take time to bear fruit, and I still don’t have good news for you.’

‘Do you too think I’m not capable of governing the country?’

‘No, I would never think such a thing.’

‘Of course, you do. All the Commissars think I’m finished. But while you have not been able to find any solution to taking on Perestroika, I’ve found out something important.’

He’s out of his mind.

‘Please explain to me.’

‘Let’s sit down. I’ll explain everything: during my last appointment with my personal physician, Dr Max Steiner, by chance, he spoke to me about immunosuppressants. For the sake of conversation, I asked him a few questions and ended up learning that thanks to these medicines it’s become possible to transplant organs, which until now has been practically impossible. They prevent the patient’s immune system from rejecting the donor’s organ. Get it now?’

Olin looked at him, intrigued. ‘Yes…’

‘And that could be the solution to all our problems.’

‘What are you talking about, Comrade?’

‘You still don’t get it, Olin? Millions of people in the world are desperately waiting for an organ to save their lives. They can’t wait months or years. Among these millions, thousands in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas have the money to buy them. The traffic of organs has become a big business. For some time, the Chinese have been doing it with prisoners sentenced to death.

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