jumped off the Humvee into the
darkness. He could tell the soldiers
were
not comfortable with the fact that he did
not have a gun. He was not one of them;
he knew it and so did they. The leader of
the team – Major Madu had made all the
plans without any major function given
to him. He did not mind though, he had
his own plans.The president had drafted
him into a tactical team to go and rescue
somebody. He was not sure who the
person was, but she was definitely
important. He accepted reluctantly; it
was better to be out than being locked
up in a cell. He got more excited when he
learnt they were going after Sarkin Aljan.
He had not had the time to make another
attempt at rescuing Anne; this could be
his chance.
“Listen up everybody” the Major said.
“There are no certainties that this is not
a trap, so we are going to tread
carefully.”
Damola looked away from the soldiers –
the four of them huddled together.
Everything they were saying had been
said severally already, they were probably
just afraid to go forward and die.
The Major had a point though, it was
probably a trap. He was not sure what he
would do yet, it depended on whether
Sarkin Aljan came or not.
“… she is immensely important to the
President.” The Major was saying. “The
mission will be judged on whether we
bring her home alive or not.”
If she was that important to the
President, Sarkin Aljan would not let her
go so easily. The soldier started moving
and he followed them. They snuck along
a bush path till they were could see a
house not too far away.
“That’s where she is supposed to be.”
One of the soldiers said and pointed to
the house.
The Major brought out a pair of Heat
Sensor Binoculars and looked into them.
He seemed to be confused or intrigued by
something.
“There is nobody in or around the house
but the woman.” He said and handed the
binoculars to another soldier.
The soldier looked and confirmed that
there was nobody and he passed the
binoculars. They all looked at the house
and wondered why the house was empty.
Damola wondered too. Sarkin Aljan like
any bad person was very tricky. But to
find out what was happening they had to
go closer.
They crawled closer to the house as
quietly as they could. They looked again,
there was no one still. The Major decided
it was not smart for everyone to go in
despite the seeming lack of danger. He
decided he would go in with two of the
soldiers, the last one was to stay behind
with Damola. They would cover them as
they went into the house, he said.
Damola started to protest but stopped.
Something was wrong; he would wait.
Fifteen minutes later the soldiers were
walking out of the house with the
woman. Had Sarkin Aljan really let them
have the woman so easily? Something
was wrong.
The Major signaled to them to meet at
the Humvee. Damola wondered as they
moved to meet the others. What was
Sarkin Aljan’s move by letting the woman
go? If she was supposed to be very
important, what was the President giving
him in return? It hit him! The portal! That
could not happen! The portal back in
Sarkin Aljan’s hand meant more trouble,
this time maybe more than could be
handled.
They got to the path that led to the
Humvee when they heard gunshots. The
soldier with him stopped and unstrapped
his gun. He corked it and looked at
Damola.
“That gunshot is from one of our guns.
They must have watched us come and
waited.”
He had to know if Sarkin Aljan was part
of the people attacking the soldiers. He
looked at the soldier, looked away and
starting running towards the gunshots.
The soldier ran after him. They got close
and saw the soldiers on the floor being
tied up by a group of men. The woman
was crouched at another side of the road
crying. Damola stopped and pulled the
soldier with him to the side of the road.
“We have to rescue them!” The soldier
protested. “We can’t just stay here and
watch.”
“Nobody said anything about watching.”
He did not see Sarkin Aljan among the
men. If Sarkin Aljan did not come, then
he would have to go to him. “I have a
plan.”
“You have a plan?” The soldier asked and
looked at his colleagues apprehensively.
“Does it involve rescuing them? Why
should I listen to you by the way? You’re
not even a soldier.”
“Hey, be calm, okay? If three soldiers
could not stop those men, why do you
think that you alone can stop them?”
“They probably were surprised. I am sure
we…”
“Here’s the plan, I will run after the men
as they start to move. They will probably
take me with them, I will rescue us all
and you take the woman home to the
President.”
The soldier opened his mouth then
closed it. Damola could see the anger in
his face.
“This is your genius plan? We should
allow the Major and others to be taken?
Okay, I’m out of here.” He said and
started to run towards the men.
Damola ran after him and punched him
from behind. He crashed to the floor and
Damola pulled him to the side of the
road. He had fallen on his face and his
forehead was bruised.
“Sorry about the injury, but you have to
listen to me.” Damola said, holding the
struggling soldier down. “You will only
get killed or taken too if you go after
them. Remember what the Major said?
This mission will be judged on whether or
not she is brought home safe. That is
your mission soldier!”
The soldier had relaxed but still breathed
heavily.
“Now, wait till I am gone with them and
go and rescue the woman. Take her
home!” He said and released his grip on
the man.
Damola rose to his feet and started to
walk towards the men. He hoped he was
right and they were only going to be
taken, not killed.
***
Sarkin Aljan wrapped the robe tighter
around himself. The darkness had a
certain chill to it. He knew his robe could
not help him, but he held on tight to it
still. Once again he was going to have to
wait for Ibilis to come. He hated meeting
Ibilis more every time he saw him. It was
worse this time because he had come to
report a major failure. He had thought
that by the time Asaba was destroyed,
the president would surrender the country
to him and one country at a time he
would take over the world. It would have
been easy to desert Ibilis then. Now he
had to suffer through another torture or
worse; a tongue lashing.
Suddenly he turned around. There was
nobody. Ibilis was close, he could tell. He
pulled the robe closer and folded his
arms across his chest.
Aaaarghhh! He screamed. He felt the
pain before he saw Ibilis! The pain
seared through his head and he could
smell his hair burn. He squirmed and
screamed but the pain only got worse.
He shouted and fell on his face. He
touched his head with one of his finger
and he screamed. His hair was gone on
one side of his head.
“Stand to your feet!” The voice came from
above him.
He struggled to his knees. Every
movement of his head sent pain surging
through his body. He opened his mouth
and let out a great scream. He cursed
Ibilis, he cursed Edumare, he cursed the
day he decided to help Ibilis.
“Your curses do nothing but disturb the
peace of my already tortured abode.”
Ibilis said.
“There is no peace here! You know no
peace and you never will!” Sarkin said
through clenched teeth.
“I have come to find out that just like
humans, you are weak and cannot do
anything right. Rise because our time is
here, I cannot wait anymore. Everything
ends in seven days!”
Sarkin Aljan rose to his feet and looked
at Ibilis. He had a triumphant look on his
face.
“You look surprised, maybe because you
underestimated me. In seven days the
world will be mine and then I will decide
on what to do with you.”
“What do you mean? We had a deal!”
Sarkin Aljan said. He felt a slight tremble
go through his body.
“A deal, that we have truly, Sarkin Aljan.”
Ibilis said and laughed. “You have plans
to secede from me, don’t you? I know you
more than you know yourself. I am all
that you are and more. I will not hold it
against you yet, not as long as you
execute the plan.”
“Execute what plan?” He asked with as
much disgust as he could muster.
“In three days, you will have Nigeria.
After the president hands over the
country to you, you will have the whole
world in your hand.”
“How am I supposed to do that? Three
days is a very short time. You only seek
a chance to find fault with me, you
soulless monster.”
“Aha, I see you are angry, very angry.
And soon you will get your chance to
unleash your anger. And surely men will
feel pain.”
Oh they will! Starting with the President,
they will know what the anger of a god is
like!
***
He was in the most inconvenient meeting
he had ever been in as President. He
would have found a way to boycott the
meeting but it would mean losing the
confidence of a lot of his top officials.
They wanted to know why he had
released the portal back to a known and
deadly terrorist. He dared not tell them
the truth. He could not even repeat the
truth to himself. He had put the whole
country in danger to save a woman he
was having an affair with. He was a fool,
a fool that made a decision that could
cost him his presidency maybe his life.
Bola was safe and hid somewhere very
far away. Only one other person knew
where she was and he planned to keep it
that way.
The members of his cabinet had to make
some sense out of the situation.
“The portal while here was of no help to
us.” Lange said.
“But it was of no help to him too.” One
of the ministers retorted.
“We don’t know that he doesn’t have
another one.” Lange said.
“What do we gain from this now? He has
the portal, we have nothing.” Adigwe said
to Lange’s surprise. He rarely said
anything against him in meetings but
maybe even he was appalled by his
decision.
“That is the question you should have
asked in the beginning.” Lange said. “We
put a tracker on the device and soon we
will know where this terrorist operates
from. That way we will not only get the
device, we will get the person who
operates it.”
They all took the information in and the
room was quiet for a few minutes.
Finally Lange spoke up.
“I know this was a very risky thing to do
but this is not a typical terrorist. If we
are to catch him, we have to do things in
a different way.” Lange said.
He felt thankful someone had suggested
putting a tracking device on the portal.
He was sure if it would help them catch
the masked terrorist but at least it
helped him buy time with his cabinet.
“Sir, I just got a text from my secretary.
She said the masked terrorist is on TV.”
One of the minister said.
Lange’s heart paused. What was the
terrorist going to say? Why had he not
called instead?
“Put on the TV please.” Lange said and
stood from his chair. “How does he keep
getting on TV by the way? Aren’t those
frequencies protected from hacking?”
Somebody put on the TV and Lange
swallowed. There were four soldiers
kneeling on the floor with their faces
covered and their hands tied behind their
backs. The masked terrorist looked
different. He had on a different mask.
This time his head was also covered.
“Everything rises and falls on leadership.
One of your great experts said that and
he is right. You trust your president so
much but is he worth it?” The masked
terrorist said.
Lange had a bad feeling. This was not
going to just be a threatening session, he
was in for some trouble too.
“Your President made a choice; he
released my device in exchange for his
mistress. Is that true leadership?”
Everybody in the room turned around and
looked at him. He bowed his head to
avoid their stares. What was he supposed
to say? What was he supposed to do? He
had no explanation. He pulled out his
chair and sat down.
“These poor soldiers here he sent to die
on his behalf. All for a woman who is
not even his wife. He sent them to die
and I will oblige him.”
Lange bowed his head and stilled the
vibration of his hand. He could not
forgive himself; he did not deserve to be
forgiven. He was a cheating husband, a
weak president and a big liar. Now he
was going to be a murderer too.
“I’m sorry if there are children watching
this but I have to kill these men on live
TV so you can all understand what your
President has done. I hope this will be
the last time this would happen. It all
lies in the hand of the president. Will he
redeem himself? Will he do the right
thing?”
Lange looked up at the television and
covered his mouth. These men would die
and it would be his fault. He made up
his mind; he had spent his last day as
President. If he could not lead the
people, others would. He kept his eyes on
the television as the terrorist picked a
butcher’s knife and set it on the throat of
the first soldiers. The people in the room
stirred and started to whisper to one
another. He ignored them.
“In the name of President Johnson
Lange, I kill these innocent men.”
Suddenly fire erupted from behind the
man with the knife on his throat, it
struck the masked terrorist like a
lightning bolt and he fell backwards. The
soldier shook his head and the bag fell
off his face. It was the prisoner! The
prisoner looked up momentarily at the
camera and then something erupted on
the camera and the screen went dark and
the room went quiet.
The silence was deafening. The only
sound that he heard was his thumping
heart.
.
.
.
.
.
To be continued
