Sunday, September 6, 2015

The Peace Crusaders: Chapter 13

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Bigland’s president Gushnell’s wife Helen entered the private home office of the president. She entered the room like a bullet. Helen had ensured that Gushnell was alone in the room.

Before entering president’s private office she gave a smile to Adarsh, president’s personal bodyguard who had a small office adjunct to the president’s. She also spoke perfunctory, “Howdy Adarsh.” Then without waiting for Adarsh’s response she walked past him hurriedly.

Adarsh could see and hear whatever used to happen in the president’s office. That was the strict security protocol. Adarsh could hear Helen shouting at the top of her voice, “You lecherous loser, I want divorce immediately.”

Gushnell wasn’t moved by Helen’s melodrama. He argued, “But you promised to wait till I finish my presidential term. You know that the people of Bigland do not like their president without a wife and they stupidly believe that he should not be a divorcee.” He threw up his hands in the air to display his helplessness.

“Yes. I realize the difficult and hypocritical mental makeup of this country’s people. Therefore in the larger interests of maintaining political and economic stability I continued to be your gagged wife. That was on the condition that you would not continue your affairs with that woman. But I have proof to show that you still somehow or other create occasions to sleep with her.”

“How’s that possible? You know very well that my secretary was eased out of her position immediately after the incident.”

“Well, I’m not interested a bit in discussing this disgusting thing anymore.”

“Don’t tell me that. You have been the one fussing over it all the time.”

“I wasn’t the one to make it public. It was all there on the closed circuit television. You have been a big fool not even to realize that your lust was being filmed for the entire world to see and enjoy. You should have chosen at least a place where the camera couldn’t have caught your lecherous act. I wonder how you became the president without such a little commonsense. It was I who saved the big embarrassment by stopping the closed circuit video from becoming viral. You must thank me that I confiscated the video immediately after I saw it. Of course some damage was done by then. Many of your security personnel and few others had observed it. I could not totally stop it.”

“Whatever happened can’t be undone. But it wasn’t entirely my doing. My secretary was a party to it and she took the initiative, you know it. In any case people’s memory is short. They forgot about it soon. But you took your revenge by resuming your connections with the movie guys. I know it was you who instigated and encouraged them to produce that vulgar movie inspired by the small little private thing that took place between two consenting adults. To top it all you volunteered to direct the movie. Obviously the producer was too eager to have you as its director because he knew that you knew actually what had happened. However you twisted the facts in the movie to make my character in the movie look like the ultimate villain. Your very initiative in making the movie was disgusting.”

“As if your act was not. I just put it in some colorful pictures in the movie. Moviegoers loved it. I can’t help. And so from nowhere now I have become the most sought after film director. The producers are too eager to have me direct their next films. You are aware that I have become the richest movie director of the year.”

“Yes, the queen of erotica, that’s all. You have stooped so low.”

“But I do make tons of money and I need it all. And I know you are jealous of my fame.”

“Let us not bicker over these matters now. Let bygones be bygones. Well, Helen. Listen. I want to make up with you. I will totally stop seeing that woman if you continue to be on my side.”

“So that you can keep all that money I get from the movies I direct.”

“I know the money you make is significant but I make lots of money otherwise too. So it is not for your money. I sincerely want to make up.”

“Don’t beat around the bush. First of all it is not a make up but it will be a patch up. Secondly after you finish your term, your sources of money will dry up for you. You get the money from those sources because you have the power as the president to favor them. It won’t be true anymore.”

“I am not after your money. The fact is that I realized my folly and I wish to remain a loyal husband. Won’t you forgive me? You have already told the media that it was entirely that woman’s fault; she had become too ambitious. You also told the media that you don’t hold anything against me. Then why do you talk of divorce now?”

“Look here what all of us tell the media from time to time is all humbug stories. You know it and I know it too. What I told the media was a lie; it was to save my face and my humiliation. The fact is I despise you and will continue doing it till end. You were not only cheating on me but also bad-mouthed me and made fun of me behind my back in your lovey-dovey exchanges with your secretary. That’s why the talk of divorce.”

“God damn it. You foolish lady,” Gushnell threw a few objects lying in the bedroom at Helen. One little object hit Helen lightly.

Helen cried, “You fool, you are hurting me.” Then she hollered for help, “Help, help! This beast is going to kill me. Adarsh where are you? Help me or I will dial the emergency helpline.”

Adarsh came running inside. He saw that Helen was absolutely intact. But Gushnell was in a shock.

Helen said, “Adarsh, you are the eyewitness.” Then she rushed out of the office. Gushnell came to his senses in a while and gestured Adarsh to leave him alone. Adarsh obeyed.

Later in the day when Gushnell was having his regular siesta, Helen sent for Adarsh. When Adarsh walked in she made him sit comfortably.

“Adarsh, you heard everything that transpired this morning between my husband and me. You are also in the know of minutest and nastiest details of the scandal involving my husband and his private secretary- rather the whole world knows about it. With that backdrop I want to take a severe revenge, divorce alone is not an appropriate response to my husband’s misdeeds. I wish I could shorten his life.”

“How do you think I get into the picture?”

“I just wanted you to remind that this morning you were the witness to my husband’s misbehavior. He was in an uncontrollable rage and threw things at me. I would have been badly hurt had I not ducked the attack. Do you agree?”

“Yes, I do. He did throw things at you and you were in a danger of getting hit severely.”

“So what I request you is to be on my side as my witness in case something untoward happens. I don’t know what that could be. But I am scared.”

Helen then wept uncontrollably and Adarsh comforted her. That night Adarsh narrated the whole incident to Amar over their ultramodern and highly secure telephonic apparatus.

Amar was systematically documenting all the information he was receiving from time to time from Adarsh, Shakti, and Victor. He had also hacked the 96 most sophisticated communication devices owned by the most powerful persons of planet Berth. He could tap and download all the communication that took place among these 96 devices on a real time basis. The biggest breakthrough he achieved was to even retrieve all the communication that took place over past one year or so via these 96 devices.

Lately he was working on a project to develop a technology by which even the conversations that took place among various people even without using these powerful devices but still available in the space in the vicinity of these devices could be retrieved and decoded. Thus Amar would be able to hear the live conversations as well as record such conversations on his device and listen to them later.

Later he would consolidate all the information he gathered through various sources in a dossier and pass it on to Shakti for further analysis. Shakti would draw out some very vital inferences from the analytics.

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