Wednesday, September 30, 2015

The Peace Crusaders: Chapter 15

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A masked face appeared on the audio-visual that was released for telecast by all the news channels.

The masked man declared, “Let me begin by saying that I’m the head of a wing of a larger organization whose name will be made known in the near future. But for the time being feel satisfied with the knowledge that I’m representing the wing called “Fighter Revolutionaries of Economic Exploitation” or “FREE” for its short name. I had released an audio message earlier taking the responsibility for the blast that destroyed a few factories of Unon and Bigland. I had also mentioned that our actions had just started and we would intensify our attacks in the future. We are here to remove the yawning gap between the rich and the poor of this planet because it is the major reason for wars and terror actions. So I appeal to all the sensible citizens of this planet to support this noble cause. Let me now submit a very important clarification. These blasts were executed by our organization FREE and FREE alone. An impression was created in the minds of the people that the blasts were staged by the activists headed by one guy named Uttam fighting for justice and compensation to the victims of the gas leakage tragedy of Universal Chemicals plant at Lohab. I wish to put it straight on record that the blasts in the factories of Bigland and Unon have nothing to do with the gas leakage disaster of Nuplace. But in a way we indirectly supported their cause when we look at the blasts in retrospect. Uttam and his associates are absolutely unconnected with the blasts and also our organization FREE.”

Amar, Victor, and Uttam were watching the video on their TV screen in the shack situated in the densest forest of Desh. Amar had joined Victor and Uttam in the shack. Victor switched off the TV and turned to Uttam. He said, “This telecast was very important. Now you need not hide yourself anymore. You are free of all the charges.”

“What you say is true. I need not have to hide like a criminal now. However I’ve an important and unfinished task at my hand. I have yet to seek proper justice and fair compensation that the victims of the Lohab have a right on,” Uttam opined.

Before Victor could speak further, a faint beep beep sound filled the shack. Amar attended to the receiving audio message. It was from Adarsh from Bigland.

“Hi Adarsh, I’m Amar. What is the latest from you?

“Here is the latest development. My boss spoke with me sometime ago. President Korruptkin of Unon was in touch with my boss Gushnell. He is on lookout for a new personal bodyguard for himself. He insists that his new bodyguard should be of my caliber and I must approve him.”

“What happened to his existing one?”

“The existing one has lost his trust. Korruptkin has accused him of some conspiracies and sent him to jail. He feels threatened by the current terror-filled scenario of his country. Recent bomb blasts in some factories have shaken him.”

“Yes, that is quite understandable,” Amar said.

“Plus the workers of Universal Chemicals and many other factories of Unon have not liked the treatment meted out by the CEO Hardnuts to the victims of Lohab gas leak disaster. They believe that Korruptkin and Hardnuts and many other CEOs are in cahoots and often gang up against the workforce of Unon as well as of the countries where the manufacturing activities are outsourced.”

“So Korruptkin is under threat from two sides- the terrorists and his own people from the 99% club. Am I right?” Amar asked. He wanted to be sure that his assessment of the situation in Unon was correct.

“Yes. Your assessment of the situation is correct. Therefore he wants to appoint a new bodyguard at the earliest. I am supposed to report about it to my boss tomorrow.”

“So what do you propose to do?” Amar asked. Others in the shack listened to the conversation between Adarsh and Amar on the speak phone.

“You must have seen the recent telecast from the spokesperson of the terrorist organization FREE. Their declaration of owning the bomb blast of Unon leaves Uttam in the clear. Though I have not met Uttam in person, yet whatever information and photographs I have collected of him makes him a great candidate to take this position of personal bodyguard to Korruptkin. He is fighting for a great cause against the likes of Korruptkin and Hardnuts and he can be very useful to our mission too. By positioning him close to Korruptkin we can achieve our final objectives and in the process also help Uttam achieve his.”

“Yes, Victor and I corroborate your appraisal of Uttam. Uttam holds a great physique and possesses highly superior mental alertness. His passion to get the best compensation from Universal Chemicals for the Lohab gas victims adds a great deal to his qualifications. Your boss as well as president of Unon will like him for his overall personality. But the biggest hurdle is his looks. He has been in the news quite often and is a recognizable face. As of now Uttam is still a big enemy of Korruptkin and his cronies. We will need to change his looks drastically. We will also need to give him new identity, a new name. For your information Uttam is right here and listening to our conversation. Later we will share with you the entire story on how we met Uttam.”

“OK I will be eager to hear the story. For now please ask him his willingness to take up this job. Also will he be willing to undertake a plastic surgery to change his face and also to change his name?”

“Please hang on. Let me check.” Amar turned to Uttam and also looked at Victor to seek his approval of the plan. Victor gave an affirmative nod.

Uttam was also quite quick in making up his mind. He was highly passionate about getting the compensation for the gas victims and he somehow believed that by being part of this plan he might be able to achieve it. He told Amar and Victor, “I am game for it. Go ahead.”

Amar spoke in the speak phone, “You heard what Uttam just said?”

“I heard that. That takes things in the right direction. Please dispatch Uttam straight to me without any delay. President Gushnell wants me to fully train the person I select before handing him over to president Korruptkin.”

“And will you arrange his plastic surgery there?”

“I will organize the plastic surgery here. With minute changes at the crucial spots the face can be changed drastically. Also the technology here dramatically reduces the time required for the plastic surgery and the post operation treatment. The finesse will also be better. We are in a hurry to position the bodyguard of president Korruptkin. Hey Uttam, are you ready to come here the soonest possible?”

Uttam replied in the speak phone, “I can fly even tomorrow. My paperwork for traveling to Bigland, Unon, and a few other countries is quite in readiness. Will inform you the flight details.”

“Great. I will receive you at the airport here. Bye for now, all you guys there.” Adarsh signed off.

……….

Hardnuts, the CEO of Universal Chemicals felt somewhat disturbed by the recent telecast by the terrorist organization FREE. He and president Korruptkin had declared to the world that Uttam and his associates were the masterminds behind the bomb blast in the factories of Universal Chemicals and couple of other factories in Unon. But now FREE had taken the responsibility for those blast. Obviously Uttam was free of all the charges.

Hardnuts was desperate and rang Korruptkin, “Sir, you saw the telecast. FREE was behind all those blasts. Uttam is a free man now. We know how passionate he is about grabbing from us an astronomical sum as compensation for the victims of Lohab gas leak. He is once again going to prove a big headache to us. He will surely raise head once again.”

“Hardnuts, you are right. You must deal with this Uttam immediately and inform me. But frankly speaking destruction of your factories in the bomb blast, in fact, came as a boon- you got all the insurance money and the old plants had become quite obsolete. Though blasts resulted in the deaths of a few of your factory workers, we got away cheaply by giving some moderate compensation to the families of the deceased workers.” Korruptkin gave out a mild laughter.

“Sir, I agree with you. I will think about how to deal with Uttam. Also I need to get rid of the land and the factory building of Lohab in Nuplace. It could have brought fortunes had we sold it before the gas leakage episode. I am trying my best to dispose them off as soon as possible at the highest price I can negotiate.”

“That’s your headache provided you pass on the agreed amount to me after you are finished with these trivialities. Anyways, keep me posted.”

“Have a good day, sir.”

His conversation with the president did not pacify his anxiety. On the other hand it aggravated his worries. He was quite worried over these issues. On one hand he had to tackle the headache created by the possible resurfacing of Uttam and on the other hand he had to get rid of the property of Universal Chemicals at Lohab.

A few days passed with this kind of overburden of worries on him. Then one evening while he was brooding over the matters with a glass of hard drinks in his hand he heard a buzz on his telephone. He felt irritated by this untimely intrusion. He was in the middle of his thoughts on the two topics that were constantly bothering him. He spoke angrily, “Who’s that?”

“I am Vicky from Nuplace. I am interested in your property of Lohab. Am I speaking with Mr Hardnuts, the CEO of Universal Chemicals?”

Hardnuts’s countenance brightened. He thought that the telephone call was a good omen. He brought softness in his voice and spoke, “Hello Mr Vicky, I’m Hardnuts. Yes, I’m the CEO.”

Then he became impatient to hear the response.

“I want to meet you soon. I know that your previous efforts to sell the property failed because it did not fetch much money. My offer will be almost ten times the highest offer you have received so far. I’m sure you cannot refuse it. Can you give me a suitable date and time for our meeting? I am willing to travel to your place.”

“Wait a sec.”

While he asked Vicky to hang on, Hardnuts rang Korruptkin from his other phone. He briefed the president about Vicky and his offer. Then he checked up, “Will you like to be in the meeting sir?”

“I will like to be in the meeting. Ask him to come here at his earliest convenience. Let me know the date and time of meeting after you finalize with him,” the president said.

“Sir, I wish to involve Nuplace’s president Darpok also in this meeting. We will need his seal on this deal for it to become legal. Also as you know he did a favor to me by helping me to slip out of his country safely at the time of Lohab gas episode. I will like to return the favor by dishing out some money to him, which I will additionally extract from this man Vicky. We wouldn’t lose anything.”

“OK. Call Darpok for the meeting.”

Hardnuts picked up the other phone and spoke with Vicky, “When can you meet us in Unon?”

“May 1 suits me the best as of now. Is that OK with you?” inquired Vicky.

“OK with me. Vicky, so please make it on May 1 at 8 PM at the presidential vacation home. President Korruptkin will like to be present in the meeting. His involvement is necessary, as the whole thing has taken a political turn. I am inviting your president Darpok too to put his governmental seal and close the deal.”

“Do you think my president will come at this short notice?”

“Leave it to me. We have developed a good personal understanding with each other. He will not reject my invitation despite the short notice,” Hardnuts said.

“As far as I am concerned, it’s a done thing. I am eager to finalize the deal as soon as possible. I will be there as desired by you. I extend my special thanks to you for roping in Mr Darpok. We can thus finalize the deal in every respect in the shortest possible time without any recourse to the red tape in my country. Also you will get your money immediately. Thanks again, Bye.”

“Bye.”

Hardnuts felt quite relieved. Now he had a reason to enjoy his drinks.
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Tuesday, September 15, 2015

The Peace Crusaders: Chapter 14

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A motorbike was piercing through the blackout @ 400 kilometers an hour. It was pitch dark in the midnight of a no moon day. Occasionally light emanating from the tails of the glowworms disturbed the darkness. Pin drop silence pervaded the entire dense jungle. The muffled sound of the otherwise powerfully noisy engine and chirping of thousands of crickets were the only sounds the rider of the bike experienced.

Victor was in a hurry to reach the shack. He was expecting some important messages from Shakti in the shack.

He sensed something unusual. At a distance, behind a large sprawling tree he saw a streak of sharp light. In fact the tree came in sight due to presence of the light. He spoke to himself, “That is something very strange. It is the first time I am ever feeling the presence of any other human being in this forest. I guess someone is holding a flashlight and directing it toward some nearby object. It is a dangerous sign for us. I must probe into it immediately.”

He applied the brake of the bike gradually. He didn’t want to alarm the intruder. The sudden stoppage of the bike could have resulted in a screeching noise. Victor thought, “I cannot take slightest of risk. This man could become a problem element of our mission. I must find out who he is.”

Victor parked the bike. He retrieved a pistol from the glove compartment of the bike and cautiously moved toward the person with the flashlight. The person with the flashlight was startled as Victor shouted, “Hands up! Don’t move an inch or I will shoot you with my gun.”

The intruder raised his hands above his shoulders indicating his surrender to Victor. Victor was quick to snatch the flashlight from him.

“I will like to search you thoroughly. Do you have any belongings? I will like to search them too. By the way what is your name?”

“Uttam. My name is Uttam,” came the reply.

“Show me your belongings.”

“I have just about one small suitcase and it is lying there.” Uttam pointed toward a nearby tree.

Victor asked him to remove his shoes, socks, belt, and jacket. Then he did thorough body search of Uttam. He did not find any weapon or any other hazardous thing on his person. Then he pushed him toward the tree and ordered, “Open your suitcase and empty its contents one by one.”

Uttam obeyed Victor. Victor did not notice anything in the suitcase that could harm anyone. He asked Uttam, “Now tell me what are you doing in this thick forest in the dead of a dark night?”

“This is not my first day. I have been hiding in this jungle from the day I was declared the most sought after terrorist by the two countries Unon and Bigland. But let me hurriedly say that I am not at all a terrorist.”

“Then who are you and why are you hiding?”

“Are you aware of the gas leakage disaster of Universal Chemicals? It happened at a town called Lohab in my country Nuplace.”

“Who is not aware of it? It was the worst disaster that killed far more people than a war does. I have been following up the events that took place post the disaster. Wait; are you the same Uttam who took the lead in negotiating the compensation from Universal Chemicals? Are you not the same person who did his best but failed to get the money from the company’s corporate office in Unon? Even your own government didn’t support you!” Victor asked.

Uttam replied, “Then you must have also heard about the blasts that took place in two factories of Universal Chemicals in Unon and three factories of another corporation in Bigland. The factories and the offices in these two powerful countries were totally demolished due to the blasts,” Uttam said.

Before Uttam could utter another word Victor said, “So you are that culprit, the mastermind behind all these blasts?”

“No. I am not. I sincerely and honestly tell you I wasn’t involved in the blasts. I am not a type of person who will like to see so many innocent people being killed. If you recall a self-proclaimed group called “Fighter Revolutionaries of Economic Exploitation (FREE)” took responsibility of the blasts. It had released an audio recording concerning the blasts in Unon and Bigland.”

“That must be you. The audio message was quite related to the situations you and your workers were facing in your company,” Victor surmised.

Uttam clarified, “That was to mislead the audience. It was to connect the blasts in Unon and Bigland to me. Even they named the group as “Fighter Revolutionaries of Economic Exploitation (FREE)” to mislead. They wanted Unon and Bigland to focus on me. These countries fell in their trap.”

“Yes, they listed you the most wanted man.”

“I wanted to survive. I wanted to be alive to still fight for getting the rightful compensation from Universal Chemicals for the workers and citizens of my town Lohab. So I immediately flew out of my country and came to Desh- to your country. I disguised myself. I hid in all kinds of places. I went on searching for a real safe place. With very great difficulty I finally found this dense jungle that is totally marooned. I sleep under the trees and everyday I keep changing the locations in this forest. Today for the first time I lit the flashlight that too in the dead of night and I was caught by you.”

“I don’t know how much I should trust you. So till I confirm what you are saying is correct, you will remain in my captivity. Collect your suitcase and come with me.”

Victor and Uttam walked toward the motorcycle. Victor zoomed his bike toward the shack with Uttam at the pillion.

 In the shack the communication machine was purring. Victor spoke in it, “Hey Shakti, how are you doing? Hope I didn’t make you wait.”

 “Where were you? I rang you exactly at the appointed time. You are late by five full minutes.” Shakti was on the other end of the line.

 “I am really sorry. A new development took place while I was on my way to the shack. I noticed an intruder in our jungle. I have brought him here. His name is Uttam. You remember we spoke about him when we reviewed the incidents of gas leakage disaster of Lohab of Nuplace. We thought he was the mastermind of the factory blasts in Unon and Bigland. From the information collected till then we thought that through his terror group “FREE” he was infusing terror in these countries to press his demand for higher compensation to the victims of the gas tragedy.”

 “Victor, that conclusion was not correct. In the meantime Amar hacked a few more of the 96 communication devices. Particularly he has extracted past one year’s conversations that took place on Maramar’s and Sharifyar’s communication systems. Amar gets 100% marks for his hacking skills; hats off to him. I analyzed all the information I got from Amar. The analysis pinpoints not at Uttam but at Sharifyar.”

 “You need to tell me more in order for me to understand this new angle,” said Victor.

 “Victor, you already know that the cracks between the friendship of Gushnell and Maramar resulted in Gushnell’s threat of war on Seher. Gushnell, through his intelligence agencies knows Sharifyar’s intentions of planning a coup against Maramar. So he has joined hands with Sharifyar. Sharifyar wants to take advantage of this situation to achieve his many objectives. Therefore he has agreed to collude with Gushnell.”

 “I can’t fully comprehend Sharifyar’s collusion with Gushnell?”

 “Sharifyar is aiming many things at a time. He wants to become the legal custodian of his country Seher with the help of Gushnell. Then once he gets all the powers of the head of the state he will systematically and legally unroll his revenge on the people of Hennothenic faith of Bigland. He will impose sanctions on Bigland so that the cheap oil supply from the overflowing wells of Seher to Bigland will be totally cut off. He will start terror attacks with gorilla tactics in which he is highly adept.”

 “That is ridiculous. Terror attacks by a recognized head of the state?” Victor expressed his bewilderment.

 “Let me answer that. Amar has been able to retrieve some conversations that keep taking place between Sharifyar and his confidant who works for him. Amar does some jugglery with his electronic equipment that gets connected with the environment where any conversation is taking place and which he wants to listen to. He has been able to hear many such conversations that give us very accurate pieces of inside information. Lately he could hear strings of conversations between Sharifyar and his confidant.”

 “Tell me more. I am curious.”

 “So to answer your question, Sharifyar does not find any difference between the conventional wars and terror. He says that the organized wars by the established legal governments have been killing far larger numbers of people than what the terror attacks have done.”

 “What else is his take on it?”

 “He says that the powerful countries have been waging wars on many other countries. That is one style of fighting the enemy and is acceptable to the so-called civilized society. But he will be using another style. However when someone uses his style without being part of an established government, it is called terror. But the same thing is called war- an acceptable war- when the same person or group of persons who occupy the seats of power legally in the government of a country does it. So soon he will become the head of Seher and he will use his style of war against all of those who humiliated him. He will openly call his terror a war.”

 For a moment the communication seemed to pause. Then Victor said, “Well, that makes me to think. One thing is sure. Both, whether you call it war or terror, they kill people. They kill both types of people, people who stage or fight war and those who stage an act of terror or face terror. Both also kill lots of civilians. Anyways it is a complicated subject. Please tell me more.”

 “Yes. So Sharifyar will embrace terror to take revenge. He wants to punish all the people who belong to Hennothenics faith- mainly the people of Bigland and Unon and such countries of Eastern hemisphere of our planet. And now let me reveal one important thing. Well before taking over as the head of Seher, he has already started his terror attacks.”

 “Which ones?”

 “One of his groups that fights the economic disparities and human exploitations called “Fighter Revolutionaries of Economic Exploitation” short form being “FREE” already attacked factories and offices in Unon and Bigland. Amar heard this revelation made by Sharifyar to his confidant. Sharifyar is going to own those terror attacks very soon and make it public. He wants to correct the public impression, which believes that Uttam the leader of the gas leakage victims of town Lohab of Nuplace country launched the terror attacks. He wants the public and governments of planet Berth to know that he was responsible for those deadly attacks and Uttam was not the mastermind behind them. He feels mighty proud of those terror attacks- his first ones to be followed by many more.”

 Victor listened to this piece of information very carefully. “Any other details you wish to fill me with?” Victor was curious to know if Shakti had some more news to share with him.

 “None. And what a coincidence! I wanted to pass on the information related to the factory blasts in Unon and Bigland and you wanted a story that would prove innocence or otherwise of Uttam. Uttam is in the clear. He is absolutely innocent. But keep him with you and fully support him till he gets the best compensation from Universal Chemicals. One more thing I wish to share,”

 Shakti said.

 “OK. Tell me.”

 “King Maramar has a habit of using one person called Zahin as his sounding board. Also he uses this person to pass on his orders to carry out all the atrocities on the public of Seher. The atrocities include spying, torture, and murders of people who oppose Maramar etc. Maramar has appointed Zahin his chief financial and war strategist. But that is only a glamorous designation. The fact is Zahin has zero powers. He is just an overpaid pawn in the hands of Maramar. But people now believe that Zahin is the real villain and Maramar is advised by him on all the issues related to finance and national security.”

 “How is this information relevant to our mission?”

 “After Amar gathered this information about Zahin, he requested Adarsh to dig out complete background of Zahin. What Adarsh found about Zahin is quite startling. Zahin has an excellent family background. His family holds very high human values. But it’s a huge family with numerous family members and very little family income. So after finishing his MBA as a gold medalist of a top most business school of Bigland, he returned to Seher and to support his family financially he took up a job in king Maramar’s secretariat. Soon he impressed Maramar with his academic brilliance and utmost loyalty. Maramar promoted him in quick successions and soon made him his chief financial and war strategist. To begin with everything seemed OK to Zahin but soon he realized that he had complexly got entangled in the clutches of Maramar. Maramar paid him a very high salary to keep his mouth and mind shut.”

 “What you are hinting at is that Zahin is in a real fix now and despite his decent background he has been compelled by Maramar to carry out the dirty business. He may still be man of clean conscious and if we help him out of the fix he can give us lot more inside information,” Victor paraphrased his own understanding and waited for reaction.

 “Your conclusion seems plausible. Let us hope that way. We should work on Zahin a bit more but with lot of caution. Also look after Uttam well. Being a very good chemist and having worked in a chemical plant, he may be good at preparing formulas. We may need such a person.” Shakti warned. 

 “And now let me say bye to you.”

 “Bye for now,” said Victor and signed off.
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