National Exile: A 21st Century Novel about Nobility, Poverty, and Cruelty

by Rusul A. Altaay

  Chapter 28

  The Bracelet

  At the base, Aser was very pleased with the results.

  “That was great. It will get the message to him for sure.” Aser said.

  “I sure hope so.” Sidra said. “This is by far the craziest step that I have taken towards putting an end to this war. If we don’t hear back from him soon, I wouldn’t know what to do.”

  “He wouldn’t pass such an opportunity to restore the order in the country. Trust me… He’s as desperate as we are. Just sit and wait for his speech back.” Aser said with a confidant voice.

  “Yeah, you’re right. Where is Rayan? I needed to ask him something?” Sidra asked.

  “I’m here…” Rayan replied from behind. “What did you want to ask? And that was a great speech by the way.”

  “Thank you. And I was going to ask about what happened at the Burj earlier. We were just so caught up with everything that I completely forgot. You said a new commander got control over the Burj?” She asked.

  “Oh yeah, they said he was some big deal. His name is Hazeem. That’s all I know.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah… Why?”

  “He happens to be Rain’s father.”

  “What? Aren’t Rain and the others at the Burj now?” Rayan asked.

  “I don’t know what happened to them. But I think that they’re still there. I was so mad after the destruction of the orphanage. I stopped thinking about them. I just wanted a plan to make some progress in this bloody war.” Sidra said.

  “They are in good hands. Hazeem would never hurt his son.” Aser added to the conversation.

  “I never understood that man’s position in all of this.” Sidra said.

  “He’s doing exactly what you are trying to do now. Keep your friends close and your enemy closer.” Aser said.

  “I bet Rain is so mad at me right now.” Sidra said.

  “I would if I were him. You left without a word then you just pop-up on TV like that? It’s crazy.” Rayan said.

  “Thanks… That does not make me feel better at all.”

  “Don’t worry… He’s just going to yell at you then forgive you eventually.” Rayan said.

  “We’ll see about that.”

  Nothing significant happened over the next day. The public was not sure what to make out of Sidra’s speech. Some wanted her to be their representative to report their sufferings. Others wanted her dead because she seemed like she was not against Maki Lion. The majority of people at the time wanted president Lion to step down. The president had failed to provide the people with their basic day to day needs. He also started a war against anyone that opposed him. He had made it very clear that he would never step down and leave the presidency of Estil to anyone else. He had, on countless speeches, made it very clear that he would not give Estil, even if it meant burning it to the grounds. He would make fake elections every four years and ask people to vote for or against him. The results would always turn out to be for him. And any one dared voted otherwise, got killed.

  It was not long until president Lion appeared on TV to give a speech in regards to what was happening in the country. The speech was so long and super boring. He made many lies about why the country was going down hell, and why the people were dying out of hunger. He also lied about why he was killing people. He kept calling everyone who did not agree with him a terrorist. The only part that I still remember about that speech was the following:

  “In regards to the new face that appeared on TV, lady Sidra. We believe that hacking our main channels was a huge mistake and absolutely unacceptable. If such acts were to happen again, we will not be tolerated in regards to the ones responsible. However, we believe that lady Sidra had spoken the truth. We believe that we can and will change things to the better. In order to do so, we will need all the help we can get. We would like to ask lady Sidra to join us in the fight against the terrorism and anyone who does not want this country to move forward. We would like to invite her to the secured area of the capital, the Green Zone, to discuss further plans for the future of this great nation, Estil.”

  “I told you he’s going to get your message.” Aser said.

  “Yeah, he did as predicted.” Sidra replied.

  “I really hope you know what you’re doing. There is a good chance that this is just a trap. He might kill you the moment you get to the capital.” Rayan pointed out.

  “He would not destroy his image in front of the public like that. Also, I’ll make sure that the media is following me each and every step of the way.” Sidra said.

  “There is something that I wanted the two of you to see. Please follow me to the electronics lab.” Aser said.

  They walked out of the room and followed the strip of light to an elevator. It took them deep down for about five levels. They walked out of the elevator into a large lab full of equipment and devices. They stopped at a small box made out of glass. Inside the box, there was a transparent looking bracelet. The bracelet turned to green as soon as Aser touched it.

  “This bracelet looks exactly like the one you insisted we include in the logo.” Sidra noticed.

  “Exactly, from now on, you trust only those who have a similar one. I have distributed many of them to our allies. The color of the bracelet will remain transparent and unseen to the normal eye.

  It will turn to green if it touches or comes within few inches of another bracelet. It will turn to red if voice activated. Once it’s red, it sends an emergency signal to the nearby bracelets asking for help with the exact location. So it works as a great tracking device. It can never be detected through metal detectors since it does not contain any metal. It does work as a communication device if needed as well.

  And one more thing, it can be a deadly bomb if the color turned to purple. The purple code is activated with voice command as well. Any questions?” Aser explained. “Oh, wait, I forgot one more thing, once it’s on, it can never get off unless it’s purple.”

  “Since it can’t be seen without activation, how do I know who has it and who does not?” Sidra asked.

  “Your job is not to look for allies. Your job is to destroy Lion’s administration from the inside.” He answered.

  “Understood.” Sidra confirmed.

  Few days later, Sidra got to the capital surrounded with cameras and the media. It was the first time Estil’s administration had announced any steps towards improving the situation in the country. Sidra successfully found her way to meet with President Maki Lion himself, or so she thought.

  -----------------------------

  At the Burj, Rain was very worried about what Sidra got herself involved with.

  “This is what I was afraid of. She’s going to get involved in the capital. They’re going to kill her. What was she thinking?” Rain thought.

  “We received interesting signals. Rain, would you care to have a look in the control room?” Laith asked.

  “What kinds of signals?” He asked.

  “Actually it looks more of a song than anything else. Here, I printed it on paper.” Laith said and gave Rain the paper which contained the following:

  When I look back in time

  Images from my past come to me

  Phantom memories that became stories

  Which comes then goes

  I looked with my other eyes

  The colors had changed

  It talks to me, it teaches me

  That what happened, happened

  Oh time, I’ll draw you with what’s forgotten

  Garden flowers

  That bloom when it is time

  Oh time, I’ll write the tears and sadness

  In a book with no title

  I will not go back

  I will not be meeting with the past

  “It’s Sidra’s method of communication.” Rain realized.

  All of a sudden, a voice was heard over the speakers everywhere in the Burj. It was a woman’s voice over.

  “To
all units, please gather in the main conference room. To all units, please gather in the main conference room, immediately.”

  “What does the commander wants this time?” Laith questioned.

  “I don’t have time for this now. Let’s just go and get it over with. He wouldn’t leave us alone.” Rain said.

  Everyone went to the conference room. They waited for about 15 minutes until the commander showed up.

  “I asked you here today because I happened to think it’s time we moved. It’s time we restored the balance in our nation. What I’m about to say shall never leave this room. I will not be tolerated against anyone who might disregard my orders. We are going to assassinate President Maki Lion.” Commander Hazeem said.

  Rain: “I’m sorry. What?”

  Hazeem: “What you just heard.”

  Rain: “This is insane. I’m sure you know how many people tried doing that before.”

  Hazeem: “This time it’s different. We have someone in the inside. I’m sure you know who I’m talking about.”

  Rain: “No way? She was working for you?”

  Hazeem: “No… But you do.”

  Their plan had one and only one goal. Kill the President of Estil. Perhaps that was one of the most dangerous plans they had ever come up with. That moment was the beginning of the end to the capital of Estil. The main problem with that war was that everyone wanted to plan as they saw fit. The lack of organization between the risers and any other fighting forces almost caused the destruction of the entire nation. It was one of the darkest periods in the history. Maybe I should not say “was” because that was not that long ago.