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

by Rusul A. Altaay

  Chapter 34

  We’re Mountains

  The International Peace Agency had to have an emergency meeting. Many presidents were discussing the future of Estil.

  “What’s happening in Estil is a joke. A country cannot just be divided like that. Not at the hands of terrorists anyway.”

  “We still do not know how legit they are, or if they really have the satellites they said they have.”

  “What if they are for real? Do we want to take chances?”

  “Are you saying that we should just let them do as they please?”

  “Of course not, but is it worth the risk?”

  “President Lion? We have not heard your voice yet.”

  “I will not let them take Estil from me. I am willing to burn that Orb of theirs to the ground than let them have a piece of Estil.”

  “It may not be up to you Mr. President. You have failed Estil. You have failed us all.”

  “We have a deal. You cannot just get rid of me as easily as you think. If that was the case, you would not have bothered saving me from the attack on the capital.”

  “Deals change… You were told to exile the entire nation. Now, your country got divided. There is no deal after Orb declared its independence.”

  “Do you think it’s that easy? People fight back.”

  In that moment, a very load of sound of explosion came from outside the windows of the meeting place. Everyone panicked and started making phone calls to determine what happened. Seconds later, Aser and his crew entered the room surrounded by security guards.

  “How did you get in here? Were you responsible for that explosion?”

  Aser replied while pointing to his guards to surround the room.

  “That was just a demonstration of what we can do. Please look out the window on your left. We made President’s Lion car disappear. By disappear, I mean explode. And yes, we did this with the satellites we promised we have.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Simple, we want you to leave us alone. Also, we are taking Maki Lion as a war criminal.”

  “I’m afraid things are not that simple Dr. Aser. You can’t just declare independency like that and divide a country the way you did.”

  “I did what I had to save the people you all failed miserably in protecting. The people of Estil suffered for years. Enough is enough.”

  Rain, who was standing right behind Aser, could not take it anymore. He moved forward and hit the table that everyone was sitting around and said with a very serious voice,

  “You all listen to me very carefully… Tens of years have passed while you all sat on these same chairs doing the exact same thing. Which is nothing… We saw people get killed. Families destroyed. Orphans with nowhere to go. We got hungry and did not have anything to eat. No homes to go back to. We kept quiet for years. So, do not dare come telling us what to do and how to live our lives. Estil is our country. Orb is our escape route until we can save more people. You will publicly declare us independent and approve of Dr. Aser as a president until the people elect someone else. AND you will give us Maki Lion as he will be treated as a prisoner in his own country. OR I SWEAR, you will regret the moment you chose to turn your eyes away from what was happening in Estil.”

  From the moment Aser and his people entered that room, everything was broadcasted live to millions of people around the globe. As soon as Rain finished his last word, the broadcast stopped. And no one knew what exactly happened after that.

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  In Orb, Everyone, including myself, are sitting not sure what to think. It has been few day since that broadcast. I thought it was a good use of my time to finish writing about what was going on. However, I have not written anything for days because there was nothing to write. Could this be it? Sidra is actually standing just across from me. She’s looking at some stuff and maps on the main screen in the command room. Someone just walked in the room.

  “Everyone, we received news that a private jet just left the IPA’s location. Our intel assured us that Maki Lion is on board.” A commander is saying.

  “Then, they have failed. I thought something was not right.” Sidra just said. She is raising her head and saying, “We cannot let Lion live. Let’s shoot his plane down.”

  The commander just agreed to her suggestion. I’m not so sure what they are thinking. The preparations to access the satellites are starting. I see people working on their computers like crazy. It’s actually happening. President Maki Lion is going to die.

  Everything has been finalized. The countdown is starting.

  “Five, four, three, two, one and…”

  “WAIT!” I shout.

  “What’s wrong?” The commander is asking me.

  “What if you were wrong? Something does not add up in here?” I just said.

  “FIRE!” Sidra ordered.

  Sidra completely ignored me. On the bright side, it’s finally happened. The plane is down. We could see it on the screen turning to dust. Are we really free? I cannot shake that bad feeling away. Wait, something is happening. Breaking news on TV…

  The news lady has just said, “The plane of the new president of Orb, the diverged country of Estil, was just shot down… I repeat… Dr. Aser is dead…”

  “What on earth are they talking about? I think they meant to say President Maki Lion is dead.” The commander is commenting.

  On the news, “Dr. Aser and his crew had just left the International Peace Agency’s headquarters when their plane was shot down. We will give you more about the names of the people on the plane as they become available.”

  Someone just walked in to the room with a message. He is saying,

  “It seems that Dr. Aser and the guys were given one of president Lion’s private jets. Lion was never on that plane. Everyone else who left with Aser was on that plane”

  “No… This is not happening… They made us kill Aser on purpose. They tricked us.” The commander is saying.

  “Did I just help murder my mother and fiancé? Did this really happen? Did I kill mother and Rain along with Aser and the rest?” Sidra just said.

  She seems unable to stand. This was supposed to be over. But it seems like we are back to square one.

  More on the news, “It was just confirmed that Dr. Aser was indeed on that plane along with Rain Allam who tried forcing the IPA to approve the declaration of Orb. We all saw him threatening global leaders few days ago, during the IPA’s emergency meeting. Rain is also the son of Hazeem Allam, the former Sargent Major of Estil’s army. The word on the street is that Dr. Aser and his people were killed because the IPA did not want Orb to become a country on its own.”

  “We failed… It’s over.” People around me are saying.

  But all I can think of is how Sidra is feeling right now. She killed them. She just killed her mother and Rain. The man she promised that she is going to merry in less than a month. More things are going on at the moment. People on the streets outside are just going crazy. Here is more on the news:

  “Reporting live from Estil. We are on a helicopter right above the capital of Estil which was just destroyed less than a month ago. As you can see, millions of people in Estil have gone out to the streets screaming. “We’re mountains” is the name of the uprising. It’s amazing what I’m hearing right now. We are watching history being made.”

  Glory, Shine, Birds, Light, and Clouds

  Amazingly beautiful

  We’ll protect with our bodies, flesh, and bones

  And the struggle banner shall rise

  In the face of the oppressive and the aggressor

  We are mountains

  In the face of the dictator, we are mountains

  And the enemies, regardless of whom they are

  Shall be disrespected

  No matter what they ruin

  Ignite fire

  Transmit destruction

  We are mountains

  We are mountains no matter
what they destroy and demolish

  We shall dispose of the rival

  It’s really hard for me to explain all the craziness that is happening. The upset look on Sidra’s face as she is looking at the screen is almost disturbing. She just killed her loved ones. She does not seem sad or angry. I can see the shocked expression with a hint of joy. I’m not sure what to make of her looks. I could tell that she’s almost smiling looking at the news. Could this have been her plan all along? Did she kill them on purpose? But why? Was she not who I thought she was? Was I wrong about her? But she’s the most honest person I’ve known. I really hope that the death of Aser, Rain, Jenna, and the others was indeed an accident. I do not think I can forgive her if she killed them on purpose.

  Few days have passed. The people on the streets are getting angrier by the hour. There are more people on the streets now than there were few days ago when the whole thing started. Everyone is so mad after they lost their final hope. They really thought that peace was coming, and that at least part of Estil will have its freedom. However, everyone on the streets wants all of Estil to join Orb. They want to unite the nation under one leader. No one heard anything from Maki Lion yet. He could be dead as well, who knows.

  Something interesting is happening right now. According to the news, what’s left of Estil’s army is trying to join Orb. Thousands of Estil’s soldiers are surrendering the area as I write. Sidra did not leave her room for the past three days, but today she was forced to leave. Her presence was required at the main gate of Orb. She’s helping brining people in. Orb became the new name for the entire northern region of Estil.

  Few hours later:

  It seems that the word of people was stronger than anything else. Estil’s old and new armies are working together, so Orb can have a complete control over Estil. We were told that Sidra, the speaker of Orb, will give a speech in the next few minutes.

  It’s happening… Orb’s logo just appeared on TV. Sidra is on TV.

  “In the name of God… People of this great nation... Your voice was heard. You have finally come together as one united nation. You have finally put a hand in hand to ask for what you want. It brings tears to my eyes seeing the millions of people on TV screaming ‘FREEDOM’.

  For freedom you asked and freedom you shall get. Unity you wanted, and unity you have. We are no longer asking for Orb to become an independent country. We are announcing Estil as a one united country once again. And Orb shall be the name of the capital that was once destroyed. The IPA has just announced the legitimization of Estil as one nation and Aser as the president. With no further do, let me present to you, your leader, Dr. Aser.”

  “Aser? What’s going on? He was killed. We killed him, didn’t we?” Everyone around me is saying.

  I am as shocked as everyone else, but Aser has just appeared on TV.

  “I know that you have many questions. As you can see, I’m not dead. People of Estil, all we ever wanted was to see you for once ask for your rights. We wanted you to fight for your freedom. I wanted to lead country to its glories years. In order to do that, I had to make sure that you were with me. Seeing millions of you in the capital asking for unity and freedom, just brought joy to my heart. Seeing people trying to clean and rebuild the capital just made me realized how much you really wanted to live. I cannot wait to see the great things we can accomplish together. To the top shall we go, and on the top shall we die. The hard work has just begun. Let’s show everyone who we really are.”

  This is just crazy. No one was expecting this at all, and for Sidra to be a part of it? I could hear screams of joy of every one on TV. Also, they have just announced that Maki Lion is in a prison and that he will be treated as a war prisoner. Everyone is so happy. I have never seen that much joy in Estil. Aser and the rest of the group just got back to Orb. Commander Hazeem was with them as well. His connections were able to release him with the chaos that happened in the country.

  “Welcome back, Rain. How have you been?” Sidra asked Rain with a smile.

  “Could not be happier. Especially that I am getting married in two weeks.” Rain said and hugged her.

  I’m just so happy for them. They are two of the most honest, brave, and loved people. I cannot believe that I doubted Sidra for a second. That was Sidra’s last minute plan. After the IPA refused to declare Orb’s independency, she decided that they should free Estil entirely not just part of it. But first, they needed the help of the people. They hoped that the news of Aser’s death would move the people. So, they sent a self-piloted jet and destroyed it as soon as it was airborne.

  Then, they leaked to the news that Aser and everyone else were on it. Once the people realized that they had lost the man who was fighting for them, they lost it. But they also realized that freedom is indeed achievable. As soon as the army showed interest in joining Orb, there was no reason to fear Estil anymore. Now, everyone is working together. Estil’s army is under the control of Aser. He had already shown interest in rebuilding the destroyed cities. Peace is indeed coming to Estil. We just need faith. We have all put our trust in God and ourselves to rebuild what was destroyed. Also, they will announce some candidates for the presidency. Mr. Aser had kept his word of having an elected president for Estil.