Whoever Kills The Innocent

by Lothar Birkner

  The four unanimously decided they must first have more and detailed information, especially how many people are in there.

  Sandy was the only one of the small group who had a gun. Andrea had given proof that she could act courageously. But the other two in a fight? “Forget it,” Sandy thought. They had to explore the situation first. But how?

  Meanwhile Martin/Saleh went back into the house.

  “Let's go around the whole property,” Bian proposed. "Maybe there's a chance to learn something more.”

  Said and done.

  But for the first time, they found nothing, only the fresh tire tracks leading to the gate of the backyard. Through a gap next to the gate, they saw that there was a garage door on the other side of the court. Andrea didn’t hesitate. She nimbly climbed over the wall and went to the garage door.

  Bian called her with a low voice, "Take care, Andrea.”

  But Andrea didn’t listen to this. And the garage door was not locked. There was a broad double garage and she came upon a van and Bruno's taxi.

  The women who were still outside saw this too and gasped.

  Bian would have liked to give a shout of joy, but she managed to stay calm. They were actually on the right track. But what to do now?

  While all were still thinking about what to do, Anwar came out of the House. He immediately noticed the open garage door.

  “Saleh, you opened the door of the garage?” he asked loudly.

  "No, of course not,” Saleh answered.

  Now Anwar was sure something was not okay. He entered the garage, shortly after Andrea had been able to hide between the front seats and rear seats and she quickly laid down on the floor of the car. Anwar came nearer and wanted to have a closer look.

  Suddenly a loud bang came from outside. His head flew around right to front of the wall. Someone must have shot!

  Saleh put his head out of the door. “What's going on?” he asked.

  “Somebody shot here very close to the house!”

  “I'm just looking after the two and in a few seconds I`ll be with you, then we look together at what`s there,” Saleh said.

  *******

  Bruno was pretty clueless. First he had thought Martin, who is now called Saleh, was his friend. They both criticized capitalism and they hated the greed of rich people and both felt a deep hostility toward the US imperialism. And now he found himself betrayed by Martin and Anwar. Saleh had bound him and even put a gag in his mouth. He felt the handcuffs cutting his wrists. Gerster, who was tied up before, now also had a gag in his mouth. After they had heard a shot, everything happened so quickly and now both Bruno and Gerster had become prisoners of the Islamic terrorist.

  Yes, he promised to help them to get Gerster’s laptop.

  He had just been curious why it was so important. He had not thought of something very evil. Of course, this Gerster had probably something to do with an energy company based in Brussels. And he was often at the nuclear power plant Tihange in Belgium. At the Technical University in Aachen and Research Center Jülich. He was a manager of a large corporation. And Bruno felt such corporations among their political enemies, in any case. Stealing a laptop could be not so bad, he had thought.

  But he had no idea why it was so important for his friends and he had not thought that such secret files were naturally protected. And it had Bruno shocked as brutal and ruthless his friends had been to get the password from Gerster.

  Yes, theoretically he has endorsed violence that served the higher purpose. But it was something different to think so theoretically or do it for real. To feel the fear of the victim and the ruthless violence of the perpetrators.

  Bruno was very thoughtful; a lifetime passed him at once.

  In childhood, he has been a good boy, followed his parents. He had been an altar boy. Diligent and eager to learn at school.

  His world was then safe and in good order.

  Later towards the end of the school, he had been rebellious against everything. His parents seemed to him stuffy and focused only on narrow-minded material happiness. The Church was full of dishonesty and sexually bound, as he felt.

  His teachers appeared to him most of the time completely overcharged and often not interested in real education. The whole world was dominated by the profit interests of the rich.

  He went to school and read Marx Lenin, Marcuse, and Mitscherlich, Freud and Jung and much more. He heard about old Nazis, who were still in high positions. He learned of exploitation and of theories about monopoly capitalism. But they were all just theories, academic talk.

  Then, he met people who did not talk but acted. They didn`t want a boring and corrupt march through the institutions and main stream parties. They began a real revolutionary fight, as Bruno thought at that time. Against capitalism, against big banks and reactionary politicians.

  Bruno was always full of romantic feelings and the flair of the revolutionary impressed him greatly. But he was not very courageous. So he didn`t dare to join those people directly and fight in the first row of their revolutionary fight. He had met Martin at the time, and he found a lot of ways how Bruno was able to support the struggle of the revolutionary RED Army Group, called RAF. One way was, for example, renting apartments. And the fact that nobody knew him and brought him in connection with the left-wing RAF was helpful and an important advantage. So he could hide comrades, and he often saved, especially Martin, from the being arrested by police. As at last the RAF temporarily gave up the fight. Bruno remained the eternal student without ideological home. And while others had worked on their modest or more successful professional careers, he had gained nothing.

  So years had gone.

  He had complained about the injustice of the world, but at the same time found his way in a very modest but comfortable life. Because Bian and himself had lived together, he was not unhappy under the line.

  And then Martin showed up at once, and Bruno's old passion for the fight against an unjust system was already ignited again. But this time, he was involved directly in it because he knew Gerster and his help to get the laptop was obviously very important for Martin/Saleh and his teammates. Bruno was persuaded by Saleh and Anwar to lure Gerster in an ambush, as Bruno thought only to take off the laptop. But now Gerster was their prisoner. And then they heard that shot outside. Suddenly Bruno became a prisoner too. Martin pushed a gag in his mouth and chained him with a handcuff together with Gerster. Obviously, they did not trust Bruno.

  For what purpose was the laptop data needed? Gerster had to do with the nuclear power plant in Tihange.

  A meltdown there and west wind... Millions of people in Belgium and West German cities would take heavy damage.

  “I hopefully think in the wrong direction,” Bruno wished now. Would they really want to go as far? But he knew from personal experience that people get a tunnel view if they ideologically have committed themselves to a goal. Everything is sacrificed to this aim and at once the aim justifies any means.

  He knew this worldview is very easy and convenient. Everything bad was dependent on an underlying problem. For example, there was exploitation and a system that supported exploitation, or there were the enemies of Allah and their system. If this system was destroyed, all evil in the world was already wiped out. That`s the reason why all means were allowed to crush this bad system.

  But are things really that simple?

  “Strange. You get many important questions or answers only, if it's too late,” Bruno thought. “Now I sit here bound and gagged along with Gerster, whom I betrayed. I can do nothing.”

  After the shot had fallen the two were out on the road.

  Minutes seemed hours for him.

  He looked at Gerster, but he obviously ignored his gaze.

  What was going on out there?

  ********

  Sandy had quickly recognized the situation when she saw the Arab entering the garage, and looking around where Andrea had just hidden. Now action was called for. Either go in and help or distract. A
s she didn’t know how strong the others were all together, she decided on distraction. she took her ever-present her gun and shot in the air.

  The shot was loud and heard even far away. The Arab immediately turned away from the garage. The women heard a brief, heated exchange of words--in German. Just a few seconds later, two men left the house, both with guns in hand.

  Bian, Sandy, and Yvonne realized that Anwar and Saleh looked where the shot came from. Sandy, unspoken and spontaneously took command. She quickly gave the other two a sign to hide. The three found a doorway nearby, which could hardly be viewed from the outside. They seemed to be lucky and squeezed into it. Sandy had the gun ready for shooting. If they were observed, she would not hesitate to fight back. Anwar and Saleh walked along the street with their guns ready too, just a few meters nearby.

  The three women gasped.

  Andrea used the chance to climb out of the car she hid in and exited the garage. She hesitated for a moment. Should she take this opportunity to look around in the house? She had no weapon, she didn’t know what was waiting for her inside. She decided not to enter the house and went outside, because she wanted to help her friends and act together with them.

  Andrea was always brave by nature, but now alone in the house? She would have to deal with armed opponents. No, it seemed too foolhardy. She used the opportunity to leave the grounds unattended. And then she searched for cover not far from the two armed men who looked around and tried to find the reason for the shot. Andrea could hear the speaking.

  "It was clearly a shot!” said Anwar.

  “And it was very close. But there`s absolutely no one to be seen.”

  Saleh now made a doubting face:

  "Maybe it was just a misfire of a car that got here randomly and now has gone for some time already. There is nothing to see. Let's go back to the house.”

  The two withdrew again, leaving Andrea carefully in the place where she was hidden. She found the others. She looked at Sandy:

  “You probably gave off the shot to distract those people? So you saved my ass. Yes. Thank you.”

  The two very different young women smiled at each other.

  “You are welcome,” Sandy replied. Both clapped their palms against each other, and a new friendship was born.

  Bian urged now:

  “Bruno is really here and he is probably imprisoned. We must do something!”

  "Maybe he has been killed already,” Yvonne remarked.

  Bian is pale. She knew it could be possible, but said, “Don`t speak such nonsense. I know exactly he lives. My feeling does not fool me.”

  "We must make a plan," Sandy said.

  "They are not too many. If we wait a few hours until it is completely dark, we can take advantage of the surprise.”

  Bian tried to calm down herself. "We can do this, we will free you, Bruno, for sure!”

  And even Yvonne now tried to encourage her: “I'm sorry, Bian. I only said stupid things. I believe too, that Bruno is okay and we will be able to bring him home safely.”

  Now all put their heads together and talked about the details, how they would try to free Bruno at night.

  They were sure the number of enemies couldn’t be too big. Otherwise they had been patrolling with more as two persons after the shot.

  So they decided to proceed.

  They would wait until ten o'clock in the evening. It would be dark and as done previously they would distract terrorists by suspicious noises, so that they came out of the house. One of them would do this job and the other three would sneak into the building. They would overpower the person the terrorist probably would leave in the house, then search and rescue Bruno.

  "The whole thing must be done, of course, quietly and quickly," Sandy said. “Otherwise, everything will go awry.”

  The others nodded in agreement. Sandy had a bad feeling, making such bold projects with absolute amateurs. But it could take too long to get help now from the Secret Service. In addition, Mike would surely ask inconvenient questions. She wanted to avoid this in any case. If all went well, she could deliver the report somehow so that not all details were apparent and everything looked well.

  And she was happy with the fact that her new friend Andrea seemed to be a real gain. That reduced her bad conscience. Not later than ten o'clock they should slam. Waiting longer would be no advantage, on contrary it could be a risk.

  They were all nervous. Waiting for darkness seemed reasonable, but then it would be time to act.

  Yvonne’s part was to stay outside and lure the terrorist out of the house with simulated sounds. The other three would enter after most of the enemies left the house. They sorted and distributed the existing equipment. A sharp gun for Sandy, blank-firing signal gun, stun guns, pepper spray, several flashlights, if necessary also as a baton usable. That was it. It would be enough.

  Hopefully.

  Now, when everything was distributed and discussed, there was still one hour left.

  They made small talk to play down nervousness. Sandy talked about the historic significance of the war against terrorism.

  Bian was dismissive. “Historical significance, war, terrorism, I`m not interested in anything else but I want to have my Bruno back! Everything else has no meaning for me.”

  Sandy understood her feelings. "Of course we don’t want anything to happen to Bruno and that he will be soon again with you. But you need to know there`s a worldwide struggle, a war against the terrorists is going on here and it is very important, whether the good or the criminals win. I am proud and glad to live in the United States and to fight for it. I can read what I want. Whether the Bible or the Koran or the Satanic Verses or Karl Marx. Where these people have power, all freedom is abolished. In the books of history, our struggle will appear as a good and righteous.”

  Bian was not convinced. "Well, you're right. Freedom is a precious value. But about history books, I`m not as sure as you are. If someone murders and robs, he is a criminal. If someone does so hundreds of thousands of times in history, it depends on the sustainability of his success. Some are barbarians and vandals, and those who are in the long run successful, are called great in history books. And never forget even those fighting for high values will not be able to avoid, to killing innocents too.”

  Sandy sighed when she heard this. While Yvonne was completely silent, Andrea clearly expressed her opinion. “It`s necessary to defeat these medieval idiots.”

  Time passed and 10 p.m. was fast approaching.

  *******

  After they had searched in vain, Saleh and Anwar were in the house back again. Saleh unbound the chains of the two prisoners.

  Bruno grumbled now. "You always said we were friends! Do you tie up and gag friends? What game are you playing?”

  Saleh could not hide his embarrassment when he answered and but he tried to find an excuse:

  “That was only to protect you! We didn't know what happened. And if anything had gone wrong, you had a better chance to claim you were just overpowered and forced to be here.”

  But this explanation did not calm Bruno. He was still angry. Saleh looked at Anwar. He felt critically observed by him. In the hierarchy, he was indeed higher than the younger student, but the organization had also some reservations against him, because he converted very late to Islam, although Arabic language and Koran had been well known to him for long time now. Whereas many Europeans take him for an Arab, the people from the Middle East recognized that he was from Western Europe, so they were always a bit suspicious.

  Anwar and Saleh discussed the incident again. While Saleh tried to play everything down and believed in a misunderstanding, Anwar was very worried. The action they were preparing was of outstanding importance. Also, the security of the great Suleiman, who would arrive soon, needed to be ensured under all circumstances. He urged to inform the commanding level about this dubious incident before Suleiman here arrived.

  But Saleh didn’t agree with this. “It would be ridiculous if we give alarm for
every little thing, " he said.

  Suddenly, they heard a car stop directly in front of the House. Saleh looked out and recognized the person who got out. It was a comrade of theirs called Ali. He opened the door immediately.

  “Come in. What is going on? Why do you come alone?”

  “Order from the commanding level. We changed the plan, we will meet at another place to which I will lead you now. Come quickly! You will come with me in my car, Saleh. Anwar will take the two prisoners and the laptop. We will decide later what will happen to the them. Maybe we need them as hostages. Otherwise... Oh well.”

  Now the decisions were made. Saleh must still go to the bathroom. Then he went to Ali in the car. Meanwhile the two prisoners had been put in the van, both tied up and blindfolded, so that they didn’t know where this ride went to. They weren't gagged this time. Both next to each other on the back seat of the van.

  First, Ali took off with Saleh as a passenger. Then right after the van followed with the two prisoners.

  They went to the highway leading to Aachen at a high speed.

  *******

  It was a problem of a few minutes, only a few minutes. Shortly before the four women wanted to start their rescue operation a car arrived and stopped in front of the house. Am Arabic looking man left the car and entered the house. Before the surprised women understood what that meant, the car that had just arrived, started again after two people got in quickly. Only a second later, the van that had been in the garage left the yard too. They noticed who was in the back seat.

  “Yeah! Bruno, sure he`s here!” Bian yelled excitedly.

  “Oh, would we have got in sooner!”

  “Could have, would have, no matter!” Andrea said with a dismissive gesture.

  “Come on in the car! We will follow them, but we must make sure that they do not notice us!”