Whoever Kills The Innocent

by Lothar Birkner

  “Dirty liar,” the interrogator yelled at her.

  “You'll soon see what the results of your lies are. Someone will come now who is not asking in such a friendly way as I do.”

  Now he turned to Yvonne. “You're surely smarter than your American friend here. You don't want us to hurt you? So you tell us everything you know. Who are you? Who are the other two? And what are you doing here? Talk honestly, then nothing will happen to you, otherwise you will have to endure much pain.”

  Yvonne paled with fear, not knowing where to look. Her heart beat up to the neck. She felt humiliated and driven into a predicament:

  "Yes, I am Yvonne, I am radio operator at the taxi headquarters and Bian is my friend. Her partner Bruno disappeared and I wanted to help her find him. Our friend Sandy joined us `later just by chance. I don`t know anything about politics. Bian and myself, we are working at the taxi headquarter, she as a driver, myself as a radio operator. We don`t want to be engaged in anything else. That's very true, I'm so scared, and I would tell you everything I know. Please don't hurt me!”

  The Arabs stretched his head back and waited a moment, until he looked again at Yvonne, then at Sandy and then turned to Bian. He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look him straight in the eye and said, “You stupid and sassy woman, you have ignited the wrath of our spiritual leader Suleiman with your speech. He will severely punish you. But you have a last chance that he will merciful, if you tell me all, what you know about your American friend Sandy.”

  While he spoke those words, he took the gag out Bian`s mouth and expectantly looked at her.

  Bian was silent for a few seconds. Different emotions were fighting in her. It had done well to express all her thoughts and feelings in a short and emotional speech and she had expressed bluntly and honestly her opinion. But she was now aware that she had provoked the Islamists in an extreme way. The situation frightened her now. It was a matter of a fact, nothing was wrong with her words, but now she believed speaking so incautiously was a mistake. She would like to do something to appease these aggressive people, but betraying Sandy? She would never do something like that. Actually, she knew very little, the only thing she knew was that Sandy worked for the US government, probably for a U.S. intelligence agency. She had no more detailed information, but even this she would never reveal. Finally, Bian spoke.

  “If I should have offended your religious feelings, I'm really sorry for this. It's just because of the stress, I fear for the life of my partner Bruno. I respect your faith in Allah and I never want to commit any blasphemy. About Sandy, I can say only that I met her just three days ago, and I think she is really an American tourist. I am not interested in politics and have no idea about all these things. I only want my partner Bruno healthy and cheerful back so I can live with him in peace. This is the pure truth and I do not hide anything.”

  The Arabs suspiciously looked at all three women, and at last he said, “We will see and do not think you will fool us without being punished.”

  He left the room, and he ordered a man with a Kalashnikov in his hand to guard the three prisoners. The women changed their eyes. Sandy was pale, knowing terrible things could face her. But Sandy and the others were glad that for this moment at least that all have shown solidarity.

  *******

  Andrea was looking from far away at her car. There was no chance to use it on the run. But the situation was much more dangerous than she thought at first. They found the car near the farm, that means they knew now, that not all were captured, and they would start soon searching the other persons on the premises of the farm and nearby.

  "We must get out at once!”

  She admonished Bruno and Gerster to be very quiet and careful now, and then the three left the farm under the cover of darkness. They were fast paced.

  As the distance from the farm grew, they slowed down their steps. Now there were perhaps five hundred meters behind them. Andrea paused a moment. The thought of the three companions, who were still in the power of the terrorists, tortured her. Sandy's face appeared again and again before her inner eyes. Now she told other two:

  “A few hundred meters further on this way there is a main road. I don`t know if the next village can be found going right or left. Just try. Maybe a car will pass by that stops, but here in the middle of nowhere I´m not sure if this is realistic. I don't even know exactly where we are. But go on and you ask the next people you meet to call the police immediately. I'm going back to sneak into the farm again now. I don`t want and I can`t leave the other three girls just in the lurch.”

  When Bruno heard that, he felt very bad. During the last minutes, he had only thought about his own safety. But Bian was currently still in the power of the terrorists. He had totally suppressed this knowledge because of fear for his own life. Now he insisted on knowing exactly what happened to the other. Andrea gave him a short report about all incidents of the last hours. Bruno was deeply shocked and his decision was clear.

  Of course, he would not abandon his wife but he would together with Andrea sneak back to the farm. There they would make every effort to free the three women even before help came from the outside. Yes, Gerster would walk alone along the street or to the next village and ask for help. Bruno was definitely going with Andrea to free Bian and the other two.

  Andrea was not pleased with this idea. Bruno appeared too old, too stiff, and too rigid for the action that had to be done. Certainly he was a nice and helpful colleague, whom she liked. But small, thick Bruno, they called him, wasn`t the right one for a project you needed physically men fit for. He might be only a millstone. She didn’t say this very clearly, of course, she didn’t want to hurt him his feelings. But all her attempts to convince him she could do everything alone and he would be better joining Gerster on the run were useless. He was deaf for all arguments. He insisted on being a part of the liberation action. And Gerster was certainly the best to ask for help here in Belgium. He surely would be able to make clear as quickly as possible what did happen. He spoke fluent French. Bruno absolutely decided to go back to the farm.

  Andrea sighed, giving up her resistance, and instructed Bruno to stay behind her and be very quiet when they came near the building. Both said goodbye to Gerster. Then, their paths led into different directions, Gerster to the main road, Andrea and Bruno back towards the farm. Andrea thought, This time we must be even more careful, the mullahs are finally warned.

  *******

  Anwar and two others met Suleiman. They discussed the new situation. The two male prisoners had escaped, or better to say, they had been liberated, because a car was found only a few meters away from the entrance of the farm. This car had arrived only a few minutes before; the engine was still warm. Consequently, the person who had come cannot be very far away, because he had to flee without a car. Maybe they were even on the farm?

  Who were they?

  What did they want?

  Only to free the captives?

  Or perhaps there was much more behind all this? Did they want to thwart the whole project? How much do they know about us? Suleiman was concerned. What will be with the prisoners is second-rate. Of course, he is angry that they are free now. But the major attack they had planned must not be jeopardized. It was absolutely important that the West had to pay a bloody price for all the crimes they had committed against believing Muslims. Thousands and thousands of them had to die; the fear of death must have been deep in their bones and should be constantly present to the West. This was the only language they understand.

  "Did we invite them to Saudi Arabia, to Afghanistan, to Iraq, to Pakistan? They supported Israel and the traitors of Islam in Egypt and other countries. Therefore, we must bring war into their countries too. They would have to pay with blood. This was the only way they would learn that they had nothing to look for in our countries.

  “But as long as they want to stay in the countries of Islam and try to have power there, they will not be able to live safely and in peace in their own countrie
s. We will put them under pressure in their home countries, so that they will be forced to give up to expand their influence in our holy countries. I don`t care for the fate of the prisoners. These infidels will die at the end. If one of them could escape, that isn’t a big problem. The decisive blow we will execute is much more important. This naughty little Asian girl has made me angry, but she will get her punishment in time! We must now catch the men who have fled. They are now more relevant to us, because if they get in contact with others, the whole project could be at risk. We will find them. Light up the whole surrounding area of the farm with floodlights, and if you see them, don`t hesitate to shoot immediately and kill them.”

  After a short break, Suleiman continued:

  “A little bit more than an hour, and we are start for the attack and bring the missiles in position. The wind is good. The catastrophe for the unbelievers is sure. Allah is with us. I still have only one concern. This American agent is a proof that the U.S. Secret Service is active and maybe they even have special information, because there is a traitor I want to have this American here after a quarter of an hour. We will force her to talk. I gave my instructions. Light up the surroundings and bring this US agent to me.”

  All people left the room to execute his commands. But Anwar remained in the room. He wanted to talk to Suleiman privately about a suspicion which had arisen in his mind.

  Our courage is stronger than our fear

  Bian, Sandy, and Yvonne stood in the basement and waited. An armed guard watched over them. But they were able to talk quietly. Bian whispered to the other two:

  “You know what day is it today? July 12! Do you know what that means? The United Nations declared this day as Malala Day. Let´s be encouraged by this day and by the example of the Pakistani student Malala, who was intimidated by the Taliban to prevent, that girls attend school: But in spite of all threats she did. She surely was scared, but her courage was stronger than her fear. So, we are torn between fear and courage.”

  Malala said:

  "They can shoot at my body; they cannot destroy my dreams!"

  “Let us promise each other that our courage will be stronger than our fear.”

  “Yes! Our courage is stronger than fear!” Yvonne confirmed.

  She had tears in her eyes, but she nodded.

  Sandy’s face brightened.

  “It's so great that we stand side by side.”

  The three held onto solidarity. They were standing crossed hands over the head, as they had been told. Now they touched each other with their elbows and felt tightly connected. They were strong, whatever would happen.

  The guard posted seemed to have noticed something and yelled at them:

  “Keep quiet! Talking is not allowed!”

  The three were intimidated, but they were convinced they would not be overpowered by fear. Sandy was fully determined to be strong enough.

  We are afraid, but they can't bring us down. Our values are democracy, freedom, peaceful progress, and human rights. Whatever it takes, I am proud and happy to be American, Sandy thought.

  She watched how alert the guard is. Then she lowered her head a bit, because she didn’t want to provoke them. Very, very softly she hummed “America the Beautiful.”

  “O beautiful for spacious skies,

  For amber waves of grain,

  For purple mountain majesties,

  Above the fruited plain!

  America! America!”

  She was sure, after coming out safely here, she wanted to stay connected with her friends and fellow prisoners. Women of different backgrounds, life history and conviction, who stayed together in spite of all intimidation.

  The door opened and Saleh/Martin, entered and spoke the guardsman in Arabic language. He looks somehow surprised, but then left the room. Saleh spoke to the three women:

  “Now, above all don't panic. Nothing bad will happen.”

  “Nothing bad will happen?” Sandy asked.

  “Islamists kill so-called infidels with a pure conscience and they are convinced to come to paradise for this. And since you're telling us, don't panic?”

  Saleh remained calm.

  “Not only Muslims kill sometimes with pure conscience. ‘A Knight of Christ kills with a pure conscience and then dies even quieter.’ This is a quote by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a major Christian authority in the Middle Ages. But believe me, I'm a good one. Very soon something will happen here, and then you will know that I'm right, and you all will get out here safely. But you shouldn`t endanger yourself by provoking Suleiman, fighting back, or taking any attempts to escape. In this case you will be in big danger.”

  The three looked at each other. They didn’t know how to think about him. Perhaps he was only trying to soothe them, like cattle being lead to the slaughter? Or was there truth in his words? Does he really want the best for them? Perhaps he knew something secret and a change was near? While they pondered about all this, the door above opened. Two armed Arabs came in.

  “Saleh, you immediately have to come to Suleiman!”

  Saleh left the room with one of them. The other remained as an armed guard with the three women.

  *******

  Before Andrea and Bruno returned to the quarters of the terrorists, a spotlight appeared at once right in front of them, which slid slowly over the entire area. Andrea was immediately aware of the danger:

  “Damned, they looked after us.”

  Fortunately, she discovered a ground hole protected by bushes next to it. Bruno didn’t understand so quickly, but Andrea pushed him into it and jumped in it, too.

  “They are searching the whole area with a headlamp. Be cautious and do not put your head out.” she said to him," and keep very quiet!”

  Now they were both stuck together in a foxhole, the young big brought-shouldered Andrea, practical and engaging, and the small, slightly chubby Bruno, slowly and rather deliberately. Soon they started to talk quietly.

  “Oh my God, Bruno, you normally are a very reasonable man. How could you get into such things? How could you get involved with these Islamist mullahs?” Andrea started the conversation.”

  “I do not quite understand that myself,” Bruno said.

  "He was an old friend of mine and I've not noticed that they simply exploited me for a terror attack they planned.”

  “Well, strange friends who just draw you into such things. How do you know this guy, because he is one of the Islamists? I think you`ve never been in contact with such people before.”

  “It's been twenty and more years ago, I met him at that time in the anti-capitalist struggle. In those days, he had nothing to do with Islam. Later, he went to the Middle East and has contacted them, first Hamas and later Al-Qaeda. He believed he could continue effectively his fight against the United States and international capitalism only this way. I've had always sympathy for an anticapitalistic fight. But now they want to attack even a nuclear power plant and they want to trigger a nuclear meltdown in Central Europe. Of course, I can`t approve something like this at all.”

  “Oh, Bruno, I thought really you were smart. You're talking always of your profound knowledge. I don't care for politics. I´m a simple taxi driver, I'm certainly no friend of capitalists, but two things I know. First, these Islamists have nothing but shit in their heads and they`re full of primitive fanaticism, and secondly, it is not fair to blame America for everything that goes wrong in the world.”

  “I think you`re right,” Bruno sighed. “I have learned now, most of the time, there are no simple explanations and solutions. Even though human beings often seem to like something like this.

  “But look here, the lights are off. They have given up. Should we get out of here, out of the hole at last?”

  “No, let's wait a few minutes - or better half an hour. Then we can be sure that they have given up looking after us, and it's still dark. Then we can sneak into the yard pretty safely,” Andrea said, who is this time very careful. She continued:

  “Bruno, in
my view it`s just a simple thing. In the United States, there is democracy, here in Germany we have democracy, too. But wherever Communists ruled, there was nothing like this, and do you think if these Islamists came to power somewhere in the world, they would admit the smallest bit of democracy?”

  Bruno answered, "You should ask at first, how do you define democracy? Do you think democracy means once every four years, making a mark on a ballot? And people are elected to parliament who represent mainly the interests of capital and take care of shit about the poverty in their own country? Is this democracy? No! This is not democracy, my dear Andrea. This is the dictatorship of capital. The old-fashioned dictatorships manipulating elections, the modern manipulated voters. As long as there is poverty in the rich world, there is no real democracy.

  "Poverty does not arise by chance, but is made by people, just like slavery or apartheid and she can be eliminated by people."

  “The last is a quote from Nelson Mandela, by the way.”

  “You can talk well, Bruno and you have read much and have big knowledge about those things, more than me. Nevertheless, I`m not totally convinced. People can participate in elections and vote for whomever they want. And if you think they do it for the wrong candidate, it is still the people who decide. In one cause, I agree 100% with you. Poverty must be eliminated worldwide. If it´s done, these hollow heads, these radical fundamentalists will have no chance.”

  Bruno sighed. He wanted to give a lecture about manipulation and power of the media, but he didn’t. He felt that he would not convince Andrea. And he was too nervous for the usual debates in this situation. Maybe he was also exceptionally willing to admit that the opposite side wasn`t completely wrong. Therefore, he finished the exchange of ideas with the set on which both could agree:

  “Yes, the poverty in the world is the key problem and its elimination is the most fundamental human rights.”

  They waited silently several minutes. At last they believed it was time to dare coming closer to the farm. Finally, they climbed out of their foxhole and approached crawling and always looking around to be sure no one noticed them.