Whoever Kills The Innocent

by Lothar Birkner

  “But it`s very difficult to go there unnoticed. It will be too dangerous!”

  Danger was no reason to scare off Andrea now; she was determined.

  “We need to go there and I`ll do so if necessary alone! Show me the way now, Martin. You can go back and stay here if you are too scared.”

  Bruno immediately joined Andrea. He wanted to be as near as possible to Bian, even if it made no sense to intervene at this moment. At least, they knew what was going on. Martin sighed and finally agreed. He led them out of the house and to this unknown additional room. And he decided to stay with his fellows. This way, he perhaps could prevent the worst, he thought. Hopefully these hotheads wouldn`t be too foolhardy! He cautiously led the small group from the basement upward. Finally, they snuck across the yard to a back door, opened it and got to the next to the room, where Suleiman interrogated the prisoners.

  He was glad to have explored so quickly and thoroughly all places at this farm within a very short time, a good precondition to find some loophole in a case of emergency.

  *******

  At 4:12 Thomas Gerster looked again at his watch. The police car drove really fast with its siren on. But it seemed not fast enough for him. He was aware of the looming threat. An enormous disaster was possible. Large parts of Europe may be devastated for a long time. The fate of the people who were currently still in power of the terrorists worried him very much.

  He had been lucky enough to be free now. That`s why he felt obliged to do everything possible to save the others. He was thinking about the other two people who voluntarily had gone back in spite of the danger, because they wanted to free the prisoners. His taxi driver Bruno and that courageous young woman, Andrea, were making a rescue attempt on their own.

  A seemingly hopeless, even insane attempt. But on the other hand, understandable. Take in consideration how slowly the whole matter qs dealt with by the officials, He was well aware now. Gerster was no longer angry about Bruno, who pulled him into the whole affair. Basically, this cab driver was just careless and perhaps a simple-minded poor person who had been used by these criminals.

  They were finally there. The police car stopped in front of a large representative building. Thomas Gerster passed through some doors and corridors. Finally, he came to a big office. A middle-aged man, wearing a well-tailored gray suit, greeted him. He introduced himself as a senior official of the Belgian police. The man looked somewhat tired but highly focused and calm. Thomas Gerster gave him again a brief description of all his experiences. Then the officer replied: “We take your report very seriously. We have already mobilized rather big special forces, all that wer available. But at this very moment we will do nothing.”

  “Nothing? This is absolutely impossible in such a situation!” Gerster excitedly protested.

  He was full of anger.

  "And you tell me, you take my report seriously? Probably you are thinking I`m a fool?”

  “Certainly not, Sir, " the officer reassured him, very friendly and quietly.

  "Do not think we don`t believe you or we would be careless. We know that your report is true, but we will do nothing, at least now. We got a call from the office of the Prime Minister, that tonight something will happen at Tihange, but we shall not intervene until further notice. Therefore, we will keep ready our special forces, for some hours, or at least until 8 o'clock in the morning. Soon we will get more information. I regret not being able to give you more information at the moment.”

  “This is madness!” Gerster groaned. “I can`t believe that`s true.”

  “This is not madness, Monsieur Gerster,” his counterpart explained.

  “Think about this. At a higher level, more information is available. And more information probably leads to other conclusions. Please trust there are no fools in the Belgian government. You should now go with me to Tihange to the power plant. I would appreciate if you do. Your expertise could be useful.”

  “I will do that of course, if I can help, I will do so, " Gerster replied, and he asked again the same.

  "The power plant hasn`t been shut down?”

  "No, it hasn`t. This could be ordered at the moment only by the operating company. Of course, the secretary of the environment could give an order to do so, but only on the usual way and this probably won't happen between 4 and 5 o'clock in the morning. If there`s a general state of emergency, a shutdown could be ordered by police arrangement too. This is currently not the case.”

  Gerster moaned out loudly, "Well, if this isn`t a state of emergency, what is? We apparently are drowning in bureaucracy!”

  Finally, they came to Tihange.

  Gerster hoped he could perhaps help to prevent the worst.

  The final battle

  At 4:15, Suleiman wanted to start with his men to the attack on the power plant.

  He had just two minutes to deal with the women prisoners. The action against the nuclear power plant in Tihange was more important than anything else now. It would put Europe into fear and fright and the crimes of the unbelievers would be punished. The bad crusaders from Europe and America have set their feet on the sacred land, which belonged only to the Muslims. The unbelievers were in alliance with traitors from our countries who were greedy for money. All of them would be punished by Allah and we will execute his will.

  Saleh's betrayal made him even more angry. The attack had to begin and the captured women were only ballast now.

  What to do?

  The simplest solutions and at the same time the most radical, were completely obvious. He gave a brief statement in Arabic to his accomplices.

  One took the big sharp sword and chopped off Yvonne`s neck through with a good blow. Blood was pouring. Bian and Sandy screamed out loud! Bian was full of horror and rage. She cried out: “The pigs have killed her!”

  Completely surprising to everybody, the side door suddenly opened.

  Andrea appeared there.

  She had a gun in her hand and she shot twice. Suleiman and the terrorist with the sword were hit and the collapsed. The third one of them pulled a gun in a flash and aimed at Andrea. He shot twice. She felt a piercing pain in her shoulder and chest and collapsed with a pain distorted face.

  Now, Bruno and Martin were visible. They stood behind Andrea. Bruno was unarmed, but Martin had a pistol in his hand. He tried to cover behind the door frame. Shots rang out in both directions. None of the fighters was hit. All three had the opportunity to seek cover. Bian and Sandy sat completely unprotected, tied up on their chairs in the middle of the room.

  Bruno saw Yvonne, her head chopped off. So much blood everywhere. He realized Sandy and Bian were tied up and in great danger. He must help, no matter how!

  He jumped into the room and tilted Bian’s chair, so that she had at least some more protection. Next, he wanted to untie her and to search for cover together.

  But suddenly he felt twice a penetrating pain in his chest. He was hit by two bullets. Now there`s backfire from the opposite direction. The terrorist who had aimed at Bruno was hit by a shot from Martin's gun. But already falling down, he gave some more shots, which also let Martin fall to the ground and hit Bian and Sandy, too.

  Seriously injured, Martin laid on the floor. The two women were still tied up and screamed loudly in pain.

  After the hail of bullets, everyone in the room was either seriously injured or dead.

  *******

  Anwar looked at his watch. It shows 4.15.

  The Arab warriors gathered on the courtyard of the building as it had been ordered. He was full of enthusiastic anticipation. They would attack in less than an hour. They would trigger a meltdown at the power plant Tihange by their action. His family would be avenged and whatever the outcome would be, he would gain fame and fortune as a fighter for the cause of the right faith and enter either now or later paradise.

  His gaze slid over to the truck on which the rocket launcher was positioned. Anwar was full of confidence.

  There, he heard a noise in the air. A h
elicopter was approaching.

  “Let`s take our weapons. The unbelievers are coming. We will give them a tough reception.”

  But at this moment, he heard a series of shots in the main building, where Suleiman must still be. He ran immediately in there. He looked around in horror.

  Blood, death, serious injuries.

  He saw Suleiman lying on the floor.

  He ran to him first, bending down to him. Suleiman was dead!

  The man on whom he had put all his hope was no longer alive. He had gone already to paradise. Anwar felt enormous rage. He had hoped so much Suleiman would be their successful leader in the fight against the infidels. He would prepare the founding of a new caliphate.

  No chance now. Anything would help. Only fight! Attack the infidels. He must get out and fight back. He ran out of the house. When he came out, smoke bit into his eyes: He had to cough; he saw almost nothing. The attackers used smoke grenades. He heard the sound of the helicopter coming closer. But there were invaders even now fighting on the ground.

  The helicopter was already the second wave of the attack, or perhaps even primarily just a deflection maneuver?

  In any case, the attackers succeeded in taking them by surprise. Everything seemed to be lost. He would fight. There he recognized a group of enemy soldiers who wanted to enter the main building. Anwar took his gun and began to shoot at the enemy soldiers and he cried out:

  “Allahu Akbar!”

  But at the same moment, he felt a sharp pain. Someone stabbed him with a knife or similar weapon in the back. He broke down. Slowly, he lost consciousness.

  He was sure when he woke up he would be in paradise.

  *******

  It was 4:45 Thomas Gerster arrived with the Belgian police officer at the nuclear power plant in Tihange. He was angry and nervous because they apparently dealt so carelessly with this enormous danger. They were informed already for some time, and nothing happened.

  Now the police officer’s phone was ringing. He accepted the call, but turned off the hands-free of the phone and got the information without Gerster having an opportunity to listen.

  “Yes - well - Yes - OK.”

  These were the only words Gerster understood. Then the conversation was over. The policeman logged onto the entrance of the power plant and showed his badge. The barrier opened, and they entered the interior of the terrain.

  Now he turned to Gerster, smiling: “You know the conditions better here. Do you think that we can get a good cup of coffee at this early time?”

  While Gerster still inwardly groaned because of the question for coffee in this highly dramatic situation, the policeman continued:

  “You can relax, I`m not able to tell you what happened during the last hours. However, what I now share with you is said in private. The information for the press this morning will play down everything and some facts are not being mentioned at all. If someone will report anything other than the official version, this will be attributed to the imagination of journalists,” he said with a smile.

  “Last night, the police headquarters got a confidential information. This information came from the office of the Prime Minister from the department that`s responsible for the coordination of the Intelligence. We were informed this night or maybe even in the early hours of the morning, an important anti-terrorist action would be carried out by US troops on Belgian ground in the area of Liège.

  “The whole thing is directed by the special operation command Europe in Stuttgart, Germany in coordination with the CIA. The entire operation has to do with the Tihange nuclear power station. Highest government authorities have given us the order to hold ourselves back and deny any knowledge thereof whatever happens. Otherwise, it could cause political complications.

  “Once because of the sovereignty of the Belgian State, which we give up so easily, and the other problem are the environmentalists, who always complain about the safety at Tihange.

  “Anyway, it's better to keep out of it and leave everything to the Americans. They are able to do a better job. Of course, we have kept our own special forces in an alarm state. But the overall goal was not to impede the action of the US armed forces. That was why only very few people at the police knew about this, and the officer who got your call first has initially taken you for a madman. The action is carried out now. Carried out successfully!

  “For Tihange, there`s no longer the slightest danger. The danger has never been big, because the US Forces were informed and well prepared.”

  He spoke with a satisfied and even triumphant facial expression.

  “All the terrorists are dead, or were already brought out of the country. Probably on the way to any US aircraft carrier. What happens to them afterwards, is not our business. “Since each European Government will stay out of it, there were no casualities or serious injuries on side of US forces, that`s good. But there are dead and critically injured people on third side.”

  When Gerster heard this, he gets pale, he thought first of Andrea, who had freed him, and of Bruno, his taxi driver, too. And yes, three or four others have been there, he thought.

  “How can I get more information? Where the wounded have been taken to?” he excitedly asked at once.

  "The injured people have been brought to a hospital nearby. We can go right there. Then you can talk to them, at least with those who are currently responsive. They can tell you definitely more details. But let us drink a cup of coffee first. We really deserve it. They might have even croissants here. We have time now. Later I like to take you to the hospital. I'm curious, too, how they are.”

  On the Threshold of Death

  Bruno did not know where he was. He felt pain. He was dizzy. An unknown woman and an unidentified man were there. From far away he heard a voice saying:

  “He lost too much blood.”

  Then another voice:

  “Quickly, otherwise it will be too late!”

  Now Bruno didn`t hear or see anything.

  But then he seemed to see something again. But where was he now?

  It looked like he was very high up. Even high above the Earth. Was he now in outer space? Far above the earth? Yes. He saw deep blue sea and continents between. There was the earth. He recognized its spherical shape. Continents shimmer silvery through a wonderful blue light. He recognized the boot of Italy, the Mediterranean Sea. Still more land. In the middle of the country a red-and yellow desert. The Sahara.

  Was this a dream?

  No, it was not.

  A dream feels quite different. But if this is not a dream, and he sees it all. In this case? Yes, he must be dead!

  He seemed to rise further. Now, everything was dark. He tried to look through the dark. It changed from the black, blue. Not dark but a growing ever brighter blue, that fascinated and elicited joy in him. This blue attracted him irresistibly and pulled him closer. He felt like he was in a maelstrom. This suction drew him with incredible speed into a tunnel. He was now in a tight spiral room. He meant to feel that he is not alone. But he saw nobody. He only heard something.

  Was it music?

  He had not heard something so beautiful in his life. He felt an indescribable emotion of happiness. A light was waiting for him at the end of the tunnel.

  Yes, he must be dead.

  He was certainly no longer in world of the living people. Perhaps he would now get the answers to all his questions? He would get to know now whether there was a God?

  If He existed, why did God allow all this misery and these injustices in world?

  Would he get now his answers, or would He be a silent God again as Bruno had always experienced during his lifetime?

  Or did God not exist and we were lost in an immense and inanimate universe?

  A cold soulless universe? No, it couldn’t be like this. Too much warmth came for this light that attracted him. An overwhelming feeling that now took possession of him. It made him so happy, it was full of hope and very good. The suction which pulled him out of this world was gett
ing stronger. And while he left it, his whole life passed by him. And as it did, he experienced everything happening at the same time.

  He was a toddler who played on the carpet of the family living room with Lego bricks. He faced the gate of primary school as a proud first-grader with the large school bag. He stood as an altar boy near to the priest in the church. He burned his baptism certificate as a shock to parents, pastor, and teacher at a public happening. He sat with others in the crowded lecture hall of the University. He discussed with comrades in smoke-filled backrooms about the injustice of capitalism and of the necessary revolution.

  He rented an apartment, made a deposit with the landlord in the knowledge that the comrades of the RAF would use this place as a base. He said goodbye to his friend Martin, who would have to leave for the Middle East. He sat in the small bookstore, where he found work in front of a huge set of books. Then he was the first time at the wheel of a cab, quite doubtful without any proper training. Now he met the new taxi colleague, a little Asian girl with black hair and sweet dark eyes, Bian. It was very warm to his heart now. So many periods of his life, so many facets of his being, so many events, so many feelings.

  All these details appeared to him now as the cutouts of a huge painting that made its sense as a whole.

  He felt good.

  Things that hurt at that time, lost their pain.

  At that time?

  Isn`t everything now and at the same time? Yes, he experienced at the same time, what was happening in different places and at different times. And above all, it was not only his own view of things, his feelings and thoughts, but he was also aware of feelings of his opponents, of all the other who were in this situation. He realized perfectly well their sensations and thoughts. He was not only limited to his own view of things, but the attitude of other people was also very close to him. The impact of all of his actions were aware of him. He saw himself as part of a whole.