Chasing Shadows!: A Dream

by Arthur Zulu

CHAPTER 5

  THE RETURN

  There is uproar when the kings return without any of their soldiers. The people call the kings cowards and murderers. Those who lost their fathers, husbands, brothers, or sons in the battle, weep openly. There are instantaneous protests in Orient and Occident against their kings for the bloody military expedition, which has failed to destroy Inferno, terror of nations, and maker of dangerous weapons.

  And I begin to ask myself: Were these not the very same people who goaded the kings to war? Why are they weeping and protesting now?

  So in order to pacify the people, both kings prepare a speech, which is delivered to their peoples at the same time. The speech reads thus:

  “Dear Citizens:

  “We regret the loss of lives in this war against Inferno and his evil empire. However, the soldiers only died by friendly fire, and not by enemy bullet, which is a good thing. Moreover, you know that Inferno has done a great harm against us. You can see, therefore, that we need Inferno now more than ever before—either dead or alive. A handsome reward in billions of money—almost equal to the total cost of this war—awaits the informant who will give Inferno away. This is the greatest challenge of the century. So no price is too much to pay for the purpose of finding and destroying this monster.

  “This war has been a long and hard one. In fact, this is a new kind of war. For we are fighting an enemy we never know. This war has taken us to all lands of the Earth. We have been to First Inferno land, Second Inferno land, and Third Inferno land. And in each of those lands, Inferno has changed to The Vanishing Child, The Disappearing One, and The Man with the Mask. Yet we did not find him.

  “But one good thing about this war is that we have found new foes. These are Hatred, Oppression, Frustration, Injustice, Mistrust, Fear, and Enmity. And these are actually the parents of Inferno.

  “Happily, we went to The Golden City, the most beautiful place in this world. There we found Love, Peace, Freedom, Justice, Equality, Dignity, and Trust. It is our desire to make our land look like this beautiful city, but the winged-man in white says that we must first kill the seven dangerous parents of Inferno. And these were the ones that seized our weapons of war, which eventually led to the deaths of our dear soldiers—in a war of the dragons—at a place called Dead End Passage.

  “Our desire now is to use the kind of weapons that can destroy devils and dragons in this Operation Hell Fire against Inferno. For Inferno and his deadly parents present a grave and imminent danger to Fatherland security.

  “So it is a moral issue that cannot even be approached by the pope, the imams, the gurus, and all the clergymen of this world. In fact, we are playing God. Because the Deity has left the destiny of the world in our hands. If God were to come down from the Heavens to the Earth to pursue Inferno, He would be more heavy-handed than us. Remember the fire and sulfur of Sodom and Gomorrah. Can any terrorist escape that? Of course not even Inferno or the seven devils. And we ourselves will not have any place to hide.

  “Therefore, do not ask whether we are winning the war against Inferno or not. For the battle must be won. We have seen the roots of Inferno. And it must be uprooted!

  “Now we are going to brief the world body about the progress of the war so far. Then we would get a resolution to prosecute this war to its logical conclusion.

  “We are, meanwhile, going to erect befitting memorial tombs with beautiful flowers on them for our fallen soldiers. And inscribe their names on their tombstones in letters of gold, with our national flag flying overhead. For they did not die in vain. They fought and died for the empire. And we hope that many more will volunteer to fight and die for our Great Fatherland.

  “May God bless the Empire!”

  After the people hear the speech, opinions are divided. Some say that Inferno and his devilish parents must be pursued and exterminated, while others are of the view that the war must not continue. So the debate rages on. And the kings having divided the people, head for the Talking Nations Organization.

  King Sunrise is the first to speak. He tells the members of the world body how the war has tragically ended at Dead End Passage.

  And he concludes in an optimistic note saying that Inferno and the seven devils must be defeated with the active cooperation of members of the Talking Nations. There is a round of applause in approval of the speech.

  King Sunset now speaks: “We are glad of your support in this war. But as you know, the war has only begun. It has not ended. And make no mistake about it: we are determined to commit our entire resources to pursue the enemy.”

  He is interrupted by a standing ovation after which he continues.

  “What we only need from this world body is a mandate in the form of two resolutions. The first will authorize us to develop and use new nuclear weapons to be called NNWs capable of destroying devils and dragons in this war. And the second will mandate nations to contribute troops to stamp out the enemy wherever he may be in the world, including his weapons of mass destruction. For we want nothing short of regime change and democracy in the evil lands of Inferno.”

  There is an uncontrolled applause, which makes the king not to continue his speech for a long time. When the applause dies down, he continues.

  “That is the new phase of this war. Because we are the only sensible ones that have the right to possess and use these destructive weapons. And we alone have the prerogative to dictate which nations should or should not use it. These weapons of mass murder are safe in our hands, but dangerous in the hands of others.

  “It is my dream that at the end of the war, this Earth will be a paradise—free from all the troubles of Inferno and his seven deadly parents. If you do not back these resolutions, we would go it alone. Inferno is in clear material breach, and we would pursue both Inferno and his parents into your lands. In that case, only God will save you! And finally, remember this: if you are not with us, then you are against us.”

  They cheer the king to the very echo as he takes his seat.

  Mr. Loudmouth, who is the Secretary General of this body and who had earlier won a peace prize, now speaks.

  “The Talking Nations Organization is highly indebted to kings Sunrise and Sunset for their vision and war of attrition against Inferno. All the members of this body have heard your speeches. If there is any nation that opposes your good works, we would find out after we have taken the vote on your sponsored resolutions. Before the vote, however, I want to repeat the last sentence of the last speech for the attention of member nations: ‘If you are not with us, then you are against us.’”

  In fact, most members do not want to suffer Loudmouth to make a long speech. Nor do they want to wait for his usual tautologous conclusion: “There can be no peace without war, because war is the road map to peace.” They are already voting Ayes for the two resolutions: Authorization to develop and use new nuclear weapons to be called NNWs capable of destroying devils and dragons (No. 10001) and a commitment by member nations to contribute troops to stamp out the enemy and his weapons of mass destruction (No.10002).

  Then I ask to know why they are not simply Resolution Nos. 1 and 2. And they tell me that the Talking Nations had already passed 10,000 resolutions aimed at making the world safer for democracy and freer from wars. Then I wonder what became of those resolutions.

  When I ask why most nations are supporting the resolutions, they tell me that there are two powers in this world: the Say powers and the Yes powers. The Say powers have wealth and might, while the Yes powers have nothing. That is why the Yes powers support any decision made by the Say powers. If they do not, the Say powers would punish and starve them to death.

  I now understand the meaning of the king’s speech when he said, “If you are not with us, then you are against us.” Evidently, these nations do not want to be in the bad books of the Say powers. Then I come to know that these kings that I have been following throughout in my dream are really great kings.

  But surprisingly, I begin to see that the tables are turnin
g. For the kings of some member nations threaten to veto the resolutions. These nations are not happy that some Say powers wanted to become Double Say powers, thereby making other nations mere followers. They say that a few Say powers should not lord themselves over the Talking Nations and decide the fate of the world. They call it unilateral action, which itself, is a weapon of mass destruction.

  They go on to say that inventing stories for war and making other member nations rubber stamps, is not the road map for peace, but is the very recipe for a global catastrophe of gigantic proportions. They even go further to call kings Sunrise and Sunset the most dangerous lunatics on the face of the Earth—more dangerous than Inferno—intent on plunging the world into infernal darkness.

  These kings wonder why man is ever quick to forget. For have the kings of the Double Say powers forgotten what happened at Dead End Passage? So they shout: “Remember Dead End Passage!”

  Kings Sunrise and Sunset are enraged beyond measure at the grandstanding and audacity of these puny powers. They call these renegade kings members of the Axis of Weasels and supporters of terrorism, saying that they belong to the Old World while the supporting nations are in the New World.

  In fact, they say that they do not need the backing of the Talking Nations because when they first went to chase Inferno, they didn’t seek her approval. They go on to say that they only brought forward these resolutions to show that the world body has a semblance of relevance. Pre-emptive war, they say, is the only justifiable option before Inferno gobbles up the world.

  Now kings Sunrise and Sunset have seen that the Talking Nations Organization is inconsequential, and would have to go the way of its predecessor, the Silent Nations Organization. Concerning challenging and calling them names, the great kings promise to give these minions “hell” after the war. And I see that the Wall of Babylon replaces the Wall of Isaiah.