Chapter 10: Chapter 10
PART B： CHAPTER NINE
The big military airplane coasted toward Kubuma, the cloud was pregnant with deep black patches which was a sure signal of an impending rainstorm. It was a contrast to the weather prediction given by the meteorologist at the take-off country. Captain Abeonego who was the highest-ranking among the soldiers tried to relax as he sat back and closed his weary eyes but retrospectively, he was restless. His comrades were chatting and singing at the top of their voices. It had been five solid years since they had been forcefully conscripted into the military and sent to the republic of Nunetiman to wrestle power from the rebel forces and restore the democratically elected government of Dr. Marston Dave. Five horrible years of bloodbath and wild living; five solid years of guerrilla warfare, each time he closed his eyes to sleep, gruesome images and incidences of brutal slaughtering of human beings began to plague his dreams. He had tried to console himself; all had been in the name of survival and peacekeeping to no avail. He had countless closed shave with death on the battlefield that he could not even explain how he managed to survive but to his superiors, there was more to his skills and bravery than meet the ordinary eye, such dexterity was not common. That had facilitated his quick rise to the rank of Captain which meant more tasks and operations, after all, they were conscripted for that sole purpose; to fight, dislodge the rebel forces, to make sure peace was restored to the land and the legitimate government restored to power. Those escapades were haunting him; he knew his life was worth nothing to the authorities, after all, a lot of his superiors have died. It was all about survival of the fittest; in his heart, he was determined to survive, no matter what. If not for anything but his dear wife and son; the chief priest also told him to have the kingdom at heart. Just before they travelled, the chief priest had secretly taken Abeonego to the sacred shrine and spent seven days. It was in the shrine that Abeonego was fortified according to the directives of the gods, and he was told to always remember his kingdom and his family, that heads of his people and family would give him victory. But each time he went to the battlefield, he doubted if he would survive because, sometimes from nowhere, high whistles would just descend like arrows been fired through the chaos and explodes in vast noises and motions smashing up everything it came across including communities while dwellers and soldiers would be cut into pieces and burnt beyond recognition by the explosions.
He remembered the first time it happened when they went on patrol inside the thick forest of Capsomi near the village of Nguem. They had received intelligence reports that the rebels were planning to lay siege on some innocent villages including Nguem and raid them of their foods and livestock; such raids always result in raping, maiming, and killing. After the explosion had died down, the rebel soldiers emerged from their hideout to observe and see whether there were any survivors. They did not realise that the grenade was thrown off target. They laid ambush for them and based on a signal from their commander opened fire on the rebels, killing them instantly though they lose two of their own.
Now they are being returned to their country with little or nothing though President Martson Dave was grateful for the service, he collected all their details and promised them great rewards once he settles down and the military authority also promised their entitlements would be paid once, they returned home but what could compare to life and peace of mind? Many have died; many have been maimed for life. For him, it was nightmares, day in day out. The gruesome and piteous cries of women and children of war haunted him. The smell and smoke of burnt human flesh plague him, all because of a few people’s selfish desire to cling to power; indeed, it was a charred world. He hoped and wished he would ever live a normal civilian life again.
It was with this bitterness and profound anger that made him brutal when his troop was able to penetrate General Gazagaza’s location and hideout. He felt this killing, maiming, and looting was uncalled for and they were not worth it, so for permanent peace to reign every hindrance must be rooted out. For many months, General Gazagaza had been incommunicado; one only saw his soldiers when they wanted to replenish their stock, that was when they raided villages and communities. He refused to dialogue and insisted that the special forces should leave his country that he will not hand over power to President Martson whom he accused of corruption and high-handedness but instead he would conduct fresh elections and hand over to a new government. He refused to release the political detainees and kept silencing perceived enemies. It was when a top officer was captured alive that all vital information leading to his location was gotten.
They went hot to his underground three-storey mansion at an island in Capsomi in the broad daylight with the support of the jet fighters after dislodging and killing most of the soldiers guarding the place and blowing off the thick wall around the mansion. They carefully went into the mansion based on the description given by the captured top officer. Captain Abeonego discovered that the mansion had stairs leading to various tastefully furnished rooms. When they reached the second floor, he decided to go for General Gazagaza alone, so he dispatched his men in a group of twos and threes with strict instruction to tread carefully. “Are you going up alone?” Sergeant Mark whispered gruffly, he was sweating from the forehead profusely,
“I will be fine, Sergeant, just do as instructed,” Captain Abeonego trilled in response and sprinted up the stairs with such agility that was surprising to his men who looked on in awe. As he reached the landing, he saw a door that stood half-open. As he tiptoed carefully across the landing towards the door, the door jerked fully open and a gorilla-sized man in full military regalia with the rank of a General came out. “General Gazagaza!” Captain Abeonego swore spitefully. He wanted to capture the general alive, so he did not rush for his pistol which was holstered to his belt.
They stared at each other and instantly, the general’s brutal face tightened, and his right hand slid inside his pocket. Captain Abeonego who was swift on his feet rushed him with a fist tackle. His right shoulder slammed against General Gazagaza’s thighs, and they went down together on the floor.
“I am a loyal citizen of the republic of Nunetiman; this is my country, and nobody can enslave me in my country. I am a loyal officer of the Nunetiman Army, and I did a great service to this country by ousting the greedy government of Dr. Martson Dave. He doesn’t deserve to be the president.” General Gazagaza growled, panting heavily as he managed to retrieve his pistol from his pocket and took a sideswipe with the barrel at Captain Abeonego’s face, but the captain saw it coming and got his shoulder up before an impact though he received a numbing blow on the part of his bicep that made him gave a dumb cry.
“General Gazagaza, it is not in your place to determine who is corrupt and who is not but the people. The majority of the people willingly elected Dr. Martson but you, a highly placed member of the government betrayed the trust reposed in you and constituted yourself into a nuisance.” Captain Abeonego snarled savagely as he grabbed hold of the general’s wrist with his left hand and drove his right fist into his face. General Gazagaza saw colourful stars and cursed painfully.
Captain Abeonego swung General Gazagaza’s hand against the wall trying to break the grip on the pistol. General Gazagaza gave him a blow on the side of his head that made his eyes shimmered with tears, for a second, he felt like fainting but the thought of Adalia, Aenas, and Kuburin crept into his mind, and he quickly jerked himself awake even as General Gazagaza heaved himself away and kicked Captain Abeonego in the stomach but Captain Abeonego who was undoubted grabbed at him as if his whole life depended on it.
As General Gazagaza scrambled to his feet, raising his pistol, Captain Abeongo wriggled forward, grabbed General Gazagaza’s ankles, and pushed, this made the general went over backward and the pistol fired with a loud bang that rattled the windows.
“I have discussed with your superiors so I will allow you to leave in one piece now; I’m going to hand over to a new democratically elected government in the next three years, but I will never hand over power to Martson Dave, no I won’t do that!” General Gazagaza yelled, panting, and still looking wild.
Captain Abeonego laughed despite himself, “I don’t believe you; I want you to follow me honourably and discuss with my superiors in my presence but as for allowing me to leave in one piece. We shall see who will live or die.”
Captain Abeonego was almost up as General Gazagaza also heaved himself off the floor and fired the pistol again. “I’m the lion of the jungle! You can never leave this country alive even if you capture me, which I doubt you can do, I still have other battalions who will come to rescue me!!” he snarled savagely.
The bullet whistled past Captain Abeonego’s ear; this made him mad with unrestrained fury and he sent over a long, looping right kick with all his weight behind it. “You are a bastard, and I will treat you the way I treat bastards!!”
The kick caught General Gazagaza on the side of his jaw with a deadly impact which made him grunt, and his eyes rolled back as the pistol dropped from his hand. At this time, Sergeant Mark appeared from the stairs with others brandishing their weapons. “Nice job, Sir!” Corporal Sanjana quipped excitedly as Captain Abeonego picked the pistol and signalled to Sergeant Mark. “He is all yours; handcuff him and let us mop up this operation. I can’t wait to leave this hell of a country!”
“You are truly a Prince of Kuburin Kingdom!” Sergeant Mark added as they handcuffed General Gazagaza.
Captain Abeonego heard a muffled sound from the door which General Gazagaza initially emerged from and carefully went inside to behold a beautiful lady tied to a chair and weeping, “Help me, please, don’t kill me!” she pleaded with a quiver in her voice.
“Who are you?”
“I am Lillian Dave, the daughter of Dr. Martson Dave.” She declared lamely.
He sighed as he brought his mind back to the present; the noise of his fellow soldiers as they sang at the top of their voices made him glanced casually at them. He tried to paint a picture of his beautiful wife, Adalia, and that of his son who was four years old when he left but failed woefully. Will they recognize him after all these years? Will Adalia still be waiting for him, or frustration and loneliness had made her marry another man? All these and many more begged for answers without any forthcoming at the moment. He thought of the many futile efforts he made to communicate with his family but communication installations in the city had been destroyed by the rebel forces and the military communications system was not within reach, though no reasons were given, now he could deduce why.
They never expected them to survive especially those of them from Kuburin kingdom. Sanjala, Banito and others whispered it to him, but he waved them aside. “What offence have we committed? If we make it alive to Kuburin, won’t it be an honour to the kingdom?”
“That is the problem with you, Abeonego, you are too trusting!” Corporal Sanjala had told him, “Queen Celandine and your stepbrother, Prince Amadeus does not want you to return alive.”
“You are the one chosen by the gods to rule after the demise of your father, and they don’t want that.” Banito said, “They know we are loyal to you, so they wanted to wipe all of us out.”
“One thing I know is that the will of the gods will be done; I hold no grudges against anybody, and I am not involved in a power tussle with anybody.” Captain Abeonego said, “I only asked to be left in peace, but they were the ones who wanted me out of the way by all means,”
“That is why I believe so much in you, Abeonego, you stand for fairness, equity, and justice. You see no wrong in people…” Banito enthused, “I know you will be vindicated at the end of the day,”
“We shall all be alive to witness that day when justice shall be meted out to the wicked and the just,” Mason said cryptically,
Captain Abeonego did not reply as he silently hoped everything was well with his family, “I promise to make amends if given a second chance.” He declared solemnly as he pondered on the wicked things he had done to his lovely wife and son. “Why did I ever do those things to them? What was Adalia’s offence?” hot tears seeped from his eyes as he silently prayed for a second chance to make amends.