National Exile: A 21st Century Novel about Nobility, Poverty, and Cruelty
Page 31
Chapter 27
One Wing cannot make a Bird Fly
Back at the Burj, Rain thought that he was living in another world.
“Rain… Rain…Wake up…” Yazan said.
Rain, who was waking up, found himself in his old room at the Burj.
“I think I just had the worst nightmare… Let me take a moment to appreciate that it was just a dream, Yazan.” Rain said covering his eyes with his right arm.
“My arm… It’s covered with bandages.” Rain said loudly and asked Yazan, “Does that mean…?”
“I don’t know what dream you are talking about, but, Rain, your father is in charge now.”
“My father? …… Oh my God. It’s coming back to me… Sidra… I have to make sure she’s ok.”
“You don’t know where Sidra is? You guys left together.” Yazan said.
“I know. She left me and went… God knows where.”
“We’ll look for her later. Right now, we have an offer that we need your input on.” Yazan said.
“Let me guess, my father promised our freedom in exchange for all the Burj’s secrets.”
“Even better…” Yazan said.
Laith walked to the room while they were talking. He brought a tray full of food and asked Rain to eat.
“The commander said that you need your strength. He asked me to bring all this food for you.” Laith said as he put the tray on a table.
“I wonder what he’s going to ask me to do this time. Whatever it is, I’m eating. Hopefully it’s not poisoned.” Rain said.
“HEY… I made it myself. I promise. It’s clean.” Laith said.
Rain took the spoon and started eating. He said,
“Do I look like I have a choice… Thank God for the food. My stomach is screaming at me right now.”
“You are starting to sound like Sidra by the day” Yazan said and laughed.
“My thoughts exactly...” Laith said.
“Where did she go? I’m really worried about her. She was not in a stable state of mind when she left. But I couldn’t stop her. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Rain said as he put down the spoon.
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Somewhere else at the woods between the mountains, Sidra and Rayan found their way to a hidden base. The base is inside a mountain, huge facility, designed in the greatest wars only tens of years ago. Constructions never really stopped.
Sidra was strictly ordered not to be there unless the matter is urgent. Only few people knew the location of that place. I would keep a close attention of the details of that base if I were you. This would soon be the place that started it all.
The base is designed to withstand nuclear attacks. The entire base is constructed near a manmade lake in a valley. The lake is surrounded by long trees. The main gate is right beside the shore of the lake. The gate is entirely covered with trees and grass. A smaller door is placed also nearby to be used as an entrance for people. At the entrance, a small sensitive device is used to identify any one who gets in and out of the base.
Finger prints and eyes scans are required. Only few people are granted access to the base. Due to the high security, each person is required to be tested with brain scanners at the entrance. If the brain activity is not stable, the person would not be granted access.
This method is used to ensure that none of the people, who are allowed to get in, are forced to do anything against their will. Just in case they were hijacked. Once the person gets cleared, their image shows up on the screen, and the gates open allowing one person to get in at a time.
From the inside, the facility has been modernized. You would not think you are in a cave if you were ever inside. When you first walk in, the walls are covered with screens that display instruction of where to go and what to do inside.
After Sidra and Rayan got in, they indicated their intention to go to the communication room. A long strip of lights lighted up the ground, and they just had to follow it. The strip of lights turns off behind them. Only the remaining path stays clear and lighted up. As they walked to the coms room, a video call was placed on one of the dark-glass walls.
“Welcome to Orb.”
“Aser? It’s good seeing you again. What are you up to?” Sidra said.
“How have you been?” Aser replied.
“I’m good. I’m glad to see that the base is in a great shape.” She said.
“What brings you here? And where are the others?” Aser asked.
“It’s a long story. Where can I meet you?” She asked.
“I see you were going to the coms room. Whatever you want to do can wait. I’ll reprogram the path of lights to lead you to the main command room.” Aser said and the video call ended.
Sidra and Rayan followed the new path and ended up in front of a large door. Everything around was dark and looked like a maze. A message showed up on the door asking for their names and proficiency. “My name is Sidra. I am no one.” She said.
“Don’t say that. You are more than something.” Rayan said. “Rayan… Tech.”
The doors opened automatically. It led them to a very large room full with computers. A huge screen was covering the adjacent wall. Maps, news, and security cameras were displayed on it.
“It’s good to see you again.” Aser said.
“Good seeing you too.” She replied. “Not to sound rude, but do you have anything to eat? I have not eaten in days.”
Aser replied with a smiley face, “We sure do. I’ll send an order to the kitchen to bring you something to eat.”
“Thank you very much.” She said.
Later, she was given a big ball of chicken salad. It was full of vegetable, some fruit, and pieces of chicken.
“This looks great… I really hope that the people are getting something to eat as well.” Sidra told Aser.
“They’re literally dying out of hunger. They started burning every living thing they could find. The food is grown in our underground green houses. Not everyone is as lucky out there. They are fighting with each other now. The risers turned into many factions. Each is fighting for themselves.” Aser informed her.
“This has to change.” She said as she started eating.
After she finished the entire ball of salad, she turned to Aser and said,
“Please, allow me to explain why I’m really here.”
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Days had passed since Rain had awakened at the Burj. Nothing happened since then. It turned out that Rain’s father had allowed the crews to stay at the Burj and work with the risers. He just would not allow anyone of them to leave the Burj.
Rain spent his time on a computer trying to get any info about Sidra’s whereabouts. The GPS signal on her neckless was dead. Rain and Yazan were discussing what they need to do when Samir just entered the room with a confused face.
“Guys… Turn on the TV. Someone is hacking the main channels.”
Rain: “All of them at once?”
Samir: “Yes, isn’t that weird? “
“No, not if you have access to Siwaar?” Rain thought.
Samir: “They have not displayed anything yet. There is only a logo on the screen that has the word Orb.”
They turned on the TV and saw the logo. It was/is an interesting design that looks like a bracelet with the word ORB inside. The word Estil is on top with drops of water falling on the bracelet. A wing appeared form the right side of the bracelet and surrounded half of the logo. Then, someone appeared on TV to give a speech.
“Sidra…” Rain shouted.
“People of Estil, residents of this great nation, civilians, soldiers, and politicians... My name is Sidra. I’m no one. At least, as far as I’m concerned… Today, I’m no one. I’m just a human being. A human who grew sick of her surroundings... I grew looking at people get sick, suffer, and die. It became a daily seen.
It became normal to us to see children and elderly die out of hunger on the streets. It is embarr
assing… How can we call our nation one of the greatest if we cannot even protect our children and preserve the next generations? And do not even get me started with the killings in the name of fighting terrorism.
Today, I’m here to ask for help. The help of each and every one of you to open a new page in our deadly history... I’m here to ask the Peacekeepers to keep our cities peaceful as promised. I’m here to ask the soldiers to protect the people from any danger.
I’m here because for the past ten years, no one where doing their jobs as told. I’m here because I realized that we, the people, have failed our nation. Even the administration did not do its job.”
Then, she continued,
“I am NOT here declaring the war on Maki Lion. I am here asking for the help of each and every one of you to NOT fight for what you think is yours. But rather to fight for what you think is rightfully your children’s, neighbors’, and loved ones.
Because the moment you stop thinking of yourself, the moment you start thinking about others, is the moment you know you have won the war. One wing cannot make a bird fly.
Some people around us are so poor. All they have is money. We, the richest poor, are wealthier than we ever had thought.
We are rich with our values, our desire to change, and our care for each other. Love, Care, and Share… Be the sparkle that ignites the fire to change it all. Otherwise, we will wake up one day and find ourselves exiled as a nation.”
The same logo appeared after that. Then, the channels were back to normal.
“What just happened? What does that mean?” Yazan said with questionable voice.
“I’m not declaring the war on Maki Lion?” Samir repeated what Sidra had said. “Does she want the public to publicly hate her?” He asked.
“What a brilliant speech… You knew who to pick as a wife.” Rain’s father said as he entered the room.
“Commander? What did you make out of that speech?” Yazan asked.
“Keep your friends close and your enemy closer.” The commander, Rain’s father, said.
“If her speech meant what I think it did, she is going to find herself in a great danger. I have got to find her.” Rain said as he wore his jacket and got ready to leave.
“Come back here… We are still under lock down. No one is to leave at this point. You don’t have access to Orb.” The commander said.
“You cannot just keep me here…” Rain said with a tone.
“I can, and I will. Starting today, all of you are resuming your old jobs at the Burj. The real fight has not begun yet.” The commander said.