Once
the three of us were seated in the jet Frank turned to me and said, “Tell the
pilot we are headed to Lusaka.”
“Where
is that?” the Princess asked.
“Africa
– the capital city of Heaven Kumwambaof - once part of
Zambia.”
“That
is where the war is.”
“Yes,
and a very nasty war it is. I think
it has been going on for almost fifteen years. Jack, give us both a run down on the
war.”
“Yes Sir, the war has been going
on for seventeen years. It grew out
of a Bantu nationalism movement that was suppressed by the Zambia government
which was being dominated by the Bantu and Chinese elite in the capital
city. At that time more than 90% of
the copper was being exported to China at below market prices due to the
government corruption. Sporadic
fighting started outside the city; a Moslem named General Andikan, which is a
Bantu name meaning ‘Conqueror’ started a
guerrilla army that would often hide in neighboring Mozambique in the Tete
province. He seems to be a rather
inspiring chap and by his fifth year of fighting he took over Lusaka and
declared his Kingdom of Heaven or as it is called in Bantu, Heaven
Kumwambaof. The city was ravaged
during the five year fight and had lost over half its population. General Andikan slaughtered every
Chinese person he could find. He
currently controls about 30% of Zambia as well as Tete. It is estimated he has over 50,000
soldiers, including about a thousand robotic soldiers supplied by North
Korea. Ever since China lost
control of their once dependent satellite North Korea the Koreans have been
seeking ways to keep China’s world power confined. More than two hundred thousand Africans
have been killed by the Zambian Army or by General Andikan’s army. Another four hundred thousand have been
killed by famine. The leaders of
Zambia have temporally set up the city of Chibombo as the new capital of Zambia. Much
of the Kingdom of Heaven’s wealth comes from illegally traded goods, including
diamonds, arms, human sex slaves and drugs. Currently, there is a sort of cease fire
–“
“Okay, Jack, that is enough. This heaven on earth is also the last refuge for international outlaws. If you have the money, no matter what your politics are, the General will find a place for you in Lusaka. He has all those mansions left by the Chinese to fill.”
“And
you think that is where Terrance has gone?” the Princess asked in a tone of
disbelief.
“I
do. With his resources he could
easily set up a staging area to launch his attack on
religion.”
I
felt at this point it was within my duties to warn my master, “Sir you realize
that the Lusaka airport still does not have ground control. You fly there at the risk of being shot
down by Andican’s forces.”
“I
once got drunk with the General about six years ago in New York when he insulted
the United Nations for an hour for their refusal to recognize his new
nation. He is a cunning man. In fact, he is far more versed in
business than in fighting which is why he is still in power and the weak corrupt
Zambia elite are too busy backbiting and taking bribes to defeat him. He told me he had the President of
Zambia on his payroll and I don’t doubt it. I have my paper send him a case of Jack
Daniels every New Years.”
“Do
you really like this guy?” the Princess asked in a tone of
disgust.
“Of
course not, he is a monster, but great headlines often come from those you don’t
like. Besides, if he is drunk, he
is more likely to miss when he is trying to shoot someone. There is a regular procession of junior
officers in his army. They tend to
die young. Jack send off a message
to the General and ask his permission for landing. Jack how long until
touchdown?”
“About
nine hours, Sir.”
Frank
looked at the Princess with his big baby blue eyes and said in a mocking kind of
tone, “Any idea what we could do for nine hours?” The Princess came over to him and sat on
his lap and whispered something into Frank’s ear. After that their social interactions
regressed to mock procreation. I
discreetly turned my chair toward the back of the plane and scanned the Internet
for any interesting news. They did
not make love for nine hours, no human can. They boast as much, but within a half
hour the love birds were asleep.
When
I felt the plane starting to ascend I woke up my Master and he, in turn, woke up
the Princess. They both quickly
used the executive bathroom and took showers. I laid out fresh clothes for the two of
them and had fresh coffee and some muffins ready for them. Both must have been a little nervous as
only the coffee was consumed.
A
new message came in and it was from General Andican. I immediately told Frank I had a message
from the General. He told me to
read it to him. It went as follows:
My dear fellow, you are most welcome to come with your friend, the Princess, to
visit my heavenly country. Cheers,
General Andican
Even
my emotional circuits were in surprise mood when we landed. At the airport was a half a dozen black
limousines and a red carpet waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs. There was even a color guard with the
blood red flag of the General’s personal country as well as the Union Jack and
the Stars and Stripes. Since no
legitimate leader of a country has ever visited the General he probably insisted
on the color guard to boost his own ego.
Frank and the Princess slowly made their way down to the tarmac and then
paused on the red carpet as the General and his aides came out to greet
them. The General after welcoming
the Princess first and then Frank, took from an assistant a large bouquet of
flowers and gave them to the Princess.
Behind
the General and his aides were a dozen black photographers with old fashion film
cameras with flash. I think the
General had watched a lot of old movies and decided that important people needed
to have their photographs taken constantly. Flash photography had disappeared
decades ago with the common availability of cameras that could take photos under
the darkest conditions. To have
modern cameras silently clicking away was not impressive enough for General
Andican. He had to have not only
the sound of mechanical shutters and power film advance, but he had to have the
large strobe units to the side of the old Nikon FM2 and Hasselblad cameras. I
noticed to the side was one photographer with a modern professional camera,
which made me wonder if the other cameras even had film.
The
General walked us down the red carpet to a bank of microphones. Again, I think this was because the
General had seen old films where important people were always surrounded by at
least a dozen microphones whenever they had a press conference. These days the podiums seldom had any
microphones visible for a press conference. All of the sound and camera work were
done by JAICs like me.
The
Princess was gracious enough to say a few comments to the Press. They were very generic, but as usual,
done in her charming and authentic style.
Frank did not even bother to step up to the podium as it was obvious that
the Princess was the real news.
After
that an aide escorted us to our limo while the General stepped into one of the
others. The General’s personal
Press Corp was divided between two older model limos. The security people and aides
disappeared in the remaining limos.
Soon we were moving off the tarmac onto a side road that lead out of the
airport. Once we reached the
highway Frank noticed the President’s car made a right turn, whereas we had made
a left turn.
“What
the fuck,” Frank said as he craned his neck around so he could look out the back
window. “All the cars turned right,
but our car.”
“What
do you think that means, Frank?” the Princess asked.
“In
my business, not good, but maybe he is just giving us a lift to the Hilton that
is downtown?” Frank said composing himself.
It
was soon evident to me that we were not going to downtown Lusaka, but instead
headed out of town. I informed my
master and he fidgeted some more.
Frank does not like to not be in control. The Princess rummaged in her handbag and
pulled out a pack of cigarettes.
She took one and held the box out to Frank and he took one as well. As is my duty I provided the flame and
they seemed relaxed after their first draw. After another ten minutes the car pulled
off the highway. I told my master
that this road lead to an old British military base that was then the largest
Zambian army base until the General captured it in his attack on Lusaka.
“Is
the General using it?” Frank asked.
“No
sir, it has been left as a ghost town.
Due to the war thousands of buildings were
abandoned.”
The
car slowed down to around 15 mph and Frank impulsively tried to open the
door. It was locked of course. Finally, it pulled up to what looked
like a hangar and slowly went into the darkened space. The headlights of the limo turned on and
there ahead of us was a line of robotic soldiers. To their left was the man Frank had
wanted to see – Sir Terrance Lutts, in the flesh.
When
the car came to a stop I could hear the door locks disengage. I opened my door and held it open for
the Princess and Frank. They
egressed with matching scowls on their face and silently walked over to where
Sir Terrance was standing with his aides.
Lutts finished giving some type of direction and then turned to his newly
arrived guests.
“Welcome
to heaven, my dear wife and Mr. Huntington. This is what you were looking for all
along.”
“And
what is that my dear, husband?” the Princess asked.
“Why
where I plan on changing the world, my dear. It is here that I shall launch my own
plague on Egypt and the rest of the world.
Tomorrow we set it off,” Lutts said with a smile, “Be so good as to
follow me.”
“Sure,
just don’t try and drug us this time,” Frank said with sarcasm.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Huntington, I have bigger fish to fry,” Sir Terrance said with a small chuckle.
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