A Twofold Tale

The morning after the attack on the Ait-Ben-Haddid fortress on Al’ard, Nizam Mahfoud receives Captain Hassan Fassi in his office in the Ministry of the Interior, Information, and Communication Technologies in the city of Al’Easima. The Captain was flown in by H3 military helicopter. There’s another man in the minister’s office, Nadim Nurani, a double agent known to the resistance under the code name Homeboy, who was brought in by a special police escort. Nizam is in a particularly good mood this morning. After giving instructions and precise wording for the official media announcements of the battle and the resulting elimination of the terrorist cell and the capture of the leader, Nizam is now celebrating and rewarding his faithful belligerents.

“Well, my men, we have good reasons to celebrate, thanks to both of you.” He lights a cigar and pours himself a whisky. “Have a cigar and some whisky, 24 years of age, single malt, only the best. The cigars are the best that money can buy.”

Nadim eagerly lights a cigar and pours himself a glass, while Nizam introduces the two men. “Captain Hassan Fassi is the leader of the National Security force troop that engaged battle last night with the terrorists and captured the tribal chief Anazar Ait Tamdoult, and Nadim Nurani here is our undercover agent who infiltrated the rebels and discovered where they were grouped at the Ait-Ben-Haddid fortress. You’ve both served us well. Captain Fassi, I said help yourself to the whiskey and a cigar!”

“I’m sorry sir, I don’t smoke or drink. I’ll go without if you don’t mind.”

“But I do mind! You’ll celebrate with us whether you like it or not! Help yourself! That’s an order Captain! You’re a big man and a hero, not a pussy!”

“I captured the leader of the terrorists, you should be grateful.”

“Oh, but I am! This is my way of showing it; it’s a privilege I rarely give anyone. Come on, drink up!”

“I’m a practicing Muslim sir, please. It’s haram.”

“Haram shmaram! My ass! You’ll drink it and you’ll like it!”

The captain is a brave man and a man of principles. He doesn’t give in. “I’m sorry sir. I will not.”

“You’re refusing my orders?”

“This has nothing to do with the line of duty, sir.”

“Line of duty or not, I will not stand for anyone disobeying my orders. Guards!” Four huge bodyguards are there in a split second. “Hold this man!” As they hold the captain, Nizam pulls out his stiletto (he always carries one), flicks it open, and proceeds to rip the epaulettes off his shoulders, strip off his insignia, badges, and medals, and to top it off, punches him in the face and again in the ribs.

“This man’s under arrest for treason. Two of you take him to the prison and put him with the terrorists!” Turning to Nadim Nurani, he lifts his glass of whiskey. “Cheers, my boy, at least there are some people who know their place! You’ve done a great job, but it’s not finished yet. You know as well as I do that we don’t have the leaders. That was just what we told the press. You know who we have to catch, don’t you?”

“Yes, sir. Ali Elbaz, Fatima Zahra Bellali, and Asra Hanadi. Asra will be hard to catch, she’s a fighter.”

“You let me worry about how to catch them. You just find them and let me know when you do. I’ll give you extra men and everything you need. This won’t be the first kidnapping I’ve had carried out. If you don’t succeed, you’ll wind up in prison with Captain Fassi and the rebels. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? I’m sure they’d all be happy to see you. They’re probably on to you. All three of them are clever.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll find them, sir. Thank you for the whiskey and the cigar, they’re excellent.”

“You bet they are! Here’s your pay for what you’ve done. If you locate the others I’ll pay you a million dinars. If you fail… you know what awaits you.” Nizam hands him a fat envelope. “Now get out of here!”

Alone in his office Nizam is beaming. He’s had some real pleasure this morning. Not as much pleasure as he has with his secret perversion, but degrading the Captain was something to be remembered. “No one disobeys me! Ha! That punk Nadim must be scared shitless after what he saw me do! That’s good, he won’t dare let me down!”

Two hundred miles south as the crow flies of the capital city Al’Easima, Asra’s dream team have eaten breakfast and are gathered in a circle like the night before. Asra addresses them, “Waging war means always being ready to change your plans. Mas Anazar knew the risk he was taking, as we all do. As I told you, you can be sure that what Chimere saw was real. This is what I think, we’re still much too close to the fortress; the army will surely be combing the whole area to find the dispersed rebels. I suggest that we all pack up and go quickly. Everyone was to meet at Tizi-n’Talout, so that’s where we’ll go now. It’s about 25 miles, so we should be there early in the afternoon. Fadina my dear, you’ve always wanted to use what you’ve learned and become a military leader. Now is the moment to seize your destiny. Without your father the tribe will need a leader. But we’ll have to retreat first and do our training as planned. Our warfare is guerilla, we’re few and they’re many.” What do you all think?”

Everyone nods in agreement, and Asra continues, “There’s another issue we have to resolve quickly. That’s communication. There aren’t any telecom networks out here and there won’t be where we’re going either. Our comrades are all split up, Fatima Zahra is alone in Al Madinat Aladwa with the resistance group there, and we have no way of communicating between all of us.” She turns to Fadina again, “Fadina, can you ride to the oasis where your father keeps his carrier pigeons and bring some of them back? We’ll need a few that return home to Al Madinat Aladwa and a few that return to their home in the desert. You’ll need to travel with someone. As we’ve already formed partners, that will be Tazoula. We’ll write a message now for Fatima Zahra that you can send as soon as you reach the oasis. That way she’ll be updated. She knows that we were all to meet at Tizi-n’Talout but she doesn’t know about the battle, other than what she’s certainly heard in the news. Be extra careful, and carry the note hidden in your underwear. The army won’t be suspecting women to be part of the rebel forces, but wear headscarves anyway.”

“Do we have to?” a young woman complains.

“Yes, my dear Tazoula, and cover up your tattoo. Try not to attract any attention. Stay at the oasis until you receive Fatima Zahra’s response. Spread the word about your father’s capture to all of the tribe members you meet. Run along now, may God bless and protect both of you.”

Aziz writes the note for Fatima Zahra and gives Fadina enough cash to cover any expenses they could have on their trip. They pack up, give the extra supplies and hay they had got for the horses back to the villagers, and they set out on horseback. Asra sends the professional riders, Illi and Tala, to ride ahead as scouts to make sure there aren’t any army troops along the route.

Illi and Tala have been riding just half an hour when they run into a squad of soldiers.

“Hey you two! Come over here!” Shouts the lieutenant in charge.

They obey, ride over to the soldiers, and dismount.

Tala is perfumed as usual and ready to meet men. Few men can resist her curves, her azure blue eyes, her pale skin, and long black hair. The large majority of the people in this country are dark skinned with brown or black eyes. “Hi guys.” She purrs. “What are you doing out here, practicing maneuvers?” She looks straight into the eyes of the lieutenant and “Maybe we can give you a hand…”

The lieutenant has trouble controlling himself, and barely manages to keep his head. “I was about to ask you the same thing, what are you doing out here?”

“Just riding, I love riding, don’t you?” She moves her pelvis in a suggestive way.

“OK, ride away, and be careful, we have reports of terrorists in the area.” He takes on an air of importance. “But don’t worry, we’ll catch them if they’re anywhere near.”

Illi and Tala race back to meet their team, and they succeed in making a detour around the troops.