Chapter 6: As Serious As Death

August 23, 1996

The news teams were a little delayed in arriving at Carsecusa. They had stopped to broadcast from the site where the impaled nude bodies of Saa Kalb and Nikosi Naser had been discovered earlier that morning. At the feet of Saa Kalb had been a sign reading, ‘Murderer and Rapist.’ At the feet of Nikosi Naser had been a sign reading, ‘Murderer, Rapist, and Thief.’ The discovery of their bodies had sent shock waves around the world, and every reporter in the region just had to file a story covering it.

Palarma and Amra had spent years trying to capture the two men. They were on the list of the most wanted terrorists list with a resumé of terrorist acts and crimes that was a mile long. There were more than a few people who were happy to learn that they were no longer alive. Even the Prime Minister of Amra smiled upon being told the news in his morning briefing.

Not everyone was happy. The two men were honored holy warriors among Enforcers of God, having thwarted the efforts by non-believers to end the movement. The reaction among members of the Enforcers of God was one of great anger. The manner of death was the ultimate dishonor. The nudity of the bodies was an insult to Jarjan. The signs at their feet were declared to be a great lie since holy warriors, by definition, couldn’t be guilty of murder, rape, or theft.

The reactions of people inside Palarma were mixed. For some, the two men had been larger than life legends. The manner of death had tarnished that view significantly. Some were angered while others now doubted the legends. The accusations of murder, rape, and theft wereas a serious ones. There were others who’d had bad experiences with the Enforcers of God, and felt their deaths wereas more than appropriate. Still others were left wondering.

However, one thing was shared by all regardless of how they felt about the two men: the Enforcers of God were no longer viewed as being invulnerable.

After their visit at the execution site, it was on to the site where the convoy of Enforcers of God had met a grisly end. That little stretch of road had been given the name: The Mile of Death. Of course, every reporter in the area had to give a broadcast from there. Depending on the political orientation of the news organizations, each broadcaster emphasized different aspects. Some spoke about how the Enforcers of God had been defenseless against the assault. Others spoke about the death toll. One team focused on the deaths of the reporters who had been part of the convoy. Regardless of politics, the scene was shocking in terms of the number of bodies still present. Cleanup was going to take a long time.

None of the news teams spent much time at The Mile of Death. since it was old news, having happened the previous day. A quick few minutes of talking in front of the microphone, and then they were off on their journey. They were on a deadline to be in Carsecusa by noon. They were hoping to catch the story of the century. None of them had a clue how the story would unfold, but it would obviously be significant. Pen Sada had threatened to destroy a whole town if it didn’t surrender.

When the news vans finally arrived at Carsecusa, they found Pen Sada relaxing in a beach lounge chair under a large pink umbrella. There was a little pink table next to her with speaker phone and an iced beverage on it. The immediate reaction was to consider her a complete and total fool.

The reporters and cameramen boiled out of the news vans. It was five minutes to noon and they had to get ready to broadcast. Hair was quickly combed, cameras checked, and microphones tested.

Pen Sada waited for them to be ready. The reporters gave their little introductory speeches to the cameras. When the cameras finally turned to her, she smiled and waved at them.

“Hello! I’m so glad you could make it. I was a getting little worried about you. It seems that driving around Palarma isn’t as safe as it used to be. Just yesterday a whole convoy of Enforcers of God had a little accident on their way here. It seems that they ran into three tank killers piloted by Jade Warriors. That little encounter left a horrible mess. I hope they have it cleaned up soon.”

One of the reporters asked, “Don’t you feel guilty?”

“Well ... since they came here to kill little ol’ me...” she looked off to the side for a fraction of a second and then added, “No.”

“Are you really going to threaten the whole town with death if they don’t surrender?”

Pen Sada got a rather twisted expression on her face. It was that expression suggesting there was some bad news and the person didn’t want to convey it. The cameramen focused on her.

She said, “We ran into a little problem with that.”

“What kind of problem?” one of the reporters asked thinking this was going to be the great story of how Jade Force couldn’t go through with it.

“We actually gave the ultimatum to the people of Carsecusa two days ago and they surrendered.”

“They did?”

“Yes, they did. We were so pleased by their decision that we bought them new houses and moved them out. Everyone left. Every man, woman, child, cat, dog, and goat ... left. Yesterday at noon, there was nobody and nothing except empty buildings in Carsecusa.”

“So the town is empty?” one of the reporters asked looking disappointed at the idea that the great story had evaporated on them.

“No. That’s part of the problem. You see, a whole bunch of new people moved in yesterday afternoon. The really strange thing is that all of them were Enforcers of God.”

“What are you going to do?” one of the reporters asked.

“I’m going to ask them to surrender.”

“They aren’t going to do that,” another of the reporters said.

Pen Sada said, “We’ll see. I’m going to call them now.”

She reached over and dialed a number on the speaker phone. The reporters could hear the tones as she dialed. All of them were whispering into their microphones to fill the dead air time. They were basically giving a running commentary on what was happening.

When someone finally answered the phone, Pen Sada said, “Hello. This is Pen Sada. Can I speak to someone in charge?”

“I know who you are. You’re that bitch from Jade Force. We’re going to put you in your proper place. It’s a lesson you’re not going to enjoy.”

“Such hostility,” Pen Sada said. “I really need to speak to whoever is in charge.”

“I’m in charge here.”

“Will you surrender the town, or do we have to kill you?”

“We’ll never surrender! Come on. I can’t wait to get my hands on you.”

“There’s no need to make this personal. Are you sure you don’t want to surrender? It sure would be a whole lot easier for everyone.”

“We have Jarjan on our side. You’ll never defeat us.”

“Just answer the question, are you going to surrender?”

“No.”

“Okay. Have it your way,” Pen Sada said sounding extremely unhappy about their decision.

She hung up the phone and turned to the reporters. She said, “I guess you heard. They aren’t going to surrender.”

Pen Sada took a sip of her iced beverage, sighed, and set the glass on the little table.

“What’s going to happen now?” one of the reporters asked.

“I’m going to make a call,” Pen Sada said.

She dialed a telephone number, and waited for it to ring. The whole town went up in a tremendous explosion that rocked the ground where the reporters stood. A huge cloud of dust and debris hung in the air over where the town had once been.

Looking over at where the town had been, Pen Sada said, “Well, that’s it. The shows over.”

“What happened?” one of the reporters asked.

“I blew up the town,” Pen Sada said.

“You just killed over a thousand people!”

Focusing on the reporter, Pen Sada said, “How do you know how many people were in the town?”

A little shaken by the tone in which the question was asked, the reporter replied, “I have my sources, and I’m not required to tell you.”

“I’m not required to keep you alive,” Pen Sada said with a sudden hardness in her voice.

“I’m a reporter!”

“Okay. If that’s what you are,” she said.

Pen Sada rose from the beach lounge chair. She approached the reporters. They were expecting her to draw her sword or rifle to put away the reporter. Yet she made no move to draw a weapon.

Much to their surprise, with each step she appeared to grow in height. Her features transformed from flippant and naive to solemn and knowing. Upon stepping out from under the umbrella, the harsh daylight caught her skin giving her an unearthly glow. Even the cameras caught the changes in her appearance.