The second son

Chapter nine

Like most diplomatic discussions between two heads of states or delegates of countries that were hell bent on a war, nothing was achieved. The meeting at Ghana did however go according to the plan of the ELOE, they had known the West were not really ready to negotiate, it had been important that whoever they sent as a delegate showed no form of weakness whatsoever and therefore the meeting at Ghana had been a mere battle of wills, another meeting hadn't even been scheduled to hold again as planned. The warfare intelligence of East Hendosia did not expect the war to end in a treaty with the West, the West were already known for violation of treaties - when it concerned them. It was believed that if total war with West Hendosia was to be avoided, then it would be on the platform of international intervention. The president of the ELOE was welcomed back, he assumed his duties and in general, life went on.

   The constitution of the kingdom of Mmiri started with the preamble, ' We the people of Mmiri having decided to live in peace and Unity and to promote the essence of who we are which is our culture, standing in solidarity with all organizations that advocate world peace......."

The constitutional conferences had been one of the greatest events to rock East Hendosia. Almost every Citizen had been a part of it, lending their voice for the formulation of laws put in place to serve them. At the end, it had been a major success. A real legislature had been created, a working Judiciary was put in place and the date for the appointment of judges set. The Constitution  stated that the Monarch who was to be absolute was however subject to checks and balances and would cease to be a signatory if he was voted out of office by a vote of no confidence from a two - third majority of the legislature or if a two third majority of the entire citizens voted him out in a plebiscite. The method for election of the monarch was also stated and it was to be done in a Zero - party election. The name of the country had also been changed from 'East Hendosia' to 'the kingdom of Mmiri'.

   Nmaka was sitting on her bed, listening to a reporter outline the constitution. She had still not gotten over her embarrassment of the day she had made a fool of herself in Jaachi's house. Strangely Rota had not spoken to her again about taking Jaachi for herself but her mother had gone on and on, urging her cajoling and begging and acting more and more frantic with each passing day. Jaachi himself had been cool about it, acting like that night had never happened and Lola had been an angel, totally understanding her grief, they had fast become friends after the incident at the palace. She knew the reason Lola was being so generous was because Jaachi had rejected her advances that night, it would have been a different ball game if he hadn't but she was still greatful for the companionship. 

   Her own friends had grew distant, they hadn't really been unkind to her or anything like that but visits had become less frequent and they stopped inviting her out either. When she confronted them about it, they said it was because of the war, that things were though, that they were all facing hard time but she knew better. She was no more the future princess, an object of fancy so they deserted her when she needed them most. 

   Her bedroom door opened and her mother came in. She struggled not to let her displeasure at seeing her mother show. " Hi Mom.". Her mother was dressed again in a white robe with a red head gear and had chalk marks on her face. It was starting to be her signature appearance.

   " I see you're watching the news."

   Nmaka rolled her eyes. "Yes Mom."

   "Did you see how handsome the future King looked in that photograph - "

   " Mom !"

   " What .... Oh ! Forgive me, of cause he is not the future King, he is the king. The result shows that the referendum was decided in his favour -

   " Mom. I don't care, I don't want to listen to this now so if this  is all you've come to say, you can leave."

   Her mother looked surprised.  " You don't want to hear about the referendum ? But I thought you loved the kingdom of Mmiri - funny isn't it I have to get used to saying the ' kingdom of Mmiri' instead of ' East Hendosia."

  "  Mommy, we both know you did not come here to muse over the name of our country. What is wrong with you Mom, can't you see your fighting a lost cause. Rota has given up persuading me, my own eyes have even been opened to the folly of that scheme but yet you go on and on and on, it's now scary. I'm worried about you mother, you hardly eat, everyday you go out to God knows where dressed in that aweful costume. Your acting crazy Mom don't you see it."

  It was as if the mask dropped from her mother's face and Nmaka was terrified by what she saw. "Do you want her to come for me ?"  Her mother asked with a wild look in her eyes.

 " Want who to come for you ? Is someone threatening you Mom? Is that why you have been acting so wierd ?"

  Mary gave a bitter bark of a laugh. " Children of nowadays ! You lot know nothing, absolutely nothing?" 

   " Talk to me Mom. What is it you are not telling me, who is going to come for you ?"

   Mary laughed. " If I told you, you wouldn't believe it."

   " Well try me."

   " There's nothing much to tell, just know that if you don't get married to the King of East - of the kingdom of Mmiri, then you would loose your mother for good."

   Exasperated, Nmaka shouted. " Mommy you're not making any sense."

   " That was why your father died" her mother continued as if she had not interrupted. " It was all because of her."

   " Because of who Mom?" Nmaka exhaled trying to calm down. " Because of who Mom? Look Mommy, I want you to take a deep breath and start from the beginning of everything okay. No wait " she said as her mother started to speak. " Let me get you a glass of juice first - orange?" Her mother nodded.

   Few minutes later, Nmaka and her mother were sitting on the bed sucking orangeade from straws . " So you were going to tell me something?" She broke the silence to her mother.

   " When your father and I first met, we were in love with each other. There wasn't really any money involved, he was a struggling graduate looking for a better job than the one he had and I had just finished uni. We fell in love, madly in love and got married. It was as if lady luck celebrated our union by bringing us more hardship and bad luck. Your father was fired from work, accused of doing something he knew nothing of, he submitted CVs and attended interviews, leaving the house each morning with enthusiasm and coming back in the evening looking defeated. I myself tried, doing petty trading and applying for jobs too but as was common in the Hendosia of those days the employers only wanted to sleep with me before the offered me the job - interviews were a mere formality. -"

   " I don't understand, that's s****l harassment, they could loose their license..... Could get into real trouble because of that."

   " In today's world yes but in the 80s, it was the norm - most of my friends I complained to asked me why I even bothered to look for a job in the first place since I was a woman.-"

   Nmaka was puzzled.  " That is so sexist!"

   " Hendosia is sexist. Why do you think the older generation fight more for our sovereignty than the youths, I know you all were present at the secession but you were too young to understand what was going on."

   " So this is you fighting for our sovereignty? By bullying me into a marriage with the King..... I don't even understand how all this has anything to do with your early days with Daddy."

   " Well you didn't let me finish. What I was saying in earnest is that we - I and your father were living in abject poverty and it was not because we didn't try to succeed financially, the system was not structured to favour young people who had a degree but no political or social connection -"

   " And so you want me to marry the king, to ensure that what - we win the war ! Because earlier you said he wouldn't be crowned if he was not married to me but look, the people want him and they don't care who he is with."

   " I'm not done talking."

   " Okay go on."

   " You need to understand that I tried all I could, we - your father and I tried all we could but there was just no light at the end of the tunnel. Then one day, I met an old classmate. She was your average successful woman, she had an apartment, could pay her bills and maintain her luxury car as well as keep up with her cosmopolitan lifestyle. We got talking and I just ....... poured out my heart to her and that was when the problem all started.

   Nmaka was trying to be calm but her mother was really testing her patience. " What problem, you don't have to be so dramatic, just go straight to the point. "

   " Okay, I'm only trying to make sure you understand." Her mother said and Nmaka rolled her eyes. " The woman, the old friend of mine said she would help me, that she would introduce me to her source of wealth. She took me to a shrine - "

   Nmaka burst out laughing. " I'm sorry Mom but this story just gets funnier by the minute, go on."

   " She took me to a shrine," her mother continued patiently. " And the wizard there said - stop laughing, this is not funny." She scolded her daughter who could barely contain her laughter. " The wizard said... gave me certain instructions which I carried out and things turned around. Your father got employed by a multi national company and I got my dream job and a make up artist -"

   " Blah blah blah and everyone lived happily ever after. Oh, I forgot to ask, did the wizard have a wand ?"

   " This is not funny, maybe, I shouldn't have called a wizard. He was a ..... sorcerer. There was a clause, your father was to build a followership of at least ten thousand people before he turned fourty and you and I were to get at least a million followers before you turned thirty. "

   " So you're saying this ...... sorcerer wanted us to be social media influencers ?"

   " You could call it that, but whether it was media influence or direct influence, we needed to have a multitude who looked up to us and could be influenced by us into taking up the oat of the seven."

  " What is 'the seven' ?"

  " It's a globalization cult, all for one currency, one religion and all. You father couldn't deliver his quota so they killed him and now it's our turn."

  Nmaka was horrified. " You're delusional, not only have you come up with a conspiracy theory, this one is actually directed against yourself. Daddy died of cancer."

  Mary blinked a little confused. But I thought.... She felt tired. " Look Nma, I'm feeling a little sleepy, do you mind? " When Nmaka shook her head, she stretched out on the bed and was asleep in no time, leaving Nmaka wondering what was wrong with her mother and what she could do to help. She knew for a fact that half if not all of what her mother said was not true, her father had come from wealthy family, he grew up with a trust fund that they were still enjoying up till now. She had seen photos of him in different stages all over the house, his childhood, teen, young adult and his early married life and she knew one couldn't keep up with the lifestyle those photos portrayed if the person wasn't rich. She made up her mind that she was going to make her mother see a psychiatrist the next day.

                                                                                           ***

Lola paced the guest room, since her breakup with Jaachi she had moved what was left of her things that were still in his room into the guest room she missed her father, she even missed the frequent quarrels they used to have and she missed her sister, she was beginning to wish she had not acted on the impulse to come down, she and Jaachi might still be together if she had remained in the West. And she missed West Hendosia. East Hendosia or the kingdom of Mmiri as they called it was a little too much. At first it had been enchanting, like time travel. The absolute monarchial system of government, the single minded patriotism of the people, the fact that for so long, East Hendosia did not have a constitution and the intrigue and politics that surrounded the throne had seemed entertaining in a way for a city girl like her and she hadn't expected Jaachi to get so quickly drawn into the system. But it was his country, they were his people as he had clearly told her so she didn't hold it against him.

   Lola had a secret that was eating her up, what had initially proven to be an adventure for her was turning into a night mare and not for the first time, she thought about explaining everything to Jaachi, telling him about the mess she had gotten herself into but she didn't. This was not the Jaachi she knew, she had no way of telling how he would respond to the news so she kept her secret to herself.

   Trying to cheer herself up, she decided to go shopping. Nothing ever made her feel more happy than the power to just point at something and it was hers. She never looked at price tags, that would kill the fun. Instead she just allowed herself to be transported to a world of fashion and fast food, allowing her credit card to bare the responsibility of that. 

   She had showered and dressed in a daring strapless gown and was brushing out her ten thousand hero human hair wig thinking about how being single had it's pecks when her phone started ringing and when she saw the caller, she didn't bother to answer. It was his signal for them to meet up, two short flashes on her phone and she had been summoned. She wondered when it was going to end, she started to believe that this was going to be her life as long as she remained in the East and the worst part was that she was sure the people who helped her come in were not going to help her leave, they needed her here. 

   Trying to be brave, she took a taxi to jules bar and grill, a restaurant which was thirty minutes drive away from the palace and her usual meeting spot with the man who had become her nightmare. She could not see any light at the end of the tunnel. She spotted him in the booth they used for their meetings, he looked relaxed, so sure of what he was doing while he turned her own life upside down.

   She ordered a yogurt when the waiter came over and waited for the man opposite her to make another one of his impossible demands.

   " After the Cyber Military was bombed, the East.. or the government of Mmiri bounced back with an operation called 'the watch'. A new base has been built and it seems the location is not open to the public. I need you to find out where the new Cyber Military is located. Do not call me when you do, in the next three days at exactly this time, I would be here waiting for you and you better be here and with the answers or.... "

   " I can't." She wished her voice did not sound so shaky, the man opposite her was looking at her curiously.

   "Sorry what was that? "

   " I can't get the information you need, I am not even dating Jaachi anymore." Out of fear she didn't add that when she struck the deal with them to give them information in exchange of a save passage across the borders, the people who had helped her cross the border had requested only one thing, an e-file from a particular ELOE meeting. She had given it to them and like the vultures they were, they had kept coming for more, threatening to expose her to the East if she did not comply. 

   " Ms. Lola, the people I work with do not care about your relationship status. Just get me the new location of the Cyber Military at exactly twelve noon three days from now or you'll find out how extra judicial the East Hendosian warfare intelligence can be." He got up and left without a backward glance, leaving her to get the bill.

                                                                                       ***

   Television presenter Ara Mehk sat opposite the soon- to- be- King Jaachi in an interview for the show 'the face of new Mmiri'. He had answered so many spontaneous questions not only with an insight that revealed how much the issues really mattered to he but with the self assurance of one who had faith in his country and himself and she was impressed. Listening to his speeches hadn't moved her the way it had some people, it was very easy to have your personal secretary draft a speech for you so that you could come out and pretend before the people but now, seeing him answer all her questions with the same arresting presence he had in his speeches made her hope, perhaps Mmiri could become that country she would be proud to call home.

   "One last question prince Jaachi,  do you believe this war would be won ?"

   Jaachi smiled. " If I didn't believe in our victory, I would not be here. The kingdom of Mmiri is paving a unique path in the sands of time and pettiness on the part of our neighbors is too small to hinder us."

   After the interview, Jaachi drove over to his uncle's house. He was planning to ask him to help clear Maopa's name, he hated the fact that he was putting Flora at risk and he had no other place to turn Maopa to, even though the trail on her case had cooled down a bit he still didn't believe it was safe to smuggle her to another city and the fact was, he was getting tired of the whole issue. He hated that he could not see Flora when he wanted to or even call her.

  " Hello Uncle.".  Jaachi said walking into the General's house, he was in the gym using virtual reality to do some difficult training, at least Jaachi thought they were difficult. "Did you watch the interview?". He asked from a safe distance. He didn't want his Uncle to miscalculate any of his moves and land a vicious kick on him.

   The General grunted." I'm sure you did not come here to ask me if I watched you flirt with that pretty television reporter."

  Jaachi laughed. " General ! Where is that coming from, you did say I needed to put up more of an appearance, you even told me to get a TV interview, so I did."

  His Uncle ran on the wall, summersaulted and at the same time delivered a flying kick, his body twisting into an abnormal position and Jaachi felt sorry for his computerised opponent. " Jaachi what are you here for?" He said when he landed on the floor.

  " I really need your help." He said sobering up.

  The General removed his VR head set and turned his full attention to Jaachi. "This had better be worth it."

   " It's about Maopa."

   " She contacted you ?"

   " She's innocent."

   The General regarded his nephew suspiciously. " Is that what she told you? Look Jaachi if you know where she is you need to tell me right now."

   " Just... here me out." Jaachi pleaded with his Uncle. "She can't be working with the West because she's wanted by the West -"

   " They could have struck a deal for her pardon in exchange for information .... did that occur to you."

   " Well she didn't. She's terrified about being sent back, seems to believe the West would give a ransom for her."

   The General frawned. " She's  as important as that ?"

   "Let's just say she has enemies in high places."

   Ejiofor shook his head.  "I'm  sorry I can't help you Jaachi - "

   " Please." Jaachi was surprised at the desperation in his words, his Uncle himself was taking aback.

   " And what does this case even mean to you ?"

   " A lot ! Look all I'm saying is the people on this case are looking in the wrong places. If you can't make this whole affair disappear, can you at least point the intelligence in the right direction."

   " Which is?"

   " Who was the security on duty when the base was bombed? I hear there were no casualties."

   " What do you need that -"   

  " I want to question him myself."

   The General studied Jaachi for a very long time before he finally spoke. " The file is over there in my laptop." He pointed at his laptop in the sitting room. " Password's ninety four eighty, now please excuse me, I'll like to finish my training.

   Jaachi didn't even thank the General, his Uncle had already put on his virtual reality head gear and was  doing some warm ups before he had the chance to say anything.

   He found the file on the bombing, according to the security personnel who had been on duty, no alarm had gone of to signal the crossing of the borders by the enemy jet, luckily for him, he had been in the basement when the building was bombed. Jaachi did not believe in luck, not when someone's life depended on it. He was about to shut down the computer when something else caught his interest, it was a file on the Royal jet that had crashed killing his brother and father. He looked to see his Uncle was still fighting his computerised opponent then he opened the file.

   The file was many pages and he read as fast as he could scheming through information he considered unimportant. He tore out a sheet of paper from a note pad on the table and wrote down the name of the insurance company, the garage where the plane had been examined after the crash and the names of the foreign engineers who had examined the jet in England. He quicky stuffed the paper in his back pocket then focused on reading the article.

   " Having trouble locating the file ?" His Uncle said from in front of him and he tried to school his expression. He quicky closed the file on the plane crash and opened the one on the bombing, regretting how shaky his hands were on the keyboard.

   "No trouble." He forced a smile. " As a matter of fact I'm through." He tried to keep his expression normal as he shut down the system. "Thanks General." He said sprinting out of the house. He now has the lead he had been looking for.

   He drove over to Flora's house on top speed, no longer afraid of being followed, somehow he knew hls uncle had his back.

  " Jaachi !". Flora said when she opened the door for him, trying hard not to show how much pleased she was to see him. "Come in, Maopa's inside the room, I'll just call her." She watched him as he entered, wondering if he was as happy to see her as she was to see him, probably not - but there had been no mention of his girlfriend by the press and she wondered if it was due to his decision to protect the girl from the media or if it meant that their relationship was not serious. Either way, she tried to put a check on her emotions, she had already lost her heart. She didn't intend to loose her head as well.

   "Ah the fly boy in person."  Maopa said hugging him. " I must confess we weren't expecting you." When she drew away from him, she had a worried expression on her face. " Why are you here ?". She asked meaning to ask other questions like were you followed, isn't your coming too dangerous but she knew he would have a good explanation.

   " I spoke with the General and he gave me a name."

   " A name .... of who?"

   " The security officer who had been on duty during the bombing, according to his testimony, the sensors didn't pick up the enemy plane when it crossed the borders, he had been lucky to be in the basement when the bomb went off."

   Maopa scoffed. " Well the day I start believing in luck is the day I stop being Maopa."

   " Exactly what I thought." Jaachi agreed.

   " I don't understand." Flora joined in. " You think he was lying."

   " Well let's not rule out the possibility that he could be saying the truth.". Maopa conceded. " If the sensors were not on, it could only mean two things, one is that he knew of the oncoming attack, disabled the system and then took shelter at the basement. The other is that the West some how found out the virus was out and that you would be depending heavily on the sensors once again, hijacked the system again when they knew you would be least suspecting and sent that jet which in the absence of heavy border security and with no sensors would have had a clear field to drop the bomb that brought down the building -"

   " And the security man was just lucky to be at the basement... " Jaachi was skeptical. " Sounds a little far fetched if you ask me."

   " Well they would still need inside info to do that right?". Flora asked

   Jaachi nodded. " And I'm sure the inside man is that security. I'm going to have a word or two with him - with the General's blessing." He added when he saw the look on Maopa's face.

   "But you didn't need us to figure this out."  Maopa said watching Jaachi curiously. " You've still not told me why you're here."

   Jaachi drew in a breath and let it out slowly. " You're right that's not why I'm here, I need your help."

   Five minutes later they were all seated on a long couch in front of Flora's computer as Maopa tried to get into the Cyber Military database. After several unsuccessful attempts, she clapped her hand finally. "I'm in." 

   " Okay find out anything they have on the two pilots." Jaachi instructed.

   Maopa hit several keys, scrolled through an open file then turned the laptop to face them. "There's nothing on the Pilots, not even their names."

  " Impossible." Jaachi said bringing out the paper he had jotted on from his back pocket. "They were in the file in the General's system. See, I jotted down the names."

   Maopa took the paper from him . " Then for some reason, the pilots are more important to your Uncle than they are to the Cyber Military."

   " He did say he was going to be on top of the investigation but some how, I feel he's not doing his best." Jaachi said.

  " Well can you get into the General's computer?" Flora asked.

   " Only if he has ever used it to login to the Cyber Military before."

   Jaachi remembered the first day he had met the director of the Cyber Military, it had been at the General's house and they had accessed the Cyber Military through his laptop. " Yes, he has." He declared and Maopa was already hitting at the keyboard as fast as she could.

   " Okay, here we are. We have complete files on both of the pilots and the flight attendant. Their names, addresses, family background and history." She scrolled down." Wow we even have smaller files on their families."

   " Why do you think the General is so obsessed about the other people on the plane." Flora asked confused.

   " Only one way to find out." Jaachi answered.

   " You're going to ask him." Flora was surprised.

   " No." Jaachi answered, "I'm going to ask them. Let's see what the file has on the plane crash."

   Maopa's eyes schemed through the file. "Let's see....  Dual engine failure... it's possible that the plane lost its vertical stabilizer before the crash but that has not been confirmed." Maopa looked up at Jaachi and Flora. " And this is me checking out before I get spotted."

   " So what do we know about planes ?' Jaachi directed the question at Maopa.

   "That its very rare for both engines on a plane to fail, infact apart from this particular case, there has only been one case before." Flora answered instead. " What?". She asked at the look of surprise on Jaachi and Maopa's face, she lifted her hand to show she held her phone. "Google.". She said simply, Jaachi smiled and Maopa shrugged.

   "She's actually right." Maopa said. "It's very unlikely for both engines on a plane to fail - at the same time."

   " So you're saying both engines have to fail at the same time for the plane to crash?" Flora asked.

   "If only one engine fails, the pilot should have enough time to safely land the plane and that's what any sane pilot would do."

   " So you're saying it's either both engines failed at the same time or the pilot irresponsibly kept the plane on air after the first engine failed?" Jaachi asked.

   "That would be very unlikely." Maopa answered. "Not unless both pilots have a death wish plus a plane can successfully glide to the ground even if both engines fail."

   " The vertical - what do you call it?" Flora asked as the pieces of the puzzle came together in her head.

   Maopa nodded. " Stabilizer - if the plane lost it's vertical stabilizer while on air then it's either such a great coincidence that both engines failed at the same time and then the plane lost it's vertical stabilizer so that it couldn't glide to the ground, or - "

   "the plane was sabotaged." Jaachi finished.

   "I can make lunch." Flora said breaking the long silence that followed the discovery. Both Maopa an Jaachi nodded and she didn't know why she felt angry. They could just sit down there and talk important things while she who usually had nothing to contribute would do the only thing she was good for, cook. As she walked into the kitchen, she was still feeling angry. She remembered the looks on Jaachi and Maopa's faces when she gave the statistics on engine failure, they had been surprised... Like they expected her to be a dim wit. She wondered what the relationship between Jaachi and Maopa was, the way they just helped each other when in need. Were they lovers, maybe Jaachi had noticed she was in love with him and was using her to keep the woman he loved safe.

   As Flora prepared a meal of rice and vegetables, she realized she was bitter and she had no right to be, if she hadn't wanted to help, she could have said no from the beginning.

   Someone tickled her from behind and she jumped, turning around she came face to face with Jaachi. She was suddenly breathless and at loss for what to say. He didn't say a word, just stood there looking at her in a way that was so intimate without even touching her. "When all this is over, I'm going to buy you dinner." He said at last.

   Trying to be saucy, she turned up her chin at him. "And is that the only thing you're going to do - buy me dinner?"

   "No."

   " Mmm mm?"

   " I'm going to do this." He lowered his mouth to hers and she surrendered to the sweetest warmest feeling she had ever known.

   After Jaachi left Flora's house, he drove on top speed to see the security who had been on guard duty on the night of the bombing. 

   The man lived in a rundown bungalow in a dangerous looking close or that was what the address on his file said.

   He braked sharply in front of the bungalow and got out slamming the door behind him as neighbors came out and peeped at him. Oblivious to the drama he was creating, he banged at the door of the bungalow.

   It was opened by a little girl of about six. "Good afternoon Sir, please don't chase my family and I away, my Daddy would pay the rent soon." The girl said looking up at him with huge sad eyes.

   Jaachi was taken aback. "Good afternoon little lady, please call your Daddy for me." He said bending down to her level.

   " But I don't want to." The girl whined. "If Daddy talks with you, he'll come back here feeling sad and I don't want him to be sad."

   Jaachi was beside himself, he hadn't actually expected the man to have a family but not only did the man have a family, his little soldier was actually preventing him from coming in.

   "who is there, Layla? who is there?" A man called from inside and Jaachi said a silent thanks to heaven when the man he was looking for appeared from inside. "Go inside Layla let me talk to this man." He said with his eyes trained on Jaachi. he stepped out and closed his door after his daughter had gone inside. "what's the matter Prince he said finally to Jaachi."

   Jaachi cut to the chase. "According to the file on the Jordan bombing, you were the officer on duty -"

   The man shook his head. " I've already answered questions concerning the bombing, I have been cleared, that's old news. You don't have the authority to ask me anything because I don't answer to you."

   " Well I think it's a very huge coincidence that you just happened to be in the basement at the time of the bombing."

   " If you need any information you don't have, why don't you run to your Uncle, he's way up there when it comes to connections - see how he got you of the hook. But if you can't ask your Uncle, then deal with it. I'm done with this conversation." He walked inside and attempted to shut the door but Jaachi put in his foot.

   "Look I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."  Jaachi lowered his voice a notch.  " Your daughter, beautiful name -"

   " Leave her out of this." He said fiercely.

   Jaachi got the message. " Fine. But I figured you could use a little help with the rent."  He saw he had caught the man's attention. " I just need to know what happened that day, it's important to me and in exchange for that, I'll pay this months rent."

   The man burst out laughing. "This months rent? You think I'm a university student?  You pay my two years rent now and I might give you the information you want but you cannot tell anyone what ever I tell you."

   Jaachi was shocked. " Two years rent? Just for you to tell me what really happened that day." The man turned to go. " Okay okay! I'm sorry. How can I pay the rent?"

   " It's easy, you just transfer the money into my account and then I'll pay."

   " Fine so how much is it ?"

   " Ten thousand times." He handed his phone over to Jaachi. " My bank details."

   Jaachi transferred the money, hoping the information he was going to get was authentic. "It's done."

   The man waited until he got a bank alert before he started talking. " Okay the day of the bombing was just like any normal day, nothing unusual happened until by eight I get a phonecall from a payphone somewhere telling me that the building was going to be bombed in the next 3 minutes and that if I tried to call anyone to notify them, they would kill my daughter. The caller told me to find a place to shelter from the bomb so I did."

   " So no alarm went off or anything?"

   " No."

   " And you weren't asked to disable the sensors or anything?"

   " No - look I already told you everything. Good luck." He turned and went into the house shutting the door and this time, Jaachi let him.

   Jaachi had turned to leave when he heard the door open again. " And don't ever show up at my house again.". The man warned.

   Jaachi's next stop was at the house of Mr and Mrs All-good, the parents of Captain Nwoko All-good, the man who had been captain of the royal jet. The elderly couple lived in a small town, that was a thirty minutes drive from Shobar. The husband and wife had welcomed him and insisted he sit while they did their best to make him feel comfortable.

   " So Ma'am, I'm here about your son, I hope you can help me answer a few questions." Jaachi said accepting a bowl of walnuts. He was mildly allergic to nuts but he wanted to humour them.

   " Oh you mean William?" The old lady smiled. " He's such a wonderful boy, I've always told him to keep pressing and one day, he'll get his big break."

   " I'm sorry, I don't understand you.". Jaachi said patiently.

   " William - are you not here for William, to make him one of the Lord's in your court ?" The old lady answered.

   Jaachi looked to her husband for assistance. " No Ma'am, I'm not here for William."

  " But then why are you here." The old lady was confused. " Because Nwoko is dead, he can't be a part of your court."

   " Belinda, the prince does not have a court." Her husband intervened.

   " Then how would he rule without a court." Mrs All-good appeared more confused. She continued to Jaachi. "You must have a court. Don't listen to those bad politicians that say otherwise. Every king must have a court - who else is going to advice you on matters concerning the state?". She finished triumphantly.

   " Belinda this is the modern world, things are not done as they used to be done so many years ago." Her husband explained patiently.

   Belinda was more confused than ever. " But - but Moses, you said we were going to have a king like the old times.... You said it, I remember."

   " Yes I know I said that but what I meant is that the new King would have power over everything and everyone in the country, instead of just wearing a crown for the sake of ceremonies and events."

   " Well I like a king with power." The Old woman agreed.

   Jaachi cleared his throat. "Thank you Ma'am. I'm actually here because of your son, Captain Nwoko."  Jaachi said and watched the faces of the couple fall.

   " Well I don't really believe he did it." The old woman said.

   " Belinda!" Her husband scolded.

   " What ? He's the prince and they want to make him King soon. You don't think that man is more powerful than him?"

   " What man?"  Jaachi asked becoming curious.

    " A General in the army." Belinda offered.

    " Belinda !" Her husband said again, this time forcefully.

   " Well haven't you ever wondered,". Belinda pleaded. " This could be our only chance to find out the real truth about that whole affair." 

   Jaachi was beginning to loose his patience.  " What affair, what truth?..... Someone talk to me."

   The old man sighed. " I guess you have a right to know since your father and brother died in that plane crash anyway. " 

   " Thank you for understanding Mr All-good, can you please start from the beginning and explain everything to me."

   " You're welcome." The old man nodded. " First of all,  we - my wife, I and my second son didn't really notice anything out of the ordinary in William's behavior before the crash. He was just himself, always very busy with work and taking his duty as the first born very seriously."

   " Moses, you did not say that he was very patriotic. He was! " She said to Jaachi. " He used to sing the national anthem in the shower ! " Not satisfied at her husband's quietness, she nudged him. " Tell him Moses, at least William deserves this much. "

   " Well, what happened on the day of the crash ....?"  Jaachi tried to encourage them on.

   " The day of the crash, William dressed and left for work like any other normal day. He didn't say where he was going. -"

   " That's cause he was a grown man." Belinda interjected. " He didn't say we're he was going because he was a grown man not cause he was planning anything bad." Belinda explained.

   " Are you going to tell the story or will you let me ?" He husband interjected.

   " I'm sorry Moses, please go on. " His wife answered a bit subdued.

   " So we see about the crash on television - " he eyed his wife when she wanted to interrupt and she once again kept quiet. " We saw the crash on television and we we're worried about him. A few minutes later, a General - I knew he was an army General because of the symbols on his uniform. He came and said it was about William, he said William was guilty of treason, that he had sabotaged his own plane in other to kill the Ochia." The old man had tears in his eyes.  " He said that the entire people of Mmiri thought that William's was a good citizen who died alongside the king and that they didn't deserve to know the truth, to know what a monster William was. He said we were not supposed to say a word about the crash to anyone or ever to mention William's name if we did not want national disgrace, that our son was already dead and we should allow the rest of East Hendosia ..... I mean Mmiri to think our son was noble instead of to expose him for who he truly was."

   By the time her husband had finished, Belinda was crying silently, uncontrollably. " Please tell me it's not true, William would never do any of those horrible things." She pleaded with Jaachi.

   " Well we are investigating some leads that show that your son could be innocent." Jaachi told the Couple who appeared very relieved and greatful. " I just need to know this," he brought out a picture of his Uncle, General Ejiofor and showed the couple. " Is this the man that came to see you.?". When both the couple modded, he put his phone in his pocket and stood up to go. " Thank you very much for your time Mr and Mrs All-good. Please do not talk to anyone about this meeting."

   " Are you going to clear William's name? " The old lady wanted to know.

   " Yes Ma'am but only if you don't say a word about this meeting to anyone."

   Jaachi's heart was pounding by the time he left the home of Mr and Mrs All-good. It was obvious now that the plane had been sabotaged and that his Uncle had an unusual interest in the investigation. He had said earlier that he was going to be a part of the whole investigation but he hadn't said that he had already started snd the way he was going about the whole issue just didn't add up. Initially, Jaachi had thought the pilots had been some secret Western spies who had been sent on a suicide mission to kill the king but after talking with the husband and wife,  he knew that had not been the case. The pilots were just as unlucky as the Ochia and prince Nikku had been, the interview he had next with the second pilot's family only proved a point he already knew.

   Jaachi had met with the Pilots young wife who had been left behind by her dead husband to take care of three little children. She had become hostile immediately she saw Jaachi, refusing to open the door for him, it had taken a lot of persuasion and a little bit of threatening for her to open the door for him and then once she did, she had answered all his questions without needing any extra persuasion.

  According to her, the General had visited, explaining to her that her husband had committed tax evasion crimes and according to the law, their house and all their assests could be seized to pay the tax debts her husband owed. Ejiofor had told her that all debts would be forgiven if she didn't make any noise about the death of her husband, explaining that he had been buried quietly in the army burial ground.

   Jaachi wondered why his Uncle had felt the need to blackmail these people into silence, nothing seemed to add up. It was like there was just one little obvious fact that he was missing, one little fact that would make all the difference. He decided he was done speculating, he was going to see the General.

   "Ah ! The prince Jaachi himself who would soon become king!" Ejiofor exclaimed as Jaachi walked into his house. He greeted Jaachi warmly and Jaachi wondered what was wrong with his Uncle, it was not that he and his Uncle were not close, they just didn't used to show their emotions. Jaachi wondered what had changed.

   "Uncle Ejiofor, I know you asked me to leave the plane crash case alone but I guess even you knew I wouldn't."

   Ejiofor slobbered up. " What are you talking about ?"

   " The day you sent me to your computer to look for the file on the bombing of the former military base," Jaachi began. " I might have stumbled upon the file you had on the plane crash."

   His Uncle grunted. " Stumbled?"

   " Yes!" Jaachi answered. " I swear all I was looking for then was information on the bombing but I found out the names of the pilots and the addresses of their families so I had a word or two with them." Jaachi watched the General, trying to guess what he was thinking, the man was strangely calm. Jaachi had expected to be told to let the case alone in the very least. "They said you - they made me understand that you blackmailed them into keeping quiet about the deaths of their relation. Also I got to understand through the file on the crash that the plane was sabotaged."

   " Okay." Ejiofor said getting up from where he had been sitting. "I have a date with a beautiful lady, I don't want to be late."

   Jaachi didn't know if he was more surprised by his Uncle's reaction or by the fact that his Uncle was going out on a date. " Is that all you are going to say, okay!"

   " And is that all you're going to say, I just told you I had a date?"

   " Well this is more important than a date and since when did you start going out on dates?"

   " Well I never knew you saw me as that ancient, women actually do find me attractive especially when they see me in my uniform."

   " So that's it?" Jaachi said incredulously. " You're just going to leave me to this investigation myself? And what kind of date happens in the afternoon?"

   The General was stern again. " If I told you what to do Jaachi, you wouldn't do it... So have fun with your investigation. I just hope you didn't let the families know I lied to them, we don't need a deviation right now, we're this close to winning the war. I knew my stories wouldn't hold up for long with the families of the pilots, I just hoped it would be believed long enough for the kingdom to be in a place of strength that the news of the sabotage wouldn't cause damage to the development of this country."

   " So you knew the plane was sabotaged ?"

    Ejiofor shrugged. " You yourself figured that out, I've had these files since the plane crash, do you think I'm thick headed."

   " And why would the knowledge of the fact that the jet was sabotaged affect our growth as a country? your not making any sense."

   The General turned to face him directly and it was only then that Jaachi realized how furious his Uncle was. " A few weeks ago, the ELOE planned to surrender to the West. They didn't even know the plane was sabotaged, they just didn't have faith that this country would be able to come out of this ontop. Who do you think convinced them to have a referendum held in the first place? I did. Who drafted the referrals and once again convinced the ELOE to adopt them? I did. Who was left with the sole responsibility of making one spoiled brat of a second son who had just come back from playing football for the enemy to campaign for kingship? Me again and then after I did all the work, you youths on i********: came up with all your 'keep hope alive' hashtags. I'm not seeking for praise, that's what we soldiers do. We do the dirty work from underground and leave the civilians to fly all the ribbons. I am only telling you this now because you've been so thick headed, you haven't even been able to understand the critical condition your country is in and we are this close to victory, this close. You're going to get crowned King soon, don't mess up the future of the Kingdom of Mmiri."