ICON OF THE FIGHT

Chapter 32

Doctor Lance Mutsvodo, director of the Badara Intelligence Organisation was going through a  number of reports on his tablet. He was half- sitting and half-lying on an adjustable bed in the BIO temporary office on the second floor of Eagle's Nest. The bed was pushed against one wall, making space for a large metal desk which was groaning under the weight of paper files that had been recovered from the smoking debris of Hornet's Nest. From his position in his office, Mutsvodo could see the charred remains of his former office building.

He felt his anger spiking again as he thought of all those people who had perished in the explosion. Mostly he was furious with himself because when he was alone with his thoughts, he became honest. Only he, Lance Mutsvodo was to blame. He was the architect of all the madness and suffering ravaging Badara at the moment. On one hand, it was he who created the Blind C. Not only because he had abducted her as a kid, brutalised her in every way imaginable and then held her child hostage, but also because he had tried to have her killed two years previously and had failed. He had believed she was dead, hadn't thought about her at all until she showed up on his doorstep.

On the other hand, the putsch that outed Saizi had been his brainchild. It was he who had fanned the seeds of discontent in Sol Komari; he who had made sure BIO was blind to the internal threat and most important of all, it was he who had overlooked the strength of Carol's history with Saizi. Looking back with a clear, analytical eye, that had been the plot's Achille's heel and it had weakened what would have been a flawless plan. Carol's betrayal had not only allowed the former president to escape, it had also gave service chiefs loyal to Saizi time to put up resistance to forces allied with Komari. And thus the Resistance Army was born and a long and costly civil had been raging for months. This latest attack, the destruction of Hornet's Nest was being used as an example of the bravery and righteousness of the Resistance cause. The  fifty or so people dead and dozens more injured were seen as enemy combatants, soldiers who had chosen to align themselves with the devil. What's more, Komari's junta government had killed and maimed more innocent civilians.

Mutsvodo sighed inwardly. He was not having a moral conflict, he assured himself, he was just being analytically objective. What he needed now was to make it right. If Chido were to give him Saizi, the Resistance would be weakened and would be easy to be forced to surrender. Once there was a semblance of piece in the country, Mishtal, their American benefactors, would finally be able to come in and exploit the country's vast mineral resources, and Mutsvodo would be the richest civil servant in the country.

The door to the featureless room opened and Jez Komari walked in on high heels that gave a tight perkiness to her figure. She was wearing a long purple overcoat that nearly reached her ankles. Her curly red hair was tied in a black hairclip at the back of her head. She wore thin spectacles on her nose. With minimum makeup and a little lipstick, she was very much the picture of a first lady who was also the Minister of Defense and Security. Professional and formal.

"Madam Minister, good  of you to come," he greeted her and used his good arm to brace himself as he sat upright. His injured leg and arm flared up with the movement and he winced.

Jez had an appropriately sympathetic expression on her face as she clicked her heels to stand behind the mammoth desk. She placed her briefcase on top of a pile of papers.

"You should not put yourself in unnecessary pain for me, Doctor Director," she said with a small smile. "I understand sitting up gives you some pain."

"Yes, ma'am, a little pain." He made his face inscrutable and asked,"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Jez pulled up a chair and sat behind the desk. "The president wants to know if you have made any progress in finding Simon Saizi."

"Ma'am, inform the president that we're making progress. We have the terrorists who attacked Sivili-Kasi in custody, soon they will break and talk."

"Mmhhm," she said. "I also understand that you haven't caught Shogg and his band, despite knowing their base of operations. Where are you on that front?"

Mutsvodo sighed. "We are doing everything we can, ma'am. By the time our soldiers reached Ndoni Flats, the rebels were gone. The terrorists we have in custody will tell us..."

"The two prisoners, Dr Mutsvodo, are now in the custody of the police, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Their trial is set for the day after tomorrow."

Mutsvodo was jolted by surprise. "What? I know nothing of this!"

Jez opened the briefcase and extracted a sheet of paper. She leaned over and placed it on his side of the desk. "That is the Presidential order to that effect. Already the police are in place at 1st Brigade barracks where you were holding these 'terrorists' and have taken over their welfare."

"Is Komari out of his mind?" Mutsvodo blurted out.

"Now, now, director. That will not do at all. I understand your feelings completely..."

"Do you, Madam Minister? That woman is our best chance of finding Saizi. If we try her in public we risk having the international human rights organisations at our throats and we will have no chance to interrogate her."

"You have had her for days, director. You have tortured her day and night, what do you have to show for all that interrogation?"

"You don't get it..."

"I'm afraid it's you who doesn't get it, Doc," she said, standing up. "SADC and the African Union have all but given in to the United Nations, which wants to bring in peacekeeping troops. What we need now is a grand show of law and order to convince our neighbours to give us a chance to solve our own problems. Now, news of the arrest of the Sivili-Kasi bomber has gone out and so the president has invited a select number of foreign journalists to cover the trial. That, hopefully, will buy us enough time for you to find either Saizi or the top brass of the Resistance Army."

Mutsvodo knew he had lost that battle. "What else, ma'am?"

Jez smiled brightly and walked to the door. She opened the it and  peered out into the corridor before closing it again and shooting home the bolt. She unclipped her hair and it cascaded down to her shoulders like a fiery halo. She unbuttoned the overcoat, gracefully took it off and placed it carefully on top of the briefcase.

Mutsvodo gaped at her.

Her ample bossom stretched the buttons of her white blouse to the limit, while her grey formal pants were so tight against her crotch they left nothing to the imagination.

She shook her  head in that slow and teasing way of experienced seductresses and made her way around the desk.

"You're wound up tight, Doc," she trilled, advancing on him. "Now lie back down and let me help release some of that pressure."

"I'm injured, Jez," he muttered helplessly.

"I know, Doc," she whispered in a husky voice. "Legs and hand, I had the physician tell me. But little Lance is up and running."

She leaned over him and her fingers made short work of his unbelted trousers and boxers. Her palms were warm against his skin as she caressed him.

"Yep," she said, "definitely up."

Then she put her mouth on him.