₦airaland Forum

Contd




The emergence of the sparkling piece of diamond within sight range on the sea, sent Australian citizens that were watching the recovery live, into frenzy of jubilation. The humarines finally arrived and raised the diamond on the platform as journalists jostled for space around the platform to get a clear shot of the diamond. The humarines hopped on the platform with their webbed feet and hands, as the crowd cheered them for their heroic mission. The journalists tried to get Udi Daniel to comment on the operation but he seemed absorbed in his thought as he examined the humarines. The excitement disappeared from his face all of a sudden. He had seen that Adiam didn't return.

"You're not happy Daniel", Tom Harry observed.

"One of my creatures didn't return".

"What's the name of the machine that's yet to return?" Paul Gardner asked.

"Adiam!"

"It might return later. I'd stay on the platform to wait for Adiam", Paul Gardner said.

"Alright, I'll leave the systems ON to guide it home if it's still alive, thanks Gardner”.

The rest people were too hyphy to notice that Adiam didn't return from the operation. Only Udi Daniel, Tom Harry and Paul Gardner knew about it. The Australian government security forces arrived the shore within minutes and the diamond was transferred from the platform into an Army van. The Airforce guarded the van with military helicopters out of the beach.

"Thank you so much. You have done it again", Tom Harry said and shook hands with Udi Daniel with enthusiasm.

"It's my pleasure".

"I'll see you later in your hotel; let me run along for the celebration".

The crowd gradually disappeared leaving Udi Daniel and a few officials from the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum. He deactivated the minds of the humarines and they were loaded into the van that brought them and they were driven to the Beach Side Hotel. Paul Gardner true to his word waited behind on the platform to see if Adiam would show up from the Coral Sea.The protests reduced to only one demand after the diamond appeared in the government house on National TV. They demanded that the government should bring the diamond back to the Brisbane museum.

The economic team of the government advised the government to keep the diamond, that the story of the diamond was going to get tourists from all over the world pouring in to see it..They planned to refund the seven hundred and fifty billion dollars that Ali Garabed had paid for the diamond with tourists dollars. The live coverage of the recovery of the diamon had marketed the uniqueness of the stone to the world. The Australian government restored the diamond to the museum and strengthened it with tight security. The protests stopped and peace returned to Australia.

Contd




Rod Jimmy hadn't slept well for days. He was increasingly losing his place in Netfluz since the miracle of the first floor. The programmers that used to hold him to a high esteem, no longer showed him regard. The company's executives now considered him a nuisance due to his coldness towards Adaz Obot. He desperately wanted to be the "god" of Netfluz again. He had practically created the soul of Netfluz from its foundation with his hands. He needed to retain his status and explore the loopholes he had created to siphon funds. He picked up his phone and decided to contact Osca Averes again.

"Hello", Oscar Averes answered.

"I'm in for it Oscar".

"Good boy!"

"When is it going to happen?"

"Not so fast, I need you to take an oath that you will become a spy for Al Ja'amah after delivering the hit".

"You have my words".

"I don't need your words, Al Ja'amah would need you to swear on record, to release the sniper for the operation".

"Alright let's go".

"Ready".

"I swear this day, that I will serve Al Ja'amah as a spy when the sniper has finished my job, and I seal this deal with my life".

"Not bad".

"So what's next?"

"First of, what's the name of the target?"

"Adaz Obot".

I would need you to send his pictures and his dwelling address".

"I can supply the information right now".

"Hold it, you would also describe his lifestyle, you can send them to the mail address you will get now!"

"Sure!"

"You can toast to it", Oscar Averes said and disconnected the line.

Rod Jimmy lived in Netfluz guest quarter and had come to know that Adaz Obot would usually leave his house in the middle of the night; when the city had gone to sleep, to study at the balcony of his house. He gleaned other information about the young man and sent them to his friend in Mexico. Oscar Averes studied the information and decided where the target could be hit from. He chose a hotel tower, the room number and the floor to carry out the operation.

In a clear blue sky, the executive killer, Rito Birdman, flew his private jet into Washington DC, and checked into the hotel room with a wall opposite Adaz Obot's balcony. As the time for the hit was drawing close, he took the elevator down from the 21st floor and hopped into a Bugatti Veron and cruised away into the city. He drove round Netfluz guest quarter as he studied the pictures sent to him. He expertly pulled up in between some vehicles in a car park and stepped out to get his tools from his jet. He brought out a long black bag that contained his MAD-666L riffle and zipped it open. The night was closing in very fast and he removed his sunglasses to wear a black face cap. He began to decouple the rifle in the bag. Darkness had fully covered the city by the time he stepped down from the jet with the bag hanging on his hand. He slipped into the driver's seat of the Bugatti Veron and disappeared into the night.

Contd




They could see that a sea creature with a long tail was resting upon the diamond on the sea floor The humarines pushed a button on their chest when the creature turned and charged at them. The monster swung its massive tail to smash them and it got shocked by an electric field. They swam towards the animal with a dash and the sea monster cleared off, thereby exposing the diamond. The mammal could only whine from a distance and it later disappeared. Adiam touched the diamond and the other humarines soon followed. They joined force in pushing the diamond from its position but it remained rooted to the floor.

The machines continued to exert energy and a fire jet of fine gases began shooting out from their anus, causing a stream of water bubbles. A hypersonic force resulted and it sent the diamond up from its position. The force shot up the precious stone from the floor like a launched rocket, leaving a deep black hole behind on the floor. All the humarines followed the diamond except Adiam. A strange force had grabbed and pulled it into the black hole just before the diamond was uprooted from the sea bed.

The machines advanced towards the platform with the huge stone sparkling in the sunlight on the surface of the sea. Udi Daniel could see on the monitor that covered the tracks of the humarines, that they were heading homeward. Paul Gardner had been raising his binoculars to occasionally scan the North Eastern spread of the Coral Sea. He trusted in the ability of Udi Daniel to deliver. He had been in this situation before, when the excavants had dug up the diamond from the ground. He switched over his binoculars to the North Western side of the sea and saw what looked like a boat being pushed from behind. Udi Daniel turned to his system and pushed some keys to find out what Paul Gardner had concentrated his gaze on, and found out that the humarines were coming from that direction.

"The machines are coming to shore!" The scientist announced.

"I can see something like that with my binoculars".

Are they coming with the diamond?"

"You're the one holding the binoculars".

"There!!!" Paul Gardner screamed.

"What's there?" The Minster for Mines and Petroleum asked.

"The diamond is coming home!"

"Let me have a peep", Tom Harry said to Paul Gardner.

"Its true!" The Minister excitedly announced and threw the binoculars to the press after he had seen the humarines coasting to shore with the diamond.

Contd



Shocked by the response, Rod Jimmy turned around and quietly walked away. He had been the ''god'' of programming in Netfluz. He could feel his influence in the scheme of things dwindling fast. He was officially responsible for all recruitment into the programming floor, but the company's hierarchy had maneuvered Adaz Obot into Netfluz. That move alone had caused him anguish. He felt he would be sidelined and kicked out if things continued this way. He must do something to restore his authority and relevance. He remembered Oscar Averes, who had a strong link to Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir.

Oscar Averes was born to his Mexican father by a Saudi Arabian mother. He was taken to Saudi Arabia after the marriage of his parents had crashed. He grew up in Saudi Arabia, where he was islamized and radicalized into Al Ja'amah and his name was changed to Mutalab Azeez. Rod Jimmy had helped him to smuggle drugs into the United States through the Mexican-US border and had also helped him to smuggle materials for the production of weapons of mass destructions (WMDs), out of the US, to Iraq, where Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir had established the operational base of Al Jama'ah. Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir had sent him to Mexico, not to actually advance his drug business, but to make an incursion into the United States, to unshackle terror.

Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir narrowly escaped the Syria and ISIS war, where he had lost most of his jihadists. ISIS had fallen back on Al Ja'amah to supply jihadists to advance its course both in Yemen and Syria. His heart was wrenched away when the news got to him that his wife, three of his children, his brother and his bosom friend, Jaheed Sahid, had died in the American airstrikes in Yemen. He vowed to shake the foundation of the world, the way the first nuclear bomb had destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War. He desperately needed an American citizen that would spy on the White House.

Oscar Averes was in a gym in Mexico when his mobile phone went off. He moved to a quiet corner and pulled out his phone thinking it was Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir that usually called at the hour for updates, he was wrong, it was Rod Jimmy of Netfluz.

"Hello Jimmy! What's good?"

"I need your help".

"In Mexico?"

"Here in DC".

"I make plans before crawling out, you know".

"You won't spend time on it".

"How do you need it?"

"I want a boy out of my way in Netfluz"

"You haven't said anything".

"I want a hit and I want it now!"

"I just carried out an operation on a business executive, for a drug lord, in Heathrow Bing Tower a few miles away from Netfluz".

"What's your point?"

"I don't strike close".

"Is there no way you can make this happen?"

"Of course", Oscar Averes said as the need of Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir and Al Ja'amah flashed in his mind.
"When should I expect you then?"

"Rod, I'm going to hire for you the world greatest sniper. He can sniff out life from a moving train miles away. His name is Rito Birdman".
"The cost?"

"It wouldn't cost you a thing, but a condition is attached".

"Spell it! I need the shit out".

"You will have to become a spy for Al Ja'amah".

"What and where is Al Ja'amah?"

"It's an organization based in Iraq".

"But I'm not quitting Netfluz".

"You don't have to, it doesn't need you to. You can call it freelance spy operation and you get paid really good".

"I'm going to consider it and get back".

"It's your best bet Jimmy", Oscar Averes said and the link went down.

"I'm afraid Daniel".

"I don't believe in extraordinary forces manipulating inanimate things, I would see how this goes".

"Opinions are diverse as speculations. Most Australians believe mother Earth is holding what they have described as a Mystery Diamond".

"What do you think or speculate?"

"I think something is mysterious about the diamond. The Prime Minister would ridicule me if I mention it, he doesn't believe that at this age and civilization such unnatural things are entertained".

"I'm here to put the speculations in perspective".

"I trust your machines", the Minister for Mines and Petroleum said with unreserved smile.

Within minutes the media was awashed with the coming of Udi Daniel. The internet and TV channels both local and international were streaming and showing the government officials unloading the artificially intelligent amphibious machines on the shoreline of the Coral Sea. This move by the government worked like a magic. The protesters hurriedly left the streets to see the action on TV and on the internet.

The violence ceased and calm returned as many got glued to their TV set and computers. A live search was about to unfold. The five humarines got activated by Udi Daniel and they opened their eyes to see cameras flashing lights. They waved their hands to the cameras and the onlookers.


He punched a command on the handheld device that controlled them and their feet and hands became webbed. The young scientist pushed the "READY" button on the device and the five humarines walked to the edge of the platform. He pressed "GO" and the humarines leaped into the Coral Sea.

Each humarine recorded its own track and sent it to a system on the platform. They conducted the search methodically and maintained communication. They moved on the floor of the Coral Sea in lanes and advanced gradually towards the Pacific Ocean. Sea animals maintained their distance from the humarines as they got near the Pacific Ocean. The humarines could see many compressed underwater sea vessels on the floor with skeletons inside.

Prisca Bender stepped out of the elevator to the 31st floor of the Heathrow Bing Tower in Washington DC, in a red flowing gown, radiating class and elegance, as she walked to room 23, where Bob Newman had been expecting her. She rang the bell and the door was thrown open.

"You're late", Bob Newman said as he looked away from the plasma screen.

"I almost didn't make it, I was in the middle of a meeting when you called me, why am I here?"

"So fast?"

"I have a plane to catch, straight to the point please!"

"It's been weeks since the take off date of the signed contract between Strobotics and Fairbrain rolled by".

"Yeah, I know".

"What's stalling?"

"The management is pruning some branches for smooth roll out in Strobotics".

"I see!" Bob Newman said and dialed the bar, "Please bring a bottle of Ruchidra wine to room 23 on the 31st floor".

"I'm in a hurry Bob, let it be some other time".

"My guest can't bring me shame, I insist that you drink, even if it's just a sip".

"You're funny".

"Fairbrain has already packed the first batch of the neural chips, and we're expecting you to honor your end of the deal".

"You would hear from me".

The bar man announced himself outside and Bob Newman pulled the door open to usher him in. A man in his late thirties, wearing a white hand gloves and a black jacket on a white shirt came in, with a tray balanced on his left palm, raised to his shoulder level. The tray contained two empty fancy wine glasses and a bottle of wine. He placed the tray on the table and adjusted his black french tie.

Bob Newman gestured to him to remove the cover and the wine cork. He professionally discharged the wine cork and poured the wine into the two glasses, each half filled. Bob Newman picked one of the glasses and emptied the content in one gulp. Prisca Bender wanted to decline to drink, but at the same time did not want to make it obvious that the contract was not going to fly. She picked the glass of wine for a taste.

"It's a good wine!" Bob Newman urged her on to drink all. "The best breed of wine from Israel!!"

Prisca Bender raised the wine glass again to take a sip and felt a tingling in her body, followed by a seizure. She dropped the wine glass as she felt dizzy with a spinning sensation.

"It's working so fast!" Bob Newman said as he turned to her face.

He left the room and signaled to the bar man outside to finish the job. The bar man came in and saw Prisca Bender writhing in pains. She had fallen to the floor almost unconscious. She tried to talk but no sound would come out from her mouth. He got very close and traced every curve on her body with his eyes. He felt pity for her and wondered what would make anyone to want to take the life of an angel. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. If he had known Bob Newman was hiring him to take the life of an angel, he would have found a way to tell her to run for her life.

He crouched near her and touched her soft skin, and Prisca Bender managed to look at him. Her skin was smooth like a glass surface. Lust seized his eyes all of a sudden and he felt a burning sensation around his groin. The gentleman in the bar man vanished at once, and the beast in the ruthless Oscar Averes was unbridled. He pulled down the zip on his trousers in a frenzy and overturned Prisca Bender on her stomach with a brute force. He yanked up her gown and flung her legs asunder. He tore her underwear to shreds and began to rape her.

He finished with her and plucked away the diamond chain on her neck and opened a black body bag.There was still some life in her. He lifted her on a chair and used a short rope to go round her neck. He pulled the ends of the rope with a sudden force. He lifted the dead body and shoved it into the open body bag and zipped it up. He punched some buttons on his mobile phone and made a call as he walked to a wall. He pulled a cover from the wall and a fresh wind from the outside blew in. He took a hard long rope from the floor and tied the body bag with one end of the rope that had been formed into a noose. The door burst open and the bodyguards of Bob Newman moved in.

The two men raised the body bag and passed it through the opened hole on the wall to the outside. They began lowering the dead body of Prisca Bender to the ground down the side of Heathrow Bing Tower with poor lighting. As soon as the bag hit the ground, one of the bodyguards left to take the elevator down. Oscar Averes filled the hole and replaced the wall cover neatly. He brought a paint to spray the marks on the wall. Prisca Bender disappeared with the hole!


No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, or without the legal consent or prior written permission of the publisher, except for academic purposes in accordance to copyright law.

Copyright © 2023 by Dublyn G. Horris. All rights Reserved.






Follow the author https://twitter.com/DublynHorris








One








Rod Jimmy, the Chief of Programming in Netfluz, looked ruffled, seething in anger as he marched across the first floor to where all the programmers surrounded Adaz Obot.. He had heard an explosive sound that sent spiral shock wave through the building. He cut through the gathering to see the Principal Engineer, Reek Powel, receiving instructions from Adaz Obot on how to revive other plants.
"What's happening here?" Rod Jimmy asked.

"The giant dead plant at the ground floor just came alive", Reek Powell replied him.

"Who authorized this session?"

"The Director of Programming is aware of this".

"How could this happen without my knowledge?"

"Look Rod! I expect you to ask how the systems came on".

"At the expense of order?"

"What's order when things aren't working the way they should?"

It's a fast-paced action-packed Epic thriller that mixed up crimes and terrorism with elements of science fiction.


Fasten your seat belt for the bumpy flight around the world!

It's another movie in a book....


!
!
!




Book Description








The FBI investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Prisca Bender, a business executive, twists into the evil loop that connects Rod Jimmy to Adaz Obot in Washington DC.

Mary Greenwood, the FBI special agent in charge of the investigation cuts into the evil loop to pin down the "Main Shark" and unravel the mystery, only to meet her dead end when she is just inches away from getting answers.

The case gets the attention of the US President and Reynold Westley, the CIA finest, teams up with the multi-talented FBI agent, Michael Bending, to continue from where Mary Greenwood has stopped.

They find out that what they are faced with, is beyond the combined capacity of the FBI and the CIA.
The investigation takes them through a complex circle that opens to a historic shocker.

They must find a way to break through the evil loop, to untangle the links of sheer criminals and terrorists for US and allied forces to wade in and follow through to the end.

Chapter Three






Udi Daniel engaged the services of Mishulab, a high-tech company based in Beijing, China, to finish the body of the machines. It took him a few months to roll out five highly sensitive amphibious creatures - and he called them -HUMARINES. He named them; Roggi, Illiax, Adiam, Zodiaz and Godia. He moved the humarines out of the laboratory to the display hall to get them ready for the recovery operation in Australia. He was simulating the Coral Sea in a computer to test-run some features of the humarines, when he heard farmiliar footsteps behind in the hall, he didn't turn to look behind to see Ellinaz Ivanovo. She looked radiant in a skyblue short gown that accentuated her figure. Udi Daniel felt her presence.

"You beat the time frame by twenty five days", Ellinaz Ivanovo said as she touched each of the machines.

"I have no choice, plenty other things are yet finished".

"What's the generic names of these machines?"

"They are Humarines".

"Like Humans and Marine?"

"You know the codes".

"Like Excavator and Ants, equal ExcavAnts?"

"Seriously, I think you should be coming to work in the lab".

"I will burn your computers".

"You can burn me too".

"That's not funny".

"Who wants to be funny? I'm all work".

'Dan?"

"Yeah".

"I'm planning to go to vacation when you return from Australia".

"Ok".

"And I think you need it as well".

"You know the workload".

"NextTech is growing leaps and bounds and we need to live to enjoy it".

"It's strange that this is coming from a workaholic".
"I'm doing it because of you".

"You care for me?"

"Deeply".

"Strong word, but you don't show it".

"You don't notice, it's subtle".

"But....".

"All this time you have been knocking the door of my heart and it's not opening, it's because there's no door handle on the outside".

"My ears are aching to hear more of this song".

"I've finally opened it from within".

"Ellie, you're gifted".

"I love you Dan!"

"You have killed me".

"Like literally?'

"Yeah, like literally".

"If you must know, I've been worshing you secretly!"

"You're kidding me right now".

"I mean every letter".

"But I'm not God".

"Do you believe in God?"

"I don't know".

"Is there anything that you can't create, you're my god, the one I see and can touch".

"And you are my World!""


Cont'd






Instantly, the flames of passion burnt around them and it flung Ellinaz Ivanovo to seize the lips of the scientist with her's. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him wild. She pulled away when she felt he was suffocating him. Udi Daniel was experiencing his first kiss of life. He would have wanted it to go on Ellinaz Ivanovo turned and left for her office. Udi Daniel hurried to get the machines ready and went home to prepare for the mission in Australia. He couldn't wait for it to be over and joined her for the vacation. He still savoured the taste of the kiss.

The machines were driven to the Baltimore International Airport, and Udi flew with them in the jet plane provided by the Australian government. The trip to Brisbane seemed longer than usual in his eyes. Each time he recalled the taste of the lips of Ellinaz Ivanovo, he would look through the window to see if they were descending into Australia. He got bored and dozed off, it was not long before the second flight officer announced their arrival in Queensland.




Chapter Four







Udi Daniel disembarked from the plane to see flashes of camera lights on his face. It took some time for him to realize that journalists had surrounded the plane. He wondered why the Australian government had given so much publicity to his coming. He was naturally a shy guy but he had to force a smile when a lady journalist nudged him to smile before the camera. Officials from the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum loaded the humarines into a van as the journalists covered the scene. They tried to get a word out of the scientist but he kept mute all the time. He was driven to the Beach Side Hotel near the Coral Sea. He was escorted from the airport in a convoy like that of a super rock star.

He recognized Tom Harry, the Minister for Mines and Petroleum and Paul Gardner, an official in the Ministry when he arrived at the Beach Side Hotel. The officials helped him to settle quickly at the hotel and Udi Daniel was soon ready for action. Tom Harry led the way to the platform that Riskshore had used for its operation. The scientist could see that the event was being transmitted live on TV.

"Why does the Australian government want live coverage of the operation?"

"It's obvious that you've not been watching your TV recently. There's a crazy agitation going on in Australia".

"Tell me about it".

"It's widely believed that the government has recovered the diamond and sold it without the knowledge of Australians and some believed that the diamond wasn't even in the cargo plane in the first place - the work of politicians".

"I see!"

"The Australian government has chosen to put this operation live on TV to quell the violent protests building from different parts of the country against the government. They believe strongly that the government has been feeding them with lies.

"The speculation will end today".

"Something is about this block of diamond, don't you think so".

"Why should I think so".

"I haven't told you this before".

"Spill it".

"We did employ the services of professional divers to locate the position of the cargo plane in the sea but none of them made it out of the sea".

"That's shocking, but I can't conclude that there's force acting on the piece of stone".

"Let me shocki you again".

"Ok".

"While we were waiting for you to come, some officials of the ministry used Riskshore, an underwater recovery firm, to recover the bodies of the divers, but all the vessels were damaged, only one out of ten vessels made it home".

"This is incredible!"

"The only survivor Riskshore diver played the video of the seach operation".

"Have watched the video?"

"Of course, I've watched the video. A sea monster with a long tail, that looks like a Spinasaurous was watching over the diamond in the Coral Sea".

"Really?"

"I'm going to get the video for you to watch".

"There's no point, just give me the coordinates of the diamond in the sea, it will facilitie the operation".
"I need you to watch the part where the underwater vessels were attacked by the sea monter with its massive tail?"

"Don't worry my machines have a self-defense mechanism".

Contd






As he walked into the draft room, fresh ideas pushed through him. He at once warmed up to the project proposal from the Australian government. He remembered the Malaysian Airliner 370 that disappeared into the Indian Ocean, enroute Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, in March 8, 2014, and it occurred to him that the technology would meet important needs. He switched his thought to how he could create a set of highly intelligent amphibious machines that could live in any body of water and take on a wide range of tasks. He pulled up drawing tools from a computer system and made a sketch of what he wanted. He got lost in his head and in a short while, he designed a hyper-sensitive machine mind.

Caught in the mood of creation, he rushed back to his laboratory and started developing the decision-making systems of the machines. He finished and began coaching of the neural circuits for interface coding. He straightened up when a message dropped in his phone. It was from Ellinaz Ivanovo.

"Are you at home now?"

Udi Daniel replied, "I"m passing the night in the lab, expect the time frame and project costing tomorrow".

Chapter Two





Udi Daniel was developing a new aspect of his Machine Mind Technology in his NextTech lab in Washington DC, when he received an email from the Australian government about what happened while transporting the huge stone. He recalled vividly the strain his artificial had to overcome to dig out the block of diamond. He stopped working and was going to reply to the email, when Ellinaz Ivanovo walked hurriedly into the lab with a mobile phone. He stood up at once to receive her.

She hardly came around him during official hours. She was the only partner he had in NextTech. She used to be averred to people of color, but ever since her path crossed into his in a library in George Washington University, where she had studied for her master's degree in Geophysics, her position had changed. She was falling head over heels into the scientist, having seen his personality and potentiality, but she wouldn't let her feelings out. She stretched the phone in her hand to him after putting it on speaker.

"Tom Harry wants to speak with you, he says it's urgent and crucial", Ellinaz Ivanovo said.

"Hello Tom" Udi Daniel spoke into the phone.

"An incidence has happened concerning the diamond block".

"I just read the email about it".

"The Prime Minister is exasperated, you know how much it cost the government to get you to extract it".
"How did it happen?"

"I don't know, the black box recovered revealed there was no reason for the plane to go down".

"It's strange".

"Investigation is still ongoing and the government wants it recovered as soon as possible".

"Have you contacted any recovery firm?"

"It's for this reason I have decided to reach NextTech again".

"But we don't do underwater operations".

"There's more".

"How do you mean?"

"We need a firm that can operate with no risk to lives".

"There are hundreds out there Harry".

"You wouldn't understand".

"Really?"

"I have learnt my lessons from the operations of the various mining firms the government had employed before we settled for NextTech. The lives lost still hunt me".

"You're becoming spiritual, they're just incidences".

"I need NextTech to recover the block of diamond from the sea".

"I have said it earlier, NextTech doesn't do recovery in the water".

"Look Daniel, the Prime Minister is heavily on this one, the government is going to give you a blank cheque. A lot is happening here in Australia because of the loss of the diamond".

"NextTech currently doesn't have what it takes to undertake the project".

"You're Udi Daniel, if you want to do this you would do it".

"I'll get back to you Tom", Udi Daniel said as he read the signs Ellinaz Ivanovo was making with her hands.

"We can do it!" Ellinaz said showing her snow-white set of teeth.

"NextTech doesn't have the capacity to roll out the kind of solution the Australian government demands".

"What capacity?"

"First, we don't have the technology at hand".

"Then create it, aren't you the creator?"

"These things take time you know, and the Australian government wants it the shortest possible time".

"We can beat it, communicate the time frame you expect the project to finish, if it's cool with them we're cool".

"It's not going to be easy".

"I understand Dan, NextTech can outsource. You can develop the core of the project and send the connections to Mishulab".

"Have you considered the cost? Mishulab isn't cheap".

"Didn't you hear Tom, the Australian government is willing to offer a blank cheque".

"I heard it".

"I will prepare a pre-contract agreement and insert the cost and mobilization to deploy the technology. I need the time frame from you now!"

"Slow down, we'd be grinding down ongoing projects".

"We're only suspending them".

"SpaetriX is constantly on my doorstep to complete the probe system they're sending to space".

"Haven't you done anything on it?"

"I've only managed to draw up an omni-direction propagation algorithm to train the core of the neural networks, it's going to be very complex and time consuming".

"I bet the technology the Australian government wants isn't going to take so much time".

"There's no way of knowing".

"You can tell once you get started".

"I don't want to take you on, you win".

"Thank you Dan".

"I'll be going to the draft room".



Expect next update by weekend***

Contd





The homeward navigation was a long one shrouded in death silence. Erling Drake regained himself in the darkness just before the tugboat arrived the operational base. He kept berating himself for not thinking through and through before embarking on the mission. Still horrified, he pulled a call to Paul Gardner.

"Hey Drake! Any updates!" Paul Gardner boomed.

"The unthinkable has happened".

"How do you mean?"

"As we speak, all my divers are lost in the sea".

"Damn it!"

"The oxygen in their tank can't take them beyond an hour, but they have spent six hours down".

"Aren't they aware of the gas volume?"

"Of course, they're all top professionals, I can't believe that they had seen their gas counting to zero and failed to come out to refill".

"This is so unfortunate, what could have happened?"

"I can't even think right now".

"Drake, I'm very sorry".

"I'm dreaming, it's not real, it's not happening".

"I'd like you to come straight to the Ministry annex as soon as you are able to", Paul Gardner said as he placed a call to Tom Harry with another phone.

"Hello Paul", the Minister answered.

"Your fears seemed to be coming to pass".

"What are you talking about?"

"The divers have spent their oxygen but they are still down in the Coral Sea".

"Geez!"

"The head of operations is devastated".

"Do you now believe what I said?"

"I'm afraid, but I still think it's too early".

"The government has cut a deal with Riskshore, a recovery firm, to bring the diamond out of the sea".

"When is the operation taking place?"

I'm not sure anymore".

"Why?"

"It may turn out the same way".

"But we haven't tried".

"What if it happens?"

"Riskshore uses underwater vessels for search operations".

"There's still risk".

"But it's going to be minimal".

"Don't talk me into another disaster".

"What do we do?"

"I am going to speak with Udi Daniel about it".

"Do you think the scientist can offer solution?"

"We will see. It's better to lose machines".

"We can still use Riskshore".

"I say no!"

"We can use the firm to recover the bodies of the divers, they might still be alive".

"Come down to the annex to discuss with other officials about it. My job is cut out for me by the Prime Minister", Tom Harry said and the link went down.

Good

Welcome sir

Contd



Paul Gardner hit the ground running as soon as he settled in the office. He scrolled up the contact of Erling Drake, the head of operations of a deep sea diving organization and placed a call.

"How can I help you?" Drake asked after picking up.

"I'm an official in the Australian Ministry of Mines and Petroleum".

"Ok".

"The government needs your organization to locate the position of a plane that just went down the Coral Sea".

"I watched the incidence on TV".

"So you know".

"The cargo plane has a load of diamond block, it's in the news".

"Yeah".

"I can get my boys to drag the diamond out of the plane if you want us to".

'"The government only needs you to locate the plane".

"How do we start?"

"Can you come to the government annex now?"

"I'll be there".

Erling Drake struck a juicy contract with the government and personally got involved in the operation. He put together twenty one deep sea expert divers and five technicians and left the shore of the Coral Sea in a tugboat. Getting near the zone where he mapped the cargo plane had gone down, he pushed some buttons in a computer to activate the Echo Sounder mounted at the buttom of the boat. He read the reflected sound waves in the computer as the boat criss-crossed the area. He pointed westwards and all the divers took a dive. It didn't take long before they struck the charred body of the plane. They found a way around and accessed the carrier but the diamond block was missing. Some of the divers cut out the black box compartment as others spread to search around for the diamond.

Erling Drake waited restlessly on the boat as the divers spent more than half an hour in the deep sea. Finally, one of the divers popped out his head and swam towards the boat with the black box.

"I need a tow hook, we've found the diamond", he said as he handed the black box to Drake.

"Good job!" Drake said and brightened up, "But we're paid only to locate the position of the plane".

"All the divers have agreed to bring out the stone, the government would surely reward us for it".

"Your oxygen can go only fifty minutes".

"Yeah, I see the reading, we'll make it here, you can move the boat over there", the diver said as he went down again.

Erling Drake and the technicians soared hopefully on the tugboat as time started ticking again. He couldn't agree more with the diver, it would be fantastic to turn up for the books and make his organization more popular. It had taken the divers roughly twenty minutes to locate the block of diamond, but now, it had taken well over fifty minutes for them to set the hook on it and return to the boat.

They spent over an hour waiting onboard, expecting the divers out of the sea. The technicians decided to pull the rope, and shockingly, it came freely. Erling Drake quivered but could not conclude that the mission had gone wrong. He continued to hope into the night for some kind of miracles despite the very obvious. Slowly but surely, reality hit him. With eyes streaming tears, he clasped his head with his hands as the boat turned around in the thick darkness and set off for the base.

******

Contd




Tom Harry turned around and followed Paul Gardner into the administration block of the airport. The gigantic piece of diamond had brought so much for him to handle since it was discovered. The Australian government had employed different world reputable mining companies to dig out the diamond block and they had all failed catastrophically. A great number of miners had lost their lives in the bid to dig the diamond out of the minefield that kept caving in.

The government had to settle for the Machine Mind Technology of Udi Daniel, an American based scientist, who had taken Artificial Intelligence to a strange level. Udi Daniel had lost most of his artificial ants - Excavants - in the mining process.

Tom Harry had been the happiest since the Australian government had brokered the deal to transfer the ownership of the precious stone to Ali Garabed. His mood dulled again as he walked back with Paul Gardner, after spending quite a while asking questions in the airport. He walked straight into a waiting SUV to take them to the government house in Queensland.

"I didn't expect the Managing Director of the cargo airline to say anything less", Paul Gardner said as they drove off.

"I have been thinking Paul".

"About what?".

"The diamond block of course".

"What about it?"

"It seems awryness is locked around it".

"I don't feel the same way".

"Since the day it was discovered, the story around it has never cheered me. I'm beginning to consider the school of thought that says mother Earth is holding fast to the piece of stone".

"That's a superstitious line of thought".

"You really think so?"

"It's what it is".

"Don't forget the number of human casualties that we suffered just to get this diamond out of the Earth".

"The scientist that finally extracted the diamond lost many artificial ants as well".

"Exactly my point".

"That's why I maintain that it's an accident".

"Enough of this!" Tom Harry paused the argument.

"What did the Prime Minister say?" Paul Gardner resumed their conversation.

"He wants me to initiate the action to recover the diamond block from the sea".

"Ok".

"I know a couple of firms that can handle the operation and we're going for the very best, the sea is very turbulent around this season as it overflows its banks to the Pacific Ocean".

"While we try to employ rescue firms, I would like to suggest that we get busy".

"How do you mean?"

"I can talk to some deep sea divers to try to locate the position of the diamond right in the sea".

"It's not a bad idea, however..., I don't know".

"Aren't you becoming illusional, it's just an incidence and the diamond it's just a piece of stone".

"I want us to be careful, we can't lose more lives".

"I'm talking about professional divers here, have no fear".

"You may be on it", Tom Harry said as the SUV pulled up at the government annex.

Correct Dear Hiring Manager,
My name is Adekunle oluwaseyifunmi,I am a copy writer with over 2 year's of experience,I help coaches, consultant's internal marketers make massive and incredible sale's through my copywriting skills. I promise to deliver quality,non plagiarized and timely articles.

Message me on WhatsApp @08058304033 or my email @oluwaseyiufunmiadekunle720@gmail.com[/quote]

It's a classless literary work. A condensation of everything, action/adventure, thriller/suspense, science fiction, romance, mystery, military, historical and so on.


"Chained with Diamonds" is a journey of a lifetime!



A movie in a book......

!
!


Book Description

!

!

Soon after Udi Daniel, a scientist based in the United States, has used his machine “beings” to dig up and dig out the biggest block of diamond the world will ever see in Australia, he is signed up into a web of powerful forces.

He signs out of the web after fighting a grueling battle, but love will arm-twist him to fly to Indonesia, to accept the offer of Ali Garabed, to re-design highly intelligent amphibious machines, to recover all kinds of diamond in a wooden ship, buried in the Indian Ocean centuries ago.

Shortly after recovering the Lost Ship, his world explodes to pieces before his eyes, as India, China, Indonesia and Australia knock horns over the ship.

It’s just the beginning for Udi Daniel as the lure of diamonds draws men and nations into a confined space, for total annihilation by the demon of diamonds!

However, the survival of men and nations rests on the shoulder of one man, who must bring science to the end.



I











No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, or without the legal consent or prior written permission of the publisher, except for academic purposes in accordance to copyright law.

Copyright © 2023 by Dublyn G. Horris. All rights Reserved.










Chapter One





The airplane freighting the largest block of diamond the world had ever seen from Australia to England, suddenly issued a dense smoke in the air, three seconds after taken off from the Queensland International Airport in Brisbane. The plane caught fire, lost control and burst into flames. Ali Garabed, the Lebanese business mogul, that had purchased the diamond block, along with a few Australian officials in the airport, watched dumbstruck, as the plane somersaulted before it careened towards the Coral Sea and nosedived to the edge of the sea bordering the Pacific Ocean.The inhabitants of the areas around the sea watched in fear as cars screeched to halt, to behold the unfolding spectacle. Ali Garabed opened his mouth aghast in the midst of the government officials, including the Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum.

"What is happening to the world?" Ali Garabed asked and fainted.

"Holy shit!" Tom Harry, the Minister for Mines and Petroleum said and looked into the eyes of Paul Gardner for answers.

"It's like the plane has been attacked!" Paul Gardner whispered.

"The Prime Minister must hear this now", Tom Harry said and pulled his phone from his pocket to pull a call through.

"Hello Tom", Bobby Roberts answered instantly.

"The cargo plane transporting the diamond to London from Brisbane has just plunged into the Coral Sea!"

"So it's true!"

"Yes Sir".

"This is perturbation and it cannot happen! They have gone too far!!".

"You think politics is involved?"

"I'll speak with the team about this".

"Ok".

"Tom, this is negatively historic".

"It is!"

"Immediately arrange for the diamond to be recovered from the sea".

"I'll be on it Sir".

[








Smokes of Crime is an action-packed movie inside a book. Fasten your seat belt for a bumpy flight around the world!







!
!
!


Book Description




The FBI investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Prisca Bender, a business executive, twists into the evil loop that connects Rod Jimmy to Adaz Obot in Washington DC.

Mary Greenwood, the FBI special agent in charge of the investigation cuts into the evil loop to pin down the "Main Shark" and unravel the mystery, only to meet her dead end when she is just inches away from getting answers.

The case gets the attention of the US President and Reynold Westley, the CIA finest, teams up with the multi-talented FBI agent, Michael Bending, to continue from where Mary Greenwood has stopped.
They find out that what they are faced with, is beyond the combined capacity of the FBI and the CIA.

The investigation takes them through a complex circle that opens to a historic shocker.
They must find a way to break through the evil loop to untangle the links of sheer criminalism and terrorism, for US and allied forces to wade in and follow through to the end.








Prisca Bender stepped out of the elevator to the 31st floor of the Heathrow Bing Tower in Washington DC, in a red flowing gown, radiating class and elegance, as she walked to room 23, where Bob Newman had been expecting her. She rang the bell and the door was thrown open.

"You're late", Bob Newman said as he looked away from the plasma screen.

"I almost didn't make it, I was in the middle of a meeting when you called me, why am I here?"

"So fast?"

"I have a plane to catch, straight to the point please!"

"It's been weeks since the take off date of the signed contract between Strobotics and Fairbrain rolled by".

"Yeah, I know".

"What's stalling?"

"The management is pruning some branches for smooth roll out in Strobotics".

"I see!" Bob Newman said and dialed the bar, "Please bring a bottle of Ruchidra wine to room 23 on the 31st floor".

"I'm in a hurry Bob, let it be some other time".

"My guest can't bring me shame, I insist that you drink, even if it's just a sip".

"You are funny".

"Fairbrain has already packed the first batch of the neural chips, and we're expecting you to honor your end of the deal".

"You would hear from me".

The bar man announced himself outside and Bob Newman pulled the door open to usher him in. A man in his late thirties, wearing a white hand gloves and a black jacket on a white shirt came in with a tray balanced on his left palm, raised to his shoulder level. The tray contained two empty fancy wine glasses and a bottle of wine. He placed the tray on the table and adjusted his black french tie

. Bob Newman gestured to him to remove the cover and the wine cork. He professionally discharged the wine cork and poured the wine into the two glasses, each half filled. Bob Newman picked one of the glasses and emptied the content in one gulp. Prisca Bender wanted to decline to drink, but at the same time she did not want to make it obvious that the contract was not going to fly. She picked the glass of wine for a taste.

"It's a good wine!" Bob Newman urged her on to drink all. "The best breed of wine from Israel!!"

Prisca Bender raised the wine glass again to take a sip and felt a tingling in her body, followed by a seizure. She dropped the wine glass as she felt dizzy with a spinning sensation.

"It's working so fast!" Bob Newman said as he turned to face her.

He left the room and signaled to the bar man outside to finish the job. The bar man oame in and saw Prisca Bender writhing in pains. She had fallen to the floor almost unconscious. She tried to talk but no sound would come out from her mouth. He got very close and traced every curve on her body with his eyes. He felt pity for her and wondered what would make anyone to want to take the life of an angel. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. If he had known Bob Newman was hiring him to take the life of an angel, he would have found a way to tell her to run for her life.

He crouched near her and touched her soft skin, and Prisca Bender managed to look at him. Her skin was smooth like a glass surface. Lust seized his eyes all of a sudden and he felt a burning sensation around his groin. The gentleman in the bar man vanished at once, giving way to the beast in the ruthless Oscar Averes to appear. He pulled down the zip on his trousers in a frenzy and overturned Prisca Bender on her stomach with a brute force. He yanked up her gown and flung her legs asunder. He tore her underwear to shreds and began to rape her.

He finished with her and plucked away the diamond chain on her neck and opened a black body bag.There was still some life in her. He lifted her on a chair and used a short rope to go round her neck. He pulled the ends of the rope with a sudden force. He lifted the dead body and shoved it into the open body bag and zipped it up. He punched some buttons on his mobile phone and made a call as he walked to a wall. He pulled a cover from the wall and a fresh wind from the outside rushed in. He took a hard long rope from the floor and tied the body bag with one end of the rope that had been formed into a noose. The door burst open and the bodyguards of Bob Newman moved in.

The two men raised the corpse and passed it through the opened hole on the wall to the outside. They began lowering the dead body of Prisca Bender to the ground down the side of Heathrow Bing Tower with poor lighting. As soon as the bag hit the ground, one of the bodyguards left to take the elevator down. Oscar Averes filled the hole and replaced the wall cover neatly. He brought a paint to spray the marks on the wall. The hole on the wall disappeared with Prisca Bender!







No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, or without the legal consent or prior written permission of the publisher, except for academic purposes in accordance to copyright law.

Copyright © 2023 by Dublyn G. Horris. All rights Reserved.









Follow the author https://twitter.com/DublynHorris












One








Rod Jimmy, the Chief of Programming in Netfluz, looked ruffled, seething in anger as he marched across the first floor to where all the programmers surrounded Adaz Obot.. He had heard explosive noise that sent spiral shock wave through the building. He cut through the gathering to see the Principal Engineer, Reek Powel, receiving instructions from Adaz Obot on how to revive other plants.

"What's happening here?" Rod Jimmy asked.

"The giant dead plant at the ground floor just came alive", Reek Powell replied him.

"Who authorized this session?"

"The Director of Programming is aware of this".

"How could this happen without my knowledge?"

"Look Rod! I expect you to ask how the systems came on".

"At the expense of order?"

"What's order when things aren't working the way they should?"

Shocked by the response, Rod Jimmy turned around and quietly walked away. He had been the ''god'' of programming in Netfluz. He could feel his influence in the scheme of things dwindling fast. He was officially responsible for all recruitment into the programming floor, but the company's hierarchy had maneuvered Adaz Obot into Netfluz. That move alone had caused him anguish. He felt he would be sidelined and kicked out if things continued this way. He must do something to restore his authority and relevance. He remembered Oscar Averes, who had a strong link to Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir.

Oscar Averes was born to his Mexican father by a Saudi Arabian mother. He was taken to Saudi Arabia after the marriage of his parents had crashed. Rod Jimmy had helped him to smuggle drugs into the United States through the Mexican-US border and had also helped him to smuggle materials for the production of weapons of mass destructions (WMDs), out of the US, to Iraq, where Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir had established the operational base of Al Jama'ah. Oscar Averes grew up in Saudi Arabia, where he was islamized and radicalized into a terrorist organization and his name was changed to Mutalab Azeez. Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir had sent him to Mexico, not to actually advance his drug business, but to make an incursion into the United States, to unleash his revenge.

Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir had narrowly escaped the Syria and ISIS war, where he had lost most of his jihadists. ISIS had fallen back on Al Ja'amah to supply jihadists to advance its course both in Yemen and Syria. His heart was wrenched away when the news got to him that his wife, three of his children, his brother and his bosom friend, Jaheed Sahid, had died in the American airstrikes in Yemen. He had vowed to shake the foundation of the world, the way the first nuclear bomb had destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War, to settle scores. He desperately needed an American citizen that would spy on the White House.

Oscar Averes was in a gym in Mexico when his mobile phone went off. He moved to a quiet corner and pulled out his phone thinking it was Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir that usually called at the hour for updates, he was wrong, it was Rod Jimmy of Netfluz.

"Hello Jimmy! What's good?"

"I need your help".

"In Mexico?"

"Here in DC".

" I make plans before crawling out, you know".

"You won't spend time on it".

"How do you need it?"

"I want a boy out of my way in Netfluz.

"You haven't said anything".

"I want a hit and I want it now!"

"I just carried out an operation on a business executive, for a drug lord, in Heathrow Bing Tower a few miles away from Netfluz".

"What's your point?"

"I don't strike close".

"Is there no way you can make this happen?"

"Of course", Oscar Averes said as the need of Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir and Al Ja'amah flashed in his mind.

"When should I expect you then?"

"Rod, I'm going to hire for you the world best sniper. He can sniff out life from a moving train miles away.
His name is Rito Birdman".

"The cost?"

"It wouldn't cost you a thing, but a condition is attached".

"Spell it out! I need the shit out".

"You will have to become a spy for Al Ja'amah".

"What and where is Al Ja'amah?"

"It's an organization based in Iraq".

"But I'm not quitting Netfluz".

"You don't have to, it doesn't need you to. You can call it freelance spy operation and you get paid really good".

"I'm going to consider it and get back".

"It's your best bet Jimmy", Oscar Averes said and the link went down.

Rod Jimmy hadn't slept well for days. He was increasingly losing relevance in Netfluz since the miracle of the first floor. The programmers that used to hold him to a high esteem, no longer showed him regard. The company's executives now considered him a nuisance because of his coldness toward Adaz Obot. He desperately wanted to be the "god" of Netfluz again. He had practically created the soul of Netfluz from its foundation with his hands. He was not about to allow his territory to be encroached. He needed to retain his status badly and explore the loopholes he had created to siphon funds. He picked up his phone and decided to contact Osca Averes again.

"Hello", Averes answered.

"I'm in Oscar".

"Good boy!"

"When is it going to happen?"

"Not so fast, I need you to take an oath that you will become a spy for Al Ja'amah after delivery".

"You have my words".

"I don't need your words, Al Ja'amah would need you to swear on record, to release the sniper for the operation".

"Alright let's go".

"Ready"

"I swear this day that I will serve Al Ja'amah as a spy when the sniper has finished my job, and I seal this deal with my life".

"Not bad".

"So what's next?"

"First of, what's the name of the target?"

"Adaz Obot"

I would need you to send his pictures and dwelling address".

"I can supply the information right away".

"Hold it, you would also describe his lifestyle, you can send them to the mail address you will get now!"

"Sure!"


"You can toast to it", Oscar Averes said and disconnected the line.

Rod Jimmy lived in Netfluz guest quarter and had come to know that Adaz Obot would usually leave his house in the middle of the night; when the city had gone to sleep, to study at the balcony of his house. He gleaned other information about the young man and sent them his friend in Mexico. Oscar Averes studied the information and decided where the target could be hit from. He chose a hotel tower, the room number and the floor to carry out the operation.

In a clear blue sky, the executive killer, Rito Birdman flew his private jet into Washington DC, and checked into the hotel room with a wall opposite Adaz Obot's balcony. As the time for the hit was drawing close, he took the elevator down from the 21st floor and hopped into a Bugatti Veron and cruised away into the city. He drove round Netfluz guest quarter as he studied the pictures sent to him. He expertly pulled up in between some vehicles in a car park and stepped out to get his tools. He brought out a long black bag that contained his MAD-666L riffle and zipped it open. The night was closing in very fast. He removed his sunglasses to wear a black face cap and then folded the long bag half way, after decoupling the riffle. Darkness had fully covered the city as he stepped down from the jet with the bag hanging on his hand. He slipped into the driver's seat of the Bugatti Veron and disappeared into the night.

He drew up at the five star hotel parking lot and brought out his bag. He was a rounded professional. As he searched for hit points for his target, he also planned his escape route and mode. He had carefully planned for this hit, knowing that the FBI was hot on his heels over his crimes in the US, particularly for his most recent hit, when he took out Ted Flemming, the founder of Fairbrain in Alaska. Had Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir not thrown his weight behind this gig, he wouldn't have accepted to strike out Adaz Obot. He was now inside the elevator about to push the button to the 21st floor, when a smartly dressed woman in her early forties stopped the elevator from closing and hurried inside.

"What floor are you going to Sir?" The lady asked smiling abundantly.

"You can go to your floor first ma'am".

The killer sounded like a complete gentleman.The lady punched 31 on the buttons and they flew up. As the elevator door opened, she pressed a button on her suit as she walked out of the lift. The elevator door closed and Rito Birdman went to the 21st floor. As soon as he had pinned down the door to his hotel room, he looked at his wristwatch; the time for the hit was a long four hours away. He put down his bag and zipped it open. He brought out his drilling tool and went to work. He drilled three holes in a triangular shape on the wall facing Adaz Obot's balcony. He peered through each hole with one eye closed, to view the bungalow's balcony with the aid of binoculars. Adaz Obot had already heaped some books on his reading desk. He licked his teeth with his tongue. He began to couple his riffle.

He lifted the MAD-666L rifle and tried to pass the muzzle through each of the three holes to determine the best snipping position. He chose the hole on the left base of the triangle and dropped the rifle. He picked the drilling tool to drill another hole for the rifle lens. He looked at the time again, it was fifteen minutes away, time like a tide, and he let out a wicked grin. He decided to view again, Adaz Obot had come out and was now studying. He made a sign of cross on his chest and picked up the rifle. As he lifted the machine, he heard a knock on his door, followed by a female voice, this must be a mistake, he did not order for anything. He didn't answer the female voice. He dropped the riffle in the bag and tiptoed to the door. He looked through the key hole and saw a young lady flanked by two uniformed men with FBI bagdes.

Mary Greenwood had come to the hotel to lodge just like Rito Birdman but for a different reason. She had come to the hotel to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a female business executive in the hotel. She was about to get the key to room 23 on the 31st floor, when she had looked outside and seen through the transparent window of the reception office, how Rito Birdman had used his left hand to steer his Bugatti Vernon to an abrupt stop, sending dust particles into the air, before switching off the headlights. She had immediately marked him worthy of note. She had followed him with her eyes into the elevator and joined him in the lift. When she was leaving the elevator at the 31st floor she had captured the face of the hitman with a hidden camera at the back of of her suit collar. She had quickly powered up the computer on the center of her table and sent his photo to be run through the FBI suspect data in the Central Intelligence Unit. She had been one of the most brilliant minds in the FBI. She was a special detective that had unlocked quite a number of mysterious cases in the United States, using her sharp intuition. She had been promoted to the Assistant Special agent in-charge, and she revered working in the field.

The FBI search had matched the face of the most wanted man in the world and she had placed a call through to the Supervisory Special Agent that she needed two back up field agents at the first floor of the Heathrow Bing Tower. She had gone to the bathroom for a quick shower while waiting. She had slipped into a well fitting combat outfit and secured her short gun on her waist belt. The two FBI agents had come into the first floor of the hotel just as the elevator exposed her. She had waved them to come around as she hurried towards the reception office where she had extracted the floor and room number of the hitman.

She signaled to agent Bradley Stevens to break in as the sniper was taking his time to open the door. Bradley took five steps backwards and dashed forward to march the door open. It didn't open in the first attempt. He took five steps backwards again, and the hitman said, "I'm coming!" It sounded like he was far away. She gestured to agent Bradley to hold on for a minute but he ignored her signal. He moved backwards and marched the door open in the second attempt.

Agent Morgan Howard swiftly wielded his AK-47 two sixty degrees as he entered the room cautiously. Agent Bradley Stevens couldn't see the sign of the hitman in the room. He moved quickly but carefully to check the bathroom with his short gun. No sign of the sniper around. He had escaped! Mary Greenwood couldn't believe her eyes. She was lost into her mind as to how the hitman had disappeared. Questions unanswered rushed through her as she moved from the bathroom to the bedroom. She swore to find out how people vanish from the hotel. Agent Bradley returned to the bedroom and saw her looking closely at a picture in her hand. The picture was that of a young black man probably in his late twenties. A red cross was drawn across the picture.

"It's him!" Agent Bradley said the moment he saw the picture.

"How did you know it's him?"

"That cross drawn across the picture of the young man".

"For real?"

"That's Rito Birdman's signature".

"What happened to him here?"

"They say he can vanish".

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"How else can you explain what has just happened?"

"I must see the end of this".

*** Hello readers, if you're interested reading this book, you can reach me via

tidingsodjugo@gmail.com

Book Description;

The FBI investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Prisca Bender, the Managing Director of Strobotics, twists into the evil loop that connects Rod Jimmy to Adaz Obot of Netfluz, in Washington DC
Mary Greenwood, the FBI special agent in charge of the investigation cuts into the evil loop to pin down the "Main Shark", and unravel the mystery, but she meets her dead end. The case gets the attention of the US President and Reynold Westley, the CIA finest, teams up with the multi-talented FBI agent, Michael Bending, to continue from where Mary Greenwood has stopped.
They find out that what they are faced with, is beyond the combined capacity of the FBI and the CIA. The investigation takes them through a complex circle that opens to a historic shocker.
They must find a way to break through the evil loop to untangle the links of sheer criminalism and terrorism for US and allied forces to wade in and follow through to the end.

!!!!!!!!!
1!
1

Pull up yours seat for a bumpy flight around the world!










No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, or without the legal consent or prior written permission of the publisher, except for academic purposes in accordance to copyright law.

Copyright © 2023 by Dublyn G. Horris. All rights Reserved.












Follow the author https://twitter.com/DublynGhorris









One








Rod Jimmy, the Chief of Programming in Netfluz, a renowned company in the United States, heightened his hatred for Adaz Obot for daring to challenge him on the first floor. The outcome of the challenge had sent a spiral wave through Netfluz. His ego was punctured badly. Rod Jimmy's instant reaction as a result, was to find someone that would hatch his plan to terminate the young engineer. Adaz Obot had just proven to the Chief Operating Officer Raymond Dean, that the Chief Programmer, Rod Jimmy, had been doing things the wrong way on the first floor. Rod Jimmy had been the ''god'' of programming in Netfluz and nobody had stood toe-to-toe with him until now. He felt that his position was gravely threatened by the young man. The company had just recruited Adaz Obot without the knowledge of the Chief Programmer. Rod Jimmy had been officially responsible for all recruitment into the programming floor, but the company's hierarchy had maneuvered Adaz Obot into Netfluz. This move had got Rod Jimmy seething in anger. As if that wasn't painful enough for him to get inflamed, the boy had the effrontery to stand up to him on the first floor. Adaz Obot had bitten the tail of the tiger even harder. Rod Jimmy remembered Oscar Averes, who had a strong link to Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir.
Oscar Averes was born to his Mexican father by a Saudi Arabian mother. He was taken to Saudi Arabia after the marriage of his parents had crashed. He grew up in Saudi Arabia, where he was islamized and radicalized into a terrorist organization and his name was changed to Mutalab Azeez. Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir had sent Oscar Averes to Mexico, to advance his drug business and at the same time make an incursion into the US, to have his revenge pushed through. Oscar Averes would bear his original name to operate between the US and Mexico. Rod Jimmy had helped Oscar Averes to smuggle drugs into the United States through the Mexican-US border and had also helped him to smuggle materials for the production of weapons of mass destructions (WMDs), out of the US, to Iraq, where Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir had established the operational base of Al Jama'ah. His terrorist organization that had its tentacles connected to different terror organizations worldwide.
Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir had narrowly escaped the Syria and ISIS war, where he had lost most of his jihadists. ISIS had fallen back on Al Ja'amah to supply jihadists to advance its course both in Yemen and Syria. His heart was ripped apart when the news got to him that his wife, three of his children, his brother and his bosom friend, Jaheed Sahid, had died in the American airstrikes in Yemen. He had vowed to shake the foundation of the world, the way the first nuclear bomb had destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, during the Second World War in revenge. He desperately needed an American citizen that would spy on the White House. His heart still bled freshly from the wounds of Syria to Yemen. He had spent the last three years scheming his way into the United States through Oscar Averes. He needed more men to join his terror group which had suffered a big blow in the hands of the US forces.
When Rod Jimmy contacted Oscar Averes for some help to terminate engineer Adaz Obot, whom he felt was a threat to him in Netfluz, Oscar Averes had agreed to help him on the condition that he would join Al Ja' amah as a spy. Rod Jimmy had said that he would think about the condition that Oscar Averes had attached. Oscar Averes knew the best hitman from Mexico to America that could sniff out life from a moving train, miles away. He was known as Rito Birdman, the executive hitman. He silently prayed for Rod Jimmy to accept the condition. Oscar Averes had given Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir a concrete assurance that he would get him an American citizen as a spy.
Rod Jimmy was increasingly losing relevance in Netfluz since the miracle of the first floor. All the programmers that used to hold him to a high esteem, no longer showed him regard. Netfluz executives now considered him a nuisance because of his coldness toward Adaz Obot. Rod Jimmy desperately wanted to be the "god" of Netfluz again. He had practically created the soul of Netfluz from its foundation, with his hands. He was not about to allow his territory to be encroached. He needed to retain his status badly, and enjoy fully the benefits that came with it. The only thing he could come up with to achieve his goal, was to drain life out of Adaz Obot. Rod Jimmy finally acquiesced after thinking it through and the deal was sealed with an oath on his life. Rod Jimmy became automatically friendly with Adaz Obot, so as to divert suspicion after the hit.
Raymond Dean, the Chief Operating Officer of Netfluz, replayed the video that Reek Powell had sent to him for the third time in his office since returning from California. Every doubt he had had about the young man's ability had been banished to history. He had just received his academic credentials. He pulled out the master degree form of Harvard, and another booklet bearing the list of courses in both engineering and science from a stack of books and he dialed the phone number of the Principal Engineer, Reek Powell. "Reek, please come over".
The Principal Engineer appeared in a minute and pushed the office door open, “I’m here boss”.
"Who else has seen this video?" Raymond Dean asked.
"You and the field engineers and some of the programmers that were on the floor as you can see in the video".
The COO continued, "Netfluz has been losing a lot of money for mobilizing the field engineers to different countries across the world, to fix plant assembly issues. Now Adaz Obot has used just three steps to recover a dead plant in less than twenty minutes. You will send this video and the three applications that he has developed to the other field engineers all over Africa and elsewhere, to finish up and return to the engineering floor in Washington DC. The company executives have decided to reward Adaz Obot with this". Raymond Dean handed over a brown envelope that contained the booklet and the University of Harvard master degree form to Reek Powell and added, "Let this strictly be between me and you. Tell engineer Adaz Obot to fill the form and return it before closing hour. The young man has saved Netfluz man hours and millions of dollars". As Reek was leaving the office, Raymond Dean opened his laptop to send a mail and the video about the first floor miracle, to the Chief Executive Officer of Netfluz, Richard Morre, who was still cooling off in Madrid, Spain.
Adaz Obot knocked and opened the Chief Operating Officer's door as he hit the send button to send the mail flying to Spain. He gave engineer Adaz Obot a gift of the most expensive palmtop computer, wrapped in a fancy box, with his right hand, after he had collected the brown envelope from him with his left hand.
"I wish you all the best young man".
"Thank you Sir! I'm very grateful for the lack of a better word to express my gratitude".
Adaz Obot hadn't the faintest inkling, that Rito Birdman the executive hitman, who had never failed Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir for the fifty seven jobs he had done for him across the world, was on his way to Washington DC, to have a date with him. The evil doctor had personally contacted and contracted Rito Birdman for Oscar Averes to execute the hit, for Rod Jimmy to become an American spy for Al Ja'amah.


________________________________________



The most recent job Rito Birdman had done for Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir had taken place in the outskirt of Buenos Aires, in Argentina. A drug baron, Don Migolez, originally from Cuba, had failed to remit the full money for a load of heroin and cocaine to Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir. He consulted his hitman, and the drug baron was "plucked down" from a wedding chair in Argentina. Rito Birdman had come to Argentina the previous day to take in the wedding venue and the surroundings so as to pin down possible hit points and ranges. He had drilled a hole on the wall of an uncompleted building in Argentina miles away from the wedding venue. He had made the sign of cross on his chest and passed the muzzle of his rifle through the hole to hit the drug baron. Don Migolez's bride had lain sprawled over the dead body of the groom as life drained out of him in his pool of blood. Wedding guests had scampered to safety in frenzy. A pall of sadness had hung in the air as Rito Birdman changed into a bearded old man and walked out of the uncompleted building with a walking stick in his left hand, and a guitar bag in his right hand. Smooth operator.




The details that Rito Birdman needed to deliver the death of Adaz Obot, was gleaned from Rod Jimmy by Oscar Averes. He was taking the whole thing personal now. A lot was at stake. The Chief Programmer of Netfluz lived close to the Netfluz guest quarter and had come to know that Adaz Obot would usually leave his house in the middle of the night; when the city had gone to sleep, to study at the balcony of his house. Oscar Averes decided where the target could be hit from. He chose a hotel tower, the room number and the floor to carry out the hit.

On a clear evening blue sky, the executive killer, Rito Birdman, flew his private jet into Washington DC, and he checked into the hotel room with a wall opposite Adaz Obot's balcony. As the time for the hit was drawing close, he took the elevator down from the 21st floor and hopped into a parked black Bugatti Veron that he had hired and cruised away into the city. He drove round Netfluz guest quarter as he studied the pictures sent to him by Oscar Averes. He expertly pulled up the car in between some vehicles in a car park and put on his sunglasses and stepped out to get his killing machine. Rito Birdman took a glance around the environment where his private jet had perched, to ensure that no one was watching. He brought out a long black bag that contained his machine and zipped it open. The night was closing in very fast. He removed his sunglasses to wear a black face cap, and then folded the long bag half way, after he had decoupled the killing machine inside. When the darkness had fully covered the city, Birdman stepped down from the jet with the bag hanging on his hand, like some mobile wardrobe. He slipped into the driver's seat of the Bugatti Veron and balanced himself behind the wheels. The wheels ground the road as he disappeared into the night.
Rito Birdman pulled up the Bugatti Veron at the five star hotel parking lot, and brought out the bag containing his machine. He was a professional killer. As he searched for hit points for his target, he also planned his escape route and mode. He had carefully planned for this hit, knowing that the CIA and the FBI were hot on his heels. Had Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir not thrown his weight behind this gig, he wouldn't have accepted to kill Adaz Obot. Rito Birdman was now inside the elevator about to push the button to the 21st floor, when a smartly dressed woman in her early forties stopped the elevator from closing and hurried inside.
"What floor are you going to Sir?" The lady asked smiling abundantly.
"You can go to your floor first ma'am".

The killer sounded like a complete gentleman.The lady punched 31 on the buttons and they flew up. As the elevator door opened, the lady pressed a button on her suit as she walked out of the lift. The elevator door closed and Rito Birdman went to the 21st floor. As soon as Rito Birdman had secured the door to his hotel room, he looked at his wristwatch; the time for the hit was a long four hours away. He put down his bag and zipped it open. He brought out his drilling tool and went to work. He drilled three holes in a triangular shape on the wall facing Adaz Obot's balcony. He peered through each hole with one eye closed to view Obot's bungalow balcony with the aid of binoculars. Obot had already heaped some books on his reading desk. Birdman licked his teeth with his tongue. The target was getting ready for the hit. He began to couple the sniper MAD-666L riffle. This killing machine was specifically designed by Vassily Putrovic in Russia for Rito Birdman, for helping him to dispatch a ring of drug lords who wouldn't pay for the guns that they had purchased. They kept threatening Vassily that they would expose his gun running business to the government each time they would burst into his hidden warehouse with their boys to collect guns. Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir had recommended Rito Birdman for Vassily Putrovic to finish the drug lords. Vassily Putrovic and Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir were classmates in Oxford, England, where they both studied Chemical Engineering.
Rito Birdman lifted the MAD-666L rifle, and tried to pass the muzzle through each of the three holes to determine the best snipping position. He chose the hole on the left base of the triangle and dropped the rifle. He picked the drilling tool to drill another hole for the rifle lens. He looked at the time again, it was fifteen minutes away, time like a tide, and he let out a wicked grin. He decided to view again, Adaz Obot had come out and was now studying. He made a sign of cross on his chest and picked up the MAD-666L rifle. As he lifted the machine, he heard a knock on his door, followed by a female voice, this must be a mistake, he did not order for anything. He didn't answer the female voice. He dropped the machine in the bag and tiptoed to the door. He looked through the key hole and saw a young lady flanked by two uniformed men.

Rod Jimmy hadn't gone to bed in the middle of the night. He had been pacing up and down. His mood twisted into remorse and vengeance. He had been the Chief Programmer close to forty years in Netfluz, until a little boy came to share his glory and attention. He had found out that Adaz Obot was a nice guy, but he still needed to retain his status anyways. He had done enough to fool Netfluz executives and he believed he wouldn't be suspected to be behind the death of the young engineer. He poked out his head out of his window every minute to see if Adaz Obot had collapsed. He looked at his wall clock, the time frame for the hit was rolling over, and the young engineer would soon go inside to sleep. Adaz Obot usually spent three to four hours studying outside in the night. Rod Jimmy looked at the wall clock again. To his shock and disbelief, Adaz Obot was clearing books from his desk. He had finished for the night. Oscar Averes had confirmed to him that Adaz Obot was going down tonight, that the world best hitman was in the city. "What could have gone wrong?" Rod Jimmy asked nobody.

Mc6xty:
Kudos,nice storyline

He abruptly stops the bicycle using his feet as breaks and looks back at the SUV. The driver has put off the flashing headlights and slows down a bit. Igberi saw a young girl poke her head through the driver's window of the SUV. She wears the uniform of the National Youth Service Corps. She laughs and waves at Igberi with her left hand, while her right hand is resting on the steering. Igberi stands on the spot watching the SUV as it pulls away slowly. The driver re-engages the gear and the SUV is soon lost into the darkening weather. Igberi shakes his head in pity as he watches the SUV disappear. The offensive smell of his attire oozes badly. Igberi doesn't mind if the rain starts falling now to wash off the unbearable smell. The incidence reignites his current predicament and his untasteful past, resurfaces.

"That little girl couldn't stop and even say sorry to me, not to mention parting with something for me to wash off this mess. She was even laughing at me. Ah! Me Igberi! I can't take this. Who is this girl that doesn't know me in this town.

Igberi turns and resumes his homeward journey, this time even more thoughtfully. His feelings mix into anger and heavy regret. He takes his frustration on the bicycle and begins pedalling furiously, making the two gourds of palm wine hung across the bicycle's carrier, to dance in fury to the rhythm of the rider. The haggard looking bicycle let out a clang in protest as Igberi pulls along. As he rides on, the image of the little girl that is driving the SUV flashes up in his mind with her National Youth Service Corps uniform. It indicates to Igberi that she probably has just graduated from the university. It reminds him of the kind of future his wife Margaret had dreamed for Akpovi before she died. Margaret died while given birth to Akpovi twenty two years ago. Margaret had given birth to Ejiro, Igberi's daughter four years before the birth of Akpovi. He remembers the wishes of his wife as life drained out of her on her sick bed, having lost so much blood to bleeding after giving birth to Akpovi.

"Take good care of the boy if I couldn't make it", Margaret said with a weak voice. "If he grows up give him the soundest education available.. Don't let your rakishness and reckless living get in the way of his bright future . Live the remaining life in you for him".

Igberi replays the wishes of Margaret over and over in his head, and puts the current circumstances in perspective. A new spirit possessed him. He believes all of a sudden that Akpovi can make it, and be like the little girl that drives the flashy SUV. Who humiliated and smeared him with the mess. Igberi believes she did what she did on purpose, as he takes the last turn to his compound. He doesn't exactly know how Akpovi's future ambition can be curled back on track, but he somehow believes. Akpovi has always dreamed of becoming a very successful engineer, and he has started showing some brilliance in that direction already. Akpovi worked on Igberi's spoilt TV in the morning before he left home to collect palm wine and now the TV is back to live and functioning. From his infancy Akpovi has been fond of tearing things apart and piecing them together. Igberi tries hard to banish the image of the girl that sprayed the odorous water on him but it appears stuck.

The driver of the SUV is Stancy, the beautiful daughter of Senator Dr. Tam Briggs. She has come to Ogbia, her home town after her NYSC passing out parade in Port Harcourt. Stancy is speeding home to beat the rain, so as to save the materials she spread out in the sun from getting wet. She has been away with her friends celebrating the completion of the National Youth Service Corps. She was so involved in their party that she almost lost the idea of the time. It was the inexorableble thunderstorms that reminded her of home. As she drives on, her conscience pricks her that she didn't treat the palm wine tapper that SUV sprayed water on very well.

"God knows I didn't internationally do it. I saw him from afar and I started flashing the headlights for him to give way. I know I should have at leat come out to say sorry, but the looming rainstorm is chasing me", Stancy Briggs absolved herself of any blame.

As she draws close to the main gate of her country home, she blares the horn at maximum volume. The gate splits open in seconds and she drives in to the garage of Senator Dr. Tam Briggs' mansion. Stancy hurriedly alights and goes behind the mansion. She sees her expensive hairs and other items strewn about by the wind. She hastily runs around to pick them up and hurries inside. The first drop of what would be a heavy downpour hits her head before she skips onto the veranda. As she runs up the staircase to her room, the incidence that happened on her way home involving the palm wine tapper flashes up in her mind again.




Chapter Two






The rain begins to fall heavily as Igberi gets home, drenching him thoroughly. But even at that, the foul smell still clings. He quickly jumps out of the bicycle and rolls it to a corner and nestles it against the wall of his house. The house is a modest one with three rooms and a parlour, with its kitchen and bathroom attached at the backyard. Two tall curvy coconut trees sandwich a mango tree in the front of the compound. Igberi walks briskly to the corner of the kitchen outside and undresses himself to his underwear. He walks into the kitchen to get a bucket having stripped himself half naked. He almost bumps into his daughter, Ejiro, who is standing by the kitchen door, with a pot of soup in her hand. The rain has caged her in the kitchen, and she's waiting for the rain to subside for her to dash out to the room.
Ejiro says sharply, "Dede! Welcome back".
"Thanks my daughter".
"Eya!!! look at you. You've been coming in the rain. Did you run into the rain on your way home?"
"No my daughter, I was actually a few meters away from the compound when the rain began to fall. I need to soak my tapping cloths in water", Igberi says and walks inside to get a plastic bucket.
As he walks past, Ejiro perceives the offensive odour of the water that Stancy Briggs' SUV has splashed on him. She turns and asks, "Dede, did you rub anything on your body? The smell is bad"
"No Ejiro. It's about an ugly incidence that happened on my way home"
"What about it Dede? I want to know?"
"Ejiro, I would rather not talk about it. The incidence has renewed my desire to work twice as hard to give you and Akpovi a bright future".
"Dede, I insist you must tell me about it. Did someone pour you a sour soup or a rotten raw egg?
"Ejiro I said let the matter be. I might talk about it some time later, but not now".
"Ok Dede, let me boil some water for you to take your bath", Ejiro says and drops the pot of soup on the kitchen table.
She puts a bigger pot on the fire and pours water into it and has the fire stoked as Igberi walks out of the kitchen. Igberi stuffs the smelling cloths in the plastic bucket and pushes it into the rain torrent coming from the roof. He returns to the kitchen and stands away from Ejiro. The odour becomes unbearable to Eliro and she says, "Dede, I will run through the rain to the house with the pot of soup".
"It's OK Ejiro, I will stand here till the water boils and I will have my bath. The rain isn't slowing down, I think you have no choice but to run through it. I'll come to the house after taking my bath".
"Alright Dede".
As she throws her first step out of the kitchen, Igberi asks, "Where's Akpov by the way?"
"He left home since morning, soon after you left home to collect palm wine. He told me he was going to see his friend Danagogo across the street", Ejiro replies and dashes away maintaining her run along the wall of the house. She has taken the role of a mother in the house since the death of Margaret, Igberi's wife, and she plays the role so well.
An idea flashes in Igberi's mind as he empties the first scoop of water on his head in the bathroom. He remembers that his friend named Tara Bede, who now lives in Port Harcourt. Tara once told him that a certain five star hotel in Port Harcourt buys a litre of palm wine for as high as one thousand naira. Igberi warms up to the idea of going to start tapping palm wine in a virgin jungle to raise Akpovi's registration fee. A fertile place rich in succulent palm wine trees comes up in his mind. Igberi brightens up as he over-turns the remaining water in the bucket on his head. He grabs Ejiro's wrapper in the bathroom and wraps it around his waist. As he leaves the bathroom, Igberi is filled with the optimism that Akpovi will go back to school. The image of Stancy Briggs laughing at him, as she drove away still lingers in his mind. He believes that Akpovi will live the future that his mother had seen for him when she was dying. Ejiro notices that her father's outlook has brightened up as he steps into the room. Igberi drops the bucket outside near the doorpost and walks into the living room.
"Ejiro you'll wash the underwears in the bucket, I will used them tomorrow'", Igberi says,
"It's alright Dede. Your meal is ready on the dining table".
Igberi sits on a wooden chair and drags a bag containing some tools before him, and begins to drop them on the floor. He counts the tools as he inspects them.
"Dede aren't you going to have your meal now? You haven't even rested. What are you doing?"
"Ejiro I will eat the food. I just want to make sure certain tools are still in the bag. I will need them tomorrow morning for a fresh incursion".
"Your trap didn't catch any bush meat? Ejiro asks knowing the obvious already.
"The rainstorm chased me out of the jungle. I didn't get to where I set the traps before the thunderstorms hammered the earth and sent me scurrying"
Igberi finishes attending to his tools and walks to the dining table and takes a seat. As he bends down to sit, he looks up at the wall clock. "It's 6:00pm now, isn't Akpovi coming home? Igberi asks.
"Dede the rain is still falling cats and dogs outside", Ejiro replies
"The darkness is covering fast outside. He can run home in the rain and then change his clothes. The town isn't very safe these days". While the words are still in Igberi's mouth, Akpovi bursts into the house , with a sullen face and an umbrella in his right hand.
"Dede your son is back home!" Ejiro announces
Igberi turns around and sees Akpovi collapsing the umbrella in his hand. Akpovi walks near his father and says, "Welcome Dede".
Igberi notices his moody posture, and he beckons on him to come close. When Akpovi has come close enough, Igberi says, "My son cheer up. I have a piece of good news for you. You will live up to the meaning of your name. It's your mother that gave you the name, her wish for you will come to pass. Let me finish eating and I'll tell you about it".
Akpovi instantly brightens up and skips about Ejiro with broad smiles, mimicking Michael Jackson's dance moves.
"It's like you just hit a jackpot, what's this about? Ejiro asks.

"Guess what?"

Ejiro knows that what can possibly light up his mood, must be connected to his registration for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination, but she didn't guess it.

"I don't know, can't guess it".

Akpovi says grinning from ear to ear, " Dede says he has a piece of good news for me".
"Oh, you haven't even been told about it and you're already in cloud nine, I pray that you don't get disappointed".
"What else would it be about? The SSCE registration is sure for me this time around".

Akpovi hears his father calling and he breezes out of the room to see him settling down on his favourite chair in the parlour."Dede I'm here", Akpovi responds after sitting on a wooden chair close to him".
Igberi clears his throat and begins, "You see, I waisted my youthful years doing things that neither added value to my life nor prepare the way to the future for me. You can see how I live now, struggling to make ends meet. Before your mother died she saw a bright future for you, and I want you to live in that future. I have disappointed her on three occasions when I couldn't raise the money to register you for the SSCE. My sister, Tadia whom I hope would be able to rescue me, and position you on the path to your destiny, suddenly stripped me naked". Akpovi shifts on the chair not knowing where Igberi is going with his lectures. Igberi continues, "I've decided that you will return to school. I saw the glimmer of the future your mother saw for you on my way home today from jungle. You see that National Youth Service Corps uniform, I want you to wear it".

Akpovi giggles on his chair and asks, "Dede do you mean I'll go to the university?"

"Yes my son".

Akpovi can't contain his excitement even though he doesn't know how his father is going to make all this happen. "Now listen to me carefully", Igberi stresses. "I want to expand my palm wine business". Ejiro walks into the parlour, and Igberi pauses for a while before he continues, "I'm spreading my tentacles to the other side of the mangrove. I'm making an incursion into the mangrove swamp at the left side of the Ariansa Bridge when going to Bomadi. That territory has been avoided by palm wine tappers over the years primarily because no trail has been blazed into the swamp. The swamp plays host to succulent palm wine trees. I'm going to blaze the trail into the swamp and start fresh markings on the palm wine trees".

Ejiro cuts into the conversation, "Dede that territory isn't only avoided by palm wine tappers because there's no trail into the swamp, I hear the territory is very dangerous".

"Shut up your mouth", Igberi counters "That's the excuse spineless and lazy men cook up".

"Dede I'll be going with you to assist", Akpovi says.
"No my son, you just returned from Lagos, I don't want people to think that I called you from Lagos to become a palm wine tapper. I have a job cut out for you now".

"I can't wait to hear it".

"There's a bag that contains plastic bottles at the backyard, you will wash the bottles clean with the iron sponge in the kitchen, and turn the bottles upside down till every drop of water inside drains out".
"It's alright Dede. Can I start now? Akpovi asks with enthusiasm.

"The rain is still heavy, you can do so when it subsides. I'm leaving very early tomorrow morning, so make sure you get the bottles ready.".

Akpovi shakes his head up and down vigorously and says, "Dede consider it done"

"I'm going to my bed to rise early tomorrow morning for the operation". Igberi says as he gets up from the chair. He walks into his room, says a quick prayer and hits the bed.




Chapter Three






The first cockcrow wakes Igberi up at 3:45 am. He springs up from the bed and goes to the parlour fully awake. He opens the door and goes out to refresh in the darkness, and carries a log of wood back to the house. Igberi brings out the bag of his tools and empties them again on the floor and separates the metal suspenders. He sits on the log of wood and feels the edges of each suspenders with the tip of his thumb finger before positioning them on the log to be sharpened. He draws a file from where it is tucked and begins to file the edge of each of the metal suspenders. He finishes with the suspenders and position his cutlass for sharpening. Igberi stares at the wall clock, it's reading 4:45 am.
He gets up smartly from the log of wood and drags his rickety bicycle outside into a cool breezy morning. The rain stopped falling in the middle of the night leaving a chilly atmosphere in its trail. Igberi rushes to the kitchen and grabs the bag containing the plastic bottles. As he leaves the kitchen with the bag, he grabs a loaf of bread and mulches on it while the bag is balanced on his head. He drops the bag outside beside his bicycle and goes in to get a kerosene lamp without its bulb. Igberi carries his tool bag out with the lamp flame dancing in the gentle breeze. He ties the tips of the tool bag and the bag containing the plastic bottles in a crouching position. He mulches the bread again after he has tucked the sharpened cutlass on the bicycle.
He walks into the house and goes to the room where Ejiro has hung his washed underwears and dresses up. The time on the wall clock displays 5:00 am. Igberi comes out of the room, fully dressed up in fresh tapping attire. The fresh tapping attire reminds him of the incidence of the previous day but he quickly shakes it off. This time is for action not for anger, not for regret. He walks into the room where Ejiro and Akpovi are peacefully sleeping, and draws out water from a covered container with a cup. He comes out to the parlour, takes a few gulps of water from the cup, and looks up at the wall clock for the last time before leaving the house for the operation.
He lifts the bag containing the plastic bottles on the bicycle's carrier and straps it on the carrier with a rubber rope. He hangs the tool bag on the left side of the bicycle's handle and hangs his climbing rope on the right side of the bicycle's handle, before he climbs his bicycle. Igberi sets sail with a popular song of Barrister Smooth. He continues humming the song into the fastly breaking dawn. His mind travels to the mangrove swamp and he makes a mental calculation on where to cut through to reach the palm wine trees in the swamp. The bicycle appears unusually responsive to Igberi as he rides smoothly through the unpaved road that connects the expressway. Igberi figures out that the rain might have washed the bicycle clean as the bicycle moves with a little noise and friction.
He gets past where Stancy Briggs splashed the smelly water on him on the unpaved road the day before. He didn't call the incidence to mind. He climbs on the expressway and matches on the pedals with purpose and vigour. Igberi maintains the new torque that drives the bicycle's chains for twenty minutes. It amazes him how the bicycle carries him today. Igberi looks to his right hand side and sees the path that leads to the mangrove forest, where the thunderstorms had chased him the previous day. It heralds his nearness to the Ariansa Bridge. He stops pedalling and rests his leather boots on the shoes of the bicycle. The bicycle runs freely down to the other side across the Ariansa Bridge for two minutes, before Igberi drops his left leg on the left shoulder of the expressway, to slow down to a halt. The morning is breaking clear and vehicular traffic is building up on the expressway.
He walks a few metres on the ground, and stands very close to the bush where he intends to start cutting into the swamp. As he rests his bicycle on the grass to adjust his trousers, a sharp rustling sound emanates from the bush. Igberi didn't cringe. He tightens the belt around his waist even as the rustling continues. He draws out the sharp cutlass tucked on the bicycle out with some panache, thereby making a loud metal sound. The rustling immediately ceases, and Igberi begins to brush with the cutlass into the bush. The day is gradually becoming established as the atmosphere is getting lit up. Igberi continues to brush his way into the swamp until he hears the sound of monkeys bickering in the thick mangrove. He stops and walks back to roll his bicycle on the bush path that he has opened up.

Book Description for DRIFTED TO DESTINY

Drifted to Destiny, Pains to Gains.
It's an attention grabber and a time robber. You need to finish up with your chores or already relaxing at home before you turn the first page. It will glue you literally until you turn the last page. Another gripping crime thriller with punctuations of romance. A trip through the heart of suspense.

Stancy Briggs, the priceless ravishlingly beautiful daughter of Senator Dr. Tam Briggs, falls in love crazily with Akpovi, the impoverished gifted son of a poor palm wine tapper.
Senator Dr. Tam Briggs will cut off the head of Akpovi before he has anything to do with his daughter, whom he has groomed to travel to the United States for her master degree program.
Stancy can’t throw her bright future away for a tattered non-entity, but, Stancy must stubbornly choose the future she wants to live in.





Chapter One



The serene mangrove forest suddenly gives way to the noise of a rushing wind. The surrounding trees sway in obedience to the command of the storm. Igberi doesn't notice the sudden change in his environment until the melodious songs of the birds with beautiful feathers cease almost at once in the forest. He has often glanced at the colourful birds as they skipped around and about the palm tree fronds. Igberi raises his head, turns and gazes at the palm tree that has hosted the birds to see what has happened; only to see the birds flying away to safety. The palm tree that hosted the birds is the tallest around, and it stands alone in the forest some distance away. The strong wind seems to have gripped the palm fronds by the neck, and is bending it until it would break.The birds have kept him company and given him a false sense of security, but the birds can't withstand the warning signs of a looming heavy storm.

Igberi's worry returns with a greater intensity after the birds have flown away, and the reality of the situation at hand becomes even more stark. He can now feel that his environment has changed. He has come to the mangrove forest to collect palm wine, and has hoped to collect a good quantity, having not come around to drain the containers on the palm wine trees for days. But the "harvest" has been so poor. He continues to go round, checking and collecting, somehow hoping that a miracle will happen and things will change. All the palm wine trees return very little amount of wine at the end of the rounds. Igberi increasingly becomes anxious, he staggers toward a tree stub and sits on it. He looks absorbed in his thought and unruffled by the relentless wind blowing so hard. He keeps on soliloquizing in the midst of the crazy wind:

"How can Tadia just send Akpovi back to Ogbia like that. She didn't even tell me in advance about it. Where in heaven and on earth would I get the money to register him for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination in a matter of days?"

Tadia; Igberi's blood sister had come to Bayelsa three years ago and took Akpovi to Lagos, when things were really rough for him. The condition of things for Igberi haven't improved since then. It's even worse now.. He had felt really relieved, knowing that Akpovi was in Lagos with his sister by the evening of the day before. He had been cocksure that his son's education would no longer be truncated by lack of money until yesterday night.. Tadia had promised him that she would take care of all Akpovi's needs.

The lighting around him in the mangrove forest gradually becomes dimmer and dimmer, and Igberi intuitively looks up at the clouds. He stands up from the three stub quickly and begins to gather his belongings to leave the forest. The clouds have become so dark-blue, and are moving westward swiftly. He hurriedly secures the gourds containing the small amount of palm wine to a stick firmly. He lifts the stick and balances it on the carrier of his aged bicycle, that nestles against a tree. He uses a rubber rope and ties the stick on the bicycle's carrier tautly.

Suddenly a flash of lightening, followed by a flurry of others, zip open the sky in a ziz-zag fashion, and Igberi flinches. The lightening prepares the way for deafening thunder bolts that rock and rock the expanse in quick succession The crazy wind blows unabated as the thunder shakes the ground under his feet. Igberi isn't frightened, until a thunderous explosion sends some shock waves through him. He quickly climbs his bicycle and begins navigating his way from the forest. He pulls away as the thunder repeatedly hammers the earth. He rides as fast as he can and comes out of the thickness of the mangrove forest, in twenty minutes. He heaves a sigh of relief as he rides his bicycle through the path that connects to the expressway. He climbs the express road and heads home thoughtfully.

His son Akpovi is a boy whose life revolves around studying. He's intellectually too sound for his age, and he's gifted with natural abilities,. Akpovi was the most brilliant student in his class here in Bayelsa, before Tadia took him to Lagos. He had stopped schooling because Igberi couldn't pay the enrollment fee for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination. In the years that Akpovi stopped going to school in Bayelsa, he borrowed books from his best friend, Danagogo, and studied on his own, hoping that one day, he would be able to sit for the examination. When Tadia came from Lagos to take him, he thought that the time had come. Now that he is back to Ogbia, Igberi wonders what the future holds for his son.



As Igberi continues riding home, his mind flashes on and off, on who can lend him the money to register his son for his Certificate Examination, apart from mama Nkechi. He owes mama Nkechi who has often rescues him in moments like this, a huge sum of money. She now draws her debt and Igberi can't go to her. Some of his friends who can help him don't consider him credit worthy. The future that looked very bright for Akpovi when Tadia took him to Lagos, now looks bleak. Igberi can't take the excuse that his sister has given for sending Akpovi back to Bayelsa without even a notice.

He begins to soliloquize on the express way as cars pass by : "I don't blame anybody, not even Tadia. I blame myself for mismanaging by youthful years, for squandering my earnings on debauchery. If I had listened to my dear wife, I know the class I would have belonged to now."

Igberi recollects his younger years when he was working with a multinational oil exploration company in the Niger Delta. The company first operated in Delta, where Igberi was hired, before the company proceeded to Bayelsa. He was among the privileged few that the company sent for training abroad, and was given an elevated position in the company, upon returning to Nigeria. Igberi became a strange man when money hit him. He would spend almost half of his salary womanizing and patronizing commercial sex workers on shore, before coming to Ogbia in Bayelsa, where he had settled with his wife. His wife noticed the way Igberi spent his money frivolously, and how he was making new friends in the bar, every time. She would beg him to save for the rainy days and for the future of their children, but Igberi wouldn't yield.

He gets near the unpaved road that branches from the expressway on his right, and slows down pedalling, his bicycle has no breaks. He swerves the bicycle into the unpaved road and steps hard on the pedals again. He can still hear the thunder roaring. The dark-blue clouds have spread all over and a chill breeze blows past him. He knows that a heavy rain is about to touch the ground, and he reinforces his push on the bicycle pedals to beat the rain. His compound is less than thirty minutes away. Even in the midst of the changing weather Igberi still finds the time to think and weep over the mistakes he made in his past.

"I remember my dear wife Margaret, when she was heavily pregnant with Akpovi. She would tell me to invest in landed properties that I would benefit from it later in life. But I was so stupid that I ignored her wisdom and insight. I remember that I even nudged her from the way when her persistence on the matter got me infuriated. Now, look at me now, I've become a laughing stock to those that even benefited so much from my reckless spending and wayward life then.".

Igberi isn't taking it easy on himself as he rides on. "Igberi! Igberi!! Igberi!!!", he calls his name aloud. " Where are the friends that used to borrow money from you? And when they couldn't pay back, you would say, ' forget about it'. What have you gained from the numerous women you kept as mistresses? What lesson have you learnt from being a professional drunkard? You fool! Yes me. I'm a fool. Margaret! Margaret!! Oh Maggi my dear wife, it will be well with you even in your grave. If I come to this life again, I would make you my wife again a million times over. You saw the tomorrow I didn't see".

Igberi draws closer and closer to his house and his hopes soar that he can beat the rain. It's just a few minutes away now. He spots a black coloured SUV in his front coming on the unpaved path, with a high speed and he slows down pedaling the bicycle. His line of thoughts gets punctuated by the SUV in front of him. The driver flashes the headlights as she draws closer. It gets Igberi confused as the driver isn't slowing down but the headlights keep flashing in the cold breezy weather. Igberi changes his mind over the SUV as the driver has come within centimetres away. He swiftly veers the bicycle to his right hand side to avoid a pothole filled with a stinking body of water. The SUV at that very time speeds past the water, splashing it all over. Igberi gets thoroughly drenched in the artificial rain of a foul smelling water.

We go there together bros, fasten your seat belt, we are going to be pinned down as we fly around the world to see action and tension

ashatoda:
This is really promising. Oya


When Rod Jimmy contacted Oscar Averes for some help to terminate engineer Adaz Obot, whom he felt was a threat to him in Netfluz, Oscar Averes had agreed to help him on the condition that he would join Al Ja' amah as a spy. Rod Jimmy had said that he would think about the condition that Oscar Averes had attached. Oscar Averes knew the best hitman from Mexico to America that could sniff out life from a moving train, miles away. He was known as Rito Birdman, the executive hitman. He silently prayed for Rod Jimmy to accept the condition. Oscar Averes had given Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir a concrete assurance that he would get him an American citizen as a spy.

Rod Jimmy was increasingly losing relevance in Netfluz since the miracle of the first floor. All the programmers that used to hold him to a high esteem, no longer showed him regard. Netfluz executives now considered him a nuisance because of his coldness toward engineer Adaz Obot. Rod Jimmy desperately wanted to be the "god" of Netfluz again. He had practically created the soul of Netfluz from its foundation, with his hands. He was not about to allow his territory to be encroached. He needed to retain his status badly, and enjoy fully the benefits that came with it. The only thing he could come up with to achieve his goal, was to drain life out of Adaz Obot. Rod Jimmy finally acquiesced after thinking it through and the deal was sealed with an oath on his life. Rod Jimmy became automatically friendly with engineer Adaz Obot, so as to divert suspicion after the hit.


Raymond Dean, the Chief Operating Officer of Netfluz, replayed the video that Reek Powell had sent to him for the third time in his office since returning from California. Every doubt he had had about the young man's ability had been banished to history. He had just received his academic credentials. He pulled out the master degree form of Harvard, and another booklet bearing the list of courses in both engineering and science from a stack of books and he dialed the phone number of the Principal Engineer, Reek Powell. "Reek, please come over".
The Principal Engineer appeared in a minute and pushed the office door open, “I’m here boss”.
"Who else has seen this video?" Raymond Dean asked.

"You and the field engineers and some of the programmers that were on the floor as you can see in the video".
The COO continued, "Netfluz has been losing a lot of money for mobilizing the field engineers to different countries across the world, to fix plant assembly issues. Now engineer Adaz Obot has used just three steps to recover a dead plant in less than twenty minutes. You will send this video and the three applications that he has developed to the other field engineers all over Africa and elsewhere, to finish up and return to the engineering floor in Washington DC. The company executives have decided to reward engineer Adaz Obot with this". Raymond Dean handed over a brown envelope that contained the booklet and the University of Harvard master degree form to Reek Powell and added, "Let this strictly be between me and you. Tell engineer Adaz Obot to fill the form and return it before closing hour. The young man has saved Netfluz man hours and millions of dollars". As Reek was leaving the office, Raymond Dean opened his laptop to send a mail and the video about the first floor miracle, to the Chief Executive Officer of Netfluz, Richard Morre, who was still cooling off in Madrid, Spain. Adaz Obot knocked and opened the Chief Operating Officer's door as he hit the send button to send the mail flying to Spain. He gave engineer Adaz Obot a gift of the most expensive palmtop computer, wrapped in a fancy box, with his right hand, after he had collected the brown envelope from him with his left hand.

"I wish you all the best young man".

"Thank you Sir! I'm very grateful for the lack of a better word to express my gratitude".

Adaz Obot hadn't the faintest inkling, that Rito Birdman the executive hitman, who had never failed Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir for the fifty seven jobs he had done for him across the world, was on his way to Washington DC, to have a date with him. The evil doctor had personally contacted and contracted Rito Birdman for Oscar Averes to execute the hit, for Rod Jimmy to become an American spy for Al Ja'amah.

The most recent job Rito Birdman had done for Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir had taken place in the outskirt of Buenos Aires, in Argentina. A drug baron, Don Migolez, originally from Cuba, had failed to remit the full money for a load of heroin and cocaine to Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir. He consulted his hitman, and the drug baron was "plucked down" from a wedding chair in Argentina. Rito Birdman had come to Argentina the previous day to take in the wedding venue and the surroundings so as to pin down possible hit points and ranges. He had drilled a hole on the wall of an uncompleted building in Argentina miles away from the wedding venue. He had made the sign of cross on his chest and passed the muzzle of his rifle through the hole to hit the drug baron. Don Migolez's bride had lain sprawled over the dead body of the groom as life drained out of him in his pool of blood. Wedding guests had scampered to safety in frenzy. A pall of sadness had hung in the air as Rito Birdman changed into a bearded old man and walked out of the uncompleted building with a walking stick in his left hand, and a guitar bag in his right hand. Smooth operator.

The details that Rito Birdman needed to deliver the death of Adaz Obot, was gleaned from Rod Jimmy by Oscar Averes. He was taking the whole thing personal now. A lot was at stake. The Chief Programmer of Netfluz lived close to the Netfluz guest quarter and had come to know that engineer Adaz Obot would usually leave his house in the middle of the night; when the city had gone to sleep, to study at the balcony of his house. Oscar Averes decided where the target could be hit from. He chose a hotel tower, the room number and the floor to carry out the hit.

On a clear evening blue sky, the executive killer, Rito Birdman, flew his private jet into Washington DC, and he checked into the hotel room with a wall opposite Adaz Obot's balcony. As the time for the hit was drawing close, he took the elevator down from the 21st floor and hopped into a parked black Bugatti Veron that he had hired and cruised away into the city. He drove round Netfluz guest quarter as he studied the pictures sent to him by Oscar Averes. He expertly pulled up the car in between some vehicles in a car park and put on his sunglasses and stepped out to get his killing machine. Rito Birdman took a glance around the environment where his private jet had perched, to ensure that no one was watching. He brought out a long black bag that contained his machine and zipped it open. The night was closing in very fast. He removed his sunglasses to wear a black face cap, and then folded the long bag half way, after he had decoupled the killing machine inside. When the darkness had fully covered the city, Birdman stepped down from the jet with the bag hanging on his hand, like some mobile wardrobe. He slipped into the driver's seat of the Bugatti Veron and balanced himself behind the wheels. The wheels ground the road as he disappeared into the night.

Rito Birdman pulled up the Bugatti Veron at the five star hotel parking lot, and brought out the bag containing his machine. He was a professional killer. As he searched for hit points for his target, he also planned his escape route and mode. He had carefully planned for this hit, knowing that the CIA and the FBI were hot on his heels. Had Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir not thrown his weight behind this gig, he wouldn't have accepted to kill Adaz Obot. Rito Birdman was now inside the elevator about to push the button to the 21st floor, when a smartly dressed woman in her early forties stopped the elevator from closing and hurried inside.

"What floor are you going to Sir?" The lady asked smiling abundantly.

"You can go to your floor first ma'am".

The killer sounded like a complete gentleman. Birdman didn't want her to know the floor that he was going to. The lady punched 31 on the buttons and they flew up. As the elevator door opened, the lady pressed a button on her suit as she walked out of the lift. The elevator door closed, and Rito Birdman went to the 21st floor. As soon as Rito Birdman had secured the door to his hotel room, he looked at his wristwatch; the time for the hit was a long four hours away. He put down his bag and zipped it open. Birdman brought out his drilling tool and went to work. He drilled three holes in a triangular shape on the wall facing Adaz Obot's balcony. He peered through each hole with one eye closed to view Obot's bungalow balcony, with the aid of binoculars. Obot had already heaped some books on his reading desk. Birdman licked his teeth with his tongue. The target was getting ready for the hit. He began to couple the sniper MAD-666L riffle. This killing machine was specifically designed by Vassily Putrovic in Russia for Rito Birdman, for helping him to dispatch a ring of drug lords who wouldn't pay for the guns that they had purchased. They kept threatening Vassily that they would expose his gun running business to the government each time they would burst into his hidden warehouse with their boys to collect guns. Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir had recommended Rito Birdman for Vassily Putrovic, to finish the drug lords. Vassily Putrovic and Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir were classmates in Oxford, England, where they both studied Chemical Engineering.


Rito Birdman lifted the MAD-666L rifle, and tried to pass the muzzle through each of the three holes to determine the best snipping position. He chose the hole on the left base of the triangle and dropped the rifle. He picked the drilling tool to drill another hole for the rifle lens. He looked at the time again, it was fifteen minutes away, time like a tide, and he let out a wicked grin. He decided to view again, Adaz Obot had come out and was now studying. He made a sign of cross on his chest and picked up the MAD-666L rifle. As he lifted the machine, he heard a knock on his door, followed by a female voice, this must be a mistake, he did not order for anything. He didn't answer the female voice. He dropped the machine in the bag and tiptoed to the door. He looked through the key hole and saw a young lady flanked by two uniformed men.
Rod Jimmy hadn't gone to bed in the middle of the night. He had been pacing up and down. His mood twisted into remorse and vengeance. He had been the Chief Programmer close to forty years in Netfluz, until a little boy came to share his glory and attention. He had found out that Adaz Obot was a nice guy, but he still needed to retain his status anyways. He had done enough to fool Netfluz executives and he believed he wouldn't be suspected to be behind the death of the young engineer. He poked out his head out of his window every minute to see if engineer Adaz Obot had collapsed. He looked at his wall clock, the time frame for the hit was rolling over, and the young engineer would soon go inside to sleep. Adaz Obot usually spent three to four hours studying outside in the night. Rod Jimmy looked at the wall clock again. To his shock and disbelief, engineer Adaz Obot was clearing books from his desk. He had finished for the night. Oscar Averes had confirmed to him that Adaz Obot was going down tonight, that the world best hitman was in the city. "What could have gone wrong?" Rod Jimmy asked nobody.



Mary Greenwood had come to the hotel to lodge just like Rito Birdman but for a different reason. She had come to the hotel to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a female business executive in the hotel. She was about to get the key to her room on the 31st floor, when she had looked outside and seen through the transparent window of the reception office, how Rito Birdman had used his left hand to steer his Bugatti Vernon to an abrupt stop, sending dust particles into the air, before switching off the headlights. Greenwood had immediately marked him worthy of note. She had followed him with her eyes into the elevator and joined him in the lift. When she was leaving the elevator at the 31st floor she had captured the face of Rito Birdman with a hidden camera at the back of of her suit collar. She had quickly powered up the computer on the center of her table and sent Rito Birdman's photo to be run through the FBI suspect data in the Central Intelligence Unit in Washington DC. Mary Greenwood had been one of the most brilliant minds in the FBI. She was a special detective that had unlocked quite a number of mysterious cases in the United States, using her sharp wit and instinct. She had been promoted to the Assistant Special agent in-charge, and she revered working in the field.

The FBI search had matched the face of the most wanted man in their watch list. Rito Birdman's profile was sent to Mary Greenwood. She had looked through the profile and had placed a call through to the Supervisory Special Agent that she needed two back up field agents at the first floor of the Heathrow Bing Tower within ten minutes. She had gone to the bathroom for a quick shower while waiting. Mary Greenwood had slipped into a well fitting combat outfit and secured her short gun on her waist belt. The two FBI agents had come into the first floor of the hotel just as the elevator exposed Mary Greenwood. Greenwood had waved them to come around as she hurried towards the reception. She had flashed her FBI badge and showed Rito Birdman's photo before the receptionist simultaneously.
"What's the room number that this man checked into?" Mary Greenwood had asked.
The receptionist had scrolled up to the floor and checked the room number in her computer, "21st floor room 13", she had said.
The three FBI agents had thrown their first stride in unison towards the elevator where Mary Greenwood had punched 21. Agent Bradley Stevens had come out first to the 21st floor from the elevator. He had scanned the room numbering, and taken his right hand side. When room 13 had been located, Mary Greenwood had knocked at the door and had announced, "Room service!!" They had waited for two minutes before she had shouted again, "Room service!!" She had signaled to agent Bradley to break in. Bradley had taken five steps backwards and dashed forward to march the door open. The door didn't open in the first attempt. He had taken five steps backward again, and a voice had come out from the room saying, "I'm coming!" It had sounded like the person was far away. Greenwood had gestured to Bradley to hold on for a minute but he had ignored Mary Greenwood's signal. He had moved backward and marched the door open in the second attempt.

Agent Morgan Howard swiftly wielded his AK-47 two sixty degrees as he entered the room cautiously. Agent Bradley Stevens couldn't see the sign of Rito Birdman in the room. He moved quickly but carefully to check the bathroom with his short gun. No sign of the sniper around. He returned to the bedroom and saw Mary Greenwood looking closely at a picture in her hand. The picture was that of a young black man probably in his late twenties. A red cross was drawn across the picture.

"It is him!" Agent Bradley said the moment he saw the picture.

"How did you know it's Rito Birdman?"

"That cross drawn across the picture of the young man".

"For real?"

"That's Rito Birdman's signature".


Agent Bradley Stevens phone went off, the Supervisory Special Agent of the FBI needed him and agent Morgan Howard for another operation. Mary Greenwood followed them outside. The elevator lowered the three FBI agents to the first floor and agent Bradley and Morgan left for a crime scene nearby, Mary Greenwood walked to where Rito Birdman had parked his Bugatti Vernon. The car was gone. Greenwood walked back to the reception to see the receptionist.

"Did you see the man that checked into room 13 on the 21st floor come out with the elevator?" Mary Greenwood asked as she raised Rito Birdman's photograph before the young lady again.

"No ma'am", she said and added, "He could still be in the building".

"He's not in the building; he has left with his car".

Mary Greenwood turned around to go to the office of the Managing Director of the Heathrow Bing Tower to see the CCTV footage of the last one hour. She had been there before to see the CCTV feeds of the four men that had entered and exited room 23 on the 31st floor where Prisca Bender had disappeared from. Prisca Bender’s dead body had been found buried in a shallow grave in Houston, Texas, along the Mexico border with her hands sticking out. Mary Greenwood was going to watch if the CCTV had captured the escape of Rito Birdman. Her thought switched from the mysterious disappearance of Prisca Bender to the disappearance of the sniper. She mentally tried to figure out how Rito Birdman could have escaped. She needed to know who the young black man in the picture was. She had considered the young black man to be the next target of the hitman. Her headache was how she would prove it.

________________________________________



Adaz Obot's palmtop computer beeped in his pocket as he entered his room with books clutched to his chest. He checked what had come in and exploded into excitement. He forgot the other books outside on the desk. He pulled himself together and read the message again this time carefully, "You have been admitted into Harvard to study: Bioengineering of the Human Nervous System. Check the attached file for detailed requirement and your resumption date". The mail had come from the school's admission board. Adaz Obot wanted to forward the mail to Raymond Dean, when the palmtop beeped again. He checked, another mail had come in."I'm sure you have received your admission letter from Harvard. Take the next three days off to prepare for your resumption. Netfluz would take care of all the registration expenses and fees. Your salary would continue to run. All you need to do is to make it count.. The driver will pick you up for your first school day on Wednesday morning next week. Your accommodation is waiting for you. Good luck, NETFLUZ. The Chief Operating Officer, Raymond Dean."
Netfluz had connections to every noteworthy institution that mattered around the world, all that the company executives had to do, was to turn the key, to open doors. The school had effectively closed the interview and compilation of candidates for the master degree program before Netfluz had come calling. The instruction to admit him had come from above, so the admission board could do nothing about it. Adaz Obot now was a bona fide student of the great school. Netfluz ensured that all the preliminaries were done before Adaz Obot would resume at the school. He didn’t know that Mary Greenwood had just aborted the operation to terminate his life.


FOR ALL THE GUYS THAT ARE FOLLOWING THIS THRILLER, I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT NAIRALAND IS STRICTLY MODERATING THE BOOK, I MAY NOT POST AS OFTEN AS YOU LIKE OR POST THE SIZE YOU LIKE, BEAR WITH ME PLEASE.

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End to End Actions and Reactions; FAST-PACED CRIME ACTION AND ADVENTURE THRILLER!!!
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The FBI investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Prisca Bender, a business executive, twists into the evil loop that connects Rod Jimmy to Adaz Obot in Washington DC.

Mary Greenwood, the FBI special agent in charge of the investigation cuts into the evil loop to pin down the "Main Shark", and unravel the mystery, but she meets her dead end.

The case gets the attention of the US government and Reynold Westley, the CIA finest, teams up with the multi-talented FBI agent, Michael Bending, to continue from where Mary Greenwood has stopped. They find out that what they are faced with, is beyond the combined capacity of the FBI and the CIA. The investigation leads them through a complex circle that opens to a shocker.

They must find a way to break through the evil loop to untangle the links of sheer criminalism and terrorism for US forces to wade in.














Copyright © 2022 By Dublyn Horris.
All Right Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, or without the legal consent or prior written permission of the publisher, except for academic purposes in accordance to copyright law.

ISBN: 9798435722581












Chapter One
1






Rod Jimmy the Chief of Programming in Netfluz, a renowned company in the United States, heightened his hatred for Adaz Obot for daring to challenge him on the first floor. The outcome of the challenge had sent a spiral wave through Netfluz. His ego was punctured badly. Rod Jimmy's instant reaction as a result, was to find someone that would hatch his plan to terminate the young engineer. Adaz Obot had just proven to the Chief Operating Officer Raymond Dean, that the Chief Programmer, Rod Jimmy, had been doing things the wrong way on the first floor. Rod Jimmy had been the ''god'' of programming in Netfluz and nobody had stood toe-to-toe with him until now. He felt that his position was gravely threatened by the young man from Nigeria. The company had just recruited Adaz Obot without the knowledge of the Chief Programmer. Rod Jimmy had been officially responsible for all recruitment into the programming floor, but the company's hierarchy had maneuvered Adaz Obot into Netfluz. This move had got Rod Jimmy seething in anger. As if that wasn't painful enough for him to get inflamed, the boy had the effrontery to stand up to him on the first floor. Adaz Obot had bitten the tail of the tiger even harder. Rod Jimmy remembered Oscar Averes, who had a strong link to Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir.


Oscar Averes was born to his Mexican father by a Saudi Arabian mother. He was taken to Saudi Arabia after the marriage of his parents had crashed. He grew up in Saudi Arabia, where he was islamized and radicalized into a terrorist organization and his name was changed to Mutalab Azeez. Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir had sent Oscar Averes to Mexico, to advance his drug business and at the same time make an incursion into the US, to have his revenge pushed through. Oscar Averes would bear his original name to operate between the US and Mexico. Rod Jimmy had helped Oscar Averes to smuggle drugs into the United States through the Mexican-US border and had also helped him to smuggle materials for the production of weapons of mass destructions (WMDs), out of the US, to Iraq, where Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir had established the operational base of Al Jama'ah. His terrorist organization that had its tentacles connected to different terror organizations worldwide.

Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir had narrowly escaped the Syria and ISIS war, where he had lost most of his jihadists. ISIS had fallen back on Al Ja'amah to supply jihadists to advance its course both in Yemen and Syria. His heart was ripped apart when the news got to him that his wife, three of his children, his brother and his bosom friend, Jaheed Sahid, had died in the American airstrikes in Yemen. He had vowed to shake the foundation of the world, the way the first nuclear bomb had destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, during the Second World War in revenge. He desperately needed an American citizen that would spy on the White House. His heart still bled freshly from the wounds of Syria to Yemen. He had spent the last three years scheming his way into the United States through Oscar Averes. He needed more men to join his terror group which had suffered a big blow in the hands of the US forces.
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[quote author=Tidal7 post=110863196]A bright uncertain future!


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The journey of a lifetime through fire and hell to freedom and destiny.




Chapter One



The serene mangrove forest suddenly gives way to the noise of a rushing wind. The surrounding trees sway in obedience to the command of the storm. Igberi doesn't notice the sudden change in his environment until the melodious songs of the birds with beautiful feathers, cease almost at once.


He has often glanced at the colourful birds as they skipped around and about the palm tree fronds. Igberi raises his head, turns and gazes at the palm tree that has hosted the birds to see what has happened; only to see the birds flying away to safety. The palm tree that hosted the birds is the tallest around, and it stands alone in the forest some distance away. The strong wind seems to have gripped the palm fronds by the neck, and is bending it until it would break.The birds have kept him company and given him a false sense of security, but the birds can't withstand the warning signs of a giant storm.


Igberi's worry returns with a greater intensity after the birds have flown away, and the reality of the situation at hand becomes even more stark. He can now feel that his environment has changed. He has come to the mangrove forest to collect palm wine, and has hoped to collect a good quantity, having not come around to drain the containers on the palm wine trees for days. But the "harvest" has been so poor. He continues to go round, checking and collecting, somehow hoping that a miracle will happen and things will change. All the palm wine trees return very little amount of wine at the end of the rounds. Igberi increasingly becomes anxious, he staggers toward a tree stub and sits on it. He looks absorbed in his thought and unruffled by the relentless wind blowing so hard. He keeps on soliloquizing in the midst of the crazy wind:


"How can Tadia just send Akpovi back to Ogbia like that. She didn't even tell me in advance about it. Where in heaven and on earth would I get the money to register him for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination in a matter of days?"


Tadia; Igberi's blood sister had come to Bayelsa three years ago and took Akpovi to Lagos, when things were really rough for him. The condition of things for Igberi haven't improved since then. It's even worse now.. He had felt really relieved, knowing that Akpovi was in Lagos with his sister by the evening of the day before. He had been cocksure that his son's education would no longer be truncated by lack of money until yesterday night.. Tadia had promised him that she would take care of all Akpovi's needs.


The lighting around him in the mangrove forest gradually becomes dimmer and dimmer, and Igberi intuitively looks up at the clouds. He stands up from the three stub quickly and begins to gather his belongings to leave the forest. The clouds have become so dark-blue, and are moving westward swiftly. He hurriedly secures the gourds containing the small amount of palm wine to a stick firmly. He lifts the stick and balances it on the carrier of his aged bicycle, that nestles against a tree. He uses a rubber rope and ties the stick on the bicycle's carrier tautly.


Suddenly a flash of lightening, followed by a flurry of others, zip open the sky in a ziz-zag fashion, and Igberi flinches. The lightening prepares the way for deafening thunder bolts that rock and rock the expanse in quick succession The crazy wind blows unabated as the thunder shakes the ground under his feet. Igberi isn't frightened, until a thunderous explosion sends some shock waves through him. He quickly climbs his bicycle and begins navigating his way from the forest. He pulls away as the thunder repeatedly hammers the earth. He rides as fast as he can and comes out of the thickness of the mangrove forest, in twenty minutes. He heaves a sigh of relief as he rides his bicycle through the path that connects to the expressway. He climbs the express road and heads home thoughtfully....






His son Akpovi is a boy whose life revolves around studying. He's intellectually too sound for his age, and he's gifted with natural abilities,. Akpovi was the most brilliant student in his class here in Bayelsa, before Tadia took him to Lagos. He had stopped schooling because Igberi couldn't pay the enrollment fee for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination. In the years that Akpovi stopped going to school in Bayelsa, he borrowed books from his best friend, Danagogo, and studied on his own, hoping that one day, he would be able to sit for the examination. When Tadia came from Lagos to take him, he thought that the time had come. Now that he is back to Ogbia, Igberi wonders what the future holds for his son.


As Igberi continues riding home, his mind flashes on and off, on who can lend him the money to register his son for his Certificate Examination, apart from mama Nkechi. He owes mama Nkechi who has often rescues him in moments like this, a huge sum of money. She now draws her debt and Igberi can't go to her. Some of his friends who can help him don't consider him credit worthy. The future that looked very bright for Akpovi when Tadia took him to Lagos, now looks bleak. Igberi can't take the excuse that his sister has given for sending Akpovi back to Bayelsa without even a notice.


He begins to soliloquize on the express way as cars pass by : "I don't blame anybody, not even Tadia. I blame myself for mismanaging by youthful years, for squandering my earnings on debauchery. If I had listened to my dear wife, I know the class I would have belonged to now."


Igberi recollects his younger years when he was working with a multinational oil exploration company in the Niger Delta. The company first operated in Delta, where Igberi was hired, before the company proceeded to Bayelsa. He was among the privileged few that the company sent for training abroad, and was given an elevated position in the company, upon returning to Nigeria. Igberi became a strange man when money hit him. He would spend almost half of his salary womanizing and patronizing commercial sex workers on shore, before coming to Ogbia in Bayelsa, where he had settled with his wife. His wife noticed the way Igberi spent his money frivolously, and how he was making new friends in the bar, every time. She would beg him to save for the rainy days and for the future of their children, but Igberi wouldn't yield.


Igberi gets near the unpaved road that branches from the expressway on his right, and slows down pedalling, his bicycle has no breaks. He swerves the bicycle into the unpaved road and steps hard on the pedals again. He can still hear the thunder roaring. The dark-blue clouds have spread all over and a chill breeze blows past him. He knows that a heavy rain is about to touch the ground, and he reinforces his push on the bicycle pedals to beat the rain. His compound is less than thirty minutes away. Even in the midst of the changing weather Igberi still finds the time to think and weep over the mistakes he made in his past.


"I remember my dear wife Margaret, when she was heavily pregnant with Akpovi. She would tell me to invest in landed properties that I would benefit from it later in life. But I was so stupid that I ignored her wisdom and insight. I remember that I even nudged her from the way when her persistence on the matter got me infuriated. Now, look at me now, I've become a laughing stock to those that even benefited so much from my reckless spending and wayward life then.".


Igberi isn't taking it easy on himself as he rides on. "Igberi! Igberi!! Igberi!!!", he calls his name aloud. " Where are the friends that used to borrow money from you? And when they couldn't pay back, you would say, ' forget about it'. What have you gained from the numerous women you kept as mistresses? What lesson have you learnt from being a professional drunkard? You fool! Yes me. I'm a fool. Margaret! Margaret!! Oh Mag!





Igberi draws closer and closer to his house and his hopes soar that he can beat the rain. It's just a few minutes away now. He spots a black coloured SUV in his front coming on the unpaved path, with a high speed and he slows down pedaling the bicycle. His line of thoughts gets punctuated by the SUV in front of him. The driver flashes the headlights as she draws closer. It gets Igberi confused as the driver isn't slowing down but the headlights keep flashing in the cold breezy weather. Igberi changes his mind over the SUV as the driver has come within centimetres away. He swiftly veers the bicycle to his right hand side to avoid a pothole filled with a stinking body of water. The SUV at that very time speeds past the water, splashing it all over. Igberi gets thoroughly drenched in the artificial rain of a foul smelling water.


Igberi abruptly stops the bicycle using his feet as breaks and looks back at the SUV. The driver has put off the flashing headlights and slows down a bit. Igberi saw a young girl poke her head through the driver's window of the SUV. She wears the uniform of the National Youth Service Corps. She laughs and waves at Igberi with her left hand, while her right hand is resting on the steering. Igberi stands on the spot watching the SUV as it pulls away slowly. The driver reengages the gear, and the SUV is soon lost into the darkening weather. Igberi shakes his head in pity as he watches the SUV disappear. The offensive smell of his attire oozes badly. Igberi doesn't mind if the rain starts falling now to wash off the unbearable smell. The incidence reignites his current predicament and his untasteful past, resurfaces.


"That little girl couldn't stop and even say sorry to me, not to mention parting with something for me to wash off this mess. She was even laughing at me. Ah! Me Igberi! I can't take this. Who is this girl that doesn't know me in this town.


Igberi turns and resumes his homeward journey, this time even more thoughtfully. His feelings mix into anger and heavy regret. He takes his frustration on the bicycle and begins pedalling furiously, making the two gourds of palm wine hung across the bicycle's carrier, to dance in fury to the rhythm of the rider. The haggard looking bicycle let out a clang in protest as Igberi pulls along. As he rides on, the image of the little girl that is driving the SUV flashes up in his mind with her National Youth Service Corps uniform. It indicates to Igberi that she probably has just graduated from the university. It reminds him of the kind of future his wife Margaret had dreamed for Akpovi before she died.


Margaret died while given birth to Akpovi twenty two years ago. Margaret had given birth to Ejiro, Igberi's daughter four years before the birth of Akpovi. He remembers the wishes of his wife as life drained out of her on her sick bed, having lost so much blood to bleeding after giving birth to Akpovi.


"Take good care of the boy if I couldn't make it", Margaret said with a weak voice. "If he grows up give him the soundest education available.. Don't let your rakishness and reckless living get in the way of his bright future . Live the remaining life in you for him".


Igberi replays the wishes of Margaret over and over in his head, and puts the current circumstances in perspective. A new spirit possessed him. He believes all of a sudden that Akpovi can make it, and be like the little girl that drives the flashy SUV. Who humiliated and smeared him with the mess. Igberi believes she did what she did on purpose, as he takes the last turn to his compound.


He doesn't exactly know how Akpovi's future ambition can be curled back on track, but he somehow believes. Akpovi has always dreamed of becoming a very successful engineer, and he has started showing some brilliance in that direction already.



Chapter Two



The rain begins to fall heavily before Igberi gets home, drenching him thoroughly. But even at that, the foul smell still clings. He quickly jumps out of the bicycle and rolls it to a corner and nestles it against the wall of his house. The house is a modest one with three rooms and a parlour, with its kitchen and bathroom attached at the backyard. Two tall curvy coconut trees.sandwich a mango tree in the front of the compound. Igberi walks briskly to the corner of the kitchen outside and undresses himself to his underwear. He walks into the kitchen to get a bucket having stripped himself half naked.


He almost bumps into his daughter, Ejiro, who is standing by the kitchen door, with a pot of soup in her hand. The rain has caged her in the kitchen, and she's waiting for the rain to subside for her to dash out to the room.

Ejiro says sharply, "Dede! Welcome back".

"Thanks my daughter".

"Eya!!! look at you. You've been coming in the rain. Did you run into the rain on your way home?"

"No my daughter, I was actually a few meters away from the compound when the rain began to fall. I need to soak my tapping cloths in water", Igberi says and walks inside to get a plastic bucket.

As he walks past, Ejiro perceives the offensive odour of the water that Stancy Briggs' SUV has splashed on Igberi. She turns and asks, "Dede, did you rub anything on your body? The smell is bad"

"No Ejiro. It's about an ugly incidence that happened on my way home"

"What about it Dede? I want to know?"

"Ejiro, I would rather not talk about it. The incidence renewed my desire to work twice as hard to give you and Akpovi a bright future".

"Dede, I insist you must tell me about it. Did someone pour you a sour soup or a rotten raw egg?

"Ejiro I said let the matter be. I might talk about it some time later, but not now".

"Ok Dede, let me boil some water for you to take your bath", Ejiro says and drops the pot of soup on the kitchen table.

She puts a bigger pot on the fire and pours water into it and has the fire stoked as Igberi walks out of the kitchen. Igberi stuffs the smelling cloths in the plastic bucket and pushes it into the rain torrent coming from the roof. He returns to the kitchen and stands away from Ejiro.


The odour becomes unbearable to Eliro and she says, "Dede, I will run to the house with the pot of soup".

"It's OK Ejiro, I will stand here till the water boils and I will have my bath. The rain isn't slowing down, I think you have no choice but to run through it. I'll come to the house after taking my bath", says Igberi.

"Alright Dede".

As she throws her first step out of the kitchen, Igberi asks, "Where's Akpov by the way?"

"He left home since morning, soon after you left home to collect palm wine. He told me he was going to see his friend Danagogo across the street", Ejiro says, and dashes away maintaining her run along the wall of the house. She has taken the role of a mother in the house since the death of Margaret, Igberi's wife, and she plays the role so well.


An idea flashes in Igberi's mind as he empties the first scoop of water on his head in the bathroom. He remembers that his friend named Tara Bede, who now lives in Port Harcourt. Tara once told him that a certain five star hotel in Port Harcourt buys a litre of palm wine for as high as one thousand naira. Igberi warms up to the idea of going to start tapping palm wine in a virgin jungle to raise Akpovi's registration fee. A fertile place rich in succulent palm wine trees came up in his mind. Igberi brightens up as he over-turns the remaining water in the bucket on his head. He grabs Ejiro's wrapper in the bathroom and wraps it around his waist.

As he leaves the bathroom, Igberi is filled with the optimism that Akpovi will go back to school. The image of Stancy Briggs laughing at him, as she drove away still lingers in his mind. The incidence is the catalyst that fuels his optimism.



..

...... Ejiro notices that her father's outlook has brightened up as he steps into the room. Igberi drops the bucket outside near the doorpost and walks into the living room.
"Ejiro you'lll wash the underwears in the bucket, I will used them tomorrow'".

"It's alright Dede.
Your meal is ready on the dining table".

Igberi sits on a wooden chair and drags a bag containing some tools before him, and begins to drop them on the floor. He counts the tools as he inspects them.

"Dede aren't you going to have your meal now? You haven't even rested. What are you doing?"

"Ejiro I will eat the food. I just want to make sure certain tools are still in the bag. I will need them tomorrow morning for a fresh incursion".

"Your trap didn't catch any bush meat? Ejiro asks knowing the obvious already.

"The rainstorm chased me out of the jungle. I didn't get to where I set the traps before the thunderstorms hammered the earth and sent me scurrying"

Igberi finishes attending to his tools and walks to the dining table and takes a seat. As he bends down to sit, he looks up at the wall clock.
"It's 6:00pm now, isn't Akpovi coming home? Igberi asks.

"Dede the rain is still falling cats and dogs outside", Ejiro replies.

"The darkness is covering fast outside. He can run home in the rain and then change his clothes. The town isn't very safe these days", Igberi observes.
While the words are still in Igberi's mouth, Akpovi bursts into the house , with a sullen face and an umbrella in his right hand.

"Dede your son is back home!" Ejiro announces
Igberi turns around and sees Akpovi collapsing the umbrella in his hand.

Akpovi walks near his father and says, "Welcome Dede".

Igberi notices his moody posture, and he beckons on him to come close. When Akpovi has come close enough, Igberi says, "My son cheer up. I have a piece of good news for you. You will live up to the meaning of your name. It's your mother that gave you the name, her wish for you will come to pass. Let me finish eating and I'll tell you about it".

Akpovi instantly brightens up and skips about Ejiro with broad smiles, mimicking Michael Jackson dance moves.
"It's like you just hit a jackpot, what's this about? Ejiro asks.

Akpovi replies, "I guess what?"

Ejiro knows that what can possibly light up his mood, must connect to his registration for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination, but she didn't guess it.
"I don't know, can't guess it", she says.

Akpovi says grinning from ear to ear, " Dede says he has a piece of good news for me".

Ejiro retorts, "Oh, you haven't even been told about it and you're already in cloud nine, I pray that you don't get disappointed".

Akpovi fires back, "What else would it be about? The SSCE registration is sure for me this time around"
Akpovi hears his father calling and he breezes out of the room to see him settling down on his favourite chair in the parlour.
"Dede I'm here", Akpovi responds after sitting on a wooden chair close to him".

I

!!!!


This book will be available in okadaboks by next week. Enjoy my friends.

A bright uncertain future!


!


!

Chapter One

The cloud was so dark-blue, thunder bolts rocking the expanse, flashes of lightening criss-crossing the sky furiously, the surrounding trees swaying to the command of the rushing wind. Idjerhe was exhausted after finishing his rounds of palm wine collection. He knew now it was time to go, but he kept soliloquizing about the hardships his family faced; his son Akpovi whom he sent to live with his younger sister in Elele, Rivers State, had just returned home last night ; his sister Efemena, sent Akpovi back home because she could not raise the money to register him for his Senior School Certifate Examination, SSCE.
,Akpovi was a gifted child endowed with uncommon natural abilities, with a giant drive and to change the fortune of his family, but it seemed like his ambition had been punctured after his father Idjerhe told him that he could not be enrolled here in Ogbia, Bayelsa State, due to financial difficulties he faced: that the family owed mama Tammi who usually rescued them in times of needs, to the tune of eighty thousand naira; and that did not include the money of foodstuffs they bought on credit, she wanted her money back now. So enrollment was out of the picture as the family struggled to eat a square meal..
Idjerhe on that day before he went to collect palm wine, had asked Akpovi to think about what he could do now that his dream of becoming an engineer was fading away. That night Akpovi cried helplessly, he could not be consoled. He did not sleep well that night as he was lost in his thought. He remembered his friend, Danagogo, who lived on the other side of the street, with whom he used to play, before he left Bayelsa for Port Harcourt. When he woke up in the morning, he decided to go and look for Danagogo after he had finished his house chore.
The rain had pouted heavily the day before, and the unpaved street road to Idjerhe's compound had his potholes filled with water. Idjerhe the palm wine tapper was absentmindedly peddling his rickety bicycle home with his remaining energy, as the two gourds of palm wine hung on a stick across the bicycle's carrier, danced to the rythm of the peddler, so as to beat the looming rain storm that was chasing him behind. He spotted a black range rover suv coming in front of him some distance away, he decided to veer a little to his right hand side to avoid a pothole filled with water; at that very moment, the suv had pulled closed to him, the suv sped past him through the pothole, splashing the smelly muddy water all over his body. He stopped to look back if the suv occupants would stop and say, '' sorry''', and probably give him some money to wash his well worn out tapping attire, but no. Instead what Idjerhe saw was a lady youth corper wearing national youth service corp, NYSC uniform, that poked her head out of the driver's window of the suv, waving at him with laughter.
At that very spot, Idjerhe changed his decision and made a vow to himself, that his son, Akpovi must go to the university, and would wear the NYSC uniform upon graduating, he swore he would find Akpovi's enrollment fee even if it meant selling all his properties; as he bent down to pick his cap that had worn out , he rained down curses on the lady corper who mocked him, humiliated him and maybe deliberately splashed the stinky water on him. He continued riding this time in deep meditation, calculating how he could raise the money. He remembered his friend Tare, who once told him that a litre of palm wine sold for a thousand naira in a certain hotel in Lagos; Idjerhe thought if he could gather twenty litres gallon of palm wine and send it to Tare in Lagos, the horizon could be clear for Akpovi to enroll for his SSCE. He did not that he would see hell and experience death for Akpovi to go up. His house was one hour thirty minutes away

Chapter Two

The way to Danagogo's house was not straight; as the footpath off the street was blocked by unpainted and unplanned buildings, Akpovi had to meander here and there like a snake before coming out in an opened field. Two groups of boys gathered this way and that way, around the center of the field, it was obvious they were about to play a football game, the ball was held by one of the boys in the centre of the field. The tallest amongst them tossed a coin upward, upon landing the two groups chose their goal post and they began to take their positions on the field. A certain player looked in the direction of Danagogo's house and recognized Akpvi and tapped Danagogo on his back and pointed to the path leading to their compound, he sighted Akpovi and sprang to his feet in hot chase, the captain of his side shouted at him; "you will be replaced!".
Instinctively, Akpovi turned back and saw someone running towards him and narrowed his vision, as if he zoomed in on him, he instantly recognised him. Akpovi stood hands akimbo on the spot, grinning from ear to ear; Danagogo had planned to stealthily walk up to him and shock him, he would not get that thrill now. As Danagogo drew close to Akpovi, Akpovi began calling all his guy's titles, "Danagogo, the chief priests, the hammer head of terror, the beast of no burden", Danagogo cut in, "Akpovi the book worm, the only beast with two heads", by this time they were now separated by arm's length, they locked themselves with a gripping hug. They had been friends since their childhood, they had been through every adventure together. Danagogo was older by one year; Akpovi now was seventeen years old and they had been separated by four years. Inseparable best friends again .
They spent the time to get to Danagogo's house recalling their playful escapades, gossiping acquaintances, relating happenings that had gone down since their separation in the area. Danagogo asked Akpovi what brought him to Ogbia at this time from Elele when schools were preparing their students for the forthcoming SSCE. Akpovi wanted to steer the conversation away from that subject, but Danagogo was insistent. Akpovi gave up and promised he would tell him when they get home. Akpovi in turn asked him what was his situation like since he had stopped going to school, Danagogo answered that he had started taking training as auto electrical technician, that in less than two years from now, he would be his own boss. Akpovi was very impressed. Danagogo was not the type cut for paper things, he struggled through clenched teeth to reach senior secondary school five; nothing read from books or taught in class went into his head, how much more retention. Ironically, Danagogo came from a family of studious persons; Danagogo was the last born and the only one that was not a graduate.
The last turn to Idjerhe's compound had just been negotiated by his haggard bicycle, he could now see his house blurred from afar, as he continued riding, his vision of the house became clearer and clearer, and the house becoming bigger and bigger. He spotted Ejiro his daughter coming out from the outdoor kitchen. Ejiro had been the mother of the home since Idjerhe's wife died seventeen years ago while given birth to Akpovi. He did not marriy again despite so much pressure from his family to remarry. Ejiro was older than Akpovi by five years, the two of them were enough for Idjerhe. Originally, Idjerhe was from Delta State, but decided to settle here in Bayelsa after the çrude oil drilling company that employed him wounded up twenty years ago. He recklessly spent the money he saved while he was working for the company, womanizing and getting drunk to stupor. Now that he had stopped the life of debauchery , he was hopping that Akpovi would lead a decent life and would not take after him
The house was very modest, needless to say; Ejiro knew Idjerhe's bicycle sound, the unique sound had registered in her brain, she turned back and saw her father, and
said, "Papa welcome, hope your trap caught something for me to roast", Idjerhe shook his head in the negative as he parked his bicycle. Ejiro noticed his attire was wet when it had not started raining, and she asked again," Papa did you run into the rain?, your clothes are wet", he answered her as he was entering his room, "Ejiro it is a long story, by the way where is Akpovi?, I will tell both of you the incidence that led to my wet clothes later".
Danagogo fetched their house key from a hidden keg at the back of the house, and opened the corridor, his aging mother had gone out to the open market to display her whares. Danagogo and his friend recaptured moments from the past and were almost lost in time, Akpovi looked at the wall clock, the time was almost 5:45 pm, he told Danagogo that his father normally returned around this time. Danagogo wanted to prepare something for them to eat but Akpovi declined, insisting he must go now. "Aright", said Danagogo, " but you promised to tell me what brought you to Ogbia now", Akpovi's demeanour changed instantly, and he said, " ok let me gist you as I go home ". Akpovi broke the silence after Danagogo locked the door, " life is not fair my friend, back in Port Harcourt I worked very hard for my aunt, but she kept complaining about business returning nothing; and the closing date for the expiration of the registration for SSCE is drawing closer and closer; almost every one in my class has registered, while me that is adjudged to be the best in my class did not know my fate. As a result, I told my aunt I would come to Ogbia to see my father to help me out, but sadly, the situation here is not any better". Danagogo shook his head in solidarity. "My father has asked me to think of what I could do now that my deam of becoming an engineer is fading a way". Danagogo sighed., but said to Akpovi, " all hope is not lost, you can still make half of your dream come true; I know you like working on electronic and electrical stuffs; you can join me in my work " . Thanks brother, I will think about it", Akpovi said. By this time, they had almost reached Idjerhe's compound. Danagogo parted ways here with Akpovi, with the promise to see the next day.

Chapter Three

Ejiro finished the food preparation and came out of the kitchen to tell her father to go have his bath; as Idjerhe got ready and was coming out of the house, Akpovi almost collided with him, "sorry Papa", Akpovi blurted out, " where are you coming from ", Idjerhe asked, " I went to see my friend Danagogo". "Stay around till I finish my bath and taken my meal, I have a good news for you", said Idjerhe. As Akpovi's father was walking away, Akpovi could not contain his excitement; he rushed towards the kitchen to see Ejiro as he made Michael Jackson moves, Ejiro said in special English, " ebi like say you don hit jackpot ", noticing his bright outlook; Akpovi asked Ejiro to guess; she could not guess right. He finally said," Papa has a good news for me, and what good news would I possibly be told by him at this time ?", he asked rhetorically".
Idjerhe came into his parlour after taking his bath and saw Ejiro and Akpovi quietly eating a meal of fufu and egusi soup at a corner; he entered his room and changed into a trouser and shirt. Idjerhe came out and sat on a chair by his dining table and began to eat the food Ejiro served him. All the while, Akpovi was not eating with concentration, he wished his father could swallow his food in one swoop and tell him the good news he had for him, even though he had already widely guessed that it must be in connection to his SSCE registration.
Idjerhe cleared his throat and let out a loud yawn, he was obviously tired and sleepy, but he remembered his promise to Akpovi. He called Akpovi and Ejiro inside as they were busy chatting away outside. They came in in tandem, and sat on a double chair facing their father. Idjerhe began sleepily, "to start with; Akpovi, I resolved that you will going back to school", Akpovi giggled like a baby. Idjerhe continued, " I have already done my calculation of how to raise your enrollment fee before the expiration of registration for the SSCE. You will go to the university and make me proud, I will sell everything I have, including myself to make sure your dream come true", by this time Akpovi knelt down in front of his father, tears rolling down his cheek. "Eemh, I am expanding my palm wine business to a new frontier, the day after tomorrow I will start fresh incursions on virgin palm wine trunks, in the swampy right side of the Ariansa mangrove. Now, Akpovi this is your task in my new project, I will need about twenty to twenty five new plastic cans to collect palm wine for at most three days, which I will send to my friend Tare in Lagos, to sell in a big hotel, and would send the money back to me, and you will be good to go." Get up my son", Idjerhe said "the will of God must be done". Idjerhe really did not know how the will of God would later be.
Ejiro reminded her father that he promised to tell them why he got drenched from his business when it did not rain despite the stormy weather moments ago. Idjerhe had thought it over while in the bathroom to keep the details to himself. " Well", he began, it was partly my fault, I lost concentration on the road because I was meditating, while I was trying to negotiate my way around a porthole filled with water, an suv sped past the pothole splashing water on me, the driver waved me to say sorry as she drove off. At this point Akpovi sprang up to his feet and said," Papa I will buy you an SUV after I become a graduate. First thing tomorrow, I will meet Danagogo and find more than twenty five plastic cans and wash them clean". "Okay my son", Idjerhe said, as he rose up and staggered sleepily to his room.
In the morning of the next day, Ejiro woke up at about 6:30 am and went out to look at Akpovi's door, he had left home at about 6.00 am, his door flung ajar as he hurried out. He did not have a decent sleep because his brain released alot of exciting hormones, he became hyperactive and could not calm down throughout the night. By 6:30 am, he was already knocking at Danagogo's door, it was Danagogo's mother that first heard the knock; " who is that!? ", she thundered " , "it is me mama, Akpovi ", Akpovi said, "what is it that cannot wait till the dawn of day", said mama; at this point Danagogo came out of his room to open the door. Akpovi did not say anything, he just went straight to Danagog's room and lay on the bed. When Danagogo joined him, he only said, " I am on a mission, but first of all, I need to doze off, I have a sleep hangover". The day was on a Sunday morning.

Chapter Four

Akpovi woke up about 8:30am, he felt better now, the hangover was gone, he tried to roll over on the bed to have a better view of the outside through the opened window by the bed side, just then, Danagogo worked in, he had gone to freshen up in the bathroom; he playfully tapped Akpovi in the head and said, "small boy, you have not told me your mission here, I hope you are not planning to steal a goat and hide here"; Akpovi jumped out of the bed laughing out loud, " you are really crazy, no wonder they call you the hammer head of terror, big head", said Akpovi as he tried to hit Danagogo on the chest, but he skipped away. Akpovi sat on the bed and waved Danagogo to sit by his side, Danagogo made him assure him he would not hit him, he promised not to. Not taking any chances, Danagogo sat on the far end of the bed. Akpovi laughed and said, "so you do not trust me". " Well I want to tell you about my mission here. I am going to summarize; my father wants me to go back to school ", at this point Danagogo drew near to his friend. Akpovi continued," I do not know what informed his change of decision : he has given me a task to carry out to raise my registration fee for the SSCE"; Danagogo cut in, " the task of....", Akpovi continued , " he has asked me to gather twenty to twenty five plastic cans, that he would be going to a fresh ground, to collect palm wine; he said my registration fee would be ready in few days after he has collected the palm wine".
Danagogo knodded his head on approvingly as Akpovi reeled out what he had to do, Akpovi for now was new again in the area and therefore needed a guide in Danagogo as to how to find the cans he needed. As if Danagogo knew what he was thinking, told him that he should not bother about where to get the cans. Danagogo left the room to see his mother who was shuffling plates in the kitchen; Danagogo called out, "mama!", as he went into the kitchen and said, " mama you remember I told you yesterday about Akpovi's situation, his father needs plastic cans to collect palm wine to raise his registration fee". Danagogo's mother bought plastic bottles which she used for her business, she gathered a lot of bottles, packed in the corridor corner of their house, but Danagogo needed to seek the approval of mama first. Mama granted Danagogo's request but warned him not to tamper with her her new plastic cans; mama sold different traditional liquor medicine in plastic bottles.
Danagogo's facial expression as he walked back into his room could be best described to be of someone who had just won the champions league; his entry was triumphal. "Akpovi come on kneel down for me and tell me I, Danagogo am the boss", Danagogo said jokingly as he beat his chest. Akpovi said, in special English, " ebi like say your trap catch elephant o ", yes indeed said Danagogo," elephant of plastic cans". Akpovi exploded into laughter, " you never ceased to amaze me with your theatrics, you are really crazy". "So what is the real deal?", Akpovi asked, " my friend follow me now and stop asking questions", said Danagogo.
They both came out of the room and Danagogo led the way to a corner at the end of the corridor, covered with a trampoline, Danagogo raised the trampoline, and Akpovi's eyes flashed on the heap of plastic bottles, each atleat one litre, exactly what he needed. He tapped Danagogo on his back and said,"you are really the boss", he was so happy. His friend was happy for hin too. Danagogo told Akpovi about mama's approval, he skipped to the kitchen where he thanked her profusely, he almost laid on the kitchen floor. Mama told him it was okay, that the new plastic bottles with fresh labels should not be touched, Akpovi knodded his head up and down and bounced back to meet Danagogo. Danagogo told Akpovi he had not finished his morning domestic ritual, so he left Akpovi to sort the heap of plastic bottles alone.

Chapter Five

The time now was around 12:50 pm, Idjerhe hunched over some pieces of tools that he was putting together for the exploration of the new terrain to exploit palm wine. He sat on a log of wood on the shade of his mango tree, as he sharpened the edges of the tools he used to make incisions on palm wine tree fronds. The day was a bright sunny day, and he hoped and prayed the weather would remain so throughout the week. A dried mango leaf fell close to his right foot and he raised his head, he shifted his glance to his right and saw someone that looked like Akpovi struggling to steady a wheelbarrow load on a foot path towards his compound, he concentrated his gaze and the person turned out to be Akpovi. Idjerhe rosé to his feet and doubled his strides to help his son. Akpovi could see his father now, and was now smiling sheepishly. His father tweaked his name, "Akpos", he fondly called him this name when he did what delighted his heart."