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Saturday, October 31, 2009

The Vigilante's Revenge

The case containing the ArmaLite-AR15 semi-automatic weapon hung on his shoulders as he slowly made his way up, to the top of the terrace. It was a breezy October night. The moon was completely hidden, covered behind the dark, rain bearing clouds. The menacing clouds that enveloped the entire sky spread a blanket of darkness over the city. Streaks of lightning kindled the sky with momentary flashes. It would soon start to rain. These conditions were ideal for the mercenary to execute his plans.

He had traveled a long way to reach the spot from where he was going to assassinate his target. As he made his way up to the terrace of the abandoned building, he started to mentally rehearse the entire plot. The timing had to be perfect, for the man he was going to gun down was no ordinary person. He was the final one in the list of four the assassin had vowed to eliminate. His quarry's death would initiate a sequence of events which would have serious ramifications for many powerful men around the globe. The plan to kill was immaculate and made to the last detail. There would be no leeway or Plan B, and above all there wouldn't be a second chance.

The assassin reached the roof top and laid down his assemblage in a dark corner. He slowly stretched himself to relax the tension that was building up in his muscles. His hand made its way to the breast pocket to retrieve the cigarette and match. As he struck the match, the flare of light revealed his scarred face for an instant. The scar on his left cheek was an old one, made by the slash of a sharp edged blade. Its manner of healing suggested that it had been there for a long time. The man who gave him that scar was going to die that very day. It was a vendetta to be redeemed long past its due date, with plenty of interest to compensate for the delay.

The man sat down and opened the case which contained the ArmaLite semi automatic rifle and its accessories. He took out the entire set and arranged the pieces of the potent weapon in order and started to re-assemble it. The weapon had not been used in a long time. And tonight would be the last time it would be used. He mounted the telescopic sight and the laser focus on top of the rifle and loaded it with a 30-round Stanag magazine. He then set the tripod on the parapet wall of the terrace and mounted the rifle on the tripod to get his elevation and bearings right. There would only be one shot to take and that would be directed to rip through the target's heart.

The rifle was aimed at a precise point on the marked door. The target would stand at the doorway for less than five seconds before entering a heavily shielded limousine, which would transport him to another secret location. Two guards would lead the way out of the house and protect him from the front, one guard each would stand by his two sides and two security personnel would complete the rear. However, the view from the top was not hindered by the presence of those security guards. This loophole was to cost the target dearly. The deep cloud cover provided by the soot colored sky ensured that the assassin's position was not given away. The man and weapon were camouflaged in black to keep them concealed from the roving eyes of the guards

The target was a man of sixty one. He had been a dictator of a gold-rich impoverished country. Under his aegis, his three military generals had engaged in full scale genocide. He had powerful friends, backers and supporters, whose names were secretly stashed away in the locker of an obscure bank. If he were to die prematurely, those details were to be released to the world by his trusted aide, causing heavy damage to all those implicated. A pact was made between him and the powers that be to shield him from the prosecution of law and protect him from his enemies. In return, those names were to be kept a closely guarded secret. It was through this arrangement he eventually gained asylum to a country which could not be reached by the justice of international courts.

It was half past nine and another fifteen minutes remained for the dictator to emerge through the doorway. The assassin sat by the side of the parapet wall. His palms and forehead were drenched in nervous sweat and his heart was beating at an incredibly high rate. He wiped off the sweat and took a few deep breaths to bring his thumping heart back to normal. The moment was upon him. He raised himself to a crouching posture such that his head was level with the telescopic sight. His fingers were around the trigger and his eyes were focused on one spot on the door marked by the red-dot of the laser beam. The hunter patiently waited for his prey to emerge from its lair.

At 9:45 p.m. the door opened and two guards stepped out to secure the front and then another two came through to secure the sides. The dictator came into view and stood right at the doorway, waiting for the approaching limousine to halt. At the same moment, the assassin, high on the terrace of the building, quickly re-adjusted the rifle to locate his target and squeezed the rifle’s trigger. The multiple bullets found their mark in the dictator’s heart. Not knowing what hit him, the dictator quietly slumped to the ground, motionless and dead. Pandemonium broke loose instantaneously. Shots were randomly fired in the dark by the guards and the call that the dictator was dead went out.

The sniper discreetly escaped in a four wheel drive while commotion reigned in the parallel alley. He reached the point on the river front where he was to rendezvous with his transporter. From there he was to be transported to the neighboring country, where he would hide for a while and then make his escape to obscurity, once the dust over the killing settled down. The boat he got into was a small motor boat with no room for extravagance. He settled down in one corner of the boat and watched as the distance between land and the boat began to grow. His mission was accomplished.

He remembered that infernal night when a group of militia had razed his village to the ground twenty years ago. On that day, he had been unable to put off the fire that had consumed his family and the village, while he stood humiliated in front of the dictator. For over a decade, he had fought for justice against a system built on corruption, power and wealth. When all efforts to punish the perpetrators failed, he had resolved to deliver justice all by himself. That task was now complete and the fire in his heart was finally doused.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Universe and consciousness

Did the Universe exist before I was born?
Will it exist after I die?
Did I create the Universe by becoming conscious or did the universe create me?
What is beyond this Universe?
What is time?
Is the Universe governed by order or by chaos?
What is the meaning of purpose?
Is reason, reasonable?
Are emotions only chemical concentrations in the brain?
Is there anything absolute?
What exists beyond duality?
Are there things we will never be able to find out?
What is the origin of man and when is his end?
What happens when man evolves, does he remain or does he become another species?
Are there higher levels of reality?
Is it possible to transcend time, space and duality?
Is immortality a reality of this world or any other worlds?
Is the Self, a real entity, or a hypothesis?