Chapter 7

Part 2

It was almost eight in the morning and col. Barnes was at the legation office . He was excited as the new legate and it was his first day at the legation. Col. Barnes entered into the legation office courtyard and the soldiers saluted him. Returning their greetings, col. Barnes walked towards the office. He was surprised to see a man in is late thirties with other three young men at the front of his office at early morning, waiting for him. From the look of it, four of them were the natives and he was surprised to see natives inside the American legation office. The only natives that allowed inside the legation was the interpreters who were mostly foreigners fluent in both Arabic and English. Wondering who those bunch of people were, col. Barnes walked towards them. As soon as he approached them, the man in his late thirties came forward.

‘ You must be the new Legation officer. I am Owais, the village chief of Belgarath. It’s a pleasure to meet you. ‘ Owais extended his hands for the new officer to shake.

‘ Col. Barnes. May I ask you why you are here to meet me in this early morning?. ‘ Col. Barnes asked shaking hands with Owais.

‘ This is Abir, Sinan and Lacer. They are my servants.’ Owais introduced his henchmen neglecting the question col. Barnes asked.

‘ That’s not what I asked. Why are you here to meet me? ‘ Col. Barnes asked again, irritated.

He was really uncomfortable from the beginning itself because the rules says that no legate can associate themselves with any natives or accept any kinds of gift or bribes from them. Also, no natives are permitted inside the legation office other than interpreters.

‘ Can we talk about it inside your office, col. Barnes? ‘ Owais asked with a sly smile.

‘ Definitely not. You are wasting my time. It’s already eight ten, I am ten minutes late for my work, because of you. If you have nothing to say, leave'. Col. Barnes said impatiently.

Owais smile faded and he knew that Col. Barnes is not an easy target.

‘ Ok, fine. I came here as a messenger of the villagers, who appreciate and welcomes you as the new legation officer. These are the gifts from me in behalf of the villagers. I came here to give them to you. ‘ Owais said pointing at the large cloth bags that was hung over the shoulders of his three servants.

‘ Who permitted you inside this office, Chief Owais? ‘. Col. Barnes asked.

‘ Oh, I forgot to mention. I am a close friend of Cap. Eugene and he gave me the permission. ‘ Owais boasted.

‘ First of all, this my office and if you need to enter, you have to get permission from me, not from Cap. Eugene. Second, no natives are permitted inside the legation office or near the military camps and I wonder how you became a close friend of cap. Eugene. Thirdly, we are not allowed to accept any gifts from the natives and that’s how the rules goes. Fourthly, you don’t have to congratulate or welcome on behalf of the natives because, I came here to work for my country and not for the villagers. I am not here to help you in need, but to carry out my duty as a US citizen. So, you can take back all these gifts and leave this compound as soon as possible since we don’t have any business with each other. Hope you understand. ‘ Col. Barnes said sternly.

Owais didn’t like the way the new officer spoke to him, but he hid his Dislike with a sly smile.

‘ You are not at all friendly, are you? If that’s what you want, sure, colonel. We will meet soon, even if you don’t like it. ‘ Owais said and left with his men.

‘ Fool, he has no idea how things works in this village or who controls them. ‘ Owais murmured himself on his way back home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Col. Barnes was irritated as his mood was already ruined on his first day at work itself. He didn’t like the way Owais had talked to him. He couldn’t believe that servants existed in this century and It felt like he was in a colonial era. From the first encounter itself, col. Barnes assumed Belgarath to be a land resembling the colonial period, untouched by development or modernisation. It has been fifteen minutes after he had asked for Cap. Eugene Carter and was waiting for him. Cap. Eugene arrived in his uniform and saluted his officer.

‘ Good morning ,captain Eugene. Hope your day is going well.’ Col. Barnes said.

‘ Yes sir. How is your first day at the office? Hope everything is going well. ‘ Captain Eugene asked.

‘ Not really, captain. Today someone barged into my office without my permission, with three of his men and identified himself as Owais, the village chief and your 'close' friend. He told me that you gave him the permission to enter into the legation office. ‘ Col. Barnes said staring at Captain Eugene.

Captain Eugene was totally dumbfounded. He wondered why any of his meetings with his senior officer never goes well as he planned.

‘ Ahh, he is just an acquaintance, sir and definitely not a close friend. ‘ captain Eugene said.

‘ That’s not what he said. He offered me gifts too which I denied. Does he did the same when you were appointed here first as a captain?’. Col. Barnes inquired.

‘ Yes sir, but I denied it too. He is very persistent. I am sure he wanted to give you some gifts because you are new here and he did it without any ill intentions, sir. ‘ captain Eugene said.

‘ Captain, you should have asked me before letting anyone inside the office, don’t you think so? ‘. Col. Barnes asked.

‘ I apologize sir. I will never repeat it again. ‘ Captain Eugene said cursing Owais in his mind.

‘Ok. I will let it pass, because it’s my first time here. But don’t ever repeat it again. I am only twenty seven years old and I know I am younger and inexperienced than you captain. I have been always looked down by my junior officers who are more older than me and I am used to it. You can do that too and I don’t mind. But when it comes to duty, you will never see any one else in the entire army who is as persistent and diligent as I am. Let me make this clear. I am your commanding officer, not your friend or a fellow soldier. I am demanding you the respect I deserve not because of my rank, but because of my skill as a soldier and you will give that to me. Am I clear to you, captain? ‘ . Col. Barnes asked in a serious tone.

‘ Yes sir. ‘ captain Eugene said . He thought that col. Barnes was overreacting for a simple matter and was looking down on him.

‘ Captain, you broke two rules as a soldier in just one day after my arrival here. One, you permitted a native inside my office without my permission and two, he offered me gifts, which is officially bribes in our language. Now do you still think I am being too hard on you? ‘. Col. Barnes asked judging by the expression on Eugene Carter’s face.

‘ No sir. I understood sir. I promise, this won’t ever happen again'. Captain Eugene said praying for the conversation to end.

‘ Ok. Now let’s not waste anymore time on this. I will brief you on your new duties. First, every Saturday you should report to me regarding the operations and patrolling conducted on the borders under your command. Second, you and your men should submit all your guns and bullets along with the spare ones that’s stored in the garrison for inspection every Sunday. I heard that you have three hundred men stationed in Belgarath under your command. That means three hundred rifles and pistols each along with hundred of each of them stored as spares in the garrison. A total of four hundred rifles and pistols along with its bullets . Do you get me? ‘ Col. Barnes asked Eugene.

‘ Yes sir. ‘ Captain Eugene blurted out as his heart was beating too fast as soon as he heard the word ‘ inspection’.

He never thought that this will ever happen to him. He had sold about twenty five of the pistols and four of the rifles to Owais for huge amount and now he had no other options than to take it back, or otherwise his entire career as a soldier will be compromised. Col. Barnes stared at captain Eugene who was in deep thoughts.

‘ Captain Eugene, is something bothering you? ‘ . Col. Barnes asked seeing a petrified captain.

‘ No sir'. Captain Eugene answered suddenly.

‘ Good. You can leave now. Today is Wednesday. You can start your duties from this Saturday onwards by submitting the reports. Have a great day, captain’. Col. Barnes said and captain Eugene saluted him and practically ran towards his office tent.

He was sweating like a pig and was really in a dilemma.

‘ Oh god! I am screwed.’ Captain Eugene said burying his head in his hands.

‘ Alpha, tell Owais to set up a meeting for me, secretly at his house. I have something to tell him. ‘ Captain Eugene asked his first in command, alpha.

‘And you Beta, go to the garrison and get everything ready for an inspection.’ Captain Eugene asked his second in command.

‘Yes sir. ‘ Both the soldiers saluted their captain before leaving the tent.

‘oh shit! That bastard.!! Everything was fine until he arrived.’ Captain Eugene cursed col. Barnes as he let out all the frustrations of that day.