Dark Secrets

Dark Secrets – By Abbasali Rozais

Ratmalana Air Force Base ATC, 9.15pm, 25th December 2004.


‘Machang meka poddak balanawa!’ Machang, take a look at this!

‘What is it Wimal?’ asked Nuwan. Wimal was new on the job.

Wimal pointed to the radar screen. Nuwan looked and watched, closer and closer, ‘Nuwan what is it?’ there was no answer.

Suddenly Nuwan jumped to his feet and ran to the telephone across the room. Fumbling he put the receiver to his ear and dialled a number. The seconds seemed like minutes. He had never seen anything like it before. How could anything… A voice picked up.

‘Nuwan Kathakarannay, are you all doing any tests today?’

‘Na nay! Nothing, we are also seeing it! Strange nay dha?’ said the voice on the phone.

‘Strange thamai, have you ever seen anything like it?’

‘No! I don’t know!’

‘Do you think it could be the terras? asked Nuwan. ‘Terras’ was the colloquial manner of referring to the terrorists, among the armed forces of Sri Lanka.

‘Pissu dha? I don’t know whether even the Americans have anything like it?’

‘That maybe a possibility, but we would have known about it nay?’

‘What should we do?’ asked the voice on the other end.

‘It’s 9.15 in the night, natanawa athi hamoma!’

‘This might be a question of National Security!’

‘Very well, I will do it. Goodnight!’

‘I hope it will be!’ Their was a click.

Nuwan placed the receiver back in the cradle. Exchanged a nervous glance with Wimal, who was shocked at what he was witnessing, and picked up another phone. This time he did not have to dial a number. An operator came online almost immediately. Nuwan told him who he needed to speak with.

*

Army Headquarters, Galle Face, Joint Operations Command, 10.30pm.


The tension in the room was so high you could almost see it, ‘General, everyone other than the Prime Minister is here, why can’t you get started?’ asked the Minister of Defence.

‘Gentlemen we must follow procedure. I cannot start without the Prime Minister present!’

‘Forget the bloody Prime Minister. It’ll be a miracle if he gets here within the hour! This could be a matter of national security!’

No one, not even the President called up a National Security Council meeting at 10.30pm and on Saturday night, let aside the fact that it was Christmas. The plush furnishing and warm lighting of the room did nothing to calm the tension that was building.

‘I understand that perfectly. Perhaps you should tell the President that, it was after all she who appointed him!’

‘Oh shut up!’

‘Don’t you dare tell me to shut up!’

‘You don’t know who…’ The doors suddenly banged open and about four men dressed in white shirts and black trousers walked in. Everyone in the room stood up as the presidential advisor walked in followed by the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.

‘Thank you gentlemen, please be seated!’ said the Prime Minister.

Once everyone had sat down and exchanged a few pleasantries the Defence Minister said, ‘Well general at least now can we start!’

The General flashed a look of contempt at the minister, ‘Gentlemen due to the impatience to get down and dirty exhibited by the minister, I’ll get straight to the point!’

‘How kind of you General!’ said the Minister, with a slight hint at mockery.

‘You’re not welcome!’

‘I never thanked you.’

‘Shut up!’

‘Gentlemen, enough!’ said the Prime Minister, ‘General please carry on.’

‘Thank you! Now, we have received some disturbing information. Our Air Force Base at Ratmalana, at 9.15pm today, has recorded an intrusion of our Air Space.’

There was a strained silence, and then suddenly the Minister for Defence burst out, ‘By whom?’

‘By whom or what we do not know.’

‘What do you mean by ‘Whom or what’?’ screamed the Minister for Defence, his eyes reddening.

‘Keep calm!’ said the Prime Minister.

‘According to the technician at the base, the objects are unidentifiable!’

‘What?’ burst out the Defence Minister.

‘Poddak inna! Are you trying to tell me, General, that there has been a recorded intrusion of our airspace by an unidentified flying object?’

‘Correction, it’s the plural, Objects!’ said the General, a grave look of worry upon his face.

‘UFOs! Ahhh!’ shouted out the Minister of Defence and fainted, falling off his chair.

There was a moment of silence as everyone looked to see what had happened, ‘Remove him from here and see that he is revived!’ said the Prime Minister to one of the guards.

‘Well, what do you hope to do General?’

‘Actually, I issued an order for our fighters to try and intercept the objects, but when they approach the location, they cannot see anything! There’s nothing there.’

‘What nonsense is that?’ asked the Prime Minister, ‘Obviously your radar is malfunctioning if our fighters cannot make visual contact with these so called UFOs?’

‘We thought so but no! When the fighters approach the position of the objects, the objects disappear and instantly reappear in a different location, and the sequence is repeated when our fighters approach the new position.’

‘Buddu ammo!’

The Foreign Minister spoke for the first time that evening, ‘Gentlemen, are we sure it’s not our friends from the United States?’

‘Don’t ask idiotic questions! You of all people should know that if they were conducting an exercise in our airspace, we would have been notified!’ lashed out the Prime Minister.

‘But they have been known to do things like this!’

‘Not with us. We have an understanding!’ said the Prime Minister.

‘Have these objects shown any signs of hostility?’ inquired the Foreign Minister.

‘None whatsoever!’

The red telephone on the table rang. The Picked it up and listened. The grave look on his face turned to a look of utter bewilderment. He slowly put the phone down, ‘What is it General?’

‘Our communications tower at Piduruthalagala is picking up a transmission. We believe it is them!’

‘Contact!’ said the Prime Minister, his voice conveying a sense of awe.

‘What do we make of the transmission?’

‘Unfortunately nothing! It seems to be a random binary code. We can’t make anything out of it yet.’

‘Alright! Listen! Listen General very carefully. First, this is classified, highest level. We need to meet with the President. Get her online for me!’ said the Prime Minister.

‘At this hour Mr. Prime Minister?’

‘Don’t you understand simple English. Sinhalen kiyanna dha?’ the Prime Minister looked the Foreign Minister in the eye.

‘Very well!’ said the Foreign Minister, picking up the red telephone.

‘General, classify completely. Let’s move!’

*

At 11.50pm a single black limousine bearing no number plates and tinted windows drove out of Army Headquarters, Galle Face under full salute. The car carried the entire National Security Council, a violation of procedure strictly speaking. Never were so many important members of the government allowed to travel in one vehicle. But today was different. An entire motorcade leaving the Army Headquarters at that time of night might have been cause for second glances.

The car made a U-turn near the Taj Samudra hotel and headed towards Janadhipathi Mawatha, the façade of the Colombo WTC, the tallest buildings in the country, and the Bank of Ceylon tower looking down at them.

When the car approached the gates to President’s House, they were immediately opened and members of the armed forces gave the car a full salute before it was handed over to the Presidential Guard.

*

Office of the President, President’s House, Colombo Fort, 1.00am, 26th December 2004.


‘What is she doing? It’s been an hour already!’ the Foreign Minister said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

‘An hour is nothing really! said the General.

‘But this is national emergency!’

‘And she’s the President!’

‘Will the two of you shut up! We don’t want to start off on a bad note today!’

A door opened and the President walked in. She was dressed in a simple skirt and blouse, her hair loose. Everyone stood up. She took her seat behind her desk, ‘This had better be good!’

‘It will Madam, let me explain…’ and the Prime Minister did.

*

Office of the President, President’s House, Colombo Fort, 4.00am.


A voice with a strong Texan accent sounded on the speakerphone, ‘Our government would consider it an honour to be of assistance to yours!’ The voice was that of the President of the United States of America.

‘It makes me very happy to know that we have friends like you!’ said the President.

‘Feel free at anytime. Send me the stuff and I will do my best!’

‘Thank you very much Mr. President!’

‘Thank you for calling!’ There was a click and the line went dead.

‘Soraya, fax the code on the secure line. Tell me as soon as you get a response.’ The President turned to the others.

The General was on his mobile phone. He finished, ‘Madam, the transmissions have stopped and the blips have disappeared.’

‘Well, there’s nothing more we can do other than wait for a response. There are some rooms being prepared for you. Get some rest.

‘But…’

‘There’s nothing more that we can do.’

*

Office of the President, President’s House, Colombo Fort, 9.30am.


‘Madam, you might want to see this!’ said Soraya, switching on the TV to Rupavahini.

The TV showed scenes of devastation. Water everywhere. Was it a flood, ‘Waves more than 30 feet high… slammed… Sri Lankan coast… devastation… death… unknown… Galle bus depot… tourists…’

‘Soraya! Call the others down here now! Call a cabinet meeting within the hour.’ ordered the President.

The rest of the day passed in a blur, ‘Devastation… Kalmunai… war torn areas… Yala Wildlife reserve… Strange… Animal casualties… level increase… Wellawatte… Galle… Dead… Hambantota… Wiped out… 7000… more… 15 000… more and more… misplaced… orphaned… buried… abroad… holiday makers… hotels… fisherman… roads… a train… abroad… Phuket… Sumatra… Coast… Earthquake… Energy release… transfer… Sumatra… TSUNAMI!’

The President addressed the nation later that day.

‘My fellow Sri Lankans, today a great disaster of horrific proportions has hit our little island. Many have perished… We will rebuild… It is my fervent hope that in this time of need all of us, be we Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, Christian or anything else, come together as Sri Lankans, as the one big Sri Lankan family that we truly are, and help each other, help this island we call home. Help Sri Lanka, our Resplendent Isle to rise up from the debris, to a better tomorrow, to glorious heights, that she has never before been to. In concluding today, I would like to leave you with this… We may be a small country… But we are not a weak one. We are small, yet strong. And our strength can only manifest itself to the maximum if we stand together, if we stand as Sri Lankans and nothing more or less. May the gods bless the souls of those who left us so tragically today. Thank you.’

*

Office of the President, President’s House, Colombo Fort, 10.00pm.


The President was seated at her desk, looking out of the window at metropolitan Colombo. The flag on the lawn was at half mast. Everything seemed solemn. Sad. Silently she thanked the lord for saving her, for saving Colombo.

Soraya the secretary walked in with some papers, ‘Madam, this just came in for you.’ said Soraya handing the papers to her.

‘Thank you.’

‘Will that be all?’

‘Yes, get some rest. None of us are any use, tired.’ Soraya left the room.

The President turned on the desk lamp and looked at the papers that Soraya had brought in. The first one was a letter bearing the Seal of the President of the United States.

In all the chaos of the day, she had forgotten all about what had happened the night before.

The President
Office of the President
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

26th December 2004

Dear Madam,

First I would like to convey our deepest sympathies to your fine country. In this time of need we are one and we are always here to assist you in any way you may require.

I enclose the results of what we spoke about earlier. Amazingly the code decoded to a few paragraphs in the language of your country.

The information remains highly classified in the United States and I would advise you to do the same in your country. It is very sensitive and could result in severe repercussions for our governments if it were to be released.

Best wishes.

Thank You.

Yours truly


The Seal of the President of the United States

The President set the letter aside and picked up the other document and read it. It was in Sinhala.


Dear Madam President,

We come from a distant star system in another galaxy. We are far more technologically advanced than your kind. However we are also far less emotionally and mentally advanced than your kind. We come in peace.

Sometime ago, we realized that the rotation of your planet had changed. If this is not corrected it could lead to what your kind refer to as the apocalypse. We have great affection for your planet and your kind because you are the closest match to our planet and our kind that we have found in our explorations of the cosmos.

Therefore we have taken it upon ourselves to correct the manner of rotation of your planet. Unfortunately we are not omnipotent and we must regretfully inform you that our calculations have an error in them. Therefore what we have done might trigger something untoward.

We have therefore chosen to warn you, so you may warn others, in what you call south and south East Asia. Move every person at least 2 miles away from all coasts facing south and east and west. You must do this immediately to avert disaster. It is too late to ask questions now. Just follow the instructions and you will see why.

Most probably you may not hear from us for a long time. For we have concluded our operations in your part of the galaxy for the time being. We inform you because we care about your kind.


*


The Asian Tsunami Disaster left a total of 186, 983 people dead and 42, 883 people missing. The tsunamis were caused by a 9.3 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sumatra. The total energy of the waves was calculated at more than 5 Megatons of TNT (Tri Nitro Toluene), more than twice the total energy used in World War II, including the two atomic bombs.

Sri Lanka was one of the countries worst hit, with a death toll of 35, 322 people, and over half a million people displaced. More than a year later the country is rising, slowly yet steadily. Tourism has not suffered immensely for people once they come here fall in love with the Resplendent Isle that we call home. And so often take for granted. The disaster is in the top 5 greatest disasters in recorded history.

Different people are of different views as to the cause and greater reason for the Tsunami disaster. Some say it is a message from God. Others say it is the heralding of the end of the world. The scientific community presents a perfectly normal and easily understandable view. The conspiracy buffs take the incident to fantastic proportions, and the mystics have their own views.

Whatever the reason or cause, for Sri Lanka and for Sri Lankans, there are valuable lessons to be taken from the disaster.

Number one is for us to learn that there are greater things than communal differences. Every one of us is the same in the eyes of nature. No one is given preference. We must learn to put aside our differences and come together as Sri Lankans. Not as Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Christians, or anything else.

The next thing is for us to realize and be ashamed that other people love our country more than some of us do. Many of the holiday makers and tourists who were here at the time of the disaster have returned yet again, while we try to leave and run away. We must be proud of what we have. We must not think about what others have that we do not, but what we have that others do not.

We must also appreciate that many or rather most of us came together to help a fellow Sri Lankan in need.

Incidents, times, speeches and letters in this piece are used purely for the sake of fiction. Any resemblances to actual occurrences are purely for parody or political comment.

This piece is dedicated to the memory of all the souls, human and not who left us so tragically on the 26th of December 2004. May the lord bless their souls and may they all rest in peace.