The White Feather- A story of infinite worlds

Arms Deal

General Yusuf was like a typical army officer- old, grey haired, smartly dressed and ever attentive. He was waiting for the ‘arms dealer’ and got up to shake hands with him as soon as he walked in with his wife. Gabriel and Emma stayed outside, for obvious reasons. You don’t take your driver and secretary to top secret meetings.

“Salam Walekum general.” Tony said and lifted his hand up in respect.

“Walekum salaam, Mr. Rabada, please take a seat. I am being told that you could be of great assistance to our cause.” The general said. His English was way better than any other person in the city.

“Yes sir, I hope that I can help you and expect some returns.” Tony said and sat down.

Then the general exchanged greetings with Olivia and she went on to sit down. He was inevitably pleased with her sight, and Tony felt greatly relaxed on observing this.

“I expect that you have done your homework before deciding to step inside a warzone to make a deal with us.” The general said, taking out a pack of cigarettes.

“Yes I have.” Tony said.

“Then you know that we have already have the support of a European friend. And if we were to buy arms from an American dealer, they wouldn’t take it as a kind gesture. We might lose the military and arms support over a few crates of rifles.” The general explained.

“I understand your concern, general. But if your men have the arms that we are providing you, the leaving of your friends wouldn’t make much of a difference. After all, if you fight on your own and win, this country would be ruled by you and you alone. On the other hands, if you were to win this war, the Russians will occupy much of your territories and might even overrule the government.” Tony said smartly.

“So you are saying that you are willing to give us weapons so powerful that will make us win this war without any outside help? And absence of outside help means very less amount of guns, fewer men and almost no technology.” The general asked in a suspicious tone.

“Yes, I am suggesting exactly that.” Tony said and smiled.

Now if you look at it, Tony’s words seemed like complete bullshit (and they were). But when you see it from the general’s point of view, you would be looking at man who flew around the world and risked his life on the wrong side of a battlefield, only to hold out a proposition. If you look at it this way, you think that the man’s claims must have some weight. So he decided to hear the man out.

“Can you prove it to me?” He asked Tony.

“Yes, I have the weapon’s test videos in my phone. They were considered too dangerous for war by the American government, how does that sound to you?” Tony asked.

“Sounds really promising. I would like to have to see for myself to be sure.” Yusuf replied.

“Of course, let me just show you the tests and then I’ll let you decide.” Tony said and took out his phone.

He went up to the officer and opened the phone. Then, he showed him a couple of videos of the laser guns that the agency used. The man was really impressed and looked at Tony.

“I really like it. But there is one little thing that makes me curious- if you made such a weapon, why not sell it to countries with dictatorships? They have a lot of affection for weapons like these and are willing to spend a hefty amount to get them. Instead, you give it to a rebel group which will use your technology to fight your own country’s soldiers.” the man asked, leaning back and smoking the almost burnt out cigarette.

“Ah, now that is the million dollar question. You see, our plan is not to make money from selling the weapons to you. No, we will make money from our own government.

As soon as you start gaining on our troops with the weapons we provide you, they will immediately look for someone who can provide weapons that can match your level. At that time, we will supply our another chain of firearms, which will be a lot weaker than the lasers, but much stronger than the ordinary rifles. They will be forced to buy it as they would have no choice. We will sell a cheaper product at a higher price than these.” Tony elaborated his grand fake plan.

“You are a smart man, Mr. Rabada. But you mentioned that you had long term interests in our war. Would to care to shed some light on your words?” The man asked.

“Oh yes, I have two conditions if you want me to make a deal with you.” Tony said and nodded his head.

Now that the general had seen the product Tony was offering, the tables had turned. Now Tony was the one in control and making demands, and the general was gladly ready to hear him out.

“Okay, what are the conditions?” The general asked, trying to clear the suspense in the room as soon as possible.

“Firstly, I need assurance that when your government forms, I will be the sole military contractor for you.” He said.

“That’s a little hard to agree to. I mean, what if you start selling us low quality weapons or ask for an unreasonably high price?” Yusuf said reluctantly.

“That is a risk you will have to take if winning is important to you.” Tony said and sighed.

“Okay, and what’s the other condition?” The man asked.

“Ah, it’s rather simple actually. You will tell me where the four captured agents are.” Tony said plainly.

“What?!” The man said and thundered up from his chair.

But Tony had already planned everything. He pointed his phone’s screen towards the officer’s eyes and pressed a secret button. A bright flash covered the screen, and in the next moment, the general was lying on the floor.

Tony walked up to him and leaned down. He spawned a little injection and a medication of some kind.

“Don’t worry, you're not gonna die right now.” He said and injected the dose in the paralyzed man’s neck.

“But you WILL die in five minutes time. That is, if you don’t tell me what I want to know. If I’m satisfied with your answer, I’ll spawn the antidote and we will forget this ever happened. Now, will you be so kind to help us?” Tony said, dramatically pleading.

The man in the dark brown uniform slowly recovered from the shock, and nodded in terror as Tony pulled a chair to sit on.