The Eve of Destruction

"Everybody move calmly to the assembly area. DON'T PANIC. Everybody move calmly in a straight line towards the assembly area. Please let the....."

The voice droned on and on and like little ants, we moved in a straight line, converging from all sides towards the exit. What a day! First the ArmEx deal fell through and now, right in the middle of the tender negotiations, the bomb scare. I bet it's just some stupid hoax caller. Damn those buggers.

The office goers all formed a restless bunch. Some stood in groups, smoking and fidgeting, the others fervently looking around at the action. Some just lounged about in the grass, taking out their lunch packets, the slight sunshine a balm in this raspy winter. I saw her sitting bang in the middle of it all. A lone figure, surrounded by the crowd. A calm amidst the storm.

Heading towards her, I caught her glance and smiled. This seemed like as good time as any to make friends right?!  I sat down on a dry patch of grass beside her.

"Hi, I don't think I've seen you around.…I'm Alec"

Brown eyes stated into green ones and she smiled, "Hi...I'm Julia.." I was smitten- there was something about that smile. The day might not turn out to be that bad after all.

"You don't work here, do you? "

She smiled- "I don't- my friend works in the mail room- covering 1st through the 6th floors.. we had dinner together last night and she woke up pretty sick today morning- so thought I'd fill in for her...what about you?"

"Me? I've just started here actually, I used to work with the Republican Party for close to 5 years. Must say it was an interesting experience..."

One eyebrow arched, "You support Bush?"

"Well yeah- I mean people can say anything they want but that man knows what he is doing."

"You mean attacking third world countries to find his imaginary Weapons of Mass Destruction or fuelling terror around the world?"

"That, lady, is unpatriotic. I mean, that Saddam- he was scum. His regime needed to be removed and Bush alone had the guts to call war and stop that genocide. We are America. The balance of this world hangs on us. They look to us to be their saviors. You think its an easy job?"

"Ha! That's some jingoistic attitude you've got there. So if we are the saviors and stopping that genocide was the prerogative, then why did we not do anything about Darfur? Or Chechnya? Or probably we just do whatever is convenient to us."

"Well if those countries had their way, they'd be eating away all our resources. We need to prioritise and that's what we did. We warned them- we told them it was coming. They could have stopped it. Its not like it was a surprise attack. It was not calculated- but it was the need of the hour."

"Like it was the need of the hour to sponsor terrorism during the cold war?  Just because they were targeting the big bad wolf USSR? Our people are dying. Thousands of them- young blood, out there in the battlefield. Killing, fighting, dying- you think they'd ever be normal? Even when they come back, they are but a shadow of their former selves. What is your administration doing about it? Where was Bush when that mother sat outside his vacation home wanting an answer to why her young son was a victim at Iraq? And all you can say is that "YOU WARNED THEM?" That they knew it was coming? No one warned us, Alec- no one did- about the repurcussions"

"You won't understand, Julia. Politics is a dirty game. What needs to be done- has to be done. Collateral damage is unavoidable."

"Then why act surprised when it comes to bite us in the ass? When these terrorists attack us? CIA created them, they funded them till the time they served our purpose and then left them to fend for themselves. Tell me Alec, have someone you known died in a terror strike? Do you know how many families are ripped apart daily as a result of terrorist activities throughout the world? Young mothers widowed, sons and daughters who will never get to see their parents again, towns that have no young left...How can they justify it? Who will take responsibility for it? The CIA? The White House?"

I sighed, "Really, why are we fighting about this? We've just met....Anyways fancy being stuck outside in this cold due to that nuisance", I said trying to move to a safer topic.

She took a deep breath. Then in a calmer voice, "Nuisance? I think the intent is safety- is it not?"

"Well- I bet it's just a hoax- you know?"

"Really? What makes you so sure?"

"I don't think Taliban goes for these subtle little bombs you know...I mean its the CIA Headquarters- you think they'd let a bomb in easily?...Now if I saw a plane on the horizon, I'd worry..."

Those eyes glazed over "My father died in the 9/11 blasts...."

Shit. "Damn- I'm sorry- I must have sounded so callous..."

"Its OK- you don't have to be sorry- People who have to be aren't..."

"Yup..but what I wanted to say was that the security here is very tight- so you needn't worry."

Again, that smile. "You don't get it do you?"

"No really- the building is secure", he justified.

"Its not the buildings that screw up- Alec, people do. Why would anyone want to blow up a building, when its the people they want dead?"

"I don't get it..."

"Look around you Alec, how many people are there in this tight assembly area?"

"Around 300..."

"So if I were to press this tiny button on my phone to detonate the bomb, how many do you think will die?"

He stared at her, confusion blatant in his eyes...

"What did you say? Oh yeah- We warned them Alec- We told them it was coming. They could have stopped it."

She smiled- that same smile....and as the comprehension dawned in my eyes, she pressed the button.