Heads And Tales Excerpt
Intruders
By Yemi Sanusi
(continued from the last edition)
The day the chloroquine commandant arrived, Bain was overjoyed. The war general came in through
the digestive system, arriving as a pill in the stomach along with four gulps of orange juice.
After a nice member of the memory department had told them who was coming to their rescue,
there was severe resistance from mouth and throat, which was not surprising.
For mouth and throat did not at all relish the dreadful taste the visitor offered the tongue.
But resistance or not, Commander Chloroquine had shown up, and Bain was extremely glad for it.
Dressed in military fatigues and fully battle-ready, the yellow commander was pretty pleasant,
though quite officious. One of the first things he did was to express his pleasure at the fact that the
body Bain controlled had never reacted negatively to the chloroquine family.
Bain laughed, recalling the peaceable visit of some members of the chloroquine family over a bout of
malaria when the body was about seven years of age.
And that, he told the commander, had indicated that the visit this time would also be without
discomfort.
Bain expressed his firm belief that Commander Chloroquine was up to the task at hand and offered
to take him, at conclusion of the business, on a tour of landmark areas like the eyes and heart.
The commander replied that he was quite eager to embark on such a tour, and he thanked Bain and
left for battle.
*
Hart could barely hide her emotions as she stormed in to see Bain a few minutes later.
“Calm down, Hart,” Bain admonished. “Any reports from Commander Chloroquine?”
“He was the first to be killed!” Hart choked out.
Her words hung in the air as Bain digested the piece of information.
“These malaria agents are not the usual kind. They are not the kind we encountered four years ago.
They are” – she hesitated, searching desperately for the right word – “different! Their armour is
different! They are smarter and more brutal – more savage! And they are advancing quickly, at a
lethal speed!”
Bain listened quietly, unable to make real sense of what he was hearing. If the ever-brave Hart was
so badly shaken, then there might be very great danger ahead.
“I’ll get back to you on this one, Hart,” Bain said after a long silence.
*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************
It took less than one minute for the malaria agents to overpower and execute Bain’s aides.
Then General X swaggered into Bain’s office. “Well, well, well – who do we have here?”
He circled Bain like a dog sniffing at a suspect. “The commander of the all powerful human Central
Controlling Unit! So we meet finally!”
He turned to the group of cells that had dutifully followed him. “Isn’t this lovely? Now, we’ve got the
king!” He laughed boisterously and then proceeded to inspect the office slowly.
“By the way,” he told Bain with nonchalance, “Commander Hart, your beloved heart commander,
has been captured. So you see, we also have the queen.”
Strolling to Bain’s side, he whispered, “Checkmate.”
The effect was as he wished. For if Bain had possessed a heart, it would have sunk to the bottom of
his feet.
*
In the hospital, Eva had a fit and went into a coma, and the readings on the monitors dropped
dangerously.
*
Bain knew he had to play for time. This was the only thing he could do, the only thing his mind could
grasp at.
“Can’t you see?” he said, bristling in the midst of the multitude of malaria agents hungry to consume
him. “If you destroy this body, you’ll kill yourselves. There’ll be no hope for any mosquito to
transport you anywhere; no further growth or mission. Can’t you see? This is a suicide mission!
There’s no hope!”
General X smiled sardonically. “There was never any hope for us in the first place – in the mosquito
or elsewhere. In fact, we have achieved much more than we had expected; so much more in here
than we would ever have in any mosquito. Just think about it: now we have power – to control the
human brain!”
He laughed out loud and then added mischievously, “Now we even have the power to kill all
mosquitoes.” He ended this statement with the shrillest of laughters, and if Bain had possessed a
spine, it would have sent shivers down it.
Bain, who had never been outside a human body could barely understand why they had invaded this
body. They wanted shelter, they wanted security for their future, they wanted regular food, they
wanted a lifelong community. But so did his men, and this was their body!
*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Bain burned with anger. He couldn’t let these villains infest his system and destroy what he had
worked so hard for, simply because they lacked the organisation and wherewithal to evolve their
own lasting system.
Bitter, Bain knew they were narrow-minded, thinking that the body existed out of a whim and not
out of the sheer hard work of all the cells they envied so much. He looked at the monster-like,
grotesque creatures and wished dearly that he had the power to stop them.
But he really had no power now. He had been reduced to just another human cell, waiting to be
executed.
Unless a miracle happened right now to the body he loved so much.
Unless a miracle happened…
*
To be continued