A Hidden World

All is Well

"Clair I am a bad influence on you. Our whole office heard you go off on those guys. Expect some teasing."

"What do you mean our office?"

I chuckle and say to a wide eyed Clair, "Kathy called as you walked in. We both had you on speaker. Your drill instructor scream is very good. I am impressed."

We repeat our visits to a couple more locations to find all is well. We decide to head back to our office and check how everything else is going. As we walk in I say, "Good afternoon, ladies."

Ann looks up at Clair. "You've quite a set of pipes on you, Captain. You made my drill instructor sound like a butterfly even through a closed door."

We step into our executive office where Orenda and Madge are chatting with Kathy. Jess is with Katie. I ask, "Good afternoon, ladies. How is your day going? Do we have any problems?"

A snickering Kathy replies, "We got a couple of complaints. One called about a woman wearing general stripes who is a very bad influence on a respectable young woman. Another from a couple boys who said a captain screamed at them so meanly they wet their pants."

Orenda orders, "Sharon, you stay away from these two. Kathy and Tammy are very bad people. They'll get you in trouble. They'll teach you bad things. All you young girls stay away from them."

Carol grins, "Yes girls, you should be more like me, with two tribunals in one day. I'm a real good influence."

Madge replies, "Don't believe Orenda, she worse. She knocked out her officer on a rescue. Thump. Aiders had to carry him away on a stretcher."

Kathy looks stern, "Don't believe Madge either. Her operations officer wrote her up four times in one rescue for not obeying orders."

I grin, "See ladies, Jess and I are the only smart ones here. We are not rescuers, so we cannot get in that kind of trouble."

Clair has an evil grin, "Don't believe Tammy either. We're rescuers. We save lives and heal hurt people. Tammy kicks butts." That brings chuckles.

I feign insult, "They turn on you so quick."

Kathy replies, "Tammy there's an element of truth there. I think she's figured you out."

There is a knock on our door and Ann stands in our doorway. "We'll be leaving soon. Tammy, you've a request from Gerry. He'd like you to come to his office tomorrow morning after our executive meeting."

I ask, "Kandahar or Kabul?"

Ann replies, "Kandahar, special liaison to NSP."

I ask, "What rank were you?"

"Same as you."

I nod, "Thank you for taking care of Azadah. Have a great evening, left-tenant."

She smiles and replies, "The pleasure is mine, loo-tenant." She waves and leaves.

Katie asks, "I thought Ann said you were a same rank? You used two different words."

"Katie, we were the same rank. It is a different way of saying the same word. It is actually French. Its original version is for a person in charge of holding a place. British pronounce it 'left-ten-ant.' We seem to have started saying 'loo-ten-ant' when we declared our independence from those same British."

Sharon asks, "Ann is from a different country, but was in the Afghan war like you?"

"Ann is a Canadian, I am from the US. Azadah saw more war than both of us did. She is from Afghanistan. She saw that evil up close. She recognized it here and knew to avoid it.

"She grew up in a war zone. Ann and I were part of a UN force called by the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees. NSP, the National Solidarity Program she refers to is an attempt to break that cycle of evil. Taliban took a perfectly fine religion and twisted it. You witnessed that same evil here yesterday. They used similar techniques in a different way on a much larger scale. So vast that it took an armed United Nations task force to try to stop it. All three of us saw the hell that this evil can generate before. You got your first taste of it yesterday.

"You break evil by caring. Caring brings education and respect. With education comes self esteem, and with self esteem comes an ability to stand up to evil. That was our NSP mission for all United Nations forces. To teach people who were beaten and persecuted for generations how to be free. It was our job to try to give them a little taste of freedom.

"There are two paraphrased common quotes, one you will understand as rescuers. 'To save one life is to save the entire world, and therefore to do nothing in aid of your neighbour is to bring destruction.'

"The other, 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.' Having seen this evil before, I attempted to make people here understand it is everyone's responsibility to stop evil."

I realize it is very quiet in our office. I look around to see everyone staring. "I am sorry. I seem to have gone off on a tangent. Jess and Clair are going to be media stars tomorrow."

There is no reaction, only silent stares. Kathy breaks our awkward silence, "Forever a teacher, a teacher of the heart." A moment later, she taps her ear. "Please contact Ann and Azadah immediately. We need the last ten minutes here preserved. I need to speak to Gerry."

I ask, "Kathy, what are you doing?"

"You found evil, eradicated it, and made devastating accusations. They've had time to think. You show them how to stop and fix it in everyday life. First, by visiting every one of those victims, then by making sure support is there. Clair, without realizing it, nailed that point home this afternoon. Now they're going to find out why."

Orenda is on her phone. Madge is talking to someone, sounding urgent. Carol's voice rises above a low din. "Rescuer Angels senior staff at Orenda's, I'll need a time soon." Both Kathy and Orenda give a thumb up to Carol. Everyone except Clair, Jess, and I appear to be doing something urgent.

Orenda and Madge are off like shots, out our door, still talking. After a minute, I am starting to get concerned. Did something happen I am unaware of? Clair and Jess follow my lead and watch our little office go crazy.

Kathy stands, "Hands up for those off their computers." Everybody's hands go up except for those of us watching. "It's time to go. That includes you three dumbfounded ladies. You're the reason." She is at my desk, urging us to our feet. The rest of our office is at our door or exiting. "Follow them. We'll explain later."