The Knights Victorious. William Speir

their lives. He had the treaties, the account numbers, and most of the diplomatic codes. All he really lacked was one thing.

      Francisco walked down the corridor to the room where one of the prisoners was screaming in terror. There were certain codes used by the President alone when he communicated with other leaders in the region. The frequency of rebel activity made it imperative that communications between leaders be easily authenticated, so the leaders had developed a series of codes that only the true President would know and use. Without these codes, the other leaders in the region would never accept Francisco as the new President of Suriname and would immediately go on a military alert. Francisco had to make sure that this didn’t happen. The successful invasions of Guyana and French Guiana depended on those countries having no reason to suspect that any military actions were coming.

      When Francisco reached the room where the Minister of State was shrieking from the results of Il Nona’s truth drug, he smiled again. He wondered if the President even remembered that the Minister of State was the only other person in Suriname who knew the President’s codes. The Vice President had never been shown the codes, to prevent him from attempting to take power; but the Minister of State, who sometimes had to act on behalf of the President with the other leaders in the region, did know the codes.

      Francisco entered the room and was shocked at the appearance of the Minister of State. He was tied tightly to his chair but thrashing wildly to defend himself against the drug-induced images filling his mind. The Minister looked like he was trapped in a living nightmare, and Francisco was fascinated by the way the drug was breaking the man’s sanity.

      “Just tell us what we want to know, and the monsters will go away,” the interrogator said softly in the Minister of State’s ear. “They’ll never hurt you again. Just tell us what we want to know.”

      “Y-y-y-y-you p-p-p-promise,” the Minister of State whimpered to the interrogator, clearly on the edge of total madness.

      “I promise,” the interrogator replied, sounding sympathetic. Looking up at Francisco, the interrogator smiled and winked.

      “I-I-I-I’ll tell you. Just m-m-m-make it s-s-s-stop.”

      The interrogator jabbed the needle of the syringe into the Minister of State’s arm and administered the antidote. “Remember,” he whispered into the ear of the Minister of State, “if you don’t tell us everything, I’ll bring the monsters back and let them have you.”

      The antidote had an almost immediate effect, and the Minister of State relaxed and appeared calm. “In my safe,” he began, “is everything you’re looking for.” The Minister of State gave the combination to the interrogator, who walked over to the wall safe and turned the dial.

      A moment later, the safe was open, and the interrogator brought the contents to Francisco. Inside were all of the President’s codes, as well as three additional treaties that Francisco knew nothing about.

      “Excellent job,” Francisco said to the interrogator. “Please continue.”

      “Yes, sir,” the interrogator replied. Turning back to the Minister of State, he said, “You did very well. The monsters won’t be coming back for you.”

      “Are you sure?” the Minister of State asked, clearly distressed at the thought of seeing the monsters again.

      “Quite sure,” the interrogator replied. “No more monsters for you.”

      The interrogator stood up, pulled his pistol from his holster, and shot the unsuspecting Minister of State between the eyes. Holstering his weapon, he said, “Take the body away and put it with the others.”

      Francisco watched the guards untie the body and drag it out of the office.

      “Is there anything else you want me to find out?” the interrogator asked when he turned to face Francisco.

      “No, you’ve done an excellent job, and I have all that I require,” Francisco replied. “I hope that you enjoy your new post as head of the Secret Police.”

      “I will, sir. Thank you, sir!” the interrogator replied.

      “And keep those drugs under lock and key,” Francisco added as he turned to leave the room. “I don’t want them falling into the wrong hands or being administered to the wrong person.”

      “Yes, sir!”

      Outside in the hallway, Francisco gave orders to the waiting guards. “Keep them all separated for now, but be ready to move them to Bitagron in the morning for ‘processing.’ Also, get the transmitters warmed up and the camera crew ready. It’s time for me to address my people.”

      The U.S. Ambassador paced angrily in his office as the sun finally disappeared in the west. Communications were still cut off, and no one was being allowed in or out of the Embassy. He heard the loudspeakers announce the sunset curfew, and he wondered what was happening. He kept pacing, lost in thought and frustration.

      A moment later, one of his senior aides came into the office. “Mr. Ambassador, the loudspeakers are making a new announcement.”

      “What are they saying?”

      “They’re saying that the President will be making an address to the nation in a few minutes, and it will be carried on every television channel.”

      The Ambassador walked over to his desk, grabbed the remote control, and turned on the wall-mounted television monitor to the right of his desk. The snowy image that had been the only image available for the past day was now replaced with the image of the Suriname flag. Turning up the volume, he heard the announcer stating that the President would be making his address in just a few more minutes.

      “Finally, some answers,” he commented as he and his aide sat down to watch the broadcast.

      The Prior moved the television out of his office into the Commandery’s Meeting Hall. In a few minutes, he had it hooked up, and Tom and the others saw the flag of Suriname on the screen.

      “The President will be on in just a few minutes,” the Prior commented as he took a seat next to Tom.

      “Good,” Tom said. “I hope he’s OK.”

      The President was gagged and his chair moved into the far corner of his office while the camera crew set up for the broadcast. Francisco sat down behind the President’s desk with Carlos and the Legate standing on either side behind him. The President watched helplessly as the camera operators checked the equipment one last time. Satisfied that everything was working, the President saw the camera operator count down silently from five. When he got to one, the people of Suriname got their first look at their new President.

      “Good evening,” Francisco said smoothly into the camera. “I’m Francisco Emmanuel Baptista, Field Marshall of the Suriname Liberation Army, and as of today the new President of Suriname. I’m speaking to you live from the Presidential Palace to let you know about the extraordinary events which have taken place over the past few days. For too long, the people of this country have suffered – not from oppression or torture, but from complacency and mediocrity. Our leaders have made no progress whatsoever in improving the condition of our country, preferring to keep things exactly the way they are. This isn’t the role of leaders. For that reason, we found it necessary to remove the leaders of the government and replace them with people who have a vision for our small nation.”

      Francisco paused for a moment. “The transition of power has been a smooth one and was accomplished with almost no loss of property or life. The forces under my command have taken control of and established order in every city and village in the country. The previous government’s leaders are being detained and debriefed, and they will be released over the next week as the new government completes the transition. You will all receive information regarding the new government policies and procedures. The most important thing to know is that these new policies and procedures will help usher in a new era of prosperity and wealth for all citizens of Suriname. There will be progress, there will be new industries, there will be more jobs, and there will be more wealth for everyone.