Shirburnian Catastrophe, The

Act Four

145 Act Four Scene One Same afternoon The Commander-General’s office PM GAMATO is sitting across a desk watching GEN. OFUJI who is going through the photographs of the previous scene. The PM is in the same suit as the last scene, but his tie is rudely loosened and he looks tired. The general is in decorated military fatigues. The commander’s cap is on his desk. PM GAMATO General, you studied in British and Canadian military academies. At some point in your career you were seconded to Brussels as an attaché to our embassy. I take it you embraced human rights and their strict observation all the time. GEN. OFUJI For a fact I studied abroad and I once served as a military attaché to the Ngoloi Embassy in Belgium, but it appears, Your Excellency, you were photographed abusing a schoolgirl. PM GAMATO General, it is the missing schoolgirl. 146 GEN. OFUJI Your Excellency, do you mean Hon. Katomene Hasa’s daughter? The Prime Minister nods. The general stares at him. PM GAMATO It’s not what it seems, General. The photographs were doctored. They were delivered to me less than three hours ago. Someone is trying to blackmail me. GEN. OFUJI Tell me about it, Your Excellency. No office is as secure as mine in the whole kingdom. PM GAMATO General, you took an oath of allegiance twice this year. Turning against your principal could be interpreted as treasonous. But I know you as an objective man; a fire-fighter in a fire outbreak, a rationalist in times of anarchy and upheavals. When troopers gun-down demonstrators, you court marshal them before a shrewd tribunal. Half a dozen have been executed as a result. I came to you for the sole reason that you are the ultimate lifesaver or hangman. GEN. OFUJI Sir, you speak like a seasoned orator whose coming was premeditated. I don’t see why the King would kidnap a schoolgirl. He has thousands of willing maidens to choose from. This year over forty thousand girls attended the Reed Dance. 147 PM GAMATO General, the King is a sexual gourmand. Every man controlled by his feelings is criminal. GEN. OFUJI I am a career soldier. (Rising) I earned my rank and decorations. (Erect and straightening his uniform) Child abuse is not only illegal but evil. (Crosses to a set of glassware and a Smirnoff bottle on a tray on a small cabinet in a corner and pours a measure in a glass) Sir, this is a very tragic moment in our history. The pivotal question is whether or not His Majesty has the audacity to kidnap a schoolgirl. How do you expect a mortal like me to believe your story and claim of innocence? PM GAMATO On Wednesday they shall drag me from my office like a rabid dog, arrest and kill me. That is when you shall see the truth of the matter. After I am gone, Mimudeh shall turn up alive or dead, and it shall be charged on me posthumously. (Pauses) The Royal Guard and its brigadier are under your command, General. A member or two of the Guard will vouch to seeing Mimudeh at one of the King’s numerous residences. Then my blood shall be on your hands. GEN. OFUJI In don’t believe in God, Your Excellency. I believe in training, strategy, loyalty and a meticulous delivery of duty. If I say the word, guns and cannons will roar, Mig-fighters will criss-cross the territory and it can be Armageddon for everyone in this kingdom. (Pauses and sips) But I believe in dreams. It might sound phantasmagorical, but when I was a private thirty-eight years ago, my wife saw me in a dream. She 148 saw me rising above every rank to become the commandergeneral . This same woman dreamt of you two nights ago. You were stricken and limping towards me for help. PM GAMATO This is a Pontius Pilate allusion, General! Your wife is a prophetess of God; therefore you believe in God. Every form of belief is ultimately belief in God. GEN. OFUJI I am a man of ethics. (Demurs) Many things are offensive in this petticoat-government kingdom. (Sips and returns to his chair nursing the glass) What is the way forward then, Your Excellency? Do you have a proposal? PM GAMATO We must force the King to abdicate the monarchy...