In the ruins of the fall, there is a field of roses growing in DR Congo. An ex-soldier walks through the fields of yellow, orange, and red roses. The ex-soldier, an Ethiopian, touches a blossom and marvels at how the splendor of this flower hides painful thorns just beneath its petals. As the warrior moves toward a loud, grunting noise, he knows that he has put the deceit of the rose to good use. After soaking some rose stems in vinegar to make them more pliable, the ex-soldier braided the stems together to make thorn ropes. This former soldier then used the thorn ropes to make traps around this gorgeous flower garden.
As the ex-soldier, Tewodoros “Teddy” Tilahun, moves towards the grunting, he can hear the trapped victim cursing in French. Teddy steps up his pace. Here in the Congo, many of the locals speak French, and the locals aren’t his target. Teddy rushes to the trap to check its contents.
Good.
It’s a Rwandan militiaman. He’s on the ground with his legs bound in thorn rope. Teddy draws the curved blade of his shotel, Abeba, from its sheath. He looks around. Where there’s one militiaman, there are probably more. Teddy creeps closer to the militiaman. A quick slice from Abeba severs the man’s jugular vein. The rose field is silent. There is only the wind touching the blossoms.
A machete swipes from above. Teddy parries with Abeba and slices open the assailant’s belly. His warrior sense is piqued and Teddy dives to the ground in time to dodge automatic gunfire. Teddy crawls away on the ground like he learned in basic training. He takes cover behind another row of rose bushes. Teddy sees a rose bush with red paint on several of its blossoms. The rose blossoms on this bush are already red, but Teddy’s family has been growing them long enough for Teddy to see the difference in hue.
He sprints for the bush. The gunman follows. Teddy jumps behind the bush and dives again for the ground. The gunman sprints after him, stepping into a snare trap. The thorny rope constricts around the gunman’s ankle. His next step yanks the stem, triggering the second stage of the trap. The stone that anchors the trap rushes forward and wraps the thorny rope around the gunman’s feet, like a bola. The gunman hits the dirt. Teddy takes away his weapon.
Hmm… A Kalashnikov with a milled receiver. The lightning cut on the sides is parallel to the barrel. Must be a 2A model, a relic. The Rwandans are getting desperate. The war’s not going in their favor. Then again, how could it? The Nigerians have already taken control of most of West Africa. Their enemy, Abyssinia, has South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, Kenya, and Burundi. These militiamen are just caught in between, like the rest of DR Congo. Teddy exhales. Soon, the two biggest superpowers in Africa will be fighting in his backyard.
A young girl jumps out from behind a bush. “Tenastelegn, Teddy!” she squeaks in greeting.
“Rose,” Teddy says sternly, “I told you to stay at the flower shop.”
The girl playfully touches his nose. “And I told you I need a protector,” she says holding up her hands. She has eight fingers instead of ten. “So I’m staying with you.”
“Come on then,” says the ex-soldier.
He saved the girl from some thugs. She’s been following him around ever since. They were trying to cut her up for parts. Albino fingers fetch a good price in these parts. Teddy looks at the girl limping behind him. So do albino toes. African albinos are supposed to be magical and the local witches pay a fair price for fresh stock. Rose, here, isn’t an albino though. She’s half-Chinese with fair skin, not that anyone can tell just from looking at her fingers.
“I heard guns,” Rose says. “What was in the traps?”
Teddy replies, “M-23.”
“From Rwanda?”
“Yeah.”
“No Nigerians?” she asks.
“Not yet.”
“And what about your people?” she asks. “Do you think the Abyssinians are coming?”
“They’re not my people,” Teddy snaps. “I’m Ethiopian. This conquering mess they’ve become, I want no part of it.”
“So they’re not coming?”
Teddy pauses and looks up at the sky. Something flickers overhead and is gone. “The Abyssinians are coming,” Teddy states grimly. “I’m certain of it.”
Back in the town of Shoko N’Dukais, Teddy and Rose head back to the flower shop, Teddy’s business. Teddy hangs his shotel and sheath on a hook behind the front counter.
“Shouldn’t you clean your sword before putting it up?” Rose observes.
“It’s not a sword,” Teddy answers. “It’s a shotel and I need a bath first.” Teddy goes to the apartment in the back of the store.
Rose calls to him, “Do you want me to bathe you?”
Teddy shouts back, “I can do it on my own. You manage the store.”
Rose goes about opening the flower shop just in time for the workers to show up from their day shifts. Business is slow, but steady as Chinese workers shuffle in from the construction site near town. Rose speaks to them in Mandarin and they tell her that she is a very pretty African. None of them claim her as Chinese. Her hips are too big and her hair is too curly. They complement Rose by telling her that her skin doesn’t look as “dirty” as the other Africans. They say her “clean” skin is attractive. Rose simply smiles. Her father’s Chinese family treated her the same way.
Rose speaks French to the Congolese customers that stroll in, seeking to beautify their homes with flowers. Some come to impress the girls. The Congolese are usually polite and ask why a pretty China girl like her has no husband. Her pat response is that she’s working on it.
After a while, Teddy comes to the front counter. He grabs his shotel and sheath from off the wall.
“What are you doing?” Rose asks.
“I’m going to clean Abeba,” Teddy replies, holding up the sheathed blade.
“You could make some arrangements in the back,” Rose suggests. “You know I don’t have the fingers for it.”
Teddy strikes a stern pose. “Don’t guilt-trip me, girl.”
“Please,” she asks, fluttering her eyelashes.
“Alright,” Teddy gruffly agrees.
He goes to the store room to arrange the flowers. The store may only have roses, but Teddy makes due. He uses white roses for death and red roses for love. Orange roses are for friends and family. He thinks about how Rose has him slaving away in the back of his own store and smiles. Teddy thinks of the life he left behind in Ethiopia and the family he could have had. Then he hears a customer at the front speaking fluent English.
“What’s a sexy woman like you doing in a snakepit like this?”
Rose answers, “I’m just a simple flower girl. Would you like a bouquet?”
Teddy walks to the doorway separating the back room from the front counter. He peeks from behind a corner. Teddy sees that the voice belongs to a giant of a man with jet black skin, full lips, a flat nose, and teeth as white as British snow.
“A Nigerian…” Teddy says under his breath.
“I’ll take a dozen roses,” the Nigerian orders.
Teddy puts the order together and arranges the bouquet. While he works he listens to the Nigerian talk to Rose.
“I know you are smitten with my natural beauty,” says the Nigerian, flexing his pectoral muscles, “but I’m actually here to find a man. An Abyssinian. They say he defends this town by planting roses around it and setting traps in the bushes. Do you know of him, my beauty?”
Rose stammers, “I-I do not know who you speak of.”
Teddy leans out of the doorway as the Nigerian takes Rose’s hand and kisses it.
The Nigerian says, “No need to be afraid, my beauty. I could never hurt a woman as lovely as you.”
Teddy steps out. “If you’re looking for me, I’m here. Leave the girl alone.”
Still holding Rose’s hand, the Nigerian smiles at Teddy. “I will do no such thing,” he states. Then he stands up to his full height. “Where are my manners? I am the great general, Omotola Naraku! You may have heard of me.”
Teddy sneers. “I have. They call you the ‘Spider King’."
Omotola rears his head back in laughter. “I am no king, Abyssinian. Not yet anyway.”
Teddy waves his arm, “I am no Abyssinian. I want no part of their war.”
Omotola strikes an inquisitive tone. “So you are a simple Ethiopian?” He gestures at Rose. “And this is your woman?”
“She’s under my protection, as is this town.”
The Nigerian general strokes his chin. “So the rumors are true. You wield a curved sword?”
“My shotel, yes.”
The general smiles. “Then let us duel. Nigerian metal against your steel.”
“In the rose field, south of here,” Teddy states.
“Agreed. We shall meet with the rising of the sun.”
“With the rising of the sun,” Teddy agrees.
Omotola places some money on the counter. “For the roses,” he says leering at Rose. “They can never match your beauty.” Then the general leaves.
The shop is empty now. Rose locks the door and closes the shop. Teddy picks up Abeba and heads to the apartment behind the store. Rose follows. In the apartment, she faces Teddy and slaps him.
“Is that all I am to you?” she shrieks. “Another person that needs protecting?”
“Africa is at war,” Teddy says calmly. “This town needs my protection.”
Rose flitters her hands about. “So that’s all you do: protect, protect, protect! You’re going to get yourself killed!”
“What do you want me to do?” Teddy asks quietly.
“I want you to think about yourself and what I’ve done for you. I cook. I clean. I run your shop, but all you think about is protection?”
With frustration, Teddy says, “You told me you needed protection.”
“Well, maybe I deserve a little more,” Rose responds. She points at Teddy. “I’m sleeping in the bed tonight. You can have my spot on the floor.”
“On top of the pillows?”
“On top of the pillows!” she snaps.
Then Rose turns to go to the kitchen to make dinner. When it’s ready, the two eat in silence contemplating what will happen to them on the morrow.
Later Teddy sleeps on the floor pillows he laid out for Rose almost a year ago. When sleep comes, Teddy dreams of Somalia. He’s in the Infinite Army. He and his Ethiopian comrades are ruthlessly slaughtering the Somalis. They never see him coming. Teddy is wearing armor from the great Ramsus Zephyr which makes him invisible. The battles are one-sided. Most of his opponents are asleep. It’s not war. It’s genocide.
Teddy wakes up. Rose is sitting next to him.
“It’s time,” she says.
The two silently dress themselves and prepare for the day. At breakfast, Teddy tells Rose, “You don’t have to come. You can still run away. Find anoth--”
“I’m staying with you,” she states and finishes her food.
When they finish their meal, Teddy heads out to the field. Rose follows behind him with her nine-toed gait. Teddy arrives in the rose field south of town just as the sun breaches the tree line in the east.
Teddy Tilahun looks among the rows of rosebushes. The Nigerian is not here. Teddy looks behind him. Rose is standing at the edge of the field. She shouts:
“Is he here?”
Teddy throws up his hands. “I don’t see him!”
Suddenly, the ground trembles. Birds fly away in the distance. Then a giant, metal ball rolls towards him. The ball picks up speed. Sprinting, Teddy dodges the death ball. The ball speeds by and turns around flattening all in its path.
“Ha, HA!” gloats Omotola from the metal sphere. “You are quick, Ethiopian. Good! Good! This duel will be a very enjoyable one!”
The death ball rolls towards Teddy again. He runs quickly and jumps out of the way at the last second. “You dirty Nigerian!” Teddy yells. “You were supposed to fight with honor!”
“Really?” says Omotola from the death ball. “You wanted me to fight with honor in a field filled with your traps?” The Nigerian laughs, “The Abyssinian reputation for cunning is well-earned.”
“I am not an Abyssinian,” Teddy declares, “but I will protect this village!” Teddy unsheathes his shotel. “Come fight me, Omotola!”
The ball rolls backwards slightly. “All in good time, but first, let me show you why they call me the Spider King.”
The death ball rapidly expands into an ovoid lattice. Teddy can see the command module inside the deathball. Then the lattice explodes into a dozen pieces. Teddy takes a ready stance with his shotel as he watches each of the twelve pieces turn into a meter-high spider drone.
The eight-legged robots advance on Teddy. He takes note of the strange guns attached to each drone's underbelly. A rose blossom bursts next to his face. As the singed petals fall, Teddy knows what the spiders are armed with.
Laser guns.
Teddy curses under his breath.
He runs through the rose field, weaving and dodging between bushes. He swings his shotel behind him in an attempt to deflect any errant laser blasts. Ducking behind a yellow rose bush, he checks his blade. The carbon fiber metal is orange and smoking. Fortunately, Teddy’s plan is in place. He’s sitting next to one of his snare traps. He sees a metal leg deftly touch the ground beside him.
He triggers the trap.
The thorn rope snares two of the drone’s legs. Teddy slices through the drone with his shotel. Another drone is behind him! Teddy blocks the laser blast with Abeba and uses the heated blade to dispatch the drone.
Two down. Ten to go.
Teddy looks for the next drone. He sees none. Teddy’s heard of spider drones. They were commissioned in Nigeria in response to the advances in Ethiopian technology. The spiders lack the ability to cloak and camouflage like Ethiopian drones, but they are silent. Omotola’s probably coordinating them from his command module.
Above him.
A spider is leaping over a rose bush to surprise Teddy. The Ethiopian whips his shotel through the machine and blocks a laser from an arachnid he didn’t know was there. Teddy destroys that drone too.
Behind him, a drone scurries out. Teddy destroys it. He strikes at another jumping spider.
Six down, and Teddy’s not sure how long his luck will hold.
Wait.
Teddy sniffs the air. It has a tart flavor. It doesn’t stink like sweat or blood. It smells like…men’s cologne.
Teddy barely dodges a machete swipe from Omotola.
The big Nigerian growls as he swings, “I never should’ve sent machines to do a man’s job!”
Teddy parries a blow with the hilt of his shotel, but hurts his hand in the process. Teddy switches hands in time to block another laser blast from a spider. He cleaves the drone in two as he ducks away from Omotola. Teddy spots a painted rosebush.
“You know I thought you Nigerians were faster,” Teddy mocks, baiting the big general. Teddy runs towards the trap followed by an angry Omotola and his spider bots. Teddy skips over the trap. The snare trap snags the big man’s foot, bringing him to the ground. Teddy leaps over him to attack the three spider drones behind the general. Three slashes later and the drones are smoking junk.
Teddy looks back for Omotola. He sees the Nigerian slice through the thorn rope with his machete. Teddy curses at the Nigerian’s precision cutting. Another spider drone jumps over a bush at Teddy. He slices and destroys it, but not before Omotola gets to his feet. Teddy rushes the Nigerian. Omotola parries downward and kicks Teddy away.
The Ethiopian gets up. His weapon is gone. He looks to Omotola. The big Nigerian is holding Teddy’s shotel.
“Fine blade,” the general remarks.
“It’s a family heirloom,” Teddy explains. “A gift from Queen Makeda of Sheba.”
The general examines the blade. “Damascus steel. Very nice. You must come from a great family.” The Nigerian tosses Teddy the shotel.
Teddy catches Abeba. “Yes. Yes, I do.”
The Nigerian nods. “You’ve acquitted yourself with honor this day.”
“I wish I could say the same for you,” Teddy derides.
“Your words hurt,” the Nigerian says. “I am a great general in my country with a legion of soldiers posted not far from here. I did not enlist their aid and I have returned your blade.”
“You attacked me with robot spiders,” Teddy points out.
Genuinely perplexed, Omotola responds, “How can you say you fought the Spider King if I don’t attack you with spiders?”
“Good point,” Teddy concedes. “I guess you have fought honorably.”
A spider drone creeps out from behind a rose bush.
“It’s time to finish this,” states Omotola.
“With honor,” says Teddy.
The robot spider climbs onto Omotola’s back and wraps its legs around him. “Of course,” says Omotola, “with honor.”
The spider’s laser cannon articulates and reaches over Omotola’s shoulder. It aims at Teddy.
Teddy dives and blocks a laser shot in mid-air. He hits the ground and rolls as Omotola’s machete slams into the ground where Teddy once was. Teddy blocks another laser blast and somersaults away.
Teddy hides behind another rosebush and is thankful that the Nigerian is using lasers. Bullets travel in an arc and are extremely unpredictable. Lasers, however, travel in a straight line and are instantaneous. Teddy is simply blocking the places he would be aiming at if he were the shooter. Still, dodging the Nigerian’s wild machete swings is difficult, especially while blocking laser blasts from his shoulder.
Teddy changes tactics and attacks the Nigerian’s right side, the side without the laser cannon. He slashes low with Abeba, forcing the tall Omotola to change his posture and adapt to fighting a shorter opponent. The Nigerian starts to lose ground.
Then the spider drone’s cannon switches shoulders. Teddy curses as he ducks and rolls over to the Nigerian’s other side. The cannon switches again. Teddy again switches sides. The morning sun rises higher into the sky, as Teddy continues to dance around Omotola. The big man begins to sweat. Teddy can smell victory approaching.
Finally, Omotola misses a parry and Teddy’s blade cuts through the laser cannon and the general’s throat in one stroke. The big man falls to the ground, headless.
Breathing heavily, Teddy sheathes his shotel. “You fought well, my friend. Rest in peace.”
A shrill ululation goes up in the air as Rose and the townspeople of Shoko N’Dukais rush towards him from the edge of the field. Teddy smiles at his victory celebration. Then he senses something.
“Everybody! Stay back!” he orders.
The village people stop their celebratory advance. Teddy looks up. In the sky, he sees a flicker. Then it disappears. Then seven airships appear in the sky hovering over the rose field. Abyssinian flags are painted on the sides of each. Gun drones roll from behind rose bushes and aim at Teddy and the villagers.
A line drops down from the lead airship. Riding the line is a brown-skinned man in green military fatigues and a red officer’s beret. He steps off the line, bows and greets Teddy.
“Tenastelegn, Ato Tewodoros, the hero of Danakil.” The Abyssinian looks at Teddy’s shotel in its sheath. “I assume that shotel is Abeba.”
“Yes, it is,” Teddy responds, “but I’m no hero.”
The officer gestures at the corpse at Teddy’s feet. “Your battle with this Nigerian says differently. You put on a very good show.”
“What do you want?”
The officer puts out his right hand. “I’m here to offer you your reward for your service, a commission in the Abyssinian military. You can be part of the Infinite Army once more.”
“No.”
“But you are Abyssinian.”
“I am Ethiopian,” Teddy states, “and I will not support a war of conquest.”
“We are spreading Ethiopian values to the rest of Africa,” the officer counters.
“Yes! But not with war,” says Teddy. “Ethiopia should spread its values to Africa the way it always has, by sharing them. By helping other Africans, talking with them. The other African nations adopt our colors in their flags because we taught them the meaning of green, gold, and red. We taught them this with peace, not war.”
The officer scowls. “Times change and Ethiopia must change with them.”
“Then you must kill me,” Teddy declares, “because I will protect Shoko N’Dukais, even from you.”