***** Vol.4 Chap.23 Another disturbing newsflash *****

JB skipped out of the café and wasted no time to head to another bank across town to open a savings account with the money.

As she counted out the money, she was astounded that the bonus was as much as the agreed upon price. She did not know what to think. In fact, she was not thinking on anything except when she would get the next dataset. Perhaps she would ask for double her pay next time.

She decided it was passed the time to treat herself to an expensive dinner for a job well done. After all, she deserved it. Since she seldom went to the faculty club for meals, she decided that it was time to start going to the faculty club.

To make an impression, she ordered the most expensive item on the menu at the faculty club.

After she finished her dinner, she was just enjoying a cup of decaf when she caught the news on the TV.

“Breaking news. This is Joseph Berterop reporting. I am a CNN correspondent at Qetidghe, South Africa.

A nearby village in the western tip of Qetidghe was completely demolished this morning by a marauding gang of attackers from a nearby tribe. The entire village was demolished in a matter of hours. We have obtained an eyewitness story from a survivor who was severely injured in the conflict. The survivor was horrified and terrified and could barely speak in telling this reporter what happened.

I belong to the tribe of Uytieeo. Our neighboring tribe is Ngoooner. We had a peaceful relationship for many generations. We traded our crops and our goods. We had a few marriages between the two tribes. Sure, we had had some quarrels between the two tribes, mostly on the water rights of the river running between the two tribes. We both respect one another. It had been like that for many generations.

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All of sudden this morning, while the men were having our monthly tribal meeting in deciding things for the tribe and the women were tending to our wheat crops, a gang of fighters from Ngoooner came to our land with spears and shields and machetes. They did not answer our call to peace but marched straight to our long house where we had the tribal meeting.

Oh, this is horrible. With a single shout from the leader of the gang, the whole gang of fighters started wielding their weapons and start slaughtering everyone in sight. I was out back at the time and heard the noise. I rushed into the tent, but it was too late. The gang had already slaughtered all the men and was doing a victory dance. I was so scared that I hid behind the entrance curtain. Fortunately, they did not see me at all.

Oh, what a terrible sight! They danced and danced and danced. Then the leader of the gang took out some kind of drink and they all drank from the leather bag. It was crazy! A few minutes after they took the drink, they became calm. They tidied up their appearances, formed into a line, and marched back to their land as if nothing had happened.

I could not believe my eyes. The gang I saw when I first got to the tent door and the gang I saw when they left the tent was not the same gang. But they were the same fighters. They came in ferociously wielding their weapons and no one could stand before them. Then they took a drink. Next minute, they were tranquil like a lamb. I had never in my life witness anything like that. I really like to know what they were drinking, but they took the drinking bag with them.

What an unbelievable story from an injured survivor recounting the tragedy that had happened to the tribe called Qetidghe. Stay tuned. This is Joseph Berterop reporting live from Qetidghe in South Africa.”

JB heard the whole thing. She was baffled by the account. Could that be possible that by drinking some concoction, a gang of ferocious fighters could be transformed into a group of peaceful workers? She really wanted to find out more.

That was exactly what she wanted to do. It appeared that someone beat her to that. She was getting mad. She must get to the bottom of this. She wondered who supplied the drink to these fighters.

She wrote a note to herself to ask Dr. Schmidtiz if he heard about this news. Someone must have stolen their research. This was not a good situation. JB was getting mad that perhaps someone else had done what she wanted to do. The more she dwelled on this, the madder she got.

Finally, she decided to call Dr. Schmidtiz.

No answer.

She dialed again.

Still no answer.