Legionaries

Tina Saraswati

October 26th, 2018

At 19:13

"CRUTCHES!" I called Faruk who was busy wiping the lens of his favorite camcorder. The cameraman, who is also my old partner, seemed to be relaxing at a mini-stop across from the Anti-Corruption Committee building.

As I waved at him, his sunken lensed eyes immediately squinted. The distance of a few meters makes it take time to recognize my face. While packing his coverage equipment back, the fingers of his left hand made a jerky movement and immediately his cigarette butt shot smoothly into the trash can that happened to be beside him.

The glasses guy started to smile after the wave of my hand tightened. With a slide he grabbed all his coverage equipment to rush to me who had first arrived at the K.A.K building to carry out this impromptu coverage agenda.

This morning a shocking news spread among journalists of the capital. Budiman Rudiantoro, a politician and conglomerate suspected of being involved in the Sport Centre project bribery case, is rumored to have turned himself in at the K.A.K office. In fact, the legal status of politicians who have just declared their participation in the legislative election has actually not been determined. In fact, the K.A.K. has not released an examination agenda against him officially.

According to the news, Budiman was seen in the office of K.A.K. about an hour ago. I was surprised to hear the information from one of the journalist friends who happened to be around the location. The reason is, I know enough of that one character because we both often met on several occasions. According to my impression, he is a man who is very intelligent and dedicated to everything he is engaged in even though sometimes he tends to be ambitious.

And, the information that surprised me led me to directly contact Bang Anwar, the editor-in-chief of Eagle TV, to ask for permission for coverage directly. As I expected, he seemed surprised to see the enthusiasm of a news anchor like myself who actually intended to step down to become a reporter in the field. Luckily, after I explained about my interest in the case, he was quite mafhum. Presumably the same shock was also experienced by Faruk after finding my existence in this place.

"What are you doing here?" hailed, astonishment.

"Yes covered it. What else to do?"

"There are no other reporters? Cindy's? Kalsums? Sintha's? Are they all busy?"

"No, anyway. I'm the one who asked Bang Anwar for permission to go down directly to the location."

While setting the coverage equipment he brought, Faruk who looked still confused continued to look at my face. "It's so weird."

"Weird how?"

"You are already delicious work in a cool studio air-conditioned, now even want to hot here. The past?"

"Yes, here. I miss the coverage with you, Ruk."

"Jiaah... Womb!"

It did not take long for Faruk to finish setting his camera recorder. Within seconds, he was ready to carry the camera complete with his tripod device. With a face that still looked astonished, he pushed a microphone towards me.

"Today who caught the corruption?" tanyanya, polo.

"Have you not heard?"

Hearing my words that turned the question upside down, Faruk seemed to be a bit annoyed. "If I've heard, why do I ask you, Den Ayu?"

I chuckled lightly glancing at his typical anxious expression. It seems that for too long I have never again seen his comic face look. It's been three years since I've been promoted to news anchor. It was as if today I was reminiscing about the early days of my career in broadcasting.

"A ready? Where can we start?"

While muttering a little, Faruk looked around the courtyard of the K.A.K building.

"Yes... There you go" he replied, pointing his index finger at the front of the building lobby. The front page of this building does have a very wide corridor which is usually a favorite location point for media crews to report coverage.

I moved to that location point. Faruk, who was still stunned by my presence in this place, followed me from behind. Occasionally his eyes circulate towards the building, looking for the whereabouts of political figures or businessmen who seem familiar to him. It seemed that he was still curious about the figure that was in the news spotlight this time.

"Yes. Stop right there!" concluded, while groping. Next, in accordance with the live coverage procedure, my colleague immediately set up a direct connection to the ElangTV studio using a set of transmitter tools.

"Where? Already connected?"

"Awhile more. Still commercial break he said. Five minutes to go."

For a moment Faruk took the time to pull his two hands which had been busy arranging his camera setup. Now he stands around with his waist. His gaze returned a suspicious look at me and made me somewhat misbehavior.

"Why the hell, look around?" my sergeant.

"Nothing. Just a wonder. What makes you go down the mountain?"

"Gsssttt... Focus focus! We're working!"

Faruk's excitement is reasonable. He wasn't unaware of my closeness to the man who made headlines today. He must have heard it from the other colleagues. I just don't feel comfortable discussing it with him.

"Tin! Tin!" Suddenly Faruk called me half-whispering. My camera face changed immediately. His eyes are now fixed on one corner of the building K.A.K.

"What else?"

"Look at you!" whispered again, pointing her index finger to the top floor of the building.

Curious, I immediately responded by turning to the direction he pointed. "What the hell is it, Ruk?"

"Five floor!"

Instantly my eyeball stopped spinning and locked onto a dark, moving object. My eyes narrowed watching the sight. The black object resembles a human body that creeps agilely on the surface of the building wall. In an instant, the figure slipped into one of the rooms through the window glass.

For a moment Faruk and I looked at each other with their mouths open. For a few seconds, we both stood in each other's positions. I knew that what was in my partner's mind must be exactly the same as what I thought. Our heads are both faced with big questions.

"Ruk, do you still believe the news of the wind around the hitman agent?"

"Yes. And you know what all the rooms on the fifth floor of this building are used for?" Faruk whispered again with a face filled with tension.

"Reservation room?" I answer, no less tense.

"Who's the character K.A.K caught today, Tin?"

"Budiman Rudiantoro's. This afternoon the land crocodile turned himself in."

Faruk turned his head back to the point where the dark-colored figure waltzed into the building of the K.A.K building. Suddenly, his breath spurred.

"What are we gonna do now?" He asked me a question again.

"I still keep Budiman's number. I have to warn him."

"good. I'll call the police and other fellow journalists. This information should spread virally. It's a great opportunity to capture one of them and uncover who's been behind the massive killings all along."