Anahita's revenge

 

Zarrin-Dokht was not satisfied. She had just received a near-average score on her master's exam in medical physics at Georgia Tech. She had never failed anything in her studies. She worked hard. But she'd had a pretty busy schedule the last few months. The nights spent fighting crime were beginning to interfere with her ability to study.

All those Taliban scum, all those barbarians, those bandits who were looting the poor were getting scared. There was more and more talk of a female demon who punished the wicked at night. Elsewhere, in the countryside, there was secret talk of Anahita, the pre-Islamic goddess, returning from the mists of time.

The reality was more prosaic, the young woman had equipped herself with night vision goggles and had mounted an infrared telescope on her French-made 7.62 caliber FR-F2. At night, she drove around in an electric car. This allowed her to silently approach her targets with the lights off. From a distance, she would shoot all those morons who were playing at night warriors.

The imams were enraged. Several testimonies repeated that these acts of war came from a woman. Since Zarrin-Dokht operated in tight-fitting clothes, like an American superheroine, hysteria spread among the clerics. This nod to the American superheroes of the 20th century was a provocation in one of the most backward countries in the world. But the target was not these boors. Zarrin-Dokht was talking to all the young Afghan girls who secretly dreamed of becoming superheroines, so they could kick the asses of all those bastards who were denying them a future.

But her nightly fights were disrupting her studies. The English used in the distance learning courses was technical. From Kabul, it was difficult to follow courses at this level. Zarrin-Dokht had always done very well, but the bar was high. Medical physics was her father's idea, and he was convinced that his daughter could succeed in any field.

For a girl, even in Kabul, higher education was dangerous. Religious fundamentalists were taking over the country and gradually closing all windows to the Western world. Taking correspondence courses was more discreet.

Zarrin-Dokht was therefore attacking the Muslim extremists. If they took over, women like her would suffer. It would be burkas again, confinement, the banning of all music and openness to the world...

Zarrin-Dokht had another exam in two months. She had better pass it brilliantly if she wanted to continue on this path.

Sometimes she lost courage, thinking that all this was useless. Did she have any chance of working as a teacher or researcher in a country that refused to give women their place? Wouldn't she end up giving up and going into exile with her family in California?

She was determined to fight and kill all the tribal leaders who kept her country in its medieval ways, ready to eliminate any male if necessary. She was a Supergirl, the first in Afghanistan, ready to die for her freedom.

But tonight, until finals, she would stay home wisely. First, she would take fewer risks while maintaining the uncertainty, and second, she would give herself a chance for a plan B, a professional career in the world of civilized men.