She Bleeds for Us: The Galactic Consortium 3

Chapter 54

Jake returned from helping the healers on a short mission to a nearby village to find all of the relief workers in his barrack gathered at the front. An oversized screen played the news and every eye was watching intently.

The ticker read "Crackdown in Freetown." Jake froze and then hurried over. He stared on, horrified, as the news program played. He couldn't process what they were saying, all he could do was to watch the scenes on the screen. Crowds running in fear. Tear gas falling amongst them.

The news changed to another scene, one where the protestors were fighting back, clashing with the police and the military. Yet another scene with hundreds of people arrested, military men marching them into waiting trucks.

"When?" he sputtered out.

"It's happening right now," Pierre said to Jake's left. "The news broke just a few minutes ago."

Abioya and Chatura came over to where Jake was standing. Abioya looked distraught. "We need to talk," he hissed. He headed for the door.

Jake made to join him. Somewhere at his back he heard Åse call his name.

He practically had to run to catch up to Abioya, who was pacing near the edge of the barrack. "He's there," Abioya started without preamble. "And we encouraged it. He's just a kid. We should have never let him... We shouldn't have encouraged him."

He broke off as Åse came over. "It's okay," Jake said to Abioya. "She knows."

Abioya gave her a sharp look.

"She's the other go between, or one of them," Jake said. "She knows about Gabriel."

"And the boy didn't need encouragement," Pierre added as he joined them. "In fact, I doubt any of us could have dissuaded him."

"Who all knows?" Abioya asked. It was Abioya, Chatura, Jake, Åse and Pierre gathered in the street outside the barracks.

Pierre answered. "Us, a couple of the Consortium workers, Initisha and Karin. They bring the bags to us. Otherwise, I'm not sure. One of the other kuragara, Kandra, has been across the border on missions of her own. I don't know if they are connected or not."

Åse gave him a sharp look.

"I've driven her to the border, that's all. Anything I can do to help."

"It doesn't matter," Jake said. "I think Pierre is right, though. You couldn't dissuade Gabriel."

"But now," Abioya insisted. "There are real consequences. If they've caught him..."

Abioya didn't finish. A cold pit opened in Jake's stomach.

"If they haven't caught him," Pierre said. "They surely will now, with a crackdown going on in the city. And then..."

"It won't matter that he's only a boy," Abioya said, his voice grim. "Only that he's an enemy."

"What are we going to do?" Åse asked, looking at Jake.

Jake's mind went back to that day in Southern Libya, when they had helped the refugees fleeing from warlords. The men shooting at the truck. It hadn't even left a mark. He felt a rush of adrenaline. "I'm going after him," he declared suddenly.

He looked around the group, expecting someone to protest. To tell him that he was being silly. Or that the consortium would sort it out soon enough.

Instead Pierre gave a shrug. "Of course, it's what we got to do, isn't it?" A smile played across his face.

"We have to, he's just a boy," Abioya said.

"I'm going to," Åse said.

"Brown Bessy just arrived and is full of supplies," Pierre said. "You go with the boys. I will find Initisha and we will hijack another truck. We've got to hit the border before sundown."

"Why?" Chatura asked.

"Because it's the UN peacekeepers on duty right now. I doubt they have a clue how to stop a consortium truck. At nightfall it will be a consortium military unit, and they will know how to stop us."

Jake nodded, "Yeah, let's do this. Come'on."