She Bleeds for Us: The Galactic Consortium 3

Chapter 16

Gabriel watched the man walk away, despair welling up in his chest. Didn't he understand? Sarasvat had to come. And now.

"Boy," the woman said. "I am Devaki. I am kurgara. I would hear your story."

Though she didn't actually say that. The man had spoken English and Gabriel knew some, it wasn't that different from the Krio he spoke in the ghetto. This woman spoke something completely different and the white collar thing at her neck spit out Krio.

She had knelt to his level and held out a bottle of water. He took it. It was sealed and he broke the seal and drank deeply. It was good. But he was not going to be so easily swayed from his mission. "I'm not a refugee."

"Tell me then," she said. She knelt and waited.

So he began to talk. He told her about his grandma.

"The blind witch?" She repeated.

"That's what they call her," he explained. "She's my grandma and I live with her."

"In the ghetto?"

It went on like this for a long time. She asked clarifying questions, made sure she knew exactly what and who he was talking about. But otherwise, she let him talk, telling her of the protests, how the police had come and blocked them in the ghetto. How elsewhere people were fleeing the country, but the soldiers were turning them back.

When he was done she sat a long time, regarding him with a thoughtful expression.

"Do you know Sarasvat?" He demanded after some time.

"I've met her, in fact. A great woman."

"She must come help my grandma."

"And the others in the ghetto?"

"Yes, them too. Uncle Issa, my cousin Favour. Even Aunt Marie. The rich man on the corner. All of them."

Devaki chuckled. "The Princess is an important woman, with much on her plate. But I can guess what she wants easy enough; what she would do. Wait here a moment. Don't leave, okay?"

He wasn't about leave, not without an answer. If anything he fought the impulse to give chase as Devaki walked back into the camp.

The man was watching him, a curious expression on his face like he wanted to help, but what could he do. "Another water?"

Gabriel shrugged but accepted the bottle that was handed over.

Devaki returned with a pack and another man following her. He wore a heavy blue jacket like the first man Gabriel had talked to. Didn't they get hot in all those clothes? Wouldn't they be better in light tops and pants, like Gabriel and Devaki? Then again, the others both had light skin and light-skinned people burned in the sun. Gabriel had seen white people slavering themselves in creams to prevent that.

The man was arguing with Devaki and Gabriel only caught bits of their conversation.

"I know," Devaki snapped. "Your mission parameters! My mission parameters are moral, not geographic. A border? It's just a line. Suffering is the same this side or that."

"The commander," the man was protesting.

"Go tell him then," Devaki said, making a cutting motion with her hand. "He will be pissed. But I answer to Brigade Commandant Lakora. And more importantly to my own oaths. I will do this."

They broke off as they approached Gabriel. Devaki stood in front of him. "The princess Sarasvat is not available to help your people right now, but I will go in her stead, see what is truly going on in these ghettos. Do I what I can. This I swear. Is that enough, Gabriel?"

He looked at her. How much could one person do? But he saw the determination in her stance and it matched his own. He nodded and held out his hand.

They turned and headed back towards the border. He glanced back once and found both men watching them.