She Bleeds for Us: The Galactic Consortium 3

Chapter 32

Jake and Chatura followed Abioya off the tram. Normally he'd turn left, into the ground station. He'd take the next elevator up to Bamako station and get food up there while waiting for his flight home. But Abioya wanted them all to go to supper together before their week off and to meet someone. Jake wasn't sure what was up, but Abioya was being uncharacteristically vague and nervous about this supper.

Jake hoped Abioya hadn't gotten himself into some trouble, though he couldn't imagine what sort of trouble that would be. All he could do was wait.

They crossed the road and hailed a cab. The cab was a four-door yellow car of earth make with the hood missing. The engine had been ripped out and replaced with a consortium electric motor.

It was increasingly common sight throughout Africa. The solar stations made electricity much cheaper than gas. Locals were known for being resourceful and they had figured out to replace gas engines quickly with more efficient technology.

Abioya gave the driver an address and placed his palm up to prepay for the ride, and they were off. Jake quickly lost any sense of where they were.

The restaurant was popular with locals. They were greeted by the sounds of French, the official national language and a mixture of the more than a dozen other languages commonly spoken by the people. A woman bowed to them and led them back without speaking. They must have been expected.

Then again they had Chatura with them. If they had been told a group of Consortium workers was coming with a hanuman among them, little other description was needed. Hanuman were still a rare sight on earth and several heads turned to watch them as they went by.

And a few eyes fell on him as well. He blushed as he realized that a light skin American was only slightly less out of place than Chatura here.

A kurgara was waiting for them in a booth at the back of the place. Devaki. Jake knew hir by name, she was the one who had defied the military in the early days of the protests in Sierre Leone. He'd not seen hir since.

Zie had a platter of appetizers on the table and zie gestured them in. They made introductions and ordered their food. They talked about minor issues while waiting for their food and then eating.

It wasn't until the meal was almost done that Devaki got down to business. "I wanted to talk to you off base about something," zie said.

"Why off base?" Jake asked.

"What I am going to ask you about isn't exactly illegal," Devaki said. "At least not in the Legal—department-pursuing-you-for-criminal-charges sense of the word. But neither the military or administration would approve."

That seemed like a very fine line distinction.

"Look," zie said. "I want you to know what is at stake for you personally. It's not going to land you in a penal court. But the administration would have all of us out if they heard a word of this."

"Out as in?" Chatura asked.

"As in out of a job. And a career." Devaki looked nervous suddenly. Jake thought that zie had more at stake on those grounds. Driving truck was a job for Jake, one he loved, but not a career he'd spent years working towards.

"But not jail," Abioya said.

"If they find out," Devaki said.

"But don't you guys have a surveillance network that is everywhere?" Jake protested. "Like don't they just know everything?" that was what the news back home always said.

"If someone tries to access that data, they will have to know something already, have some justifiable cause. They can't just call Information and demand private conversations," Devaki said.

"And why would they ask?" Chatura said. "I mean we are off base and off the clock. What business is it of theirs what we say?"

Jake was worried about the whole direction of this conversation. But Chatura was okay with this, he had grown up with their legal system and probably understood it better than Jake. "Fine, what is it you want to say to us?"

"I have some spare supplies, nothing dangerous, no weapons. Just stuff that might be useful to certain people in certain places. I have people ready to receive the supplies. I just need someone who drives a lot from place to place..."

"You're talking about smuggling," Jake said. "You are setting up a smuggling ring." He had no intention of becoming part of a criminal operation.

"No." Devaki insisted. And then. "Yes. But what choice do we have? We are trying to help people, people who only want a better life. And why can't we help them?" Zie fixed hir eyes on Jake. "You say you have a brother, Mike. What would you do if he was starving and you couldn't help him because he was on the wrong side of some diplomatic line?"

"You are helping the protestors in Sierre Leone?" Abioya said, leaning in. "Is that it?"

"Yes, and elsewhere," Devaki said. "I've got a comrade scouting in Sudan. Zie wanted to take enough rations to feed the others, who risk their lives to help the military. But command won't agree. I know a contact in Nigeria that wants to continue the farming work you guys started, but can't get the seeds now."

"Yes," Abioya said, his face intent. Jake knew he was in. He'd been angry for weeks that local governments were shutting their border, not letting them help.

But what did Jake think? Devaki had hit a nerve asking about Mike. What would Jake risk for his little brother?

"And what would we have to do?" Chatura asked. Like Jake, he looked uncertain.

"I would deliver the supplies to you before you leave on your long term mission. You would see them handed off to my contacts. You would not have to cross any borders or commit any illegal acts along the way. And like I said, I swear there will be no weapons, nothing dangerous."

"And how soon do we need to give our answer?" Jake asked.

"There's no deadline. But I would like to be able to move supplies soon. Their situation is growing more critical with each passing day."

Devaki excused hirself shortly after.

It was dark when they left the restaurant. Jake's flight would be in a couple of hours and they headed back toward the ground station. "What do you guys think?" he asked as they climbed into a cab.

"It's the right thing," Abioya said. He gave Jake and Chatura a single determined look and then swallowed. "I mean, I don't want to get you guys into trouble. I won't insist. But you know my answer."

"Chatura?" Jake asked.

Chatura shrugged. "Shin isn't so bad."

Jake scrunched his brow.

"I mean, zie's right. It's not like you go to jail for something nonviolent like this. But certainly, we could lose our jobs. I'd be back on Shin station. Working something else. But life would go on for me. You," he pointed at the other two. "I've heard you talk about home, how hard jobs and things are. You risk more than me by a long stretch."

"That leaves it up to you," Abioya said to Jake.

Jake stared out the window of the cab, watching the ground station approach. They pulled up to the front entrance and got out. The three of them stood in front of the entrance for a long time. "I'll think about it," Jake said finally. "I'll think about it."

Abioya nodded. "Okay."