She Bleeds for Us: The Galactic Consortium 3

Chapter 10

"Where are you guys," Åse asked. Her head was currently being projected on their dashboard. Åse was a friend of Helvig's, whom Jake had met when he first came to Africa. She'd joined her friend a few weeks ago and Jake liked her. He liked her long blond hair, her pale narrow face and her thick sexy accent.

He was currently at the wheel, with Chatura in the co-pilot's chair. "We are nowhere," he told her. "And booking."

"Booking?"

"Going fast," he corrected. "Across the Sahara. We will hit Bamako base late tonight but that's only a stop on the route they gave us. You know what's up?"

She knew part of it. More than a dozen governments around Africa were closing their borders, under the pretext of civil unrest, terrorist activity or rebel groups. No one really believed the excuses.

Their actions had been triggered in large part by elections in some central African country that Jake had never heard of. The president and about half the elected officials had been voted out of office after UN and Consortium observers had thrown out thousands of illegal votes.

For corrupt politicians in many places it was a wake up call. "Free and fair" elections would have to be truly free and fair. How to hang on to power now? But they weren't going down without a fight.

The other side of things had taken everyone by surprise. "She bleeds for us" protests had cropped everywhere without any apparent organization. Even in the most remote village people seemed to know two things. There was a new power in the sky that wanted to help them. And the reason she couldn't come was because the local governments didn't want her there.

He thought of that day during the Asha-Tanga festival, when the princess had cut her own arm. Jake didn't doubt the power of iconic moments. He'd seen it. Grandpa insisted everyone of his generation knew exactly where they were when they heard the news of JFK's assassination. Mom said the same thing of 9-11.

Jake had been in high school social studies when the Arab Spring had started. It may not have touched his life in that iconic way, but the thought that the act of one protestor in Tunisia could set off a firestorm that would shake the entire Middle East had made him a believer.

But had she done that deliberately, knowing it would cause a ripple across the surface? He wasn't so sure about that.

"You're stop is Mosquée de Pamélap?" Åse asked.

Jake scrunched his brow, trying to figure out if it was the name that gave him the trouble, or her accent. It could easily be either one.

"The mosque at Pamalapa, Guinea," Abioya said from behind them. "Yes."

Åse nodded. "We're almost there."

"What's up?"

"Everyone is coming in. Big protests in Sierra Leone."

"Big protests everywhere," Abioya said.

"Not like Sierra Leone," Åse insisted. "Freetown is being shut down. Everyone else is trying to get out before it gets worse."

Abioya sighed and rubbed his head. "They had a horrible civil war there not long ago," he said. "People are probably afraid it will happen again.

Åse nodded in agreement.

"What does that have to do with us?" Jake asked. "We're civilian crew. We can't do nothing about a civil war."

"They are setting up a big refugee base at Pamalapa," she said. "Most of us are off our routes for the time being, shipping supplies in. I thought I'd see if you were coming."

She looked at Jake as she said it and he warmed at the thought. It wasn't his crew she was interested in, it was Jake. He smiled. "Like I said, we get into Bamako late tonight. The next morning with head to Guinea."

"Cool," she said. "Helvig, Pierre and I are heading back today. We'll make the run together tomorrow."

"Maybe breakfast in the mess before we leave?" Jake asked. It would be nice to be on the base, if even for the night. And to see Åse.

Åse quickly agreed and signed off.

"Ladies man," Chatura joked after Åse signed off.

"Yeah, right," Jake muttered, rolling his eyes. Granted he had met a girl at Asha-tanga but that hadn't gone very far and had already fizzled. They'd spoken a couple times but it was clear that outside of that moment they had almost nothing in common. She was studying astrophysics and he was a trucker. She wanted a cushy job on her station, he loved what he was doing here in Africa.

Åse on the other hand... he shook the thought off. She problem wasn't even interested in him. He turned his attention back to driving.