The Code War (24 page)

'Why would they stop us?' Nancy had
raised her voice and leaned in to Lafi looking him directly in the
eyes. She aimed to pressure him to admit something she felt he was
hiding. 'If child labour is common practice around here why can't
we just declare them and cross the border?'

'You not understand,' said Lafi in
exasperation. 'These children work for cheap. Cheaper than children
in the south. Border guards no like children work so cheap.'

And now Nancy began to understand
at last. Something half-remembered stirred in her memory and
resurrected itself. These weren't child workers. 'They're slaves,
aren't they?' she said, amazed at the words. 'The children are
slaves. They're child slaves. They have to work to buy their
freedom.'

Lafi
said nothing.

'You're a slave trafficker.'

Lafi glared back. 'And so are you.'

There was no more pretence between them.
More than ever, Lafi had to make sure the story of his criminal
behaviour did not come to light. He was operating outside the law
of any country, whether Gambia, Senegal or any other.

Ferociously Nancy threw the truck
into gear and gunned the lorry forward. She was heavily implicated
in Lafi's awful trade and it was unlikely anyone would believe her
story. Confused though she still was, she realised she had to play
the game for now and look for a way out later. Preferably a way out
that ensured Lafi never caught up with her. It was two o'clock in
the morning. The rain was pouring onto the windscreen and Nancy was
dog tired. But her brain was racing at twice the normal speed.
There had to be a way out.

A minute later as Lafi predicted,
Nancy spotted a lighted building beside the road with a turnpike
barrier next to it. A uniformed soldier bearing a rifle, alerted by
the lorry's headlights, emerged from the guardhouse and stood in
the rain to await them. Nervously he shifted his rifle in his hands
as if to ensure the lorry's occupants had seen it.

'What you going to do?' Lafi was leaving
it all to Nancy.

'I don't know.'

Nancy kept the lorry moving fast
till the last moment and then braked sharply bringing the vehicle
to an abrupt stop twenty yards short of the barrier. Leaving the
eng
ine on she jumped from the cab and
strode forward briskly with her right hand held up in salute and a
broad smile on her face. The shoulder flashes on the guard's
uniform bore the word Gambia.

'Hello, it's good to see you.
Awful weather isn't it? Completely chucking it down.' She pumped
the guard's hand and pointed towards his guardhouse. 'Let's do the
paperwork in there shall we?' She began to walk towards the tiny
one-office building continuing to smile widely at the perplexed
guard and compelling him to follow her. 'We're off to get some
urgent medical supplies for the capital. Expect you've been told we
were coming. Apparently the American president has promised them to
your prime minister without delay.'

They reached the guardhouse.
Inside was a desk, a chair and a telephone.

'Papers, I need your papers,' the
guard was not going to be a pushover. Nancy feigned surprise. 'Look
it's urgent. There wasn't any time for papers. There's an outbreak
of fever, you understand? Fever in your country. And I have to go
and get these supplies from the south and bring them back through
here or people will die. Have you not been told?'

She stood with her hands on her hips
facing him directly, the UN designation on her tabard in full view.
A foreign woman driving a UN truck and shouting words like 'urgent'
and 'fever' - what could be wrong with that?

'Look, people will die if I don't get
through immediately, die do you understand, there's a fever and
it's urgent. Get your prime minister on the phone if you don't
believe me. But we have to hurry.'

Nancy was taking a huge risk but
it paid off. The guard looked anxiously at the phone without moving
and Nancy realised why. It didn't work.

It was time to step up the pressure.

'Look you talk to your boss and
get it all sorted out. But I can't wait for all that. It's urgent
and we have to stop the fever.' Nancy was bombastic and arrogant in
a way that she had never been in her life before. She stormed out
of the guardhouse into the rain and stomped her way to the truck.
Revving the engine she drove forward to within inches of the
barrier and wound down the window. The harassed guard emerged and
stood in the rain with his rifle pointing at the ground clearly not
knowing what to do.

Nancy changed tack again and
switched on the charm. Leaning out and smiling as broadly as before
she cooed to him. 'Now lift up the barrier and everything will be
fine. You're doing the right thing. Well done.' She had no idea how
much he understood of her language so she poured as much inflection
and meaning as she could into her tone, nodding at him in approval
as she did so.

It was touch and go whether the
guard would comply. He clearly did not like being ordered around.
Especially by a woman. But exactly how to deal with a bossy white
female in the garb of the UN driving a huge UN-liveried truck in
the middle of the night and shouting about fever and presidents
while alternately threatening and cajoling him was a scenario that
was unaccountably missing from his training. Reluctantly he pressed
down on the counter-weight and the barrier rose in the
air.

'Thanks so much, toodaloo,' Nancy
shouted cheerily as the lorry shot forward to the crunch of
gears.

Lafi emerged from under the
dashboard where he'd been hiding. He took his seat and regarded
Nancy with a mixture of admiration and astonishment.

'Very nice,' was all he said.
Nancy looked steadily forward. Her smile was back on her
face.

Kodrob's Squadroom,
Central Pentacurse Region, Inferno

Nancy's grainy image inside the neon gas
cloud broke up and dissipated as Bezejel froze the action.

She turned to Kodrob with elation.
'See Captain? Just as we said. She's taken control like we
predicted all along. She's been dropped into a dangerous
environment like a mouse into a hatful of snakes and she's the one
doing the biting. That woman was born to boss the world and
everyone in it. Don't you ever doubt me again.'

'No, Madam Bezejel, I never doubted you.
None of us did.'

'Good. Well don't do it again.'

Bezejel looked past Kodrob at the
others, making sure they were equally engaged with the
developments.

'What do you think Lafarge?
You
're an educated man, say
something.'

Lafarge, on the spot, stood his
ground and preened himself like the aristocrat he once was, born to
enjoy the attention of a beautiful female.

'I enjoy to see her drive the
horseless wagon past the gun-carry
ing
guard,' he said with a slight bow. 'She has courage that remind me
of Joan of Arc.'

Bezejel bristled at the name of a
saint.

'There's nothing virtuous about
what Nancy did back there. It was all about self-preservation. That
little joy toy of scheming, man-chewing, slave-driving womanhood is
goosing up my pimples. That dame's got more guts in her little
frame than a Hun horseman twice her size. She's an inspiration to
every one of us.'

She paused to take in the rest of
Kodrob's squad who were standing to attention and regarding her
with very serious expressions. Her eyes fixed on Zhivkin, the
newest member of the team and an unfamiliar face. Bezejel allowed
herself to soak up every inch of the muscular Russian. He was no
bigger than Holzman. But whereas the German had a face as unsightly
as a nest of wood-lice Zhivkin's swarthy features brought her to
the lip of temptation.

She looked him up and down and
then she looked him down and up. Then she walked
around behind him. Kodrob saw the danger. He hadn't noticed
before but Zhivkin was a handsome devil and if he didn't act
quickly Bezejel would have him and husk him before they could get
any use out of him. The Cossack might think he had nothing to fear
from Inferno's uncrowned queen but he had no idea of the inhuman
strength the Leader had conferred on her.

Bezejel completed her circuit and
advanced on Zhivkin like a cat on a sparrow. Kodrob jumped forward
between them. 'Ma'am this is Marauder Zhivkin who is a new and
vital member of our team. We need his excellent aerial skills to
ensure the continued transmission of messages to the woman Nancy.'
He turned to Zhivkin. 'Get out, you're not supposed to be here,
you've work to do, Marauder.'

He turned back to Bezejel:
'Apologies Ma'am. Zhivkin is an ignorant hunter from the Black Sea.
He needs his ass kicked or else he'll just stand and stare like a
village idiot.'

Zhivkin looked at Kodrob with annoyance.
He was enjoying Bezejel's attention. He also didn't like being
called an ignorant hunter. For a moment he considered making a
stand and refusing to obey his new boss. But that would be
insubordination which was an automatic husking offence. He thought
better of it and gave a stiff, military nod of his head. If he was
going to confront Kodrob there would be a better moment on another
day. Inwardly he seethed.

'From the Black Sea indeed,' Bezejel was
watching Zhivkin as he made to leave the room. 'A nice place, the
Black Sea.'

But while Kodrob was just starting
to wonder how Bezejel knew about the Black Sea there was an
interruption.

Gog at the door signalled to
Bezejel that someone was approaching. Kodrob had never heard Gog or
Magog speak and realised now that they were mute and used a subtle
sign language to communicate with Bezejel. That was convenient if
they didn't want others to understand them.

Bezejel looked mildly displeased.
She drew up a chair and placed one foot on it. A moment later
Hideki strode into the room with a look of purpose about him. He
made a half bow to Bezejel. His sword rattled slightly at his
side.

'Madam Bezejel, if you don't mind, the
moment is approaching when we must begin our active mission. This
is an important event and I don't want any mistakes made. May I
brief your team?'

For Hideki, this was unusually
good manners. But he had burst into her meeting without advance
warning and Bezejel did not like to be pushed. She needed to put
him back in his place.

She regarded him evenly for a
moment and then slowly removed her coat
revealing her thigh length magenta dress. Magog stepped in
to take the coat and moved back out of the way. Bezejel sat herself
on a chair and placed her feet on another one before slowly
crossing her legs. All the while she kept her eyes on Hideki.
Kodrob was enjoying the battle of wills. Bezejel was clearly the
boss but Hideki had a habit of challenging her authority. More out
of clumsiness than intent, Kodrob thought. But with her vibrant
dress sense and concealed energy Bezejel was a peachy powerhouse of
self-control.

The demon princess
folded her hands in her lap and waited. It was
Hideki who blinked first.

'I should have given you some warning,'
he finally admitted.

Bezejel inclined her head a fraction.
She wanted more.

'Apol
ogies.'

Bezejel looked over her shoulder.
'Hades coffees,' she ordered loudly so Pu Gash at his petrol
station could hear her. 'More bitumen this time.'

Now she turned back to Hideki as if
nothing had happened and motioned for him to sit. The tension
evaporated.

'Kodrob, get your squad in here. The
colonel has something to tell us.'

Kodrob delegated Van Diemen to
fetch his team from various corners of the labyrinthine
caves.

As he returned Bezejel petted
Hideki's ego. 'We have some important activities planned for today,
Colonel. But since you're here, why don't you take the opportunity
to brief the squad on their active mission? They're excited about
what you've got for them.'

Hideki nodded and made a small 'Hrumph'
noise. Bezejel's diplomatic skills were superior to his own.

Authority re-established, Hideki
admonished, Bezejel was ready for the next move.

Kodrob's troops arrived and he assembled
them in a line in front of his two commanders.

'Listen up to Colonel Hideki, all of
you,' ordered Bezejel. 'You may be going into action soon.' She
gave Hideki a nod.

The colonel stood to address the
Marauders. It was not part of Bushido protocol to remain
seated.

'Fell
ow
demons,' he began portentously. 'The first part of the mission that
you have been assigned to is about to begin. We are going into the
Fourth to make contact with Nancy's ancestor, Mya Ling. I plan to
perform the operation on her spirit that will open up the
passageways out of her soul and allow us to extract all of her
ambition at just the right moment and pass it down a century of
Earth time into Nancy. As you know this process occurs to some
degree naturally. When humans do evil they pass some of that evil
forward to the next generation by what they teach their children.
More often unintentionally than deliberately. But we must capture
all of the evil, not just some of it. Your job is to protect me
from any angels that might be in the vicinity while I perform my
surgery.'

'Which time zone in the Fourth are we
entering, Colonel?' Kodrob.