The E Utopia Project (11 page)

To hell with
Uncle Martin,
he thought.
I’m not going to
play softie softie with her.
He sprang from the bed.
I’m going to tell
her exactly what I think of her.

He paced out of his room and
burst into her room. She was curled in fetal position on the edge of the bed,
hugging her knees. He felt a stir in his pants when he remembered that this was
one of the positions he liked to have her when they were making love.  As he
looked at her posterior, he couldn’t help undressing her in his mind. He
brushed images of her naked body from his mind. He was by far much more angry than
amorous.

“Sara, I understand why you
dumped me,” he said. “You’re educated, rich and famous and I am just me. But I cannot
understand why you said that you forgive me for not refusing to be dumped.”

Sara sat bolt upright,
looking at him with murderous eyes. “You want to talk about understanding, huh?
Fine. Let’s talk about understanding.” She breathed deeply for seconds, her
eyes never leaving his. “I understand that Kyla has bigger boobs and a much
sexier ass than mine. It is clearly obvious that I can’t compete with her in
that department. But I don’t understand why you cheated on me with her. I loved
you, George. It was obvious she wanted you back but I never thought you’d cheat
on me with her, not after what she did to you. I used to wonder why you
wouldn’t propose to me. But now I understand that I was just a plaything to entertain
you while you patched up things with Kyla.”

“This is the lamest excuse I
have ever heard in my entire life,” George scoffed. “Are you saying you dumped
me because of Kyla? You and I both know that you dumped me because you think
I’m beneath you. I was shaken when you shut me out. At first I thought it was
my fault. But when I heard news of your promotion, everything became clear.
This has nothing to do with Kyla’s ass because you have a much sexier ass that
hers. Yes, she has bigger boobs than yours, but let me tell you something.
Those boobs aren’t real.”

“So how is she? How are her
fake boobs?”

“If you want to know about
her boobs go ask her.”

“I thought the milkman knows
more about a cow’s breasts than the cow.”

“Who told you I’m milking her
boobs?”

“I saw you with her in your
apartment. There’s a fine line between love and hate, George. You said you
hated her but I saw you wrapping her in your arms, holding her as if your life
depended on it. You were so busy making out that neither of you saw me. I can
even remember what you were wearing that day. She was putting on a black dress
and you were wearing a red vest and white shorts. Go ahead, deny it.”

“Jesus! So this is why you
dumped me?”

“Did you expect me to be
content with my place in your harem?”

“Yes, I hugged Kyla. She had
come to tell me that her father had passed away. Kyla and I go way back
together. Her father was like an uncle to me. He was my football coach in high
school and he taught me a lot about sport and life. Kyla knew how close I was
to her father and she thought it was improper to tell me about his death over
the phone, so she came in person and that was the last time she came to my
apartment. Sara, when you love someone, you give them the benefit of doubt; you
give them a chance to explain things. But you just rushed to assume the worst
of me. You rushed to assume that I cheated on you just like you rushed to assume
that I wanted to rape you yesterday. Thanks for the explanation, Sara. Now I
know why I was dumped. I was seeking closure and now I found it.”

George walked towards the
door. Without thinking, Sara lunged at him and held him with all her might.
“Please, George, I’m sorry. I love you, George. I never stopped loving you. I
didn’t understand why you didn’t propose to me when we were so perfect for each
other. When I saw you hugging Kyla in your apartment, my self-doubt and my
frustration got the better of me.”

“If we were perfect for each
other you wouldn’t have rushed to assume the worst of me,” he rasped with rage.

“Many times I almost proposed
to you myself,” she said. “George, why didn’t you propose to me?”

“I didn’t propose to you
because I didn’t want you to think I was after your money. You were Deputy
Director of GEMA and I was just a nonentity who did odd jobs.”

“You didn’t give me the
benefit of the doubt, George. You rushed to assume the worst of me.”

“That makes two of us,” he
said, his rage giving way to guilt.

“Will you forgive me,
George?”

“We’re both guilty of the
same crime. I will forgive you if you forgive me.”

Sara put her arms around his
neck and kissed him. “I forgive you.”

“On second thought, I don’t
have to forgive you, Sah.” He kissed her, caressing her cheeks with the back of
his hands. “You did nothing wrong. For a long time, I jumped into conclusions
and thought the worst of you. You only returned the favor.”

“I was wrong not to ask you
about Kayla.”

“In that case, I forgive
you.”

They remained in each other’s
arms. Now the danger that menaced them seemed graver. They had just found each
other again but they could soon lose each other to bullets of assassins.

“I can’t let them kill you,
Sah,” George declared. “I can’t let them take you away from me. I lost you once…
I’m not going to lose you again.”

“We need help, George. We
can’t fight this war alone. Who will help us?”

“It would help if we knew who
was against us. Apart from NASA, five of the six privately owned space
satellite imagery companies involved are American, which makes me think that
your enemies are American.”

“Some of them are probably in
law enforcement agencies and in the Cabinet. Who can we trust?”

“I have an idea,” George
said. “We should go back to DC right now. That’s the only way.”

“But my enemies might see me
if I return to DC so soon.”

“They won’t see you.  I have
a plan. Get ready. We’re going back to DC right now.”

Chapter Four

Captain First Grade Satini Sopoaga
relaxed in his cubicle, thinking about home in between fantasizing about Nuate’s
boobs. His phone rang when he was about to replay the pornographic film that he
always watched when he fantasized about Nuate. He quickly answered the call
when he saw the words
Vice Adm Frankson
flashing on the phone’s screen.

“Captain Sopoaga speaking,
sir.”

“Come to my office ASAP.”

“Yes, sir.”

Sopoaga wistfully looked at
the TV. He was on leave and had planned to watch porn and fantasize about Nuate
for the rest of the day without disturbance.

When he entered the vice admiral’s
office, he found the base commander sitting behind his desk, sipping a cup of
real coffee. Sopoaga’s mouth watered when the smell of coffee reached his
nostrils. This was the first time he had seen someone having coffee since he
left home.

He saluted. “Captain First
Grade Sopoaga reporting as ordered, sir.”

“At ease, Captain First Grade,”
Vice Admiral Frankson said. “Take a seat.”

Sopoaga took the seat
opposite the vice admiral.

“Sopoaga, the admiralty is
pleased with your work.” He sipped his coffee. “You have been duly promoted to
the rank of one-star rear admiral.”

“Thank you, sir,” Sopoaga
said calmly. He was more interested in being reunited with his family than in
getting promoted.

Frankson removed Sopoaga’s old
rank insignia and replaced it with the insignia of his new rank.
“Congratulations, Rear Admiral Sopoaga.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Our space force is growing.
Your fleet has been doubled in size. The admiralty wants to speed up the
milking process. And starting from your next mission, all milkmaids shall be
armed with missiles. In addition to that, the milkmaids will be escorted by
fighter ships. You shall have five Vanquishers in your fleet. This time the
milkmaids won’t carry messenger drones, they will carry combat drones. Each
milkmaid will carry two combat drones. The combat drones can also double as messenger
drones if need arises.”

Sopoaga’s face remained
impassive but his heart raced with fear.
Missiles, fighter ships and combat
drones,
he thought. He had taken part in many war games on E Utopia during
his training but he was not mentally prepared for war. He had hoped that he
would never be required to use his military training in actual war. “Are we
going to face resistance from Earth’s powers?”

“The weapons are only a
precautionary measure,” Frankson said. “You’re now milking at a lower altitude
because of the sparseness of oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere and that puts you
in greater risk of detection by radars, aircraft and naval ships. You’ll need
to be able to defend yourself if something happens. We can’t let the Earth’s
powers capture one of our ships because if that happens, they’ll be able to
follow us all the way to E Utopia.”

“So you haven’t received
intelligence that points to resistance from Earth’s powers?”

“No,” the vice admiral said
firmly.

Sopoaga sighed with relief.
The last thing he wanted was a shooting war with the Earth’s powers. The E
Utopia pioneers wouldn’t stand a chance against a coalition comprising the US,
Russia, China, the UK and France. Sopoaga was sure that the Earth’s superpowers
could quickly establish a space force to fight E Utopians. If war broke out
between the Earth’s powers and E Utopians, it would be impossible to evacuate
his family from Earth.

“You’re going to change your
milking point during your next mission. You’ll get the new coordinates from Eureka
Station.”

“Did the Earth’s powers
discover our usual milking point, sir?”

“No, Sopoaga. It’s just a
precautionary measure. You’re dismissed.”

Sopoaga sprang to his feet
and saluted before he marched toward the door.

“Sopoaga!” the vice admiral
shouted before the rear admiral reached the door.

“Sir!”

“Come back.”

Sopoaga walked back and stood
at attention.

“Find me Captain Second Grade
Hyvönen, Captain Bera, Commander Nuate, Commander Tulaga, Commander
Gbooko
, and Commander Bakaane, Commander Tarotu and Commander
Kpuine
. I want them on the double. I want to have a quick word
with them. They have all been promoted.”

Sopoaga’s heart sank. He had
known that one day Nuate would be promoted and given her own ship but he didn’t
think it would happen so soon. He consoled himself with the fact that he could
still fantasize about her even when he hardly saw her in flesh.

He was glad that Tulaga, his
fellow Tuvaluan, had been promoted. All six of the promoted commanders from
Harvesting Fleet 4 were either Polynesians or Niger Deltans. One of the two
promoted captains of HF4 was from the Niger Delta. Polynesians and natives of
the Niger Delta were the most committed members of the E Utopian force. The total
disregard that Earth’s polluters had for the natural environment and the
well-being of the Pacific Islands and the Niger Delta had turned E Utopian
pioneers from these regions into fervent believers in the E Utopian cause.

“Who will be my new first
officer, sir?”

“We have promoted some astrogators
to the rank of Commander. Because of your seniority, I’ll give you the privilege
to choose your XO. I will give you the full list of your new and promoted
charges and you’ll have a meeting with them in the mess. You’re dismissed.”

Sopoaga saluted and marched
out of the vice admiral’s office, asking himself why the admiralty wanted the
ships to carry missiles if they were not anticipating war with Earth’s superpowers.

* * *

Sara and George had a quick
snack before they bade Uncle Martin farewell.

“Drive carefully, George,”
the old man said. “Don’t forget that you’re carrying human cargo in the trunk.”

“Don’t worry, Uncle Martin. I
love this particular human cargo and I’ll take care of it.” He planted a brief
kiss on Sara’s lips. “It will be okay, Sah.”

“George, I’m scared,” she
whispered.

“I love you, Sah.” He kissed
her again, to the delight of Uncle Martin who had always wanted them to reconcile.
“I will do everything in my power to protect you.”

“I know that I’m in good
hands.” She smiled and put on her breathing machine.

“Goodbye, Sara,” the old man said.
“You’ll be alright. George will take care of you. He knows I’ll kick his ass if
he lets anything happen to you.”

“Bye, Uncle Martin. Thanks
for everything.”

Sara got into the trunk of
the old man’s electric car and closed her eyes for a moment when George shut
the trunk. Claustrophobia surged inside her. She switched on a torch but she
quickly switched it off when she discovered that the light made her more
claustrophobic. In the light she could clearly see how small the trunk was.

“Adios, son. Take care.”

“Adios, Uncle Martin,” George
said, reversing out of the garage. Although he knew that Sara was cushioned by
a mattress and pillows, he felt as if he was carrying explosives. He slowly
drove out of the neighborhood and stopped when he had only travelled for just
over a kilometer. He jumped out of the car and anxiously opened the trunk.

“Are you alright, Sah?”

“I’m fine,” she said,
although she felt like jumping out of the trunk. “Drive faster, will you? The
slower you drive the longer I stay in here.”

“Okay, darling.”

He entered the car and drove
in a more relaxed manner, always checking his view mirror to make sure he
wasn’t being followed. He drove up to Interstate 90 without seeing any car behind
him. It took the truck fifteen hours to take them from DC to Sprague, and
George reckoned that if he drove fast it would take the car less than twelve
hours to get them to DC. He stopped at the first service station and charged
his batteries to hundred percent. He didn’t use one of the power points that
were located along the interstate because he didn’t want to use his credit
card. He preferred a service station where he could use hard cash. He knew he
could be tracked if he used his credit card.

Sara gradually got used to
the small space but she didn’t get used to her inability to see what was
happening outside. Her heart pounded when George stopped at the service station.
Did he stop of his own volition or did someone stop him?
She sighed with
relief when the car started to move, but her relief was short-lived. The car
stopped a minute later and the trunk was opened. The daylight blinded her for a
moment.

“Bought you a soda,” George
said.

“Thank you,” she said, squinting,
resisting the urge to sit.

“Is there anything you need?”

“Nothing except getting out of
this hole.”

“We’re eleven hours away from
that.”

Eleven hours!
Sara heaved a sigh of despair. It seemed as if she had
stayed in the trunk for a whole day. She took off her breathing machine and took
sips of the soda. He shut the trunk when she put on her breathing machine. She
closed her eyes, wishing she had a watch to help her keep track of time. It was
a long time since she last owned a watch. She didn’t see the point in buying a
watch when her phone could show time. She couldn’t switch on her phone because
she feared her enemies could use it to track her. After an interminable period,
George stopped the car and opened the trunk. This time no daylight met Sara’s
eyes.

“Are you alright, Sah?”

“I’m fine. What time is it
now?”

George looked at his watch. “Fourteen
minutes past eight.”

“Oh shit! We’ve only
travelled for three hours.”

“Do you need anything?”

“I want to get out of here.”

“You mean you want to pee?”

“No. I want us to get to our
destination. Go back to the driver’s seat and end my miserable journey.”

“Yes, darling.”

He entered the car and
started the motors. After what seemed like an eternity, Sara fell asleep.

The car was still moving when
she woke up. She didn’t know whether it was day or night. When the car began to
make frequent stops she knew they were now in an area with lots of traffic
lights.

Sara began to feel mounting
pressure in her bladder. She was relieved when the car stopped. The vehicle
remained stationary for what seemed like ages to her but for some reason, he
didn’t open the trunk. She thought that her pelvic floor muscles would give in
and let out urine any moment. She felt the pressure coming to her rectum.
If
he wants to make me do Kegel exercises, he’s making a good job of it,
she
thought, gritting her teeth.

Finally, he opened the trunk.
Daylight greeted her eyes and biogas greeted his nostrils.

“Get out,” he said.

She jumped out of the trunk.
“What took you so long?”

“I had to wait for the
embassy to open.”

“Let’s get into the embassy,”
she said, rushing toward the gate. “I need to get to the ladies room.”

They went to the gate and
were approached by one of the two members of the Uniformed Division of the
Secret Service who were manning the gate.

“Go to the consular section,”
he said sternly. “This entrance is for diplomats and embassy staff.” He trained
his eyes on Sara, wondering where he met her. Everyone who was abreast with the
world’s current affairs knew Sara. Although he was positive he knew her, he
couldn’t put a name or a place to her face. He was used to seeing her looking
well-groomed and dignified. Today she looked lost and nervous.

“I am the
Administrator
of the Global Environmental Management Agency and I urgently need to speak to
the most senior Russian diplomat present at the moment.”

The guard’s eyes widened with
recognition. Although she was unkempt and scruffy, the lady was unmistakably
the Director of GEMA
. Maybe she only preens herself when she wants to go in
front of the cameras.
“Do you have an appointment?”

“No.”

“Wait a second.”

He paced inside and talked to
a man who was sitting in a guardroom.

Sara blanched. She knew that
the man she had talked to was a member of a US
federal law enforcement
agency. If the attempt on her life was part of a
conspiracy involving people in the US government, he could be part of that
conspiracy. Maybe he was now contacting his superiors to send men to snatch her
before she could enter the Russian embassy. She regretted her decision not to go
to the consular section which was open to the public. She was so afraid that she
forgot about the pain in her bladder.

George turned back and swept
his eyes over the area near the embassy in search of potential threats. He
hadn’t expected that it would take them long to be admitted into the embassy.
He thought the Director of GEMA would be granted automatic entry.