Chapter 26 The new world

 >>------- 27 years later -------<<

Liz ran through the alleyways of the ghetto, panting, jumping through open windows and climbing walls to escape her captors. She cursed inwardly, because it was supposed to be a small, simple mission. Kill a convoy of bandits, only it was a convoy of the local army. She only found this out when she was already on her way and they started chasing her. 

She had long since thrown away the weapons, they were just cheap goods anyway. She took a running start and jumped over the precipice onto the flat roof of the neighboring mud house. She rolled off and ran on, rushed down the stairs and kicked in the door. She only had to go a few more alleys before she reached her hiding place. Bright light blinded her as she stepped outside. Sirens wailed, Arabic voices shouted at her. 

Liz was thrown to the ground, tied up and dragged away. 

1 ½ hours later she was sitting at the desk of the immigration office employee, beaten, abused and with a bloody lip and nose. He looked at the papers. 

"So this is the terror from Africa," he looked at Liz. She was about six feet tall. 27 years old. Dirty blonde hair, dirty and clumpy from dust. She had always been accused of looking like her mother and being a miniature version.

"I have a mercenary's license. "

" That's not the point, our president is reforming. Then they have a way to identify themselves so we can deport them to their home country. If they don't have ID or can't prove anything, they'll go to a labor camp."

Liz thought hard. She had left her ID at home when she was 21 years old. She had been living off fake IDs ever since. She had no desire to go to a labor camp, you didn't get out alive and as a woman you were more likely to end up in a brothel. 

The officer looked at her and she knew he was pleading for a labor camp.

" I want to assert my right to an appeal. "

" Your right? "

" Yes. It was decided by the Great Powers and applies to all states."

The man gritted his teeth and shoved the phone at her. She didn't know his identity, but his title was too conspicuous for him to talk his way out of it.

 "A call, not a prank call. Someone who can confirm your ID."

Liz nodded, thinking about who to call. Her mom,... her dad,... one of her sisters... her uncle... Shocked, she looked at the phone as she dialed a number of her own accord. She held the receiver to her ear and pressed it as hard as she could with her bound hands. It rang several times. 

Someone answered. Finally she remembered which number she had dialed. One she had often dialed as a child. 

"Uncle ... I'm ..."

"I'm coming." He hung up. 

Liz lowered the phone and the officer took it from her. 

"And?"

" My uncle is coming." She lowered her head and tears ran down her cheeks.

"Why are you crying?"

She raised her eyes. 

" You'll see when he gets here. " She looked down at her hands. She had finally found the courage to speak to him. 

Minutes passed, then the floor began to shake and the roar of engines could be heard.

A policeman entered the room. 

"Abdul! What have you done? Troops!" 

The policeman looked at him and then at Liz.

" You called the company? Are you out of your mind? "

Liz looked at him. Indignant shouts echoed through the hallway, the policeman was pushed aside and Uther entered the room. Two Omega soldiers came in behind him.

"You have something that belongs to me," he said coolly.

The officer stared at him in fear. 

" Eh eh eh ... we need identification ... " was all that came out. Uther opened his hand and a holofield appeared, Liz's file appeared on it, with a large picture of her. 

"She's a citizen of the north block. " 

Abdul gritted his teeth and undid Liz's shackles. She stood up and turned to face him, who lifted her head. He looked at Abdul. 

"Who?"

" I can't answer that ..." 

Uther came closer.

" Tell me who it was, or your country will go up in flames. "

Abdul remained silent. 

" It was the guards in the cells, they killed me too..." Liz said quietly.

 She had already experienced and endured a lot. But somehow, now that her uncle was there and he still looked huge. Not just in childhood memories, but now too. She couldn't take any more. She was at the end. 

"I'll get the men." 

Shots rang out outside.

Liz heard her uncle on the radio.

"We're being shot at by police officers."

" Ah ..." Uther lit a cigarette. "Right then." He grabbed his ear. 

" Let them shoot. Capture them, but let them live. "

The gunfire from outside continued and suddenly stopped. She knew it didn't mean anything good because she hadn't heard any weapons from the company. Liz was grabbed by the hand and dragged along. She heard the groans in the corridors and felt the evening heat as they came out.

There was a jet helicopter in the yard. There were civilian helicopters that looked like helicopters only with engines, but the group's machine was ugly. She thought her father had once told her, when she was little, that it was the version of an Osprey from which the later models were made. She knew that despite its ugliness, it was a terror of the skies. 

She saw six policemen lying tied up on the ground. A golden Benz sped into the yard. A man jumped out. 

"Stop stop stop," he looked around. "Oh, no more shots," he cleared his throat. 

"Can I at least know what this is all about? "

He came closer and stopped in front of Uther. 

Liz stepped forward. 

"Oh, the terror of Africa."

" Is a citizen of the north block, the guards in the cells have violated the agreements and the employee refuses to cooperate and those there could not stay quiet. " Uther pointed at the shackled men. The man looked at Liz. She had taken on dirty jobs for the man more than once. 

"Then I guess I have no other choice. "

 he began. Liz was curious to see what would come next. She knew he was the president, often too proud and a hardliner.

" We surrender."

Liz's breath caught in her throat. 

Uther looked at him. 

" Okay Caliph you stay at your post, I'll pass everything on during the flight. Then we should start the integration. " 

"What about the labor camps and such ... you understand ... "

" Caliph, just send them all to my office here in the city, they'll take over the people from the labor camp, and the convicts. You can, clean up now . "

The caliph looked at him and nodded. 

"I thank them."

"Caliph they are the ones saving families, the guards in the cells."

The caliph looked at a policeman.

"Bring them here and the idiot up in the office too."

" Yes, Your Highness." 

He ran inside. Shouts and a single shot could be heard from above. A short time later, 4 guards were dragged outside and the body of Abdul.

"He shot himself," said the policeman who came in. 

Uther looked at the guards, they looked at Liz. 

" Damn whore, we should have beaten you harder so you wouldn't open your mouth. 

open your mouth." one of them growled. 

" Do you have a family? " Uther asked the caliph, who shook his head. 

"No... "

Uther drew his pistol and fired at the guards. Goosebumps ran down Liz's spine. She'd never seen a black market selling the group's troop weapons before. There were replicas or cheap versions, but not these, where not even the Ai of the Northern Block had a hand in the production and could replicate.

" In a month in Kiel for the district meeting Kalif. " 

 The nodded and looked at the bodies. Liz was maneuvered into a seat on the plane, the soldiers climbed in and they took off. 

It wasn't until they were in the air and the plane started moving that the rest of her resistance broke and she cried. She felt herself being pressed against her uncle and she clung to him and let it all out. A hand stroked her head. When she had composed herself, she sat up again and wiped her tears away. 

"Now that you're here with me, Liz," she said, looking at her uncle.

"I'm at the end ..." she struggled to gather her thoughts. "I don't know anymore ..back to work with you? "

They had lost track of the North Block, the company, the world. It was the utopia of a new world. Only the rules were tough and some didn't like that, so they fled to the free states in Africa and South America. Australia, South Africa and China were allied with the Northern Bloc and didn't make it easy for the refugees. 

"I'll think of something. "

She nodded and automatically reached into her pants pocket, where she actually had her cigarettes, but they had been taken from her. She took one from Uther and puffed out a cloud herself. 

"What will happen to Morocco now?" 

"It's being restructured and integrated into the system. Modernized and the standard of living raised."

"And the labor camps? The slave traders?"

Uther grinned. "Well, they won't be there anymore."

"I don't understand why the caliph gave up so quickly, he was always so proud and brave."

" He's not an idiot, he's fed up with the neighboring countries. He's in a tight spot and now he's going to make a big clean sweep. "

Liz fell silent and smoked her cigarette. She froze.

"Shit, I've still got my cream there ..." 

" They've already been collected, your stash has been emptied too."

" How? That was supposed to be a hiding place."

" Your sister's tracking device."

She sighed. 

The plane started to land. Liz looked up, confused. 

"We're going into the network." 

Now memories came to her that she had taken for granted at the time. The plane shook and only when a signal sounded did the soldiers disembark. Liz slowly stood up and got out too. They were in an underground depot where machines were loaded onto wagons or serviced. She saw the bustle of mechanics and soldiers walking around and doing their work. Liz simply followed Uther until she was grabbed by medics. 

"But I want..." 

Uther paused.

" I'll wait here until you're done." 

She was dragged into the hospital, where she was first scanned, then had to undress and wash thoroughly. It was just too much at once. Shampoos against dirt, against viruses, against parasites, against lice, one for volume and shine and then another against dandruff. 

The last time she had used this much shampoo was as a child. But they said she had to do it. So she did and scrubbed her whole body until it was clean. Then she was scanned and sprayed again. She came out the other side coughing. 

A set of BDU and underwear were ready. She put them on. She wondered when they had put them on. Liz was then treated by a doctor who treated her nose, lip, ankle. She even had to open her mouth and have her teeth examined, as well as her genitals. 

"Good, clean, nose and lip should be back to normal soon. " was the result. Liz left the hospital and tied her hair up. She had never had a talent for it. That's why her last hairstyle had been such a ruin and she often had to go to the hairdresser.

Uther stood outside the hospital as promised. Next to him stood John and her father Alex, who looked a little older than she remembered him. 

"Ahh, there's the little horror from Africa," he greeted her with a grin. 

Liz grumbled. 

Alex hugged Liz to him. She enjoyed it.

"Uther said you needed a break."

She looked to Uther, who was smoking, which confused her, even though Uther was no longer officially in the forces. She saw so many soldiers saluting him. 

"Right, Liz needs something different. Something normal, boring. "

Liz grumbled. 

"You're going to work for me, sweetheart, I set everything up when Uther called me."

John clicked around on the tablet, looking at her.

"It says here that you went to college? Liz, you joined the military right out of high school."

Liz smiled and stood next to Uther.

"I was in the seventh district of American University."

John looked at Alex.

"What part..."

" The one on the east coast."

" Ahh... that thing. Wait..."

He clicked through.

"Why are you in there under Uther's last name?" 

" Uhh..." she looked at Uther.

"She was there to learn John, not to be distracted. Which Liz did very well," he patted her head.

"Then she went through the Omega program, with me in the group, and only then did she get her title."

"So the little terror from Africa."

"Good to see you too, Uncle John."

" Hey hey, you're a character, albeit in the mercenary and cartel sector."

She grumbled again.

" Let's get back to the business of the day."

He handed her a tablet, cell phone and ID. " The terror is in Africa, this is Liz Schornsthof again, can you remember that? "

" Good, yes" she flinched briefly, she felt someone braiding her hair. 

"Liz," she was directed back to John. 

"Don't go away. I'm serious about this. It's bad enough your father has a reputation and your mother. "

The feeling at the back of her head was gone and she felt over her head, looking at Alex. 

" It's like what I had before. "

"He even looks decent without the dirt." 

She patted him down. It was one on one and a Heini from the noble salon had given it to her.

"You wouldn't believe how often he did your mother's hair when she was bored and asleep. Even Bettina has had it. But," he sighed, "she says better of him than spending money on the hairdresser. The women ..." He cleared his throat. 

"So, you'll be working as an assistant from now on. We don't have anything you'd fit in. "

"Okay."

" Okay? No objections? "

" No "

He looked at her scrutinizingly. He reached into his pocket, took out Liz's name sticker and rank insignia and stuck them on her chest and collar.

"Where he goes, you go. Got it? The last assistants threw in the towel. The only one who held out was Jannet. "

Liz nodded. 

"Good, I took the liberty of folding your account, you made a pretty penny." 

" Guns are expensive " Liz grinned. 

"Of course" John looked at the tray. " Barber, brothel, hairdresser, bar, brothel, bar, grocery store, tattoo artist. Ah, arms dealer here." He looked at Liz. 

"You've spent more on tattoo artists than guns Liz."

"It's one of those holo things."

John rolled his eyes. "Not you too...it's a trend right now. Just curious, what did you get done? "

" Um a manticore, the kind you see in South America. " 

" Go on, they're not that expensive. "

She turned around and lifted up the BDU, you could see full back tattoos, sterilized snakes, then everything flickered and a manticore appeared, moving and disappearing under the BDU. She lowered the bdu again.

"You know, it's not clear if these holotattoos are safe?"

"Earls said I can get one if I use the right frequency."

John grabbed his face. 

" Good, good." 

Alex looked up from his cell phone and then at the two of them. 

" Ah you two are done. " He put the cell phone away. 

"So Morocco is now under control."

" Then we have two outposts in Africa. "

" Yup. "

Liz knew that the Northern Bloc had never made any major expansions into Africa. She had always wondered why. Cairo was the hub for trade in the region.

" Dad, why didn't you ever conquer Africa? "

" We waited until it tore itself apart. "

She could relate to this statement. Morocco had been the only civilized state, the whole coast as far as Cairo were just mini-states ruled by warlords. From then on, it was a mere patchwork of warlord states and death zones where there were still infected people. South Africa was the other civilized state in the south that meticulously secured its borders. 

Uther said goodbye to Liz with John and her father.