Cargo by DV Berkom

Author:DV Berkom [Berkom, DV]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thriller
Publisher: Duct Tape Press
Published: 2015-08-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

Dinner with Alma and Hattie consisted of coconut bean soup, a salad of greens and tomatoes, and ugali, a kind of dough made from cornmeal. Afterward, Alma built a fire outside of the guest building where they gathered to share a drink.

Against the backdrop of impossibly brilliant stars, the maniacal laughter of hyenas, and the occasional roar of a lion, they drank lukewarm beer and shared stories. Alma and Hattie entertained them with tales of successfully reintroducing into the wild several of the animals they’d cared for through the years, of working to make the center self-sustaining by using wind power and installing solar panels, and growing their own produce, which they traded for other necessities like batteries and beer.

Leine spoke of her fascination with Tanzania’s wildlife, and of the near-miss with the pair of lions earlier that day. That brought on several stories of close encounters by the other three, each citing instances of what they assumed would be certain death but having something happen to save them in the nick of time. Derek swore by always having a six-pack of beer at the ready.

“One time, I was alone in the bush taking a piss and a lioness got a little too interested. My rifle was too far away to grab and all I had with me was a beer. So I shook it up real good and let it fly.” He laughed. “She didn’t like the spinning bottle, or the fizzy stuff that came out of it. Diverted her attention just long enough for me to go for my gun.”

“African Karma,” Alma said with a knowing look. “If you’re lucky enough to get out of that kind of situation alive it means you owe something.”

“To whom?” Leine asked.

“Ooh, she’s talking about the African spirits.” Hattie wiggled her fingers in the air and made a face, smiling as she did.

“Don’t you go dissing what you don’t understand, Miss Hattie,” Alma said, wagging her finger at the younger woman. “I’ve been living on this dark continent for a lot longer than you have and can’t begin to explain some of the goings-on around here.”

Hattie rolled her eyes and smiled affectionately at her mentor. “You keep telling me that, but I have yet to experience what you’re talking about.”

“Be glad, missy. You don’t want to be beholden to any spirits down here. They tend to go overboard in their demands.”

Eventually, talk turned to poaching and Leine and Derek described their encounter with the massacred elephants. Alma nodded, the lines around her eyes deepening.

“The official number’s over ten thousand elephants killed each year in Tanzania alone, but I’m certain it’s more than that. Illegal kills have risen to sixty-five percent of the population across Africa. At this rate, experts predict extinction within our lifetime. Maybe within the decade.”

“Economics are driving things again,” Hattie added.

“What do you mean, again?” Leine asked.

“Poaching was a huge problem back in the seventies and eighties,” Alma replied. “Supply far exceeded demand. We fought hard to save what was left, even enjoyed a twenty-year lull.

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