Chapter 2: The Camp

Hope was puzzled by one of the things that the camp organised for the refugees to do. Soldiers would get everyone out of one of the tents, women as well as children, and line them up, one behind the other, facing a round piece of green cloth on the dusty ground. They all had to walk briskly onto the cloth and off again at the other side, one after the other, without stopping. Solomon always got a sweet when he did it right, and Hope usually got one too. She suspected that was because she looked younger than she really was; the more developed girls her age just got a smile from the soldiers. Solomon always enjoyed the game, mostly because of the sweet.

After a time Hope had talked to all the soldiers currently in the camp. She kept an eye out for any new faces so she could ask them about her father. One morning she saw that a batch of new soldiers had arrived, and a few familiar faces were missing. The camp had obviously brought in a new lot of convalescents. As quickly as she could, she made the rounds of the new soldiers, asking about her father. As she searched between the tents she spotted a familiar face, it was Gideon from her village. He had gone into the Army along with Daddy and the other village men. He would know where Daddy was!

As she ran towards him, her long legs kicking up the dust behind her, she saw that he had lost his left arm in the fighting. He noticed her coming towards him and his face lit up with a smile as he recognised her.

"Hope!" he greeted her with a one-armed hug.

Her face alight she asked, "Gideon, do you know where my father is?"

His face fell, and he shook his head, "I'm sorry, Hope. He's d..."

Hope screamed, "Noooo!" Gideon was still talking, but she didn't hear him. All the tears she had been keeping back for weeks escaped from her. Daddy was gone. She howled for her Daddy. He'd sat her on his knee and told her how pretty she was. She howled. He'd tickled her when she'd been sad. She howled. He'd looked after her when she'd been ill. She howled. He'd made her a shelf for her toys. She howled. He'd smiled and waved to her as he left to join the Army. She howled. Hope howled all her hurt and her pain and her anger. She cried for her baby sister. She cried for her mother. She howled for her Daddy. Daddy was dead.

Gideon was holding her with his one good arm as she cried herself out. "Everyone's dead, Gideon," she told him between her sniffles. "The aliens killed everyone in the village. Your mother and sisters are gone as well. Only Solomon and I got away." Now it was Gideon's turn to cry. Hope held him as he did. Helping him helped her to gather herself together.

"What do we do now, Gideon?" she asked.

Ajabu opened her eyes as the hatch swung back. She swiftly got out of the med-tube and put on her clothes. When she was dressed, the medic smiled at her and pointed to the replicator, where her CAP card was waiting. 6.8! She felt a great wave of relief. She was free of the General, and of Subira. "Where do I volunteer?" she asked in Swahili.

"Lieutenant Kaukenas is waiting for you outside. You can ask her," the medic replied in the same language. "And congratulations."

"Well done Ajabu," Daiva told her in English. Ajabu was confused, as she was hearing a simultaneous Swahili translation in her head. Her puzzled look alerted the Lieutenant.

"You have an AI translator installed until you've learned better English. You can speak Swahili to me and I will understand. I have a translator as well."

"It is strange hearing two voices."

"You'll get used to it," the Lieutenant told her. "Once your English catches up you won't need it any more."

Ajabu remembered her purpose here. "Where do I volunteer?" she asked again.

"Here and now," Daiva told the tall recruit. The AI had already indicated that Ajabu had tested as a sponsor and was acceptable for extraction. She paused and formally asked, "Do you, Ajabu Adobora, volunteer for service with the Confederacy?"

"Yes I do," Ajabu replied, equally formally.

"Acknowledged and recorded," came the voice of the AI.

"Navy or Marines?"

"Marines please, sir," Ajabu answered without hesitation. She had seen some of what the Swarm had done to her country and she wanted to get close to them, so she could see them die. "And could I be known as Ajabu Ngowi please, sir." She wanted to leave the General's name behind along with her old life.

"Yes, we can do that." Daiva ordered, "AI, make the requested change."

"Acknowledged and recorded."

Daiva paused momentarily, listening to the AI inside her head. "Private Ngowi, since you are pregnant, you will have an abbreviated and less strenuous initial training course. Then we will assign you to light duties in one of the Kindertransport camps, where your language and cultural knowledge will be useful. Once you have had your child, you will complete your training and be available for general duties."

"Yes, sir." She even managed a creditable salute. Being the General's wife had taught her something about military life.

On their way back to the 'VIP Lounge' the Lieutenant explained what was going to happen to her former husband, his other wives and the two children. Since neither of the young children were hers, Ajabu was happy for them both to stay with Busara, the General's second wife.

Hope decided not to ask Gideon how her father had died. Just knowing that he was dead was terrible enough. Hearing the details would rub salt into the wound, which was still red raw. Gideon seemed to feel the same, he didn't ask her exactly what had happened to their village. Quietly, holding hands for comfort, they both made their way back to the tent where she and Solomon were staying.

Solomon was happy to see Gideon's familiar face. He soon noticed that neither the wounded soldier nor his sister were happy and made the connection. "Daddy's not coming back, is he Hope?"

"No Solomon, he's not. Daddy's dead." Solomon started crying, which set Hope and Gideon off again. Somehow she managed to ignore her own tears and calm her little brother.

Solomon asked Gideon, "Did Daddy kill any Swarm before he died?"

"Oh yes, Solomon, he killed a lot of the Swarm."

"I'm going to grow up and kill the Swarm, just like Daddy," Solomon declared. "I'll join the Confederacy and fight them."

"The Confederacy?" Hope was shocked. "Pastor said that they were working for Satan, and we shouldn't have anything to do with them."

Her brother replied, "Pastor said that the Lord would protect us all from the Swarm, and he was wrong. I think he was wrong about the Confederacy as well. I'm going to join them and fight."

Hope was still dubious. Their Pastor had been insistent that the Confederacy was to be avoided. Solomon seemed very determined though. She decided to delay by asking Gideon. "What do you think of the Confederacy, Gideon?"

"I haven't seen much of then, though what I have seen has been good. They make a lot of our food and weapons for us, and they help with medical things as well. I hear they may be able to regrow my arm," he waved the stump of his left arm for emphasis. "I don't think they're as bad as Pastor said."

"What can we do to help Solomon to join the Confederacy?" she asked Gideon.

"I'm not sure Hope, I've only just got here. I'll ask around and see if there's a way."

Hope decided that she would sleep on it overnight. As Solomon had said, Pastor wasn't always right about everything.

Daiva, Ajabu and Busara, together with the General's two young children, watched his plane taxiing for take-off. He and Subira were leaving the rest of their family behind. Busara and the young boy were holding back tears. The young girl just looked on stoically as she held her mother's hand.

"Private," the Lieutenant asked discreetly, "you are allowed two concubines. Do you want to ask Busara?"

Ajabu thought about it for a moment. "No, sir. There is too much history that I don't want to be reminded of. I would prefer to make a clean break."

That was the answer Daiva had been anticipating. "In that case, you can select both your concubines from our pool here. The AI will be able to help you with suggestions. We have a large number of women, obviously, and a small pool of men for you to select from. You'll need someone to get your other concubine pregnant."

"Men, sir?" Ajabu was puzzled. She knew that the Kindertransport program only took women and children, not men.

"We have a few thirteen year old boys who turn fourteen while they are here. There are also some stowaways and those who try to pass for younger, as with the General trying to tell us you were thirteen. We do find a few women, like yourself, who test over 6.4, so we need a small pool of male concubines for you to pick from. All of the men have been CAP tested, and are likely to make good concubines. The ones who wouldn't do well with a female sponsor don't stay here for long."

Ajabu nodded. "I see, sir."

Daiva continued, "If you want a larger selection, we can send you up to one of the Moon bases, though the men there are mostly from outside Africa."

"No thank you, sir. I'm sure I'll be able to find my concubines here."

Hope awoke the next morning with a mission. Overnight her thoughts had crystallised: Solomon was right. Her brother was going to join the Confederacy to fight the Swarm, and she was going to help him. She had tried her best to find Daddy, but she had failed. She would make sure that she wouldn't fail this time. She got up with a new determination.

Every day she pestered Gideon to see if he had found a way to help Solomon join the Confederacy. She knew that she must be irritating him, but she couldn't stop herself. They had to do something to punish the aliens for what they had done. Every day Gideon smiled regretfully at her and told her that he hadn't found anything yet.

In theory, the refugees were flown out to an offshore Confederacy base in order of arrival. She and Solomon had been issued with their numbers when they were registered on their first day in the camp. The problem was that the queue moved so slowly. The Confederacy could only take a limited number of refugees, and there were influential people who used their clout to take up seats on the flights. It would take much too long for the two of them to get to the head of the queue in the normal way. Hope waited and visited Gideon daily. At least she had more time to play with Solomon, though now his games had taken a more warlike turn. He was trying his best to learn things from the soldiers in the camp.

One day she was surprised to see Gideon walking towards her with a big smile on his face. "Come with me Hope, I think I've found something." She was bouncing with excitement, but he wouldn't talk to her about whatever it was he had found with other people around. She had to wait until they got to a quiet corner before he would tell her.

"Hope, do you know what 'Kindertransport' means?"

She had learned what the word meant since first seeing it on the day she arrived here. "Yes, Gideon, it means women and children get taken to the stars to have lots of babies and fight the Swarm."

"Right," he confirmed, "and the important part is, 'and children'. Women who go need to have plenty of children with them. There's a rich woman who wants to go, and she needs extra children so the Confederacy will take her. I must warn you that she'll expect you to do all of the work. You'll have to look after the children without any help from her. I think she's always had maids and nannies to do everything for her. You would have to be both maid and nanny," he warned Hope.

"I can work hard," she assured him. "Will Solomon be able to come as well?"

"Of course he will," Gideon reassured her. "I wouldn't have asked you if he couldn't. She has one child of her own and wants six more from the camp. You and Solomon can be two of the six."

Gideon was right, Mrs Maruge expected Hope to do all the work looking after the children. She had collected a group of seven: her own little girl, Tegla, who was three, together with Hope, Solomon and four others from the camp: Khadija, Murua, Siti and little Bobo, the same age as Tegla. Hope was the oldest so she got to do most of the work. Khadija, the next oldest, was eleven so she could help a bit. As well as her own group of seven children, Mrs Maruge was also taking her maid, Patience, who had a further six children -- three of her own and three extras from the camp. The rich woman wanted to be assured both that she would be accepted for extraction and that she would still have her servant with her in future. Hope wasn't sure that the Confederacy worked that way, but it didn't matter as long as she and her brother got to the stars. The work was hard, but she could put up with it. Anything to ensure that Solomon would grow up to fight the Swarm, just like their father had done.

Hope and her brother both liked Patience, the maid. She was a bit overweight, but very motherly and comfortable. She was happy to give either of them a hug when they needed one. She was also very helpful with hints on how to avoid the worst of Mrs Maruge. Patience had worked for the woman for years, and knew how to keep on her good side. Hope was grateful for the advice she gave.

They were going by sea. Mrs Maruge had hired a converted trawler to take all of them out to the Confederacy base on its island. Hope liked the skipper, George. In her rare free moments she talked to him as he steered the boat. He reminded her of the truck driver they had first met; he seemed to want to talk to someone.

"You be OK wit' Confed'cy, Hope," he told the girl. "Take you for sure. George knows. George been dere before." He had a strange accent which, combined with his odd habit of referring to himself in the third person, sometimes made it difficult to understand him. To Hope he sounded like he might have come from somewhere in West Africa.

"You've been to the island before, George?"

"Oh yes, many times. Dey knows old George. Dey like George. I does what dey tells me. Confed'cy easy. Do what boss says and evr'tin' OK. George do what Genr'l says so I OK."

Hope wondered, "What happens if you don't do what they say?"

"Oooh, don't you be doin' dat, Hope girl," George cautioned her. "You don't do what you told, den you gets one warnin'. After one warnin' dey kills you. Dead." He gestured, slicing his hand across his throat. "Do what boss tells you. You be OK."

Hearing that, Hope wondered how well Mrs Maruge would get on in the Confederacy. She couldn't see the woman accepting orders easily, and she knew that concubines had to follow orders, just like George said. She thought that Patience would probably make a much better concubine than her mistress. The maid lived up to her name and just got on quietly with whatever she was told to do. Hope worried that if Mrs Maruge were rejected, then the children travelling with her would be rejected as well, including herself and Solomon. George assured her that it wouldn't be a problem, but she worried anyway.

Most of the children got seasick; Bobo was particularly badly affected and clung to Hope a lot of the time. Even at three years old, he had worked out that Hope was a lot nicer than Mrs Maruge. Dealing with seasick children was bad enough for Hope, but dealing with a seasick Mrs Maruge was worse. Even with both Hope and Patience looking after her she still managed to complain. She even irritated George, "Dem sharks lookin' skinny. Maybe need feedin' up?" he said one particularly rough day.

Hope looked round quickly to check that Mrs Maruge was out of earshot. "You wouldn't do that George, would you?"

"George sore tempted, but Confed'cy kill me if I do. Dead people no good to dem. Some guys try it early on, jus' after camp opened. Confed'cy kill 'em all. George not stupid. Confed'cy like doin' its own killin'. Don' want George doin' it for dem."

It was a relief for all of them when the weather calmed down and the island hove into sight. As George steered them into the harbour, Hope could see three people in green uniforms standing on the quayside. Even from a distance she could tell that they were bigger than average.

Commander Tolstova was waiting with a pair of Marines as George's crew moored the trawler. As always, he had radioed ahead to let them know when he was arriving. Some skippers didn't and tried to sneak in undetected; none succeeded. The island had advanced electronics, able to warn of any incoming Sa'arm raids, so detecting a ship was child's play. Any skipper who tried it once was warned. Twice and he was executed.

The Commander greeted George with a familiar wave as he came down the gangplank, "Hello again, George. Who do you have for us today?"

"George got two women and t'irteen kids dis trip, Genr'l. Jus' like you want."

The Commander smiled broadly at that. George always called every officer 'General', no matter what their actual rank. "That's good, George."

They both watched as the passengers disembarked. George was a veteran of many trips to the island. He understood who the Confederacy wanted and who they didn't. Those sailors who didn't understand had had their craft confiscated, or had even been executed. George was a survivor, he knew he had to play this game by the rules. "You ready to join us yet George?" the Commander asked him. The AIs had indicated that he was likely to make a good concubine, as he instinctively understood the necessity of following orders. The Commander dropped a hint about it every time he docked.

"Not yet Genr'l, George got plenty o' money to spend. Money no good in Confed'cy. George come back when money all gone."

"True, we don't have much use for money. One day you'll join us though."

"One day, Genr'l, but not today." George gave her an approximation of a salute, and walked back up the gangplank onto his boat.

Waiting on the quayside, Hope was astonished at the size of the Marines. They were huge; so much bigger than ordinary soldiers. Surely the Swarm would have no chance against men like this. And women as well, two of the three were women, including the officer. She could easily imagine Solomon growing up to become one of them. She whispered to her brother, "You're going to be big like them, Solomon." He just stared at the three giant Marines, round-eyed in amazement.