07-29-2014, 07:39 PM
He laughed warmly at her snide comment, "Do not let my investors know, would you? They still think I am a gambling buffoon. I fear Jeddah may sully that image some."
His image graced many an African-circulated business and culture magazine. The business ones often hinted that he was just the charismatic face for a secretive board of trustees, while the culture ones went on about his more interesting misadventures in the lime-light.
He stood in silence a moment, something, or more likely someone, in the crowds below having caught his attention, but in the end he just sighed quietly and moved to sit, moving away from the roof's perimeter wall to lean against the same ventilator as she.
"The big picture. You can learn much of a city by the people that are in it. Most of the people down there are city-dwellers. Not many are from the country-side, or the smaller towns. You can tell by the clothes, you see. Freetown is a rich city, as far as Africa goes. The people here are well off, and buy from the big chain stores. It has only been two days, but that should be plenty of time for people from rural areas to have fled to the capital. But they are not. The refugee camps are receiving people from the ferry crossings, but not much from the over-land routes. Why?"
The answer was relatively simple. Either the Temne, or General Wallace-Jackson's troops controlled the highway into Freetown, and had blocked all inbound traffic. But why were they doing it? It was easier to track who was coming in at the ferry ports on the far side of the river. Those places were designed for just that sort of thing, funneling people in or out.
"I doubt our intentions with the Chinese embassy are similar. Their politicians are nothing to me but a means to an end. They offer their money for favours, for promises and guarantees that simply cannot be provided. When they leave, I expect no more help from them. I wish only to thank the soldiers that were ordered to kill to protect the people in this building, and the others here. Soldiers are trained to take lives, but they are still human, and killing does not sit well with some. To know that what they did was appreciated by those that benefited from their actions may help alleviate some of the weight they now carry."
He adjusted his Landwarriors, where he was still cycling through status updates and reports from his men scattered around the country. "What do you want to talk about then? You wish to visit the Chinese Embassy. I will be going in the morning."
His image graced many an African-circulated business and culture magazine. The business ones often hinted that he was just the charismatic face for a secretive board of trustees, while the culture ones went on about his more interesting misadventures in the lime-light.
He stood in silence a moment, something, or more likely someone, in the crowds below having caught his attention, but in the end he just sighed quietly and moved to sit, moving away from the roof's perimeter wall to lean against the same ventilator as she.
"The big picture. You can learn much of a city by the people that are in it. Most of the people down there are city-dwellers. Not many are from the country-side, or the smaller towns. You can tell by the clothes, you see. Freetown is a rich city, as far as Africa goes. The people here are well off, and buy from the big chain stores. It has only been two days, but that should be plenty of time for people from rural areas to have fled to the capital. But they are not. The refugee camps are receiving people from the ferry crossings, but not much from the over-land routes. Why?"
The answer was relatively simple. Either the Temne, or General Wallace-Jackson's troops controlled the highway into Freetown, and had blocked all inbound traffic. But why were they doing it? It was easier to track who was coming in at the ferry ports on the far side of the river. Those places were designed for just that sort of thing, funneling people in or out.
"I doubt our intentions with the Chinese embassy are similar. Their politicians are nothing to me but a means to an end. They offer their money for favours, for promises and guarantees that simply cannot be provided. When they leave, I expect no more help from them. I wish only to thank the soldiers that were ordered to kill to protect the people in this building, and the others here. Soldiers are trained to take lives, but they are still human, and killing does not sit well with some. To know that what they did was appreciated by those that benefited from their actions may help alleviate some of the weight they now carry."
He adjusted his Landwarriors, where he was still cycling through status updates and reports from his men scattered around the country. "What do you want to talk about then? You wish to visit the Chinese Embassy. I will be going in the morning."