Old Lovers Don't Die by Paul G Anderson

morning, I see.”
    Before he had a chance to reply, she quickly walked up the aisle to the bathroom. Even the way that she walked attracted his interest. Deliberate long strides, with just a small sway of the hips. He was wondering whether they would meet up again when she paused, before opening the curtain in front of the bathroom, and looked at him and smiled. An answer, he wondered? Would it ever be more than what it was now? A few moments later as she walked back towards him and squeezed past him to the inside seat, she deliberately touched him on the thigh; it was a simple but personal communication of approval.
    “Reading the messages?” she said as she sat down.
    Christian laughed. “Correct me if I’m wrong but was that so I did not misinterpret that you would like to see me again?”
    “Ten out of ten. You have come a long way on this flight.”
    “Great teacher!”
    “Flattery will get you everywhere, but this is the list of people whom you need to be extremely cautious of if you know they are around. Kariba Offengowhe. Bosco Demungu, aka Bosco the Brutal. They are both notorious evil warlords. There are, in addition, two buyers of mineral resources, who are equally unscrupulous: one, a Jewish Frenchman, called François Segal, and the other a Syrian, Raoul Assad. We would prosecute both of them for crimes against humanity and corruption as well as arraigning them for child and sex and slavery charges.”
    “Hopefully, I will not come into contact with any of them and just can get on with learning more medicine and surgery.”
    Christian looked down at the envelope and on the back was Petrea’s mobile number.
    “One big hug before we go is the deal.”
    “I like a forceful man. Consider that a deal and remember the list of people to avoid that I gave you; if things work out when I see you again, I want the whole 195 cm of you intact, please.”

Chapter 7
     
     
     
     
     
    Raoul Assad knew he was a fat bastard. However, since he had become rich and powerful, the only person who could say that to him and remain alive was Kariba. Kariba Offengowe controlled all the Casserite ore, gold, silver, and diamonds in the Northern Congo. Raoul bought everything that Kariba could force out of the ground with his army of emaciated enslaved children. The recent discovery of tantalum, and its use in microchips for phones and computers had made the metal the new platinum. The Congo, and therefore Kariba, owned 30% of the world’s supply. Selling refined tantallum to the electronics companies was a licence for Raoul to print money. Raoul loved money almost as much as he loved the young African girls, which Kariba supplied.
    Raoul initially supplied arms as well as money to Kariba in exchange for exclusive access to the resources. Fortunately, there had been a ready supply through his friend, General Alaki. The donations to the general’s retirement fund had become more demanding but they ensured the regular delivery of arms, which had maintained the balance of power in Kariba’s favour. In the ten years that he had known Kariba, they had formed a successful team. For the first five or six years, Kariba was unchallenged, other than small individual gangs of subsistence workers who attacked his mining gangs. Kariba would hunt them down, ruthlessly, execute them, and hang their bodies in the trees as a deterrent for others. For some time that deterred further attacks. However, as others saw his growing riches, opposing gangs started to become more organised. Kariba saw the need to develop an army to protect his personal kingdom.
    Then in the last two years, two more serious threats to their wealth emerged. On the one side was the Congolese army, whose political masters coveted the massive profits Kariba made. They made repeated attempts at a takeover of Kariba’s mines, but their organisation and firepower was so pathetic that Kariba’s well-armed men easily repelled them. On the Rwandan side was a far more serious