97 Samir Starts An Army (1/2)

The sergeant showed up just a couple of hours after Samir woke up in Mumbai. Samir barely had the time to wash and eat and have a talk with the construction crew that arrived to work on his house. He told them he might have more work for them: he wanted a couple of small barracks built on the edge of his property, along the lane that ran to the main road.

The two boys and the girl Rani had brought from the market were squatting in one of the spare rooms on the ground floor. Samir gave each of them a few mangoes, and told them to make themselves scarce. He did not want the kids around when the sergeant came. He would interview them later, when the visit was over.

The kids hadn't been gone for more than a couple of minutes when the sergeant arrived. He came in a jeep driven by another soldier, who remained in the parked vehicle. Samir invited the sergeant to sit down and to help himself to some fruit: he'd noticed him hungrily eyeing the mangoes in the bowl on the table. He waited patiently while his guest greedily ate half a dozen mangoes.

The sergeant apologized to Samir for making him wait, and got straight to the point.

”Thank you for the fruit,” he said. ”I'm not sure if you remember my name: it's Arjun Varma. I am a sergeant commanding a squad in the 16th Infantry Division. You've already met some of my soldiers while they were guarding the cube in the field outside your house. They're good, disciplined men. And I hope you remember I let you keep some items from the cube.”

Samir said that yes, he remembered it very well, and was grateful. He would happy to return the favor. Was there anything he could do for the sergeant?

”Yes, there is. None of us got paid this month,” said the sergeant. ”And there is no sign we'll get paid next month. The army feeds us, but I also have a family. Each of my men has a family. I know you have a colony running in the New World.”

”Who told you?”

”No one. It wasn't necessary. I have eyes and ears. I also have a pair of good binoculars. You should know that anyone standing on the roof of a building can look into the rooms on the upper floor of your house. You have a small pile of implant kits and mats in the room directly above us. You should cover up the empty window holes.”

Samir burned with shame at being caught out like that. He said:

”I've already moved everything, and hid it from the workers I have here. They'll be putting shutters and doors everywhere.”

”That's good,” said the sergeant. ”You must understand I'm not here to blackmail you. I want to ask you for something else. I already told your wife, she said she'd pass it on to you. Here it is: me and my men want to join your colony. We all know how the whole process works. But we want something in return. Enough food to feed our families, and maybe some money. Nothing big. A cut of your profits that would reflect the contribution we'll be making to your colony.”

”I see,” Samir said. He said that whenever someone's words triggered a vision in his mind. The vision he saw now was of a group of replicated soldiers taking over Kulaba, and imposing a military dictatorship.

”I think I can promise you we'll be very useful,” said the sergeant. ”You must know you're not alone in the New World. Our unit is confiscating illegal implant kits and hiber beds every day. I suspect that in Mumbai alone, hundreds if not thousands of people have already replicated themselves in the New World.”

”I wouldn't know,” Samir said evasively. ”Let's get back to the subject. I like your propostion, but it's a big decision for me. I'd like to think about it.”

”I need an answer now.”

”You said you would be coming back next month to my neighbor the other day. What's the big hurry now?”

”As of today, the army has stopped issuing us extra rations for our families. Like I told you, I have a family - a wife and two children. All of my men have wives and children, too. That's the big hurry.”

Samir nodded.

”Fine,” he said. ”I can agree in principle right away. But I need more time to work out how to handle this. It's not as easy as you might think. Listen, I'll give you some food later today. Come around in the evening.”

”I'll be here. But can I ask you something? Could you give us enough food so that everyone gets at least a single meal?”

”Everyone?”

”Me, my men, and our families.”

Samir groaned.

”But that will be thirty or forty people,” he said. ”Am I right?”

The sergeant's guilty silence told him that indeed, he was right, probably even underestimated things a little.

Samir sighed.

”I will help you,” he said. ”But it really isn't going to be easy. And now you'd like enough food for forty meals, right away! I need you to help me so that I can help you.”

The sergeant became wary. He shot Samir a suspicious glance.

”I have a friend living in Khalapur with his wife,” Samir explained. ”And I need to move them here. My friend is an excellent craftsman. He has skills that are very useful in the New World. But he has no transport, and neither have I. You do.”

The sergeant thought this over. Eventually he said: