Albor's Calling

 

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Introduction

An African Think-Tank estimates that by the end of of the 23rd century over half of the world's entrepreneurial minds and industrialists will have left Earth for the colonies that have much higher growth perspectives. A young Nigerian politician tries to keep people from leaving the planet. An old Uruguayan teacher ponders of all the possibilities that await him and his idea of growing coconuts on Mars. A French-German twenty something contemplates leaving to the colonies after breaking up with his girlfriend and seeks to find more from life on Earth. 

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Chapter 1.1

“Mr. Obama, the mayor of Ojoba is here, Mr. Afolayan” Chawa said as she came in with another folder with things to sign, her skin tight black and white-striped dress effectively accentuating her magnificent female body which he admired daily. “Thank you Mrs. Ihejirika. Let him in” Chidubem waved as he tried to not look at her supple breasts. “Right away, sir. Don’t forget your arrangement at 2pm.” Chawa smirked as she gave him a wink “How could I, it is what I look forward to everyday” Chidubem smiled as he bit his lip. Chawa kept her smirk and turn on the spot and walked out of his office, her ass swaying back and forth seductively. He kept time every day away in his schedule to make sure he could fuck Chawa.

On his desk, in the toilet, on the floor, there was no spot free where they did not have sex and it gave him power. It made him feel so much younger again. As soon as she left, Mr. Afolayan came in. “Ah Jadon, come in come in. How is the family?” Chidubem stood up to greet him “Good Chidu, very good. All is well at home.” they shook hands heartily and patte each other on the back  “Ah that is great to hear. Please, have a seat” Chidubem ushered Mr. Afolayan to a seat as they began to discuss the terms for improving the roads between the two cities and to the highway.

“Jadon, I am glad you could come here today. It took a lot of writing to get you out of your hole” Chidubem joked but he was bothered by the fact that Mr. Afolayan would only answer him through his secretary for months, keeping him at bay. Mr. Jadon Afolayan was notoriously corrupt and Chidubem wanted to turn a new leaf. “As you know the streets of Ojoba are in a bad condition and most of the trucks coming to our village have to go through your village first” Chidubem began “and lately I have been hearding that truck drivers were instructed to pay a toll to go to our village from yours, is that correct?” and Mr. Afolayan put on a face of complete innocence “What? I have never heard of such a thing. I will look into that right away! Our friends in Amoshi are of paramount importance to us! Paramount!” he said, raising his hand with an extended index finger. Chidubem smiled and got up “Do you want something to drink?” he asked Jadon “Yes, a whiskey would be nice” and Chidubem obliged. Whilst he poured the whiskey he continued “Jadon, I happen to know on good authority that it was you that enacted these tolls.” Chidubem said and then turned back to Jadon, handing him a whiskey. Jadon smiled and took a sip of the whiskey “I’d like to see you prove that, Chidu. My hands are clean” he said and put on his face of innocence again “Now if you want to turn this into a trial, you’re barking up the wrong tree. I won’t have any of this. You know my rates and if you want the roads fixed you know what to do.” Jadon said as he downed the whiskey and got up.

Chidubem stayed standing, whiskey glass in hand “One momeny, Jadon. Perhaps you’d like a look at this” and he reached into his suit jacket, taking out an envelope. “In here is enough proof to get you charged for corruption, your brother charged for murder and your wife charged for money laundering.” Chidubem took a sip of the whiskey as Jadon slowly turned around “And as I speak they are being arrested. As will you right now. I will not tolerate corruption in this city, nor in this province.” “You won’t get away with this” Jadon lunged for the envelope and grabbed it from Chidubem’s hands, that willingly gave it up. “Hah! I got you now!” Jadon said as he tried to rip up the envelope, tearing at it, stomping on it and even trying to bite it. “What is this bullshit?” as Chidubem slowly turned around and sat back at his desk, 3 policemen entered the building and journalists could be heard outside of the door. “What the hell is in there Chidu? Fucking tell me what that is” he screamed at CHidubem as he was being handcuffed “Show me what’s in the envelope, Chidu! Show me!” he screamed as he was escorted out. Chidubem smiled, turned his chair and looked out the window as the screams slowly subsided.

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Chapter 1.2

The street was relatively clean in Amoshi today and Chidubem was happy for it. He walked through the streets and talked to people, asking how they are doing. “Enu, how are you doing? How is the shop?” he asks an elderly man “Good, Chidu. Thank you. How is the city?” and Chidu smiled “Better with you!” he smiled and continued down the road. A pile of garbage was building up in front of a building so Chidubem went to inspect with the house owner. “Hey, excuse me. What is this?” he walked towards the entrance where two men were lounging in overalls, taking shelter from the sun. “We are renovating, this is just from the renovation” one man shrugged and the other continued to smoke “Problem, Mr. Mayor?” the smoking man asked and Chidubem asked nicely “Great, good to see gentlemen. Keep up the good work. Could you make sure it doesn’t get on the street?” he smiled and nodded and the workers nodded and smiled and waved him goodbye as he continued down the street.

The weather was scorching, but Chidubem kept to wearing a suit. He decided something brighter would be appropriate due to the heat. It was 39°C today and pretty humid as well, but appearances had to be kept. He wanted to look respectable amongst the others but after walking half an hour he undid his shirt a bit and let himself go. “Let them see I sweat too” he thought to himself, walking towards the local quarry to see if the local overseer had improved the safety conditions.

Upon nearing the quarry he saw heads bobbing up and about with yellow on their heads. They finally were wearing the helmet he insisted upon. The past overseer was fired once his corruption was exposed by Chidubem’s supporters and the new one was very helpful towards Chidubem, who greeted him heartily at the quarry once Chidubem got into viewing distance. “Mr Obama! So good to see you! As you can see the workers are well-equipped now!” and he let out a hearty laugh. Mr. Afolayan was full of happiness and food, as his loud laugh rumbled throughout the quarry. It was impossible to be angry with Mr. Afolayan. “I am glad to see that! And I am working on improving the road to the quarry to deliveries can get out of here quicker and boost our economy” Chidubem assured Mr. Afolayan “I made sure the Mayor of Ojoba got what was coming to him and we might see some changes in the coming months. It will still take a while” Chidubem tried to soothe the man, but he seemed very tranquil “Ah, Mr. Obama I am fine with everything! Things are going well here. I just got news my wife is pregnant! Another addition to the Afolayan household!” Chidubem went in for a handshake to congratulate him “Congratulations Mr. Afo-“ until he was squeezed by overseer Afolayan in a heartfelt and intense hug “Call me Ejiro! Thank you so much Mr. Obama!” “C-call me… gnnh, yes, so happy!” Chidubem smiled and tried to wiggle his way out of the embrace. “Congratu-“ he wiggled “lations! Such a nice-“ and wiggled some more “day for you!” until Ejiro dropped him abruptly. Chidubem gasped for breath “Sorry, Mr. Obama. But I just had to do it!” he laughed and spun around relatively elegantly for a man with such a broad circumference. Ejiro urged him to follow with the wink of his hand “Come!” he shouted after him and Chidubem slowly staggered after him.

Various workers came by to Ejiro asking questions about a procedure, or where to put something, and Ejiro had quick answers or delegated to another worker or simply grunted or shook his head. Things were moving efficiently, as far as CHidubem could tell. Inside the quarry Chidubem could see the men were wearing powersuits to aid in the process of mining. “Air conditioned powersuits, Mr. Obama! Can you believe it?” he continued down into the quarry, quickly donning a hardhat. “The company decided, after your enquiry and the firing of the last overseer, to improve working conditions!” he smiled and turn his head slightly “Good of you! These men are faring much better!” turning his head back and continuing further into the quarry he continued his monologue. “We are netting a 84% increase in production and workers are very happy. The new laser mining equipment has improved output speed by 42% and we still have breaks in the 10 hour workday! Things are going fine. Come, we are not there yet, I need to show you the latest addition.” He picked up a hardhat from the floor and plopped it on CHidubem’s head ungracefully.

They ventured further inward and the light remained continuously the same. After about 500 meters they encountered a golf-car. “Hop in!” Ejiro shouted and jumped into the golf-car, making it shake. It seemed sturdy enough however, clearly not made for golf. Chidubem hopped into the back “Where are we going?” he asked a little worried how far they would go down. He didn’t want to get trapped in this mine. “About 4 kilometers inwards, Mr. Obama. I wanted to save the surprise for until we get there. The drive continued and the LED lights whizzed by. Eventually the path started spiralling downwards, further and further. It was nice and cool and CHidubem didn’t mind it at all. Ejiro remained silent for the remainder of the ride and Chidubem simply looked around.

Finally, after what felt like an hour, they arrived at a very loud area. Ejiro got off and handed Chidubem a headset and put one on himself. “Can you hear me?” his voice crackled. He could see his mouth move but heard it only through the headphones. Chidubem nodded “Yes” and then Ejiro gave a thumbs up and walked ahead. It was a huge complex underneath the ground, at least a hundred meters upwards and the length of various football fields long at least. Chidubem was astonished as it seemed spaceships were being created here. It didn’t appear to be too loud, but various men in white coats were talking as were many workers.

“Here, Mr. Obama, we have the future of Africa!” he spread out his arms and continued down the gigantic hangar. Spread out on various areas were what appeared to small and medium-sized spacecraft. Some seemed to have weapons, others did not, and there were so many people here, at least 5 times as many that live in Amoshi. Chidubem was confused “What is this? Why do I only know of this now?” Chidubem enquired over the headset and a loud laugh almost ruptured his eardrums in return. “This will be the pride of Africa, Mr. Obama. Khamisi Corp. has acquired licenses for private spacecraft construction and is developed to the highest of highs of secrecy! We are going to conquer private spaceflight. And you, Mr. Obama, you will be leading this Africa!” he turned to Chidubem and spread out his arms, smiling.

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Chapter 1.3

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Chapter 1.4

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Chapter 1.5

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Chapter 2.1

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Chapter 2.2

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Chapter 2.3

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Chapter 2.4

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Chapter 2.5

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Chapter 2.6

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Chapter 3.1

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Chapter 3.2

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Chapter 3.3

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Chapter 3.4

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Chapter 3.5

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