Chapter 430: I think...
Booker Davis Jr signalled the waiter. "I want a drink. Drink." He gestured to imitate sake. The waiter understood and returned with a cup. He immediately downed the small cup.
Everyone waited.
"Kazi Hossain...Kazi Hossain..." Booker repeated. "We don’t have that name in our records."
"That’s because I hacked into your government and removed it several times," Kazi replied with a chirpy smile. "I knew someone at CIA headquarters. From there, it wasn’t hard to connect to the military’s servers."
"Hrn." Booker drank and put the cup down. "I have a question for you people: did you think true evil existed before all this?"
"True evil?" Kazi repeated. "I...no, I personally don’t."
"Me neither!" said Jules. Matty hrned, agreeing with his partner.
"That’s good. That’s really good." Without looking at Kazi, Booker waved a hand. "You mentioned slavery, and you’re right, it exists. The western world pretends that it doesn’t exist but it does. Women and boys get sold like cattle. Used as objects of pleasure or, or servants or children. I’ve seen some grandmothers buy young boys because they miss having kids. Some of these people, I had to kill. Others, I spared because they were not pure evil or my mission dictated I avoid bloodshed. Leave the buyers to the local authorities. I was a soldier and I followed orders. In the case of the attack on the plane, I was following those mercenaries because I was already tipped off about a European official who dabbled in human traffic. I tapped his phone and found he was sending men to a plane. I hurried over and fortunately, I got there before it got out of hand."
Kazi remembered that day and when he saw Booker on the plane. Seeing him actually brought relief because if he was here, nothing would happen. Alas, even with the great Booker, a tragedy almost fell upon everyone onboard. If Kazi and Booker had not accidentally worked together, things might have gone much differently.
"I appreciate that," Kazi said. "I appreciate you helping out with this incident too. I guess this battle is different from Gate 10?"
At Gate 10, Booker Davis Jr immediately left, spouting words of not wanting to fight in a war. Booker signalled for a new bottle of alcohol. He drank fast. He drank without actually getting drunk. "This is different. This is mother nature versus humanity. I prefer to side with humans in this instance. Wherever humanity is..." He poured his cup, staring at his reflection. "...I am there."