The Monster & The Conspiracy (BWWM)

33. The Mali Dilemma

C H A P T E R 
T H I R T Y - T H R E E      

"The Rose Building is well guarded and extremely secured. Breaking into it is next to impossible." Julian informed them before settling onto a chair.

"How guarded?" James asked, although his tone suggested that he didn't really want to know.

Julian's eyes were shut as he rested his head against the chair and his ankle crossed over the knee of his other leg. He was silent for a moment until he replied, "A 24/7 state of the art surveillance system monitoring just about every square inch of the building and vicious security guards that kill on sight."

"The mission is practically impossible then." James stated.

"No," Julian countered with a shake of the head, "it's just difficult, not impossible."

"I, for one don't think it's wise for us waltz into rebel-terrorist territory." Shelly interposed.

"So how do you propose we get the artifacts back then?" Julian inquired, he had now opened his eyes and his gaze was trained on Shelly.

"I don't know." Shelly muttered with a sigh. "All I know is that this is a suicide mission."

"Shelly," Julian rubbed his temples, "you don't have to partake in this if you don't want to."

Shelly looked at him like he had just punched her in the face. "I'm not going to abandon my friends!" she hissed, furious that Julian would even make such a suggestion. She took calming breaths, willing herself not to explode. Her eyes softened first, followed by her tone, "All I'm saying is that we need a plan. A really good one at that, preferably one that won't send us to our graves although I strongly advice against this whole mission."

Lin had been quiet for the past hour, which was extremely unlike her seeing as how she was always quick to offer her two cents in any discussion. "Professor Souleymane Yattara!" she exclaimed with a snap of her fingers.

"Mi scusa*?" James' eyebrow curled upwards.

"Sorry...its just that when I usually watch lectures or documentaries about famous African scholars I catch their names." she murmured more to herself than anyone else.

"What are you talking about, Lindiwe?" Julian asked her.

"Professor Souleymane," Lin muttered incoherently, "Julian, please may I borrow your laptop?" she requested, her eyes seemingly faraway but her demeanour determined.

"Uh...alright." Julian nodded hesitantly before pointing at his device. It was currently charging on James' midnight blue, almost black marble counter. Lin pushed herself off the wall then scooted over to the MacBook. Everyone else watched her in bewilderment.

She drew out a stool then sat down and opened Julian's MacBook. The device immediately powered on. She clicked on the Safarai web browser then typed in Professor Souleymane's name. A lot of information popped up, for one it was his full name. Lin read aloud, "Professor Souleymane Yattara. A 59 year old professor who worked as one of Professor Ivan Van Sertima's assistants 10 years ago. He is an Ancient History professor who teaches at the University of Bamako in Mali."

"Impressive," Julian murmured as he looked over her shoulder, "but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Shh." Lin whispered. She clicked on various pages, checking the professor's lecturing schedule. "That's it!" she exclaimed, her eyes lighting up.