Mission of Honor o-9

by Tom Clancy

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Maun, Botswana

  Friday, 3:00 P. M.

  Leon Seronga stood in the small, open observation area at the far end of the airstrip. The viewing deck was marked as such with a painted sign. The wooden plaque hung on a tall, ten-foot-wide chain-link fence. To either side were cinder block walls topped with barbed wire. There were five other people waiting at the fence, three of them children. They could not wait to see Granpapa, who was flying in from Gaborone.

  At the moment, the only things to see were two small planes. They were parked on a small asphalt patch on the other side of the field, near the observation tower. The larger one was a twin-engine tour plane owned by SkyRiders. Seronga had seen this particular aircraft flying over the Okavanga Swamp. Tourists who did not have a lot of time to spend in Botswana could be flown over or to sites they wished to see. The other plane was a small, white, single-engine Cessna Skyhawk. It was a private plane.

  The pilot was checking it over. Seronga wished he had access to a small craft like that. It would be so much easier to fly the bishop out of here and land at the edge of the swamp. Mr. Genet had airplanes at his disposal, but he did not offer them to the Brush Vipers. Seronga suspected that the diamond merchant wanted to keep a safe distance from the group's activities.

  Roughly two dozen other people were standing by the road on the other side of the control tower. The first floor of the tower housed the airport's modest terminal. It consisted of a small refreshment stand, a ticket counter, and the baggage claim area. Except for the taxicabs and the shuttle bus, there was not a vehicle on the road. There was a single entrance leading to the airfield. A security officer hired by the airline stood just inside the doorway. He was armed with a 9 mm pistol and a surly expression.

  Seronga had bought a bottle of water at the refreshment stand. He took a sip. The Brush Viper's own automatic was tucked in his shoulder holster, but he was trying not to look intimidating, unhappy, or uncomfortable. He wanted to appear a proper deacon. That was not easy.

  Since they had arrived here a half hour before, Seronga had found it extremely difficult to focus. Physically, he was being baked by the direct sunlight and the uncustomarily heavy clothing. He was perspiring heavily from the forehead to the knees. Though a wind was blowing lightly from the northwest, it only added to his discomfort. It swept sand and grit from the tarmac into the eyes of those waiting for passengers. The marksman in the tower wore thick goggles to protect himself. When the jet landed, the assault was much worse. The engines kicked up whatever the wind had deposited and blasted it toward the crowd.

  Emotionally, it was even worse. Seronga had once heard the expression, "War is hell." It was said by an American, and it was true. But there was something worse than combat: waiting.

  Inactivity did not fill the mind with visions of the things that could go right. Rarely did tension suggest good new ideas. It fueled the nerves with things that could go wrong.

  Seronga had come to Maun with a simple plan. He and Pavant had taken the shuttle bus to the airfield. The shuttle would take them back to Maun with the bishop. There, Seronga and Pavant would link up with Njo Finn. That much was certain. But two of the Spaniards had come out to the airfield as well. They claimed to have left a small bag at customs and wanted to see if it was still there. The presence of the soldiers complicated the plan. What if the Spaniards decided to chat with the bishop at the airfield? What if they wanted to stay close to the clergyman when thex reached Maun? What if Seronga or Pavant did something that a deacon would never do? What if that made the bishop suspicious? What //the Spaniards noticed the bishop's uneasiness?

  Seronga could not consider every possibility. Yet he knew that he had to be prepared for all of them. That was the definition of a professional. All he knew for certain was that he and Pavant had to leave Maun with the bishop. One way or another, they would.

  Still, waiting to start was like running a car in neutral. Seronga was eager to get going.

  Seronga was squinting out at the dusty black tarmac. Pavant was beside him, facing the control tower. After a few minutes, the lights of the airplane finally appeared in the cloudless sky. Seronga watched as the aircraft touched down. The jet's big wheels kicked up dust. The twin tawny clouds trailed the aircraft, and the wind carried them toward the spectators. The mother of the children pulled her youngest one to her, protecting his eyes.

  As the jet taxied, Pavant nudged Seronga in the side.

  "Look," Pavant said.

  Seronga glanced behind them. The two Spanish soldiers had been inside the terminal since getting off the shuttle. Now they were walking toward the observation area.

  "What do you think they're doing?" Pavant asked.

  "Reconnaissance," Seronga replied. "They probably checked the faces in the crowd. Now they'll probably make sure they can get over the fence quickly. The bishop could be vulnerable before he reaches the terminal." Seronga pointed to the far side of the airfield. "Maybe they're afraid someone in those small planes will come after him."

  "I hadn't thought of that," Pavant admitted.

  "I didn't, either, until now," Seronga said. He grinned. "It's different when you know how things are going to happen."

  "They're going to stay close to us, aren't they?" Pavant asked.

  "That's very likely," Seronga agreed. "Don't worry about it, Donald. We'll get through this."

  Seronga turned back to the airfield. So did Pavant.

  The men watched as the jet taxied and the two screaming engines were shut down. Before the dust had settled, the ground crew was already rolling over the silver white stairway. A fuel truck growled and pulled away from the control tower. There was a fire truck parked beside it with a small Red Cross emblem on the door. The firefighter was also probably a medic. That was the extent of the rescue services in Maun.

  The door to the main cabin was opened. A moment later, the door to the luggage bay came down. A tractor rolled over, tugging four stainless-steel carts. Working swiftly, two men hoisted the bags onto the luggage transport. To the right, someone boarded the Cessna. He had obviously been waiting for the jet to come in. Either he was waiting for a passenger or waiting for clearance. Meanwhile, the passengers began filing out. They moved slowly down the wind-buffeted stairway with their carry-on bags. They were a diverse mix of families, businesspeople, and tourists of all ages and nationalities.

  The bishop was one of the last people off the plane. At least, Seronga assumed it was the bishop. He was the only passenger wearing a simple black shirt and slacks with a white collar. His vestments and other belongings would have to come through customs.

  The man in black waved to Seronga. Seronga waved back.

  "Come on," Seronga said to Pavant.

  Pavant grabbed Seronga's arm. "Wait," he said. "I just thought of something."

  "What?" Seronga asked impatiently.

  "What are we supposed to do when we greet the bishop?" Pavant asked. "Do we have to kiss his ring?"

  "I don't know," Seronga admitted.

  "We'd better do it," Pavant suggested. "Something like that could expose us to the bishop or the Spaniards."

  "No," Seronga said. "Let's not worry about protocol. If we miss any formalities, we can apologize later. We'll explain that we wanted to get him inside the shuttle, where he will be relatively safe."

  The two men left the observation area and went to the other side of the control tower. The Spaniards passed them going the other way. The soldiers did not make eye contact. Seronga stole a glance back. The Spaniards looked at the fence. Then they turned toward the tower and took pictures with a digital camera. That made sense. The soldiers were doing more than checking the crowd and planning a possible rescue. They were trying to get images of the people waiting for the airplane. If anything happened, they would be able to upload the images to Spain and have them checked against file photographs.

  Seronga turned unhurriedly. He took another swallow of water. He wondered if he was
in any of those security files. Probably not, he decided. He had never done anything to merit international attention. He also wondered how the deacons wore this damn outfit in the field. Maybe they were like the flagellants he had once heard about, the ancient Catholics who scourged themselves as a form of penance.

  As if being a man or woman of principle was not punishment enough, Seronga thought. Whether one was Catholic or Vodun, a patriot or a rebel, a hunter or a conservationist, to do what you believed was right, against all reason, was a terrible burden. Seronga wondered, in passing, if the bishop was a man like that. Would he go passively like Father Bradbury, or would he struggle? There was another what if, another imponderable.

  Seronga and Pavant reached the front of the control tower. The two men entered the packed terminal. They headed toward the airstrip doorway. As they made their way through the crowd, Seronga turned sideways to sidle through two large groups. In fact, he wanted to see if the Spaniards had entered the terminal. They had. They were only a few steps behind him. Seronga wondered, suddenly, if the bishop knew the soldiers were here. Not that it mattered. Whatever it took, Seronga was determined to accomplish his mission.

  The bishop was just making his way inside. He smiled and waved again when he saw Seronga. As the clergyman crossed the threshold, the security officer suddenly turned toward him. The guard's pistol was drawn. He put it against the back of the clergyman's neck.

  An instant later, he fired.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Maun, Botswana

  Friday, 3:07 P. M.

  Seronga watched helplessly as Bishop Max died.

  The clergyman's head jerked back, even as his body was propelled forward. The first thing that died were his eyes. Seronga could see the light go out of them. A moment later, the bishop fell facedown on the tile floor. Blood ran with ugly speed from a hole at the base of his skull. The guard's pistol had been so close that its flash had blackened the flesh around the wound.

  In an instant, the terminal became a madhouse.

  People have the same reaction when anything dramatically unexpected occurs. There is a moment of paralysis after the fact. If the danger passes, such as a car accident or an explosion, people tend to resuscitate slowly. The mind tells them there is no longer a risk. It gives them a long moment to process the situation, to adjust to the disorientation. If the danger persists, such as a fire, flood, or storm, the mind steps aside. It recognizes the danger and allows instinct to override the shock. People are free to seek a safe haven. The only ones who routinely suppress both instincts are professional bodyguards, such as members of the Secret Service. At the first sign of trouble, they are trained to launch themselves between the problem and the desired effect.

  Gunfire is not like a bomb blast or car crash. It usually comes in a stream. When the airport guard fired his pistol, self-preservation took control of most of the people in the terminal. They cried, they shouted, and they ran. There were three exceptions. ^

  One exception was the guard himself. After firing the single shot into Bishop Max, the big man turned and ran onto the airstrip. That told Seronga two things. It told him that the guard was an inexperienced assassin. It would have taken only a moment to put two or three more bullets into the body. People had been known to survive a single head wound. Additional shots would have made sure that the bishop was dead. The single shot also told him that it did not matter if the clergyman actually died, only that he was violently assaulted. Otherwise, a professional would have been engaged to do the job.

  The small plane that had been preparing for takeoff was taxiing toward the terminal. The guard was running to meet it. The door on the passenger's side was open.

  The second person who did not need time to recover was Leon Seronga. He had been lucky. The gunman became the focus of his attention. That kept Seronga from going into a traumatic pause. Within an instant of the bishop having struck the floor, Seronga was running after the guard.

  Seronga did not know exactly why he ran. He himself could be shot and killed. He knew that his cover as a deacon would almost certainly be undermined. But he had to try to catch the gunman. Not simply for justice. It was more personal. Someone had prevented the Brush Viper from completing the mission he had been sent to do. Seronga had to know why. He also had to try to find out who wanted the American bishop dead.

  Seronga pushed the panicked passengers aside as he rushed past. He reached the tarmac as the guard made his way to the oncoming Cessna. There was a man in the wildlife observation tower. He did not have a clear shot at the plane or the guard. The larger aircraft was in the way. Seronga noted the identification number on the rear end of the fuselage. Not that he really thought it would help him. The plane would fly low to avoid radar. It would land in a field, and someone would probably hide it. Repaint it. Seronga would never see a plane with this number again.

  The guard glanced over his shoulder. He could not have heard Seronga's footsteps over the howl of the airplane engine. It was probably just a precautionary glance. The guard did not stop when he saw the oncoming Brush Viper. He simply pointed his pistol over his left shoulder and fired several quick, wild shots behind him.

  Seronga dropped to the tarmac. He lifted his body slightly and thrust his hand down the front of his loose-fitting shirt. Reluctantly, he drew his weapon. Seronga could not afford to die here. The authorities would find out who he really was. They might tie the Brush Vipers to Dhamballa. That would hurt the Vodun cause. If the Spaniards asked, Seronga would tell them that he carried the weapon to protect himself from wild animals. Perhaps they would believe him. Not that it mattered. He would not be going back to the church.

  The guard turned back toward the plane. Seronga got up. As he rose, he heard a muted pop-pop from the cabin of the Cessna. The guard slowed, and then his right leg folded. A moment later, he dropped to his knees. The back of his white shirt began to show a red stain.

  No! Seronga screamed inside.

  Of course a nonprofessional was hired to kill the bishop. Whoever was behind this never intended for him to leave.

  Seronga began to run to the plane. An instant later, there was another pop. The guard twisted to the right and fell to his side. There was a red blotch in the center of his forehead. The pilot was a professional. He had not been satisfied with a single bullet.

  Puffs of dirty white gunsmoke drifted from inside the cabin of the Cessna. They were quickly dispersed by the propeller. The pilot tossed his revolver onto the empty passenger's seat and leaned toward the door. He pulled it shut. Seronga did not get a good look at the man. Earlier, he had only seen the man from behind, which was obviously what the pilot had intended.

  The airplane swung toward the airstrip. The Cessna was picking up speed. Once it had lifted off, he did not want to fire. It was a tough shot. But if he happened to disable the pilot or the plane, the Cessna could easily tumble toward the tower.

  Seronga reached the body of the guard. He dropped beside it and felt for a pulse. He was not surprised to fin4 none. The man had been shot in the heart and the head. The dead man's r eyes were open. Seronga passed his hand over the guard's face to close them.

  Pavant ran up behind Seronga. He helped his fellow Brush Viper up.

  "Are you all right?" Pavant asked.

  Seronga nodded. He quickly put his gun back in its holster.

  "We've got to get away from here," Pavant told him. "There will be questions we cannot answer."

  "I know," Seronga replied. His left hand was covered with blood from the guard's face. He tore open his shirt and wiped the blood on his arm.

  "What are you doing?" Pavant asked.

  "We'll tell people I was hurt and that you have to get me to the doctor in Maun," Seronga said.

  "That's a good idea," Pavant said.

  Pavant put his arm around the "wounded man" for support. They turned and started hobbling toward the terminal. Sergeant Vicente Diamante and Captain Antonio Abreo were running toward them. Both of the soldiers were
holding their M-82s. The weapons were clutched close to their chests, concealed from the people in the terminal.

  "What happened?" Diamante asked as they neared.

  "The guard shot at me," Seronga said. "He grazed my arm."

  Diamante stopped in front of Seronga and Pavant. Captain Abrero continued on toward the body of the guard.

  "Let me see the wound," Diamante insisted. He reached for Seronga's bare and bloodied arm.

  The Brush Viper twisted his body slightly. "It is not serious," Seronga assured him.

  "It is badly grazed, that is all," Pavant added. "We will take a taxi to the hospital. I will bandage it on the way."

  "Are you certain?" Diamante asked. His eyes shifted toward his partner as the captain reached the body.

  "Yes," Seronga replied. "Sergeant, tell me. How is the bishop?"

  Despite the fact that he wanted to get away, Seronga felt that was a question the deacon would have asked.

  "The wound was mortal," the sergeant replied. "I'm sorry.

  We tried to position ourselves as close as possible-"

  "I saw what you were trying to do," Seronga interrupted. "There was nothing you could have done to prevent this."

  "Let's go, Seronga," Pavant said.

  They began walking back toward the terminal. Diamante walked backward, alongside them.

  "One more thing, Deacon," Diamante said. "Did you happen to get a look at the pilot or notice the serial number of the aircraft?"

  "I'm sorry, I did not," Seronga replied. "After the guard fired at me, I covered my head. Forgive me."

  "That's entirely understandable," Diamante said.

  The sergeant headed off to join his partner. The men continued toward the terminal. Suddenly, Diamante stopped and turned.

  "Senor deacon!" the sergeant yelled.

  "Yes?" Seronga said.

  "The tour director told me your name was Tobias," Diamante shouted after him.

  "It is," Seronga said. What had they done wrong? Something inside his belly began to burn.