by David Nees
They would act right after the shift change. The wild card was getting the door open.
Chapter 39
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Y ou think that’s going to work?” Marcus asked as they approached the compound.
“The fire?”
Marcus nodded.
“Yeah. It’ll work. The magnesium burns really hot. It’ll get the wood going against the walls and the thatch will ignite easily.”
“Which building are you going to burn?”
“The one next to the hostages. It’s closed up with no windows. I’m thinking it may be where they keep the extra weapons and ammunition.”
Dan turned to Santu. “We’ll watch one full shift to see how much time we’ll have. Let Muko know.”
When they reached the compound, the main group, with Muko leading, headed to their left to go around the far side of the camp. Marcus stayed in place and maneuvered himself to the edge of the clearing. He worked his way to a spot where he could attack without being easily seen by anyone else in the camp.
Once on the far side, Dan, Marcus, and Muko worked their way to the edge of the compound. The other two trackers stayed back with Santu.
“That’s the building,” Dan whispered. “Just beyond the house where the hostages were being held.
“You think that’s an armory?” Roland asked.
“Don’t know for sure, but it’s locked with no windows like this one, and I didn’t see anyone going in or out.”
“If it is an armory, that would make a hell of a diversion if we could get it to light off.”
“Lots of fireworks. That’s the idea. Even if it isn’t, they have to deal with the fire so it doesn’t burn the whole camp down.”
“They’ll know we’ve hit them, but they won’t be able to pursue right away.”
“That’s the idea.”
Dan keyed his throat mike. “Marcus, I’m in position. Roland is heading to your right to take care of the north side sentry.”
“Roger that,” Marcus said.
“We have time to watch another shift change and get the time down.”
“Keep the time,” Roland said. “If it’s over an hour, we should go with the next shift. We don’t want to get caught with the moon coming out.”
Dan nodded.
“I’ll let you know when I’m in position. I’m relying on you to find a way in.” Roland moved back from the clearing.
“After you take care of the guard, get back here as fast as you can. I’ll need you if we have to muscle our way in.”
Roland smiled. “Wouldn’t want to miss it.”
He turned and disappeared into the forest.
An hour and a half passed before the sentries changed.
“We’ll be going with this group. We have over an hour to work on the building. We go on my mark.” Dan said through his mic. He got affirmatives from both men.
Dan and Muko crawled back to Santu and the other trackers. Dan explained to Santu he was to wait at the edge of the clearing to corral the hostages when they were freed. The other two men would join Dan after taking out their sentries.
Through Santu, Dan directed Muko to send his tracker with the fire kit to the second building after the sentries were taken out. He was to place it against the back wall. On Muko’s signal, he would start the fire against the wall and light the thatch. Once the fire was set, he was to run back to meet Marcus and Roland. Muko told Santu that an owl call would be the signal. Only his tracker would know it was from Muko and not a real owl.
“How will you let the hostages know you’re here?” Santu asked.
“We’ll open a chink through the wall and try to communicate with them. It’ll be important to keep them quiet while we work on the door.”
“Are we going to get out of this alive?” Santu asked.
Dan could sense his fear, even in the dark.
“Yes. I’ve done this before.”
“You’re not an oil company executive, are you? And Roland and Marcus are not just bodyguards.”
Dan smiled and shook his head.
“Wait here,” he said.
Dan, Muko, and the tracker with the fire kit, headed back towards the compound. The sentry on their side was posted in the gap between the holding shack and the larger building housing the soldiers.
It was a dark night, even in the compound with no trees. They had two hours before the moon would rise. Dan reached the edge of the clearing. He studied the ground directly in front of him. Making a noise just as he exited the cover of the forest could be lethal. Once in the open, he could be seen. He couldn’t afford to snap a stick and give away his presence.
“Go when ready,” Dan whispered into his mic.
The sentry was facing the forest. His head turned as he scanned left and right. Dan waited. The man reached into his breast pocket and took out a pack of cigarettes. He pulled one out and put it to his lips. Then he turned towards the compound and lit the smoke.
Dan stepped out and in three quick, soundless strides was upon him. He put his left hand over the man’s mouth and before he could mount a struggle or cry out, Dan thrust the knife into the side of the man’s neck and pulled forward, severing his carotid artery as it ripped out of his throat. The man struggled for a moment in Dan’s grasp with gurgling sounds coming from under his hand and then went limp in his grasp. Dan let him down slowly to the dirt and stood back. A quick look around indicated he had not attracted any attention. He pulled the man around the corner of the hostage shack and faded back into the cover of the trees.
“Mine’s down,” Dan said.
“Ditto that,” Roland responded.
“Mine also,” Marcus reported.
“I’m going for the one in the back. Roland, head up to the hostage building, Marcus hold until I neutralize the last guard.”
Dan went back to Santu and the trackers.
“Roland is coming from your left. Tell the trackers to watch for him. Tell Muko to come with me. I need him to help me get to the last sentry.”
Dan set out with Muko. When they got to the south side of the compound, they found him diligently watching the forest. The two waited for ten minutes. Marcus called in and Dan whispered to him to stay put.
Finally, Muko pointed to himself and then pantomimed going to one side and drawing the sentry’s attention. Dan nodded for him to go ahead.
A few minutes later, Dan heard a rustling near the corral. He couldn’t tell if it was an animal or Muko. The sound caught the ear of the sentry. He put out a cigarette and turned towards the animal pen. He was staring at it as if trying to decide whether or not to investigate. Dan was sure the man was thinking about the possibility of coming upon a leopard. Something he probably didn’t want to do, even armed with an AK-47.
While he was staring, Dan emerged from the trees and started for him. The sentry must have sensed something; he turned towards Dan. Caught by surprise, the man hesitated and called out something in Swahili.
Dan said the word “no”, and then it was too late. He was on him and thrust his knife deep into his neck. His left hand found the man’s mouth as he started to cry out. Dan stifled the sound a split second after it emerged, and they both fell to the ground with a dull thud. He smothered the struggling guard until his breathing stopped and his body relaxed in death.
Dan stood back up as Muko joined him. The tracker looked down on the dead sentry for a moment and then motioned for Dan to follow him back into the forest. Dan stopped when back in the trees and they both listened to see if the sounds had disturbed anyone. The night held only the normal sounds.
Satisfied they had not alerted anyone, they set off back to where Santu and Roland were waiting. Dan radioed Marcus to join them.
Chapter 40
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A fter General Wu arrived in Djibouti, he alerted Zhang that he would see him soon. Even though Wu’s team had completed months of negotiations with the Djibouti’s, he wou
ld take a week at least to finalize the agreement and get it signed. Then he would visit Zhang.
The general had a week to get his presentation together. He wanted to show Wu some concrete results in hopes it would allow him to complete his project. Regardless of the new information Wu had to present, Zhang felt it was important to not interrupt the progress he was making. He hoped corralling the coltan source would be important enough for him to continue, no matter what other undertakings were being advanced. Surely, they could advance their strategic goals simultaneously.
He had to increase the pressure on Bakasa to take action. Leases had to set up in his company’s name, and the government mining project had to be turned over to him. This latter item would need approval by the minister back in Kinshasa, but Bakasa’s strong recommendation would help move that along. Mputu was another problem. He would deal with him later. But Bakasa was key to increasing Zhang’s ownership of mining concessions. If he made enough progress, Mputu would see himself sidelined if he didn’t get on board and work with Zhang.
He had a week. He had much to do.
*
Marcus worked his way around the compound to join Dan and the others. With Roland, the three headed to the outside wall of the hostage building. Muko sent one of his trackers to the back of what they hoped was the armory building with the fire kit to wait for his signal.
Roland began digging away the mud chinking between the poles. The men heard some stirrings from inside. Roland put his face close to the wall and whispered Yvette’s name. He would whisper, then dig away at the mud, whisper and dig some more.
Finally, his blade broke through and he put his face to the crack and called out more loudly. After two more calls, he heard an answer.
“Roland is that you?” It was Yvette.
“Yes. We’re going to get you out. Keep everyone quiet.”
Roland turned back to Dan and Marcus with a big grin.
“Tell her we’re going to work on the door. She should tell everyone to get dressed and be ready to go.”
Roland spoke through the crack in the poles.
“How did you find us?” Yvette asked. “I knew you would come. Marie said we were lost, but I told her you would come. I didn’t know how—”
“Yvette. Wait until we’re away. We’ll have plenty of time to talk. I’ve got to focus on getting you out now.”
“Je suis désolé, I’m sorry.”
Roland joined the other two at the front door. Dan was examining the hinges. They were a simple barndoor type, strong and rusty. They were screwed into the wood, not bolted. Dan took his knife and inserted the blade into the screw head and tried to turn it. The screw resisted. The knife slipped.
“Damn. It’s tight.”
“Let me try,” Roland said.
He put his knife to the screw and pushed down on the head with an enormous pressure. The screw finally began to turn. In a minute, it was coming loose.
“Undo the bottom ones first,” Dan said. “The door can hang from the top hinge, so we take that off last.”
Roland knelt down and started working on the bottom hinge. In ten minutes, he had it unscrewed from the door frame. As he was reaching for the upper hinge, they heard the door to the troop building open. The three men dropped to the ground against the wall. The door was located on the far side of the building, so they just lay still and listened. In the night, they could hear a steady splash of someone relieving their bladder. There was a flash of light and shortly they could smell the smoke of a cigarette wafting back to where they lay.
The men waited. Soon, they heard the door open and close. Dan pointed to his watch and raised two fingers, indicating to stay still for another two minutes. Dan could almost feel Roland’s impatience, but now was not the time to hurry.
When they got back to work, Roland completed the unscrewing with only a few slight squeaks which caused the men to stop and listen. No one seemed to be disturbed. They were now forty minutes into the guard’s shift. Dan wanted to be gone before the hour was up.
With the hinges unscrewed, the men slowly twisted the door to the left side, which was still held by the lock. The lock and the plate started to complain in a low, grinding sound, but they managed to get a narrow passage open. Dan looked in and whispered for everyone to come out. One by one the captives stepped over the sill board and into the yard. Marcus directed them to follow him to the trees, where he handed them off to Muko and Santu.
Yvette came out and into Roland’s arms. Wordlessly, she grabbed him in a fierce hug. Marie followed her and tripped on the sill. She fell forward and called out in a surprised voice before hitting the ground. Dan was on her in an instant, covering her mouth with his hand.
The hostages entered the forest with Roland. Dan stayed behind and listened. He heard the door of the bunk building open. Soft footsteps were coming his way. He backed around the corner of the hostage building and took out his suppressed .22 caliber pistol.
A rebel soldier came into view. When he saw the door ajar, he leveled his carbine and ran forward. Dan stepped around the corner and loosed three shots into his torso. They made only a soft pop sound. The man grunted and fell to his knees. Dan ran up to him and, before the rebel soldier could bring his rifle up or recover his breath to yell, Dan put two more bullets into his head.
He dragged the corpse up against the wall of the hut and headed back to the trees. If anyone knew the soldier had left, they would get up soon to see where they had gone.
The group was waiting twenty yards inside the tree line. The hostages looked both excited and scared. Yvette was holding tight to Roland. Marie stood looking ashamed for having tripped and made some noise.
“C’est d’accord,” Dan said, patting her on the shoulder. She gave him a shy smile.
“We go, boss?” Roland asked.
“Got to light the fire.”
“But these guys should go,” Roland said.
“Yeah. You, Santu, and one of the trackers should head out. You don’t need to be cautious after you get a couple of hundred yards away. Leave a large trail. We want them to follow initially.”
“What’re you gonna do?” Marcus asked.
“I’m going to wait a bit with Muko. See how much head start we can give you before we light the fire. If we’re lucky, we can wait a half hour or more before we create the diversion…the longer the better.”
“You’ll find us?”
“I have Muko. Plus, you won’t be too subtle.” Dan turned to Santu. “Tell Muko he and I and the fire starter will wait here. Have him tell the other man to lead the group. They’re to move fast, and head in the towards the village where we started.”
He turned back to Roland. “Don’t change direction until we catch up to you.”
After a short discussion, the tracker nodded to Muko and headed off in fast, short steps. The rest followed, pushing the bush aside, not trying to be subtle. Roland headed the line of hostages and Marcus brought up the rear.
Dan motioned for Muko to send his man to the other building with the fire kit. Dan and Muko squatted at the edge of the trees to watch the camp.
Chapter 41
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T wenty minutes later they heard the door of the troop quarters open. Someone called out. Probably, Dan thought, for the man he had shot. The man walked back towards the hostage building. As he came into view, Dan leveled his .22 and fired off three shots. The man fell with a cry. Two more shots silenced him in death.
Another man shouted out from the troop building. Dan motioned for Muko to give the signal to start the fire. Within a minute, the tracker joined them at the edge of the forest. They could see the flames at the back of the building.
A half hour head start. Maybe more if we’re lucky. Dan motioned for the two trackers to go. They set off at a trot through the forest, following the large trail left by the others. Shouts were now coming from the camp. In another few minutes Dan heard rounds starting to go off.
; It was an armory. Dan smiled as he hurried to follow the two trackers.
The rebel troops were now dumping out of the barracks building, still fogged with sleep. They discovered the two bodies and the building on fire. The shouting increased. The commander came out and directed water to be brought up and poured on the flames, but all they had were buckets. Mputu knew they had little time before the rest of the ammunition inside started going off. Anyone could be killed or wounded by the random bullets flying around.
Soon buckets of water were being poured on the hut, but it was too little, too late. The first rounds started exploding at the back of the hut where the fire was hottest. The men now ran for cover even as Mputu shouted for them to keep pouring water on the blaze. The walls stopped the early rounds, but they soon splintered and bullets began flying around the compound. They hit some of the men. The uninjured ones ran for cover to wait out the exploding barrage.
Mputu stood behind his house, grinding his teeth in rage. Who had done this? Who could find his camp that quickly? His thoughts were interrupted by sparks flying over to the adjacent buildings and landing on the thatch. He pulled out his pistol and brandished it at his soldiers, ordering them to water down the thatch roofs so they didn’t lose all the buildings.
They spent the next half-hour saving the remaining buildings while trying to not get hit by the exploding rounds. The armory hut was lost, as were the supplies of ammunition and most of the weapons. Heat damage to the metal and wooden stocks being burned away would make them unusable.
The panicked shouting from the compound along with the exploding munitions faded as Dan and the two trackers fairly flew through the jungle. The situation would not be quickly brought under control. They had achieved a solid head start. The main group had a half-hour lead, but with Muko’s rapid pace, they would catch up within an hour.