Death in the Congo: Book 5 in the Dan Stone series

by David Nees

  Dan had no doubt the commander would follow. His men still had their weapons and loaded magazines. They would be a formidable force to go up against. But he felt confident in, not only Muko’s skills, but his two men. Marcus and Roland were hardened fighters who could operate in any environment. They would be a match for any rebel fighters coming after them.

  An hour later, Muko signaled for a halt. He let out some sharp whoops and waited. No reply came. He motioned them forward, now at a slightly slower pace. Ten minutes later, Muko repeated his call.

  There it was. Dan could hear it distinctly. A whoop that mimicked exactly what Muko had made. Muko turned with a grin on his face and the moved forward. Within minutes they came to the main group.

  They were all standing around, drenched in sweat. The moon had now risen, casting a pale light that filtered through the canopy. With this limited illumination, Dan could see the fatigue on the hostages.

  “Did you light things up before you left?” Marcus asked. He grasped Dan's hand in a hearty shake.

  “Like Fourth of July. We didn’t hang around to watch, but could hear it.”

  “Nice.”

  “I imagine they had some problems containing the fire,” Dan said.

  “How much of a lead do you think we have?” Roland asked. He was standing near the hostages with Yvette on his arm.

  “More than a half hour, less than an hour.”

  “What now?” Marcus asked.

  “We keep going towards the village for a half hour, but with a fainter trail. Make them work harder.”

  “They have trackers as well.” Marcus said. “They won’t be easily fooled.”

  “I want to imprint on them that we’re headed exactly where they expect us to head. In a half hour we turn west, deeper into the forest. It’s the last direction they expect us to go.”

  “We got to get back to the river at some point,” Roland said.

  Dan nodded. “We have to do it in a roundabout way.”

  “But we can’t let them close on us,” Roland said.

  “You’re right. One of us will go with the hostages and the other two fight a rear-guard action. We’ll keep slowing them down, which will help the main group to increase the gap, give them time when they finally get to the river.”

  “So, who’s bringing up the rear?” Marcus asked.

  “I’m thinking you and I. Roland can go with the hostages.”

  Roland disengaged from Yvette and walked over to Dan. “With all due respect, you’re a sniper. Marcus and me, we’re trained for this ambush fighting.” He paused for a moment. “Much as I’d like to stay with Yvette, it should be Marcus and me slowing them up.”

  He spoke in a low voice so the others, especially Yvette, couldn’t hear him.

  “I figured you’d want to protect Yvette and the others.”

  “I would…and I am, by doing what I do best.”

  “Have to agree with Roland,” Marcus said. “He isn’t right on much, but he is on this point.”

  “Fuck you,” Roland said. He grinned in the pale light. “We love a good fight. Give us a tracker and we’ll have them crawling ahead, afraid of their own shadows.”

  “These guys are experienced in the forest,” Dan said.

  “These guys are fucking amateurs compared to us. You take the group with Muko and a second tracker. You leave me and Marcus with the third one. We’ll follow your trail. We’ll follow your loop around back to the east and the river.”

  “When you get to the river, don’t wait,” Marcus said. “Just make sure there’s a boat and boatman there for us when we arrive.”

  “All right. We’ll do it that way.” Dan turned to Santu, who had been listening to the conversation. “Can you relate all that to Muko?”

  Santu nodded and started talking to the tracker. In a few minutes he had conveyed the plan.

  “We need water,” Roland said. “These guys are thirsty and we only have a limited supply.”

  Santu went over to Muko and talked with him. Muko nodded, and taking his machete, he selected a vine and cut it. He lifted it up and tilted his head back. Water ran out from the cut and into his mouth. He motioned for a hostage to step up and they took a drink. Muko went to other nearby vines and did the same.

  “Not all vines are good for this,” Santu said. “I’ve heard of this but never saw it done.”

  “Pass around what water we have,” Dan said. “No one discards an empty bottle. We have purification tablets. We’ll use them if we have to drink stream or groundwater.”

  After everyone got a small amount to drink, the group started hiking.

  Chapter 42

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  A half hour later, the group stopped. They had moved more slowly, which Dan knew would bring their pursuers closer, but he had to present a diminished trail in order to try to confuse them when they turned west, farther into the forest.

  “We don’t split here, but we change direction. After we’ve gone west for a while, you two drop back to ambush the soldiers.”

  The group now walked even more slowly and carefully through the forest. Roland told Yvette to admonish the others to not be careless and create a trail. The hostages were not used to worrying about leaving signs of their passage. Even their Bantu guides were not used to being stealthy. Dan could sense Muko’s frustration. I had left his men in Donga when the group went out. Dan figured the supervisor probably had other work for them to do. It was evident that he considered the pygmies his own personal work force to command and control.

  Two hours later, they were at the edge of daylight. The sky was turning from black to blue and shortly the sun would leap into the sky as it did in the tropics.

  Dan stopped the group. “We separate here. You each got a water bottle?”

  “Yep, plus our tracker to identify the magic vines,” Marcus said.

  Roland went over to Yvette to tell her what was going on.

  “Non, non,” she said, grabbing his arms. I don’t want to separate from you. I’ll stay with you.”

  Roland held her shoulders and looked down into her upturned face. Her eyes were pleading with him. “This is what I do. What I’m trained to do. Marcus and I will be fine. I’ll see you in Goma, if not Donga. You just do what your told, understand?”

  He looked at her. Dan could see his face, now hard, a man ready for action. Yvette stared back at him, ready to protest, but finally nodded her head. She reached up and kissed him long and hard. Dan could hear her murmur something to him as they hugged.

  “In Goma,” Roland repeated. He turned to Dan. “You guys go now. And, Santu, try to behave yourself.” He winked at their fixer and turned back to go with Marcus and one of the trackers.

  Dan gestured to Muko. The group silently moved off and quickly disappeared into the forest.

  *

  When the fire had burned itself out, Mputu assembled his men in the center of the compound. He had torches lit. Forty of the fifty-two men lined up. They all were armed with Kalashnikovs. Some had side arms as well. After checking the men, Mputu guessed he had between two and three magazines per man. The extra ammunition was lost, having blown off in the fire.

  “Some group has come and taken our hostages. Now we must hunt them down. I will eat the heart of their leader and drink his blood. They are clever, but they cannot defeat us. We have a powerful sorcerer to protect us. We can be surprised, but never defeated. You will have your revenge for them destroying our weapons. We will hunt them down. There is no mercy now. Not for those who attacked us, or for the hostages as well.”

  He brought out his fetish and spoke some of the magic words the sorcerer had given him. His words whipped the men into a frenzy. They ran into the jungle. Their pygmy trackers quickly picked up the obvious trail and forty armed and angry men set out in pursuit.

  When the trail grew fainter, Mputu and his men slowed down. The trackers had to stop every so often to cast about, but they always found the traces left by the f
leeing hostages and pushed on. Finally, the trail gave out. The trackers spent fifteen minutes searching in the direction of the village. Mputu assumed, from the path the hostages took, that they were headed directly to the village where they had entered the forest.

  Now the trackers could not find any further trail in that direction. Mputu ordered his men back to the last point the trackers were sure of. He had them scout in a full circle. If the trail was not forward, towards the village, it had to be in another direction. They did not take wings and fly away.

  The sun came up while the trackers were looking for any trace of the fleeing group. Then multiple whoops came from the west. Mputu was told they had found a hint of a trail going farther into the forest park. It didn’t make sense to Mputu, but he ordered his men forward. They’d follow and see if the trail held.

  *

  Marcus and Roland, along with their tracker, waited a few miles ahead. They were to one side of where the group had passed, nestled deep in the undergrowth. They had set up an escape route so they could disappear into the forest after ambushing the advancing troops. The goal was not to take them out, but inflict some casualties and then retreat. They positioned themselves fifteen yards apart. The tracker was close beside Marcus who would order the retreat.

  A little over an hour later, they heard the men coming. The group was not trying to conceal their movements.

  That’ll change, thought Roland as he waited. He relished the coming fight. The desire to punish the men who had endangered Yvette burned inside of him. He pulled back his charging lever, slowly and quietly, and flicked his safety switch to the off position. He could barely see Marcus, but it didn’t matter since they could communicate with their throat mics. Marcus would take the first shot. Then it would be a rapid-fire onslaught.

  The two trackers were followed by a column of soldiers. After the first soldiers moved past Marcus, he opened fire. The first two men went down.

  Instantly Roland opened up as well, taking down three men. They swept the column before any return fire erupted.

  “Let’s move east along the flank,” Marcus said. They were out of targets within their sightline.

  “Roger that,” Roland said. He started back along the line with Marcus and the tracker behind.

  They moved in a crouch, quietly, making sure not to expose themselves. Return fire seemed to be directed roughly at where they had been. The soldiers not expecting movement. When they had gone thirty yards Marcus called a stop.

  “Move forward with me until we can see them again. They’re still hunkered down trying to figure out who, where, and how many.”

  “Give them more to think about,” Roland said.

  “Let me know when you have some targets,” Marcus said. “We’ll go on my shot.”

  “Roger.”

  A moment later, Marcus keyed his mic. “I can see the column. They’re bunched up, looking forward.”

  “I see them.”

  Marcus took aim and started shooting again. Roland immediately followed. Guns quickly turned in their direction this time, but many of the soldiers were hit from the accurate fire both men laid down.

  Roland saw some soldiers to his left move to his side. “Time to go. They’re trying to flank me.”

  “Roger, back out.”

  Marcus and the tracker slipped back and shortly connected with Roland. The three of them moved away from the column, the tracker moving with his rapid, short steps that had them going almost at a trot. The shouting and gunfire faded as they pushed on. After ten minutes of rushing through the bush, the tracker turned west again and started forward. They moved ahead after disengaging to find the hostage’s trail again. They would set up another ambush further into the forest.

  Chapter 43

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  M arcus, Roland, and the tracker continued their rapid pace to the west, gradually angling their path to intercept the hostage’s trail. At last the tracker let out a whoop and showed the two men a broken stem and disturbed stick on the forest floor. He moved forward and then pointed out another displaced branch. Now he had a direction and set out with his eyes casting back and forth, looking for the signs.

  The two men followed. They knew their pursuers could not move any faster. They also had to be careful to not lose the trail along the way. The tracker had to do very little casting around; Marcus had a sense that he could anticipate Muko’s direction through the forest. An hour later they slipped off to one side of the trail again to wait. Both men had put in fresh magazines. They would consolidate any partly empty mags later when there was time in order to give them another full or almost full magazine to load.

  It was almost an hour later when they heard the men coming. Quieter this time, but still audible to anyone listening. Again, Marcus and Roland waited for the trackers to pass, and when the lead soldier was even with Marcus, they opened fire. The first five men went down before they took incoming rounds. This time the gunfire was much heavier.

  “Let’s get the hell out,” Marcus said.

  “Roger that. Meet you back about a hundred yards.”

  Both men let loose a short round and then crouched and crawled away from the column. This time, when they met up, they could hear sounds of pursuit.

  “Let’s go to where we have some solid cover, a couple of big trees, and hit them again,” Marcus said.

  Roland nodded, and they retreated farther back.

  When they reached a large tree with long buttress roots spreading out, they took cover. The men pursuing did not have the trackers in front this time. Marcus and Roland could see six or more of them coming forward, rifles at ready. Marcus noticed hand grenades on some of the soldier’s vests.

  “Take out the ones with the grenades,” he said.

  “Got it.”

  The two men opened fire when the soldiers were twenty yards out. Three went down immediately, the rest dropped to the ground. One of the men, not behind any solid cover, was hit by one of Roland’s rounds in the top of his head. He fell dead with his skull split open.

  The soldiers returned fire with an intense flurry of shooting. They couldn’t see who they were shooting at, but they were keeping Roland and Marcus pinned down even if they couldn’t get clear shots at them.

  “Got to put them down and get the hell out of here before any more come,” Marcus said. “I’m going to crawl out along this buttress root. They won’t see me. They’re concentrating their fire around the trunk. I can get a clean shot.”

  “Got it. If you can take one out, they’ll turn in your direction and I’ll be able to open fire on them. Hopefully, we can take them out and get moving before any more come our way.”

  Marcus motioned for the tracker to wait at the tree and crawled along the sheltering root. When he was ten yards out, he risked a peak of the top. He could see one man. He was concentrating on the main trunk. He couldn’t see the other two, but heard the sporadic shooting in Roland’s general direction. Marcus brought his AK up and took the man out with one shot. He fired a couple more shots in the direction of the other soldiers to draw their fire and then ducked behind the root as bullets whistled overhead in return fire.

  Then he heard Roland open up with three rapid automatic bursts.

  “Got ‘em,” Roland said.

  “Let’s go,” Marcus replied. He stood up and waved the tracker to him. Roland followed, and the three took off to the west.

  They moved as quickly as they could through the forest. The tracker worked hard to maintain the pace while keeping on Muko’s trail. Marcus knew they needed to gain more distance between themselves and their pursuers. The soldiers were going to be harder and harder to ambush and then retreat. They would try to set up a flanking maneuver which could trap the three of them.

  Two hours later they came to a small stream. The ground sloped down to it gently and rose in a steeper climb on the far side of the creek. The tracker stopped and crouched down. Marcus and Roland did the same. After scanning the ba
nks on both sides, he seemed satisfied that there was no danger. He moved forward towards the stream.

  Before getting to the mud at the edge of the stream, he pointed to the bank. Marcus could see the footprints of the group as they had entered the creek. On the other side, he could see where they came out and started up the slope. It was the clearest sign yet. The tracker pantomimed that they shouldn’t add their footprints to the mix. Marcus nodded, and they moved off to the right to cross, hopefully, without leaving a visible trail.

  Once on the other side the men climbed the hill for about thirty yards. They stopped at two trees, which offered solid protection. They could still see the crossing point, even filtered through the concealing brush.

  “Good spot for another ambush,” Marcus said.

  “They’ll know it as well.”

  “Still, we should take advantage of it.”

  Roland nodded. “Let’s just be ready to bug out. They’ll react better each time we do this.”

  “Yeah, but we’re thinning the ranks. And the hostages are putting more distance between themselves and the soldiers.”

  The two men took up positions behind two trees. The tracker stayed close to Marcus.

  “When they cross, I’ll take out the ones in the stream, you concentrate on the ones on the bank. Wait for my shots.”

  Roland nodded.

  Less than an hour later, the rebel soldiers appeared at the edge of the undergrowth. The tracker first pointed them out to Marcus. No one stepped out from the cover to approach the stream.

  Looking for any signs of an ambush. Marcus knew they just had to stay quiet and wait. Eventually, the pursuers would have to cross the creek. He could hear what sounded like voices back in the cover.