“I can think of someone who deserves to die like that,” said Ana, slowly and deliberately, “but by now he will probably be back over the border, crowing at his escape.”
“I understand your feelings. For an ambush like this to have taken place, he has to be an important individual, which no doubt explains why we could get nothing out of him. But men like this are vain and he will be even more full of his own self-importance now so he’ll be back, he’s making too much from this white gold, as they now call ivory. Next time we will be ready for him.”
“Thank you for coming to update us yourself. Between you, the KWS and our guys here, let’s hope we get these bastards next time.”
Mwitu rose to go. “I hope so too. Ana, nice to meet you.” He gave a crisp salute and headed out of the mess tent, his highly polished shoes sounding as though they might crack the floor tiles as he went.
“Oh, for a police force full of Inspector Mwitus,” smiled Jim rather sadly.
“Be positive,” said Ana softly. At least we have individuals like him and Odika. Where good men lead others will follow. And of course you have some truly amazing people working with you in Uwingoni. When times are tough we must stay upbeat. And of course Jim we have you. There isn’t a person here who doesn’t look up to you and respect all that you stand for.”
She moved across and gave him a short hug. “Perhaps it takes a woman to tell you something like that,” she smiled.
Jim stood slightly awkwardly, unused to anyone speaking about him in that way. “That’s very sweet of you Ana. I suppose the only woman in my life for a long time has been Uwingoni.”
“Well there can’t be anyone more special and magical to fall in love with. Now before I start getting too poetical we have arranged something special to show you but I’m starving, I haven’t eaten since dawn and I doubt you have had any lunch either so let’s go and get a bite to eat first.”
“What is it you want me to see?”
“As I said Jim it’s a surprise.” Ana glance at her watch. “Ollie, the pilot is due to land in just over half an hour and he is carrying something which could prove a huge bonus in our fight to protect Uwingoni.”
They couldn’t have timed their arrival at the airstrip much better. As Jim parked under the limited shade of an old tree and looked east along the strip he could already make out the growing shape of the plane and hear the distant beat of its engine.
“Did you ever think of learning to fly?” inquired Ana.
“It is quite an expensive luxury. Getting a licence is one thing but then you have to both own a plane and more importantly pay for important regular checks and services. As far as I remember all planes have to go through quite a serious check after every fifty hours of flying and they aren’t allowed to take to the air until that check has been signed off by a senior engineer and there are two much more serious inspections that come later on for the engine and body. The other thing is,” he admitted with a half-smile, “that I don’t really like flying; give me four wheels on the ground any day, unless I have no choice, of course.”
The Cessna 206 came in low sending a family of warthogs that had been taking an afternoon stroll scampering for the comfort of the bush. The plane banked steeply, levelled out and landed neatly on the strip. It turned and made its way back to the waiting vehicles; Harry had timed his arrival almost exactly with the plane’s touchdown. The single propeller on the nose stopped rotating; the flimsy looking door opened and out jumped Ollie, his white, short sleeved shirt as neatly pressed as ever.
He shook hands warmly with everyone and shared a joke with Harry as Bethwell supervised the loading of supplies onto the back of a Land Cruiser which then headed off back to camp.
“Are you ready for your surprise Jim?” asked Ollie as he reached across onto the co-pilots seat and brought out a medium sized box. “Well this is it. Inside is a drone.”
Jim looked slightly bemused. “Before you take it out of the box I thought we had agreed that the finances for anything like this must go through Aziz.”
“Not this one,” replied Ana trying to hide her smile. “You see I have paid for it. I did earn quite good money as a journalist and what’s the good of that if it is just sitting in a bank.” She put her hand up as if to stop any protest. “I talked to Ollie about this a couple of weeks ago. A friend of his has this exact model and he has flown it with him.”
“Yes but Ollie is a pilot so of course he’ll find it easy.”
“You know Jim the great thing about this is that almost anyone can operate it. Early drones were quite tricky but this little beauty is something else.” Ollie took the biro from his shirt pocket and ran it down the tape in the centre of the box and opening the flaps brought out something that almost looked like a model. It was shaped like a four-legged starfish and at the end of each limb was a small blade rather like that of a mini helicopter. There was a simple looking control panel in the centre and the whole thing was supported by four sturdy little legs.
“But it is barely two feet across. It looks so frail, I can’t believe it would last an hour out in the wild!”
“Well you are wrong there Jim,” said Harry. “Since I first mentioned this as an idea I have done much more research and this particular model is already used in a number of reserves in southern Africa with amazing results. That success is all to do with what you see hanging beneath it.”
Jim peered at the small silver coloured camera slung underneath the body. “Are you telling me this can take worthwhile photographs that aren’t just a blur?”
“Definitely, and far more besides. It’s attached so something called a gimble which means even if it is windy and the drone is moving about a lot, the camera remains still. It can take videos as well as stills, close in or wide lens and can focus forward or straight down.”
Ana could see that Jim was struggling and she felt uncomfortable for him. “I know this is a lot to take in. When you were our age you still had to take your film in to be developed and most cameras for wildlife photography had large, heavy lenses at the front. Technology is amazing and even most young people struggle to keep up with it. Instead of telling you more and more, can we just demonstrate and let this remarkable machine do the talking?”
Jim looked positively relieved, “Thank you Ana I would really appreciate that.”
Ollie put the drone down on the strip and took out a small white box which had two control sticks, one on each side. To the left-hand side was a special bracket where he placed his mobile phone.
“There are special apps on my phone which link in with this control panel and the drone, so just give me a couple of minutes while I sync everything up. This is also linked in with GPS like all planes and your sat nav if you are driving, so it knows exactly where it is at any time. I must stress that what I am doing is not difficult. It obviously takes some practice but you will soon pick it up.”
An angry buzzing sound like a number of large hornets began as the four propellers started to spin. Ollie brought one of the small levers back and the drone lifted off the ground and went vertically up. “What I want everyone to do is get behind me and look at my phone. It is linked in directly with the camera so we are seeing exactly what it does. Give a wave Jim and look at yourself doing it.”
As they peered at the screen they saw their faces receding as it gained height. They were all grinning wildly, partly at the quality of the picture but also at the look of amazement on Jim’s face as he waved into the sky.
“There are all sorts of remarkable things this little baby can do but I will try to keep my information simple. Firstly by using the GPS satellites we can program it to return to exactly the same spot it took off from. We can experiment with its range but just as you need fuel in the plane it is crucial to have a fully charged battery before you start. Once it is a few hundred feet up in the air there will obviously be winds that will either help or hinder it depending on their direction. And just like a plane too you have to be very careful about t
he height you fly, especially here where there are the valleys with streams running through them and the escarpment and high hills rising up above.”
“Yes, I hadn’t thought about that side too much,” said Ana, “that could prove quite a problem.”
“I hope I’m not sounding too much like a teacher,” remarked Ollie, “but it’s really just a matter of common sense. Here we are on a relatively flat, low area. If you wanted to operate from right up in the hills that would be the place to start and you can then instruct it not to drop below a particular height, which would probably be your starting point. Then there is little danger of it crashing into a hillside or tree top.”
As they all looked at the screen they were amazed at the clarity of the images coming from the camera. Ollie switched modes so sometimes they had a panoramic view stretching for miles and then he swooped down on three giraffe, feeding off the top of acacias, their long, black tongues wrapping gently round the topmost foliage.
Ollie changed the photographic mode with a single touch and clear still images of the giraffes now appeared, so detailed they could even make out the fur on their stumpy little horns.
Even Harry seemed spellbound by the quality of the photographs. “I had no idea the images would be so clear. We should be able to pick out and identify specific animals we are looking for and if it picked up suspicious individuals in the reserve we might get a good record of their faces.”
“Don’t get too carried away,” laughed Ollie. “It only has a safe range of a couple of miles from the controller and it isn’t really designed to be up for hours on end but I think it will prove a really useful asset for monitoring your animals and keeping them as safe as possible.”
“So what do you think about my little gift to Uwingoni, Jim?”
“I am lost for words Ana. I think it will be a brilliant ally for us. I really had no clue it could give us such amazing pictures nor cover such wide views. Forgive me for being so old fashioned.”
“Don’t be silly,” she smiled, “and remember, not everything new is great, some old-fashioned stuff is brilliant!”
“Just promise me one thing,” replied Jim, “that you never ask me to fly it.”
“I think that’s a good call,” laughed Ollie. “I’ve got some time before I have to head back to Wilson Airport, so I might just give these two their first drone flying lesson.”
“Perfect. I have the delights of going through the accounts with Aziz in twenty minutes, even worse than going to the dentist! See you soon Ollie and thanks once again. And thank you too Ana for your huge generosity and to Harry for your endless belief in how technology can help us. With young minds like yours at work I really believe our wonderful reserve will be a safer place for everything we hold dear.”
That evening after supper Harry found himself in deep conversation with Mike who seemed particularly interested in the features of the drone and was full of questions on everything from its range to the quality of the photographs. Harry, being the enthusiast he was, found himself talking as though he was an experienced pilot.
“It’s a shame that the height of the eastern escarpment and its distance from camp will make it difficult to operate in that area,” said Mike. “That is so often where the danger seems to come from.”
“The best thing is for us to experiment, even in the more remote areas of the reserve,” suggested Harry. “Something that worries me is GPS coverage. I know it is not the same as radio waves and that there are a surprising number of satellites up in the sky but we will need to check that there are no dead areas where we might end up losing the drone. That would be a disaster.”
“Definitely,” agreed Mike. “I think it would be very difficult, for example, to see the faces of poachers down in a deep valley.”
“You are probably right but only trial and hopefully not too much error will tell us what we can and can’t do.”
“Of course but promise you will keep me up to date Harry.”
“Absolutely. If you will excuse me, I need to hit the sack. My brain is a bit over tired: too much to take in during one day I expect.”
On the way back to his tent he passed Ana’s veranda. She was in her familiar position at the table with her journal open, pen in hand as a variety of insects threw themselves at the solar lamp by her side.
“Do you know Harry I haven’t written a negative thought in here for ten days. That is some sort of record for me. Look I have even changed the front cover.”
Somewhat bashfully she shut the book and there were two elephants set against the background of a hillside.
Harry was taken aback by the quality of the painting and it must have shown in his face.
“I know it’s not that exciting but I enjoyed trying to capture them. I suppose you know who they are?”
“Oh, Ana I think it’s incredible. I knew instantly that it was Mara and Meru. It is as though you have captured everything about them, their characters, even that special bond as they stand together.”
“Can you really see it’s them? You aren’t just saying that to keep me happy are you?”
“Honestly, I think it’s fantastic. I had no idea you could paint like this.”
“Thanks Harry, that’s very sweet of you. I used to be reasonable at art when I was at school but the subjects we had to draw and paint were a bit dull and predictable. Here there are images I can feel and breathe. It may sound daft but it’s almost as though I don’t have to think about it very much. I dip the brush into the little coloured pads in my box add a splash of water and paintings like this just seem to appear. Of course, this is my favourite. Some time when I feel a little braver I’ll show others I have done.”
“I’d love to see them but no rush, whenever you feel like it. Perhaps you could give me a painting lesson or two as well.”
“Now that might be asking too much!”
“Look,” continued Harry, “I don’t want to spoil the good vibe but I just wanted to share something with you, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course, you know you can always chat to me about stuff. It’s a funny thing because I have always been a talker more than a listener but I realised the power of listening when I came back from Syria. Those trying to help me listened for hours, yes they prompted me from time to time but they never made judgements on things I was telling them and I found that so reassuring.”
“Thanks Ana. It may be nothing but I know it will help talking it through. I have just had the oddest experience with Mike. During supper I was chatting to him about the pluses of having a drone on the reserve. Now you know Mike, we all do, you are lucky to get more than a few sentences out of him at any one time. Well he asked me more questions while we were eating than he had asked me in a month.”
“Perhaps he is just really interested in what it might be able to do for us.”
“Yes, that was my first thought too but then after the meal I couldn’t get away. It was like a barrage. One thing followed another, all about the drone’s capabilities and how good the camera would be in particular landscapes. Goodness, we only got the thing today.”
“Is it the questions that have made you uneasy?”
“Only partly, it is just so out of character. When we are here with quite a small number of people who we see every day we get to know them pretty well and when they don’t behave as we expect, then I find myself asking why.”
“But you don’t necessarily know what to expect from me for example.”
“But that’s different because, well you know why.”
“I know, that was probably unfair of me but I was just trying to make a point. Perhaps he has been so worried about our security that he really sees this as an exciting addition and just wanted to find out all he could about it.”
“You are probably right. There was simply something strange about him which I cannot completely put my finger on.”
“Then you know what I would do,” suggested Ana. “Log your concerns away in your head but at the same time don
’t draw away from Mike, engage him further. That way you will either end up dismissing things or becoming more suspicious. If it is the second one, it’s better to be in the loop than outside.”
Harry’s face visibly brightened. “That sounds a good plan. I knew you would have some sensible advice. It’s so great having someone I trust completely to chat to?”
“Are you sure you can trust me Harry. Perhaps I met Chinese ivory traders in Damascus and I am going to make my fortune working for them.”
Harry looked startled and then grinned broadly, “That had crossed my mind too,” he laughed. “Oh, and by the way, keep a look out for snakes; one fell out of the thatch of the mess tent just as I was leaving. Be seeing you!”
Chapter Nine
It had been a restless night and Harry couldn’t work out whether it was because his brain was overly active with his concerns about Mike or that there were a couple of particularly noisy mosquitoes that seemed to have spent hours somewhere near his head but at the same time irritatingly out of reach.
He knew they had no visitors for the next two days so it seemed the ideal opportunity to take himself off for a really early game drive before the rest of the camp woke up. It was a full moon and as he unzipped his tent flap he saw with satisfaction that there was a cloudless sky. Stepping quietly up the path he noticed the faint glow of light through Ana’s tent flaps. He had intended to go alone, assuming everyone else would be dead to the world but knew that the company of a friend, especially if you are lucky enough to see something interesting, can make the whole experience more magical.
He tapped gently on the vertical wooden tent post in the centre of the veranda, announcing his arrival.
“Yes?” inquired a slightly irritable voice.
“Oh, hi Ana, it’s me. Looks like you are having trouble sleeping too. I’m just off for an ultra-early drive, do you fancy coming along?”
“Sounds the perfect solution to lack of sleep, instead of trying to doze off, just do something practical. I’ll see you up by the vehicles in five minutes.”
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