Tusker

by Dougie Arnold

  Jim smiled at the policeman, “Thank you, we owe you our lives.” The man shrugged as though it was just a part of everyday life.

  “It was an absolute pleasure,” he grinned, placing his boot on the man’s back as he pulled out his radio.

  Jim and Harry were suddenly aware of the almost complete silence that had descended. Whatever had gone on up the track must now be over, one way or the other.

  The policeman was very animated as he talked, set pressed to his ear. “I have been asked to escort you up to Mr Hu’s base. We can just leave the vehicles here.”

  “Thank you. I’ll take the keys with us nevertheless.” Jim grabbed the second set of keys from the other police vehicle and the three of them, prisoner in tow, walked up the track.

  Police officers and KWS rangers were talking excitedly as they arrived and the smile on Inspector Mwitu’s face told the story.

  “Welcome my friends. This has been a highly successful operation, particularly as, apart from one of my men sustaining a bullet nick in his leg, there were no other injuries to our team. On the other hand those up here had been so intent on packing up and getting out as soon as possible that they hadn’t even posted a guard. We took them completely by surprise.”

  As they walked towards a smart looking bungalow which was obviously the centre of this little complex, laid out on the ground in front of the steps was a line of eight bodies. Six of them were obviously Somalis, their facial features and similar scruffy uniforms putting that beyond doubt. However, the last two were Chinese.

  “As you can see we were up against a bit of a mix here but perhaps the best of the news is just inside.” As they walked up the steps Harry noticed the smattering of bullet marks across the pillars by the door. Once inside the smartly furnished building they turned left into a large office area and there sitting in a chair, handcuffs behind his back and police officer standing guard nearby was Mr Hu. The cockiness was gone and he sat shoulders hunched staring at the floor.

  “We found Mr Hu inside, hiding under a bed in fact, not even prepared to risk his skin fighting with his own men. I would say that rather sums him up wouldn’t you. Hu looked up momentarily, his `eyes filled with a mixture of malice and fear. He spat at the floor in front of them and sank back into the chair, perhaps realising the futility of the gesture.

  “I have no doubt we will be having some fruitful discussions with him back at police headquarters. Like so many bullies he is of course a weak man.”

  As they moved out onto the veranda there was much excitement from the police sergeant who had just been opening up some of the surrounding stores. “Sir this place is an arsenal of weapons and we have only just begun. Not just AK-47s, it would seem in their hundreds, but grenades, explosives and even rocket launchers. Enough to start a small war!”

  “Or continue and expand a larger one I think sergeant. It is rewarding to have such undeniable proof of the link between poaching and terrorism. This is a bleak day for Al-Shabaab and no doubt their leaders will be wringing their hands when they hear the news, not just for their cause of course, but for the huge dent in their own bank accounts. At the moment continue your search of the extended premises, make brief notes of what you find and where. The new squad of police who are well on their way by now will be able to list it all and get it taken back to Nairobi. And thank you for all you have done today, you are a credit to our nation’s police force.”

  Jim couldn’t resist shaking the inspector by the hand. “I really feel this time what you and your men have achieved will make a real difference. Thank you for your support and believing in us even when there was pressure from some of your superiors to forget the whole thing and look the other way”

  “Thank you, Jim. It’s good for my men to be valued and appreciated. My only regret in all this is that our limping Somali, who is at the centre of the web, seems to have vanished into thin air. He will have friends and connections everywhere. We need to find him and find him quickly.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The journey was slower than Ana had expected. Even in the darkness she was aware that they had not been on a tarmac road for several hours. Not only did the tyres make a different sound but the endless potholes seemed less jarring on dirt roads as there wasn’t that same sharp impact that the edges on a tarmac surface seemed to bring.

  It was strange the small things you started to think about when you have lots of time on your hands she thought. Her mind wandered back to long childhood journeys with her parents and younger brother in an old green VW Estate that seemed to plough on year after year. It took them from the Highlands of Scotland to the beaches of the Mediterranean. And everywhere they went always seemed full of fun and laughter. Endless quizzes and squabbles over music choices and trips way off the normal tourist routes, down tiny roads where they stayed in beautiful old cottages and forged friendships with other children in communities so different from their own. Perhaps that was the seed of her desire to be a journalist, the excitement of new places and people.

  Her poor family; what they had been through with her. Their endless support as she studied journalism and their unbelievable pride when she started to have articles published. Then, when she had begun foreign assignments she had returned full of stories, some heart-warming, others unbelievably sad. They had sat down as they always did over long meals washed down with a lovely smooth, red wine that her dad bought from some obscure little vineyard in the south of France.

  And of course there had been the offer to go to Syria. She had known how they would feel. Everyone had held it together pretty well until Heathrow. When her dad had kissed her goodbye he could do nothing about the wetness of his cheeks and her mum, always the stronger of the two, had held her final hug for so long.

  On her return she had felt so bad. They had always been such an open family, few if any secrets, even in those awkward teenage years. She had known how much they had wanted to help, always encouraging her in the gentlest of ways to open up. She had told them unimportant snippets to try to keep them happy but that was as far as she could go. Yes she had opened up to Harry a little but he wasn’t family so that made it easier.

  How strange that it had taken being back in the same sort of situation where her very life was on a thread for her to look deep inside, face some truths and start to really haul herself out of the darkness.

  Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt a definite change in their motion and realised that the lorry was changing down gears. The movement in the back became slower but more pronounced and then stopped altogether.

  She heard the sound of both cab doors opening so the driver wasn’t alone. Putting her ear right up against the rear door she strained to see whether she could hear voices. Was this a roadside stop, might there be people around willing to help if she shouted out? It was so frustrating not knowing what to do.

  A sudden bang on the outside of the container made her jump back involuntarily. “How’s our pretty, little whore enjoying the trip so far? Wondering where you’re going to end up and whether some magic rescue is going to take place? Sadly for you that won’t be happening, nobody is going to find us where we’re going and there will be no knight in shining armour. Of course there will be many of my fellow liberation fighters at the other end who will be only too happy to get to know you better.”

  The Somali’s grating voice seemed to eat into her like some corrosive liquid. She wanted to shout every obscenity she had ever learnt at him but knew the increased pleasure this would provide. Somehow remaining silent gave her a small amount of control over the situation and as he banged the door and the taunting about her fate increased she heard the anger in his voice for the first time.

  She made her way back to the tusks that somehow gave her comfort and after a while the pounding and shouting stopped, the engine started and the lorry pulled away. It had been a small victory for her, but a victory nevertheless.

  Inspector Mwitu had suggested Harry and Jim return to Uwingoni. There was n
othing further they could do to be of help at the dam. Additional police and KWS units would soon be on site. It was obviously going to be quite an undertaking to carry out so many interviews and for the rangers to determine the full extent of the poached items. There was still more to be brought out of the container and plenty of other areas to be searched. A specialist antiterrorist squad had also been called up to deal with all the weapons and look into any other Al-Shabaab activities and links with individuals connected to Prosperity Dam.

  Back in Jim’s office Harry was pacing to and fro, incessantly checking his mobile. “They are doing all they can to find her. The Inspector assures us that even the smallest police post has a description of the container. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.” Despite his reassurances, Jim’s unaccustomed fiddling with various things on his desk gave away his own uncertainty and concern.

  “With that many police on the main roads they must either have parked up during daylight hours and be travelling at night or, which I think is much more likely, be using obscure tracks and back roads despite the size of the lorry. Oh Jim time is so short. I know KWS have got a couple of planes scouting over some of the larger areas but I wanted to ask a favour. I know Ollie is due in with some new clients in an hour or so. Look, I appreciate we have been here before but please can you ask his boss, just one more time, and see whether he would let us do some scouting of our own this afternoon. I’ve got enough savings to pay for the fuel if it’s a question of cost. I can’t just sit here hoping everything will turn out right.”

  “Of course, I’ll phone him right now.” The conversation was surprisingly short. “That’s all sorted and there is no question of payment. You will have to go back to Wilson to refuel but then you and Ollie have the plane for the rest of the afternoon. He’s going to sort everything out with air traffic control.”

  Harry was already half out of the door, “Thank you so much Jim.”

  “When I say good luck to you I don’t think I have ever meant it so much in my life. Oh, and I’ll keep KWS and the police informed with what you’re up to.”

  He was down at the airstrip way ahead of arrival time but even a few extra minutes on a day like this might prove vital. He had borrowed the best pair of binoculars he could find but hadn’t bothered with anything else, not even a small overnight bag.

  By the time the tourists and their luggage were in the Land Cruiser with Bethwell, the plane was already airborne again. It was a cloudless day, the sun heating up the cockpit as Harry told the story of what had happened over the last couple of days. Apart from the odd question Ollie just concentrated on flying and listened, his pilot’s mind already picturing the huge expanse of land between Nairobi and the coast.

  “Time will be crucial for them Harry. That ivory is so valuable they have to get it to the coast as soon as possible. They’ll know that there will be a huge search going on. For them Ana is just a little extra and I’m afraid they would dispose of her without a second thought if they needed to. We just have to think like them. It’s possible they might try to make it over some unmanned road crossing into Somalia itself but there are a lot of different factions fighting there who would give anything for that haul. No, my guess is that they will have a safe haven somewhere along the coast where they operate their own vessels to take whatever the latest poaching haul is to their stronghold in Somalia. I have some ideas but we can have a closer look at the map when we reach Wilson.”

  As the fuel was being pumped into the wings of the little Cessna and they were standing over a table in a hanger examining possible options that the lorry might take on its way to the coast, they were interrupted by a small, wiry figure in a KWS uniform. He had a broad smile but few teeth and the wrinkles round his eyes spoke of hardship and experience.

  “Sergeant Odika asked me to join you at Wilson. I am Corporal Chyulu and he thought I would be able to help you out. As you aren’t the one in a pilot’s uniform I assume you must be Harry,” he smiled stretching out a hand which had a surprisingly powerful grip. “Your uncle and Odika have been talking about this afternoon’s search and thought you would be concentrating on the area around Tsavo East National Park and then towards Malindi and north up the coast. Tsavo is a huge area, even with a plane, over thirteen and a half thousand square kilometres I think. It’s a region I know quite well so he thought I would be more use to you than I would be doing some paperwork in an office at headquarters. Believe me I didn’t need to be asked twice.”

  Ollie introduced himself, “Welcome on board, another set of eyes and local knowledge will be wonderful.”

  The three of them returned to the map and they listened with increasing respect as Chyulu talked to them about the vastness of their task. “Visitors to our country always talk about the Masai Mara and with good reason but you could fit the whole of that reserve into just the southern tip of Tsavo East. Tourists go for four-hour game drives here and come back not having even seen another vehicle. The enormous northern region was closed to the public for many years, distances are immense and there is hardly any infrastructure. Of course it is famous for its elephants, we think around ten thousand at the last count and because it’s so huge it’s an area some poachers feel more secure in because the very size of the place makes it incredibly difficult to protect. My hunch is that we should start our search there.”

  “We are so glad you are here Corporal Chyulu, if anyone can help us find Ana and that ivory, you’re the man,”

  “Thank you, Harry, and please just call me Chyulu.”

  The aircraft mechanics returned, “She’s all fuelled up Captain and ready to go.”

  Harry clambered into the rear of the plane and Chyulu handed him a large rucksack which he placed on the only spare seat. “And this if you wouldn’t mind. There simply isn’t enough room for it in the front.” Harry placed the rifle carefully along the side with the muzzle pointing up and back.

  “We have got enough fuel to stay up till dusk, as long as I’m reasonably gentle with the throttle. Depending on how things go we can land at Malindi right on the coast, refuel and head back to Nairobi at first light.

  The initial hour in the little plane seemed impossibly slow. Chyulu told them about some of his experiences with KWS and before that as a tracker which gave them some optimism but didn’t make the hands of the clock travel any faster.

  “I’m not going to fly too low. We are here for one main purpose and that’s so see whether we can spot the container lorry. It would probably be on the border of the reserve but of course it might even be inside. I’ll stay at about two thousand feet as that will give a wide view but we will hopefully be able to spot anything suspicious on the ground. Dust trails are the obvious give away and Tsavo has this amazing red dust that should make vehicles easier to spot.”

  The first three or four trails they saw caused excitement in the plane but as Ollie descended and they got a clearer picture, it was quickly obvious what they were looking at was far too small. Harry used the binoculars, scanning what he could from the rear windows, clambering across the rucksack to the starboard side of the plane if he thought there was even a hint of anything interesting.

  It just seemed to be a sea of thorn bush littering the bare rust coloured earth and always the horizon seemed impossibly far away. Their sweep continued with Ollie trying to cover as great an area as possible but as one hour’s searching blurred into two, their initial optimism began to drain away. Chyulu spotted some form of vehicle in thick cover but when they dropped down to take a closer look there was a blue tourist Land Cruiser in the bush and it was immediately obvious what they were watching as four large bull elephants crossed the track almost in front of them, one whose tusks almost touched the ground. “Did you see him when he reached the other side?” said Ollie. “He thrust his tusks into the undergrowth, almost as though he knew his ivory is what might get him killed.”

  They saw giraffe, a herd of upwards of four hundred buffalo and even some Oryx, their long horns like spear
s laid across their shoulders but the largest vehicle they spotted was an old green truck laden with people, heading, no doubt, for some remote village.

  The sun was already beginning to sink towards the west casting a shadow of the plane on the arid ground as it flew up towards the contrasting lush strip of green and the muddy water of a large river.

  “This is the Galana River Harry, it empties into the ocean about ten kilometres north of Malindi. My guess would be that if the lorry is anywhere in this area it would be on this side of the water.”

  “Thank you Chyulu, so what do you suggest?”

  “Well perhaps follow this road towards the sea. If the lorry has made it this far it would be amazing but it would need to keep to this side if it’s going to make it to Malindi. I’m sorry not to be more encouraging.”

  “That makes good sense. Our fuel is getting pretty low. As we aren’t dealing with such a boundless area I’ll drop down a bit so that we can get a better view of what’s on the road. We’ll certainly start to see more vehicles as we get nearer the town.”

  “Thanks Ollie. This flight seemed like a good idea at the time. At least we can say we gave it our best shot.” Even as he spoke the words Harry could sense his voice breaking. Ana was still out there somewhere, swallowed up by the vastness of this land.

  The road wasn’t particularly busy, a few pickups and some matatus stopping to collect and drop off their passengers but that was about it.

  “What’s that huge wooded area up there on our right, Chyulu? Such a change from everything else we’ve seen this afternoon.”

  “That Harry is the most wonderful place. It’s the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. It is the largest area of costal forest left in the whole of East Africa.”

  Harry marvelled at its size. Even from the air it spread away into the far distance. The trees themselves came up close to the border of the road.