by S. L. Menear
“That definitely wasn’t a rock.” Mike searched the water. “If we were on the ocean, I’d think it was a big shark.”
“Oh geez, I just remembered the guidebook mentioned large colonies of hippos in this river.” I peered into the dark water. “They’re the most dangerous animals in Africa.”
I looked up when a massive head rose in front of us. Its enormous mouth, at least two-feet wide, had a jaw-span of almost five feet when it was fully opened. Pointed tusks, some as long as sixteen inches, protruded from its menacing jaws and clamped down on the bow.
“Bugger! That hippo is trying to eat the boat,” Lisa yelled.
“I read they can chomp down with a force of two thousand pounds per square inch.” Lance gripped the sidewall.
“Screw that!” Mike poked me. “Open the hatch so I can shoot it.”
Before I could react, our boat rolled, lifted, and fell again as a pod of hippos repeatedly rammed our metal craft.
“A fifty-cal. would come in handy right about now.” Bryce pounded the glass beside a hippo.
“We need a bigger boat,’” Banger said.
Another hard blow slammed me sideways. “It’s like we’re in a demolition derby, and we’re losing.”
Lisa squeezed my arm. “Open the hatch and shoot the buggers.”
I looked around at the angry pod of hippos. “If I open the canopy, we might sink before we can shoot them all. Our nine-mil Sigs might not kill them, but their tusks can definitely kill us.”
A bullet glanced off our canopy.
Banger yelled, “Heads up, people. There’s an inflatable boat full of mercenaries on our six.”
Mike glanced behind. “Dammit, Sam, open the canopy so we can return fire!”
Water sloshed over the clear canopy as we rocked and rolled under the fierce assault from the beasts in the water.
“Opening it could be disastrous.” Another beast knocked me sideways.
“Sis, if you’ve got a better idea, let’s hear it.” Mike jabbed my shoulder when another bullet pinged off the starboard side. “And make it fast!”
“Duck down while I try to command the hippos like I controlled the kraken.”
“Hurry, this boat probably isn’t bulletproof.” Mike slid down in his seat, and Lisa leaned forward with her head down beside my seat.
I slouched down, closed my eyes, and concentrated on making a telepathic connection with the ferocious beasts ramming us. Meanwhile, more bullets pinged off our metal craft.
In moments, the pounding stopped. Two hippos began pushing our boat, and our speed tripled.
I glanced back and spotted the rest of the pod attacking the inflatable boat. Their violent assault sent men flying into the water. Jaws full of deadly tusks opened wide and crushed the swimmers as their boat foundered. Meanwhile, our boat pulled away, thanks to our animal-powered propulsion.
“Well done, sis.” Mike checked behind us. “Looks like the hippos are taking out the mercs for us.”
“Nice to have the big fellas on our side now.” Lance high-fived me.
I waited until we rounded a curve in the river. No one pursued us on the water, so I sent our helpers away and used my key to open the canopy. A cool breeze caressed my sweaty face.
“Whew, that was exciting.” Bryce turned and looked behind us. “Nobody there. Our giant friends must’ve sunk them.”
I pulled out my military satellite phone and held it up. “It wasn’t a coincidence those soldiers found us. My guess is somebody on Sweetwater’s payroll bugged our SATCOMs.”
My teammates stared at the phone.
Lisa reached over my shoulder. “Give it to me. I’ll check.” She took it apart and found the bug.
“Aha!” She held up the tiny device and dropped it in the river. Moments later, my phone was back together. “Here.” Lisa handed it to me.
“Better check mine too.” Mike handed her his SATCOM.
It wasn’t long before Lisa dropped another bug overboard and reassembled his phone.
“Well, that solves one mystery.” Mike pocketed his SATCOM. “But I wish we knew who bugged our phones.”
Banger pounded the sidewall. “I don’t like this. We need to know who we can trust.”
“Sweetwater’s billions open a lot of doors.” Bryce shook his head. “No telling how many military people he bribed.”
I looked back at my friends. “I know one thing—I trust my teammates. Everyone else is suspect.”
“Right, so we’ll keep a tight lid on our plans going forward.” Mike glanced at the team.
I was so distracted by our conversation that I failed to pay attention to our forward progress on the river. Our strange watercraft jolted us when it bumped against an embankment at the end of a short, narrow side channel. We had landed inside a natural boat dock.
I checked the area. “Ride’s over. Everybody out.” I waited while my team exited.
Bryce and Banger climbed out and then reached in for Lisa. Mike and Lance followed. After I stepped out, the hatch closed. A loud hiss and bubbling water in front of the bow pushed the escape boat back into the river. In seconds, it submerged, disappearing under the dark water.
“Whoa—where did it go?” Mike scanned the water.
“Heck if I know.” I checked our surroundings one more time. “Let’s figure out where we are.”
I pulled out the Eye of Atlantis and held it in my right hand. It projected a hologram of a huge stone statue of the goddess Isis with green emeralds embedded in her eyes and a large gold medallion mounted on the center of her headband. She appeared to be underwater.
“Nice statue.” Lisa pointed at the water surrounding Isis. “It had better not be in this river.”
“If it is, the hippos can have it.” I glanced up the rocky bank as I stowed the Eye. “Let’s look for a ride back to the base.”
“Yeah, if we call for evac, the wrong people might show up.” Banger climbed a few feet up the rocks and surveyed the river.
Sweetwater’s Hideout
Sweetwater exhaled a cloud of blue-gray smoke from his Cohiba cigar and reached for a bottle of vintage brandy. A gas-powered generator kept his air-conditioned office and living quarters cool in the hot, humid jungle. He poured Armagnac Fauchon into two snifters and handed one to the man in command of his mercenary army. “Arkady, what brings you to my camp so late at night?” Sweetwater swirled his brandy in the crystal goblet.
Sweat beaded on the Russian’s forehead as he the downed the drink and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“General, you’re behaving like a cretin. Fine brandy is meant to be savored. What’s bothering you?”
“We lost boat team on Blue Nile River.”
Sweetwater paused mid-sip. “What happened?”
Even though the room was cool, Arkady dabbed sweat from his face with a cotton kerchief. “My men tracked team on river. They were in strange metal boat under attack by hippos.”
“What did your men do?”
“Fired at hippos—tried to scare them off, but entire pod attacked inflatable boat.” He wiped his sweaty hands on his camouflage fatigues. “Soldiers sent Mayday text before boat sank. Since then, no contact.”
Sweetwater drained his glass and slammed it on the table. “What about the woman and her team?”
The Russian recoiled. “GPS trackers in their satellite phones went dead ten minutes after Mayday text. Two helicopters with floodlights will arrive on site in three hours and search river.”
Sweetwater bit his cigar in half, and the lit end fell onto the floor. He spit out the end stuck in his mouth and stomped on the lighted stub. “Are you saying there were no survivors in either boat?”
“Choppers will search for survivors.” The general glanced at his watch. “Will be easier to search in daylight, but sunrise is eight hours from now.”
“I can’t believe your team of heavily armed commandos was bested by a pod of hippos. You’d better pray Samantha Starr survived. She’s essential
to my plan for revenge, and you know how I feel about vengeance. Do whatever it takes to capture her unharmed. Understand?”
The general wiped his sweaty hands on his pants again and stood. “Da, my men will find her.” He hurried to the door.
“And bring me whatever’s in that little leather pouch she carries,” Sweetwater yelled.
The vindictive little man watched the commander of his private army climb the stairs to the treetop helipad.
If you fail me, you’re a dead man.
Blue Nile River
Crickets and frogs made their nightly calls as I scanned the water. “I don’t see anybody.”
“That’s because sane people don’t take boats through hippo territory, especially at night,” Banger said with his usual sarcastic tone.
“You can bet Sweetwater will send helicopters to look for his team—and us.” Mike searched the sky.
“Yeah, we’d better head inland before search teams scour the river.” Banger climbed up the bank and waited for us.
Lance glanced down. “Time to reverse these white robes. Black is better, especially under a full moon in a clear sky.”
Everyone agreed.
A light breeze stirred up the cold night air and carried the scent of the river.
Lisa rubbed her arms. “We’d better find shelter soon.”
“Right.” Bryce reversed his robe to black. “Let’s get cracking.”
“Don’t forget to flip the turbans too.” Lisa turned her turban inside out and stuffed her long red hair into the black cloth.
I made the color switch, slung the satchel carrying the silver-blue sphere over my right shoulder, and climbed up through the rocks. After reaching higher ground, I spotted a village in the distance along the riverbank. “Let’s see if we can find transportation.” I pointed. “That looks like a road.”
“Good idea. We’ll grab a ride and get the hell out of Dodge before more mercs show up.” Mike led us toward the village.
Banger glanced at his watch. “It’s after eleven. Most of the villagers should be asleep.”
“We’ll steal a vehicle and pay for it later.” Lance patted my back. “Sam did that when she was on the run in Scotland, and it worked out okay.”
“She saved nine noble bloodlines and prevented a war in Northern Ireland.” Lisa high-fived me. “The authorities tend to be forgiving in situations like that.”
Bryce checked his weapon. “Understood. Don’t get caught, and put things right later.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I moved up beside Mike. “Somebody’s bound to have a truck or van.”
Twenty minutes later, we reached the dark village and listened.
Silence, except for the crickets.
Mike whispered, “Spread out and search for a vehicle.”
A faint odor of horse manure hung in the air as I slipped into a barn on the outskirts of town. A big draft horse stuck his nose out of a stall and looked at me. A covered horse cart was parked nearby. It looked large enough to carry our team.
A low growl drew my attention to a dark corner. A medium-sized mongrel dog bared his teeth and crept closer. I reached under my robe and pulled a packet of beef jerky rations out of my padding.
“Here, boy, have some beef.”
He snarled and bared his teeth as I tossed the dried meat in front of him.
The skinny dog kept growling as he sniffed my gift. Then he gulped it down, barely chewing it. I tossed him several strips of the cured meat.
While the dog was busy eating, I petted the huge black horse. Tall and muscular, he was bred for heavy work. I checked his water trough and feed bin. Plenty of water, but no food. Bales of hay were stacked nearby. I tore off a generous portion and dropped hay in his feed bin so he’d have plenty of energy in case we couldn’t find motorized transportation.
Just when I was about to turn away from the horse, a strong arm wrapped around me, and the sharp edge of a machete pressed against my neck.
A deep voice said, “Move and you die.”
I couldn’t see the guy behind me, but his arms were massive, and his voice sounded like his mouth was a foot above my head.
Nine
Mike met up with the team. “Looks like this village is just a few small homes and barns. Anybody find a vehicle?”
“One horse, a bit on the skinny side.” Lisa pointed. “Over there in that little barn.”
“I found an old motorcycle, but the front tire’s flat.” Lance thumbed toward a small house with a shed alongside it.
Dogs barked from somewhere nearby.
Mike glanced from Banger to Bryce. “What about you guys? Find anything?”
Banger shook his head. “Nada.”
Bryce spread his hands. “Sorry, nothing.”
Lisa looked in every direction. “Where’s Sam?”
Mike turned. “She went into a big barn when we spread out. It’s back at the other end of the neighborhood.”
“We’d better look for her.” Banger searched the street. “She might be in trouble.”
“My sister in trouble?” Mike said in a sarcastic tone.
“Always,” Banger replied with even more sarcasm.
“We’d better hurry before those dogs wake everyone.” Lance looked around.
“Too late.” Bryce nodded at several male villagers approaching from all sides, clutching hoes and sickles.
“Keep your weapons hidden.” Mike stood in the center of his team. “I’ll do the talking.”
An elderly man in tattered clothes stepped forward. He spoke in the local Oromo dialect and asked a question.
Mike shook his head. “English?”
The man gave a slight nod and turned to a younger man from the village. The man, who appeared to be in his early twenties, stood beside the elder. “I am John. Who you?”
“I’m Michael. We’re religious tourists.” He spread his arms toward his teammates, and they smiled and nodded. “We visited Lalibela and then took a boat trip on the Blue Nile. Our boat was attacked by hippos. We barely made it to shore before the boat sank.”
“Why you look here?” John wore torn jeans and a thick cotton jacket.
“My brother is missing. We’re trying to find him. He’s about this tall.” Mike held his hand at chin level. “He loves horses. That’s why we searched the barns. We need to check that one.” Mike pointed at the big barn at the other end of the village.
The small group of locals conferred in their native language, sounding anxious.
John turned back to Mike. “Big barn is Nathaniel’s. He no like strangers. We go with you.”
The group hurried down the dirt lane. The elder took the lead when they approached the barn. He stepped inside first and shouted.
Everyone rushed in. A man almost as big as Banger held a machete to Sam’s throat. Still in disguise with the beard and mustache, she looked like a frightened young man, her eyes wide.
“Stop!” Nathaniel tightened his arm around his victim.
Mike and the team froze, looking harmless with their weapons hidden under their robes.
Mike eased up beside John and the elder. “We mean no harm.”
“Why he here?” The man with the machete directed the question to John.
John gestured at Sam. “He loves horses. Let him go, Nathaniel.” John’s voice wavered, obviously afraid of the much larger man holding the blade.
Mike carried our emergency funds and pulled out a wad of cash. “How much to rent your horse and cart for a few hours with you driving?”
Nathaniel hesitated, his eyes focusing on the money. “Now? Where you go?”
“Away from the river.” Mike held out $2,000 in twenties. “Is there an airport nearby?”
The man pointed his machete in the direction of the ridge. “Grass airport six kilometers east.” He released Sam and took the cash.
A thin line of blood traced across her neck where the blade had been. She kept silent.
“Any airplanes there?” Mike glanced at the mac
hete.
“Old plane takes passengers and cargo. Pilot keeps it beside runway.” He slipped the machete into a sheath hooked to his belt.
“Take us to the airport?” Mike pulled out more cash. “For the late hour.”
“I take you, but pilot won’t be there.”
“We’ll go and wait for the pilot. I’m Mike, and this is Banger.” Banger stepped forward. “He’ll ride up front with you, and I’ll ride in your cart with my friends.”
He nodded. “I am Nathaniel. Help push cart out.”
The men shoved the cart out of the barn, and Nathaniel harnessed the horse to it. He climbed onto the wood seat.
Banger sat beside him and said, “All aboard.”
Mike waved at the villagers. “Thank you.” He joined the team in the covered cart.
I waited until we were inside the cart before I wiped the blood from the hairline cut on my neck. “That was close,” I whispered.
Mike leaned in. “You okay?”
“Just a razor-thin cut. Thanks for handling things.” I dabbed my neck with a tissue.
Curved roof ribs allowed us to sit comfortably beneath the canvas cover. I held the satchel on my lap. So far, the sphere hadn’t moved, not even when I’d been attacked. Apparently, it wasn’t meant to defend the bearer.
Nathaniel’s dog jumped into the cart and snuggled between Lisa and Mike. He must’ve smelled meat on them. Lisa gave him a strip of beef jerky.
The huge horse pulled us at a steady but slow pace on a dirt road that wound through the valley away from the river.
Mike lifted the cover and peeked out the left side. “At least the full moon provides enough light to follow the road.”
“And we don’t have lights on the cart that would attract attention.” Lisa looked outside.
I pulled out a map of Ethiopia and opened it to the Blue Nile region. “No harm in trying to find the airport.”
“Good idea.” Lance leaned in as I shined my mag light on the map.
“Hey, that looks like an airplane symbol.” I tapped it. “What do you think?”
Lance studied the spot. “Looks like it’s along that ridgeline on the eastern edge of this valley.” He showed it to Mike. “I guess Nathaniel told the truth.”
