The Jungle Warrior

by Andy Briggs

  ANDY BRIGGS

  For Mum—a jungle queen!

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  One Hundred Years of Tarzan

  About the Author

  1

  Ataro Okeke was a mass murderer, although you wouldn’t know it by looking at him. The short, stocky, bald man was wreathed in cigar­ fumes as he stood on the balcony of his luxury apartment gazing across the nighttime urban sprawl of Kampala’s Nakasero Hill, which was now covered in skyscrapers and construction cranes—the mark of progress. It had changed dramatically in recent years. He could remember when everything he saw lay under a cloud of war with Tanzania. But that was when he was just a child.

  Inside, the telephone rang. Okeke sucked on his cigar as he opened the wide French windows and entered the air-conditioned apartment. A pair of zebra pelts hung on the wall, one on either side of the doors. The entire apartment was a gallery of dead wildlife—from the polar-bearskin rug to the ivory elephant tusks that perfectly framed the dining room door—a testament to the many animals he’d slaughtered.

  Okeke stubbed out the cigar in a bowl crafted from a tortoise shell and picked up the phone.

  “Yes?” He listened to the voice on the other end of the line. It was his agent. The middleman not only served as a convenient buffer between him and his clients, who demanded exotic animals, but he was also a pawn, an easy scapegoat who allowed him to stay beyond the reach of the law. Okeke felt he was untouchable.

  “That’s a very specific request he has. That will cost him $300,000 minimum. They’re critically endangered.”

  While Okeke waited for his agent to relay the information to the buyer, his gaze lingered on an ornamental gorilla skull mounted in a display case on his desk. It was a huge specimen, one he had hunted himself. After a short time his agent returned with a brief acknowledgement that the deal was on, and the line fell dead.

  Okeke dialed another number. As it rang he opened the glass case and ran his fingers across the skull. The call was answered on the fifth ring. The voice was low, a whisper made all the more harsh by its pronounced Russian accent.

  “You’re a fool calling me now! You could have blown everything.”

  Okeke smiled. He enjoyed annoying the Russian, although he was careful never to go too far. As much as Okeke hated to admit it, the Russian was his most valuable asset.

  “I have another task for you.”

  “I’m busy.”

  “This one you’ll like. I assure you.”

  •••

  Across the border to the east, in the vast Kenyan savannahs, the Russian lay flat on the ground, lit only by the partial moon and concealed by tall, slender grass. An earpiece relayed Okeke’s message and, despite himself, he couldn’t help smiling.

  “I have a particular interest in that region,” the Russian replied. “The White Ape legend . . . I’ll be in touch to discuss my fee.”

  He abruptly hung up and gazed through the night-vision scope attached to the top of his Saiga semiautomatic hunting rifle. The 30.06-caliber bullets were so powerful they could bring down an elephant. Which was exactly what he was planning on doing.

  The bull elephant was grazing on an acacia tree, its slender trunk plucking the tastiest leaves from the top branches. The hunter guessed it was about forty-five years old, judging by the impressive set of tusks it sported.

  Just a little older than I am, he thought. Time to retire.

  His finger hovered over the hair trigger as he centered the crosshairs on the middle of the animal’s skull. He held his breath, not out of anticipation but to eliminate any tiny movements that could throw his shot wide. Even if he was armed to the teeth he didn’t want to risk facing a charging elephant.

  The high-velocity round cracked across the landscape and the elephant fell with a thud. The Russian leaped to his feet, and as he did so the foliage behind him came alive as his entourage burst out of their concealment carrying the tools to finish the job. The men knew exactly what they had to do. They moved with speed and precision, wearing night-vision goggles to guide them. They never used flashlights, which would easily give their position away.

  The Russian pulled his own night-vision goggles down from his forehead and the world immediately lit up in grey-green hues, just as he had seen through the night scope. With the goggles on, he looked like an insect stalking through the grass. He approached the elephant and saw that its chest was still heaving even though its skull had been cleaved open. The ground was awash with blood, and he was careful not to get too close. Blood was difficult to wash off his favorite boots.

  He pulled back the rifle’s bolt, chambering another round. He didn’t need the night scope to aim at the elephant’s heart. Another shot echoed across the savannah, scaring away any scavengers that may already have smelled the blood.

  “OK, hurry. I don’t want to be here when the patrols turn up.” On many occasions he had come under fire from anti-poaching patrols, especially in Kenya where they were exceptionally vigilant and well armed. He had no qualms about firing back. He’d lost count of the men he had injured and even killed on patrol. He didn’t enjoy it; there was no sense of sport in shooting men. It wasn’t the same as pitting his wits against the cunning of a wild beast.

  That was sport.

  A chainsaw revved in the darkness and came down on one of the tusks, chewing effortlessly through it. The Russian wished there was an easier way of transporting the elephant carcass; he could get a good price for the various parts. Somebody somewhere would be convinced that an elephant liver was a cure for cancer or some other nonsense. Instead, they would just take the ivory and leave the body to feed the vultures and hyenas.

  “The circle of life,” he said to himself sarcastically.

  A small ferrety man looked up as he helped pull the first tusk free. “Instead of muttering, you could come and get your hands dirty,” he grumbled. Paulvitch was a Russian too; the others were Kenyans desperate for cash. They were easily recruited and easily expendable, whereas Paulvitch was an old friend. He was the only man alive whom the Russian allowed to speak to him in such a familiar way.

  “I did the hard part,” he reminded Paulvitch. It was true. He had been tracking the elephant for several days, following the signs, closing the distance on the animal. For two hours he had crawled through grass just to get close enough. “So shut your mouth, drook. And hurry up. We’ve got a far more interesting job lined up now.”

  “Where to next?”

  The Russian pulled off his night-vision goggles and gazed across the moonlit grassland. He scratched his goatee beard and turned his thin, cruel face upward. His black eyes narrowed in anticipation. His mind was already racing with the possibilities of the next assignment. This one could test his hunting craft to its limits. He relished the task ahead. He was Nikolas Rokoff, the greatest hunter in the world, but it had been a long time since he’d had a real challenge. This might be just what he needed.

  “The old Congo. We’ve got a gorilla to catch.”

  2

  Robbie Canler drove the supply jeep into the camp and sighed when he saw Jane Porter was the only person around. She glanced at him, then quickly looked back at the book she was reading. He
climbed from the vehicle and glanced around Karibu Mji, the adopted name of the logging camp that Jane’s father had established deep in the Congo jungle. The operation had recently been moved even further into the humid rainforest away from the mountain Karibu Mji, dismantled and rebuilt to provide extra protection from the dangers of the jungle—but the name had stuck.

  “Have you seen Clark anywhere?” asked Robbie as he combed his fingers through his tangle of black hair that the wind had messed up. The jeep had no air conditioning so he had to drive it with the windows down, even during downpours.

  Jane’s eyes never left the page. “No.”

  Robbie was about to ask another question but instead headed toward the camp’s office. If Jane wasn’t in the mood to talk to him, he wouldn’t force the issue.

  •••

  Jane watched him walk away out of the corner of her eye. The last few weeks had been difficult to say the least. Their run-in with a gang of jungle rebels had made them all face the difficult choice between staying in the jungle or closing up camp forever.

  A month before, Jane would have been cheered by the news that they might be going back to the States, but now she faced a dilemma. Suddenly she had no wish to leave the jungle, yet if they stayed, now more than ever she was opposed to how her father, Archie, was plundering it.

  In the end Archie’s business partner, Clark, had persuaded him to carry on. Jane had known Clark all her life and knew that the one thing he prized above all else was money. It hadn’t taken him long, behind closed doors, to talk her father round.

  New equipment had been brought in, at a huge cost to the operation. Another expense Archie had insisted on was a set of satellite phones for himself, Clark, Robbie, and Jane, so they could stay in touch no matter where they were. All they needed was a clear patch of sky.

  Ever since they had made the decision to stay, a strange mood had descended on the camp. Jane found herself being left out of conversations and odd glances were cast her way when people thought she wasn’t looking. Even Robbie was dealing with her at arm’s length. Things just weren’t the same between them since Robbie had confided that he was wanted for attempted murder. He revealed how his sister, Sophie, had died a victim of their abusive stepfather. On finding his sister’s cold, frail body, Robbie had clubbed his stepfather across the head. Then, convinced he’d killed the man, he had fled his hated home and left the country as quickly as possible, a burden of guilt weighing heavily on his shoulders. He stowed away on a cargo ship until Clark had found him.

  After a little Internet digging, Jane had uncovered the fact that his stepfather was not dead. She’d thought Robbie would be pleased with the news and that it would ease the guilt he felt; instead, her announcement had made him sullen and thoughtful. Several times she tried to talk to him about it, but each time he changed the subject. Once, he was so desperate to avoid that conversation that he pointed to the camp’s jeep and said, “Do you want me to teach you how to drive?”

  The message was clear—his past was no longer up for discussion­. Jane felt hurt; she was only trying to help. But those feelings were quickly overshadowed when Robbie showed a sudden interest in Tarzan.

  “Maybe we should go and pay him a visit?” he had suggested during one driving lesson. “Check he’s OK.”

  At first, no one believed Jane’s tales of meeting the mysterious “White Ape,” or Negoogunogumbar, the evil spirit the locals all feared—a man who had been raised by wild apes. It wasn’t until Tarzan had rescued the loggers from Tafari and the hands of the other jungle rebels that they finally accepted he was a living, breathing man. Not just a man, according to details Jane had uncovered through her Internet research—Tarzan was an English aristocrat, the rightful Lord Greystoke and heir to a vast fortune.

  Now that Clark and Robbie were suddenly showing more of an interest in Tarzan, it was easy for Jane to see the spark of greed that burned in Clark’s eyes and she ignored their requests to be introduced to him properly. Even if she’d wanted to, she couldn’t. She hadn’t seen Tarzan since he’d led them all back to the old Karibu Mji camp and then vanished into the jungle.

  Jane kept a constant eye on the trees for any sign of him. Even though he hadn’t shown himself, she was convinced he was out there. Watching.

  •••

  Inside the camp office, Robbie drank a pint of cold water in one go. He was parched after the long drive from Sango, the nearest supply town. The camp’s new location was far from any government taskforces patrolling the area, but it meant an almost six-hour drive along punishing rocky roads that were no wider than animal trails.

  “Did you get it?” Clark asked impatiently.

  Robbie pulled a crumpled brown envelope from his safari jacket and tossed it onto the desk. Clark opened it and eagerly extracted the papers from inside. They were printouts of various websites, all faded and poor quality.

  “Not bad, not bad at all, mate,” said Clark, reading through. He pointed to the figures on one page. “Is this right?”

  Robbie shrugged. “As far as I can tell.”

  Clark gave a low whistle. “That’s a lot of cash.”

  Robbie nodded absently. He’d spent the best part of two hours trawling through the Internet, gathering any information he could on the Greystokes. He knew Jane had done the same, but Clark had explicitly told him not to involve her.

  “There were no emails from them,” Robbie added.

  Clark put the papers down and stared thoughtfully out of the window. “They’re not going to believe us without solid proof.”

  Clark had contacted the family the moment Jane had revealed the ape-man was their long-lost heir and worth a fortune. Clark was counting on the family offering a substantial reward that would set him and Robbie up for life.

  “I don’t know why we don’t let Archie in on this. He’ll get Jane to tell us more,” urged Robbie.

  Clark laughed as he carefully folded the printouts back into the envelope. “Oh, no. Not that we won’t cut him in on the reward,” he quickly added. “But tellin’ him now ain’t right. Firstly, that girl’s got her dad wrapped around her finger. Arch still feels guilty after what happened. Secondly, you know what he’s like.”

  Robbie studied Clark. He was South African and in his forties, although he acted like a man half his age. Robbie owed Clark everything and this new opportunity was giving him the chance to make a very real fortune—more than he could ever earn logging rare hardwoods. With it he could finally be free of his past and start a new life. But that didn’t mean he approved of the way Clark was exploiting Jane’s friendship with Tarzan.

  “He would tell Jane everything we’ve been planning,” Robbie said quietly.

  “Exactly!”

  “What’s so bad about that?” Robbie hated going behind Jane’s back.

  Clark gave him a hard stare. “We don’t want her to go and scare our boy off, do we? After all we’re doin’ what she wanted. Wasn’t she the one thinkin’ it best we reunite him with his family? Not my fault she had a change of heart. We’re helpin’ him find out about his past.”

  Robbie felt his cheeks burn, even though he was certain Clark hadn’t intentionally directed the last comment at him. Jane had let slip that he thought he’d killed his stepfather, but after realizing her mistake, she convinced everybody it had been a simple accident back in New York, not anything more sinister. He assumed nobody knew anything further and he hoped Jane would keep it that way—yet paranoia crept over him and he couldn’t stop the words tumbling from his mouth.

  “What’s so good about that?”

  He tried to avoid eye contact but he could see Clark looking at him oddly and, not for the first time, Robbie wondered how much more Clark knew about his past.

  “Some of us may be runnin’ from our past. But some blokes, like our friend Tarzan, just need a little help to stop runnin’.” Clark gave a lengthy pause, then added, “Don’t ya think?”

  Robbie changed the subject. “I think we’re n
ot going to get much further than the contents of that envelope without a little more help.” He glanced out of the window and noticed how dark it was getting. “I’d better unload the supplies off the jeep.”

  He’d made it to the door when Clark called out in a low voice, “Proof, mate. That’s all we need, not help. Proof that Tarzan really is the rightful Lord Greystoke. Proof that there really is a crashed plane out there”—he waved a finger toward the jungle—“and that his family was onboard when they went missin’.”

  Robbie nodded, then quickly left the cabin and walked over to the jeep. Already the sun was hovering close to the tree line, casting ruby-red light across the clouds. The loggers were returning from their explorations, chainsaws and machetes slung across shoulders. Robbie waved a silent greeting to each of them, knowing they’d be too exhausted to engage in conversation. They headed to the bar where the camp’s cook, caretaker, and part-time teacher, Esmée, had a stew going. Robbie’s stomach rumbled as he caught the delicious aroma.

  At the jeep, he pulled the loading straps free and heaved a pair of rice sacks onto his shoulder. He trekked toward the bar and saw Jane was still outside, book in hand but her attention on the trees. He knew she was hoping Tarzan would appear. Although she’d often told him about the derelict aircraft hidden in the jungle, the place where Tarzan and his ape family lived, she had never once offered to take him there. Robbie sighed; if he could locate it then he’d have concrete proof that the Earl of Greystoke had been found.

  Then the reward would be theirs, all his problems would disappear, and he could at last turn his back on the jungle for good.

  3

  A cool breeze gusted between the mighty mountain peaks, hauling in heavier rain clouds. The rain drummed on the fuselage of the aircraft lying on the edge of a broad plateau. Over the years, vegetation had clung to the plane, camouflaging it from prying eyes. One wing had been torn off against the mountain, the other stretched over the cliff. Ordinarily the cliff top offered an unparalleled view across a lake, but today it was smothered in cloud.