by David Nees
He fired multiple rounds into the engine and collector. Then more rounds through the windshield, into the cockpit. The men had dropped to the ground as they saw the rounds hit the machine. One of them got up and ran towards the chopper, hoping it could still fly. Dan’s shot caught him in the middle of his back as he tried to climb inside. The bullet flung him against the side of the chopper and he flopped down the steps to the grass. The other man turned and ran for the cover of the garage, off to one side of the main house.
Soon two trucks roared out of the large barn-like building. They were late-model, 4-wheel drive trucks with machine guns mounted in the beds. They raced down the drive. Dan waited until they turned towards the bridge and were facing him. He could shoot at them head-on. He sent multiple rounds into the trucks. Some went high, some low, but in a few shots, Dan had zeroed in and rounds hit the lead truck. They struck through the windshield, shattering it. Others hit the engine. The lead driver was hit and the truck slewed off to one side. The second pickup swerved around it and started over the bridge. It reached the other side before Dan hit the driver. Someone quickly pushed him out of the door and started forward. Dan’s shots hit the man on the machine gun before the truck got under his line of sight.
More trucks now were swarming towards the bridge. Fuck. He’s got a fleet of them. Dan figured he’d only be able to stop half of them unless he could jam up the bridge. It looked like their plan was to throw as many trucks and soldiers at the bridge to gain the other side and go on the hunt for the sniper.
Time to go.
Once on his side of the stream, Dan wouldn’t have a clear shot. The men would use the protection of the forest and the slope to work their way up towards his position. He had no illusion that these were untrained rebels, maybe high on something. These would be crack Chinese troops. Disciplined and organized. They would methodically search the edge of the forest. They would know he had to have been hiding near the open field to get a clear shot.
Dan backed out of his position. He grabbed his pack, put on his ghillie suit, which he figured he would need to get away, and started off as fast as he could go towards the open field he had to cross in order to disappear.
Chapter 60
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S antu, Roland, and Dieu walked back to the car. No one spoke. Santu kept watching Dieu to stop him if he tried to dump the fetish. They got into the car with Santu driving and Roland and Dieu sitting in the back.
“Why have you done this to me?” Dieu asked as they drove away.
There was a moment of silence. Then Roland spoke.
“To help you do the right thing. We had some discussions with the people trying to protect the Maiko National Forest, its trees and animals. They said they needed help from the authorities, so we thought of you.”
Dieu turned to him with anger in his face. “You didn’t have to do this. You have ruined my life.”
Roland looked at the government official. Dieu could make his life very difficult. He seemed to be a small, frightened man, but he could count on support from the PNC as well as the UN forces. Perhaps even the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo, or FARDC, if there was a competent commander in Goma. The thought of eliminating him crossed Roland’s mind.
“The sorcerer said the fétiche will protect you. If you do the right thing, it will help. It also insures you remain honest with your work.” Roland leaned close to Dieu. “We know you are working with Zhang and Mputu. Maybe trying to work both sides to your advantage.”
Before Dieu could protest, Roland continued.
“Do you know Zhang is a general in the Chinese army? He’s here to take over your resources. Lock up the coltan and gold for his country’s use. Your country won’t profit from his maneuverings. But will be dragged under China’s control.”
Roland put his large hand on Dieu’s shoulder. The man shuddered.
“But you don’t care about that, do you? Not if you can get wealthy from it.”
“That man is dangerous,” Dieu said, referring to the sorcerer, as if he didn’t hear a word Roland had said.
“Yes. And so am I. I can kill you in a dozen different ways and you will just disappear. No one will know, and I’ll be gone from the country, never to be seen again.”
Roland decided to enhance his tale for Dieu’s benefit.
“That is what I wanted to do, but that man, a countryman of yours,” he pointed to Santu up front, “convinced me to try another way. To insure you stop selling out your country and to give you some protection. That’s where the sorcerer came into the picture.
“You may think we’ve harmed you, but we’ve saved your life. You just can’t keep doing what you have been doing.”
“But I have to live with this now.”
“Yes, you do,” Santu said from the driver’s seat. His voice was angry and strong. Roland had not heard that tone since Santu had chastised him for not believing in the magic.
“We can relieve you of the fétiche,” Santu said. “Just say the word. Do you want that? Do you?”
Dieu didn’t answer. He could see Santu was not any type of government official and therefore not really his equal. Yet the man was talking to him as if he were a schoolboy. He wanted to put him in his place, but the large white man next to him still had his massive hand on his shoulder.
“Answer me, Mister Minister!” Santu’s voice held a full measure of both contempt and disgust.
Roland sat there amazed at Santu’s boldness, confronting a minister of the government and chastising him like a child. Suddenly Dieu’s phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket. Roland grabbed it out of his hand and looked at the screen. He recognized the name, Mputu.
“Be careful of what you say,” he whispered.
He put it on speaker and held it up to Dieu.
Dieu answered.
“Where are you?” Mputu said. It sounded like he was in a truck.
“In Goma.”
“What do you know about some NGO staff from the national forest?”
“The one’s you kidnapped?”
“They are gone. I want to know where they are.”
“I have no idea. They have not come to me. They probably have left the country.”
“Find out. I want them back. At least their leader.”
“I can’t get involved in that. It is your business.”
“You will get involved.”
“No. I help you with mining claims. That’s all I do.”
“You take my money, so you do what I say,” Mputu’s voice was now threatening. “I am heading towards Goma. I will meet you outside of the city, in Buniole. Go to the airport and collect any of the volunteers that haven’t left. You will bring them to me.”
“What if they have already left?”
“Let us hope that is not the case. You will come no matter what. If you don’t show up, I will kill your mistress. I know where you live your soft life.”
Dieu looked over at Roland. His face was now full of fear again.
Roland nodded for him to agree.
“I will check on the hostages and meet you.”
“Do not take long. My patience is very thin.”
Mputu ended the call.
“Now I get attacked from all sides,” Dieu said.
“No, we will set a reception for Mputu. This is better than I hoped. He will soon not be part of your problems. You see,” Roland said with a smile, “your fetish is already working for you.”
Dieu shuddered and looked ahead.
Chapter 61
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W hen Dan reached the grass field, he stopped and wrestled into his ghillie suit. From the cover of the trees, he scanned eastward. The vehicles would come from there, where the plantation buildings stood, if they were going to cover this ridge. He had to get across the open area before they arrived.
Nothing stirred. Don’t want to wait for them to arrive. Better to try to get acro
ss. He knelt down and started crawling across the field. He was making a new trail through the tall grass, since he hadn’t found his earlier path.
I’m leaving an obvious trail for them to find if they get into the field. Dan thought about his options if he didn’t make it across and into the forest on the far side when the trucks arrived. He had no illusions that they wouldn’t arrive. When only depended on how thoroughly they wanted to search along the forest edge as they worked their way up the slope.
Then he heard the engines. Dan stopped. He was only halfway across, too far to make a run for it. He turned to his right, away from the trucks, and started crawling fast, making an even clearer trail. When he had gone twenty-five yards, he turned and crawled back to where he had been. He then crawled about thirty yards back in the direction he had come. Now he turned towards the trucks and, in a crouch so he could move through the grass leaving a minimal trail, started forward towards a couple of trees.
Hopefully, this will throw them off. If they found his earlier trail, it would lead them into the forest where he had taken the shots and he could disappear in the other direction. When he had gone about fifty yards from his last trail, Dan nestled into the undergrowth surrounding the two trees. With his ghillie suit and hood and his rifle covered in camouflage cloth, someone could pass within feet and never see him.
A second and third engine sound came from the edge of the field. Men shouted to one another in Chinese. Dan guessed they were trying to direct a methodical search of the field. He couldn’t see them and had to try to understand what was going on from listening. If they discovered him, he would have little chance of escaping. His Sako sniper rifle was packed away. He now had his Kalashnikov along with the extra mags readily at hand. He could take out a lot of men with a surprise attack, but he didn’t expect he’d prevail. Too many soldiers. And they were probably well-trained, unlike many of the rebels.
It seemed the men were on foot. Their voices drew closer. Suddenly a shout went up. Found my earlier trail? Dan hoped that would mis-direct the search away from him. A commanding voice barked out some orders. Now it grew quiet. He could hear the grasses disturbed. Men were coming closer. Probably sent some of the men off to follow my trail.
He calculated how his odds might have improved. There was no way of knowing how many men left, but the count was reduced. If the number was small enough, he had a chance to fight his way out if discovered. Hopefully, it won’t come to that.
There was an occasional order shouted out. The pickups were idling. Probably following the men. They didn’t have enough soldiers to carpet the field, so there would be gaps in their search. There might walk right past him. The wild card was when they came across his recent trail. Would they be deceived, or would they begin a tight search of the area? Something he probably wouldn’t survive.
Dan lay still. There was nothing to do but remain quiet and hidden. He didn’t like it. Most of the time, he was the predator, now he was hiding like the prey.
He could hear the rustle of the grasses as the men moved closer. A shout of fear came from his right, accompanied by thrashing and a scream. Shots were fired and more men were shouting now.
Snake? Maybe a black mamba had been disturbed. From all the commotion, Dan wondered if someone had been bitten There were many men talking now. Finally, a voice rose above the din and began giving orders. One of the truck engines revved up and moved to Dan’s right. There was more commotion and then the truck moved again. It sounded as if it were going away. Taking someone back to the plantation? Hopefully that reduced the troop count even further. If someone had been bitten, others would have to accompany the stricken soldier.
There was talking now, calmer, quieter. Dan had no idea what they were talking about, but guessed it was about the snakes. The soldiers would probably know about the black mamba and how deadly it was. They were probably arguing that they should continue the search of the field from the back of the pickups.
Dan went over his options to stay hidden or go on the attack. He couldn’t pick off the soldiers in a stealthy manner. Even with the suppressor, the Kalashnikov was a noisy rifle due the high gas pressures it ran to operate. Once he started shooting, it would be a full-blown gunfight…and he was badly outgunned.
There seemed to be fewer men on foot. Dan kept still and slowly the remaining trucks moved past him. There was another shout when they discovered his most recent trail. One truck roared off to his left, seeming to follow his trail back to the trees from where he had emerged. The other truck moved farther away. Following my false trail?
Dan took a deep breath. If he remained where he was the search could intensify in his vicinity after the other trails came to dead ends. Now there was only one truck left in the field. Time to go.
Dan started forward. If he could get to the trees, they’d never find him. Even if he had to spend a day or more in the forest, the cover was thick enough to allow him to remain hidden.
He didn’t crawl now, but moved in a crouch, keeping himself below the growth of grass and bushes that grew in the field. The sun bore down, heating him in his suit. Sweat poured down his face and into his eyes.
As he came to the track of one of the pickups, he saw it; a gray shape, semi coiled, lying in the open space created by the tires mashing down the vegetation. Dan froze. It was a black mamba. The name came, not from the snake’s color, but from the inside of its mouth, which was black.
The snake lifted its head and opened its mouth in a threat display. It looked to be over six feet long. A black mamba was aggressive when challenged and could strike at a surprising distance. The head, held three feet in the air, waved back and forth. Along with the open mouth, there came a hiss which Dan knew was an intensification of its threat display.
Dan slowly put a knee behind him and lowered himself out of his crouch. Without taking his eyes off the snake, he moved his other leg back and put a knee down. Now he eased back, on his knees with one hand on the ground and one hand holding his AK slung across his chest.
The snake formed an “S” curve behind its head, a precursor to striking. Dan froze. He was now ten feet away. Still not enough. His breathing became labored as he fought off the effects of the adrenalin coursing through his body. He had suppressed his flight instinct, which would surely have resulted in a strike. Now he needed to complete his retreat without causing the snake to advance or strike out.
The snake didn’t move towards him, but kept itself partly coiled in a strike-ready posture. Dan started to back up again in extreme slow motion. He continued this agonizing retreat, never taking his eyes off the snake.
When he was thirty feet away, the snake lowered its head and slid off into the grass and disappeared from sight. Dan’s breath whooshed out of him and he began to pant. He still had to go in the direction where the snake disappeared. A second encounter would probably not go well for him. For now, he had been lucky.
As he calmed down, his attention returned to the soldiers looking for him. They were still pursuing his phantom trail. There was still only one pickup in the field now. He had to get to the trees before the others returned.
He risked a peek over the foliage. The pickup was still moving away from his position. The men were crowded in the bed, scanning forward and to each side. No one was looking back to his position. Dan got back into his crouch and began to move faster. He made a wide detour to avoid the black mamba.
Every ten yards he stopped and carefully raised his head to see where the searchers were. Then he turned again to the woods. He was within twenty yards of the tree line when he looked back. The pickup had turned around. Someone decided that the trail he had set was false, and they had gone back to the one he had made crawling out of the forest. Some of the soldiers got out and moved along the crawl path, looking for where he might have branched off from it.
They’ll find where I hid soon enough. Dan began to move forward. Suddenly a shout came from the pickup. Shots rang out and Dan heard the bullets fly near him with their
sharp, deadly whistle. He ran in a crouch, zig-zagging his way to the cover of the trees. More shots were fired and more bullets zinged near to him. Got a chance!
When he reached the tree line, he dove into the tangle of brush that always formed at the forest edge. He wormed his way deep into the brush and then pulled himself behind a tree. He heard the rounds, some whistling past and some slamming into trees with a dull thunk.
The pickup was now driving towards his position. Dan resisted the urge to engage. He had the advantage, but the second pickup was now driving across the open field to join the other. Better to retreat. Be the ghost, he told himself. They couldn’t use the pickups in the forest, so they’d have to leave them behind along with the machine guns that were mounted in the beds.
Dan turned and started running through the trees.
Chapter 62
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I nstead of heading for the road, Dan turned south. He’d go parallel to the road but stay well away from it, farther into the fields and woods. He knew the soldiers would be in radio contact with the plantation and more trucks would be coming to cut him off. The pickups that were in the field would leave some men to pursue him, but they would go back to the plantation to join others in an ambush along the road.
Kimoho was his target. From there he could hire a ride and get to Goma. It was about twenty kilometers from the plantation. He could make it in six hours of careful slogging, factoring in that he might have to hide for some of the time. It looked to Dan like another night in the field. The key was to get beyond any perimeter that might be set up.
The sounds of pursuit faded as Dan ran south through the forest. When he finally reached the end of the woods, he stopped to survey the surrounding area. Ahead was a cultivated field, planted in what looked like peanuts. The low, bush-like crop provided no cover. He could see no one about, so he stepped out and started running across the field.
