Part 6 (1/2)

13.

After some close observations using the transmitter, they heard Nelson radio with instructions for everyone to regroup at the original location.

*Looks like we're ready to roll,' muttered Gaz as he and Mitch gathered their weapons and headed back through the trees.

When they arrived, Two Moons and Benny were already there with Nelson and Tug. Nelson had drawn a more detailed plan of the hotel buildings and grounds, with extra information from what he and Tug, and Two Moons and Benny, had observed and picked up.

*We managed to get a mic and camera in a hole in the wall,' explained Two Moons.

*We did the same thing in one of the windows,' said Mitch. Then he added with a grin, *Or, to be fair, Gaz did. I just watched him.'

Quickly, Mitch and Gaz told the rest of the unit what they'd been able to pick up from their own observations.

*There are between five and six men on guard at the front as a general rule. Another three, all fully armed, roaming around the side. Now and then they join up with their pals at the front, and then go off and chat to their mates round the back of the hotel,' said Gaz. *There was a change-over about an hour ago. Nothing organised, it all looked pretty casual. Some guys came out from inside, and some of the guys who were outside went in. But the numbers stayed pretty much the same.'

*What intel did you get from your mic and camera?' asked Nelson.

*It looks like that room at the front is some kind of eating place,' said Mitch. *You can just make out a fridge in one corner. And there are cans and bottles. Lots of sounds of cans being opened. We picked up a flare that looks to me like a flame from a stove of some sort. From what we can see, the place inside is a dump. They cook, eat and drink without clearing up and throw their rubbish and their clothes on the floor.'

*Sounds like some of the places I used to live in Newcastle,' said Gaz, smiling.

Nelson added their information to the plan. Then, *Do we know if Justis Ngola is actually in the building?' he asked. *Or are we just watching a bunch of second-grade bandits hanging around?'

*We think he is,' said Benny. *We couldn't work out what was being said, but there's one voice that sounds like it's giving orders.'

*How can you be sure?' asked Gaz. *Could just be someone drunk and lairy.'

*No one talks back to him, though,' said Two Moons. *They all shut up when he speaks.'

*Might be a good idea if Mitch took a listen to it,' said Nelson. *See if he can make anything out.'

Benny handed the receiver over to Mitch. *This is it,' he said.

Mitch took the small machine and began to listen, making notes on a pad. Now and then one voice stood out, clearer and louder than the others. As Two Moons had said, when this voice spoke there were only muted responses and no one seemed to argue with him.

*That sounds like the boss, all right,' said Mitch. *He's telling the others what to do. It also sounds like he's getting phone calls now and then, so I guess he's got a satellite phone. That'd be the only way he'd get a signal in this jungle. When he got a call just now, he shouted and said: ”I don't care about that. Where's the money?” At one point he yelled, ”If I don't get the money by tomorrow I'll kill Mw.a.n.ga.” And then he says to another caller: ”Bring me the money tomorrow and I'll kill Mw.a.n.ga right in front of you.”'

*So tomorrow is Big Decision day,' said Nelson thoughtfully.

*At least we know Mw.a.n.ga is still alive,' said Benny.

*Any clues on where he is?' asked Nelson.

Mitch nodded. *When Mw.a.n.ga's name comes up the words ”downstairs” and ”bas.e.m.e.nt” are used, so I think we can safely say that's where he is.'

*It would help to know where exactly in the bas.e.m.e.nt,' put in Benny.

*I reckon he must be in a room near the main stairs,' said Mitch. *At one point someone goes to take him some food, and there's not much time between him leaving and coming back.'

Nelson marked the four rooms on his plan that were nearest the bottom of the stairs. *So, let's a.s.sume that he's in one of these,' he said.

Tug shook his head. *I think you can cut out those two,' he said, pointing to the two larger rooms. *They're too big. According to what Oba told us, one was a conference room, the other's a ballroom. Mw.a.n.ga's a prisoner. They'll have put him in a small room, the nearest thing they've got to a cell.'

*Makes sense,' agreed Nelson. He put a cross by the two smaller rooms. *So, these are our targets. Right, let's sum up the whole situation as far as getting in.'

The six soldiers began to run through all the information they had gathered, but suddenly they heard the sound of vehicles.

Into view through the trees came a beaten-up open-topped 4x4, and immediately behind it came the jeep last seen at the village, with Adwana and two other villagers in the back. Their hands were tied and their faces bruised and cut from where they had been beaten.

Nelson turned angrily to Mitch. *I thought you told them to get rid of the jeep,' he exclaimed.

*I did,' said Mitch. He groaned. *They must have thought it was too good to dump.'

*And now they're paying the price,' muttered Benny.

The armed guards ran to meet the two vehicles, shouting and waving their rifles. The vehicles pulled up and the armed men in the jeep kicked and pushed Adwana and the other two men out on to the ground, shouting and jabbing their rifles threateningly at them the whole time.

*We have to save them,' whispered Two Moons.

Nelson shook his head. *We can't,' he said. *If we step in now we blow the operation. Our mission is to save Mw.a.n.ga.'

A man came striding from the hotel. The unit realised from the way the armed men stepped back to clear a path for him that this must be the bandits' leader, Justis Ngola. Ngola was shorter than many of the men, but even from this distance he seemed to give off an energy and an impression of raw violence. Gold Headband a” Ngola's cousin a” was just a hoodlum by comparison.

Ngola was dressed in camouflage fatigues with army boots. On one hip was a handgun in a holster; on his other hip hung a machete.

The armed guards had stepped back to form a circle round Adwana and the two other bound men, who cowered on the ground. Ngola glared down at the men, and then shouted a question at them.

*What's he saying?' asked Nelson.

*He wants to know what happened to his cousin and the others.'

Adwana said something, obviously making an appeal, but Ngola cut it short by hitting Adwana across the face with the back of his hand and snapping something back at him.

*Adwana said he doesn't know,' Mitch translated. *He says they found the jeep in the jungle and brought it back to their village. Ngola says he's lying.'

Ngola waved his fist threateningly at Adwana, and then fired off a burst of angry questions. Once again, Adwana appealed, but Ngola just kicked him in the ribs, making him double over in pain.

*Ngola wants to know where the Yankee soldiers are,' Mitch said. *Adwana says he doesn't know any Yankee soldiers.'

Ngola snapped out an order, and his armed men hauled the three prisoners to their feet and dragged them to a group of trees. They tied each prisoner to one of the trees. Then Ngola pulled his handgun from his holster and stood in front of Adwana, shouting at him and pointing the gun directly at Adwana's face. Desperately, Adwana pulled at the ropes holding him to the tree trunk, shaking his head and begging. Even without Mitch translating it was obvious that Adwana was denying everything.