They spent the night in the hangar, Carl and Dominic questioning Sharif Mamud about the mountain. It was an hour after dawn when the Land Rovers showed up. The passengers were heavily coated with Saharan dust. They looked more like ghosts than mercenaries.
Monpelier had them pull the Land Rovers inside the hangar. Carl didn't envy them their journey. It had to have been a ball-buster. From the way they moved he knew they had the same opinion.
The stiff-legged arrivals accepted Monpelier's invitation and headed for some water cans to rinse off before getting down to business. Among them was Abdul Khanas. He was one Carl had met before, a Sudanese veteran of Indochina, a good, solid man with strong hands and a quick smile. The only other one he knew was Jacques Foche, a Belgian mercenary who had been with nearly all the world's armies at one time or another. He was without conscience or loyalty to anyone or anything except the job he was on at the time.
The rest of the team consisted of two Brits, Felix Marline and Kitchner, an American named Alan Graves, and Saul Voorhees from Pretoria.
It was obvious that some of them had worked together before. Abdul greeted Roman warmly and gave Egon a nod of recognition. Dominic made the rest of the introductions.
Carl told them to rack out for a while. After that ride they were sure to need it and he didn't want anyone falling asleep when he outlined the job.
At four in the afternoon the men had been fed and their coffee poured. They found seats on boxes and crates, and were waiting.
'Some of you know me,' Carl began. 'We have worked together before. Those of you who have questions about me, go with them to those that have worked with me. I don't have time for individual consultations.'
'Monpelier has told you the purpose of the job: to get in, snatch two people, and get back out. Let's try to do it and return with everyone that we started out with. Tomorrow the Land Rovers will move out again with new crews.' There was an audible sigh of relief from those who had just driven over 1,000 miles across the desert. 'They'll have radios with them so we'll know when they're on site. They are to find a landing zone for the rest of us to set down on. Those in the Land Rovers will have only one rifle and their pistols for personal protection. If they carried any more with them they'd be too tempting a target for bandits. When they are on site they'll signal and we'll move out. Till then everyone is restricted to the strip and this hangar. No one goes into town. If one word leaks out about the job then the whole thing will be blown and someone's definitely going to die.' He waited to give them time to digest what he was saying.
'All right, then. A lot of this is going to have to be played by ear. We know where the hostages are being held and we have a guide who knows the terrain and will lead us in. Once on site, anything can happen. At last word there were about forty to fifty armed Tuaregs at the target area. I don't think that should slow us up any. They're tough, brave men, but I think we have experience and training on our side plus the advantage of surprise if we move fast enough. Just remember when we do go in follow orders and we'll have a good chance of pulling it off. There are still some details to be worked out and I'll fill you in on them when the time comes. As of right now, no one backs out. Everyone here is going all the way. Any questions?'
Egon stood up. 'What is our time frame?'
Carl looked at Dominic, who held up his hand. 'We have five days max. Then Sunni Ali is going to start sending little pieces of the girl to her father-in-law. We want to get to them before that happens.'
'All right,'' Carl said, 'let me run it down. As it stands now we go in from the desert side of the mountain. We hit them before dawn. Grab the boy and girl, and run for it. The Land Rovers will be waiting to rendezvous and pick us up. We'll ride to where the plane can set down, load up, and get out. That's it. Simple and easy if nothing goes down wrong, which will depend a great deal on you people. That's it for now. No more questions till later.'
'I want Dominic, Stachel, Roman, and Sims to come with me to the office.'
The group broke up. The men he called off followed him into the hangar office and sat on the couch and chairs.
'Okay, you guys are it,' Carl told them. 'You 're going for a little ride. Dominic, you 're in charge.' He spread out a map of the area and showed Dominic where he wanted him to be. 'I need two landing zones, one somewhere around here,' he pointed to the western side of Mt. Baguezane, 'and the other landing zone here near the road leading from Agadez to the Ahaggars.''
He folded up the map and gave it to Dominic. 'I want you to go out and check out the Land Rovers. Talk to the new guys and see if they had any problems with them. Give them the full treatment. Oil change and filters, and don't take any chances with them on the road. We can't afford any breakdowns. If you're wondering why I'm sending you, I think that's obvious. You're rested; those guys out there are beat. I'm keeping Gus with me because he'd attract too much attention out there. He's just too damned noticeable.''
They all had to admit that was true. To Egon, Carl said, 'Monpelier told me that you had radio training. Is that right?'
'Yes, I can handle most kinds of communication equipment,' Egon replied.
'Good. I want a check-in every eight hours, beginning at 0800 hours around the clock. Sims, I'm sending you because I want these men in good shape when the rest of us get there. So take care of them. Roman, from what Dominic has told me you're the best shooter, but try to avoid any trouble. If it comes I don't want anyone getting out to tell. If you have to shoot, then kill.'
'Right now I want you men to do like I said, check out the vehicles and draw supplies. Check everything out yourselves, then report back to me. That's it for now. Get on with it.'
When Carl opened the door to let them out, he saw Yousef standing by the Land Rovers talking with the new arrivals. He had not been present at the meeting and that was at Carl's request. Yousef had no idea what the details of the job were and Carl preferred to keep it that way.
'Yousef! Come here,' he ordered.
The frame in the white suit visibly shrank at the sound of his name. Scuttling over to Carl he tried to affect an open, friendly stance. 'Ah yes, effendi, is there something I may do for you?'
'Yes, keep the hell away from those men. Don't talk to them, don't ask questions, and if you hear anything, forget it. Also, you will not be going anywhere for the next few days. You'll be staying right here with us.'
'But, Effendi, I have much business to attend. Things which require my attention. I cannot remain here for such a time.'
Langers grasped him by the wrist and applied pressure. Yousef felt the bones begin to give way. Through tears welling up in his eyes he croaked out, 'But of course, sir. If you think it is best, then I shall certainly do as you request.'
'Order, Yousef, not request.'' He released the wrist and left Yousef standing alone rubbing his injured limb with tender fingers, his eyes shooting daggers at Langers's back.
Monpelier had watched the scene and said while lighting a smoke, 'You didn't make a friend with that routine.'
'I really don't give a damn, Monpelier. There's something about him that I don't like.'
Monpelier blew a smoke ring. 'All I can say is that I've worked with him before and as long as he was well paid, I never had any trouble with him.''
'Any trouble you knew about.'' Carl left him to chew that over.
For hours Dominic and the others toiled over the Land Rovers. It was near midnight before they turned in. Carl wanted them to have a good night's sleep before they headed out. The night's sentry duties were broken down among the new arrivals, with Gus taking first turn. Carl chose the last watch so he could see Dominic and the others off.
Monpelier had taken off with Parrish and the plane, saying he'd be back in a couple of days. He had business in Tripoli to attend to. That was all right. Carl needed a couple of days to get familiar with the new men, to watch them and locate trouble spots before they sprang up. One good thing was that this job was moving so fast there wouldn't be much time for personality conflicts to develop.
The new men had hit the rack early, trying to catch up on sleep, each taking a sleeping bag and making a place to lie down. Langers wandered around until a little after midnight, then lay down himself in the office. Rank did have its privileges; he took the couch.
Voorhees, the South African, woke Langers by tapping him lightly on the bottom of his foot. 'Time to get up, sir.' Langers grunted and rolled out shaking the kinks out of his back. Taking the submachine gun from Voorhees, he let him have the couch.
