'Go ahead,' Abreo replied.
'Sir, the VSO liaison has asked us to postpone the operation,' Infiesta informed him.
'For how long?' Abreo asked. The order had killed the captain's internal engines. He had to start them up again. They were still in a danger zone.
'Two hours,' the caller replied.
'What's the reason?' Abreo asked.
'There is a simultaneous operation. That one has been given priority,' Infiesta replied.
'Priority? By whom?'
'I don't know, sir,' the caller told him.
'There is no one around but cult members,' Abreo replied. 'Do you know if this other party infiltrated the Brush Vipers?'
'I do not know, sir,' Infiesta told him.
'Are they Spanish or Botswanan?' Infiesta asked.
'I don't know that either, sir,' the radioman replied. 'Do you want me to call and ask?'
'No. That won't change anything,' Abreo replied.
Abreo looked out at the island. The cultists were running around loading the boats. They were so intent on leaving, they were not watching their flank. That was the problem with young movements. Leon Seronga was obviously the chief strategist. He was not here. Whoever was the number-two officer did not have the experience to mount a successful retreat. Or perhaps they felt they were not going to be attacked here.
Or perhaps they had learned that they were, Abreo thought.
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If they had that information, that would explain the haste.
'Do the orders cover reconnaissance?' the captain asked.
'No, sir,' said Infiesta. 'Only what I told you.'
'Very well,' said Abreo.
'Will there be a return message, sir?' the caller asked.
'Tell the VSO liaison that the order was received, nothing more,' Abreo replied.
'Yes, sir,' Infiesta replied.
The captain signed off. He removed the headset and microphone and turned to the sergeant.
'There is another team engaged in the rescue,' Abreo whispered. 'VSO wants us to postpone.'
'Are they Botswanans?' Diamante asked.
'I don't know,' the captain told him.
'But we're just minutes away from possibly finding and rescuing the priest-' Diamante said.
'I know,' Abreo replied. There was a trace of irritation in his voice. He got rid of it. The men were still on a mission, and annoyance was a distraction. 'We have our orders, and we will follow them. However, we have no instructions other than to postpone. We are going to continue to the island and conduct on-site reconnaissance. If we happen to encounter the priest and he asks for our help, we will not refuse it.'
'That would be wrong, Captain,' Diamante agreed.
'Very much so,' said Abreo.
The soldiers continued toward the island. Abreo continued to study the island.
The more he examined the hut through the night-vision goggles, the more convinced he became that it was a prison. Vines hung thickly in front of the window. They had never been cleared, which suggested that it was never opened. As they came closer, he also saw a dead bolt. On the outside.
When they were just one hundred yards from the northern shore, the men allowed the raft to drift with the forward momentum they had created. Even though there was shouting on the island, they could not chance that the rippling water would be heard.
A few minutes later, they were ashore. While Diamante tied
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the raft to an exposed banyan tree, Abreo crept ahead. The shack was about two hundred feet to the southeast. Abreo used the night-vision glasses to sweep the area. Everyone was engaged in getting off the island. It looked as if they were nearly ready to depart. There would not be a lot of time to pull this off.
There was no one watching the hut outside. There might be a guard inside. Or perhaps the priest was not there. Or maybe they simply were not expecting a rescue attempt out here in the swamp. Captain Abreo would have to explore each of those possibilities in turn.
There was definitely someone in there. Slivers of light came through the shutters and from cracks in the walls. They seemed brilliant in the night-vision glasses. He put the goggles back in the case hooked to his belt. He motioned for Sergeant Diamante to proceed. Both men drew their knives and unbuttoned the flaps of their holsters.
