with the serial numbers of the Star 30PK pistols carried by the Spanish soldiers. You can relay those to your superiors. Have them check the numbers against the weapons that were issued to the soldiers. You will see I am telling the truth.'
Aideen accepted the paper. 'I will. It still won't prove your soldiers didn't hunt the men down.'
'What did we have to gain?' Seronga asked. 'We already had the priest. We did not need more hostages. We certainly did not need another reason for the Botswana military to move against us.'
'I don't know about that,' Aideen said. 'Maybe you and your leader are developing martyr complexes.'
'That is far from the case,' Seronga replied. 'For me, it's too late in life. And for Dhamballa, it is too early. He's only just begun his ministry. Maybe that is why I'm being so protective. He does not yet have the kind of following that will afford him protection from retribution.'
'You might have told us all of this,' Aideen said. 'You could have taken us into your confidence.'
'Sometimes people listen better after a thing is done,' Seronga told her. 'What is most important now is not what happened. What matters is what happens next. Dhamballa has left the swamp. That will leave the air patrol searching, but not for very long.'
'We must convince them you still have the priest and will not harm him,' Aideen said. 'Will you turn him over, though?'
'That is for Dhamballa to say,' Seronga told her. 'But if you can hold them off, I will do as I promised. I will find a peaceable solution to this crisis. But neither the Botswana military nor the Spanish must attack my people.'
'You were a soldier. Don't you know any people in the military?' Aideen asked.
'Some,' he admitted.
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'Can't you talk to them?'
Seronga smiled sadly. 'Dhamballa represents change. Even if I could talk to my old friends, they stand to lose a great deal under a new government. They are not idealists. They are policemen.'
'I understand,' Aideen said.
Seronga apologized again for having acted without consulting Aideen. Then he had Finn catch up to the Jeep. Aideen rejoined her team. The two vehicles continued toward the rendezvous point.
The Brush Viper did not know if a nonviolent resolution were possible. The Botswanans clearly had an agenda. Perhaps the Vatican did as well. That was the elimination of possible insurgents.
There was only one way they could succeed, and Seronga would not allow that to happen.
For that, he would gladly give up his life. Not as a martyr, as Aideen had suggested, but as what he had always been: a soldier.
FIFTY-EIGHT
Washington, D.C. Friday, 4:41 P.M.
Paul Hood, Bob Herbert, and Mike Rodgers were still in Hood's office, waiting for word from the field. Rodgers had spent the time studying computer files on the Botswana military. In case his people needed the information, Rodgers wanted to know the range, weapons configuration, and maneuvering capabilities of the helicopters. He also wanted to know how many men were on board each chopper. The answers were not encouraging. The Air Wing of the Botswana Defense Forces flew French Aerospatiale AS 332 Super Puma helicopters. They carried up to twenty- five troops each and could be configured to carry a variety of weapons. The choppers had a range of four hundred miles. That was enough to reach the swamp and then set out on a new search. If the squadron was traveling with a tanker ship, they could set off in another direction almost immediately.
Hood was on the phone with the president's national security adviser. Now that Americans were in a potential war zone, it was time to brief the White House.
'Where are the helicopters now?' Hood asked after giving the president an overview of the situation.
Herbert was looking at a radar feed into his wheelchair cornputer. 'The choppers are holding their position at the edge of the swamp,' he replied. 'I'm guessing they were surprised by Dhamballa's change of plans.'
'Mike, does that mean they'll have to turn back?' Hood asked.
'Not necessarily,' Rodgers replied. ^
The general told him about the strengths and limitations of
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the aircraft the Botswanans were using. Hood passed the information to the president. Hood told the commander in chief he would report back as soon as he had any news. Then he hung up and exhaled loudly.
'How did he take it?' Herbert asked.
'He does not want any of our people firing a shot,' Hood said. 'If for some reason they get snagged by the Botswanans, they're to go quietly.'
'Go quietly and stay in prison so the Botswanans don't lose face,' Herbert said. 'Then, if we're lucky, Gaborone will believe they were tourists who got off track somehow.'
'That's pretty much it,' Hood said.
'Are you going to tell Aideen that?' Rodgers asked.
