'We just have to acknowledge that at this moment there are risks in flight,' Herbert said.
'Darrell, you know what my orders are to Aideen,' Rodgers said quietly. 'If anything goes wrong, they will pull out. I'm sure they can find a place to hole up until the crisis passes.'
'Maybe,' McCaskey said. 'And maybe Aideen and Bat tat will do that. I'm not so sure about Maria.'
'They all will,' Rodgers said. 'If it comes to that, I will order it.'
'More forcefully than you did before?' McCaskey asked.
'Yes,' Rodgers replied. 'I deferred to the judgment of the
individual running the mission in the field. The situation is different now. Anyway, you're forgetting something important, Darrell.'
'What's that?'
'Maria loves you,' Rodgers said. 'She's committed to you. She wants to come back to you. If this thing goes south, she's not going to stay there just for the hell of it.'
'No,' McCaskey admitted. 'She's not suicidal.'
'She hasn't been married 10 you long enough,' Herbert said.
Hood made a face. Herbert shrugged it off. But Darrell smiled for the first time in two days.
'I'll tell you what I'm afraid of,' McCaskey went on. 'We don't know what they're thinking in Gaborone. Father Bradbury may mean more to the Botswanans dead than alive. The air force can say they struck after he was killed. And Gaborone will use his death as an excuse to come down hard on any dissent in the future. If that's the case, they won't care who is with Dhamballa. The air force will go in and wipe them all out.'
'I'll let Aideen know your concerns,' Rodgers said. 'We can prepare for that. Maybe put some distance between our group and Seronga.'
'Mike, I'd like to do something else,' McCaskey said.
'What's that?' Rodgers asked.
'I'd like to talk to Maria,' he said.
'I don't think you should,' Rodgers said. 'Every time we speak with them, there's a chance we can be traced. We don't want to give the Botswana Air Force a map to where our people are.'
'I'll keep it short,' McCaskey promised. 'Unless there's some other reason you're against it?'
'Frankly, there is,' Rodgers admitted. 'I don't want Maria getting upset or distracted. Not now.'
'How about encouragement?' he said. 'Maybe she can use some of that.'
'Talking to you won't be a neutral event,' Hood said. 'You know that. Let's see how this plays out, okay? Maybe we can revisit it later.' *'
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OP-CENTER
McCaskey looked as if he wanted to argue. He thought better of it. Instead, he got up to go.
'Darrell, about those Japanese who went to Botswana,' Hood said. 'Any chance we can find out who they really are?'
'We're talking to a guy in Tokyo who deals in fake passports for the entire Pacific Rim,' McCaskey said. 'He wouldn't have actually made these, but he thinks he can find out who did. We'll get someone to talk to whoever that is, convince him to cooperate.'
'I can save you the trouble,' Herbert said. 'My gut tells me these guys are working with Fujima.'
'That could be true,' Hood said. 'Which brings us to the next obvious question. Why the hell are the Japanese so interested in Botswana?'
'I don't know,' Herbert said. 'But I am convinced of one thing.'
'Which is?' Hood asked.
Herbert replied, 'That a bunch of people are keeping some very big secrets from us.'
FIFTY-NINE
Makgadikgadi Pan, Botswana Saturday, 12:30 A.M.
Maria Corneja knew that she should not think when she was tired. At those times, her thoughts were cynical, pessimistic. And that was not what she needed now.
But she could not help herself. She was what she was.
The woman was still perched on the back of the Jeep. The wind was keeping her alert as she looked out at the extraordinary blackness. As vivid as the stars were, their indifference bothered her. They were the same as they had been when apes with no ambition crossed the salt pan. They would be the same when the earth was a dead ball.
So what are we all doing this for? she wondered. The stars will burn, the world will turn, and life will go on, whether we succeed or not. If I were to leave now, nothing would change.
Except for one thing. However impassive the universe was, Maria still had to face herself in the morning. And she wanted to be able to do so with a sense that she had been true to herself. Unfortunately, she was not quite sure what that meant in this case. She did not believe that Leon Seronga was a bad man. As far as she could tell, his tactics had not been excessive. And his ambitions seemed to be moral. Unfortunately, they were also
