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Hood turned to his political adviser. 'Ron, what kind of ramifications are we looking at if there's a civil war in Botswana?' Hood asked.
'A politically based war would be bad enough,' Plummer said. 'With that alone, you would run the risk of having tens of thousands of refugees clawing into South Africa and starting border violence there. But if we have a religious uprising, a situation where non-Christians are turning on Catholics, the Hindu and Islamic minorities in South Africa could be inspired-or encouraged-into doing the same thing.'
'And make no mistake,' Kline added, 'if there is a conflict in the region, Johannesburg would have to move very quickly to shut the border and protect its people, its workforce. They cannot afford to lose the income from exports. Turmoil in South African industry would affect regional supplies of steel, corn, wool, metals, and the international market for diamonds.'
Hood and Herbert exchanged glances at the mention of diamonds. Kline did not appear to notice.
'In the case of a religious war, you've also potentially got serious problems to the west, east, and north of Botswana,' Plummer went on. 'To the west, you've got Namibians, half of whom are Christian. The other half practice ancient, traditional beliefs.'
'Those are the people who would be drawn to Dhamballa, whose cult draws from a variety of old sources,' Kline pointed out. 'It would be worse to the east, in Zimbabwe, where followers of traditional faiths outnumber Christians two to one. And we could well see open persecution in the north, in Angola. The majority of the Christians there are Roman Catholic, but they are still outnumbered nearly four to one by traditionalists. That could fuel tribal disputes that have nothing to do with religion.'
'One well-placed flame, and the entire region could blow up,' Plummer said. 'And it will not just explode. It will be pulled in so many directions-political, religious, economic, and social-that it will be impossible to find the original pieces, let alone reassemble them.'
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'All right. Let's back up,' Hood said. 'What is the government of Botswana doing and likely to do to deal with this situation?'
'At the moment, they're doing nothing beyond a search,' Kline said. 'They interviewed the people at the lodge and are tracking the movements of the kidnappers. But until they know more about Dhamballa and where his cult is headed, they don't want to aggravate the situation by overreacting.'
'Religious radicals and would-be rebels are not unknown outside the cities,' Plummer remarked. 'They have undoubtedly had to deal with things like this before, events that pass under the international radar.'
'And if the struggle between the Vatican and Dhamballa escalates?' Hood asked. 'What then, Ron?'
'If Gaborone feels that Dhamballa has built any kind of power base, they will probably negotiate with him,' Plummer said. 'As I said, cults are not uncommon over there. The big difference is that this one may have snatched a priest.'
'The risk you run is giving Dhamballa added legitimacy by fighting him,' Herbert said to Kline.
'Or negotiating with him,' Kline replied.
'There are different levels of negotiation, Edgar,' Hood pointed out. 'Gaborone can open a dialogue without legitimizing his actions. Does the Botswana president-what's his name?'
'Butere,' Kline said. 'Michael Butere.'
'Does President Butere know about the possible involvement of the Brush Vipers and foreign interests in Dhamballa's activities?' Hood asked.
'We have told him about the possible involvement of former Brush Vipers,' Kline acknowledged. 'But since they helped eject the British and remain heroes to an older segment of the population, he is not prepared to pronounce them rebels. We have not said anything to the president about Albert Beaudin.'
'Why not?' Herbert asked. 'The Botswana government might be the ultimate target. He should have that intelligence.'
'We're more concerned about the Vatican's relations with France,' Kline said. 'We absolutely do not want to implicate
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a leading French industrialist until we're convinced that he's involved.'
'Then let the French government know,' Herbert said. 'At least tell them your suspicions.'
'That's a bad idea, Bob,' Plummer said. 'For all we know, there are people in power who are supporting Beaudin.'
'That was our conclusion,' Kline said, 'and we don't want to risk turning key members of the government against our people in France. As I said, at the moment, our only concern is for the safety of our priests and missionaries.'
'Which is as it should be,' Hood said firmly.
Hood's remark was meant more to rein Herbert in than to support Edgar Kline. Hood was right to take the shot at him. He had to have noticed that Herbert was a little less controlled than he should be. The intelligence chief had been fidgeting and scowling and looking in all different directions. It was more than Herbert simply being annoyed at Kline for not having told him about the Spanish military unit. Herbert also wished that he were running the HUMINT aspect of this operation. With all of the countries and all the hot potatoes involved, there would be enough work to go around. Still, Herbert envied Mike Rodgers being able to field the team on this one.
