'I am Sergeant Vicente Diamante, and this is Captain Antonio Abreo,' the man went on.
Captain Abreo bowed slightly at the mention of his name.
'You are vacationing soldiers?' Seronga asked.
'Not vacationing, sir,' Diamante replied. 'We and our cornrades are special forces soldiers with the Grupo del Cuartel General, Vnidad Especial del Despliegue, out of Madrid.'
Pavant sneaked a glance at Seronga. Seronga did not have to look back to know what was in his eyes. The same fire that was there when he urged Seronga to kill the two deacons.
'Special forces soldiers,' Seronga said. He tried his best to sound impressed, even honored. He wanted to get the man to talk. 'Are you expecting a military assault?'
'We do not know,' Diamante admitted. 'Our unit has been sent to safeguard the bishop who is coming from America. We will do whatever is necessary to support that mission. What we wanted to tell you is that we consider the tour bus to be a potential target.'
MISSION OF HONOR
195
'Thank you,' Seronga replied.
'But do not worry,' Diamante went on. 'Two of us will be in the tour bus with you. If anything happens, all we ask is that you do your best to keep out of the way.'
'We will,' Seronga replied. 'Tell me. Do you have any special reason to expect that something will happen on the bus or anywhere else?'
'We have no knowledge of a plot against the bishop,' Diamante told him. 'But after what happened to Father Bradbury, we are taking nothing for granted. We will be armed and watching for any unusual activity.'
'Armed,' Seronga said with a shudder. 'We put our trust in the lord. In what do you put your trust? Machine guns? Knives?' Seronga had to know what he might be up against.
The sergeant lightly patted a bulge under his left arm. 'Our M-82s will help the lord to protect you.'
'That is gratifying. How many of you are there?' Seronga asked.
'Twelve,' Diamante replied. 'We've arranged with Senor Ndebele to borrow one of the safari cars. Four soldiers will follow the bus in that. The other four will remain here to make sure this area stays secure.'
Seronga put his hand on his chest. He lowered his head gratefully. 'Although I hope these precautions will not prove to be necessary, Sergeant Diamante, they are appreciated.'
The sergeant nodded back. 'We will not acknowledge you on the bus except in passing, as fellow travelers. I hope you are correct, Deacon. That the journey will be a safe one.'
The two men left. When they had disappeared around the corner of the church, Pavant got out of his wicker chair.
'None of these bloody devils understands!' Pavant said angrily.
'I know,' Seronga answered calmly. Part of his mind was here, dealing with Pavant's rage. The rest of it was looking ahead three hours, trying to figure out what to do.
'They think they can call in even more foreigners and swat us down. They don't understand that this is our country,' he
r
196
OP-CENTER
struck his chest with his fist, 'that this is our faith we are fighting for. Our history, our birthright.'
'They're wrong,' Seronga assured him. 'They will find that out.'
'We have to alert Njo,' Pavant said.
'I agree,' Seronga replied. But that was all Seronga knew for certain. He looked down.
'What is it?' Pavant asked. 'What's wrong?'
'The question is, what do we tell Njo?' Seronga said. 'It is one thing to defend the island from an attack that probably will not come. This is different. We have to decide how far to escalate this conflict militarily.'
'Do we have a choice?' Pavant asked. It was more of a statement than a question. 'As soon as we take the bishop toward Njo's truck, they're going to realize that something is wrong.'
'I know that,' Seronga said.
'Either we need backup to cover our retreat from Maun, or we must make a preemptive strike against the Spaniards,' Pavant decided.
'A retreat would not work,' Seronga said. 'Even with the bishop as a hostage, they would follow us to camp.'
'Then we must attack,' Pavant said forcefully.
'Lower your voice,' Seronga cautioned, looking around. He gestured toward the church. For all they knew, the Spanish soldiers were standing there, having a smoke.
'I'm sorry,' Pavant said. The Brush Viper bent closer. 'We must make sure that they do not leave the bus station. They must not trace us to Dhamballa. They must be killed.'
