on, 'As for God's creatures, he gave them to us. You are the believer.
Quote me Acts 10, verses 12 and 13.'
'Sorry.' She shook her head. 'You tell me.
... all manner Of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and
creeping things, and fowL of the air,''
Nicholas obliged her. ''And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter;
kill, and eat., 'You should have been a lawyer,' she moaned in mock
despair.
'Or a priest,' he suggested, and went forward to retrieve the target. He
found that his last three shots had punched a tiny symmetrical rosette
three inches above the bull, all three bullet holes just touching each
other.
He patted the butt stock of the little rifle, 'That's my lovely darling,
Lucrezia Borgia.' He had named the rifle for her beauty and for her
murderous potential.
He slid the rifle back into its leather slip case and they walked back
together. As they came in sight of the camp, Nicholas pulled up short.
'Visitors,' he said, and raised his binoculars. 'Aha! We have flushed
something out of the undergrowth. That is a Pegasus truck parked there
and, unless I am much mistaken, one of our visitors is the charming
laddie from Abilene.
Let's go down and find out what is going on.'
As they drew closer to camp, they realized that there were a dozen or
more heavily armed, uniformed soldiers clustered around the red and
green Pegasus truck, and that Jake Helm and an Ethiopian army officer
were seated under the awning of the dining tent in serious and intent
conversation with Boris, A
s soon as Nicholas entered the tent, Boris introduced him to the
bespectacled Ethiopian officer. 'This is Colonel Tuma Nogo, the military
commander of the southern Goiam region.'
'How do you do?' Nicholas greeted him, but the colonel ignored the
pleasantry.
'I want to see your passport, and your firearms licence, he ordered
arrogantly, while Jake Helm chewed complacently on the evil-smelling
butt of an extinguished cigar.
'Yes, of course,' Nicholas agreed, and went to his own tent to fetch his
briefcase. He opened it on the dining table, and smiled at the officer.
'I am sure you will also want to see my letter of introduction from the
British Foreign Secretary in London, and this one from the British
Ambassador in Addis Ababa. Here is another from the Ethiopian Ambassador
to the Court of St. James, and this is from your own Minister of
Defence, General Abraha.'
The colonel stared in consternation at this fruit salad of ornate
official letterheads and scarlet beribboned seals.
Behind the gold-rimmed glasses his eyes were bemused and confused.
'Sir!' He jumped to his feet and saluted. 'You are a friend of General
Abraha? I did not know. Nobody informed me. I beg your pardon for this
intrusion.'
He saluted again, and his embarrassment made him awkward and ungainly.
'I came to warn you only that the Pegasus Company is conducting drilling
