Mercenary

Sebastian leaned forward to take a closer look at them. Victor moved to where he could see the photos better. Louisa preferred to watch from where she was at the end of the table. Stratton watched Steel.

‘The army has already established base camps here, here and here,’ Steel continued. ‘They’re setting up a cordon around Chemora’s interrogation centre which we believe will be in these huts and tents here. As far as Chemora is concerned he’s heading into a secure zone. You guys don’t normally operate this far west. There are a couple of choice locations to ambush him. My favourite is this bridge here.You take out Chemora, you not only score a major point in this rebellion by getting rid of one of the most evil bastards in it, you save the lives of hundreds of your people. Neravista will have to postpone the operation without his brother, or even cancel it.’

‘There will be reprisals,’ Victor said.

‘You get into a fight, you don’t hold off striking your opponent for fear of getting struck back. That’s why you’re there. Move the people out of that area after you’ve hit it,’ Steel suggested, standing upright and putting his hands on his substantial hips. ‘If that don’t earn you the respect of the other brigades I’ll eat this map.’

Sebastian got to his feet and walked slowly around the table, sunk in thought. ‘An ambush like that would require a lot of people,’ he mused.

‘Not at all. You have claymore mines and rockets. You could do this with a handful of men.’

‘What about the ordnance? The rest of it could be booby-trapped too,’ Victor said.

‘What do you reckon?’ Steel asked Stratton who was sitting quietly. ‘You said it was a grende. Someone had to put their hand in to pull out the pin and close the lid. All you need to do is the reverse.’

‘Jesus,’ Victor exclaimed softly at the thought. ‘But even if we were to learn how to blow up that bridge, could we do it?’

The smell of the lure that Steel was using to entice the rebels was beginning to stifle Stratton.

‘Nope. But he can. There’s your man right there,’ Steel said. ‘Stratton’ll do it for you. Won’t you, boy? You’ll help out.’

Steel and Stratton locked stares.

‘When I heard you were still here I put in a call to your boss. I was curious to know whether you were up to a little action or not. Was I surprised when I took a look at your resume! You people’ve got a regular action superstar here. Stratton’s quite the one-man army.’

Stratton could see more complications with the operation than anyone else in the room. Steel was probably aware of some, but he was not the type to give a damn anyway. He was too independent for Stratton’s liking. The main issue for Stratton was his status as a British military operative. He had been permitted to deliver weapons to the rebels and to teach them how to use them. If anything went wrong within those parameters - if, say, he were to be captured while entering or leaving the country, even if his mandate were exposed - the diplomatic hurdles that he and his employers would have to jump over would be manageable. It would be no worse than being caught selling arms to the enemy of another country, something that might not be welcome to the politicians but would be within the bounds of diplomatic acceptability. However, for Stratton to become physically involved in a conflict, to provide military expertise in order for one side in what was essentially a civil war to achieve a notable success, was definitely not acceptable. Stratton would be screwed if he got caught. If the Neravistas wanted to hang him the British government wouldn’t be able to do much about it. Steel had to know that much and the fact that he had not first discussed it in private with Stratton and then made it clear to everyone else who was involved made him even more of a louse.

Steel waited for an answer.

Stratton got to his feet. The cold expression on his face said enough. ‘Thanks for supper,’ he said to the others as he strode to the door and walked out into the rain.

Steel watched the door close behind him. ‘I didn’t have Stratton pegged as a prima donna,’ he said.

‘Isn’t that unfair?’ Louisa said. ‘It sounds like a dangerous operation.’

‘Oh, Stratton ain’t afraid of any operation. Not that guy. This is a walk in the park for someone like him. It’s me that he has a problem with. He’s got his feathers ruffled. I wasn’t exactly cordial to him when we first met. I was busy, had a lot on my mind. Truth is I didn’t know a whole lot about him then. Let him cool off. He’ll come around.’

‘He’s leaving in the morning,’ Victor said.

Steel collected his maps and photographs and put them back into his bag. ‘Let’s wait and see.’

‘If he won’t do it, is there any other way we can?’ Victor asked.

‘Let’s talk about that later,’ the American said. He picked up his poncho and hat and left the cabin.

Sebastian got to his feet.

‘If we could, would we do it?’ Victor asked him.

‘Kill Chemora?’ Sebastian said, his expression reflecting revulsion at the mention of the man’s name. ‘I’d drive a stake through his black heart as soon as look at him.’ He headed for his room, pausing at the door to look back at Victor. ‘What do you think of Stratton?’

‘I think he is honourable.’ Victor shrugged. ‘But he has his own path. He said it isn’t his fight.’

‘It wasn’t his booby trap either but he went back into the burning wood to get those men,’ Louisa said.

‘His mind rules his heart,’ Victor said. ‘He’s brave, of course, but he would have calculated the odds on his survival before going into that fire.’

‘I don’t agree with you,’ Louisa said.

Sebastian left them alone, closing the door to his room behind him.

‘One day you’re trying to kill Stratton and the next you look as if . . . well, you’re different with him,’ Victor said.

Louisa went back to clearing up the table. ‘I was wrong about him, that’s all.’

Victor went to the front door and looked back at her, a smirk on his face. ‘I’m still French, you know.’ He winked and walked outside.

Stratton sat stripping his pistol and placing the parts on the dining table. Water dripped from the roof of the cabin into several pans he had placed on the floor. The door opened, the draught almost blowing out the candles on the table as Steel hurried in to get out of the weather.

‘Goddamned rain,’ he cursed, shaking the water from his hands.

Stratton went back to his weapon.

Steel put down his bag and took off his coat, glancing all the time at Stratton as if trying to figure him out. ‘You mind if I have some wine?’ he asked, looking inside a jug on the table that was empty.

Stratton ignored him.

‘Come on, Stratton, lighten up,’ Steel said, going to the wine casks and filling up the jug. ‘We got off on the wrong foot, that’s all.’ He brought the jug to the table and filled two mugs, holding one out to Stratton. ‘We could be of help to each other. I’ve got a lot of connections in our business, on your side of the pond as well as mine.’

Stratton decided to humour the man and see how far he would go. He took the mug.

Steel smiled and tapped Stratton’s mug with his own. ‘To the revolution,’ he said, taking a good swig.

Stratton took a sip.

‘Sumners, your boss back in London - he’s no big fan of yours, is he? He’s never said as much but I can read between the lines. It’s kind of why I was the way I was with you in the beginning. I got the impression he didn’t rate you too highly. Let’s face it, this job is way below your skills grade. What is it with you guys?’

‘As you say, he doesn’t like me.’

‘Yeah, well, that’s between you both, I guess. If you’re wondering how he feels about you getting involved, I spoke to him last night, told him we were considering an op that might require your expertise. I asked if there were any issues. He had none.’

Stratton was not surprised. Sumners would love to hear that Stratton had been caught, or worse.

‘You know,’ Steel continued, ‘if you plan this right it’s a stand-off attack. You could trigger it and be miles away from there before anyone turned up to see what had happened. What do you say? Any comment at all?’

‘No.’

‘Are you at least thinking about it?’

Stratton said nothing.

‘I need to know one way or the other. If you don’t do it I walk out of here and, well, hell, this rebellion’s over. They can’t do this op, not without you. I know it’s a heavy load I’m puttin’ on you, I mean, you having to be the one