?It is. In the course of the afternoon the brigadier will release a short report to the media.? He prepared to leave. ?That is all I have at the moment, Janina. I won?t disturb you further.?
?I truly appreciate it, sir. But may I ask one more favor? Could you pass on this news to Radebe personally??
?Is he somewhat skeptical, Janina??
?One could say that, sir.?
The director turned and walked over to where Radebe was sitting at the communication banks. Mentz concentrated on her cell phone, getting Mazibuko on the air.
?You must know we are working with a bunch of morons here,? said Tiger Mazibuko.
?How so??
?Jissis,? he said. ?So many egos. So much politicking. Free State Command wants to run the show and so does Northern Cape. They don'?t even have enough radios for all the roadblocks, and Groblershoop is not covered, because the trucks have broken down.?
?Slow down, Tiger. Where are you??
?Anti-Aircraft School. Kimberley?
?Is that where the Rooivalks are??
?Yes. They are waiting in a row here. My people, too.?
?Tiger, according to my information, Free State Command is covering the N8 from Bloemfontein to Perdeberg, and Northern Cape is responsible for the rest, up to Groblershoop. With the police as backup.?
?In theory.?
?What do you mean, ?in theory???
?In the Free State things look okay: they have fourteen roadblocks and things look right on the map. But between us and Groblershoop there are about twenty roads that cross the N8. The little colonel here says they have only sixteen roadblocks, and four of them have not reported back yet because they haven?t received radios yet, or they don'?t work.?
?Do you include the police in that??
?The police are using their own network. The coordination stinks.?
?You would expect that, Tiger. This thing came down on them out of the blue.?
?They are going to let the fucker slip through, ma?am.?
?Captain ??
?Sorry.?
She saw Monica Kleintjes coming in with an urgent limp, Quinn?s assistant behind her.
?Let me see what I can do, Tiger. I?ll phone you back.?
She stood up and went to Quinn. ?Are they still calling??
?Not at the moment.?
?How are you feeling, Monica??
?Scared.?
?There is nothing to be afraid of. Our people are already in Lusaka, and we will handle this thing.?
The colored woman looked at her with hope.
?If it is the media, say you don'?t know what they are talking about. If it is the people from Lusaka, tell them the truth. With one exception: tell them you are at home. don'?t tell them we brought you here. Understand??
?I must say I gave the hard drive to Tiny??
?The whole truth. Tell them why you gave it to him, when you gave it to him, everything. If they ask you if it is the man who is so much in the news, say yes. Keep to the truth. If they ask you if we have contacted you, say yes, there was a man who came to question you. Admit you told him everything. If they ask how we knew, tell them you suspect your phone was tapped. Keep to the truth. Just don'?t tell them you are here.?
?But my father ??
?They are after the data, Monica. Never forget that. Your father is safe as long as that is the case. And moreover, we have teams in Lusaka. Everything is under control.?
Monica?s eyes stayed wide, but she nodded.
?Ma?am,? said Rahjev Rajkumar, ?something is brewing.?
She looked at the Indian tapping a fat finger on the computer screen of one of his assistants.
?I?m coming,? she said. ?Quinn, let Monica answer if they phone again.?
?Very good, ma?am.?
As she moved toward Rajkumar, she could see the director and Radebe deep in conversation in the corner at the radio panel. She could see Radebe talking fervently waving his hands, the director small and defenseless against
