The General nodded as he continued dabbing at the beading perspiration.
‘Go ahead, soldier.’
‘General, in my opinion we should send a company over to support them. If we drop two squadrons of troops in via chopper, we could crush the mercenaries in a pincer movement, trapping them between two attacking forces on either flank, and the defenders, who will be entrenched and covered by the thick walls of T’Kalagelellerani. They would not survive such a manoeuvre. They do not know the lay of the land as we do, and will be ill-prepared to dig in defensively. Right now they are moving as a guerrilla strike force; their strength lies in blitzkrieg attacks. I do not think that they are able to defend nearly as well as they are able to attack.’
The General put down his towel, now that he had dried himself off, and changed into clean camouflage fatigues.
‘Yes,’ he said after careful consideration of everything Captain Biko had told him. ‘I think the same thing myself. However, I imagine that they may well be expecting us to take such a course of action; after all, it is only logical. Furthermore, we would be risking a great loss of life in fighting these mercenaries in the open right now. You may well be correct in the assumption that they are not familiar with our territory, but remember, the area around T’Kalagelellerani is steeply hilly and mountainous, thickly forested and full of hidden valleys, crevasses and ravines. We must go on the assumption that these soldiers we are up against are highly trained fighters and expert strategists, who know how to make the most of any terrain’s natural advantages. There are plenty of places for them to dig in around T’Kalagelellerani, and if they do set up a defensive position, we can expect stiff resistance. I do believe that our troops would ultimately prevail, but at what cost? We want to crush these invaders with a minimum of life lost on our part. Your suggestion makes perfect sense, but I fear that because of that, it will be exactly what they expect us to do. No, I think that we must approach this in a different manner.’
‘So, what orders should we send Colonels Mandela and Hubble?’
The General looked away, uncertainty writ plain across his face.
‘I am not sure yet. I will decide within the next hour, though. Report back to me then.’
Just after Captain Biko left, another visitor entered the General’s room. The General nodded a subdued greeting to Ricardo Teixeira as he shuffled through the door.
‘General,’ he said, his words densely coloured with his Latin American accent, ‘I have heard about the mercenaries.’
The General nodded, his brow furrowed with concentration, and his fingers drumming on his thighs with contemplation.
‘Yes, Dr Teixeira. They have arrived sooner than anticipated, unfortunately.’
‘It is unfortunate indeed. However, there is another matter of importance that we must discuss.’
‘It is about the Rebels and their hope to launch an attack on Sigurd and the Huntsmen, is it not?’
Teixeira nodded.
‘Yes. My sources have discovered that some of the Rebels are mobilising for an attack as we speak.’
‘Zakaria Alwa and those under his command, yes? Then they do intend to attack Sigurd at his brothel in Bangkok?’
‘They do.’
The General smiled subtly.
‘I would most likely have done the same myself, were in I command. Is Gisborne with them?’
‘He is.’
‘Ah, so, he has returned from the figurative wilderness. The prodigal son…’
‘It would appear so, General. The question now is this: do we assist the Rebels?’
The General looked up and fixed a probing gaze into Teixeira’s eyes.
‘And reveal ourselves at this vulnerable moment? One small victory on their part, aided by us, may result in all these decades of planning and work we’ve put into the Antidote falling to pieces. Can we really afford to take that risk?’
Teixeira clasped his hands together and sighed.
‘I know. The timing is just terrible.’
‘How much of a chance do they stand against Sigurd and his forces without our aid?’
Dr Teixeira shook his head sadly.
‘Not much. The odds are maybe … seventy thirty, if we’re being extremely optimistic. Probably more like eighty twenty, even ninety ten.’
‘I do understand, Doctor, that if they defeat Sigurd and his Huntsmen allies they will be striking a great blow against our own enemies. Even if their aims and ours are … verydifferent … and we cannot ally ourselves with them, it would nonetheless be beneficial to assist the Rebels on certain occasions. Believe me, if you had asked me this two days ago, I would already have made plans to help them. However, we now have a war coming to us, and it has arrived much sooner than I thought. Can we honestly afford to involve ourselves in two wars, on two separate fronts?’
Teixeira pushed his soda-bottle spectacles up his nose, and exhaled a long, slow sigh while shaking his head and staring at the ground.
‘I don’t think we can, General, because there is more news that my sources have unearthed, news that does not bode well for anyone.’
‘And what might that be?’
Teixeira looked up, and the General saw at once that a deep anxiety had entered his eyes.
‘Yaotl.’
The General’s own eyes widened and his nostrils flared; there was both fear and intense loathing in the contracting of his facial muscles.
‘He lives?!’
Teixeira nodded slowly, licking his dry lips.
‘He lives. And, from what my sources tell me, his powers are returning.’
The General shook his head and let out a slow whistle through his teeth as he did.
‘Then we have far more pressing concerns to worry about,’ he muttered eventually. ‘We cannot help the Rebels, as much as I’d like to. No, not now, it is simply out of the question.’
‘I concur.’
‘Thank you for bringing me this news, Dr Teixeira. We will discuss it in more depth with the others, for it is a matter of grave concern. However, for the present, I must deal with the enemies who are quite literally on our doorstep. I have much to think about
