This could all go badly wrong, and we both know it.
‘You’re better off coming with us than staying here, anyway,’ Mallet added.
‘Why is that?’ asked Mavinda.
‘Sooner or later, General Kakuba’s forces will attack this place. The airport will be one of their primary targets. They’ll hit it with everything they’ve got. You won’t want to be here when they rock up.’
The major stared at him in alarm.
‘We need to get moving,’ Mallet said. ‘Where’s our transport?’
Mavinda cocked his chin at the open side of the tent. A white Toyota Land Cruiser rested on the asphalt, next to a trio of four-door Toyota Hilux pickups and a larger Unimog truck.
‘You will take the Land Cruiser. I’ll lead the way in one of the Hiluxes. The rest of my men will follow in the Unimog.’ The big major stared at them in turn. ‘You will stay close to us, OK? Once we leave, we don’t stop for anything.’
‘We know the drill, pal. Just get us to that palace.’
‘I’m telling you this for your own safety,’ Mavinda replied firmly. ‘Trust me, you don’t want to get captured by the Machete Boys. They will show you no mercy. Especially the woman.’
He nodded at Casey.
‘They try anything, they’ll get slotted,’ Bowman said.
Mallet waved an arm at the Skyvan. ‘We’ve got some hardware on the plane. We’ll need a hand unloading it.’
‘My men will take care of it.’
The major about-turned and barked an order at his men in a jumbled mix of English, French and the local patois. Lanky, Pockmark and a young guy with a toothbrush moustache dashed across to the Hilux. Mavinda hastened after them, shouting a string of orders at his men before he jumped into the front of the pickup truck. Ten more guys snatched up their AK-47s, utility belts and other bits of kit and sprinted across to the Unimog. Eight of them climbed into the benched seating area at the back. The other two guys sat in the cab upfront. The rest of the soldiers stayed back in the tent, smoking and watching porn.
Bowman and Mallet hurried over to the Land Cruiser parked to the side of the tented area. Bowman slid behind the wheel, found the keys in the cupholder. He gunned the engine and led the convoy across the tarmac stand to the Skyvan. He pulled up beside the aircraft and left the engine running while Mallet filled in the others on the situation. The disturbances elsewhere in the country, the possibility of running into the Machete Boys. As he talked, several soldiers dropped down from the Unimog. They ran over to the Skyvan and started lugging the heaviest equipment over to the back of the truck. The soldiers worked fast, roared on by Mavinda. They loaded the 7.62 mm ammo boxes first, then the mortar base plate and cannon, the sight box. The five boxes of mortar shells. Mallet and the others dumped the remaining pieces of kit in the back of the Land Cruiser. They would carry their rifles with them in the vehicle for easy access. No one knew what would be waiting for them on the way to the capital.
After they had transferred the last items from the Skyvan, Mallet gave a signal to Mavinda in the front pickup. The major bellowed an order at his men, they scrambled back into the Unimog, and then the convoy started down the road towards the airport entrance. The Hilux in the vanguard position, the team in the Land Cruiser in the middle of the column, the rest of the platoon in the Unimog at their six.
Bowman stuck close to the Hilux as it motored towards a crude army checkpoint situated at the main entrance to the airport. A long column of vehicles jammed the opposite lane in front of the checkpoint. As they raced past, Bowman saw three soldiers yanking an elderly man from behind the wheel of his knackered car. A woman pleaded with one of the soldiers, screaming, while his two muckers mercilessly beat the old-timer with their wooden sticks.
‘Looks like half the bloody country is trying to get out,’ Loader said.
Casey glanced anxiously at the long line of vehicles. ‘Maybe the situation is worse than we think.’
‘Something has got these people worked up,’ Bowman said.
‘Could just be the general unrest,’ Mallet said. ‘We don’t even know for sure that the coup has kicked off yet. Not for sure.’
‘What about those reports the major mentioned?’ asked Loader. ‘All them disturbances.’
‘Unverified. Could just be a group of rebel fighters getting ahead of themselves.’
Bowman thought for a beat, then shook his head.
‘If it was one isolated incident, maybe. But we’re looking at three separate attacks across the country. And those are just the ones we know about. Something is definitely going down.’
‘Why would the rebels start the coup ahead of schedule?’ Casey wondered. ‘Six said they wouldn’t go in until first light.’
Bowman said, ‘The Russians will have heard about Lang’s death by now. They’ll know it wasn’t suicide. They’ll assume it’s somehow linked to the coup. Which means they’ll want to speed things up. Alert their partners in the KUF and trigger the takeover, before anyone can stop them.’
‘We’ve still got time,’ Mallet replied. ‘You heard what the major said. The disturbances are in the south and west of the country.’
‘For now. Those other targets might not hold out for long.’
‘If they haven’t been captured already,’ Casey said. ‘Those reports are at least an hour old. The situation might have changed by now.’
‘Nothing we can do about that,’ Mallet said. ‘All we can do is focus on the mission.’
Bowman tensed his grip on the wheel so hard his knuckles shaded white. He looked over at the illuminated console display: 11.21. Less than forty minutes to the palace.
Not far to go now. Not far at all. In less
