mother-to-be’s dress back so she could see what was going on.
“Crowning!” said Bloom. Her voice was steadier than before, braver, as if by attending to the woman she was finally able to push away her fear.
Melissa’s training for birth consisted of a single twenty minute lecture with a quick simulation involving a plastic doll. She held her breath as the woman pushed in response to another strong contraction.
“Almost, almost!” said Bloom. She switched to Nubian, pleading with the woman to push. The woman was beyond instructions, acting instinctually; her body tensed, and Melissa gripped her, knowing she was about to convulse.
The outside world had slipped away. If there was gunfire, if the mortar shells were still falling, Melissa heard none of it. She was oblivious to everything except the pregnant woman’s body as it pushed a new life into the world.
The mother fell back against Melissa. Bloom held up the bloody, gasping infant.
“I need a knife!” she said.
“I don’t have one.”
“Here!” yelled a voice in the field a few yards away. “I’m coming!”
It was Danny Freah.
Chapter 13
Milos Kimko lowered the field glasses and rubbed his forehead.
“Very good, these mortars, no?” said Girma. “You see how we crush our enemies.”
“These were your allies, weren’t they?”
Girma waved his hand. He was still in the middle of a khat jag; Kimko doubted he had slept in the past forty-eight hours.
There were at least three firefights in the city, two on either end of the main street and another up in the area where most of the Meur-tse Meur-tskk followers lived. Kimko hoped Li Han was hunkered down well.
“By tonight we will own Duka,” said Girma proudly. “And from here, we make our mark — all of Sudan.”
“You’re not to target any building near the railroad tracks and the old warehouse, you understand?” snapped Kimko. “Or you will get no more weapons.”
“You give me orders, Russian?”
Girma’s eyes flashed. For once Kimko forgot himself. Seized by his own anger, he balled his hand into a fist. Only at the last moment was he able to hold back — there were too many of Girma’s followers nearby.
“I need what the Chinaman has if I am to get you more weapons,” said Kimko. “If it is destroyed, I will have a very hard time.”
Girma frowned, but turned and said something to the men working the mortars.
“I need a jeep,” he told Girma.
“Where are you going?” yelled Girma. “Are you trying to betray us?” He grabbed the pistol at his belt.
“Don’t be a fool,” said Kimko. “My country wants the aircraft. I have to meet the Chinaman. It’s almost dusk.”
Girma pointed the pistol. Kimko, his own weapon holstered, felt the strength drain from his arms. But he knew that the best way to deal with Girma was to remain defiant and bold; these Africans hated weakness.
“Shoot me and you’ll never get another bullet,” he told him Girma. “My employers will come and wipe you out.”
Girma frowned. Slowly, he put his thumb on the hammer of the pistol and released it.
“You are lucky I like you,” he said.
Chapter 14
Danny folded the umbilical cord against the edge of his combat knife and pushed hard, slicing clean through. The baby seemed pale but breathing.
The shelling had stopped, but there was still plenty of gunfire in the distance. A black swirl of smoke rose from the center of the city.
“They’re fighting on both ends of town,” said Nuri. “Sudan First has some men and trucks moving up the road in that direction. The last of the Meurtre Musique men will be down there in a few minutes. Our best bet is that way,” he added, pointing northeast.
“Any action where Li Han is?” asked Danny.
“Not even a guard posted,” said Nuri. “Two brothers are in a building about a quarter mile closer to the village.”
“What are they doing?”
“They’re inside. Maybe they’re sleeping.”
“They sleep through this shit?” said Boston.
“They’ve probably slept through worse,” said Nuri. “They’re two miles out of town,” he added. “As far as they’re concerned, the fighting might as well be in L.A.”
“What about the building where he was yesterday?” asked Danny.
“The two brothers that went back are still inside. The trucks are around back.”
Danny rubbed his chin.
“Whatcha thinkin’?” asked Boston.
“I’m thinking we hit that building first,” said Danny. “It’s close enough to the fighting that they’ll be distracted. We take out the trucks, get in there, see what’s what. Then we go and get Li Han.”
“When are we doing this?” Nuri asked.
“It’ll be dark in an hour,” said Boston.
“You think we should wait?” asked Nuri.
“That’s not what I’m saying,” said Boston. “But the Osprey is an easy target in the day — if it comes down now, they can hit it with RPGs, let alone a missile.”
“We’ll take the women someplace safer,” said Danny. “We’ll have the Osprey come in when it’s dark, if we can wait that long. They pick us up, and we’ll go directly to the raid.”
“What do we do about the women?” asked Nuri.
“We’ll take them with us. Evac them as soon as we get a chance.”
“All right,” said Nuri. “Fighting’s going to stoke up in a few minutes. The two sides are just about close enough to see each other.”
“Come on,” Danny told Melissa.
“What are we doing?”
“We’re going to get out of this mess — the forces are moving together across the way in a field about a half mile from here. One or both of them will probably try flanking in this direction. We want to be out of here.”
“Then what?”
“My Osprey will come in and pick us up. Depending on the circumstances, we’ll have it evac the civilians as well. I just don’t know where to put them.”
“All right.”
Danny smirked at her.
