Adams looked at his Secret Service men for advice, but they stared straight ahead. They had been outguessed, outmaneuvered, and outgunned.
The Vice President stepped into the limo, followed by Mojombo Washington. An African driver moved in behind the wheel, and he drove the big limo smoothly around the stalled jeep and past three bodies before it came back on the road and rolled forward.
The Vice President leaned back in the seat and studied the man next to him. An African who spoke English as well as he did. Obviously educated, a leader of some group. Highly selective in the violence he used, killing only the Army escort. No one in his group or any of the journalists was harmed. That spoke well for the young man. Young. The Vice President decided that this Mojombo Washington must be about thirty years old.
He turned to his captor. “Now, Mr. Washington, that you have kidnapped me, what ransom are you going to demand for my freedom?”
Mojombo looked at the man beside him and smiled. “Mr. Vice President Marshall Adams. You will learn that in time. But I assure you it is going to be a tremendously stiff price indeed.”
5
Vice President Marshall Adams settled back in the cushioned chair in the sleek twenty-four-foot cabin cruiser’s small cabin and watched the man who called himself Mojombo Washington.
The well-built young man watched the Vice President. He smiled. “As I have told you several times, you have nothing to fear from us. We are the good guys here. We are the Bijimi Loyalist Party, dedicated to throwing out the criminal government of Sierra Bijimi and replacing it with a freely elected democratic government. First my name. You reacted when I said my last name is Washington. Most people do. Actually I renamed myself after the father of your great country, George Washington.”
Adams smiled. “That’s a good start, young man. Now I hope you will follow through and be the great leader and patriot for your nation that old George was for ours.”
“That’s my intention, Mr. Vice President Adams, and I hope that after you hear my story, you will help my country.” He waved around at the boat. His ten soldiers were sitting around wherever they found space. “This boat was a gift of a generous official in Sierra City. He didn’t know he was giving it to us, but we appreciate it just as much. Yes, at times we must take what we want and what we need. It is for the eventual good of our nation. After all, George Washington did do serious damage to that cherry tree.” They both laughed.
“How big an army do you have?” Adams asked.
“Not large, and not well equipped yet. We feel somewhat the way George must have felt that winter in Valley Forge. At least we don’t have the snow or the bitter cold to contend with. To answer your question, I have roughly a hundred and fifty men I can put into a pitched battle. Which is why I will avoid that type of combat at all costs. We are a strike-and-vanish guerrilla operation, and we can be tremendously effective.”
“I’m sure you are. My main concern now is that my government in Washington, D.C., will be worried. Perhaps worried to the extent of sending in an overwhelmingly large, deadly task force to rescue me.”
“We’ll take care of that as soon as we come to our camp. I brought along the SATCOM from your limousine. You’ll be free to contact anyone you wish with the radio and talk as long as you want to. I won’t guide you or insist on what you say. I want you to be a friend by that time, not a captive, but a friend.”
“That could take some doing, Mojombo. I was impressed by the way you stopped our cars and did not harm any of our people or the correspondents.”
“Mr. Vice President Adams. I know the value of the press. We use them whenever we can, but the government controls the only large newspaper in the country. You were surprised how well I speak your language. I’ve had lots of practice. I took my B.A. degree at Manley University in Washington, D.C., and my master’s in political science at Georgetown, also there in the district. I know about the Beltway politics. I studied intently your Constitution and Declaration of Independence and the three branches of government. The new constitution of Sierra Bijimi will be much like your own. I returned to my homeland to help dig it out of the maze of graft, corruption, misuse of power, and official murder that it has degenerated into.”
Adams nodded slowly. “Yes, I can see how your ideals would be shattered returning to this kind of a situation. But couldn’t you do it by the ballot?”
Mojombo laughed softly. “You must remember that the government here has absolute power. We have little personal freedom. The criminals run the elections. They count the ballots they wish to count and burn the rest. They adjust the vote count the way they want it to be and if anyone complains or challenges them, that person or persons suffer fatal accidents within a day of their protest. This has been going on in every election for almost ten years, and there is no one who can solve the problem, except a number of men with submachine guns, rifles, and RPGs.”
“Would the people support you? Could you foster a general uprising?”
“We have major support for our cause in the outlands, along the river communities. The farther away from Sierra City, the stronger our support. But out here the government has little control. Few of the four thousand soldiers seldom get far from Sierra City. Still, the very number of them is a problem for us.”
“One thing I know, I’m not used to this humid weather,” Adams said. “Would you have anything cold to drink on board?”
“Oh, damn. My responsibility as a host is plainly deficient. Yes, of course, we have three brands of American beer, Coke, and four other soft drinks for your enjoyment.”
“A cold Coke would be delightful. But we need to keep talking. I have to decide how I evaluate you by the time we get to your camp. You used the term camp, so I assume you are in the jungle somewhere up a tributary off this main river?”
“Quite right, Mr. Vice President. Nothing as primitive as you had to endure in Vietnam, but not the Hilton Hotel either.”
“You know I was in Nam?”
“Yes. When I heard you were coming to my country, I learned everything I could. A friend in Sierra City has the Web, and she brings reports to me at regular intervals that she downloads and prints out. It’s amazing what you can learn there. I just hope that your wife and two girls are not traumatized by this side trip of yours. That’s partly why I want you to talk to your office as quickly as you can. I would imagine that your aide has reported your detour to the White House already via the SATCOM they have at the embassy.”
Adams chuckled. “Mojombo, you are a highly organized man who thoroughly researches his projects. Sierra Bijimi was added to my agenda only a week before we left. And that was less than a month ago.”
“The Internet and the Web are amazingly fast,” Mojombo said. “I also have several friends in Washington who e-mail me reports and will answer any questions I ask them.”
“Amazing. You are truly a talented young man, Mojombo Washington. It’s taken me some time, but now I’m one jump ahead of you. I’m to be your pawn, your chip of great price that you can use to bargain with the United States for help in your crusade down here.”
Mojombo smiled, his dark eyes glistening with a sudden surge of emotion.
“Exactly right, Mr. Vice President. No President or Vice President of the United States has ever been, let’s say, detained in a foreign nation before. It’s historic. And it should be worth a lot of help from your Air Force, your Navy, and even your Marines. What do you think? Do I have a chance to get some military help down here to aid in my revolution?”
The Vice President smiled. “Mojombo, it’s far better if the mouse does not know that he’s the mouse in a cat-and-mouse game. I know. So how things go from here on will depend to a great degree what I say and how I say it on the SATCOM when we get to your camp. Are you going to tell me what to say with a .45 at my head?”