‘So where is this Nkunda?’ I asked.
‘Under arrest. Held in Rwanda on charges of murder and other crimes. But he will never come to trial.’
‘Because?’
‘Because he is an embarrassment to the DRC, Kigali and Washington.’
‘Okay, well… are any of these armies, rebels or otherwise, likely to help us?’ I asked, getting us back on track.
‘In the DRC, especially here in Nord-Kivu province where there is so much wealth, it is impossible to say.’
The complication of who was who in this fucked-up zoo was exasperating. ‘But, in your experience, is it worth taking the risk to find out?’
He shrugged; something, it seemed to me, this Frenchman did almost as often as breathing. ‘Perhaps oui, perhaps non. They might also kill you just for the fun of it.’
‘They’d be jumping the queue,’ I said.
‘What kind of wealth are we talking about?’ asked Rutherford.
‘There is Coltan.’
‘Doesn’t he fight Batman, or someone?’ I said.
‘Columbite-tantalite — “Coltan” for short. It is a rare mineral used to make electronic printed circuit boards. You cannot make a computer without it. This part of the Congo has the world’s largest deposits. Gold — there is very much of that here, also.’
‘So we’ve established that everyone is killing everyone in this little enchanted forest. And that it’s probably over Apple Macs and bullion. Back to our principals. What are we going to do about them? Any suggestions?’
‘We need to recon the enemy’s position,’ said Cassidy, checking his weapon. ‘What’s their morale like? Are they vulnerable to a night attack? How do they have our principals guarded?’
The sergeant was on the money. Once we had a better feel for the situation, we could take action or not.
‘Agreed,’ I said. ‘Volunteers?’
‘I’m in,’ said Ryder.
‘I’m coming,’ said Boink.
‘Moi aussi,’ said LeDuc, raising his hand.
Cassidy, West and Rutherford all nodded.
‘Duke, I need you to stay and guard Leila.’
‘I want to be there for Ayesha, Vin,’ said Ryder, his chin jutting forward.
‘I need you here, Duke,’ I repeated, making it an order. The truth of it was that I didn’t want Ryder anywhere near a mission like the one on the table. Wanting to go, no matter how desperate the desire, didn’t cut it. The guy didn’t have the required combat skills, simple as that. His lack of experience could get himself and the people with him killed. Still, Ryder was far from happy about this.
‘You’re not coming either, big guy,’ I told Boink.
‘You gonna stop me?’ he said, taking a step toward me.
I stood my ground. ‘If I have to.’
He stood his.
I tried a different approach, risky though it was, and handed him the Type 97 I was holding. ‘Look, Boink, I need you here with Ryder. So, I’m going to give you one of these. I’m assuming you know your way around a carbine.’ This was tricky but there simply weren’t enough PSOs. If we could trust Boink, arming him would be an asset. Given what I knew he was capable of, though, it was a big if. He pointed the weapon in my general direction; not the reaction I’d been hoping for. I didn’t move, held my breath.
‘Bin around guns all my life, yo,’ he said, his finger slipping inside the trigger guard. There was nothing in his face that I could read. Not so smart after all, Cooper, I told myself. No one moved. This could go badly for me. I wondered if my body armor would stop a round fired from a rifle at point blank range. I tensed. But then Boink raised the weapon to give it a closer inspection and the world started breathing again, or perhaps it was just me.
‘So who’s got recent jungle experience?’ I asked, moving on. ‘Anyone?’
West gave me a nod. ‘Sir, post before last I was instructing at the Jungle Warfare School at Fort Sherman down in Panama,’ he said, keeping one eye on Boink as he moved the selector on his M4 to safety. A tragedy had been averted. ‘That count?’
‘It’ll have to do,’ I said, giving him a grin.
‘What experience you got, Major?’ Cassidy asked.
He had the right to ask. ‘STO stuff — jumping out of planes with your people, mostly.’
‘Where?’
‘Kosovo, Afghanistan.’
Cassidy lost interest, turning away. In effect, I ’d just told him that I’d spent time behind enemy lines, causing havoc, so apparently I’d passed the test; at least till the next test came along. I turned to LeDuc. ‘André, I’m going to need you to come along, in case we need a translator.’
‘D’accord,’ he said, glancing around uncertainly, his earlier bravado fading.
Maybe he was aware that if we needed to call on his language skills, it would be because things had fallen into the meat grinder. I sincerely hoped I would be bringing the Frenchman along unnecessarily.
Ryder, not a happy camper, picked up a stick at his feet and threw it down. I took him aside. ‘Duke, you’ll be the officer in charge if I don’t make it back. If that happens, rely on Cassidy to get everyone out. We clear?’
The reply wasn’t exactly snappy.
‘Yes, sir,’ he said eventually.
We rejoined the others.
‘So, Cassidy and I are also staying back,’ said Rutherford.
‘Looks like,’ I told him.
They knew the score. The rulebook required a solid protection detail for Leila and Boink. We had no choice but to split our strength down the middle.
‘But you’ll need more than just the two of you, won’t you?’ Leila told me. ‘You said there was a hundred and twenty of them.’ Her face somehow managed to convey confusion, concern, and surprise and stay unlined. Finally, it dawned on her. ‘You’re not going back to rescue them, are you?’
‘We have to go look at the enemy’s positions. Only then will we know what we can and can’t do.’ I turned to West. ‘The company’s HQ — that’s where they’ll be held.’
‘Yep,’ said West, agreeing.
‘I think you’re making excuses,’ Leila said, standing up like she was going someplace. ‘Why don’t you just go and demand our peoples’ release?’
Yeah, just like demanding a better suite at the Ritz. I didn’t want to talk about it any longer. ‘Lex, you got those FARDC uniforms handy?’
Rutherford gestured at LeDuc, who reached for his backpack and pulled them out.
‘They’re big sizes,’ I said, hoping they’d fit over our gear.
I tried on a shirt but the fit was tight — too tight with body armor on — so I took the armor off. That sky blue patch on the shoulder interested me the most. If we were spotted, that identifying flash of color might confuse the issue of our identity long enough for us to fool the enemy for an important couple of seconds.
We had no food; nothing to carry except for our weapons and ammo. I chose an M4 over the Nazarian Type 97 because I knew it like an old buddy.
‘I have no combat experience,’ LeDuc informed me, checking his pistol. I handed him one of the spare Nazarians and a couple of spare mags.