I was feeling dazed and slightly light-headed. Harvey glanced at me. I could see the unspoken question in his eyes. I smiled weakly at him and nodded, imperceptibly.
“Miss Blanchard, you have a question?” G’ymbai shocked me back to reality. He was staring at me, smiling in a rather disconcertingly knowing manner.
“Yes sir, um, do you feel that you will be able to count on international support, assuming you will be successful in retaking your country?”
“I have many friends in the international community. My opponents have shown that they cannot be trusted to run my country, so I have assurances for several governments of influential nations that they will support us in our struggle. My friends have always stood by me, even when it seemed all was lost, their trust and faith will be justified. I never forget who my friends are, and I have so many that I am certain that I cannot fail.”
I smiled my thanks and more questions were thrown at him from the crowd.
“He was my kind of guy,” said Carl as G'ymbai left the rostrum, escorted from the room by his body guards and two of his own army officers, presumably to meet his fellow citizens.
“Who was?” I asked, confused.
“That Captain Carlisle. I did some research on the man.”
“Oh, and?” I asked, as we walked towards our cars.
“He was a decorated officer in the British infantry, having seen action in Iraq, Eastern Europe, and a few other nasty places. He was single, no family, no ties and few friends. It seems that he loathed the way his government shit on G'ymbai when he was down, just in the hope of securing some contracts.
“No one ever found out who he was working for, so many assumed he was still helping G’ymbai to retrieve the diamonds. When I was in Vietnam, I heard that Lumsden went to visit him several times in prison and tried to get him to spill the beans. It seems that the governor of the prison promised Lumsden a big fat bonus if Carlisle squealed. But the brave Captain never said a dicky bird, protesting his innocence right up until he was shot.”
“Was he innocent?” I asked.
“What do your people say?” Carl asked me.
I shrugged. “I don’t think they know.”
“I’m not convinced he did it,” said Harvey, with a smile at me.
“Oh, I think he did it, but how the fuck he hid them and how they got them out, that really beats me.”
“Did they, though?” I asked.
“Must have done, how else could that fella afford his come-back? From what I hear, a lot of influential people suddenly received their back-pay and Lear Jets don’t grow on palm trees, you know.”
I shrugged, seemingly indifferent. “He has wealthy friends.”
“Very true, mind you, there’s a rumour going round that the bugger’s not dead.”
Both Harvey and I stopped, I guessed the colour from my cheeks drained, and I was grateful when Harvey gently but firmly took my arm.
“Who, the Captain?” I asked, struggling to be a picture of nonchalance.
“There’s a rumour going round that some drunken soldiers tried to dig him up, just in case he’d swallowed the damn diamonds, but when they dug down, there was nothing there.”
“The body was probably moved by the government, who already thought the same thing,” offered Harvey.
“Yeah, or he never died at all and is now sipping rum and coke on a Caribbean island,” I suggested. “Look, Carl, the brave Captain Carlion,..Carlislay..…what’s his name…”
“Carlisle,” corrected Carl.
“Thanks; Carlisle might have walked on water, but you’re forgetting one thing. He might be officially dead, but he has a very distinct look and was splashed across the media for several weeks after his return and court-martial, so if he suddenly pops up, I think someone would notice. From what I gather, there are some very nasty people who’d give their right arms to make sure he dies and stays dead.”
“There’s always plastic surgery, I know several surgeons who could make him look like somebody completely different.”
“Yeah, right,” I said, trying to laugh, but somehow it came out as a snort. “He’s probably in Uruguay enjoying a drink with Lord Lucan, Elvis Presley, Adolf and Martin Bormann.”
“Okay, it’s far fetched, I grant you, but I’d like to think the guy survived. I reckon he deserved better than to die like that. He was one of the last honourable warriors.”
“Yeah, me too,” said Harvey, smiling at me.
“Whatever. No one lives forever,” I said, pleased the subject died a natural death. Still, it was nice to know that Carl admired the old me.
It was still dark when Harvey shook me awake.
“What the fu…?”
He shushed me.
“C’mon, Cap, we gotta get movin’!”
“What’s happening?”
“G’ymbai is making for the border, so we’re goin’ too.”
“So he’s not going by plane?”
“Nope.”
“Is he on his own?”
“Nope, there’s a large escort of his own men, with about twenty vehicles, four-by-fours and a few trucks. There’s been a development during the night. Some of the Mgombi army units resented not being paid, so they crossed the border and stated they would help G'ymbai retake the country in exchange for some wages. The problem is that it’s suspected that Mombossu has deliberately sent over a tactical unit with these troops for the sole purpose of taking out G'ymbai before he can start a popular uprising. Our task is to get them before they get to the man!”
He threw a small package onto my bed. On opening it I discovered a black combat suit, body armour and boots. I dressed quickly. I slept in a tee shirt and panties, so I simply pulled on the new clothing and boots. They all fitted perfectly, making me smile. My British Army equipment was always the wrong size.
I grabbed my holdall and followed him to the car.
Tamale is a fair way south of the border, so we had some motoring to do. G'ymbai’s convoy had a good hour’s start, so Harvey drove very fast, or as fast as the roads would allow. It was a little after five as we cleared the outskirts, leaving what traffic there was behind us and a plume of red dust.
“How did you hear?” I asked.
“Got a call a little after three,” Harvey said. I felt a little miffed that Harvey was called and not me, but then realised that he was in a better position to get the car ready.
That meant that Maryanne probably got a call from G'ymbai to warn her that things were moving. All I’d been told was to keep as close to G'ymbai as I could, just in case things went pear-shaped. I guessed that G'ymbai had asked her for some form of protection, as he knew he couldn’t trust his own military very far. If a small military unit had been deployed to mingle with supposedly loyal troops, how the hell could we discern who was who?
I glanced at Harvey. Was the pair of us the protection?
I doubted it, as that wasn’t Maryanne’s style. I wondered how many others she’d managed to get en route, or were they already there; wherever ‘there’ was.
There was little conversation in the car. I just watched the sun lighten up the countryside as Harvey just drove. I wondered what Carl was doing, and what his reaction would be to find me gone – again. I must have dozed off, for I woke up when Harvey pulled off the road and stopped.
We were in a town of some size.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Bolgatanga. We need to head east for about fifty k to get to the border.”
I knew the border very well, having managed to get across it with my little force and the refugees what seemed like a lifetime ago. Mgombi was a very small nation, landlocked between Ghana, Togo and Burkina Faso. It had been part of Togo until after small tribal war they succeeded in acquiring independence in the 1960s. Only two tribes had been involved, and, predictably, their problems were usually because they couldn’t work together.