And Abreo realized, suddenly, why the lantern was still lit. When the tear gas was triggered, the African soldiers who came to investigate would be able to see just where the Spaniards were.
There was no time to finish freeing the priest. Ahteady, yellow orange smoke obscured the window. Diamante was still at the door. They would have to go out that way.
Abreo yelled for the sergeant to open the door and get out. Gagging, Diamante pulled open the door. The captain ran out after him, feeling for the wall and the jamb. He found the door and ran out.
There were shouts. They were being ordered to stand down. Abreo did not have to understand the language to interpret the tone.
Abreo rubbed his eyes, trying desperately to clear the gasinduced blur. He turned to his left. He saw the edge of the shack. He had an instant to decide what course of action to pursue.
There appeared to be just one left.
The most important part of this mission was not simply to rescue the priest. It was to deprive the Vodunists of immunity from attack. As long as the Brush Vipers held Father Bradbury, the Botswanan military would not want to move against them. Vatican charities fed many Botswana villages. Gaborone would not want to risk that unless they had no choice. Not moving against them, they would be able to regroup somewhere else. They would continue to rebel against the government, to try and overthrow the Church. Above all, Abreo could not allow that to happen. It was a long shot, but they had to try. They had not become special forces soldiers to have things easy. The captain felt more completely alive in this moment than he had ever felt. He was almost giddy from the personal danger.
"Cover me!" Abreo yelled.
Diamante understood. He obeyed without question. The sergeant opened fire into the oncoming Brush Vipers. Abreo heard the fire fade to the west. The sergeant was trying to make his way around the shack. He would use the tear gas as cover to return to the water.
The captain also fired, then turned back toward the shack. Since he could not see, he would fire in the direction of the cot.
He never made it. A bullet tore through his right thigh. He screamed from the pain and exhilaration. He had risked everything. The moment had come, and he had not run from it.
The bullet punched him forward, through the doorway. Abreo landed facedown and lost his pistol. To his left, he heard a scream. That had to have been Diamante. Mentally, Abreo saluted his loyal ally.
As bullets slashed the air above him, Abreo blinked hard. He tried to clear his vision and find his pistol. He spotted it a few feet ahead. The soldier attempted to crawl toward it, but his right leg refused to cooperate. It felt cold. To hell with it. He began pulling himself forward on his elbows.
The soldier moved ahead, but only for another foot or so. A fusillade from the doorway tore into the captain's back and shoulder blades.
Abreo did not feel the punch of the hot bullets as they tore through flesh and muscle, shattered plates of bone. The young captain was dead before the impulses reached his brain, before his chin struck the floor.
A moment later, the gunfire stopped. All was still.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Leon Seronga was tired. He was tired in body and also in spirit. What he had just heard took even more out of him.
The Brush Viper was riding in the truck alongside Njo Finn. They were following the Jeep through the dark plain. Seronga put them less than an hour from the rendezvous with Dhamballa. That was when the call came from the original camp in the Okavanga Swamp. Seronga's hands were unsteady as he answered the radio. He did not want bad news.
As it turned out, the radio message from the decoy elements of Dhamballa's camp was both welcome and disturbing.
The Brush Vipers who had remained behind to keep the Spaniards from following Dhamballa had been successful. The Botswanans had let the Spanish soldiers reach the island. They had allowed the Spaniards to get into the shack. They had rigged a canister of tear gas to a Caucasian Brush Viper standing in for Father Bradbury. The Brush Vipers would have taken the intruders prisoner if they had surrendered. Instead, the Spaniards chose to fight. Two Brush Vipers died in the exchange. Both Spaniards were also killed.
Leon Seronga welcomed the news. It was becoming increasingly clear to Seronga that Father Bradbury could be the key to their survival. Not as a hostage but as an advocate. Someone who had spoken with Dhamballa and knew that he was not a killer.
The news also disturbed Seronga because two of his men had fallen. Seronga had lost very few soldiers over the years. He did not know the individuals well, and he was troubled that he would not get to do so. One of the men had children and grandchildren. The other was just eighteen years old.
The priest and the Vodunists had moved out to join Dhamballa and the rest of his party. It would be up to the Americans to communicate that information to their superiors without providing his specific location. And their superiors would have to notify the Botswana military that Father Bradbury was still a hostage. Gaborone would have to negotiate rather than attack.
Seronga told Finn to catch up to the Jeep. They pulled alongside, and Seronga motioned for them to stop. He opened the door and told Aideen to get in. It would be easier to talk to her than to the others. All the while, Pavant kept his rifle trained on the occupants. As soon as she was inside, Seronga told the Jeep to drive on. Finn continued following them.
"You don't look happy," Aideen said.
"There has been a firefight," Seronga told her.
"Between who?"
"My Brush Vipers encountered members of the elite Spanish force," Seronga told her.
"Where?" she asked.
"Does it matter?" he replied with resignation.
The woman glared at Seronga for a moment. Then she swore. "You did it, didn't you?"
Again, Seronga did not have to respond.
"You warned your camp that the soldiers were out there," she yelled. "Why? That was not part of our arrangement."
"My people had to be prepared," Seronga replied.
"What your people had to do was move from the target area!" Aideen said. "They had to get away from the Botswanan helicopters. That was why we gave you the intel."
"Dhamballa might have encountered the Spaniards en route," Seronga pointed out. "The two soldiers who invaded our camp were traveling independent of the others."
"That's possible," Aideen agreed. "At the very least, we should have been consulted about your plans."
"If the Spaniards had not engaged us, you would never have known about this," Seronga pointed out.
"If you had not kidnapped Father Bradbury, none of us would be in this situation!" Aideen snapped.
"That kind of lashing out is not going to help!" Seronga snapped back.
"You're right," Aideen admitted. "Let's deal with this. Were there any injuries?"
"There were four fatalities," Seronga told her. "Two of theirs and two of ours," he said.
Seronga could see Aideen regarding him in the green glow of the dashboard. Her expression was cold.
"Stop the truck," the woman said to Finn.
"What are you doing?" Seronga asked.
"I want out!" Aideen yelled. The woman turned in the cramped space of the cabin. She reached for the door handle. She reached out the window to open it from the outside.
Seronga reached across and grabbed her wrist.
"Let me go!" Aideen yelled. "I'm getting myself and my people out of here now."
"Wait! Listen to me!" Seronga said angrily.
"You treat people like bugs," she declared. "They bother you, you swat them. I won't listen to you. We won't be a party to that."
"It wasn't like that," he said. "The Spaniards came into our camp, armed for a fight. They tried to get away with Father Bradbury."