'After we have searched the ambulance,' came the ziy sharp reply as if the man felt his authority was being undermined in front of his colleagues.
'The woman is haemorrhaging,' Tambese snapped and indicated the bag of blood connected to the drip. 'She could die if she doesn't undergo surgery within the next hour. And if she does you can be sure I'll hold you personally responsible. Your Colonel Ngune would be crucified by the international press. I doubt he'd thank you for it, do you?'
A look of fear had spread across the man's face at the mention of Ngune. He looked at Sabrina then spoke in a whispered tone to his colleagues who were congregated around the back of the ambulance.
'What's the problem?' Tambese thundered. 'I need to get this woman to the hospital now!'
The man's eyes flickered around the inside of the ambulance then he snatched the clipboard from Vuli's hand and signed the accident report. Tambese sighed deeply. That was the clearance they needed.
'How many more roadblocks will we have to stop at before we reach the hospital?' Tambese asked, glancing at the man.
'You won't be stopped again,' came the reply.
'Thank you,' Tambese said. 'That might just make the difference between life and death for this woman.'
The man told Vuli to close the doors. Tambese slumped back in his chair as the doors slammed shut and wiped his hands over his face. Neither Sabrina nor Graham moved even though they had heard the doors close. The ambulance started up and the siren was switched on again as soon as it pulled away from the roadblock.
'We're clear,' Tambese said.
Graham immediately sat up and pulled the oxygen mask from his face. He winced as he massaged his spine. 'Jesus, my back's killing me.'
Sabrina peeled the plaster off her arm and grinned at Tambese. 'I don't know what you said to him, but you sure sounded mad as hell.'
'My mother died in the back of an ambulance,' Tambese said after a thoughtful pause. 'I guess I was just reliving those emotions.'
'I'm sorry,' Sabrina said apologetically.
'It was a long time ago,' Tambese replied.
'Have we got free passage into the city?' Graham asked, breaking the sudden silence.
'Clear all the way,' Tambese replied then wagged a finger at them. 'I told you they would fall for it.'
'What did you say to them?' Sabrina asked.
Tambese translated the gist of the conversation.
'Using Ngune's name seems to have done the trick,' Graham said when Tambese had finished.
'It certainly helped. His minions are terrified of him.'
'I can believe it,' Sabrina said grimly.
Vuli pulled back the glass partition and gave them a thumbs-up. 'Where do you want to be dropped off?' he asked Tambese in Swahili.
'Go to the hospital,' Tambese told him. 'We'll take it from there.'
Vuli nodded then closed the partition again.
'What about the ambulance men?' Sabrina asked. 'Won't Ngune take it out on them?'
'They'll go to ground after this. The resistance movement will have them smuggled out of Kondese.'
The ambulance slowed down and Tambese peered through the glass partition, his hands cupped on either side of his face.
'What is it?' Graham asked anxiously.
'We're nearing the hospital,' Tambese replied without looking round at him.
"Thank God for that. What now?'
'Get ready,' Tambese answered then pulled open the glass partition again. 'Go round the back,' he said to Nhlapo in Swahili. Til tell you when to stop.'
Nhlapo nodded as he swung the ambulance into the driveway. He switched off the siren. Graham and Sabrina discarded their blood-splattered clothes to reveal black jumpsuits. After tugging a black woollen hat over her head, Sabrina took a tube of camouflage cream from her pocket and squeezed a little onto her palm then tossed the tube to Graham. He rubbed the cream over his face and hands then offered the tube to Tambese who grinned good-humouredly and waved him away. Graham shrugged, poker-faced, and dropped it onto the bed.
Tambese stripped off to his black jumpsuit then peered through the partition again, watching for the line of refuse bins that Okoye had told him to use as a landmark to disembark. He knocked on the glass when they came into view and told Nhlapo to pull over. Graham handed out the weapons then divided the clips into three piles on the bed. They loaded their weapons and slipped the spare clips into the pouches on their belts. After bolstering his Beretta Tambese knocked lightly on the partition. Nhlapo peered out of the driver's window and gave Vuli the thumbs-up sign.
Vuli looked about furtively to make sure there wasn't anyone about then opened one of the doors and gestured to them to get out. Tambese ushered Graham and Sabrina out of the ambulance then jumped nimbly to the ground and Vuli immediately closed the back door again.
'Get rid of the clothes and wipe the ambulance down for fingerprints,' Tambese said to Vuli.
'No need, we're going to torch it anyway,' Vuli replied. 'Those were our orders.'
'Well, thanks for your help.'
'Good luck,' Vuli said with a quick smile then looked around again. 'Go on, a porter could come out here at any time.'
Tambese hauled himself over the low wall where Graham and Sabrina were already waiting for him. 'The city hall's a couple of hundred yards down the road,' he whispered. He looked the length of the deserted street then turned back to them. 'Ready?'
They both nodded then followed Tambese down the embankment to the pavement where he paused to listen for any approaching vehicles. Silence. He led them across the road then they ran, doubled over, to the nearest doorway. The city hall, which spanned the length of the adjacent block, was an ugly, oblong-shaped building dating back to the early nineteenth century when the country was still part of the French empire. Tambese was about to break cover again when they heard the sound of an approaching engine. They ducked into the doorway and lay flat on their stomachs, their Uzis held at the ready. A black Toyota pick-up drove past with two men in the front and a third in the back, his arms resting on the top of the cab. A Sterling sub-machine gun was slung over his shoulder. He held a wine bottle in his hand. The truck continued to the end of the road where the driver idled the engine for a few seconds while he decided which turn-off to take. Then he accelerated sharply and the tyres shrieked in protest as the truck pulled away and disappeared up a sidestreet.
Tambese scrambled to his feet and scanned the street before giving Graham and Sabrina a thumbs-up sign. They sprinted the hundred yards to the front of the city hall and were still trying to catch their breath when they heard the sound of an engine in the distance. Tambese pointed to a cluster of shrubs against the side of the building and they ducked down behind them only seconds before the truck came back into view.
The man in the back shouted something to the driver who pulled the jeep over and stopped in front of the city hall. The man got out and threw the empty wine bottle into the gutter. The driver shouted angrily at him as glass splinters peppered the side of the truck. The man grinned at the driver and held up his middle finger contemptuously then walked unsteadily towards the bushes.
Sabrina instinctively shrunk further away from the approaching figure and backed into someone's arm. Then she noticed that Graham, who was the closest to her, was crouched with both arms folded across his chest, cradling his Uzi. It hadn't been his arm. She turned her head very slowly, very reluctantly, and looked to see whose it was. A body was entangled in the bushes behind her. The face, which had been shot away at close range, was seething with hundreds of writhing, squirming maggots. She felt a scream rise in her throat but Graham clamped his hand roughly over her mouth before any noise could escape from her lips. He had seen the body when she backed into it and had anticipated her reaction. The man, who was urinating onto a nearby bush, didn't hear her muffled cry above his uneven whistling. When he finished he returned to the truck, still whistling to himself. The driver immediately started up the engine and pulled away from the kerb. Within seconds silence returned to the deserted street.