Fire Force(134)

There will be time, he told himself.

As soon as we get out of this hell-hole.

He woke with a start. Dan was leaning into his face, and the smell of the Australian after a day in rough country was enough to wake the devil himself. ‘Christ, mate, we can all have a kip when we get back home,’ he said. ‘Right now, we’ve got a country to escape from.’

Steve washed some water down his throat, and pulled himself up off the ground. Ganju was back with them, surrounded by the rest of the unit. Just one look at the Gurkha told you all you needed to know, however.

The news wasn’t good.

‘The place is swarming with soldiers,’ said Ganju tersely.

‘On the lake itself?’ questioned Ollie.

Ganju nodded. ‘Patrol boats, with searchlights.’

‘And the shore?’

‘There are foot patrols along the pathways.’

‘Some of the shoreline is just wilderness,’ said Ian. ‘We might be able to slip through.’

‘There’s still the boats,’ said Ganju. ‘And I saw two choppers. There may be more.’

‘But if we break through?’

‘Forget it,’ Ollie said immediately. ‘We can’t risk being seen. If that happens, we’ll bring a whole army down on our heads, and then we’ve no chance of getting away.’

‘I’m not going back to that jail,’ said Maksim. He was toying with the mag of his FN. ‘I’d rather make a fight of it, and die with my boots on like a soldier.’

‘We know you can’t wait to get to that great vodka distillery in the sky, Maksie,’ said Steve, ‘but the rest of us aren’t quite ready yet.’ He paused, swiping a blade of grass from the ground. ‘Ollie’s right. We can’t risk breaking through the lines. Maybe we should take a different route out of here . . .’

He looked towards Ganju, asking, ‘Is that an option?’

‘We could head towards Mozambique,’ said Ganju. ‘But it’s a walk of at least two hundred miles across hostile country.’

Steve played with the grass in his hand. That didn’t sound right either.

‘Or down towards Botswana? We could cover a hundred miles in three or four days.’

‘We can’t guarantee that border isn’t swarming with soldiers as well,’ Ian warned.

‘They can’t seal the whole bloody country,’ said David. ‘They haven’t got enough men.’

‘But we can’t walk around indefinitely, searching for a weak spot,’ said Steve. ‘We’ll be caught long before then.’

‘I know a way,’ said Sam.





Forty-Six

SAM TOOK A COUPLE OF steps forward, so she was standing in the centre of the group.

‘Dad used to help journalists get in and out of the country sometimes, after they were all banned by President Kapembwa,’ she stated. ‘They would fly to Tuka, then approach the bridge that crosses Avalanche Falls. They’d mingle with a group of tourists making the crossing, then slip away on the other side.’

‘And the soldiers don’t check?’ said Ollie.

Sam shook her head. ‘Tourism at the Falls is one of the very few sources of foreign currency the country has left. They don’t dare do anything that would put it at risk, and the soldiers are under strict orders not to harass the tour groups in any way. If there’s any trouble, they get shot.’

‘I like it,’ said Steve.

‘Even if we’re spotted, we can make a run for it,’ said Ollie. ‘I don’t think the soldiers are going to open fire on a bridge full of tourists.’

‘Aren’t we putting innocent people at risk?’ asked Dan.

Steve glanced at the Australian. He’d served time in a military jail after two children got killed on a mission in Afghanistan back in the Special Air Services Regiment. It wasn’t Dan’s fault. Just crossfire, the kind of tragedy that occurs every day in every war that ever got started. But it had made a big impression on Dan, and Steve was aware of it. The bloke didn’t mind risking his own life, and he certainly had no qualms about malleting the enemy. But civilians? That was different. He didn’t want to see them get hurt.

‘It’s our only chance,’ said Ollie.

‘There’s no way we’re walking a hundred miles, mate,’ said Ian tersely. ‘We haven’t got it in us.’

Dan nodded, but his expression was serious. ‘OK,’ he grunted. ‘But make sure there aren’t any kids around. If there are, we’re not crossing.’

‘We’ll need some tourist clothes,’ said Sam. ‘Ganju, take me close to the Falls. There will be some stalls selling T-shirts. I’ll get us some kit, and then we can make a move.’