the Frontline.
“There’s been a screw-up, hasn’t there? Couple of days ago I radioed Fitz not to send a plane for me till the end of the week, when the show’s over. You didn’t get the word?” Handy met Doug’s puzzled gaze with one of his own. “One of your crews flew me in here two weeks ago, with a load of tools and construction materials. Those Russians.”
“That would’ve been Alexei,” Doug said. “Sorry for the confusion, I don’t keep up on the flight schedules. That’s Fitz’s job.”
“You’re not here to pick me up?”
“No.”
“And you been here two weeks?” Dare asked.
“It’s been terrific,” Handy said. “I was just getting footage of the school we’re rebuilding.”
“You’re making a film?”asked Doug.
“For our fundraising drive. It’s unbelievable how many people back in the States have no idea what’s going on here. The peril their fellow Christians are in. The fight they’re putting up.”
Lord, spare me from these people, Dare thought.
“Michael’s given me the okay to film the operation he’s got coming up,” Handy burbled on. “I just got back from his staff conference. You know about the operation?”
Doug replied that they did not.
“You soon will. He wants to talk to you about it. It’s going to be incredible, the climax of the film. Our contributors, they’ll eat it up. Most of them are vets. But you know that. I was in the Gulf War myself. Fitz told me you were in that one, right?”
“Flew A-tens,” Doug answered.
“No kidding,” said Handy, dragging his rucksack inside to stand it against a wall. “I was with a Warthog squadron, too. Enlisted, though. What squadron were you with?”
Doug didn’t answer. Glancing at the rucksack, he asked, “You’re moving in? It’s going to be crowded in here.”
“It’s the other way around,” replied Handy. “You guys moved in on me. No problem. I sleep outside. It’s cooler.”
Dare sat on his fumigated bed and fumbled for a smoke. He was still holding himself to five a day, although he might need to increase his allotment now that he had a Christian soldier for a roommate.
Michael arrived later with Major Kasli. It was an official call. After asking how the guests found their accommodations—Dare chose not to answer—Michael sat down and inquired if Dare’s sources could obtain 120-millimeter mortars and semtex.
“Reckon so. They’re a one-stop shop. None of my business, I suppose, but why one-twenties and semtex?”
“You are correct,” said Kasli. “It is not your business.”
“I’ll decide that, major,” Michael said. “This dry season, I intend to carry the fight to the enemy. We are going to destroy an enemy airfield and sabotage the oil pipeline.”
Doug let out a low whistle.
“That’s ambitious,” Dare commented. “How far is this airfield?”
“From here, a little more than a hundred kilometers. It’s an oil company airfield, but Khartoum uses it as a base for its Antonovs. The plane that bombed Dr. Manfred’s hospital left from it.”
“A one-twenty mortar weighs a helluva lot,” Dare pointed out. “How are y’all gonna move heavy mortars and the shells to go with them over a hundred kilometers? You’d need a camel caravan or a whole shitload of porters.”
Major Kasli took off his wraparound sunglasses and smirked. “I see you are a tactician as well as a flier.”
“Yeah, a goddamned Napoleon with a pilot’s license.”
“We are going to transport the mortars and the ammunition in lorries,” Michael said. “And where do we find the lorries? We are going to seize them from the government.” He smoothed the dirt with his palm and, with his finger, drew a map. “Here is Kologi. Douglas, you remember your visit there?”
“Sure. Suleiman’s village. The Kowahla.”
“Yes. We have learned from Suleiman that the government has made an offer to the nazir of the Kowahla. If he swears allegiance to Khartoum and its jihad, he will receive for himself a Land Rover and his people will get lorries to carry their cotton crops to market. If he does not, then the Kowahla will be considered infidels and will be treated accordingly.”
Dare flexed his hand, working the stiffness out. “The old carrot and stick. Works every time.”
“Not this time,” said Michael, his almost feminine eyes going hard. “Here is where we are and here is Kologi.” He made two dots in the dirt. “And here between us, near this road junction, is a Sudan army garrison. Two days ago the lorries arrived there, three of them with the Land Rover. Day after tomorrow we will attack the garrison and take them.”
“Well, good luck is all I’ve got to