But it wasn’t good for Yoinakuwa and his people. The miners had no respect for the land. They hunted anything and everything, placing crude traps all over the place, competing with Yoinakuwa’s people for the food. That’s when we . . . when I became more involved. I found Yoinakuwa a legal representative. My plan was to get the Indians to make their own claims to the land they had occupied for thousands of years. My naivety was only just beginning.
‘The illegal miners came up with a plan of their own, a rather simple and terrible one. Knowing it would take a long time for the Indians to legalise the claim they decided simply to wipe them out. Kill them. The depth of human depravity is beyond measure. After the first few killings Yoinakuwa and his people got ready to defend their land and hunting grounds from these foreign invaders. But they had no idea what they were up against. They had bows and spears but the enemy had rifles. And they were prepared to pay men to come in and use them. Yoinakuwa’s tribe quickly became the hunted. I tried to attract international attention to the illegal gold mining that was causing genocide. Guess what?’
‘The miners came for you.’
‘Exactly. That’s when I learned there was no limit to my naivety . . . The strategy against us was more subtle. But not too subtle. They began by destroying our equipment and intimidating our guards. When that was not enough they murdered two of them. And when that was not enough they tried to kill me. I was operating our COPAS one afternoon—’
‘COPAS?’
‘Canopy Operation Permanent-Access System. It’s a large helium ballon with a basket suspended below that allows you to move vertically and horizontally on a system of wires through the treetops.’
‘Ah. The balloon in the canopy,’ Stratton said, recalling Victor’s comment when they first met.
‘Those were my favourite times. I could spend all day up there. It was like being in a different world that had its own laws of nature, a microcosm of life practically independent from the ground. It even had its own weather. Those bastards shot at the balloon while I was in it. They burst it and it crashed to the ground. I was lucky to survive. They thought they had killed me and tried to cover up my supposed murder by burning down the facility and making it look as if the Indians had done it. When they realised I had survived the bastards came to kill me again. I managed to escape into the forest and went in search of the only allies I had. I arrived at Yoinakuwa’s village just as the mercenaries that the miners had hired were mounting their attack. They destroyed every hut and hunted down and killed nearly every man, woman and child. I found Yoinakuwa lying unconscious beside his dead wife and daughters. His two sons were making a last stand beside him. I had a rifle that had belonged to our security guards. I held off the mercenaries long enough to get Yoinakuwa and his boys out of there. They killed everyone else, every member of Yoinakuwa’s tribe. The miners’ aim was to destroy the Indians so that none of them would ever be able to challenge the invaders’ rights to the mines. And they succeeded . . . or as good as.
‘Yoinakuwa and his sons are the last of their line. It’s bad enough for a man to have to bury his wife and children. No man should have to bury his entire history. Since then they have never strayed far from my side. I truly don’t understand why. I know it’s partly because I saved their lives. But I have told Yoinakuwa many times that he owes me nothing. I even told him that I was largely to blame for everything by stopping the licensing of the miners in the first place. It made no difference to him.’
‘Are they the reason why you don’t leave?’
‘Ha! An interesting question. It’s true that I have often thought about leaving. You lose heart at times. It’s also true that I could not bring myself to say goodbye to them. Maybe I’ll take them back to France with me one day. I just don’t see them stacking shelves in the local supermarket, though. Obligation is a terrible thing, to be sure. I hope I wake up one morning and find they have gone. With luck that’s the way