Vixen 03 Page 10

  Lusana and his officers came off more like business executives than guerrillas.

  Everything at the cocktail party went strictly according to New York protocol. Even the hostess, Felicia Collins, would have done a midtown Manhattan party proud.

  Daggat caught her eye and she excused herself from an admiring group of Somalian legislators. She came over and laid her hand on his arm.

  "Enjoying yourself, Congressman?"

  "Very much."

  "Hiram and I had hoped you could stay over until the weekend."

  "Regrettably, I must be in Nairobi for a meeting with the Kenya Educational Council tomorrow afternoon."

  "I hope your quarters are satisfactory. We're a little off the beaten track for a Hilton Hotel franchise."

  "I must admit, Mr. Lusana's hospitality is far more than I bargained for."

  Daggat looked down at her. Tonight was the first time he had actually seen Felicia Collins up close. Celebrity, singer with three gold records, actress with two Emmys and an Oscar for a difficult role as a black suffragette in the motion picture Road of Poppies.

  She was every bit as ravishing as she appeared on screen.

  Felicia stood cool and poised in green crepe de chine evening pajamas. The small strapless top tied at the waist and the matching pants gave a diaphanous hint of her shapely legs. She wore her hair in a chic short African cut.

  "Hiram is on the threshold of greatness, you know."

  He smiled at her high-toned statement. "I imagine the same might have been said once of Attila the Hun."

  "I can easily see why Washington correspondents crowd your press conferences, Congressman." Her hand remained on his arm.

  "Your tongue stabs."

  "I believe they refer to it as 'Daggat's shaft.' "

  "The better to screw the white establishment with, perhaps?"

  He took her hand and exerted an increasing pressure until there was a tiny widening of her huge mahogany eyes. "Tell me, Ms.

  Collins, what brings a beautiful and renowned black entertainer to the jungle?"

  "The same thing that brings the black enfant terrible of the United States Congress," she countered. "To help a man who is fighting to advance our race."

  "I'm more inclined to believe Hiram Lusana is fighting to advance his private bank account."

  Felicia smiled derisively. "You disappoint me, Congressman. If you'd bothered to do your homework, you'd know that is simply not true."

  Daggat stiffened. The gauntlet had been thrown.

  He released her hand and moved until his face was only a few inches from hers. "With half the world watching the African nations, waiting and wondering when they are going to get their circus act together and remove the last bastion of white supremacy, who should appear like a messiah from the wilderness, offering a proverb for every occasion, but none other than your friendly international drug smuggler Hiram Lusana. Like a revelation in the night, he unloads his thriving operation and takes up the cause of the poor foul-smelling black rabble of South Africa.

  "Reinforced now by gullible black opinion and touted by a world press hungry for a personality, any personality, handsome Hiram suddenly finds his smiling face on the covers of no fewer than fourteen magazines with a combined circulation of over sixty million. Thus the sun shines down from heaven and Hiram Lusana is adored by Bible beaters everywhere for his devout piety; foreign state departments vie for his presence at parties; he demands and receives fabulous fees on the lecture circuit; and suckers like you, Ms. Collins, from the entertainment world, kiss his ass and scratch for a percentage of the box-office limelight."

  Anger flared in Felicia's lovely features. "You're being deliberately offensive."

  "Nakedly honest, perhaps." Daggat paused and enjoyed Felicia's uneasiness for a moment. "And what do you think will happen 29

  if Lusana should win his war and the white racist government in South Africa surrenders? Will he, like Cincinnatus, renounce his generalship and return to the plow? Not likely. There is little doubt in my mind that he'll proclaim himself president and launch a virtual dictatorship. Then, with the enormous resources of Africa's most advanced country in his pock-et, he'll shift the grand crusade into reverse and either by force or by subterfuge gobble up the weaker black nations."

  "You're blind," she said harshly. "Hiram guides his life by high mor-als. I find it unthinkable that he would ever consider selling out his ideals for personal gain."

  Felicia did not see the caution in Daggat's eyes. "I can prove it, Ms. Collins, and all it will cost you-financially, that is-if you lose is one Yankee dollar."

  "You're fishing in a barren lake, Congressman. You obviously do not know the general."

  "Bet me."

  She thought a moment and then looked up. "You're on."

  Daggat bowed gallantly and escorted her to where Lusana was talking tactics with an officer of the Mozambique Army. Lusana broke off his conversation at their approach and greeted them. "Ah, my two fellow Americans. I see you've met."

  "May I talk with you and Ms. Collins alone for a moment, General?" asked Daggat.

  "Why, yes, of course."

  Lusana excused himself from the Army officer and led the way into a small study comfortably furnished in an Afro-modern motif.

  "Very nice," said Daggat.

  "My favorite style of decor." Lusana motioned them to sit down. "And why not? Is it not based on our ancestral native designs?"

  "Personally, I prefer the new Egyptian creations," said an indifferent Daggat.

  "What is it you wish to discuss?" asked Lusana.

  Daggat came straight to the point. "If I may be frank, General, the only reason you put on this dog and pony show tonight was in the hope of conning me into exerting my influence with the House Foreign Affairs Committee on behalf of the AAR. Agreed?"

  Lusana could not conceal a cornered look, but he remembered to be courteous. "My apologies, Congressman. I did not mean to be so obvious. Yes, I did hope to persuade you to lend your support to our cause. But a con job? No way. I am not fool enough to attempt to stuff cotton in the ears of a man with your reputation for shrewdness."

  "So much for preliminaries. What's in it for me?"

  Lusana stared at Daggat with fascination. Such directness was hardly what he'd expected. His plans called for a more circuitous seduction. Now he was caught off guard. An out-and-out request for graft left him stunned. He decided to play coy in order to gain time to think.

  "I miss your point, Congressman."

  "No big deal, really. If you want me on your team, it's going to cost you."

  "I still don't understand."

  "Cut the jive, General. You and I came from the same gutter. We haven't shoved aside poverty and discrimination to get where we are without picking up any smarts along the way."

  Lusana turned away and slowly, meticulously lit a cigarette. "Do you wish me to open the negotiations with an offer for your services?"

  "That won't be necessary. I already have a. . . ah . . . figure in mind."

  "Please name it."

  A smile lifted the corners of Daggat's lips. "Ms. Collins."

  Lusana looked up, puzzled. "And a very comely figure at that. But I fail to see what she-"

  "You give me Felicia Collins and I'll see to it my committee votes favorably on funding an arms program for your revolution."

  Felicia leaped to her feet, her mahogany eyes ablaze. "I don't believe this."

  "Consider it as a small sacrifice on behalf of a noble crusade," said Daggat sarcastically.

  "Hiram, for God's sake," she snapped, "tell this turkey to pack up and ship out."

  Lusana did not reply immediately. He gazed down at his lap and brushed off an imaginary piece of lint from a razor-creased pant leg. Finally he spoke in a soft voice. "I'm sorry, Felicia, but I can't allow sentimental feelings to enter into this."

  "What crap!" She stared at him, her expression void of belief. "You're both mad, raving mad, if you think you can pas
s me around like abowl of grits."

  Lusana rose and came over and brushed his lips across her forehead. "Do not hate me." He faced Daggat. "Congressman, enjoy your spoils."

  Then he walked from the room.

  For a long moment Felicia stood there, her face a study in mixed hostility and confusion; then understanding came and her eyes filled with tears. She made no protest, no gesture of resistance, as Daggat gently pulled her close and kissed her.

  "You bastard," she whispered. "You rotten bastard. I hope you're satisfied."

  "Not quite yet."

  "You've won your pound of flesh. What more do you want?"

  He pulled a handkerchief from his breast pocket and dabbed her misting eyes.

  "You forget," he said, grinning sardonically. "You still owe me a dollar."

  21

  Pieter De Vaal closed the report folder on the Fawkes-farm massacre. His face was drawn and tired as he looked up. "I'm still shocked by this dreadful tragedy. It was so senseless."

  Fawkes remained impassive. He sat across the desk from the Defence Minister and tamped the tobacco in his old pipe. The room fell silent; only the muted noise of Pretoria's traffic seeped through the large windows overlooking Burger Park.

  At last De Vaal slipped the folder into a drawer and avoided Fawkes's eyes as he spoke. "I regret that our patrols failed to catch the savages who were responsible."

  30

  "Only one man was responsible," said Fawkes grimly. "The men who slaughtered my family were acting under his orders."

  "I know what y,ou are thinking, Captain Fawkes, but we have no proof that Lusana was behind this."

  "I'm satisfied he was."

  "What can I say? Even if we knew for certain, he is beyond our borders. There is no way we can touch him."

  "I can touch him."

  "How?"

  "By volunteering to lead your Operation Wild Rose."

  De Vaal could sense the vengeful hate that seethed within Patrick Fawkes. The Defence Minister rose to his feet and stood at the window, gazing over the sea ofjacaranda trees that quilted the city. " I sympathize with your feelings, Captain. However, the answer is no."

  "But why, man?"

  "Wild Rose is a monstrous concept. If the operation failed, the consequences would prove disastrous to our government."

  Fawkes rapped his pipe on the Minister's desk, snapping the stem. "No, dammit! My farm was only the opening thrust. Lusana and his bloody mob have got to be stopped before the whole country runs red."

  "The risks far outweigh the possible benefits."

  "I won't fail," Fawkes said coldly.

  De Vaal looked like a man torn apart by his conscience. He paced the room nervously, then stopped and stared down at Fawkes.

  "I cannot promise to evacuate you successfully when the time comes. And the Defence Ministry will, of course, deny any association with the venture if you are uncovered."

  "Understood." Fawkes heaved a great sigh of relief. Then a thought occurred to him. "The train, Minister. How was it you traveled from the operating room in a Durban hospital to the Pembroke rail yard so quickly?"

  For the first time, De Vaal smiled. "A simple ruse. I went in the front door of the hospital and out the back. An ambulance carried me to the Heidriek Air Base, where I took a military jet to an airstrip near Pembroke. The train belongs to our President. I merely borrowed it for a few hours while it was traveling to a scheduled overhaul."

  "But why the complicated illusion?"

  "I often find it necessary to cloud my movements," De Vaal answered. "And, I think you'll agree, Operation Wild Rose is not exactly a product we want to advertise."

  "I see your point."

  "And you, Captain Fawkes. Can you drop from sight without prodding suspicious minds?"

  Fawkes nodded solemnly. "I've left Umkono under a cloud of grief. My friends and neighbors think I've returned to Scotland."

  "All right, then." De Vaal moved behind his desk, wrote on a slip of paper, and passed it across to Fawkes. "Here is the address of a hotel ten miles south of the city. Check into a room and wait for the necessary papers and instructions to get the ball rolling. As of this moment, the government of South Africa considers you dead." He relaxed his shoulders. "God help us now."

  "God? No, I don't think so." An evil light began to dance in Fawkes's eyes. "I sincerely doubt he'd want any part of it."

  On the floor below the Minister's office Colonel Zeegler sat alone in an operations room and paced back and forth in front of a large table stacked with glossy photographs.

  For the first time in his military career he was totally baffled. The raid on the Fawkes farm had an aura of intrigue about it that did not fit the usual terrorist scheme. It was accomplished with too much precision and sophistication for the AAR. Besides, it was not Lusana's style. Granted, he might order the deaths of white soldiers, but he would never condone the murders of Fawkes's Bantu workers, especially the women and children. That part ran counter to the insurgent leader's known strategy.

  "Who, then?" Zeegler mused aloud.

  Certainly not black units of the South African Defence Forces. That would have been impossible without Zeegler's knowledge.

  He stopped and shuffled the photographs taken by a team of investigators after the raid. No witnesses were ever found and none of the raiders caught. It was too perfect in execution, too completely free of flaws.

  The slightest clue to the attacker's identity eluded him. But his years of experience told him it was there, obscured in the background.

  Like a surgeon examining X rays in preparation for a delicate operation, Zeegler picked up a magnifying glass and for the twentieth time began scrutinizing each photograph.

  22

  The Air Malawi jet from Lourenco Marques, Mozambique, touched down and taxied to the terminal of Pretoria's airport. A few moments after the whine of the engines had faded away, the boarding ramp was extended, and the passengers nodded their good-byes to the pretty African stewardess and made their way toward the terminal.

  Major Thomas Machita followed the other travelers, and when his turn came, he handed his falsified Mozambique passport to the immigra-tion official.

  The white South African studied the passport photo and the name, George Yariko, beneath it and smiled sagaciously. "That makes three trips to Pretoria in the last month, Mr. Yariko." He nodded at the courier briefcase chained to Machita's wrist.

  "Instructions to your consul seem to be running hot and heavy, as of late."

  Machita shrugged. "If my foreign department doesn't send me to our consulate in Pretoria, they send me to a consulate somewhere else. No offense intended, sir, but I'd prefer a Paris or London delivery."

  The official motioned him toward the exit. "I look forward to seeing you again," he said with mock courtesy. "Have an enjoyable stay."

  Machita smiled, showing every tooth, and casually made his way through the terminal to the taxi stand outside. He waved his free hand at the first cab heading a long line. The driver acknowledged him and started his engine. But suddenly, before he could pull up to his fare, another cab swung out from the rear of the line, cut in, and skidded to a stop in front of Machita amid a cacophony of angry shouting and horn honking from the outraged cabbies awaiting their rightful rotation.

  Machita found the performance amusing. He threw the bag into the backseat and followed it. "The Mozambique Consulate," he 31

  said to the aggressive driver.

  The cabby merely tipped his cap, set the meter, and steered into traffic. Machita leaned back and idly watched the scenery. He unlocked the wrist chain and threw it into the briefcase. The Mozambique consul, friendly to the AAR cause, allowed Machita and his operatives to come and go under the guise of diplomatic couriers. After a proper length of time spent enjoying the Consulate's hospitality, they then retired to an inconspicuous hotel and went about their business of espionage.

  Something in the back of Machita's brain blinked a warning signal. He s
at up and studied the landscape. The driver was not taking a direct route to the Consulate; instead, the cab's hood ornament was pointed toward the bustling downtown business section of Pretoria.

  Machita tapped the driver on the shoulder. "I am not a tourist to be gouged, my friend. I suggest you take the nearest shortcut to my destination if you expect to get paid."

  His only reply was an indifferent shrug. After a few more minutes of weaving through the busy traffic pattern, the driver turned into the underground parking lot of a large department store. Machita needed no extrasensory perception to detect the trap. His tongue swelled like a dry sponge and he could hear his heart begin to pound. He carefully clicked open the briefcase snaps and slipped out a Mauser .38 automatic.

  At the lowest level of the parking lot the driver eased the cab into an empty space against the wall farthest from the entrance tunnel and stopped. Then he turned around and found the barrel of Machita's gun caressing the tip of his nose.

  It was the first chance Machita had had to observe the cabby's face. The smooth dark skin and facial features were those of an Indian, a race that numbered more than half a million in South Africa. The man smiled a genuine relaxed smile. There was none of the uneasiness about him that Machita expected.

  "I think we can dispense with the theatrics, Major Machita," said the cabby. "You are in no danger."

  Machita's gun hand held steady. He did not dare turn to scan the parking area for the army of heavily armed men he was sure were there. "Whatever happens, you die with me," he said.

  "You are an emotional man," the driver remarked. "Stupid, actually. It bodes ill for a man of your occupation to react like an adolescent caught robbing a sweets shop."

  "Can the fat talk, man," Machita snapped. "What's the gig?"

  The driver laughed. "Spoken like the true American black that you are. Luke Sampson, of Los Angeles; alias Charley Le Mat, of Chicago; alias Major Thomas Machita, of the AAR; and God only knows how many others."

  A chill gripped Machita. His mind hunted frantically for answers, answers to who the cabby was and how he knew so much about him. "You are mistaken. My name is Yariko, George Yariko."