W E B Griffin – Men at War 2 – Secret Warriors

U R G E N T DEPT STATE WASHINGTON VIA MACKAY FOR US EMBASSY JOHANNESBURG SOUTH AFRICA SSADOR STATE RELAY FOLLOWING US CONSUL GENERAL T-,T-TSSIBLE MEANS INCLUDING bbumm STOP REPORT D RADIO STOP QUOTE DIRECTION SEC STATE RELAY TO STA: S FM ABOARD CHINA AM TRANSPORT C-46 AIRCRAFT SCHEDULED REFUEL LUANDA 19 AUGUST STOP IF UNABLE ARRIVE CAR FOUR HOURS PRIOR DAYBREAK 21 AUGUST ABO CAPETOWN SOUTH AFRICA STOP CANNOT IMPORTANCE OF CARGO PICKUP STOP SIGN AT STOP END MESSAGE “Inasmuch as we must presume the other aircraft has been lost, Spiers; said, emotionless, “I thought I should make the contents of the cable known to you.”

Canidy handed the cable to Whittaker. “You should have no problem,” Spiers said.

“I have arranged for your aircraft to be refueled. That should take no more than an hour. You can arrive in Kolwezi in plenty of time to load your cargo and depart within that time frame.”

“We’ll take off about half past seven tonight,” Canidy said. “That should put us over the border at half past eight. By then it should be dark.”

“I’d really rather you continue on with this mission just as soon as you could,” Spiers said. “You would?” Canidy asked dryly. “I was led to believe that the aircraft would bear civilian markings,” Spiers said.

“There is liable to be trouble with the Portuguese authorities over a military aircraft.”

“Well, you’ll just have to handle the Portuguese,” Canidy said. “I’m afraid I must insist,” Spiers said. “I have no intention of flying an aircraft with “US Navy’ painted in large letters on the wings over the Belgian Congo in the daylight,” Canidy said. “I hadn’t considered that,” Spiers said.

“It will make things difficult for me, but I suppose you’re right.”

“I’m glad you feel that way,” Canidy said. If Spiers detected the sarcasm, he gave no sign. “Is there someplace we can get something to eat, and maybe some sleep?” Canidy asked. “Do you think that’s wise?”

Spiers asked. “The eating or the sleeping?” Whittaker asked innocently.

Spiers could not ignore the’ sarcasm. “There is a hotel in town,” he said.

“I’ll take you there.”

The hotel rooms were dirty, and none of them could read the menu in the dining room. Whittaker solved the problem by flapping his arms and making sounds like a rooster. Soon they were served a large platter of scrambled eggs and a large loaf of freshly baked, very good bread. The mosquito netting over the beds had holes through which a variety of winged insects flew with ease. Although he remembered being bitten only once or twice, when Canidy splashed water on his face and looked in the mirror, he saw at least a dozen round, angry insect bites. He found that Whittaker had suffered equally when he met him in the lobby.

But when he went to wake the night engineer, the room was empty.

Spiers had already joined Whittaker by the time Canidy returned to the lobby.

“Where do you think he is?” he asked. “He’s around town somewhere,” Canidy said.

“He’s going to wait until we take off and then reappear, all apologies for having missed the night.”

“Why would he do that?”

“He probably came to the slow realization while we flew that this flight was hazardous duty,” Whittaker said. “What am I supposed to do with him?”

Spiers asked.

“That could pose a very embarrassing situation.”

“When he does show up,” Canidy said angrily, “you can brighten his day by telling him that when he does get back, I will press charges.” Even as he said it, he knew it was an empty threat. To charge a man with avoiding hazardous duty, you would have to specify what hazardous duty.

Officially, this flight-whether or not they made it-didn’t exist. They didn’t absolutely have to have a flight engineer. It was a really chickenshit-chickenshit, hell, cowardly-thing for the engineer to do, of course, but he knew that they could do without him. He wondered if that had entered into the man’s thinking. Spiers drove them back to the airport, where, obviously relieved to be rid of them, he gave them another perfunctory handshake and watched them climb into the aircraft and start the engines. Before they taxied to the end of the runway, they saw his car driving off.

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