The Spoilers / Juggernaut (51 page)

‘Russ did this, Harry?’

‘I’m afraid so.’

He’d left the bottle where I’d find it; it was a direct challenge. There would have been just enough in it to put an edge on his appetite for supper, or for a brawl.

‘Where is he?’

‘Neil, Russ is one tough guy to tangle with. Be careful.’

I said, ‘He’s not going to hurt me. I’m going to straighten your buddy out.’

‘Hell, he’s not my buddy,’ Zimmerman said, and there was an edge to his normally placid voice. ‘We just work together. I’ve seen this before and I don’t have a taste for it. He’s having a game of poker with some of your guys.’

I picked up the pieces of glass and ditched all but the largest which had the label still attached, and closed the car door. Zimmerman added, ‘Watch his left. He has a sneaky curve punch there.’

‘Thanks.’

I knew where to find Burns. One of the lamps leading from the generator cable had been looped over a tree so that the light shone on the ground below. Five men were sitting playing cards, using a suitcase as a table. I didn’t notice who
they were; I had eyes only for Burns. He played a hand casually but I knew he’d seen me arrive and his back had stiffened.

I stopped just outside the circle of light and said, ‘Burns, come here. I want you.’

He looked up and shaded his eyes. ‘Why, it’s our top man,’ he said. ‘What can I do for you, Mannix?’

Cards went down all round the circle. I said, ‘Come over here.’

‘Sure. Why not?’ He uncoiled his lean length from the ground.

I watched him come. He was younger, taller, heavier and probably faster than I was, so I’d have to get in first. It’s a stupid man who starts a fight without reckoning the odds. Burns knew that too; he was spoiling for a fight, as Zimmerman had warned me, and he had set up the time and place. It was years since I’d done much fighting except with words, while he was probably well in practice.

I was aware of figures forming the inevitable spectators’ ring, but I couldn’t afford to take my eyes off Burns. Witnesses were in any case going to be more on my side than on his, so long as I could hold my own.

I held up the bottle shard. ‘Did you drink my whisky?’

‘Sure I drank it. What’s wrong with borrowing a little booze? It was good stuff while it lasted.’

I controlled my anger, and was so intent that when the interruption came I couldn’t quite credit it. A hand came over my shoulder and took the broken glass from me. ‘Do you mind if I have a look at that?’ a voice said.

McGrath stepped out beside me and peered at the label. Everyone else stood motionless.

‘I’ve seen this before. Isn’t it the bottle you were keeping for medical emergencies, now?’

Then without warning the hand not holding the shard connected with Burns just at the angle of his jaw and the
Texan grunted, staggered and dropped as though poleaxed. Only afterwards did I see the cosh.

I grabbed McGrath by the arm. ‘God damn it, McGrath, I told you not to go off half-cocked!’

He said so that only I could hear, ‘You couldn’t have whipped this bucko and we both know it. He’d take you to pieces. I’ve had my eye on him; he’s dangerous.’ Coming from McGrath that was a ludicrous statement. ‘Now if I don’t defuse him he’ll come looking for both of us and he might have a gun by then. He has to be made harmless. That OK with you?’

‘Christ, no! I don’t want him killed,’ I said.

‘I wouldn’t kill him. I said made harmless. Now, have I your leave?’

I didn’t have much choice. ‘Don’t hurt him,’ I said.

‘Not really hurt, no,’ McGrath said. He pushed his way through the knot of men who had gathered round Burns. They made way instantly, though none faster than Jones and Bob Pitman. Neither Wingstead nor Kemp were present.

McGrath took Burns by his shirtfront, hauled him to his feet and shook him. ‘Are you all right, Texas?’ he asked.

Burns’ eyes looked fogged. He put a hand up to his jaw and mumbled, ‘You son of a bitch—you busted it!’

‘Not at all,’ said McGrath, ‘Or you couldn’t be saying so. I didn’t hit you all that hard, did I now? And I don’t think that’s the language for someone in your position to be using.’

The hand that had held the cosh came up again and this time there was a knife in it. McGrath was a walking armoury. He pressed the sharp edge against Burns’ throat and a ribbon of blood trickled down. He pushed Burns until the Texan’s back was against a truck.

‘Now listen,’ McGrath said in a matter-of-fact voice, ‘You can have your throat cut fast, slow or not at all. Take your pick.’

Burns choked. ‘Not—not at all.’

‘Well, then, you can answer a couple of questions, and if you give the right answers you get a prize, your life. Here comes the first question. Are you ready?’

‘Yes,’ whispered Burns.

McGrath said, ‘Right, this is it. Name one boss in this camp.’

‘Y-you.’

‘Wrong,’ said McGrath pleasantly. ‘You’re losing points, sonny. But I’ll give you another go. Guess again.’

Burns hesitated and the knife shifted. More blood soaked into his shirt. ‘Mannix?’

‘Mister Mannix, yes. But a little more respect with it, please. Now here comes the next question. Are you ready for it?’

‘Christ, yes.’ Burns face was running with sweat.

‘Then here goes. Name another boss.’

‘Wing…Mister Wingstead.’

‘Oh, very good. See how well you can do when you try. So from now on when Mister Mannix or Mister Wingstead says for you to jump, you jump. Got that?’

‘Yes.’

‘And if you give either of them any trouble, guess what? Third question.’

‘You bastard—’

McGrath’s hand moved once more. Burns gasped, ‘I won’t give them any trouble. Let go of me, damn you!’

McGrath did just that and Burns sagged against the truck. His hand went to his throat and came away covered with blood. He stared at McGrath and then appealed to me. ‘He’s crazy! You keep him away from me.’

‘He’ll never touch you again. Not if you do what he’s just told you,’ I said. Then I pressed the lesson home. ‘You said you’d borrowed that Scotch. I want it returned.’

He gaped at me. ‘You’re as crazy as he is! You know I can’t do that.’

‘In my book a man who takes what he can’t return is a thief.’

He said nothing and I let it go at that. I turned to the others. ‘All right, the show is over. There’s no—’

I was interrupted by a distant commotion of voices.

‘Mannix! Ben Hammond, you there?’

It was Kemp calling. Hammond shouted back, ‘We’re both here. What is it?’

Kemp came out of the dark at a jog trot, looking strained. Burns was forgotten in the face of a new crisis.

‘Come up to the rig. Geoff wants you.’

‘What the hell is it?’

‘It’s Max. He’s gone into convulsions. We think he’s dying.’

There was a murmur around us. To most of the crew Otterman was not well-known but he was the man who’d saved Wingstead’s life at risk to his own. They were taking a close interest in his progress, and at that moment were no more free of superstition than the Nyalans who followed their talisman through the countryside: Otterman’s sudden turn for the worse was a bad omen. As for me, I’d flown with him, liked him, and felt a stab of sorrow at Kemp’s news.

And then the quiet of the night was shattered again. To the east there was thunder. There followed noises like Fourth of July rockets, and the earth shook underfoot. It was the sound of heavy gunfire and small arms. The war was catching up with us at last.

Things began to happen fast.

From the military camp soldiers came running towards the warehouse. People milled about in the darkness and shouted questions. The men around me were galvanized into agitation which could become panic.

I shouted for attention. ‘That was gunfire. Keep together and stay quiet. Let the soldiers do their job. Hammond, you there?’

‘Yes, I’m here.’

‘Set guards round all the transports, especially the trucks and cars. The rig can’t be shifted so it’s reasonably safe. Basil, go tell the doctors and staff to stay put whatever happens. I’m sorry about Max, but tell Geoff I need him here fast.’

He ran off and I went on, ‘Zimmerman—if Russ Burns isn’t fit get him to the medics. I’m going to find the Captain.’

I heard Burns mumble, ‘I’ll be OK, Harry,’ and turned away. I wondered what had become of McGrath; at the very first sound of battle he had disappeared, cat-like, into the night. I headed off towards the military area, stumbling over camp litter. I heard guns firing again before I found Captain Sadiq.

He was at his staff car, and inevitably on the radio. He spoke for some time, looking alarmed, and then ripped off the headphones.

‘What’s happening?’ I asked.

‘Army units coming from the east, from Kodowa. They ran into a patrol of men and started shooting.’

‘We heard a big gun.’

‘I think they shelled a truck.’

‘They must be the rebels,’ I said.

‘Maybe, Mister Mannix. Men become nervous in the dark.’

‘How many?’

‘I don’t know yet. My corporal reported many vehicles coming this way. Not in battalion strength but not far short. Then the transmission stopped.’

So a whole platoon of Sadiq’s men was possibly wiped out. I asked if he knew how far off they were.

‘Six miles, maybe. They could be here in half an hour or less.’

This could be a nasty mess. With the Nyalan civilians strung out all the way to the bridge, with our sick and wounded, and with a small bunch of virtually unarmed white rig-pushers, there could be a massacre. And to prevent it a handful of soldiers armed with rifles and one or two light mounted guns.

Sadiq said, ‘If we stand and fight it will be useless. We couldn’t combat a company, let alone this strength. Sergeant! Get the men ready to pull out. There must be no shooting under any circumstances. We’ll be moving that way.’ He pointed away from Makara. This had been in English and was clearly for my benefit, but he carried on in Nyalan. The sergeant went off at a run.

I said, ‘So you’re pulling out—leaving us? What the hell are we supposed to do on our own?’

He raised a hand to silence me. Danger had increased his authority and he knew it. ‘No, Mister Mannix. There are tracks beyond the warehouses which lead into the bush. I’m going to hide my men there. If I am to be of any use it can
only be from a position of surprise. I suggest that you make your camp look as peaceful as possible. And that means hiding all weapons, including your shotgun. And anything that Mister McGrath may have.’

‘You know about him?’

‘I am
not
a fool, Mister Mannix. You took a pistol from him, but he may have some other weapon. When the soldiers come act peacefully. As soon as possible give me a signal. If they are loyal troops you fire this.’

He handed me a Very pistol and a couple of cartridges.

‘The white star will signal no danger. If there is trouble, fire the red. Try not to provoke them.’

Sadiq could simply vanish into the bush and desert us but I felt that he would do no such thing. I said, ‘Thank you, Captain. And good luck.’

He saluted me, jumped into his car, and was gone into the night.

‘Remarkable,’ said a voice behind me. Wingstead had been listening. I nodded briefly, then called Bing. ‘Get back to the rig, Sandy. Tell the men to gather round quietly and wait for us. And take the guards off the trucks. Tell Mister Hammond I said so.’ I debated giving instructions to immobilize the transports but reflected that it might do us as much harm as our enemy.

Zimmerman was beside me. I said to him, ‘Please go fetch Mister Kemp. He’ll be at the rig, And get Doctor Kat as well. Tell him he must leave his patients for a few minutes.’

Wingstead said, ‘I gather we aren’t sure if it’s the goodies or the baddies who are coming along, right?’

‘Exactly right. So we play it as cool as we can. What’s happened with Otterman?’

‘He was having some sort of convulsion. God knows what it is; the medics have nothing left to sedate him with. I feel responsible but I can’t do him one bit of good. I’ve never had a man working for me die before.’

‘Well, he’s not dead yet. They’ll pull him through if they can,’ I said, but it was hollow comfort. We hurried back to the rig, and I noticed that the Nyalan refugees had vanished; like the soldiers, they had dissolved back into the land. It had needed no bush telegraph to pass the word. They had heard and recognized the gunfire.

Back at the rig Hammond had got my message and gathered the men together. ‘The army’s pulling out,’ someone said.

‘Who’s doing the shooting?’

‘Hold it! Just shut up and listen. Harry, you translate for our Russian friends, please. This is the position as far as we know. There’s a force coming down from Kodowa. They ran into one of Sadiq’s patrols and we think they shot them up, so it’s likely that they’re rebels. But we can’t be sure yet. Mistakes happen in the dark.’

And in broad daylight too, I thought, remembering the bombing raid on Kodowa.

‘If they are rebels they’ll be too much for Sadiq to handle, so he’s done a little disappearing act with his men. We’ll signal to let him know if the new arrivals are friendly or otherwise. If they want to know where Sadiq is, he’s gone off with his men. It’s important that everybody tells the same story. He left us as soon as we got here Right?’

Kemp asked, ‘Why this flimflam? He’s supposed to stay and guard the rig, isn’t he?’

Not for the first time I despaired of Kemp’s singlemindedness. I said, ‘I’ll explain later,’ and turned back to the men.

‘When they get here I want the camp to look normal. Remember, we know nothing about their politics and care less. We’re paid to push the rig, that’s all. We’re a crowd of foreigners in the middle of a shooting war, trying to keep our noses clean, and we’re scared.’

‘None of us will have to be Laurence Olivier to act that part,’ someone said.

‘Let Mister Wingstead or me answer any questions. And no rough stuff, no opposition, no matter what.’ This wouldn’t be easy. Men like this wouldn’t willingly allow themselves to be pushed around. But it was essential. Opposition could only bring reprisal.

A voice said, ‘Why stay here? Why don’t we scarper and hide out in the bush till they’ve gone, same as the army?’

Dr Kat said sharply, ‘I am not leaving my patients.’

‘I don’t think it’d wash, or I’d be the first to go,’ Wingstead put in. ‘If there’s no-one here they’ll get suspicious and come looking for us.’

His calm decisiveness was what was needed. There wasn’t a man amongst them who didn’t respect him.

I said, ‘Right, let’s get this camp looking peaceful.’

I left Wingstead to organize things and went to the Land Rover to get the shotgun and its shells. I took them into the warehouse and hid them deep inside a bale of cotton, hoping that nobody had seen me do it. Then I went back to rejoin Wingstead at the rig.

He had persuaded the doctors and Sister Ursula to accept our need for deception, and to brief the nurses. I had a quick look at Otterman and was not reassured. He looked desperately ill.

Geoff and I made a quick tour of the camp, checking to make sure that everything looked reasonably normal. Of the Nyalans there was no sign whatsoever, and Sadiq had taken off his platoon complete with all their transport. Camp fires had been extinguished and there was nothing to show that his departure had been anything other than orderly.

We settled down around the rig, tense and nervous, to wait for our visitors. They took about an hour to reach us, and it was probably the longest wait of our lives.