WAR: Intrusion (32 page)

“He’s setting his troops up to be an alternative to the current rebellion?” JC asked.

“Not quite. He professes to be part of the rebel alliance,” Lars continued, “yet according to the attackers, he’s promising a more focused strategy with a faster takeover of the entirety of West Africa. But only after he has finished building an army he deems suitable to the task.”

“He’s tempting them with the status of belonging to a new, elite fighting force,” Lachlan mused. “Testing groups with different strengths to see who has the skills and staying power to be of use to him.”

“That’s what it sounds like,” Lars agreed.

“Any groups that carry out future attacks on Dr. Kirk and the surviving villagers will also have no details on Natchaba’s organization,” Hoss said. “So, if intel is our goal, then there’s no benefit to using Dr. Kirk and the others as bait to draw the rebels out.”

“Agreed,” Lachlan bit out. He accepted that it might become necessary to use Helen and the others as bait in the future, but it made him uneasy.

“Based on the attacks so far,” Lachlan said, “Natchaba doesn’t have much skill in military tactics. He won’t be able to attract seasoned military fighters to his cause, or keep any that have been professionally trained, unless he puts someone in charge with the military experience to keep up morale and instill loyalty in his troops.” One of the weaknesses of the current rebel structure was that there was no skilled general directing and motivating the forces. A few experienced soldiers had controlled the initial forays, but they’d either been killed by government forces or overthrown by hotheaded, less experienced men. Without proper guidance, enthusiastic young men calling themselves rebels had formed roving gangs whose sole purpose appeared to be to commit violence whenever they felt like it. Most of those forces fell apart the first time they met organized, well-armed resistance.

The early gains the rebellion had made in taking over and holding towns this far east had recently been rolled back thanks to WAR and the local governments. Now the nearest rebel-controlled territory was a thin slice of land along the border between the Republic of Volta and the Ivory Republic. The rebels hadn’t given up, though. Every week they launched new attacks, trying to regain their foothold.

“Of course, we’re assuming that Natchaba intends to use his private army to carry out more strategic attacks,” Hoss said. “But after the festival attack he didn’t attempt to take over the regional capital or the nearby military base.”

“Right,” JC agreed. “Even if Natchaba wasn’t ready to use the town as a staging area for growing his power base, he could have worked with one of the rebel groups to give them control.”

“Ah, but I reckon he doesn’t want anyone having such control but himself,” Lachlan said. “He’ll use the rebel groups to achieve his own objectives, pay lip service to their goals, but never actually allow the rebels to become a cohesive, powerful entity on their own. That would allow them to threaten his own power. If he doesn’t have enough troops loyal only to him to hold the regional capital by himself, then he won’t have the military strength to force other rebel groups to bow to his command.”

“That’s gonna cost him later on,” JC commented. “Assuming that he agrees with the rebels that all of West Africa needs to be under new management, it’s going to take a lot more manpower later on to seize control of targets such as the regional capital once they’ve been put on alert.”

“Unless he waits long enough that the government relaxes their vigilance,” Lars said.

“That’s all in the future,” Lachlan pointed out. “We need to find out where he is now.” As he’d suspected, the solicitor’s office where Helen had signed the loan papers had been abandoned and yielded no clues.

“Research is trying to track down other aliases Natchaba has used. They’re also attempting to trace the financial records of the aliases we do know about,” Lars informed them. “Yet with so many cities and agencies in the region still not fully online, I doubt we’re going to find anything helpful.”

“Like a list of recently purchased properties,” JC muttered.

“Exactly. And with our budget constraints, recruiting people to perform in-person interviews and examinations of paper records is not going to happen.”

“What information do we have?” Lachlan asked.

“This is where HQ lost the signal on the tracker you planted.” Hoss circled an area on the map spread out on the coffee table. “It corresponds to a section of the main north-south road about a hundred kilometers away from Dr. Kirk’s clinic and half that distance from the border with Dahomey. When Marcus dropped us off yesterday morning, we didn’t find any evidence of a rebel base.” He shrugged. “There were no telltale tire tracks leading off into the jungle, just a mess of tracks and furrows where the unpaved side roads intersected. The truck you tagged could have headed off in any direction. Or kept going straight, since we don’t know if the signal died due to a malfunction or because the truck entered an enclosed area that the signal couldn’t penetrate.”

The problem with WAR having a limited budget was that some of their equipment was surplus. Meaning old. Their technology in particular tended not to work properly. Lachlan still hadn’t fully adjusted to being hamstrung in such a way.

“The man you interrogated at Helen’s clinic claimed that Natchaba feels a need to right some wrong committed against his mother’s family. This is her home village.” Hoss used a different color pencil to mark that location. “It’s at the farthest edge of David’s chiefdom, although it would have been under his father’s rule when Natchaba’s mother was kicked out. According to our sources, she’s now living in her own McMansion over the border in one of the larger towns in Dahomey.” Hoss made another mark on the map.

“I’ll ask Kris to assign one of our locals to watch the mother,” Lachlan said. “If Natchaba really did attack out of a need for revenge in her name, then he’s likely to visit her. In the meantime, the area around her home village is as probable a spot for Natchaba’s base as any.”

“As far as we know, except for the stolen government helicopter,” JC said, “all of the attackers reached their destinations via truck. So if Natchaba really does have a training or storage compound, it has to be in this general area.” He stabbed his finger at the map not far from where the tracking device disappeared.

Lachlan nodded. Helen’s clinic, the airfield, and the villages were the farthest points west. The home village of Natchaba’s mother, Morenga’s estranged wife, was the farthest north. The spot where they’d lost the tracking device was southeast of both. “He’ll need food. Water. Electricity. Paved roads so his men can get in and out no matter what the weather. Where’s the closest town?”

Lars pulled up a slightly more detailed map on his computer. “There isn’t much information on this area, because the jungle canopy is so dense and the government dismisses the area as unimportant. Even the main road skirts that part of the jungle because it’s so thick.”

“We would have needed machetes to hack our way into the heart of it,” Hoss agreed.

Lachlan nodded, having explored the western edges of that area the first night he and Tony had arrived at the most northern of the three villages closest to Helen’s clinic. “Aye, Natchaba could be hiding an entire army in there with none the wiser.”

“Not to mention that this ridge here above the river could contain caves,” JC added. “During the first wave of rebellion and civil wars back in 2000, fighters blasted out tunnels all over the place. There could be an entire underground network we’re not aware of.”

“Now wouldn’t that be ironic,” Hoss said with a laugh. WAR’s HQ included an above ground abandoned army post, and an underground cave system that had been turned into conference rooms, storage rooms, and a recreation center for WAR’s off-duty members.

“Agreed.” Lars zoomed in on an area and pointed to several clusters of mud huts. “Would Natchaba house his troops in one of these villages?”

“We only had time to do reconnaissance on a few of them,” JC said. “But we didn’t see any indication that the villages were housing Natchaba’s troops.”

“Yeah,” Hoss said. “The villages barely have enough food for themselves, let alone hungry soldiers.”

“Natchaba wouldn’t trade with such small villages,” Lachlan said. “Their offerings would be too limited for the needs of his troops. They’d shop in the regional capital or over the border in the outdoor market. Kwesi’s luxury goods smuggling probably helped supply the camp, as well.”

Lachlan studied the map. “All of Natchaba’s aliases have been tied to businesses in the larger cities and regional capitals of Volta, the United African Republic, and Dahomey.” He stabbed his finger at the point on the map where the borders of the three countries met. “Based on the overindulgent luxury of his mansion, I don’t see him spending significant time at a training camp. He’ll have a home and office elsewhere. A place where he can remain anonymous and live in high style. He’ll need top-of-the-line equipment so that he can communicate with the leaders of his troops and his potential rebel partners.”

“You think he’s here in the capital?” Hoss asked.

“Not now,” Lachlan said. “He wouldn’t stage attacks if he was in residence. But the size of this place would appeal to him. Plus, it’s an important capital. He’d want the illusion of being one of the movers and shakers. My bet is that he might have had an office here, but has moved on to another cosmopolitan center such as the capital of the Greater Niger Republic.”

“He could be anywhere,” JC muttered in disgust.

“Aye. What about Morenga’s life?” Lachlan asked. Among the files that had been retrieved by the government and shared with WAR after Dietrich’s arrest had been a full dossier on Morenga. Savvy businessman that he’d been, Dietrich had investigated Morenga thoroughly before agreeing to work with him. Unfortunately, the file had been lacking more than the most basic details on Morenga’s son. Since that struck Lachlan as sloppy, he suspected someone in Dietrich’s organization of working for Natchaba and omitting crucial information that could have tied Theophilus Sani Morenga to Sani Natchaba. “Can we pick up any clues on Natchaba’s objectives from what we know about his father?”

“Meaning, does Natchaba have daddy issues?” Hoss said.

Lachlan once again fought to contain a flinch. Out of the corner of his eye he saw JC watching him with a frown on his face. Bugger it. He did not need his men speculating on what was bothering him.

“If he’s trying to take over his father’s weapons smuggling, then I think the answer you’re looking for is yes,” Hoss continued. “We know Morenga has never stayed in one place for long and that he and his wife stopped living together when his son was six. Natchaba could have taken that as a personal affront. After all, he chose a distant family name on his mother’s side, Natchaba, to use as his latest alias, not one from Morenga’s family.”

“Odds of Natchaba setting up offices in the same cities as his father?” JC asked.

Lachlan shook his head. “It’s too early. Natchaba hasn’t fully established himself as a success. Look at all those aliases. He’s moving around, adjusting his strategy, trying different ways of achieving whatever goals he’s set for himself. He won’t go face-to-face with his father until he has the power to back it up.”

“I agree,” Lars said. “At this point he’ll be enjoying the fact that he’s acting covertly against his father. He’ll have men inserted into Morenga’s operation, and probably he’s even turned some of Morenga’s men to his side. His spies would have told Natchaba of the MP3 players and carried out the theft.”

“Has there been any word from Wil’s spy regarding big, upcoming weapons deals for Morenga?” Hoss asked. “That’s what I’d be after.”

“I don’t think Wil’s bloke is able to check in very often,” Lachlan said. “I’ll ask Kris, though.”

“My bet is that Natchaba will continue to user smaller targets to test his men,” JC said. “Venues with a personal connection or that offer relatively easy access to local or regional officials. Once he’s confident in his force, then he’ll hit hard at large targets with more strategic value.”

Hoss glanced over at Lachlan. “If some of the surviving villagers attended secondary school with Natchaba, maybe they’ll have suggestions regarding possible targets.”

“I’ve thought of that.” Lachlan said. “But, since it’s unlikely they’ll remember critical information while they’re grieving and in pain, I thought it best to wait a bit to allow them to recover.” Sensing a change in the atmosphere, he glanced up. The lads were staring at him in surprise. “What?” he demanded. “Don’t you think I can be sympathetic?” Christ. Did even his men think of him as cold-hearted?

“Well,” JC said. “You’ve always been all about the mission, no matter the costs.”

“What the rebels did…” Lachlan shrugged, embarrassed because JC was right. Civilians were not to be physically harmed during a mission, but they couldn’t be careful of people’s feelings if critical information was at stake. Yet he still felt raw inside when he thought about little Sisi’s death. How would the villagers react to knowing their loved ones had been the victims of Natchaba’s petty revenge?

“But that’s moot,” Lachlan added, nodding at the newspaper sitting next to the laptop. “That reporter didn’t respect their grief when he went digging for quotes for his article. So, after Obi has finished checking for information from his contacts, Obi and Dev will take a turn at questioning the survivors.” Obi had become the team’s point of contact for anyone currently within a government who wished to pass on information about the rebels that he or she felt was not being properly handled by their own people. “But if neither David nor Kwesi had reason to be suspicious of Natchaba, then I suspect no one else in the villages knew him any better.”

Lachlan stared at the map. “Natchaba might not be a military strategist, but if, as I suspect, he staged the vandalism at Helen’s clinic to make himself appear the benevolent overlord and then used the influx of building materials to hide his weapons smuggling, that indicates long-term planning.”

“And patience,” Hoss said.