“I don’t like this,” Warren said. “These guys look like kids.”
“Stay cool,” Jack said. He rolled his window down. “Hi, guys. Nice day, huh?”
The soldiers didn’t move. Their blank expressions didn’t change.
Jack was about to ask them kindly to open the gate, when a fourth man stepped out into the sunlight. To Jack’s surprise, this man was pulling on a black suit jacket over a white shirt and tie. In the middle of the steaming jungle it was absurd. The other surprising thing was that the man wasn’t black. He was Arab.
“Can I help you?” the Arab asked. His tone was not friendly.
“I hope so,” Jack said. “We’re here to visit Cogo.”
The Arab glanced at the windshield of the vehicle, presumably looking for some identification. Not seeing it, he asked Jack if he had a pass.
“No pass,” Jack admitted. “We’re just a couple of doctors interested in the work that’s going on here.”
“What is your name?” the Arab asked.
“Dr. Jack Stapleton. I’ve come all the way from New York City.”
“Just a minute,” the Arab said before disappearing back into the gate house.
“This doesn’t look good,” Jack said to Warren out of the corner of his mouth. He smiled at the soldiers. “How much should I offer him? I’m not good at this bribing stuff.”
“Money must mean a lot more here than it does in New York,” Warren said. “Why don’t you overwhelm him with a hundred dollars. I mean, if it’s worth it to you.”
Jack mentally converted a hundred dollars into French francs, then extracted the bills from his money belt. A few minutes later, the Arab returned.
“The manager says that he does not know you and that you are not welcome,” the Arab said.
“Shucks,” Jack said. Then he extended his left hand with the French francs casually stuck between his index finger and his ring finger. “We sure do appreciate your help.”
The Arab eyed the money for a moment before reaching out and taking it. It disappeared into his pocket in the blink of an eye.
Jack stared at him for a moment, but the man didn’t move. Jack found it difficult to read his expression because the man’s mustache obscured his mouth.
Jack turned to Warren. “Didn’t I give him enough?”
Warren shook his head. “I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
“You mean he just took my money and that’s that?” Jack asked.
“Be my guess,” Warren said.
Jack turned his attention back to the man in the black suit. Jack estimated he was about a hundred and fifty pounds, definitely on the thin side. For a moment Jack entertained the idea of getting out of the car and asking for his money back, but a glance at the soldiers made him think otherwise.
With a sigh of resignation Jack did a three-point turn and headed back the way they’d come.
“Phew!” Laurie said from the backseat. “I did not like that one bit.”
“You didn’t like it?” Jack questioned. “Now I’m pissed.”
“What’s plan B?” Warren asked.
Jack explained about his idea of approaching Cogo by boat from Acalayong. He had Warren look at the map. Given how long it had taken them to get where they were, he asked Warren to estimate how long it would take to get to Acalayong.
“I’d say three hours,” Warren said. “As long as the road stays good. The problem is we have to backtrack quite a way before heading south.”
Jack glanced at his watch. It was almost nine a.m. “That means we’d get there about noon. I’d judged we could get from Acalayong to Cogo in an hour, even in the world’s slowest boat. Say we stay in Cogo for a couple hours. I think we’d still get back at a reasonable hour. What do you guys say?”
“I’m cool,” Warren said.
Jack looked in the rearview mirror. “I could take you ladies back to Bata and come back tomorrow.”
“My only reservation about any of us going is those soldiers with the assault rifles,” Laurie said.
“I don’t think that’s a problem,” Jack said. “If they have soldiers at the gate then they don’t need them in the town. Of course there’s always the chance they patrol the waterfront, which would mean I’d be forced to use plan C.”
“What’s plan C?” Warren asked.
“I don’t know,” Jack said. “I haven’t come up with it yet.”
“What about you, Natalie?” Jack asked.
“I’m finding it all interesting,” Natalie said. “I’ll go along with the crowd.”
It took almost an hour to get to the point where a decision had to be made. Jack pulled to the side of the road.
“What’s it going to be, gang?” he asked. He wanted to be absolutely sure. “Back to Bata or on to Acalayong?”
“I think I’ll be more worried if you go by yourself,” Laurie said. “Count me in.”
“Natalie?” Jack said. “Don’t be influenced by these other crazies. What do you want to do?”
“I’ll go,” Natalie said.
“Okay,” Jack said. He put the car in gear and turned left toward Acalayong.
Siegfried got up from his desk with his coffee mug in hand and walked to the window overlooking the square. He was mystified. The Cogo operation had been up and running for six years and never had they had someone come to the gate house and request entrance. Equatorial Guinea was not a place people visited casually.
Siegfried took a swig of his coffee and wondered if there could be any connection between this abnormal event and the arrival of Taylor Cabot, the CEO of GenSys. Both were unanticipated, and both were particularly unwelcome since they came just when there was a major problem with the bonobo project. Until that unfortunate situation was taken care of, Siegfried didn’t want any stray people around, and he put the CEO in that category.
Aurielo poked his head in the door and said that Dr. Raymond Lyons was there and wished to see him.
Siegfried rolled his eyes. He didn’t want Raymond around, either. “Send him in,” Siegfried said reluctantly.
Raymond came into the room, looking as tanned and healthy as ever. Siegfried envied the man’s aristocratic appearance, and the fact that he had two good arms.
“Have you located Kevin Marshall yet?” Raymond demanded.
“No, we haven’t,” Siegfried said. He took immediate offense at Raymond’s tone.
“I understand it’s been forty-eight hours since he’s been seen,” Raymond said. “I want him found!”
“Sit down, Doctor!” Siegfried said sharply.
Raymond hesitated. He didn’t know whether to get angry or be intimidated by the manager’s sudden aggressiveness.
“I said sit!” Siegfried said.
Raymond sat. The white hunter with his horrid scar and limp arm could be imposing, particularly surrounded by evidence of his extensive kills.
“Let us clear up a point involving the chain of command,” Siegfried said. “I do not take orders from you. In fact, when you are here as a guest, you take orders from me. Is that understood?”
Raymond opened his mouth to protest but thought better of it. He knew Siegfried was technically correct.
“And while we are talking so directly,” Siegfried added, “where is my retrieval bonus? In the past, I’ve always gotten it when the patient left the Zone on his way back to the States.”
“That’s true,” Raymond said tautly. “But there have been major expenses. Money is coming in shortly from new clients. You’ll be paid as soon as it comes in.”
“I don’t want you to think you can give me the runaround,” Siegfried warned.
“Of course not,” Raymond blurted out.
“And one other thing,” Siegfried said. “Isn’t there some way you can hasten the CEO’s departure? His presence here in Cogo is disrupting. Can’t you use the patient’s needs in some way?”
“I don’t see how,” Raymond said. “He’s been informed the patient is capable of traveling. What more can I say?”
“Think of something,” Siegfried said.