Mail-Order Bride (Novel)

Chapter 52: Finding the Enemy

2011-11-20T00:10:00.001+02:00

The last call that I made was to Bev. I hadn't checked on her for a while, and while I was pretty sure she would be fine, I needed to reassure myself. As it turned out, I needn't have worried. She had taken her mother to visit her parents in the Karoo, far from anything that I might be involved in.

The rest of the afternoon I spent watching the progress of the training and keeping track of how the different guys were performing. Somewhere during the afternoon, I noticed that Alina had gotten a clip-board from somewhere and was making notes of my observations. When I thought to take a look at what she had written, I was pleasantly surprised ... she had made neat profiles of each of the people I had commented on, with their name and a short description and then a summary of the various things I had said.

In the late afternoon, I called everyone together again and announced it was time for some PT. I decided to start out with a ten klick run, just to establish the basic fitness level. As it turned out, no-one had any issues with keeping up with the pace I set, which was a pleasant surprise.

After supper, Daise, Alina and I settled into the jacuzzi to let the hot, soapy water ease our muscles. After an indeterminate time of just lazing and soaking, Alina and I started talking through our observations of the people. Alina seemed to have all the details memorised, not needing to consult her clip-board once. Daise had to be reminded a few times, but each time she had a problem putting a face to a name, Alina gave her a quick verbal sketch of the person that enabled Daise to make the connection. I was very impressed by this performance by Alina, as it proved to me that she was bright and intelligent and had an increbible aptitude which, I felt, could be applied to any manner of careers.

We all eventually hauled our prune-skinned bodies out of the water, dried off, and clambered into bed. As much as I enjoyed the sensual delight of having these two delightfully nubile girls in bed with me, I faded as if someone had turned off the power switch.

I woke early as usual and headed out to the complex's pool. It was a bit cold in the pre-dawn twilight, but I warmed up quickly after a few lengths in the pool. I was joined after a while by Bettina who started doing lengths of her own. Although she swam a lot slower than I did, she had perfect form, gliding slowly and powerfully through the water.

I pulled myself out eventually, sitting on the side and towelling myself dry while I watched Bettina for a while, then I pulled on my track-suit and headed down to see what Gerrie was up to.

As I expected, he was being his normal trogolyte self, hovering gnomishly over his various computers with various empty coffee mugs and half-eaten pizzas scattered around the place. Surprisngly, he was clean-shaven, which puzzled me for a while, until I realised that the vaguely moving lump under the blanket on the bed was a slumbering Katie, then it made sense...

"Morning Gerrie," I greeted him.

"Howzit Boss," was the unusually cheery reply.

"What's happening Gerrie?"

"All kinds of stuff. I have a good track on these guys now. Their OPSEC leaves a lot to be desired. I think they are all used to the cover of a larger organisation. They aren't true professionals, that's clear."

"That's good news, isn't it?" I queried.

"Good for us, yes!" Gerrie replied. "Not so good for them. I've been plotting their operations on Google-Earth. Here, let me show you..."

Gerrie moved to one of the screens and showed me a map of the greater Durban (Etekweni) area. There were little marks all over it. "What are the markers?", I asked.

"The red marks are reported 'Enemy action', the blue are the incidents where you and yours have been involved, yellow are reported incidents of various types which could be enemy action but that I'm not sure of. If you click on any of the marks, the description will tell you what the details are," Gerrie explained.

I spent a few minutes checking the map out, clicking on some of the markers. "Ok," I said finally, "are you ready to brief me?"

"Sure," Gerrie answered. "The first thing you will notice is the clumping in these areas..."

Gerrie proceeded to spend just over half an hour going through the various incidents and point out the trends that he had noticed. Areas where there were high incidences of particular types of incidents. Indications of routes in and out of these areas, places that he thought were bases of operations and various similar things. It broke down to three clubs in Central Durban, two in Umhlanga Rocks and three houses that he speculated were being used as both brothels and drug distribution centers.

"There is one anomaly," Gerrie pointed out finally. This area here is completely black. There are incidents reported all around it, bit nothing within 500 meters. I took a closer look and it seems that there is a house here which could be Dimitri's home base, his HQ if you will. I have a few indicators, but it's not definite."

"Ok. Brilliant work Gerrie. I think this gives us a great place to begin. I think our first missions are going to be recces of these areas to give us more tactical data. You know I trust you, but I prefer confirmation of your ELINT with some HUMINT."

"I knew you would say that," Gerrie grinned. "I would have figured there was something wrong with you if you hadn't ... I have some kit that should make the job a little simpler though."

"So do I," I replied. I proceeded to explain to Gerrie what kit I had ordered the day before and he approved of all my choices.

I was distracted by a noise and turned around to see that Katie had woken up. She sat up in the bed, apparently completely oblivious to the fact that the blanket had slid down to her waist and she was exposed in all her glory while she stretched and yawned. I turned to Gerrie with a smile, about to make some smart-arse comment, but stopped when I saw the awe-struck look on his face. He was staring at Katie as if she was "The Lady" rising from the lake bearing Excalibur, and I decided to make myself scarce. Gerrie didn't even notice me getting up and leaving the room.

When I got back to the dining room, it was clear that the majority of the guys were up and about, in the process of getting themselves something to eat. I joined the queue at the Buffett and loaded up on some carbs and protein to provide some energy for the day. I sat down at a table of my own and was joined shortly by both Daise and Alina. We ate in companionable silence.

When I was finished my second mug of coffee, I stretched out and looked around. There was a low rumble of conversation in the room, but everyone appeared well rested and satisfied with their breakfast.

I caught the eyes of Johnny and Bird and summoned them. Daise looked at me with a puzzled expression and it took me a few seconds to realise it might look odd to someone else. "That's how you tell someone to come to you, ' I explained as I repeated my gesture, grouping the fingers and thumb of my right hand together and tapping it on top of my head. Daise smiled, satisfied with the explanation.

"Should we leave you alone Rupert?" Alina asked as Johnny and Bird pulled up chairs at our table.

"Nope. You stick around. I've nothing to hide from you, and after your demonstration of skill yesterday, Alina, I think you must stick close to me so you can help me with any details I forget," I reassured them.

Alina smiled at this, obviously pleased that her contribution was considered valuable.

"Morning Gents, sleep well?" I asked.

"Yup," Johnny answered shortly.

"Most comfortable bed I've slept in for some time," Bird added. "Nice place this."

"I'm glad you're enjoying it," I answered with a smile. "We go out of our way to make the accomodations comfortable, cause the courses are designed to be very UN-comfortable." We all grinned at each other like kids with candy.

"Ok, down to business. I spoke to Gerrie a little earlier. He has done his usual great job with ELINT. We have some indications of where the enemy is operating."

"And now you want eyes-on?" Johnny asked astutely.

"You know me too well," I replied. "That's 100% correct. Johnny, I'd like you to sit down with Gerrie and take a look at the ELINT and work out some orders for observing the various static locations. Focus only on gathering info please. Eyes only. No prisoners or interrogations. I'd like to build a database of timings and routines and photos of all the players."

"Teach your granny to suck eggs," Johny replied with a smile.

"Bird, There's a house that looks as if it's Dimitri's HQ. I'd like you to focus on that. Johnny's teams can feed you the Int electronically, and I'd like to have a feel for what you think we can do there by tomorrow. We can brain-storm it and come up with a plan."

"Are you thinking of assaulting the place? What's your intention? You want to just wipe out this Dimitri guy or something more?" Bird asked.

"I'm not sure. I'll keep my options open till I have a better idea of what's happening. That is one option though. With the limited Int I have now, I am leaning towards a campaign of attrition, whittling away the various operations that he's got going and isolating him, but we have a number of constraining factors."

"Like what?" Johnny asked.

"For one, we have to keep away from the Police. I will see what I can do to blunt that problem, but the last thing I want is to have any of them caught in the cross-fire. The other issue is the non-combatants. There are a lot of women caught up in this, especially in the brothels, and I'm not sure how we will tackle this in a way which will allow us to take the targets down without any of them getting hit."

"Cool," Johnny jumped in. "I'll get on to Gerrie and start planning. You want to start tonight?"

"If not sooner."

"Ok." With that, Johnny left.

"And me?" Bird asked.

"I'd like the rest of the guys to continue today what we started yesterday. I suggest that you work with Alina here, and start evaluating the the guys. You, Johnny and I will have to make sure we get the guys into teams that will work well together. Some recce teams, then some assault teams. My initial thinking is that we must plan the assault teams, but have one or two guys from each assault team getting together for the recce teams, so that when we do have a go, they can have people with each team who have had their eyes on the targets."

"'K. Sounds good."

Chapter 51: Getting Ready

2011-09-23T11:12:00.000+02:00

I left the range, after allocating responsibilities to various people, including who should supervise what was happening. In most cases, this meant that one of my team that assisted in training normally, was running each exercise. Most of the guys took it in the spirit it was intended, following instruction quite easily, and those who didn't would be noted and I would probably excuse them from any operations.

I decided that this was a good time to make some administrative arrangements and made myself comfortable on a director's chair where I could be far enough away from what was happening to be out of ear-shot and close enough to still observe what was happening. Once I had settled down, I hauled out my phone and started calling.

I was looking for kit; I realised that with a private operation like this, I would have to provide all the kit myself that would normally be part of the issue if we were working officially. One of my major concerns was the possibility of injuries to any member of my team, so I started calling some connections.

One of my friends owned and operated a factory in Pinetown that made all the protective gear that I could want, and I tried him first. Once I had explained in general terms what I was doing, he was very sympathetic and I extracted a promise from him to donate some of his kit. When I hung up the phone, Daise gave me an enquiring look, and asked "What equipment is that guy going to provide, Rupert?"

"There are two main things I want from him," I answered. "An under clothing protective vest and a jacket that looks like a wind-breaker, but has ballistic protection. We can put plates into the jacket to provide protection against 7.62 rounds and it still doesn't look like a bullet-proof vest."

"Is his stuff that special?"

PASGT protection system Helmet

"I think it is. There's an amusing story that he tells. He was in the parking centre of a shopping lot in Pinetown, and saw some guy stopping his motor-bike. He noticed that the guy was wearing a helmet that he recognised as one that he had made. He asked the guy where he had gotten the helmet and the guy told him that he was just back from Afghanistan and he got the helmet there. Turns out that the helmet was made in Pinetown, exported to the USA, sent across to Afghan where this guy was issued it and then he brought it home and was wearing it not more than a klick away from where it was made."

Daise laughed. "That's amazing. Is his kit good though?"

"Yes. I've seen the tests that they do and if the bullets hit one of the plates, then they are stopped. The vest and jacket will only stop hand-gun rounds though. I figure wearing both the vest and the jacket will provide double protection, and adding the plates to the jacket will add some protection from rifle rounds. It won't stop everything, but it is certainly better than nothing. The real reason that I want his stuff though is that it doesn't look like anything other than normal clothing so the guys won't stand out."

"And what about me? Do I get to wear some of that stuff?"

"Yup. I asked him for a few sets made for women."

"Thank you darling," Daise said, and planted a kiss on my cheek.

I returned to my phone. There were a few other things I wanted to source.

Well… I’ve been away … :-)

2011-04-15T16:19:00.000+02:00

For those of you who were wondering (all 2 and a half of you) why i haven’t been writing, it’s been a long stretch for me of real life interfering!

I was in the army for a while, first two months at Infantry School doing the Battalion Mortars Specialist course, of which a fair proportion was in the bush… and then on my return I took over as Alpha Company Commander for two and a half months, specifically to prepare the company for the combat readiness evaluation for deployment.

I’ve also just had the most delightful addition to my family, my third daughter Sophiah Rosanna, who has just turned one month old.

In between all that, my cell phone got destroyed and I lost what I had been working on…

Last, and by no means least, I have been scurrying around trying to earn a living… :

I just got a new notebook though, and I’m hoping to be able to start writing again.. so watch this space!

Chapter 50: Hand-Gun Range

2010-05-10T00:14:00.001+02:00

Bettina, the third woman of my team, joined us as we moved to the range. Lisa stuck to her like glue, although I didn't consider her to be a member of the team.

The refresher on the range achieved my first objective very quickly, which was to drive home the fact that most soldiers shot really, really badly with hand-guns of any type. The problem is normally to get them to admit it, so that alternative arrangements can be made. I had learnt my lesson the hard way though, and knew that actions spoke much louder than words.

Most people who have shot hand-guns, have trained on a static range with paper targets. A lot of these, including professional soldiers, had not been formally trained at all, just taught themselves or picked up what they could from observation and trial and error.

Our range was designed to make the point instantly that this was not good enough. A person can be taught to shoot an assault-rifle sufficiently well in just a few weeks, that he can be considered a competent infanteer. It was my experience that the same was not true of hand guns. They involve completely different skills and abilities.

I took my team through the range first, so that we could get them out of the way, but also so that they wouldn't have any pressure on them as they wouldn't know what was good or bad.

After I had briefed them on the range rules, and test their knowledge, I took them them through the course one at a time. This first course was a favourite of mine with strange things like pumpkins and oranges and water-filled plastic bottles hanging from strings. All designed to be highly visible when hit. A lot of them had movement built in, swinging and twisting in the breeze.

Daise was a lot more confident this time, having used her weapon in action, and managed to score a respectable 60% of possible. Alina and Bettina scored in the low forties, but the big surprise was Lisa.

I had no intention at first of even allowing her to shoot, but she insisted and her mother backed her up. I tried to offer her a smaller weapon, but she refused that too, insisting that she be given the opportunity equal to the adult's.

She turned out to be fairly slow, recovery from the recoil was hard on her, hurting her wrists, but she stuck it out and at the end of the course I was astounded and delighted that she had scored a full possible; 100%.

Once we had all gone through the course, I took my team aside to discuss their performance and put it into context for them. Normally, I had to explain to a very discouraged group that it was normal to fail the course; that's what it was designed for after all, but Lisa had screwed that up for me completely.

It worked out very well in another way though. Once all the men had been through the course, and not one of them had beaten Daise's score, the example of Lisa reinforced the idea that they could shoot these weapons as well as they could.

I made it clear to them that we would be running classes for all those who wished to attend them, and that they qualifying score on this range was 80%. Anything less than that and I didn't want to risk the collateral damage they might cause in an urban environment.

We broke for lunch after that, and I took the opportunity to greet someone that I had really hoped to see, but hadn't been sure would show up.

Jack is a short, quiet man. Completely unobtrusive and the antithesis of flamboyant. He was the person, however, who had designed and built the Special Forces Urban Warfare course on the Bluff, and ho had written the manual for the South African doctrine along the way. He also had the distinction of having been awarded the Honoris Crux, the SA decoration for valour equivalent to the American CMH or the British VC. He had retired from the army as a Major and gone on to fulfill his life-long dream of becoming a game-ranger.*

We discussed quietly what I hoped to achieve and Jack gave me some initial pointers before disappearing. I was able to extract a promise from him that he would visit a few times and help to evaluate and improve the program, and possible even present a class or two, but he wasn't prepared to commit to more than that, to my huge disappointment.

* Read the real life story of Major Jack Greeff, HC (rtd) in his book "A Greater Share of Honour" from http://justdone.co.za/shop/product.php?id_product=272

Chapter 49: Marriage Proposal Squared

2010-05-09T14:48:00.002+02:00

Satisfied that Gerrie was on the job, I returned to the crowd around the Urn and grabbed myself a mug of Rooibos tea. As I was adding sugar, Daise grabbed my arm and asked to speak to me. I nodded, told her to follow me and walked a short distance away from the crowd. When Alina spotted us, she hurried out to join us, and I noticed that Daise waited for her to catch up before she began speaking. "Rupert, we've been thinking," Daise began. I shuddered, hoping that this wasn't the beginning of a speech about 'it was nice to know you but...'

"No, I think you've got the wrong idea," Alina blurted when she saw the expression on my face. "Please just listen to what Daise has to say. She speaks for both of us on this."

"OK," I responded, "I'm listening." I schooled my face to try to prevent my feelings from reflecting quite so obviously, and turned slightly to face Daise, but ensuring I could keep an eye on Alina's expression at the same time.

"Well..." Daise began hesitantly, "You remember you and I spoke about marriage..."

"Yes?" I prompted gently, feeling my facial muscles freeze, and steeling myself for the worst.

"Well... Alina and I were talking this morning while you were out and we want to suggest something."

"Daise, please just tell me... The suspense is killing me. Do me the favour of putting me out of my misery quickly."

"Oh Rupert, it's just that Alina and I realised as we spoke that not only do we really love each other, but we both love you, and we wouldn't like to split up, but we wanted to know what you felt and we'll do whatever you want, but we would like to stay together and ..."

Daise trailed off, a little out of breath from her little speech, which she had made without seeming to pause for breath.

Now she lifted her eyes, which she had dropped down while she was talking, to look at my face. I could see that was more than slightly disconcerted to see the broad smile which was plastered there. I also noticed the hope blooming in Alina's expression, as I started grinning like a maniac.

"What are you smiling at Rupert?" Daise asked finally, unable to suppress a reciprocal smile of her own.

"The two of you have no idea how happy you have just made me," I managed to get out past the frog that had taken up residence in my throat. "I've been agonising over the very same thing.

I took Daise's hands in mine, looked deep into her eyes, and told her "You know I love you Daise." She sparkled with happiness as I bent my head down to kiss her deeply.

When I pulled back, Daise's eyes were closed and she had a blissful expression on her face.

I dropped Daise's hands, turned to Alina, and took up her hands in mine.

"I love you too Alina," I told her and proceeded to give her pretty much the same sort of kiss Daise had gotten. While we were kissing, I felt Daise's arms encircle both of us, and I thought I heard a faint sob of relief, but I couldn't be sure.

When we finally parted, and surfaced for air, it was to be greeted by applause and slightly ironic cheers. I laughed happily, and responded "That'll be enough from the peanut gallery please." All I got for my effort was more good-natured laughter.

I bent down and pulled the two women's heads close together, so I could talk quietly for their ears alone. "I love you both equally, and I wouldn't want any of us to be seperated from the others. When all this is over, maybe we can speak to the Sgt-Major's Induna about a Zulu wedding, where more than one wife is perfectly acceptable.

Daise and Alina looked stunned at this thought. I smiled and left them to follow me as I returned to join the crowd.

It took a few minutes, and not a few ribald comments, before everyone was settled again, and I could introduce Johnny. He proceeded to lay out the tentative block program for training over the next few days, as well as some suggestions for the teams of four that we had decided were the best combinations for operational purposes.

These 'bricks' of four would from then on train together and eventually deploy as a team, so we wanted to get the combinations right from the start.

Once Johnny was finished, we moved out for the first exercise, which was to get everyone through refresher training in various weapons, with an emphasis on safety-precautions and range orders.

It came as no surprise to me, of course, that my team consisted of the three women and me.

Chapter 48: First Briefing

2010-05-09T13:19:00.000+02:00

The next morning I was up before the sun. I took a long relaxing run around the lake to stretch my muscles and work some of the kinks out of my body. It had been a while since I had run, and I knew that the next while would stress me, and while I normally didn't like running, it was neccessary to start getting myself ready. When I returned to the room, both the girls were up and dressed. I heard their voices coming from the veranda, and when I tried to eavesdrop, was thwarted by the fact that they seemed to be chatting in Russian. I popped into the shower and got rid of the sweat then joined them for a light breakfast. After breakfast, we walked over the ridge to the training area. I was surprised and pleased to see that we had a number of new faces. Well, old faces actually, some of whom I hadn't seen for a long time. It was clear that the drums were beating. I grabbed a mug of coffee, and joined the crowd standing and chatting in the early morning, greeting those that had arrived overnight and just enjoying the sight of the mist slowly dissipating as the sun slowly heated the air. I waited until the last few stragglers joined us from the lodge, brushing off the few enquiries about what was going on until we had a full compliment. "Right," I called to get everyone's attention once I was ready, "let's get this show on the road." Everyone took seats on the benches around the tables on the veranda of the barracks-room, and settled down. "For those of you who don't know me, I'm an old NCO who went across to the dark side, which means that I have both the wits of an NCO and the extra half I got with my commission..." I paused for the expected chuckles and groans, then continued, "This is not an official operation and in fact has no connection with any organisation at all, it is purely a private fight." I could see on at least half of the faces a polite disbelief, but decided to let it go. I would talk to each man individually as things went on to clarify the situation. "What I have in mind is that we start with some refresher training and conditioning. In addition, there are probably a lot of you who haven't done 'Urban in Durban' so some of what we will do will be completely new. In any event, we need to get everyone operating on the same wavelength. Some of the stuff we'll do will be brand new, even to those of you who have done Urban before. We have some people with great experience both old and new, a lot of the new stuff picked up in Iraq from the Pommies and Yanks, and one old instructor that I think will add some very valuable input. While this is going on, we will wait for some decent INT and then start moving the training up from general stuff to OPS specific. Concerns, Questions, Problems?" "What's the actual situation. I just heard that there was a possible fight... " asked a voice from the back. "Thanks for coming anyway Mannie," I greeted, "I'll give you a summary after this of what's been going on. Anything else?" I waited, but there were no more questions. I guessed that those who had questions decided that they would wait to hear what the situation was. None of the men who were here hadn't been around the block a few times. It took me just under an hour to go over everything that had happened, dealing with a variety of questions for clarity and more detail as I went. When I was finished, there was a period of silence while those who hadn't been involved digested what they had heard. I could see that what I had told them had intrigued some, and I got the feeling that they were caught up in the same feelings of disgust and smoldering anger that I was feeling. After looking around for a few minutes, I decided to get the ball rolling. "I'd like to introduce you to someone that most of you don't know and ask him to talk a little about his experiences. he's going to be here for a while to see if he can add any value to what we do. This is Jurgen and he has a story to tell us." At the mention of his name, Jurgen got up and walked over to stand next to me. He started talking in his rather thick German accent. "I'm eighty-seven years old and I've lived here in South Africa for almost fourty years. When I was sixteen, I left school to join the German army. I lived in Munich at the time. I went with the Army to Stalingrad and back." There was a deafening silence. These men knew what was behind those few words. "I made sergeant during the battle but I don't know exactly what I can contribute. I met Rupert some months ago, and we found that we were soldiers of different countries, different wars and different generations, but we still had something in common. After a few beers, he got me to tell him my story. It's not something I have told to anyone else. All my family knows about it is that I still have nightmares sometimes and wake up in the middle of the night." There were a few nods and I could see that what I had seen in Jurgen was also apparent to a lot of those listening. He proceeded to tell his story, and although it was bare of much detail, for those who had experience, that was enough. When he was finished, he sat down, the strain of talking about his experiences obvious. "I called Jurgen yesterday, and asked him to spend some time with us. He will observe and sit in on our planning. I think it's about time for tea." Some throats were cleared as everyone got up and started milling around, grabbing something to drink and chatting about what they had heard. I left them there and went to find Gerrie. He had set himself up in the little room just off the barracks-room, and I was not surprised to see that the walls were already covered with maps and diagrams, and that there were three computer monitors that I could see, with at least seven computers set up. He was busy at a keyboard, and Kate was seated next to him, at another computer. From what I could see, she was browsing the web while he was busy with something completely imcomprehensible. "Howzit Gerrie," I greated him, "anything useful yet?" Gerrie was startled and turned to face me. Kate turned as well, and got a faint blush on her face when she saw me glance at the rumpled bedclothes on the bed against the wall. I smiled at her and waited for Gerrie. "Yes," Gerrie answered, oblivious to the silent exchange, "I'm making some progress, but nothing really concrete yet." "Give me a 'for example' please, ' I asked. "Well, I've traced the ownership of the club that you told me about, and it has no reference to this Dimitri at all, jsut what must be the previous owners, but I got hold of some friends in the Metro Police and they were very happy to let me have a run down of what they know and suspect about the man. I've got Kate on some Russian boards though and she's been very useful there, picking up all kinds of rumours and hints. Seems our man's ex-military alright. An officer. Captain when he left. We'll need to put some electronic bugs onto him and his crew as soon as possible though to get something about what he's doing now. He seems to keep everything behind front-men so it's hard to get much else." "Ok. That sounds like the first order of business then. You tell me what you need and I'll put it together." Gerrie handed me a printed list wordlessly and turned back to his computer. I smiled at Kate and left them to their own devices. Most of you know my story about short chapters and writing on my cell phone yadda yadda... I am also posting this story at http://mailorderbride.penhouse.co.za where there is often additional information such as appropriate photos etc. Update your vote for: "Mail-Order Bride" Technical Merit: Spelling, grammar and overall readability Plot: Creativity, storyline and character development Personal Appeal: Story's emotional and/or intellectual impact on you This story is in your library. to remove from library completely Or to adjust bookmark settings (type, list, etc...) To Be Continued... Go to BoonDock’s Blog Posted: 2009-02-12 Last Modified: 2010-03-22 / 08:58:08 pm Version: 2.00 If you enjoyed this work, take a moment to email the author. Your comments are their only payment. Name: (optional) Email: boondock@storiesonline.org To: BoonDock Subject: Mail-Order Bride Message: Home - My Library - Top [Bookmark Next Chapter] - More Info

Chapter 47: INT OPS

2010-05-09T13:17:00.000+02:00

Bettina was subdued the during the rest of the tour of the facilities, but Lisa bounced right back and got into everything. I noticed more than one fond grin directed her way by the guys, and figured out that Lisa would probably have more than one father-figure in her life. All good in my opinion. I noticed that Daise and Alina seemed to be very intimidated by the high obstacles on the obstacle course, looking up at the wooden structure with some trepidation. Well, not to worry, the whole idea of the course was to build confidence in their ability to handle themselves as well as in the team to look after each other. Once we had toured all the various facilities close to the barracks, we returned to the Lodge for lunch. The food was excellent as usual, the conversation mostly light. Just as we were finishing, I got a call from Gill, Roy's ex-wife, to tell me that the doctors had given permission for Roy to leave the hospital as long as he promised to spend time in bed recovering at home. I was very happy to hear this and immediately told Gill that I would prefer her to bring him and their daughter out to the Lodge to stay for as long as necessary. Gill seemed relieved by the offer, and said she would discuss it with Roy. I felt pretty confident that they would be out to stay in a couple of days. When I got off the phone, Daise and Alina made noises about spending some time hanging around the pool, and a lot of the rest decided that was a good idea. It wasn't long before we were changed and lying on loungers at the pool-side. I made no bones about the fact that I thought this was a fantastic opportunity to admire the sleek, sexy forms of the females in their bikinis. We'd been there about an hour and a half when Gerrie arrived. I noticed his Harley arriving, no-one could have missed the noise, and knew he'd be out to join us once he was settled. "What was that?" Alina asked in response to the noise. "Gerrie is a Harley Davidson Motorbike fanatic," I told her. "There are lots of people who buy new bikes now and think that they are some kind of heroes because they own one. Gerrie is different. He really knows and loves the bikes. He has one that he rescued from the scrapheap. It was a World War II vintage bike. When he got it, everything was either rusted solid, or rusted away. He took it apart and not only rebuilt it, he actually recreated the whole thing. Building the engine from scratch. If you have a few weeks spare, ask him to talk about his bikes." "I'll give that a miss, I think," Alina laughed. "Actually, Gerrie is really shy. He probably won't even talk to you unless you get him talking about his beloved bikes." Gerrie appeared about twenty minutes later and pulled up an outdoors chaise-lounge next to me. I introduced him around, but he greeted all the others perfunctorily before focusing on me. "Rupert," he began earnestly, "I've been hearing all kinds of crazy things. If half of them are true..." "Probably less than that," I interrupted. "Let me summarise what has happened for you." I gave Gerrie a concise summary of the events and actions of the last few days, starting with my contact with Daise. Gerrie listened, as he always does, with total concentration and without interrupting once. He was a really scary guy to deal with in some ways. He had an eidetic memory and could recite conversations verbatim from twenty years back, which was probably why he had never been married. Most women don't like their husbands to be able to recite chapter and verse of their words from the last argument they had had. Gerrie was interested in information. He was the perfect military intelligence NCO, able to collate and analyse vast amounts of data in his head. He was ran the computer systems of a major insurance company as his day job, but he had been allocated to a Commando after completing his National Service and worked as the Intelligence Clerk in their OPS Room at the beginning. It didn't take the Int Officer long to discover his talents though, and he was soon the senior NCO responsibile for Intelligence for the Unit, collecting information from members of the Commando when they reported for duty and branching out more and more into an intelligence collection role. Within five years, he was invited by the Police and all the other Army Units to brief them on a regular basis. He consistently refused a commission though, claiming that he liked to actually work for his pay. "Rupert, I'm really glad you called me," Gerrie told me when I finished my summary, "You've been blundering around in the dark as usual. I'm sure I can pull something together to get you the information you need." "Great Gerrie. Welcome aboard," I told him as a great weight lifted from my shoulders. "Whatever you need, just let me know and I'll see what I can do to get it for you. I thought that we could set up an OPS room and Int Office near the barracks, and you can brief us as you get information and feed it into our training." "Sounds like a plan. I'll get started on that now," Gerrie declared, and then disappeared. I knew that he would have more information than I could shake a stick at in no time at all. Katy climbed out of the pool and sat on her chair, before looking around and saying something quietly to Bettina. "Rupert," Bettina called, "Katy was wondering what happened to your friend, the one who just arrived." She had a smile on her face that she carefully hid from Katy, keeping her head turned towards me. "He Mysterpeared", I told her. "Mysterpeared?" I laughed. "That's a word my daughter made up when she was four or so ... means 'Mysteriously Disappeared'" I told her. "Oh. Ok. But where did he Mysterpeared to?" "He'll probably be down near the barracks," I answered her, watching Kate's intense concentration on our conversation. I thought that if Kate had a romantic interest in Gerrie, it would do both of them the world of good. "Kate," I said, "Could you do me a favour please?" "Sure Rupert," Kate replied standing up and walking closer, "do you want me to fetch you something?" "Actually, no. I'm just concerned about Gerrie. He gets very distracted when he's busy. I was wondering if you could find him and offer to help him. Use that as an excuse to make sure that he looks after himself, eats regularly that sort of thing." "Sure Rupert," Kate said quietly, trying to hide her blush. I wondered how she had ever been caught up in Dimitri's world, although I could see the attraction her demure, submissive nature would have to clients of his establishments. She disappeared quickly, wrapping a kikoi around her hips and walking quickly through the lodge. As Kate disappeared, Bettina burst out laughing. "Thanks Rupert, that was perfect. She couldn't take her eyes of Gerrie from the moment he first appeared. I think it'll be good for her to get together with someone like him. He seems like a good man." "He is. Is she OK though? We never followed up with a doctor's visit for her." "She seems to be fine. When we were getting changed she told me that she wasn't really even sore any more. Chris is better than he thinks, better in some ways than a doctor I think." "True. I'd choose him, or any Ops-Medic, over a doctor to treat my wounds any day." Supper time rolled around very quickly. The long lazy afternoon had been perfect to unwind and allow everyone some time to get their heads straight. After supper, we retreated to our room, with almost unseemly haste when Daise pointed out that both her and Alina had gotten a little sunburnt and needed some Aloe-Vera cream spread all over their bodies to ease the burn. Chapter 48 Home - My Library - Top [Bookmark Next Chapter] - More Info

Chapter 46: Who's your Daddy

2010-05-09T13:15:00.000+02:00

The barracks room was a pretty rude shock after the luxury of the rooms in the lodge. It was a long building with rows of double-bunk beds extending down either side, at right-angles to the walls. There were twenty-five double bunks down each wall, enough place to house a hundred people. Each end of the building had toilets, showers and basins. The showers were open, with no partitions and the toilets were seperated only by low walls between them; no doors. I could see that the girls were curious about the place. "Like our new accommodation?" I asked and laughed as the girls turned on me with looks of dismay on their faces. "We'll move in here in a day or two, once things are organised. That is those of you who want to go through the training with us." I watched as Daise quickly made up her mind. Her expression cleared and she nodded at me, accepting that where I was, she wanted to be. Alina followed her lead. Bettina was obviously in two minds and Katy just seemed shy. "There's no pressure. If you don't want to join in, you can continue to live in the lodge. There's space there. I just want us to focus, and living together here, working and training together will build the team. We'll also do things at odd hours, and it's just easier. We are also hoping for a bunch more guys to join us, and we couldn't host them all in the lodge, never mind that we would have to turn away paying guests if we did so." Katy and Alina whispered together for a while, and I wasn't surprised when Katy told me that she would like to try to be part of what we would be doing. "Rupert," Bettina said finally, "I wouldn't mind being involved, but..." she rolled her eyes in Lisa's direction and shrugged. "Yes, I thought it might be difficult for you," I told her, "this is not exactly the best place for a child." Like all children, Lisa had long ears, especially when she thought that the adults might be discussing something that would effect her. She turned on her mother, a thunderous expression on her face. "Mom," she declared, "I'm almost eight. I'm not a baby any more. I want to be with Rupert and do this stuff." Bettina looked at me, and I shrugged, amused. Lisa watched this interaction, and then rocked my world. She reached out and took my hand. "Rupert," she said in a small voice, "I don't have a Daddy to look after me, will you be my Daddy?" Of course I had no defence against an appeal like that. I dropped to a knee and wrapped her in my arms. It had started out as a pretence, and as a way to get her own way, but when I hugged her, she started sobbing and clung to me fiercely. I looked up at Bettina and saw she had tears in her eyes too. She shrugged and nodded at me, and I bowed my head, putting my mouth right next to Lisa's ear. "Of course I will Darling, I'll look after you. You don't need to worry," I said quietly. I had surprising difficulty talking with the huge lump in my throat. "You better give your Mom a hug, I think she needs one." Lisa whirled around and Bettina swept her up into a crushing embrace, the two of them walking off to talk. Chapter 47 Home - My Library - Top [Bookmark Next Chapter] - More Info

Chapter 45: Paradise Explained

2010-05-09T13:13:00.000+02:00

The next morning I woke with the sun. I was sprawled on my back and I had two bodies curled up and entangled with mine. I had a clear head, as I hadn't had very much alcohol at all the previous night, but my body was sore. It was a feeling I knew of old, the punishment extracted for physical exertion and adrenaline. I extracted myself, reluctantly, from the tangle on the bed and dosed myself with some paracetamol, and took care of the usual bathroom routine. I pulled on a bath-robe before pulling up a deck-chair on the balcony to watch the magnificent spectacle of the sunrise over this beautiful piece of African bush. The morning chorus swelled into its full-throated glory, while the hippos lumbered into the water to rest from their nocturnal exertions. After ten minutes or so, I heard sounds of life from the room behind me, and after a while Daise emerged, wrapped in her own terry-cloth robe, to silently hand me a cup of coffee. I nodded my thanks to her and she sat on my lap while we took sips and shared a silent appreciation for the peaceful spectacle. Alina emerged a short while later and stood behind the chair., resting her hands on my shoulders. "Beautiful morning," I finally broke the silence. "Is it always like this?", Daise asked quietly. "Mostly. Sometimes there is mist on the water then I think of Avalon." "The Lady of the Lake?" Alina asked. I twisted my head to look up at her. "Yes, you know the story?" "My father read to me a lot when I was younger. Mostly old Russian fables, but I also enjoyed the English stories. I learnt a lot of old-fashioned English words like that." "If you liked those, maybe you would enjoy some of the fantasy that I do." "Like what?" "Lord of the Rings?" "I have tried to read that. It was a very long book, almost as long as some of the old Russian stories..." Daise interjected I laughed when I saw the teasing smile on her face. "Tolkien was born here. Few hundred kilometers away, in Bloemfontein. We'll drive through there when we take a trip down to Cape Town sometime. We can stop and see the museum they have there. It's quite interesting." "Will we ever be able to just enjoy ourselves?" Daise asked sadly. "Yes," I answered definitively. "We'll sort all this stuff out and then we can live normal lives. I promise." "OK." Daise's voice was small and quiet. She was so tiny and vulnerable in my lap, it made me feel all fatherly and protective. I was slowly learning that she had moods like a cat. Sometimes fierce and aggressive, the Huntress, then the next moment sensual and demanding, then sometimes, rarely, showing a soft vulnerability that was particularly endearing, especially considering its rarity. "We need to go down to breakfast," I finally announced reluctantly. "There's lots to do today." "What should we wear?" Alina asked. "Jeans and T-shirt should be fine. We'll just explore a bit today spend a lot of time talking. We weren't the first to get to the dining room. Bettina was there with Lisa and Katy. When we walked in, Bettina looked up and saw me and responded to my querying look with a laugh. "You should know what its like to have kids. Up before Sparrow's Fart..." Bettina said smiling at Lisa. "What's that?" Katy wanted to know. Lisa was only too keen to show off her knowledge. "Have you ever heard a Sparrow Fart?" she asked Katy. "No," Katy answered with a frown. I could see that Daise and Alina were just as puzzled. "Then you haven't got up early enough," Lisa declaimed, then burst into giggles at the expressions on the three women's faces. I left them to gossip, and grabbed a plate, ordering two fried eggs from the on-duty chef, and piling my plate with fried mushrooms, pork sausages, bacon strips and four slices of toasted white bread. When my eggs were ready, I put them onto the toast, piled the bacon and sausages on top and dribbled a generous helping of Golden Syrup over the lot. I sat down to eat and after a few mouthfuls got a strange feeling, so I looked up to see four female faces staring at me with identical looks of disbelief. Lisa was the odd one out. She had approval and curiosity written large on her face. "Does that taste nice?" Lisa asked. "No," Bettina jumped in, "you're not trying that." At the sight of Lisa's disappointed face, I stage whispered to her, "Try some from my plate." Lisa shifted quickly to sit next to me, avoiding even a glance at her mother, and ate the forkful of food that I offered her. Bettina frowned at me, and I shrugged, "Little Girls, like butterflies, need no excuse." Bettina smiled and I could see her deciding to let it slide. Lisa was instantly a fan, but before she could start pestering her mother to allow her to have a plate of her own, I told her, "You can have a plateful tomorrow," adding after a frown from Bettina, "if your mother says you can." I ignored the beginning of the protracted mother-daughter negotiations as the guys started arriving. Once everyone was well breakfasted, I gathered everyone up and herded them outside. As we walked I pointed out items of interest, distracting them from where we were going and what we were planning on doing. My mind had been working furiously all the time, even waking me early to send me out onto the balcony, and the whole time I had been exchanging morning banter with the crowd, I had been thinking through what our next steps were going to be. I took a footpath up the rise to the right (south) of the lodge, with the rest following me to the top. Once we crested, I waited for everyone to catch up then pointed out what was in the valley below. "As most of you know," I started, to rolled eyes and grins from the guys, "the purpose of the farm is to run as a business. The lodge is only a minor part of what we do here. This is the major part." "What is it?" Daise asked, looking down into the valley, obviously puzzled. "That's what we call our 'Adventure Center'," I replied, "It's where we do the Team-Building and training that pays for this whole operation." "Can you tell me what we are looking at?" Bettina asked. "Sure. That's why we're here." I answered. "This building just below us to the right is the barracks, then over there is the obstacle course," I pointed out. "Where the trees and dense green bush runs is a small river where we have a bush-lane firing course. Up there where the river runs up into the hills, we have a standard firing range." "What's that funny set of ruined buildings?" Daise pointed them out. "That's the paint-ball range," I answered. Bird spluttered as he tried to suppress a laugh. "What's so funny, Bird?" Alina asked him. "Rupert's not telling you the 'Whole Truth'," he answered. "Have you played paint-ball?" "Yes," Daise and Alina answered, almost in unison. "OK, but not like this I guess. We have what's called Airsoft1 gear. It's called Milsim2 — Military Simulation — because it is supposed to be a game that simulates military operations. I get the feeling that you're going to find out just how intense and little like a game it is though, if I know Rupert." I grinned and said nothing about that. "What I've been thinking, is that we need to start putting some teams together and seeing if we can't hurt these arseholes. While we're waiting for things to happen, I figured it wouldn't hurt to start sharpening ourselves up, and running you ladies through some sort of training program," I told them. "Bird is correct, the Milsim weapons and training ... we've gotten to a stage that it's as close to real as we can go. Instead of firing at targets, we set up scenarios where your team has to fight another team, and it feels like the real thing. We do use real weapons for the range and the bush-lane course, with targets, but we'll train you on the Airsoft stuff first." "What are we going to wait for Rupert?" Johnny asked, emerging finally from his long introspection which I suspected had more to do with an excess of alcohol than with any natural philosophical bent. "My first priority is intelligence. I've called on an old mate, Gerrie. He's a Mil-Int type. He's driving down from Vrede. Should be here late today. Also put out the word that there's an Op happening and we'll see how many that attracts. You know how the bush-telegraph works." "Ja, might get no-one or hundreds rocking up," Johnny said with a smile. "Have to wait and see." "In the meantime, I want us all to move into the barracks and start working on fitness and weapons drill. Sharpen up on Urban and introduce the ladies to the game. Should be fun." There were groans from the guys and a few puzzled looks from the girls. I ignored both and headed down the hill towards the barracks. 1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airsoft 2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MilSim Chapter 46 Home - My Library - Top [Bookmark Next Chapter] - More Info

Chapter 44: Paradise Explored

2010-05-09T13:10:00.000+02:00

Once we were in the room, with the door firmly closed behind us, I fully expected to explore more fully the raging emotions that had erupted in the corridor. I should have known better, I was dealing with women of course, and what male can ever predict or explain their thought processes? Daise and Alina dropped me like a hot potato and, with squeals of excitement, began to explore our room. The first thing that they realised was that it was more like a suite or an apartment, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms including toilets, a kitchen and a small lounge. What really got them excited though, was the fact that all the exterior walls facing the lake opened up completely onto a balcony that ran along two sides of the building. There was an old-fashioned style bath, on claw feet and a magnificent view of the lake and surrounding bush. "Rupert," Daise said in an decidedly seductive tone, do you think we could fit the three of us into that bath?" "Well," I started, but was interrupted by Alina. "I'll scrub your back?" Alina promised. I conceded defeat gracefully. The time in the bath didn't provide much relaxation, and in fact led to some rigorous exercise. We had all three just finished showering when we got a call on the internal phone to remind us that Supper would be served in the lodge dining room. When I told Daise and Alina that we half an hour to get ready, they went into a full-tilt rush to get dressed and organised. I heard more than one muttered comment about how lucky males where, when I pulled on a clean set of jeans and a Golf-shirt and sat watching them get dressed. I agreed wholeheartedly, watching them get dressed was a pleasure and a privilege... When we got to the dining room, only slight later than we were supposed to, I was happy to see that the staff had really pushed out the boat. We were greeted with enthusiasm and led into the lounge. The fragrance of Frangipani blossoms filled the room, blown in by a slight breeze from the tree growing just outside the window. Some of the flowers were mixed in with the arrangements dotted around the room on side tables. A waiter took drink orders while we waited. As it turned out, some of the single men were even later than us. When everyone had arrived, and Moose had stammered out his apologies for having fallen asleep and waking up late, we moved through to the dining room. Everyone found a place to sit, and when they were settled, I proposed my favourite toast, "Here's to us, and those like us. Damn few left!" All the men downed whatever they were drinking, and slammed their glasses down, the we all sat and the waiters brought in the appetiser. The main meal was laid out buffet style, so that we could help ourselves without having anyone outside the group hanging over our shoulders. I spent some time making a bit of a fuss of Lisa, making her feel very grown-up to be included in the meal. The mood was strange: no-one referred to any of things that we had been through in the last few days, following wthout prompting the unwritten rule of the mess, 'no religion, politics or work to be discussed in the mess'. Most of the conversation revolved around sport, especially a general disgust that the Springbucks couldn't seem to get their game together on their European tour. There was also a lot of appreciation for Amla's double Test century against the English. When the last Irish coffee had been drained, and belt loosened to ease stuffed bellies, three hours had passed. I pushed back my chair and stood, before calling for a final toast. This time, it was at first only the men, but I insisted that Daise join us. I had arranged with the waiter before-hand they had set aside a tray of 'shooter' glasses and a bucket on the floor with a brick in it. When all the men and Daise had their glasses filled with Chivas Regal, I propsed the toast, "To Rfn Zondi and all those we left behind". Everyone responded, "those we left behind" then tossed their drinks back and one by one we each smashed our glasses in the bucket. Without another word, I led the way out of the room and took my ladies to bed. Chapter 45 Home - My Library - Top [Bookmark Next Chapter] - More Info

Chapter 43: Paradise Found

2010-05-09T13:08:00.000+02:00

I basked in the reaction from Daise, Alina, Rebecca and the rest as they saw what we call "The Farm" for the first time. I turned off the engine, and climbed out, encouraging them all to do the same. We ended up in a line on the road in front of the Land Rover, staring down into the valley. The land dropped away in front of us in a wide valley. Just off the road to the right, about five hundred meters from the hill where we we standing, the lodge and guest-houses were nestled into the bush. They had a magnificent view down the valley, and overlooked a small lake. "What are those ... those ... animals in the lake?" Daise asked me, clutching my arm tightly. "Hippos ... Hippopotamus," I answered her with a smile. Alina was most taken with the sight of a troop of Giraffe grazing from the Acacia trees on the left of the road. They were no more than fifty meters from us, and completely unfazed by the fact that we were there. Once everyone had their fill, we climbed back into the Land Rover and drove down to the Lodge. I stopped outside the reception and everyone followed me into the lobby. The sandstone coloured walls stretched up for two stories to the exposed wooden beams under the thatch roof. There were large photo-prints some of the scenes of wildlife arranged on the walls. We were very proud of the fact that we had four of the 'Big Five' on the reserve, missing only Lions. I spoke to the woman manning the recpetion desk, and told her what I would prefer, then took everyone to show them the board that displayed a stylised map of the resort and surrounding area. "This is where we are now," I explained as I pointed it out on the map. "You can see the boundaries of the estate marked with a red line. This part of the boundary, marked in green, is where we border the Ihala Game Reserve. At certain times of the year we will drop the game fence to allow the animals to cross freely between the two reserves." "Why would you want to do that?" Daise asked. "For a number of reasons, a lot of them having to do with the management of the game. The most important reason is the use of water. We have some good water here and better access to the river, So in the dry season, the Ithala animals are allowed to come across. The other reason is breeding, we like to allow the various animals the chance at a broader selection of mates." "That makes sense," Alina responded. I was quite surprised by just how intensely foucused her and Daise had been during my explanation. I had the impression that the two of them were sponges feeling the first spring rains after the drought. On reflection, I decided that they were probably so committed to adapting that they wanted to absorb everything that they could. If that was the case then I was happy. That sort of commitment to their new lives meant that my emotional energy and financial resources weren't being wasted. Just then the reception lady called me over and we started dishing out keys to rooms and instructions about how to get there. It was fortunate that it was a quiet time of the year, so we had a very low occupancy and there was plenty of space to house everyone in luxury. Of course, it the resort had been full, then we could have put everyone up in what we called the "Backpackers Lodge". That was essentially a barracks in design; a long room with double-bunks spaced evenly against both sides. Daise followed me happily enough when I set off for our room, but I noticed Alina hanging back a little. She wasn't looking too happy. I rolled my eyes at Daise and pointed in Alina's direction with my chin. Daise frowned at me for a second, then glanced at Alina then back at me. I saw her expression change as she figured it out. "Alina," she said, "Rupert is worried about you. Are you OK?" Alina frowned at Daise, then looked at the expression on my face. We had stopped at this point, allowing the porter to continue on with our luggage. When Alina could see that Daise was correct, and that all she could see on my face was concern for her and puzzlement over the reason, she sighed deeply. "OK," Alina said softly, "I feel like a puppy that cringes all the time, expecting to be kicked. I was worried about where I was going to stay. I didn't know if you wanted me with you." Her voice had gotten very soft and trembly, and her whole posture seemed to lose rigidity. She drooped, and looked exactly like the puppy she had mentioned. I couldn't help myself, I laughed. Daise's head swung sharply, and Alina's face jerked upwards and I found myself speared by two very indignant stares. I raised both hands and started moving them placatingly. "Sorry ladies," I quickly started to explain, "it's just that Alina looked just like the puppy she said she felt like." The intensity of the stares didn't decrease, they increased in power by at least a mega-watt, and I found myself still on the spot. "Alina," I turned to her and said in my most serious voice, "I'm sorry, for laughing but more importantly, for not making this clear to you before." I reached out and took both of Alina's hands in mine, and waited for her to look me fully in the eyes. When her eyes met mine, I told her, "As far as I am concerned, you and Daise are sister-wives to me. There is no difference in status or anything else of the sort in my eyes. I had assumed that you knew that, my mistake. I was also holding back because I am concerned that you will think I am the same as one of those men." Daise had tears in her eyes at this point, and Alina had moisture streaming down her face, her tears and mucus from her nose joining together to drip from her chin. Her eyes were wide, and her head moved slowly from side to side, matching the soft sound of her repeating 'No' over and over again. "Rupert," Alina managed to get out at last, I thought I had made it quite clear that I trusted and respected you, and was starting to love you." She stopped talking, glanced at Daise for a second while wiping off her face with the sleeve of her shirt, then continued, "Obviously, just like most men, you prefer to be shown, not told." With that, Alina flung her arms around my neck and pulled my face down to meet hers for a kiss. When I surfaced from the tumult of emotions, and pulled gently back from Alina, it was to hear the amused voice of the porter announcing, "Your room is ready sir, is there anything else you need from me?" I smiled at him and shook my head, the tucked Alina into an embrace under one arm, Daise under the other, and we finally got to our room. Chapter 44 Home - My Library - Top [Bookmark Next Chapter] - More Info

Chapter 42: The Farm

2010-05-09T13:03:00.000+02:00

As we turned off the tarred road, onto the deeply rutted dirt two-track road that led through the bush to the entrance gate to the farm, Daise asked "Are you sure we're going to be OK out here?" I glanced across at her and saw that she was really nervous. I figured that she was really coming down hard from the huge adrenaline surges she had experienced over the last few days. Never mind the huge culture-shock of leaving everything she had known and becoming a "Stranger in a Strange Land". I smiled to myself, and thought that she was doing a pretty good job of "grokking" what was going on. "I think so. We'll have a layered defence here. The first part of that is that it's unlikely that any of those arseholes will know about this place, but I also intend to gather a bunch of old friends together, and that should go a long way towards keeping us safe." "I find that strange. You said right at the beginning that you were lonely, but you have so many friends?" I was please that Daise was distracted into a different topic. As she frowned, her body showed that when she wasn't concentrating on her worries, she lost some of her tension. "I have been struggling a bit with depression I think. Nothing serious, but maybe just that 'mid-life' thing that so many men seem to go through, looking back and wondering if you've really made a difference, and wondering what sort of legacy will be left behind when you're gone." "Ok, that makes a kind of sense I suppose," Daise replied, but I could hear that she didn't really understand, and it underscored for me the fact that she was actually really young. I had been easy for me to admire her beauty and youth and forget that age was a major factor in determining understanding of other people. As I thought about it though, I worked out that Alina, while about the same age as Daise, was a lot more mature is some ways because of the experiences that she had been through. "I haven't had much female companionship though," I pointed out. Daise giggled, which drew my eyes to the delightful things is did to her chest. She blushed when she saw where my eyes had strayed and looked over her shoulder into the back of the Land Rover. "You seem to have fixed that problem at least." Daise's arch tone and raised eyebrows made it my turn to go slightly pink, and I welcomed the distraction of having to stop for the main gate of the farm. We had spent some time and effort to create a feeling of ruggedness and rustic charm in all aspects of the place, and the gate was the first indication that visitors got of this. The gate itself was made of raw timber from indigineous trees, and had a gate-house attached to it that was covered in thatch. The person on gate-duty was dressed in a smart looking khaki uniform that had the name of the farm on embroidered sleeves pulled onto his epaulettes. He carried only a knobkerrie, as we didn't want to create the impression of an armed camp. He had obviously heard the sound of the vehicle as he was waiting for us with a clip-board and the sign-in form, but as he realised who it was, he stepped back with a smile and a wave to me and opened the gate. I waved back at him as I drove through and turned my head to speak over my shoulder. "Bird, we need to think about some more substantial security now." "Yes, my thought exactly," Bird replied. "I think an OP on the rise over there to give overwatch capability and maybe a sand-bag wall on the inside of the hut to provide cover from fire?" "I'll leave it to you," I told him. I knew that it was as good as done. "What about perimeter security?" "We'll set up some patrols, but I think the wild-life will provide a pretty good deterrent for the outer perimeter. I'd like to concentrate on the inner perimeter for actual defences." "Sounds good," I replied, satisfied for the moment. "Daise, Alina, watch this," I warned. We followed the road as it wound through the bush and finally topped out on a small rise. I stopped the Land Rover, knowing what an impression the first sight of the place normally had on visitors.

Change of Site

2010-02-11T23:36:00.002+02:00

I have decided to move my blog/story to http://mailorderbride.penhouse.co.za/ I am slowly reposting the story there and I soon as I have caught up, the new chapters will be available. Thanks for reading.. Update: Making the move was a mistake. The site proved to be unstable. Shifting back here, at least until something better comes along!

Chapter 41: Change of Direction

2009-08-08T22:08:00.001+02:00

I woke with someone shaking my shoulder. It took me a few seconds to orientate myself. I looked out of the window of the Landrover and recognized Westville hospital.

I sat up and thanked Rifleman Mkize for driving us, then clambered out the passenger door. All the rest of the bunch climbed out after me and Daise and Alina stuck close to me as we walked. I got the sense that the relationship between the two of them had changed significantly over the past few days.

Alina had been the stronger; the more worldly of the two, and Daise had given off a sense of innocence and naiveté. That had changed subtly with Daise definitely taking the lead and Alina following her. I suddenly occurred to me that Daise had killed two men in the last week and been exposed to combat for the first time, and I hadn't really given all that much thought to how it had affected her. From what I could see, she was just fine, but I knew how deceptive that could be. I resolved to ensure she got professionally 'debriefed' as soon as possible. The last thing I needed was for her to join the ranks of the combat-related PTSD sufferers, and I knew, from bitter experience, that the likelihood of dealing effectively with the stress was directly proportional to how soon after it happened she got counseled or debriefed.

The bunch of us entered the lobby of the hospital and I got everyone to sit in the couches provided for waiting. Daise wouldn't leave me alone, of course, while I went to find out where Roy and Sharon were.

We found Gill on the third floor, sitting quietly on a couch worn shiny by the many worried people who had been there before her.

She looked pale and drawn and her worry and fatigue were written large across her face.

"Hello Gill," I greeted her quietly, "how're they doing?"

Gill started, caught by surprise. She looked up at me and I was wracked with guilt at the sight of the pain in her eyes. "Hi Roy, the doctors say they'll heal well physically. There is some question how well Sharon will handle the mental aspects."

"I'm not surprised to hear that Gill. Relieved to hear about the physical. I know some other girls who've gone through some similar stuff with the same gang, maybe they can help by talking it through with Sharon later on?"

"Whatever helps," Gill shrugged in reply. "At this point I'm still trying to get my head around it all."

"Just let me know if there is anything I can do. Anytime. OK?"

Gill just nodded and dropped gaze to her lap again. I turned to look at the policeman guarding the door to the ward. "Ok if we go in to see them?"

He looked at me for a second, then, obviously recognising who I was, stood aside and gestured me to enter.

Half an hour later we were back on the road, headed for Johnny's place. I was simmering quietly, but my tension must have been as readily apparent to Daise as hers was to me. Hearing the story from Roy had not been easy, especially when the physical evidence was so clear.

When we got to Johnny's place, he showed us where he had piled a stack of blankets and pillows and we spread out over the lounge and the spare bedroom. I ended up being very warmly snuggled between Daise and Alina, and before I knew it, the stresses of the day caught up with me and I was fast asleep.

In the morning, the consensus was that there was no way we could feed the hordes in Johnny's tiny kitchen, so we all headed out to the Wimpy nearby. We got there just as they opened so we had the place pretty much to ourselves. Everyone place their breakfast orders, and once the immediate hunger pangs were satisfied, we started talking through our options. There were lots of declarations of intent, but no concrete ideas. I kept quiet and just listened. Eventually, Johnny turned to me and asked, "So what's going through that brain of yours? I can see the wheels turning and smell the rubber burning..."

I smiled at his joke, and didn't say anything, but the whole table got very quiet as everyone turned to me, waiting to see what I had come up with.

"Ok, I'm not too clear on the details yet, but I have a vague idea. Essentially there are two basic principles. Firstly, we have been waiting for them to come to us, and we all know that the best form of defense is attack. We saw what happened when we took them on directly yesterday, we cleaned their clocks. The second is that we've been playing to their strengths. I think we need to take advantage of the fact that this is our home ground, and use that to our advantage."

"Don't get all philosophical on us now, just point us in the right direction and pull the trigger," Bird said between bites of his third helping of breakfast.

"Relax Bird," I smiled, "the one part of our advantage is that we have time. That's sort of the point I was trying to make. We have no need to rush, they are the ones trying to set up an operation to be ready in time for the World Cup. Our only timetable is the one we make for ourselves. I think what we need to do is take some time out to rest and recover, plan properly and train. Once we are ready, then we can execute our plan."

"So what do you want to do Rupert?" Johnny asked.

"As I said yesterday, I want to move everyone out to the farm. There's plenty of space for us all to stay, and as you know, some nice training facilities."

"What farm is this?" asked Daise, puzzled.

I smiled at her. "It's our other business. Johnny, Bird, Sgt. Maj. Dhlamini and I are joint owners of a farm out towards Cato Ridge. We have an adventure center out there. A lot of corporates use us for team building events, and we get quite a few school groups and Scout Troops going through our various activities. We normally run it on demand, when someone requests a particular package. Bird handles most of the day-to-day stuff, the rest of us get involved as we are needed."

"What sort of 'adventure' stuff is this?" Alina asked.

"All kinds of stuff. We have a pretty good paintball setup, with urban and bush arenas, kayaking, abseiling, rock-climbing, an obstacle course, a quad-bike course and a very tough 4x4 track. We also keep some game there, not much just a small herd of Zebra, some Giraffe and quite a few Springbok and a couple of Eland. We recently got some Ostriches and a pair of Warthogs moved in on their own. We suspect that they escaped from the Ithala Game Reserve, which borders our property on the eastern side. Their fence through the river is always giving trouble, so some game slips through."

"That sounds wonderful," Daise said. I was astounded by the look of adoration and wonder on her face, and it made me feel all squishy inside. "But aren't the animals dangerous?"

"One of the things we do is a mini-survival course, where we teach people about the bush, how to treat it with respect so that they can stay live in harmony with it. Nothing in the bush is really dangerous if you are well prepared and act correctly."

"Except for Hippo," Bird muttered darkly.

I laughed. It was an old joke, but one that always managed to tickle me. Daise looked to me for an explanation. I rolled my eyes at Bird and explained.

"Forget everything you've heard about how dangerous Lions and Elephants and things like that are. Other than disturbing a Mamba or a Puff-Adder, the most dangerous animals in the bush are the Hippos and the 'Flat Dogs'. They kill more humans in Africa than any other animal."

"Flat Dogs? What are those?" Daise asked again.

"Crocodiles. Bird hates hippos cause he was chased by one once. Bit his Klepper boat in half. Him and his partner were very lucky to get out alive."

"So, do you hunt these animals?" This time from Alina. I could see Lisa waiting for the answer to this question, and guessed that she had the typical kid's misconception engendered by their 'Disneyfication'.

Johnny, Bird and I shared a look. Both of them shrugged at me which I interpreted to mean I could tell them or not.

"The short answer is no, we don't hunt the animals. We realised a long time ago, that the only animal that is dangerous and wily enough to hunt, is another human being armed the same way you are. What do you think Daise, after today, do you think you would get as much of a rush from shooting a buck?"

Daise looked startled and I could see she didn't know what to say.

"Don't answer that. We're not against hunting, especially for food, but it's just not something that we do. If other people want to hunt, not on our land, that's not a problem to us."

Daise's expression turned thoughtful, and I could see she was starting to process the events she had been part of in a slightly different way.

"Make no mistake, it is not something that I would wish on anyone else, but combat has to be the greatest rush you can experience, even though we've all had to wash our underpants out at some stage..."

I could see that Bettina was uncomfortable with the conversation taking place in front of her daughter, so I checked to see if everyone had finished eating. Everyone, except Bird, had, so I got up and paid for the meal at the cashier's station and we all trooped out to the vehicles. I ignored Bird's mutters about having to leave food uneaten.

We drove back to Johnny's place, where we loaded up the little we had managed to salvage of our possessions and hit the road. We detoured via the Pavilion Mall where it only took two hours to outfit everyone with the basics, before heading out to the farm.

Chapter 40: Counting the cost

2009-08-08T14:46:00.001+02:00

Chris had just finished patching me up, when Bird appeared on the bank above us.

“Hey Boss,” he called down and both Johnny and I turned to see what he wanted. I deferred to Johnny.

"Status?" Johnny asked.

"Looks like we got most of them. Rasta's got a bee in his bonnet about some spoor he's seen heading off west, but I told him he can't go haring off on a hunt now," Bird reported. I nodded my head in agreement, although I would regret that decision later.

"We have no own-force casualties. Four of the bad guys are still breathing. We're still finding and counting the bodies."

"Thanks Bird," Johnny said, "leave the bodies for the police to recover. I think we should take the prisoners and move back to the parking lot. Ok Rupert?"

"Sounds good to me," I agreed with Johnny. "I'd like to make sure that all my people are safe, and I'd really like to find out how this arsehole, Dimitri, found out where I live. Maybe we'll have some luck with getting the prisoners to talk..."

Chris helped me stand, with Daise supporting me on the other side, and we started making our way back down to the parking lot.

It wasn't too bad walking, now that I had been all strapped up, but I was reeling from the post-combat fatigue; mostly the after-effects of an adrenaline high. I thought briefly of the amphetamines we used in the old days, then decided that those drugs should be a last resort; I had loyal friends and employees, I wasn't operating five hundred klicks into enemy territory, so I decided to keep them in mind if I really got desperate at some later time.

When we arrived at the parking lot, I was surprised to see the Landrover with all the girls in it, parked there. I turned to Cpl. Maseka, who had come to meet us halfway, and he told me that it had been his call, as the safest place where he could protect them while still acting as a reserve element for me.

Any conversation on the issue was obviously not going to take place though, not until I had dealt with the semi-hysterical bunch of women who descended on me at that moment. There were exclamations and demands for explanations thrown around in four languages. Well, at least I could understand three of them; the Russian or Ukrainian, I was sure which, was flying between Daise, Alina and Kat. I figured Daise would sort that out and I proceeded to do my best to reassure the others that I was really going to be alright, that my wound was not that serious and would everyone PLEASE relax?

Eventually, the babble subsided and we got all the cats herded I mean, we got everyone into vehicles. A quick conference with Johnny decided our story for the police, and we started out to head back to my house.

I had thought that the house might be quite a bit damaged, but it was a lot worse than I had thought.

I walked through the burnt out ruins of my house, trying to identify what could possibly be salvaged. The contents of my safes was all fine, the safes were designed for that after all, but the rest was a complete mess. What was making me more than slightly upset though, was the growing realization that a good proportion of the damage was smoke and water damage or breakage. It looked as if the firemen had destroyed my house in order to save it.

Just getting to the stage where I could walk through the house had not been a trivial exercise. The police had descended in force, hot on the heels of the fire department and they were convinced that a mini-war had taken place. Johnny was very eloquent in his explanation of the bunch of us having the weapons as part of his security companies' training program, but it was apparent that the whole lot of us were going to have to spend some considerable time in the near future providing statements and telling our versions of the story.

I tried to get hold of Roy, thinking that he would be able to assist with the whole police thing but, unusually for him, the call went to voicemail. I left a message telling him that there was a situation and that we could do with his help.

Rifleman's Zondi's body had been removed to the morgue, and I had made the call to his father. The man was devastated and didn't even try to hide it. I promised to cover the costs of the funeral and felt guilty at the amount of gratitude that offer generated. I knew how important the funeral was in the Zulu culture, so I understood this was not going to be a trivial expense. With Sgt. Major Dhlamini out of action with his wound, I had already started to rely on Cpl. Maseka.

I walked out of the ruins of the house and stood under the large Acacia tree in the front yard. Cpl. Maseka had been trailing along behind me everywhere I went, and he stood now waiting to hear what I had to say.

Daise, Alina and Katerina had been waiting under the tree for me. Bettina was running around after Lisa who was fascinated by the fire-engines and what the firemen where up to.

Once Cpl. Maseka and I had joined the group under the tree, I started going through the various things that we needed to accomplish.

"Corporal," I started, "I want you to start getting things together for Zondi's funeral. I'll leave it to your judgement, but I'm thinking we'll need at least four cows, three or four hundred kilos of mielie-meal (corn porridge) and I whatever ingredients the abafasi will need to make beer. Spend what you need and let me know how much it costs. I'll organise the chapel and the hearse."

Cpl. Maseka nodded, and I could see from his expression that he approved wholeheartedly.

"Johnny," I greeted him as he joined us, "How's it going with the cops?"

"They are a little suspicious but they are buying most of it. They have already got some confirmation that these guys were Russian, so they know that at least part of my story is correct," Johnny reported.

"That helps," I said with some relief.

"Oh, by the way Corporal," Johnny said to Cpl. Maseka, "you underestimated the numbers you were facing by at least half. Initial estimates are that there were as many as twenty five of them, not the twelve you reported."

Cpl. Maseka frowned in thought for a moment. "There were definitely only twelve who were attacking the house when I made the call. I agree that there were more, but they only got involved later."

"That makes sense," Johnny replied, "I just thought you should know."

"We have some other things we need to arrange," I interjected, "such as a place to stay for the night."

"You are all welcome at my place, as you know. Even if this place wasn't destroyed, you'd have to stay somewhere else, 'cause they know where you live. It won't be safe here until this Dimitri character is dead, and maybe not even then," Johnny offered.

"Thanks Johnny. That's great. I think we'll have to move out to the farm, but I'd like to do that tomorrow. There's too much going on now."

My phone rang just then and as I saw from the caller ID it was Roy. "Hi Roy," I answered it.

"Hi Rupert, it's not Roy, it's Gill."

"Oh, sorry Gill. Did Roy get my message?"

"That's why I'm calling, Rupert," Gill said and I could hear the strain in her voice.

"What's wrong Gill," I asked, "Has something happened?"

"Yes. Roy was beaten very badly and Sharon, my daughter dammit, was brutally raped. I'm at Westville Hospital. They've both been admitted. Roy asked me to call and tell you he's sorry. It was the first thing he said when he came round. 'Tell Roy I'm sorry.' He said that before he even asked about Sharon. What the fuck have been up to Rupert?"

"Shit. Sorry Gill. I'll do whatever I can to help. I'm really sorry this had to happen. Are they going to be OK?"

"The doctors aren't committing themselves yet. You know this is why I divorced him, don't you? I expected something to happen on the job though, not to have him attacked at home and I never expected Sharon to get caught up in it."

"I'll drop in to see you guys a bit later. Please let me know if there's anything I can do."

There was no response. Gill had hung up the phone. I told the group what had happened as well as my suspicion that this was how the had managed to find out where I lived.

We loaded everyone up in the cars and set out. I felt like Lot's wife, wanting to look over my shoulder at the ruin that was being left behind. I was putting a good face on it, but my thoughts and emotions were in turmoil inside. I was really devastated by the ruin of my house, but that could be rebuilt. Kat's rape had happened before I rescued her. The death of Zondi and what had happened to Roy and Sharon though, that was different; personal, and my fault. If I hadn't been playing 'white knight' it wouldn't have happened.

As we drove, I resolved to take this fight to Dimitri; to wipe him and his ilk out completely.

Chapter 39: Interlude III

2009-07-28T23:23:00.000+02:00

Dimitri's day wasn't going well. It had started on such a high note, and then rapidly gone to shit.

He had managed to find out who the bastard was who had stolen girls from him and killed some of his men.

A piece of luck, finding out that the cop on the scene that night was a friend of the arsehole, then a little chat with him had soon gotten that they needed. It turned out that breaking his legs wasn't enough, but when his teenaged daughter arrived home from some party or other, a threat to her had gotten him to talk quickly enough. She had provided a little fun for him and his two lieutenants afterwards, and her father's cries of protest had been sweet music indeed. I had been a bit of a surprise to see find that she had been a virgin, considering the way she had been dressed; but that had simply added some spice.

Gathering a group of his men had taken some time, as most of them had gone to ground after working most of the night.

Dimitri had been a little surprised to discover that there were guards at the guys house, and for a few seconds he had considered backing off to observe for a while before moving in, but quickly decided that it wasn't necessary; these weren't any {I}mujahedin {/I} that knew how to fight. It was just some rich white guy with a couple of security guards.

It started off very well with the gate guard walking right up to their vehicle with no suspicion that anything was wrong. He went down easily enough. After that Dimitri had gotten the first inkling that things were not as they appeared.

The first sign was the speed with which the rest of the guards reacted, but even more telling was the way in which they reacted. None of them made the amateur's mistake of rushing out to see what was wrong, instead they all went to ground, and then within a few seconds, they were delivering fire from well concealed positions.

Five of his men were blown away in that initial exchange of fire, and that was with hand guns against their assault rifles. The twenty two of his men that were left after that started to waver, and for a second he thought that they might actually defy his order to attack and run away.

A few well phrased threats, backed up by his known propensity to shoot subordinates who disobeyed him, gave them the necessary backbone, and they formed up in a ragged skirmish line and started sweeping towards the house, firing at any possible cover.

Dimitri found himself almost nostalgic for the days in Afghanistan, where he had at least known that all the men were trained to fight like soldiers. This bunch was mostly just thugs, with only a few veterans among them.

The guards certainly acted like soldiers, and Dimitri was forced to re-evaluate his opinion of them as they fell back towards the house in good order; firing and moving backwards, something he knew most soldiers didn't do well, even the best trained ones.

As far as he could see, they only managed to wound one of them, while he lost another three of his men.

Once they were in the house, it became even more difficult, and Dimitri discovered, to his dismay, that the white guy's vehicle was gone. He decided that it was still worth his while attacking the house however, because it was one way that he could hurt the guy.

Dimitri considered his options for a while as his men traded pot-shots with the men in the house, then decided that he needed to take a couple of prisoners and destroy the house.

One of his men reported that he had seen the soldiers, as Dimitri had started to think of them, escaping from the back of the house into the bush. Dimitri ordered his best lieutenant to take fifteen of the men and follow after them, while he remained behind and set fire to the house.

It only took Dimitri and the four men with him ten minutes to sweep through the house searching for anyone who might have been left behind, and then to set it alight.

Once the house was burning properly, Dimitri set out to follow on the trail of the others into the bush. He had deliberately kept the experienced soldiers close to him; they shared a bond from their days in the terrible mountains of Afghanistan, and still remembered the skills learnt there.

It was soon obvious that the bunch he had sent ahead weren't much use outside the city doing their normal jobs of enforcing, extorting and pimping. The soldiers were moving quickly and leaving booby-traps on their spoor which were catching more than their fair share of victims.

Dimitri directed his small group to move parallel to the spoor and at a distance of around fifty meters from it, and they managed to avoid all the booby-traps. When the inevitable ambush came, Dimitri's group was largely unaffected by it, but the soldiers moving away from the ambush surprised him by moving in his direction, almost ninety degrees from there previous direction of travel. The two groups practically stumbled into one another, and in the short, sharp, fire-fight that followed, Dimitri lost one of his group.

Once the soldiers had broken contact and moved off down the hill, Dimitri was forced to deal with another incipient mutiny, as the seven men left in the original group, and the three in his, were very reluctant to continue.

It took Dimitri almost fifteen minutes to calm them all down and convince them that he had a plan to accomplish what he intended.

Dimitri counted on the fact that the soldiers would have reported back to the white guy, Rupert, as soon as the first shots were fired, and that he would come running back. He suspected that his intention was to meet up with his soldiers, deal with the wounded, and then launch a counter-strike.

Dimitri was coming to think of the man as a soldier and a commander of soldiers, and use that to predict his actions. One of the best indications of the nature of a man is the quality and training of the people who work for him and this performance had convinced him that Rupert was a soldier.

Dimitri proceed to set up an ambush in the position that he felt offered the best chance to catch Rupert and his men when they came up the hill. One of the most important factors for choosing the site of the ambush was the best guess as to where they would climb the hill. He selected a spot that provided good cover for his men, as well as good fields of fire, and they settled in to wait.

The inexperience of his men provided the next cock-up of the day. Rupert had confounded him yet again, by coming up the hill on the other side of the stream-bed, and they were well spaced out. One of the idiots that worked for him set off the ambush too early, taking a shot while they were still too far away for it to do any good. Dimitri saw one man go down, before the rest of his men opened up, blazing away with no effect that he could see. Of course, Rupert and this new bunch of men he had with him chose this situation to prove that they were no neophytes when it came to situations like this. Their return fire came back incredibly quickly, with almost no pause that could be taken advantage of, and it was surprisingly accurate.

Once Dimitri saw that the men that were initially pinned down took cover in the stream-bed, he grabbed one of the men closest to him and started moving around to the right to see if he couldnt out-flank them and shoot them from behind.

They moved as fast as they could through the tangled under-growth, while he listened to the battle stalling; only sporadic fire coming from both sides.

When they reached the stream-bed, Dimitri sent his companion ahead with instructions to sneak up on Rupert while he provided cover from the top of the bank. He watched with satisfaction as his companion set up to take a shot around a corner of the stream-bed and then got off a shot that took Rupert down. Just as he started moving along the bank to get into position to fire himself, he got the most incredible shock: his man went down, shot in the head. He dived for cover hoping that he hadnt been spotted, and then watched in amazement as a woman emerged from the bush and ran towards Rupert, carrying an old .303 rifle. From what he could make out, it was Alinas girl-friend, the one that had got them into this whole mess.

Dimitri lay quietly and watched; not sure now whether it would be safe to move. His caution was vindicated after a few minutes. The whore started fucking Rupert, and shortly after they finished, two others emerged from the bush on the far side of the stream-bed and joined Rupert.

Dimitri crawled slowly back into the bush until he was far enough away, before getting to his feet and starting to run for the road. He decided that he was going to cut his losses and abandon the men that were there. He could hear that there had been a further assault on their position and he held no hope that it had gone well for his men.

Chapter 38 - Exploitation

2009-07-27T16:24:00.000+02:00

There was only sporadic fire coming from above us in the tree-line. That didn't surprise me at all considering that from their perspective, we had basically disappeared. There was no way that they could see us in the stream-bed, and when we popped up to fire every few seconds, we were well protected by the undergrowth and the fact that we didn't appear in the same place twice.

We had won the initial fire-fight, the uncontrolled phase and then created and won the controlled phase. I had a maneuver element that was moving in to perform a flanking attack, and my fire-support element was well setup and protected. With all those elements taken care of, I decided that I could spare some time to see if I could get acasevac going and move Cpl. Maseka into position to follow up any retreat.

I got out my phone and called Chris. I didn't get a chance to get the first words out.

"I'm on your tail with my medical bag. How badly do you need me?" Chris asked as soon as he answered his phone.

"Thanks Chris. Johnny is down. They got him with the first volley. I have no idea what his status is, I haven't had time to check on him. He's pretty exposed, though if you close up as much as possible, we should be counter-attacking in the next few mikes."

"Ok. I have one rifleman with me for protection and as a stretcher bearer. Cpl. Maseka was bombing up when I left the parking area."

"Excellent. You'll know when we go. Probably in the next three minutes."

I hung up and dialed Cpl. Maseka's phone.

"Major," he answered, "where do you need me?"

"Get on the road and go round towards the house. If any of them run from us, I expect them to west and head for Everton Road. See if you can set up some OPs along there and ambush them if they come through."

"Will do Major."

I hung up the phone, pretty happy that I had got that set up. As I started to turn back to the fire-fight, I was hit low in the side by a round fired from somewhere down-stream; from behind our position. The round knocked me the rest of the way around as it threw me against the bank.

As I slumped down, I saw one of Dimitri's men emerge cautiously and take aim at me again. Rasta and Bird didn't notice anything amiss, as they were still busy shifting position and firing, and they were further up the stream. From where they were, there was no chance that they could see the guy that had shot me, never mind bring their weapons to bear.

I struggled to lift my rifle, and as I did, I got the terrible feeling that I had come to the end of the road, as I could see that the round that had hit me had ricocheted off my weapon before hitting me. I figured that might have postponed my death, but it had damaged my rifle in the process.

I let my rifle drop, and started making the transition to my hand-gun, but slowly, so slowly. I was focused on the man taking aim at me, while a voice in my head was screaming, 'faster, faster you idiot'.

I had barely gotten my hand on the butt of the weapon, when the man's head seemed to explode. He toppled in what felt like slow motion, falling forwards into the sand and mercifully hiding the ruin of what had been his face.

I was completely confused for a few seconds, still tensed for the impact of the shot that my body expected, and fumbling to pull my hand-gun from the holster and jacking a round into the chamber. I noticed, as a vaguely interesting piece of trivia, that I hadn't needed to do so, as a bright shiny round was ejected from the weapon and arched away to fall to the ground.

I came back to myself suddenly; the sounds around me suddenly become clear and sharp again, and my mind started working.

Daise! I had completely forgotten about her. Now I could see her emerging from the bush further down the stream, standing poised on the top of the bank for a second before plunging down the bank and running towards me.

"Bird," I shouted, "take over, I've been shot."

"Are you gonna be OK?" Bird shouted back.

"Yes, medic on the way. You know what to do."

"Yes," Bird shouted one last time, and I swear it sounded as if he was laughing.

Daise reached me just then, and she dropped to a knee next to me and started pulling at my shirt to get to the wound.

"Hey, Daise. Thanks for that," I greeted her, "I'd forgotten you were even there."

"Forget about that Rupert, let me see where you were shot." She sounded seriously pissed at me, almost as if it was my fault for getting wounded. I pulled up my shirt so she could see what I had already figured out, that it wasn't more than a grazing shot. I suspected, from the way that it hurt to breath, that I had at least one rib cracked or broken, but it certainly wasn't life threatening.

As Daise started to look at my wound, I got distracted by what I knew immediately was Spyker and Moose's flanking attack. The sounds of the short bursts from their R5's sounded distinctly different from the sporadic AK shots.

Bird and Rasta waited a few moments before clambering up the bank and starting an attack in support, and I was deeply regretful that I wasn't with them.

My attention was snatched back suddenly as Daise, looking for something to use to clean the blood away from my wound, pulled her T-shirt off over her head.

My adrenaline was already pumping, and the sight of Daise in only a skimpy bra in the middle of a fire-fight, was suddenly the most erotic thing I had ever seen in my life.

I reached out one arm to grip her neck and pull her close into an intense kiss, and slipped the other hand under her bra to grasp at her breast.

Daise was startled by my actions, and pulled back from me at first. Then she changed direction completely, and started kissing me with incredible hunger, trying to bore into my mouth with her tongue and devour me with her mouth.

I slipped my hand down under her skirt and cupped her between her legs. Daise moaned loudly, and reached to unbuckle my pants and free my penis. Once she had accomplished that, without separating our dueling tongues, she flung her leg over me and settled herself down, impaling herself on me.

I shifted my hands to hold her buttocks, guiding her up and down my shaft. I was vaguely aware that my side was extremely sore, and I would suffer for this later, but in the heat of the moment I didn't care.

There was no finesse, just 'hot monkey sex', which didn't last long. With a shudder that ran through her whole body, Daise came, and I erupted into her a few seconds later.

"Oh god, that was intense," Daise said once she had caught her breath. I just nodded helplessly.

"Well, I hate to disturb you ..." I heard and almost died of fright. It was Chris, and he was supporting a smiling, wan Johnny.

Daise went bright red, and buried her face in my neck.

"Good to see you up Johnny. How are you," I asked.

"Hit my head on a tree when I took cover," he answered, obviously struggling to suppress his amusement at my predicament.

"Shit, you weren't shot?" I asked in surprise.

"No, but unless she was a virgin, that blood must be from you," he answered.

I laughed and pushed Daise up. She just stood and her skirt fell back into place, leaving her completely covered again. She took her T-shirt with her and clutched it to her chest. I had to tuck myself away, before Chris bent over me to check out my wound.

"It doesn't look too bad," he told me, and then proceeded to start patching me up, ignoring all my protestations and complaints.

Chapter 37: Into the Bush

2009-07-27T16:10:00.001+02:00

As I took my first few steps, I found that I was back into the rhythm. Once it has been pounded into you by instructors and experience, you never forget it. Eyes flick from right in front of your feet to check your footing, up and to the right, scan right to left, close to far, and back again in a never-ending cycle. Walking slowly and stepping high so that you clear any obstacles; checking every few steps that your spacing is correct to avoid the natural tendency to gravitate inwards towards your comrades; checking back at the section-leader; checking up in the trees to break the cycle and avoid getting into a rut that allows your concentration to drift from what you’re doing. Breathing deeply to counter the effects of adrenaline; using the butterflies in your stomach to help keep you sharp. As your eyes scan, remembering to look for shape, silhouette and movement. Checking, checking, and checking constantly.

As I settled into it, the conscious drills faded into the background. I kept doing them, but I didn’t have to think about doing them, just move, slowly and steadily. I had calculated that if Dimitri’s men had followed the predictable pattern, they would have taken about twenty minutes to recover from the fear of ambush as they advanced slowly and found that the way was clear of booby-traps and soldiers, and started to pick up confidence again.

We reached the stopper group that Cpl. Maseka had left behind, and they got up and retreated once we were past.

As we moved further along, the undergrowth thinned out a little, and we spread out a bit further.

I spared a few seconds to search the bush behind me, and saw that Daise was walking with her rifle butt tucked into her shoulder, and a fixed serious expression on her face. I didn't seriously expect her to be engaged, but I felt it was her right to be a part of what was going on. Johnny noticed my inattention, and gestured furiously at me to indicate that I should concentrate on what we were supposed to be doing. I smiled at him and focused back towards our axis of advance.

We had moved more than five hundred meters through the bush in the last twenty minutes, and passed the scene of Cpl. Maseka's last ambush, with no sign of any of Dimitri's men. I wasn't too concerned because I guessed that they had retreated back to the house and probably to their vehicles.

We couldn't move too quickly though, because that was just asking for trouble. We needed to spot any possible ambush before we triggered it, and our extended V-formation was designed to foil any such attempts.

Just as I was about to suggest to Johnny that they had bugged out, everything went to hell in a hand-basket.

It started with the distinctive snap-crack of an incoming round. That gave us the warning, and we all went to ground instantly, just before the hailstorm of fire started lashing the foliage of the trees around us.

The old drills kicked in without thought, 'dive-down-roll-observe-sights-fire'. Without any conscious thought, I found myself in a prone firing position looking over the iron sights of my rifle. I was orientated at about fifty degrees left of our line of advance, as the fire was coming from our left front.

We had been moving up the right side of a stream, and the muzzle flashes showed that the enemy were on the other side of the stream, about two hundred meters in front of us to the left.

I was firing single shots into the base of the bushes in the general area that the muzzle flashes appeared; one shot to the left, one to the right and one in the center, then moving to the next bush.

Once we were fully engaged, I took a look around, because Johnny should have been taking control of the fire-fight by then, issuing fire-control orders, getting us ready to maneuver.

When I looked back, I was horrified to see that Johnny was down. The first shots must have got him.

I did a quick appreciation, shifting mental gears back to being a Section Leader (small team commander). Moose and Spyker weren't engaged; they were on the right, and sufficiently far over to be obscured from sight both by the vegetation and by the fact that the slight curve of the side of the hill we were moving up, put them into dead-ground. Bird, on point, was pretty much pinned down, and Rasta and I, while in direct line of sight from the ambushers, had both found good cover behind trees.

At this point there was fairly sporadic fire from across the stream. I guessed that our immediate response to the ambush had caught them by surprise, and our disciplined return fire had been very effective in keeping their heads down.

Time was compressed, as usual, and the whole process took no more than a minute or so. I hadn't even finished my first magazine, when I started issuing orders.

I shouted, in Afrikaans to avoid having my words understood by Dimitri's men.

"Moose, Spyker. Right around flank attack. Move now." (Regsom kantaanval. Beweeg nou) Bird, break contact. Individual fire and movement left on my command.(Breek kontak. Onderlinge vuur en beweeging links op my bevel.) Rasta, covering fire for Bird, then fire and move to the left into the dead ground. (Dekkingsvuur vir Bird, daarna vuur en beweeg na links tot in dooie grond.)"

I paused between each command for the 'battle talk' process, basically everyone shouted the commands back to me, so I could be sure they had all heard and that there were no misunderstandings.

I couldn't see Moose and Spyker moving, but I got a shouted report, "On the way (Op pad)" so I put them out of my mind.

"Swapping magazine (Wissel magasein)" I shouted, to alert Rasta. I pressed the magazine release catch and shoved the empty magazine down the front of my shirt, grabbed a new one, clicked it into place and was firing again within a few seconds.

As soon as I was done, Rasta did the same.

"Move Bird", I shouted, as Rasta started firing again.

Bird came running past behind me, and a few seconds later he started firing.

As soon as I heard Bird firing, I rolled back then ran, crouched over, behind Rasta and Bird, and took up a firing position (Vuurstelling) on his left flank. Rasta followed suit once he heard me firing, and then Bird did the same.

When it was my turn to move again, I was finally able to jump into the stream-bed and get some decent cover against the far bank. Rasta and Bird were soon in the same position, and I could finally take some time, in relative safety, to think about our situation.

I would really appreciate comments on this chapter, especially from Vets, about how true the combat sequence rings.

Chapter 36: Rendezvous

2009-07-12T16:53:00.000+02:00

I put my foot down, racing back towards home. My mind was spinning even faster as I considered all the possible actions and consequences.

Dimitri and his henchmen had stepped firmly over the line; they had killed one of my own, and wounded another.

It took me closer to twenty minutes than thirty to get to the RV point. I pulled into the little grass picnic area slowly, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be there. The place looked deserted, which was a stroke of luck.

I stopped the Land Rover under some trees at the edge of the bush, killed the engine and got out with a curt order to "stay in the car" directed in the general direction of the occupants.

Once I was away from the Land Rover, I hauled out my hand-gun, checked that there was a round in the chamber, and then stood and waited for a few minutes. I couldn't bear to wait without knowing what was going on, and worse than that, with no cover or all-round defense.

I walked to the rear of the Land Rover and opened up, unlocked my special storage compartment and hauled out the Lee Enfield that was stashed there. As I was loading the clip into the ten round magazine, Daise climbed out and joined me.

"Let me," she said, removing the rifle from my hands. I looked at her with a raised eye-brow and saw the determined expression on her face. I just shrugged and reached back into the storage compartment and removed my 'fishing knife'. The fact is I hated fishing. That was a combat knife, but I had had to justify the expense of ordering a US Marines K-Bar from a specialist supplier somehow, so 'fishing knife' was how I had explained it to my wife.

I attached the scabbard to my belt and tied the bottom to my left leg.

I checked my watch, and only four minutes had passed. I reached back into the storage box and grabbed a box of .303 rounds which I handed to Daise.

"Get up in that big tree," I told her, "the fork over there should form a stable enough firing platform and you'll be able to provide us with top-cover from there throughout this area.

Without a word, Daise trotted off and climbed the tree. Just as I checked my watch another time, I heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. A quick glance told me it was Chris arriving. 'Damn,' I thought, 'you can always rely on the medics.'

Chris pulled up next to my Land Rover and pulled his medical bag out after him.

"They still in the bush?" he greeted me.

"Ja. Should be getting here any minute."

"We got backup?"

I gestured to the tree. Chris tracked his eyes up into the branches and did a double-take when he spotted Daise. I just smiled and nodded when he turned to look at me. He shook his head and looked around the area.

"Anyone else?" he asked finally.

"Johnny's on his way. He'll probably call Bird, Rasta, Moose and Spyker."

"The old team."

"Ja. He should be here soon too. Dunno 'bout the others."

"K."

Just then my eye caught some movement in the long grass under the trees. I turned to look at Daise, and saw she was tracking it with her rifle. Satisfied that she knew, basically anyway, what she needed to do, I dialed Cpl Maseka's cell phone.

"Ready to come in Major," he said into his phone before I could say a word.

"You in the long grass?"

"Some of us."

The phone went dead as he hung up, then the grass started moving again and within a few seconds two of the Cpl's riflemen emerged carrying the Sgt Major on a makeshift stretcher.

Chris hurried over to meet them and as he did, Cpl Maseka emerged from the bush ninety degrees further around the edge along with one of his riflemen, and three others emerged opposite him. If we'd been hostile, they would have flanked us on both sides.

I didn't say a word, just watched as the Cpl Maseka deployed his soldiers into an all-round defense using hand gestures. When he'd finished, he looked at me.

"Stopper group?" I asked.

"Yes Major, two of them in a quick ambush about two hundred meters out."

"Ok, well done Cpl. We have some reinforcements coming in and you can debrief when they arrive. I just want to know bow, did they chase you into the bush?"

Maseka's white teeth gleamed as his grin split his black face. "Yes, but we made it a little hot for them. Probably three or four won't be going anywhere ever again."

"Ok, but are the rest still on your trail?"

"Coming very slowly, yes."

"Good. Ah, here's Johnny," I said as a battered old, dirty green, Ford Cortina pulled up.

Johnny had made an absolute fortune the past seven or eight years working for a PMC company in Iraq, but almost every cent he had was invested off-shore. He was used to living a frugal life, and making money hadn't changed that at all. He had once let slip that he was making around forty thousand US$ a month, and spending next to nothing.

Johnny pulled his car around so that it was facing to the nine O'clock position, if mine was the twelve. Old habits die hard, and he was instinctively following the laager drill. I knew that he hadn't even thought about it, jus done it instinctively.

Johnny unfolded himself out of the driver's seat, and stretched out to his full 6 foot five inches. I knew that most people watching him would never have guessed that in those few seconds he had scanned the situation and his mind had processed every scrap of terrain, calculating and storing possible tactical actions and reactions.

Johnny was an instinctual tactical genius. He had no formal schooling beyond high-school, and all the army courses he had been on, he had aced the practical and failed the written theory exams. He was such an incredibly soldier though, that he had been promoted in spite of the courses, but because of the way he performed in the bush. He was an NCO, and became an officer only under great duress, and then only right at the end of the war in Angola.

"Howzit Captain," I greeted him. Using his old rank was an old way of teasing him, because he still thought of himself as an NCO with the traditional disdain for Officers. He returned my greeting with a grunt, and turned a raised eyebrow to Cpl Maseka.

With a glance at me for my permission, Cpl Maseka proceeded to go through his debrief. Johnny and I listened intently without interrupting until he finished with how he joined up with me.

"Ok, to summarize," Johnny began, "this is a bunch of criminals with AKs and hand-guns. They have a basic knowledge of tactics based on the way they fire and move, but they are not used to the bush. They are also not fit. Correct?"

"Yes Captain," Cpl Maseka replied. As usual, Johnny was able to extract the essentials.

Just then, a double-cab Nissan bakkie pulled into the picnic area, turned and stopped in the Three o'clock position, and four guys got out. Bird, Rasta, Moose and Spyker, for smallish guys with no really outstanding features. Definitely no bulging muscles. They were like Whippets, quick and lithe and could go forever. Like Johnny, the Sgt Major and I, they were in their mid forties, but physically, would put them up against any bunch twenty years younger. The fact that the seven of us had each won fifteen bronze medals in the Comrades Marathon, was just proof that some people aged like brandy; getting better with age.

Bird opened the canopy that covered the back of his bakkie, and handed out R5's to the other three, then brought two over, one each for Johnny and I. Owning his own private security firm made it both easy and legal for him to own these weapons.

I cocked mine, checking that the chamber was clear and that the working parts were all ... Well ... Working, before walking over and helping myself to a fifty round magazine in the back of the bakkie. There were six pre-loaded and a box of empty thirty round magazines. I attached the loaded magazine to my weapon, shifted the firing selector to 'R', racked back the cocking handle and released it under control, forcing the first round from the magazine into the chamber, then shifted the firing selector back to 'S' with my thumb. Once that was done, grabbed a few boxes of 5.56 rounds and started loading magazines.

I wasn't the only one, the rest of the bunch were standing around the bakkie, loading magazines quickly with deft fingers.

Cpl Maseka had followed me over. “Cpl, we’re going into the bush after them. I want you to send assign someone to drive this bakkie, and someone else to either drive or ride along in my Land Rover. Bettina might want to drive. The two guys who carried the Sgt Major can go with Chris as protection. You stay here with the rest of your guys as backup for us. Get the vehicles out of here now. Tell your guy to find a place to stop where they can wait out of sight until they’re called.”

“What about her?” he asked with a jerk of his head in Daise’s direction. Johnny looked at me expectantly, also interested to hear my answer to this.

“She’s made it clear she wants to be involved. Leave her with us.”

Cpl Maseka saluted and went walking off. Johnny just waited, not taking his eyes off me as he continued to load magazines.

“She’s earned it. She shoots that 303 like a dream and she was cool as hell the other night. I told you about that.” I answered his unspoken query.

“Ok, if you say so.” One of the nice things about Johnny is that he doesn’t do sarcasm. If he said something, then that is what he meant. Just that, no more, no less.

I checked my watch again. We’d been busy for just on eleven minutes. Cutting it fine.

“Ok, Opsaal.”

Everyone grabbed their magazines and weapons and we headed off to the edge of the grass area and formed up without any thought or signals into an extended skirmish line; Bird on point in the center, Rasta and I to his left and Moose and Spyker to his right. Johnny stood slightly behind the line in the center where he could control our movement with small tapping noises on his weapon to and hand signals.

I moved the selector on my rifle to ‘R’ for semi-automatic fire, and tucked the butt into my shoulder, then stepped off as I heard the sound of Johnny tapping his magazine twice. I looked left and right to ensure that the spacing was right, and shifted slightly until it was about fifteen meters between us.

This chapter is dedicated to Cpl (Acting Platoon Sgt) Johan "Vaaitjie" Schoeman. RIP.

Chapter 35: Contact, Contact. Wait. Out.

2009-07-11T17:19:00.001+02:00

I decided to take the old road that wound up the coastline as it was more scenic, so we were right near Virginia Airport when my cell phone started playing Mike Batt’s “The Ride to Agadir”, so I knew it was the Sgt Major calling.*

“Hi Sgt Major,” I answered the call by pressing the button on my Bluetooth headset.

“Major …” I heard, then my skin started crawling as I heard the unmistakable sounds of an AK47 firing on full automatic in the background.

“Contact, Contact. Wait. Out”

I pulled over to the side of the road and shouted for everyone to “Shut the fuck up” and then focused my entire attention on the phone. I could hear the sounds of heavy breathing, and more firing then “Oh Shit” and then nothing for a while. I pounded my fist on the steering wheel in frustration. I had no idea what was going on, other than it sounded like a major fire-fight. I needed to know what was happening. I reached out to Daise and gestured for her to hand me her cell phone. Just as she passed it over, I heard Cpl Maseka’s voice on the other end.

“Major, is that you?”

“Yes Cpl. Contact Report!” I demanded impatiently. This should be second nature to them after the many times we had been through the drill. I was scared now; it didn’t seem good that Cpl Maseka had taken over the Sgt Major’s phone.

“The Sgt Major’s down. He’s been shot in the upper chest, but we think we’ve got the bleeding under control. Rifleman Zondi is dead.”

“The enemy and situation Corporal, tell me what’s happening.”

“About twelve of them. They arrived at the gate in a Toyota Hi-Ace. We thought it was just a taxi, but when Zondi asked them what they wanted; one of them just shot him in the chest with a hand-gun.”

“What’s happening now,” I asked, thinking that no matter what, we were going to practice Contact and Situation reports again when this was over. I shouldn’t have to drag this stuff out of him. “Are you still engaged?”

We got into a fire-fight with them. I think they under-estimated both our numbers and the fact that we were ready to shoot back. We’ve had to drop back to the house though, they’re in the front garden and they take pot-shots at anything that moves. We’re trying to stop them from surrounding us completely.”

“Ok. Abandon the house. Leave Zondi’s body, it’ll be picked up faster if you leave it behind. I have all the woman with me, so it’s just you guys there. You know the route down into the Kloof, go there and lose yourselves in the bush. I’m heading back now; I’ll call you as soon as I can.”

“What about the Sgt Major?”

“Make a stretcher for him and take him with. You know this; we’ve practiced it enough times. Now MOVE.”

“Yes sir. Out.”

I dialled the emergency services number, and as soon as it was answered, reported “Someone’s shooting like crazy. Please send the police to help.” And gave them the name of my road before hanging up.

Next call was to Chris. “I need a medic. Gunshot wound to the upper chest. Can you meet me?” As usual he was completely on the ball. He wasted no time with extraneous nonsense.

“Calibre?”

“7.62 AK 47”

“Who?”

“The Sgt Major. Cpl Maseka tells me they’ve stopped the bleeding, but they’re loading him on a stretcher and are bugging out under fire from my house into the bush.”

“Ok. He’s a tough bastard. Been shot before, so I think he’ll handle the shock OK. Meet you at the river in the Kloof?”

“Yes. Come armed Chris. These fuckers have attacked my home. Zondi’s dead. This has escalated beyond a game now.”

“Damn right. You gonna put out the call to some of the others?”

“Next call. Thanks Chris, see you in a few.”

I hung up and gave the girls a quick summary of what was going on. I told them that we were going to go back and collect the guys and then we would find a safe place for them to stay while I took the battle back to the bad guys. Daise got a stubborn look on her face, and I knew that there was going to be an argument from her, but decided that it could be postponed. There were more important things to take care of for now. I dialled another number on my phone.

“Johnny, you packed?” I asked when the phone was answered.

“You mean like in the old days?”

“Ja.”

“What’s the situation?”

“Twelve guys plus. Russian Mafia types. Attacked my house with AK 47’s and handguns. One rifleman is dead. Sgt Maj Dhlamini is wounded. I’ve got Chris on the way to RV at the river in the Kloof below my house. You know the spot?”

“Yes. I took my kids there on a picnic a few weeks back. You want me to call around, get some of the others?”

“Absolutely. I’ll brief you properly later. For now I have a bunch of civilians with me and I need to make pickup. I need some protection for that and some transport. After we’ve got them, we can go to that place on the Bluff.”

Johnny laughed. “Yes, JUST like the old days. Ok. RV at the river. My ETA is twenty-five mikes. I’ll call the others on the way.”

“Ok. My ETA is more like thirty mikes. Thanks Johnny.”

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oENOe711jM Boney M’s Version and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfkuYvR3f1Y for Mike Batt’s original with the London Philly.

Chapter 34: Moving on

2009-07-09T20:50:00.000+02:00

I was actually very happy to have Lisa in the house. I loved kids, always had. Against many people’s expectations, I had actually spent some time baby-sitting as a teenager, and I had experienced absolutely no problems looking after my own daughters when they were growing up, right from the diaper stage. You know: when you feed them at one end and wipe it off at the other.

Sitting at the breakfast table, I looked around and found that I was happy. Having all these people in my life added something to it, it didn’t take anything away. I loved the sound of everyone talking and watching them made me feel good. I suddenly realised that no matter what else had happened, I wasn’t lonely any more.

I had been dragged along into this situation, without planning much of it at all, and that bugged me in a lot of ways, but I decided that I was far from unhappy with the results. I had no idea what was still ahead of me, and in a lot of ways that was a large part of the reason why I was unhappy. Predictability is a killer. Boring makes you old. Having young people in the house also made me feel a lot younger. Of course, the fact that most of them were young beautiful women had something to do with that.

I decided to shake things up a little though so I calmly dropped a bombshell. “We’re leaving in an hour to go shopping.”

The squeals of protest that followed my announcement just made me grin. I knew that women liked to have more time to prepare, especially if they were going out, but I knew that some sort of ultimatum on time was the only way to get everyone moving in the same direction at the same time. Herding cats? Pah! They’re simple compared to herding women and children.

Did I say that I knew what I was doing when it came to women? If so, someone remind me never to do that again. It wasn’t even ten minutes after my breakfast table announcement that everyone was in the Land Rover waiting for me.

I had gotten up from the breakfast table and gone straight to the shower. When I came out of the shower, I found some clothes laid out on the bed, ready for me to pull on. I could see neither hide nor hair of any of the women when I came down the stairs. Not even Nqobile.

Sgt Major Dhlamini was sitting on one of my lounge-suites and he smiled at my confusion. “They’re waiting for you,” was his laconic comment with a gesture over his should at the door to the garage.

I climbed into the Land Rover to a chorus of teasing cat-calls about how long MEN took to get ready, which I took in good spirit, and with a large smile plastered to my face.

Once we were moving, the interrogation started. Daise had been appointed the spokesman ... umm spokesperson … for the group, and she wanted to know where we were going, why, what we were going to do there and …. I had to interrupt her flow of questions before it got too much, so I just told her to calm down and started exmplaining.

“I thought that we could go up to Gateway Mall. It’s right the other side of Durban, to the north near Amanzintoti, and I think that it should be fairly safe, especially at this time of the morning. My gut feeling is that Dimitri and his crew are primarily night owls. I want to go there because it is a really large mall with a wide variety of shops, and there are some things that I thin we haven’t thought through properly which we can solve there.”

“What did you have in mind?” Daise asked. I glanced across at where she was curled into the passenger seat, with her legs tucked under in her in that wonderful way that girls do, and I could see the gleam in her eyes… I laughed at her, and a little at myself. She had experienced my version of shopping before, where I decided what I wanted and then went and got it, ignoring the cost completely.

“I was thinking that if the bunch of you are going to be living with me, even semi-permanently, then you will all need some clothing and female products. I also see that Nqobile has a fixed and determined look in her eye, and I am sure she intends stocking up her larder to the max!”

“Oh, OK.” Daise was happy with that, and after sharing what I had said with the rest, the whole crowd settled down a bit and I got on with driving.

Chapter 33: Expectations

2009-06-17T23:58:00.000+02:00

I was disturbed once during the night by Alina climbing into bed with us, but she said nothing, just snuggled up to me on the opposite side to Daise, so I soon dropped off to sleep.

The morning light coming through the window woke me up again. I extracted my arm from under Daise’s head and checked the time. 05H20. It took some effort to untangle myself from the two bodies entwined with mine, but aside from some muttered complaints, I managed it without waking either of them. After a quick change into my baggies, I headed down to the pool for my morning swim.

As usual, I swimming helped me to clear my head and start focusing my thoughts. I had been too focused on Daise’s reaction to the short fight we had had the night before to spend any time doing any thinking of my own, and I needed the space to get my thoughts in order. It seemed to me that I was just reacting on instinct with the whole situation and I needed to think my situation through properly. In a few short days, I had moved from a fairly normal life on my own, with it’s associated problems of boredom and loneliness, to one where I was rapidly filling my house with assorted women and my life with all kinds of complications.

I had been quite happy with Daise coming into my life, and thought that adding Alina would add a friend for Daise. The signals that I was picking up from the two of them were a little worrying though. It felt as though they were both acting like they were my partners, with Alina’s focus moving from Daise to me. I knew that Alina had some very bad experiences with men, and I suspected that my treatment of her had started to shift her expectations. There had been some clear indications that she wouldn’t be too averse to getting sexually involved with me, at the same time that she was involved with Daise. I was fairly straight-laced in some ways, so this was an eye-opener for me. On the other hand, having two beautiful young women who wanted to be with me was enormously flattering.

On the gripping hand, I had now added both Bettina and Kate to the mix the previous evening. Bettina’s comment in the hot-tub indicated, on reflection, that she wasn’t too averse to some sort of similar arrangement. I considered that my rescue of her from the club, along with her daughter, obligated me her. The sense that I got in the hot-tub though was that she might want to extend her stay beyond just a few days. Kate was another wild card. She had been extremely effusive in her thanks the night before, with a world of implied promise delivered in her affectionate kiss.

I decided to play it by ear, and see what developed. I had long since learnt that women run a man’s life, and not the other way around. What was much more worrying to me was the situation with Dimitri and his crew. The previous night’s events had definitely thrown down the gauntlet, and I suspected that the confrontation would become a lot more immediate and personal, as what I had done would be seen as a direct challenge. Much more so than the initial arrangement with Daise, or even my ‘turning’ of Alina.

I finished my swim and towelled dry. My Labradors were hanging around the pool and I felt a little guilty that I had given them so little attention the past few days. Jaxon, the large male, was looking mournfully at me and holding his rubber ball in his mouth. I called him to me and he suddenly looked like a big puppy as he dropped the ball at my feet and ran a few meters away, waiting for me to throw it.

I walked out onto the lawn and started throwing the ball for him, which he would pounce on as if it was some rabbit he had to subdue, then return it to me to be thrown again. Holly just lay quietly and watched. Her hips were giving her problems and she seemed to be in pain again, so she didn’t chase the ball with Jaxon.

After ten minutes or so of this, I noticed that Bettina’s daughter had come out of the house and was standing and watching the game. She had an incredibly sad, yearning expression on her face.

“Hi,” I greeted her. “We didn’t have much time to introduce ourselves last night. I’m Rupert. What can I call you.”

“Lisa,” was the shy response. I paused to take a proper look at her. She was fairly tall for her age, with very long light brown hair. Looking at her, I decided that she had either gone through a growth spurt recently, or she wasn’t eating well. She was all sharp angles and long legs. There was no baby fat at all. She was wearing blue-jeans and a Hannah Montana T-Shirt.

“Hi Lisa. Would you like to meet my dogs?”

“Yes please. They won’t bite me will they?”

“No. This is Jaxon. He’s an absolute baby. He would be very upset if he thought that you were afraid of him. You aren’t afraid are you?”

“I’ve never had a dog. We’ve always lived in a flat and we weren’t allowed to have pets.”

“Ok, come over here and meet Jaxon then.”

Lisa walked over to join me where I had stopped Jaxon and was scratching his neck. She reached out very hesitantly to touch him on his back, and slowly started petting him. When I stopped scratching him, he turned to investigate this new person and to Lisa’s embarrassment, nosed her in the crotch. It was very difficult for me to suppress a laugh and I had to explain to her that it was just his way of smelling her so that he would know who she was.

It didn’t take too long before I knew that the two of them were going to be fast friends. After she had thrown the ball for him a few times I left them for a second and grabbed some dog biscuits from the pantry in the kitchen and brought them back. Lisa was very impressed with the fact that Jaxon sat and waited for her to give the biscuits to him and didn’t snatch them from her.

While Lisa played with Jaxon, I very carefully drew her out. It was quite obvious that she didn’t realise that I was doing so, but over the course of the next twenty minutes, I learnt a lot about both her and her mother. What I heard both impressed and depressed me. It was clear that everything that Bettina did was aimed at providing for Lisa’s needs, but Bettina hadn’t been able to avoid closeting Lisa in a small cycle of home and school, and Lisa was quite clearly a very bright little girl who had realised that there were some people in her mother’s life who weren’t very nice. She let slip that she had seen various bruises and contusions on her mother and that there had been a few visits to the hospital as well.

When Jaxon decided that he was tired, and disappeared into his kennel with the ball, we went back into the house. Nqobile had started on breakfast and Lisa and I sat down to eat. Lisa was very excited with the choices that she was given for breakfast and explained readily that she wasn’t given any choice normally. After much negotiation with Nqobile, she decided that fried eggs, sunny-side-up, and bacon was a wonderful treat. I decided to have the same.

While we were eating, the rest of the household slowly came awake, with first Daise and Alina joining us, then Kate and finally Bettina. Everyone was fairly quiet and subdued, except for Lisa who was bubbling to her mother about the fun she had had playing with Jaxon. This eventually culminated in a question to her mother.

“Are we going to live here now mommy?”

Bettina glanced and me, then answered her daughter, “Yes, for now. We will probably have to find a new place to live though.”

“Bettina,” I interrupted, “we haven’t really discussed it, but there is absolutely no rush. You are welcome to stay for as long as you wish.”

“Oh thank you Rupert,” Lisa gushed. Bettina just looked at me, then mouthed ‘Thank you’.

Chapter 32: Going Home

2009-06-01T23:54:00.001+02:00

We hadn’t been driving more than ten minutes before the reaction started to set in. The first to go was Daise. I saw her start to go a little green around the gills, and her hands started shaking. When it turned into dry heaves, I shouted at her to open the window, hoping that the fresh air would sort her out. She made it, nearly. Half the vomit went out the window, the rest splattered all over the door.

“It’s alright Daise, nothing to worry about. You’re having a completely normal reaction,” I tried to reassure her.

“I’m OK,” she responded, but I could see she was far from OK.

“It’s the reaction. You were on an adrenalin high and now you’re coming down from it. Don’t worry about it, we’ll get you into a nice hot bath when we get back and you’ll be alright.”

Alina climbed over into the front seat and helped Daise clean up a bit, before holding her in her arms and comforting her. I then noticed that Bettina was sobbing quietly, but she stopped as soon as her daughter woke up. The distraction of keeping her daughter safe was sufficient stimulus for her to suppress her emotions and focus her attention. Also totally normal. The person who bothered me the most was Katerina. I could see her pale face in the mirror, and it looked as though she was wearing a mask. I would have preferred her to cry but, at first, it looked as if she was going to just suppress her emotions. I thought that was going to be very unhealthy.

“How’re you doing Katerina,” I asked her.

“I am very glad that you rescued me,” she replied, “but I am a bit worried that I will stain your seats.”

“What?” That was a complete surprise. “What do you mean?” I asked.

“I’m bleeding worse.”

“Shit. Sorry Katerina. I completely forgot the reason you were on the way to the hospital. Are you in a lot of pain?”

“It’s OK. The pain does not bother me so much. It is just the blood.”

“Just hold on. Don’t worry about the seat. It’s you that we need to worry about.”

I thought for a moment, trying to figure out what I could do. I was reluctant to go to any of the hospitals because I didn’t have any faith in their ability to keep quiet about her injuries. Nurses were poorly paid and would be very susceptible to bribes. I couldn’t think of any doctors that I knew well enough to call on in a situation like this, but then I remembered an old friend. I figured he could help. I fired up my cell and found his number one-handed while driving.

“Hi Rupe, what’s up,” Chris answered after the third ring. He was a school headmaster now, but he had once been an Ops Medic, well trained in treating trauma, and I knew he had kept up his knowledge as part of the Occupational Health and Safety requirements for his school.

“Are you doing anything tonight Corporal?” I asked him.

There was a slight hesitation. I could almost hear the gears turning. “I haven’t been a corporal for a long time now.”

“Yes, I know. I would push your button unless I really needed you Chris.”

“Ok. How bad is it?”

“Not sure. Bleeding. Pale face. Some sweating, but that’s probably from shock not internal injuries.”

“Ok. I’ll grab my bag. Where can I meet you?”

“My place. We’re enroute now. ETA 20 Mikes”

“Cool. I should make it in about 25 to 30 Mikes. Just have to explain to the mother of my children why I have to abandon her at this time of night. Should I carry?”

“Probably a good idea. I’m pretty sure you won’t need it. We don’t have anyone in ‘hot pursuit’, but you never know.”

“Ok. SeeYa.”

The phone went dead in my ear. I turned to Katerina and told her, “I have someone on the way who will take a look at you. He’s not a doctor, but he’s the next best thing. He’ll be able to tell us what we should do at least.”

“Ok. Thank you,” Katerina replied, the effort to suppress her pain obvious in her voice.

I gave Sgt Major Dhlamini a call and he told me that he was already back at my place, and that everything looked OK. He reported that Nqobile was busy putting something together for us to eat as soon as we got back. I was happy with that. There’s nothing like a bit of an adrenalin high, then the drop back down, to get my appetite going; both for food and … other things. I glanced over at Daise a little guiltily, but saw that she seemed to have calmed down. Alina had fished some wet-wipes out of somewhere and had cleaned up her face, and was in the process of cleaning some of the mess off the car door.

****

The rest of the trip was anti-climatic, although I did keep a wary eye out for any pursuit. The road was quiet and the few other cars on the road were all content to roar past me as I deliberately kept left, in the slow lane.

As we got to my gate, I pressed the remote control and the electric gate slid open in time for me to drive in without stopping. The garage door opened on the same control, and I saw the Sgt Major waiting for me in the double garage. I pulled in and heaved a sigh of relief when the door closed behind me.

“I’ve got the guys patrolling the fence Major,” the Sgt major greeted me, “some of them are really pissed that they missed the action.”

“No doubt they’ll get their chance later. Just warn them that Chris will be arriving in a few minutes.”

“Chris who?”

“Sorry. He’s an old friend of mine. Was an Ops Medic.”

“We have some injuries you didn’t tell me about?”

“Just Katerina. She didn’t get to see the doctor at the hospital.”

“Oh, OK. I forgot about that.” His voice trailed off and I turned to see what had attracted his attention.

“Hey you horny old goat, that’s Bettina’s nanny. You leave her alone!”

“Ok,” he replied, not taking his eyes off her for a second. I just laughed at him and started helping the girls into the house. I half helped, half carried Katerina up the stairs and got her settled into a bed in the second guest bedroom, with Nqobile fussing around like an old abafazi. We had just got her settled when Chris arrived.

“Howzit man. You have no idea how glad I am to see you,” I greeted him.

“No problem. You have to tell me the what the hell is going on here. You have a house full of beautiful women and what look like soldiers patrolling the yard.”

“It’s a long story. This is Katerina. She’s the one with the problem.”

“Ok. Everyone out. Give me some room please.”

I led the way out of the room and started downstairs. Nqobile bustled past me and headed for the kitchen. I went out onto the deck and started up the Jacuzzi, turning the heat to it’s highest setting. Once it was bubbling nicely, I went back inside to get hold of some of the Boboti that Nqobile was dishing up.

“What is that stuff,” Daise asked. I was happy to see that she had changed into a clean track-suit and looked a lot better.

“It’s like a meat-loaf, just a lot more spicy. Based on a Cape Malay traditional recipe. It’s one of my favourite meals.”

“And the yellow rice?”

“That’s the result of the seasoning. Try some, I’m sure you’ll like it.” I fed her a spoonful from my plate and after the first taste, Daise’s reluctance disappeared and I surrendered to the inevitable, handing her my plate and dishing up onto another plate for myself. For the next few minutes there was silence as everyone made a valiant attempt to scrape their plates clean. As we were finishing, Chris came down the stairs, carrying his bag.

“Any of that left for me?”

“Sure, help yourself. What news on Katerina?”

“Kate will be fine,” Chris answered me quietly. “The injuries aren’t as serious as I thought they might be. I stopped the bleeding, which was the most serious. The tears should heal quickly as long as they aren’t aggravated. It seems that the problem is that she has been repeatedly raped and never got a chance to heal. I would still get her to a proper doctor as soon as possible though.”

“Ok, but she’ll be OK for tonight?”

“Yup.”

Chris sat down and I introduced him around. He polished off his food rapidly and I suggested that everyone join me in the Jacuzzi, then walked out onto the deck and just stripped before climbing into the tub and easing myself into the water, not waiting for the reaction of any of the others. It was only a short time before first Daise, then Alina joined me, their pale bodies lit beautifully by the moonlight as they climbed into the tub. Bettina followed shortly afterwards, telling me as she stripped down that her nanny had tucked her sleeping daughter into bed. Daise climbed onto my lap and snuggled into my chest and the others spread themselves out on the seats in the tub. Chris came out briefly onto the deck and excused himself.

“As nice as the scenery is,” Chris said, “I need to get back home. My son is teething and I need to do my shift so my wife can get some sleep. Don’t forget to get Kate to a doctor, OK?”

“Sure. Thanks a million for coming out tonight Chris. I owe you one.”

“And don’t you forget it,” he said with a smile before disappearing back into the house.

Sgt Major Dhlamini appeared briefly. “I’ll sleep here tonight Major, see you in the morning,” he said before vanishing. I suspected that the nanny was going to be experiencing the full force of his charm within the next few minutes and silently wished him luck.

We sat and soaked for a while in silence, content to just enjoy the warm water bubbling around us and the scenery of the deep Kloof in the moonlight. Someone had turned out the house lights, so it was dark on the deck. The faces of the others were just pale blobs, I couldn’t make out any features.

I slowly became aware of Daise moving her cheek on my chest, rubbing it against me almost like a cat, and it made me become aware of her as a naked woman in my arms. The feel of her against me changed from that of a cuddle to concentrate on the rubbery feel of two breasts pressed into me and I shifted uncomfortably as my erection pressed up under her legs. Daise suddenly shifted so that she was straddling me and before I knew what was happening, I was buried inside her as she rocked gently on my lap. I bent my head to kiss her, forgetting completely that there were other people in the tub with us.

“Oh, that is so hot,” Bettina said quietly, which startled me and brought me back to an awareness of where I was. I tried to pull away from Daise, but she just locked her arms around my neck and pulled my head back into the kiss. I decided that it was dark enough that I didn’t need to worry about being embarrassed, and lost myself again in the sensations.

We stayed like that for some unknown eternity, until it suddenly became urgent and I spent inside her. I wasn’t sure what Daise had experienced, and started to apologise to her, but she just ‘shushed’ me and kissed me again lightly. After a few more minutes, she got up and we both climbed out of the tub and headed off to bed, leaving Bettina and Alina in the tub.

Chapter 31: Another Interval

2009-06-01T21:38:00.001+02:00

The man was sitting at the first booth on the left as people entered the strip club. He liked sitting there as it allowed him to keep an eye on who was entering or exiting the club, and to make sure that he was always aware of what was happening around him. He was focused on the documents he had on the table and seemed to be oblivious to the artificial charms of the semi-naked women who prowled the tables of the club.

He paused his reading for a few seconds, and an astute observer would have noticed the fact that his face became flushed for a few seconds, before he returned to the papers in front of him.

The man turned his head and gestured with his head for the manager of the club to join him. As the manager approached the table, he had to pause to allow a topless women to crawl out from under the table before he could take a seat.

The man, known almost universally as Dimitri, continued to read for a few minutes, keeping the club manager waiting. The manager's apprehension became markedly worse as he was forced to wait.

After some indeterminate period, Dimitri put down the papers and focused his full attention on the manager. His single raised eyebrow was the equivalent of a large dose of Truth Serum. The manager started babbling but had to stop after a few seconds as his mouth proved unable to keep up with his desire to tell everything he knew as quickly as possible.

He stopped, drew in a large breath and visibly gathered himself, before launching into his tale a second time. His second attempt proved to be more coherent, but ultimately unsatisfying as he really had no explanation for the events of the evening. He finally wound down and stopped. His eyes betrayed his state of mind, however, looking everywhere except at the man in front of him. There was no escape though, as Dimitri's glare had him pinned in place like a butterfly on a board.

"So, you are telling me that you have three men dead and have two others arrested?"

The manager could do nothing but nod to indicate that Dimitri had summarised most succinctly what he had said.

"And you have lost two women."

This time it was a flat statement, not even a rhetorical question. Again all he could do was nod.

"And the child?"

"Gone, along with the nanny."

"Who did this?"

"We don't know. Our men say that they were taken down by two black men who looked like car guards."

"Bullshit. There was a team there. They were too slick. Someone must have seen something. Find them."

Dimitri waved his hand and the manager scrambled out of the booth, frantic to get away from Dimitri and any possible retribution. As soon as he was gone, Dimitri's shadow appeared. He was a quiet man, dark hair and a flat, expressionless face. He listend carefully to the instructions that Dimitri issued in a few staccato sentences of Russian. His only response was a curt "Da" before he got up and left to follow the manager out of the club. Anyone observing his face would have recoiled from the implacable sense of purpose there.

Dimitri allowed himself a small expression of satisfaction. There would be a new manager of the club in a short while, one of his own men, while the old one met with an unfortunate accident.

He returned to his papers. There was a sense of satisfaction in seeing the figures on paper, and he knew he could rely on the paper where a computer introduced too many chances for someone to intercept the information. Everything was going well; the drug trade was firmly under control with most of the rivals eliminated, he was well on his way towards establishing control over the prostitution setup, with most of the clubs either under his direct control or paying 'protection' to him. There was very little street trade, but what there was would be controlled within a few days. The only fly in the ointment was the bitch Alina who had disappeared and now this incident tonight... As he thought about it, he suddenly wondered if the two were connected.

Chapter 30: Cleanup and Regroup

2009-05-30T02:38:00.001+02:00

I called out to Daise to warn her that I was a friendly, then moved further round the front on the car to confirm that the threat was past. A quick glance told me all that I needed to know, and I rushed back to the driver’s seat of the Landrover. As I jumped in, I called to Daise and she sat back down, pulling her door closed behind her.

I shifted into reverse, and pulled back, wincing as the car I had crashed scraped as it pulled free of the Bull-Bar and crashed back down onto the road. Once I was clear, I shifted back into first gear and swung round to shine my head-lights onto the first car that had arrived at the hospital.

I was gratified to see that my confidence in Cpl Maseka’s ability had been fully justified. The driver of the car was face-down on the tarmac and his hands were secured behind him. Cpl Maseka’s helper was standing with one foot planted firmly in the center of his back, and his pistol pointed down aimed approximately in the direction of the back of his head. I could see two heads with long hair through the back window of the car, so I guessed that the women were still OK.

I left the Landrover with it’s engine running and jumped out. Cpl Maseka was in front of the car busy with something that I couldn’t see. When moved around to where I could see him properly, I could see that he had just finished binding the hands of a second man.

“Everything under control Cpl?” I asked

“Hundred Percent Major,” he replied, “no major injuries.”

“Major injuries?” I asked.

“A few cuts and scrapes from ducking into cover. Nothing a few plasters won’t fix.”

“The girls?”

“We just shouted at them to keep down when we pulled open the car doors. These idiots hadn’t even drawn their weapons.” His voice dripped with scorn as he gestured with his head to one side. A glance told me that he had recovered both of their fire-arms.

“Ok. We need to clean up and get out of here.”

“Two minutes. The Sgt-Major is getting the car.”

“Ok.”

I reholstered my fire-arm and moved to the passenger door of the car. As I turned around, the headlights from the Landrover must have illuminated my face sufficiently for Bettina to identify me. The door suddenly flew open and I found my arms full of a sobbing woman.

“Hi Bettina, sad to see me?” I said jokingly.

My only reward was two fists beating on my chest. I gave Bettina a big squeeze, then pushed her away from my chest so I could see her face.

“Are you OK?”

“Yes,” she answered through her tears, “but I am worried about my daughter.”

“Ok. We’ll talk about that in a few minutes. What about your friend?”

Bettina turned back to the car and crooked her finger at the girl still sitting there. “This is Katerina.”

Katerina climbed out of the car slowly. It was obvious that any movement caused her pain. Once she was standing, she took two steps towards me and then reached up, put her arms around my neck and pulled me down to kiss me. I hesitated slightly and the thought ran through my head ‘Never kiss the groupies’, but I shrugged it off and returned her kiss. I figured that this was her way of thanking me for helping her, and that it would demean her to refuse.

“Hi Katerina, nice to meet you. We need to get out of here, so we will talk a bit later.”

I walked to the Landrover, pulling the two girls with me. Once there, I handed them over to Daise with a quick introduction, and turned to look for the Sgt Major. Typically of the breed, he was standing right behind me and grinned when he saw that he had managed to startle me.

“Geez Sgt Major, don’t DO that,” I admonished him.

“Do what?” he asked with a faux innocent expression on his face. “We’re ready to rock and roll whenever you are. Roy just wants to know where the brass is from the shots that you fired at that other car. He doesn’t want to leave any obvious clues.”

“It wasn’t me who fired, it was Daise. I suspect that her doppies ejected straight into the Landrover. She was standing in the passenger door when she fired.”

“Yebo. I’ll grab the other car, load up Cpl Maseka’s crew and make my way back to your place for a debrief. Ok?”

“Perfect. What is Roy up to?”

“He’ll hang around here. Arrest those two clowns and muddy the waters as much as possible when the Police arrive. He’ll have some story worked out by the time they get here.”

“What about the CCTV cameras?”

“What do you expect? Did you REALLY think they were actually working?”

“And if they are?”

“One of the guys has gone to sort that out. We figure a hundred rand or so and the tapes from tonight will be hard to find.”

“Perfect. See you back at my place.”

I jumped back into the Landrover and pulled out of the parking lot. Once we were driving, I called to Bettina, “Where is your Daughter?”

“She’s at my flat. I have a nanny who looks after her at night.”

“Directions please?”

It only took us five minutes to get to Bettina’s flat. I went up with her and helped her gather her clothes and a few personal items. Once we had thrown those into a bag, she went to wake up her daughter. The nanny turned out to be a young Zulu girl, who showed every sign of being petrified of me, until I was able to reassure her that I was not part of the crowd that had been scaring Bettina. Speaking her language helped a lot with that. Once she knew that I was going to take Bettina and her daughter away with me to look after them, she begged me to take her with, pointing out that we would still need someone to look after the child. I decided that she had a point and told her to come with.

Ten minutes later we were all loaded up in the Landrover and on the N3 Highway back up to Kloof.

Chapter 29: Boiling a Frog

2009-04-29T11:59:00.000+02:00

Waiting is hard, but it is the soldier’s lot. We all knew how to do it. I decided to follow my earlier thoughts and allowed Cpl Maseka to run the ambush. I knew I would have to work hard to suppress my instinct to interfere though so I decided to find a place that would allow me to watch what was happening without interfering too much. Once I had settled myself into a dark shadow at the corner of the building, I took another look around.

The parking lot had a lot less cars than it would have had during the day; a quick count told me there were sixteen. I guessed that the nine or so parked under shade-cloth were Doctors and other staff. From what I had seen of the people waiting in the Emergency Room, I guessed that most of the patients at this time of night had arrived either by foot or by taxi. That reminded me of one of the vulnerabilities that we had, The last thing we needed was more civilians getting caught up in this. Cpl Maseka had positioned some of his soldiers so that they should be able to warn off anyone who got in the way, but it nagged at me as a blind spot. I didn’t like having any variables that I couldn’t control.

I glanced across at the Land Rover, which was parked just around the corner from where I was standing. It was positioned so that it would be out of any potential line of fire. Alina was sitting in the driver’s seat where she could watch me. She wouldn’t be able to see what was happening out in front of the hospital; her job was simply to start the Land Rover on my signal and then scoot out of the seat to allow me to jump in. I peered over and saw a vague blob through the window, so I gave her a reassuring wave.

I had long since learnt how to keep awake and alert at night, and my particular trick was to make sure that I was on my feet. For some reason, when the pre-combat nervousness hit me, I would fall asleep. Just drop off with no warning or nodding, and it happened irrespective of any of the normal tricks. Being cold or uncomfortable was no help. The only thing that worked was being on my feet and making my brain work on all the angles. Thinking about all the possible variations of what could happen so that when something did happen, and the plan went awry, I would have already thought through a whole slew of variations from which I could pick and choose in the middle of the chaos.

This was something that it was extremely difficult to teach young leaders; NO plan survives contact with the enemy. Not even close. My own theory about the ‘Fog of War’ was that it was a mental fog. The battlefield smoke and noise did contribute of course, but an agile brain could deal with that simply enough by knowing where all the elements were and constantly updating that mental map as the battle progressed, both from radio reports and from knowing the terrain and the expected actions of the unit. This presupposed that the unit had drilled sufficiently in training that they would follow the standard operating procedures by instinct. The radio reports, in a good unit, should be simply to update the commander on variations on those drills.

The real fog was the natural reaction of most people to being confronted with combat, especially in a leadership role. Their brains would refuse to process the information in coherent way. I had seen it too often to doubt it. It was something that we could only guess at by making training as realistic as possible, but the reality often overwhelmed even those who did well in training. There were some who operated well in those situations. I had discovered I was one of them and I expended extraordinary effort to identify others that were the same. These were people who didn’t block out the sensory over-load, but who thrived in the input; who were able to take it all in and process it in split seconds to form a coherent picture of what was going on, and then were able make decisions based on that information and convey those decisions as orders to their subordinates in a clear and concise manner so that they were understood. The few exceptional ones were the ones that got obeyed, instantly and without question, in the middle of the battle. There was something in the voice or attitude of those that conveyed itself almost magically to the soldiers around them and under their command.

Sgt Major Dhlamini was not such a leader. He was a very, very good senior NCO, but not what I looked for in this context. Cpl Maseka was. I had y eye on him for a commission. The rule was that he had to be promoted to full Sergeant though before he could be sent on Officer’s Formative training, but that was, as far as I was concerned, a formality. I was just waiting for the signal from Army HQ confirming his promotion so that I could send him to start the process of gaining a commission.

All these thoughts and more swirled through my mind as I weighed the possible actions of each of the soldiers waiting in the dark, and postulated those of the enemy that we expected. In some ways, I thought it might be considered over-kill to plan and think through everything so obsessively, but it takes more time to describe than to do. The process of tactical evaluation was both a skill and an art, and it needed to be practised constantly to hone it. I had taught myself to evaluate things around me constantly in these terms, and it was a process that ran as a sub-routine of my brain during almost every waking moment, so while my surface thoughts were considering whether Cpl Maseka and his men would react as I expected them to, and if Cpl Maseka himself would lead them in the way that I hoped he would, my brain had been busy watching and evaluating the scene constantly.

I suddenly came on full alert as I saw a car turn into the parking lot. I was pretty sure that this was the car we were expecting, and a quick glance at Cpl Maseka confirmed that he thought the same, but what had caught my attention was a car that had been second in the queue behind the one turning in which had coasted to a stop next to the road before the entrance.

My adrenalin suddenly kicked me into high gear. I turned and signalled to Alina as I ran towards the Land Rover. I hadn’t consciously processed all the information yet, I just knew that something was very wrong.

I grabbed onto the Land Rover door and barely touched the driver’s door step on my way into the seat. Alina had barely cleared the seat before I was stomping on the accelerator and hitting the switch that turned on the row of spot-lights on the roof-rack. In the sudden glare of light, it became obvious that the second car was filled with ‘muscle types’ as I was staring into the barrels of at least three rifles. By the time the deep sounding chatter of weapons on automatic informed me that we were being shot at with AK’s, the Land Rover was three-quarters of the way across the parking lot. I spared a micro-second to glance at Cpl Maseka and his helper, and saw that they had taken cover behind a row of cars, before the Land Rover ramped right over the curb dividing the parking lot from the street. The next second, the bull-bar in the front of the Land Rover had caught the sedan car right in the centre of mass, across the driver and rear passenger doors, and was shoving it bodily across the road. I shifted down a gear and floored the accelerator again, but in my haste I had selected the wrong gear and the Landy stalled.

The car I had hit was tilted up at about fourty-five degrees on two wheels and the gun-men who had been shooting at us had been thrown back into the interior of the car. I grabbed the hand-brake and pulled it up to hold the Landy in place, then pulled my hand-gun and jumped out of my door.

As I advanced cautiously around the front of the mortally wounded car, with my weapon held out in front of me in the approved two-handed grip, I could see that I had been spectacularly successful. I could see the driver through the front wind-screen of the car and it as clear from the angle of his head that he was no longer a threat. The passenger side of the front wind-screen had been shot out and there was blood and gore all over the front bonnet. It took me a second to realise that one of the shooters in the back seat must have been firing when we hit and hadn’t stopped. ‘Own Goal’ I thought smugly to myself. Just as I was about to pat myself on the back, I saw movement to my left and swung my fire-arm to cover it. Before I could even get my weapon around, I was startled by the sound of two shots going off in rapid succession, and I saw one of the shooters who had obviously got out of the car, going down. I glanced further left and was surprised to see that Daise was standing in the Landy’s passenger doorway with her weapon extended and obviously looking for more targets.

Chapter 28: Adding responsibilities

2009-04-03T09:11:00.000+02:00

The song ended and I paid Bettina for the ‘dances’ she had done for me. While I did so, she told me where she was going to take Katerina and I told her to do what she had to do and that I would meet her somewhere along the way.

Once she had left the booth, I left enough money on the table to pay for my drinks and to tip the waitress, then I got up and walked out of the club. I gave Roy and Maseka a slight nod as I walked past their tables on the way out.

I crossed the parking-lot and jumped into the Land Rover, once Sgt Major Dhlamini had shifted over into the passenger seat. I didn’t say a word; just started up and drove off.

“What now?” the Sgt Major asked quietly. I guessed he was responding to my dark mood.

“We have a rescue to plan and execute.”

“Who?”

“Two of the women who work there.”

“Where?”

“Wait one. I’m thinking. I’ll brief you now.” My mind was working furiously, trying to cover all the angles. I was sure that the actual rescue of the women would be fairly trivial to arrange, but the longer term consequences were a little more serious. We had come to a water-shed moment. Everything to this point had been at arms length, and I thought that while Dimitri might be pissed off about Alina and Daise disappearing, we hadn’t had any direct confrontation. It was possible, unlikely, but possible, that Dimitri would eventually let their defection to me slide … eventually. Stealing two of his women right from under his nose was something different entirely. I suspected that he would see it for what it was; a direct threat to his authority and control.

I pulled into the parking lot of the City Hospital and turned off the Land Rover. “Ok,” I said, “here’s the story. I met one of the dancers in there, Bettina, and she told me a story. She is being blackmailed to stay there and to work as a prostitute, rather than as just a dancer. She is going to bring a woman called Katerina to this hospital in about an hour. Katerina was violently sodomised earlier and needs medical attention.”

“Oh,’ Alina flinched when she heard that.

“Sorry Alina. No way I could make that sound any better than what it is.”

“No problem Rupert. I just keep getting reminded of Dimitri and …”

“Yes, I realise that. It seems to be his signature.”

“It’s also clever of him,” Daise interjected, “it means that the woman can continue to work.”

“True, although from what Bettina tells me, this was so bad that she needs to receive medical attention.” Just then my phone rang. I saw that it was a call from Roy so I answered it, “Howzit Roy. You out of the club?”

“Yes. You see what you needed?”

“Yes. Meet us at the City Hospital.”

“Ok, be there in a few minutes.”

I told the Sgt Major to SMS Cpl Maseka to get out of the club and call us when he was out, then climbed out of the Land Rover and told Daise and Alina to come with me. We walked into the entrance to the Emergency Room and looked around. There was the usual crowd for that time of night; victims of the usual shootings, stabbings and hijackings mixed in with the kids with high fevers and drunken idiots who had crashed their cars. We sat down and watched the operation for a few minutes.

“Alina, go to the bathroom please and wait there with Daise. When Bettina and Katerina arrive, I will send them in there to you. You can tell them that you are with me and keep them there till I call you. Ok?”

“Sure,” Alina responded and got up. Daise bent over, draped her arms round my neck and gave me a kiss, then followed Alina into the ladies’ bathroom.

I got up and went out to the parking lot again. Roy was there talking to the Sgt Major and as I joined them, Cpl Maseka and his crew pulled up. I briefed them all on what had happened and laid out the Ops Order that I had come up with. I could see that they had all put on their ‘war faces’, so I used the standard format for verbal orders. I knew that the familiar ritual would make things seem familiar to them and settle everyone done.

“Orders. Situation: Enemy,” I began and saw a slight smile flash briefly across the Sgt Major’s face. He obviously recognised what I was doing and why. When he nodded faintly at me, I was reassured that he approved.

“Our enemy in general is Dimitri and his crew. Current indications are that the crew consists of between twenty and thirty men with unknown training. They are armed with hand-guns and, possibly, with AK-47’s and variants.

“Own Forces. Two females inside and those of us standing here. Attachments/Detachments. None unless you count Roy as a cop.” I paused for the expected laughter. I could see that the tension was slightly relieved and carried on a little more informally.

“Ok, the situation is that we have two women who will be escorted by at least one of Dimitri’s crew from the club. As far as I know, Dimitri has no idea that anyone is interested in the women, and the guy is being sent along just to ensure that the women don’t run away. When they get into the Emergency Room, I will be sitting there and I will try to get the women to go to the bathroom, where Alina and Daise are waiting. Once they’re out of the way, then I want Roy to pull his police ID and ask the goon to go outside with him. I’ll cover his back by remaining in the background inside, and once the goon leaves, I’ll escort the women out to the vehicles. Sgt Major, you’ll run the outside operation. I want the car that they arrive in to be watched, and as soon as they are inside, it must be disabled. When Roy and the goon exit, they need to be covered and I want over-watch cover for me when I bring the women out. You need to assign a driver for my vehicle so that as soon as we come out, we can be picked up at the entrance with as little exposure as possible. Roy will search the goon, and I am sure he will pick up on something that he can use as a pretext to arrest him. Once he has the goon loaded up, and we have been picked up, then everyone is to saddle-up and make for my place. Questions?”

“Yes, what do we do if there is more than one ‘goon’?” Sgt Major Dhlamini asked.

“Ok, two possibilities. I guess that there won’t be more than two of them. If there are two, then either one or both will go inside. If one stays outside, then once the other is inside, you take out the one who stays outside. If they both go inside, then I’ll have to provide support for Roy. Make sense to you Roy?”

“Actually, no. I think we should just block the women off in the bathroom and get the guys out here to make a loud racket to draw the goons out, then handle them when they are out here. I am a little concerned with getting too far outside my jurisdiction and also a bit nervous about getting too closely identified with something so far off the books,” Roy said.

“Sorry, I didn’t think of that. Ok, rethink. I don’t want to tangle with these guys, even if it is just one, without separating them from the women. I don’t want to have them caught in any cross-fire or used as hostages,” I thought out loud.

“Major,” Cpl Maseka interjected, “why don’t we take the goon at the car when he arrives? We can act as car-guards and he shouldn’t be suspicious when we approach him. I can take the driver, and if there is more than one, Rifleman Ndlovo can come up on him from the other side. You can be the ‘snatch team’ and the Sgt Major and the rest of the guys can provide cover.”

“Good call. Probably a lot cleaner that way. Ok, make it so. Let’s set up for them now.” It took me only a few second to recognise that the Cpl was better placed to make a tactical call at this level. I had just been subtly reminded of that fact and I made a mental note to be more aware of it in future.

I called Daise and told her to bring Alina and wait in the Land Rover, then in conjunction with Cpl Maseka and Sgt Major Dhlamini, we set up our ambush and settled in to wait.

Chapter 27: Meeting the Enemy

2009-04-03T09:07:00.002+02:00

Cpl Maseka and his cronies had no trouble engaging dancers for their table. I thought quietly to myself that this duty was no hardship for them, the bill was being paid by me after all. I did notice that while they had dancers busy almost every second song, they were taking care to have at least one of their number watching all the time, while the other three paid attention to the dancer. I was satisfied that they would notice if anything went wrong.

Dimitri and his companion didn’t stop talking the whole time that I watched them, although the dynamic changed after a while, and it looked as if it was now Dimitri who was issuing orders or instructions, and the other man who was simply listening to what he was being told.

The waitress came around again and offered me a refill on my drink. When I refused, she lent close to me and whispered in my ear, “Is there a specific dancer that you would like to talk to?” I realised that not engaging a dancer might draw attention that I didn’t want, so I told her that I was interested in talking to Bettina. She seemed unsurprised by this, nodded and left. A few minutes later Bettina walked up to my table. She stretched out her hand, and I shook it without thinking.

“Can I sit here?” Bettina asked.

“Sure. That was a great dance.” I told her.

“Thank you. I try my hardest. I noticed you weren’t that interested I what I had to show?”

“Oh, I was interested all right. I am just not really comfortable in places like this,” I laughed.

“What is your name?”

“Rupert. I guess your stage name is Bettina?”

“Yes. It’s also my real name,” she said with an amused smile on her face. “Why aren’t you comfortable here?”

“I suppose I value my own privacy too much, and it seems like an invasion of yours to have hordes of men staring at you. I can’t help projecting my own feelings sometimes.”

“Oh, I have no problems with it. I work damn hard to keep my body looking like this, so I take pride in displaying it.”

“Well that’s good to know. It makes me feel a little better. Do all the dancers feel the same way you do?”

“Some of them,” she answered with a slight grimace.

“Oh,” I prompted gently, “what about those that don’t?”

Bettina gave me an evaluating look, then looked over her shoulder before turning back to me. “You aren’t a cop, I can always tell, but you are looking for something. What is it?”

“Why do you think that?”

“You don’t feel right. Your attention is in all the wrong places. Are you some sort of cop?”

“No. I am a soldier some of the time.”

“Mmm that does help to explain it. You aren’t here for the girls though?”

“You’re very perceptive. Can you keep a secret?”

“You need to get me to dance for you or something or else I will have to move on.”

“Ok, that shouldn’t be any hardship,” I said with a smile. “How about a table dance?”

“It might be better to have a ‘private’ lap dance. That way we can close the curtain.”

“Cool. Do I need to pay you first or something?”

“No. Just wait.” Bettina stood up and I saw her catching the eye of one of the bouncers. He nodded to her and she reached up and pulled the curtain closed. “Ok, that should do it. What is the secret?” As she said this, she started to do a strip-tease.

“You don’t need to actually strip,” I told her.

“Yes I do. I am working after all, and if anyone checks I need to be doing my job.”

“Before I tell you the secret, could I ask you about the conditions here?”

“What do you mean?” Bettina asked as she removed her green bra.

“I know this is a strip-club, but I have heard rumours that things have changed since the change in management. Is that true?”

“Yes. Sit back on the bench.” I leant back and watched as Bettina removed her panties and climbed up onto the bench. When her knees where on either side of my legs, she leaned forward so that her mouth was right next to my ear. “A few months back a bunch of foreigners took the place over. Since then they have employed a few girls from overseas, mostly Russian and Ukrainian. The VIP room has been turned into a brothel.”

“Is it only the foreign girls who work there?”

“No. They have been putting pressure on all of us to work there. I make enough so that I have been able to hold them off, but some of the other girls have started to go back there.”

“What are the foreign girls like? Are they happy with their work?”

“That’s the problem. They don’t say much about it, but I get the feeling from what they don’t say that they don’t have much choice.”

“They’re force?”

“Pretty much. You will still see them out on the floor, but mostly they don’t dance on the ramp. They aren’t really dancers. Some of them spend all their time in the VIP room, and they can’t work the floor.”

“Why not?”

“Too many bruises.”

“Is someone hurting them?”

“Take a look at my left breast.”

Bettina pulled back a bit and her breasts were level with my face. From this close, I could see that they had a coating of makeup on them. When I concentrated on her left breast, I could see that the make-up was concealing a faded bruise.

“What happened to your breast?”

“A few days back the one guy out there … did you see the short one at the table near the door?” I nodded. “His name’s Dimitri. Anyway, he arrived and he kinda took over. The guy he’s talking to is the manager, but Dimitri has been telling him what to do ever since he arrived. Anyway, he called all the girls in, one by one, for an interview. When he saw me, he asked me why I wasn’t working the VIP room. When I told him that I was a stripper and not a prostitute, he reached out and grabbed me by the breast and started twisting. It was very strange, he didn’t ask me anything or tell me to do anything, he just twisted. I cried out and then he seemed to get excited. The more I cried, the more excited he got. I dropped down to my knees trying to get away from him and he let me go. I think he was going to do something else to me, but his phone rang and he chased me out.”

“Why are you still here then?”

“I’ve been waiting for the end of the month so that I can get paid. It’s only another three days. Once I have my money, I’m out of here.”

“Has he bothered you again since then?”

“Not me specifically. I think he’s been too busy. He scares me. I saw him looking at me a little earlier and I had almost decided that I was going to leave tonight. Screw the money. He’s crazy.”

“I think more than you know.”

“He’s why you’re here,” Bettina said in a sudden flash of insight. “I heard one of the bouncers talking. He said that they were trying to find some guy. You’re that guy, aren’t you?”

Just then the curtain twitched open and a bouncer stuck his head in. “Another song Bettina?” he asked.

“Yes, maybe even two more,” she told him.

He disappeared again, pulling the curtain closed again.

“See,” Bettina said, “I told you we had to do this properly.”

“Properly is not the word. You know that even with what we have been discussing, I have been excited by you.”

“Of course I know. I wouldn’t be any good at my job if I didn’t pay attention to those big details, now would I?”

I decided to answer her earlier question. “I am just here to find out a little about Dimitri and his crew. Do you know more about him?”

“Actually, there is one of the Russian girls that you should ask. I only know what I have been able to see.”

“Which one? Could you point her out to me?”

“No. She is sitting in the change-room. Dimitri decided to teach her an object lesson a little earlier. That’s what convinced me he’s crazy. Really crazy.”

“What object lesson?”

“He said that we were all sluts. His sluts, and we would do whatever he told us to do. He grabbed Katerina and bent her over the table, then he raped her in her arse.”

“Shit. In front of you?”

“In front of all of us. That was just a little while before I came out to dance. It was the final straw for me. She is sitting in there now, bleeding. He told me that I could take her to the hospital later.”

“Why would he let you do that?”

“She doesn’t speak much English. I’m supposed to go so that I can tell the doctors what they need to know.”

“Isn’t he worried that you’ll give him away?”

“No. He said he would send one of his goons along who would hurt me badly if I did.”

“Ok. I tell you what, how would you feel about me taking you out of this situation.”

“What do you mean?”

“I already have a bit of a ‘dispute’ with the man. I was thinking that if I got you and Katerina away from the ‘goon’, that you could help me find out what I need to know.

“I don’t know if I can trust you completely. How do I know that you aren’t some kind of weirdo?”

“You don’t. What I will do is make up the money you are missing by leaving here, and promise that I will do my best to look after the two of you.”

“Three actually.”

“Three?”

“I have a young daughter. She’s seven. She’s actually the real reason I didn’t leave immediately. Dimitri said that he would hold her hostage for my obedience.”

“Shit. Ok, know this. You and your daughter will be safe with me.”

Chapter 26: Strip Club

2009-03-26T13:58:00.000+02:00

Daise left me on the couch to go and wake Alina as Sgt Major Dhlamini walked into the lounge. They greeted each other and the Sgt Major dropped heavily into an armchair.

“What’s up with you Sgt Major?” I asked him, noticing the frown on his face.

“Are you letting your penis do your thinking for you Major?” he asked me.

“What?”

“Just yesterday, you were taking the proper precautions: not going out onto the veranda; having people watching the road and generally taking care. Today you buy a flashy red car and blithely let the woman drive it home, with you following. If you are going to change tactics and set them up as bait, I would appreciate being told beforehand.”

I could see he was mad with me, and I felt a bit guilty. “You are correct Sgt Major. I wasn’t thinking clearly. Sorry about that.”

“Don’t apologise to me Major. Just don’t make such bloody stupid mistakes again. I couldn’t give a shit about you, but my people’s lives are at stake and I am starting to get a little fond of the two women.”

“Sgt Major! You are going to make me cry if you aren’t careful. It sounds almost as if you are trying to protect an officer from his own stupidity.” I waited to see how Sgt Major Dhlamini would respond to my attempt at levity, and wasn’t disappointed.

“You only cry when you see people kicking puppies. You know better about the way I feel about stupid bloody officers,” he said while grinning wryly at me.

“Too true. Thanks for the kick up the arse. I wasn’t thinking clearly. “

“Are you ready for tonight?”

“I think so. Are you happy with the plan?”

“Not really. I do think that it is the best we can do though. Just don’t act like a silly bugger tonight and we should gain some useful intelligence.”

“Ok. I’ll make sure I don’t sodomise anyone…”

“You know what I mean. There’s only so much we can do if they attack you in the club.”

“Here come the ladies,” I said seeing the two of them descending the stairs. “Ladies, if you will forgive me for saying so, you would both look like a million dollars dressed in sacks. In those jeans, you look like ten.”

“You like?” Daise asked as she twirled to show off the tight jeans she was wearing.

“Yes, I do. Do the boots fit you Alina?”

“They’re perfect, thank you Rupert.”

“No problem. Both of you need to be comfortable and I figured that good boots stand anyone in good stead if they have to do any kind of running or fighting. There’s nothing like being prepared.”

I got up and went to the gun safe. Daise already had her Vektor SP1 in a bikini holster on her belt, and I got out the little Luger 9mmK. “Daise tells me you know how to shoot an automatic,” I said as I handed the weapon to her along with a bikini holster.

“Yes I do. I haven’t shot much though,” Alina said as she started threading her belt through the holster.

“This weapon is simple enough. It has a thumb safety. Move it down, and pull the trigger. I will cock it for you so that it is ready.” I matched actions to words and handed her the weapon. She took it from me and tested the feel of it in her hand.

“This fits my hand perfectly,” she said with a surprised note in her voice. “I expected it to be too large for my hand.”

“That’s why I gave it to you. Don’t think about it too much. It’s only there in case there is a dire emergency, then you have it as backup. The old saying is ‘You never need a fire-arm until you really need a firearm’. Don’t draw it unless you really need to use it, OK?”

“Ok.” Alina practiced taking off the safety and engaging it again, then, once she was happy that she knew what she needed to know, she slid the weapon into her holster. “How do I hide it?”

“Just pull your T-Shirt out and let it hang over the holster. If it shows too much, then pull the holster slightly round behind your back.” I demonstrated by lifting my T-Shirt to show them where my holster sat. “I’ll have to leave mine behind when I enter the club, so I won’t have it on me. I’m relying on Cpl Maseka and his crew inside the club, and you guys as backup on the outside.”

I glanced at my watch and started hustling the girls out to the Land Rover. Sgt Major Dhlamini climbed into the front passenger seat and the girls got into the back. I took a few seconds to load the Lee-Enfield into its storage compartment and we were on the road.

We arrived in the parking lot of the Strip Club ten minutes before nine and I saw thatRoy’s car was parked near the entrance. We had already decided that he would enter the club before me, so I wasn’t too worried about that. I stopped and looked to see if I could see Cpl Maseka’s car. Just as I hauled out my phone to call him, he arrived along with three others in the car. He waved at me and found a parking spot. Our plan was that the four of them would be a distraction as well as my support in case anything happened inside the club. They got out of the car and stood around chatting. I gave Daise and Alina a quick kiss and got out of the Land Rover. As I walked towards the entrance to the club, Sgt Major Dhlamini drove the Land Rover out of the parking lot and stopped across the street.

I walked into the club’s entrance and stopped at the barrier. The bouncer there, a giant of a man dressed in a suit, patted me down before directing me to the cashier’s window. He was distracted though, as we had planned, because Cpl Maseka came up right behind me with his three companions. I paid my R100 entrance fee and entered the club proper. As I came through the screen door, I was greeted by one of the waitresses who asked me if I was alone or whether I was expecting anyone. When I told her I was alone, she asked me to follow her and led me to a table in the centre of the club, near the ramp. I asked her if I could rather sit against the wall and she just smiled and agreed.

I sat down in a booth with my back to the wall and looked around. Cpl Maseka came in shortly after me and the four of them moved to a larger table right near the ramp, but about two tables away from mine. They immediately ordered a round of drinks.

I hadn’t been in this club before, so I was interested to see the décor. I had been in another club a few months before on the occasion of a friend’s bachelor party, so I had something to compare it to. This club was not as clinical and well lit as the other had been. The booth I was sitting in had red leather covered seats and was fairly sheltered from view. I looked up at the ceiling and saw that it was possible to pull a curtain across to ensure privacy. The table was fairly sturdy, and I guessed it had to be to handle the rigours of women dancing on it. There was no-one dancing on the ramp, but there was a table dance going on a few tables away from me. When I looked a little closer, I saw that the blonde dancer’s legs were resting onRoy’s shoulders and his nose was about ten millimetres from the crotch of her panties. Well, his cover seemed to be intact.

There were about twenty dancers in the club that I could see. Other than the one busy with the table dance forRoy, there was one other table dance going on the other side of the ramp. I craned my neck and saw that it was two dancers up on the table doing a dance for a group of eight guys. Only a few other tables were occupied; it seemed to be a little slow.

The waitress came back once she saw I was settled and I ordered a brandy-and-coke which I thought I would be able to nurse for a while. There were signs on the walls giving a list of the rules, the most important of which seemed to be that there was no touching of the dancers and no photos were to be taken.

Shortly after my drink arrived, the current song ended and the DJ announced that ‘Bettina’ would be doing a dance for us. All the girls that had been doing dances on the tables, as well as the others who were sitting on chairs against the far wall, disappeared into a staff-only door. The lights dimmed a little and a new song came on. I recognised it as Joyride from Roxette.

As Hello, you fool, I love you, C'mon join the Joyride erupted from the speakers, a tall, striking red-headed women appeared on the ramp. She was dressed in a pair thigh-high black leather boots over tight green pants and a white men’s dress shirt. Over that she had on a long green cape. She started out by dancing along the ramp, swirling the cape and playing with it coquettishly to cover and reveal her face. After a few minutes of this she discarded her cape, and started using the poles spread along the ramp. I watched her eyes, and noticed that like all good strippers, she was evaluating her audience, checking to see what appealed to them and where she would get the most attention. She used her hands constantly to direct the audience’s eyes away from her face to her breasts and her legs, them drew them up again to watch as she moved on.

The first song soon came to an end, and as the next song started, she sat down on a chair to remove her long boots. Once they were off, she started dancing again, going through basically the same routine until about halfway through she started unbuttoning her shirt. The way that she moved and twirled provided a very titillating experience, showing occasional flashes of her bra.

I was suddenly distracted from the show when I caught movement in my peripheral vision and turned my head slightly to see that three men had come into the club. I watched as they moved to a table and two of them sat down, so engaged in their conversation that they were completely oblivious to anything that was happening around them. Their lack of attention was compensated for by the third man, who’s attitude screamed ‘body-guard’ as he stood against the wall near their table and tried to watch everything going on. His gaze flicked across me and I could see that he evaluated and dismissed me as a threat. I kept watching the two at the table, trying to hide that I was doing so. I suspected that the shorter man was the Dimitri that I had heard so much about, while the taller man looked more like a local. I risked a glance inRoy’s direction, and got a slight nod from him as if he was confirming what I thought.

When I started paying attention to the dancer again, she was down to her panties, and I took a few moments to admire the truly impressive job that some plastic surgeon had done on enhancing her natural assets. As the song ended and the next one began, ‘Bettina’ bent over from the waist and slowly removed her panties. Her rear was pointed away from the audience while she did so, and she kept glancing around coyly, giving the impression that she was alone and was worried that someone was watching her. I was tremendously impressed with her skill. She was obviously not just a run-of-the-mill bump-and-grind dancer, but someone who took great pains to actually dance, and to put on an act at the same time. It took her almost half of the song before her teasing was done and she was fully nude. After that, she went back to the poles and eventually was displaying herself completely to the audience. She moved around the ramp, stopping every now and then to put on a bit of a show, and once again used her hands to direct the eyes on her; starting at her face; then down her body; pausing at her breasts; before moving on to stop between her legs. It was instantly obvious that she was either a true red-head, or her hair had been died to match top and bottom.

When she was facing me, she caught my eyes watching her, and returned my look. She moved her hands to direct my gaze away from her face and I smiled at her, nodded and continued to look at her face. She moved on after giving me a slight nod and a faint smile.

At the end of the song, ‘Bettina’ gathered up her clothes in one arm, performed a very elegant bow to us with her whole body, then turned and left the ramp through a door in the wall. As soon as she had left, the staff-only door opened and the rest of the girls appeared again. They started circulating amongst the tables.

I was approached by three at different times, who asked if they could sit down. I turned them away politely, saying that I might be interested later.

Chapter 25: Getting Ready

2009-03-25T15:32:00.002+02:00

It took about an hour to get everything sorted out, but then we could leave in a mini convoy. Daise was driving her new car with Alina sitting beside her. They had the top down, and the admiring looks from other motorists were obvious. Two beautiful women in a cabriolet, I was surprised that there were no accidents, from the inattention of other drivers, on the way home.

Once we were home again, I called everyone together in the lounge to discuss the activities planned for the evening. The most obvious issue was that neither of the two women should show themselves in the club, and we decided that it would be a bad idea for me to sit with Roy as it was likely that he had been identified as a policeman. I was a little concerned about the fact that we would have to be unarmed in the club, the search at the door as likely to be very thorough, so we had to figure out how to make the situation as safe as possible. After some discussion, we decided that the best bet was to work with some misdirection and we worked out a plan for that. Once we had settled on that, I called Roy and discussed it briefly with him.

I explained our concerns to Roy, that we were concerned about security and his being identified. He was quite happy to go along with our plan, so it was settled. We would enter the club separately with a little diversion to draw attention away from us. Sgt Major Dhlamini was designated to take care of the outside security, and possible backup, while Cpl Maseka and a couple of the others would form a raucous group, celebrating a bachelor’s party. I would sit on my own as near to them as possible, and Roy would also sit on his own, but far from us.

Nqobile had prepared us a nice meal of lamb chops, mashed potatoes and some salads, which we all enjoyed before moving off to our various rooms to get some sleep in preparation for an expected late night.

When I walked up the stairs to my room, Daise took my hand and Alina walked right behind us. I expected her to turn off to go to her own room, and was a little surprised when she followed us into my room. I shrugged mentally and stripped down to shorts before climbing onto the bed. Daise climbed up next to me and snuggled up in my arms, and Alina, after some hesitation, lay down on my other side. I decided that just pretending to ignore the situation was my best option, so I closed my eyes and before I knew it had dropped off to sleep.

I woke to the delightful sensation of two beautiful women cuddled up to me. I eased my way out from between them and jumped in the shower before going downstairs. It was just five o’clock when I got to the lounge, so I turned on the TV and caught the highlights package from the days play. It was day three in the cricket test match between South Africa and Australia, and it looked as if we had a good chance of beating them by an innings. It was very nice to see, even though we had lost the series already as they had won the first two tests.

Sitting and watching a bit of cricket was a relaxing activity and I allowed my mind to mull over the events of the past few days in an attempt to put everything into perspective. There had been a lot of things happening and I hadn’t really had a chance to think them through and decide what I really felt about what had happened. I had discovered fairly early on that it was important for me to take time to process things as soon after they happened as possible, otherwise some overlooked facet could jump out and bite me at the most inopportune moment.

I decided that I was very happy with the fact that Daise and I had gotten on so well, and I was really starting to like Alina after a pretty rocky start. The fact that the two of them had started pulling me into a conflict was a little more difficult to get my head around. One the one hand, I didn’t want or expect anything of the kind to happen, but on the other I was finding myself enjoying the mental challenge. I had to admit to myself that the threat of danger added more than just a touch of spice.

My ruminations were interrupted by the sight of Daise walking down the stairs. I turned the volume on the TV down and greeted her quietly, “Hi. You sleep well?”

“Very well, thank you. I can’t believe how nice it is to sleep snuggled up safely next to you,” Daise replied. She walked over and settled onto the couch next to me, tucking her legs up under her in that effortless way that women have. I lifted my arm and dropped it around her shoulders as she scooted up closer to me.

“How are you doing?” I asked her. “We haven’t really spoken much since Alina got here.”

“Actually, I am doing a lot better than I thought I would. Rupert, I must tell you that you are the best thing that ever happened to me. I was really worried that I would be just a trophy wife or some sort of sex-slave, and I was prepared to accept that if that was what it took to escape from my situation, but you have taken me into your heart and your life in a way that fulfils my dreams. I wanted to thank you for that, as well as to tell you that you really didn’t have to buy me the car or anything else, I am quite happy just being with you.”

“Thanks Daise. I really appreciate that. I think you know that I am in love with you. I was also more than a little worried what would happen when Bev pushed me into making those first moves, and I can tell you that you are way more than I expected. I have noticed though that you seem a lot more relaxed now that Alina is here…”

“I am. I don’t think you realise exactly just how close Alina and I are,” Daise told me. I looked closely at her and I could see that there was a faint blush that had spread across her face.

“I’m not sure I understand exactly what you mean,” I said, pretending not to have noticed the blush. I had a pretty good idea, picked up from observing the way the two of them interacted with each other, but I wanted her to tell me in her own way and, more importantly, in her own time.

“I think I told you that we shared everything,” she asked looking up at me as she did so. At my nod, she continued “Well, we became very close in the last year or so. Alina didn’t have any boyfriends. I think what she was being forced to do had made her scared of men. So …” Her voice trailed off and she looked down, tracing a pattern with her finger on her bare leg.

“Are you saying that she turned to you for comfort?” I prompted quietly.

“Yes. We … we became lovers,” she said just as quietly, then she glanced up quickly at my face. I guessed that the expression she saw there she found sufficiently encouraging that she gained the courage to continue. “It started with me holding her in the night because she was having bad dreams and crying. I would kiss her tears away and the one night she just reached out and grabbed hold of my head and started kissing me on the mouth. That was the first time. It was a huge surprise to me. I had never experienced anything like it and hadn’t expected to. I didn’t know what to do, so I just responded to what she did to me. Afterwards, Alina told me how good it felt for her to be in control for once but how, at the same time, how nice it was to have someone gentle and soft to make love to.”

“Yes, I can imagine how that must have been for her. What about you though? Is this something you were comfortable with?”

“Not at first. It was very exciting while she was busy making love to me, but I was very embarrassed the next morning when I woke up in her arms.”

“Was it just that one time?”

Daise was watching my face the whole time. I was concerned about how she might interpret my feelings, because I was unsure what expressions showed on my face. I was even more unsure of what my feelings were. I guess that uncertainty must have shown.

“Do you think it was bad?” Daise asked me anxiously.

“I have no problems with the fact that the two of you made love,” I answered cautiously, “the only thing that concerns me is whether she forced you somehow.”

“Oh no!” Daise answered emphatically, “She was very gentle with me.”

“No, I don’t think you understood me. What I meant was if it was something that you wanted to do. She could have made you feel that you were obligated to her or something.”

“Oh, I understand. No, once I got over the surprise, I definitely wanted to do it.”

“Did you do it again?”

“Yes, a few times. I just thought that I should tell you though. Alina was telling me before we went to sleep that she misses our closeness.”

“Do you still want to be involved with her?”

“I don’t want to lose you.”

“That isn’t what I was getting at. I wanted to know about your feelings.”

“Well, yes. I think I would miss her.”

“I must tell you, I suspected that the two of you had a more intimate relationship. I have been watching how you interact with each other.”

“Does it bother you?”

“Well, it would have when I was much younger. I am not nearly so immature and insecure as I was at eighteen. I think what is important for me is that there is honesty; each of us needs to be honest with the other and open about what we want to do. Thank you for telling me about this Daise. It bodes well for our relationship that you are able to tell me these things.”

“Thanks Rupert. I knew I had to tell you. I already told you that I would give up anything else for you, and this is included.”

“I’m not asking you to give it up Daise. I just wanted to explore your thinking about it. I am quite happy to be in a triangle relationship with the two of you.”

“What do you mean, exactly, by a ‘triangle’ relationship?”

“What you seem to be describing. You and I loving each other and you and Alina loving each other.”

“Oh no,’ Daise laughed, “you’ve got it only half right.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have to finish the triangle Rupert. Alina told me that she is starting to fall in love with you too.”

That was a shocker. I had thought that there was an easing of the hostility, not a move towards love.

“Are you sure?” I asked Daise. “This is a hellova turnaround from her feelings just a few days ago.”

“Yes. Alina told me that if it hadn’t been for me feeling the way I do about you, she would have made a move on you already. Why do you think she snuggled up to you earlier? She could have slept next to me if that wasn’t the way she was feeling.”

“That’s true, I suppose. It’s something I will have to think about. It’s not something I had ever considered before. I’ve read about relationships like that, but never experienced anything like it. In fact, I don’t think I’ve even met anyone who had a relationship like that.”

“What about Sgt Major Dhlamini? He has lots of wives.”

“That’s not the same. They aren’t together in his bed. It’s very much one at a time.”

“Are you sure?”

“Well, he’s never given me any reason to think any differently.”

“Well, that’s not the idea I got from Mzwandile when I chatted to her in the ladies’ room at the Spring Ball. She definitely seemed to be looking forward to some intimacy with one or two of his other wives once they were married.”

“Well, that’s a surprise to me. How on earth did you get involved in a conversation like that with her anyway?”

“She asked me a lot of questions about our relationship,” Daise giggled. “I think she might be a little more interesting than the Sgt Major expects.”

“I think you’re right. Damn. I would love to tease him about this, but I get the feeling that he would have just as many opportunities to tease me by the time they’re married.”

“You mean you will consider it?”

“Yes. We will have to see how things go with this whole situation though. I don’t think that now is the right time to be exploring variations in sexual triangles.”

“Sexual triangles… hmm… that gives me some images to feed my imagination.”

I laughed. “Me too, you minx. I think it’s time we got everyone up and ready for tonight though.”

“Looks to me that you are up and ready enough,” Daise teased me, running her hand over my thigh and between my legs.

“Hey,” I protested weakly, “we can’t do that now.”

“If you say so,” she said with a last teasing squeeze and a smile.

Chapter 24: Shopping

2009-03-23T23:44:00.001+02:00

Roy’s announcement left me a little flabbergasted for a few seconds. I took a few seconds to process what he had said. As I thought about it, I realised that it made a lot of sense. I had heard that the strip clubs were often full of women from the ex-Soviet republics, and that it would be a natural habitat for someone like Dimitri.

“That sorta makes sense,” I told Roy. “Which one were you thinking of?”

“The new one in Stamford Hill Road,” Roy answered. “Club 363. Its been open a while, but we’ve been watching it for a while now and there was a change of ownership about six months back. Since then, it has gone from a pure strip club to having some of the dancers becoming ‘Ladies of Negotiable Virtue’.”

Roy glanced at Daise and then fixed on Alina as he said this. I looked at Alina, and saw that she had a strange expression on her face. I couldn’t quite define what it was, but guessed that it was somewhere between anger and amusement.

“Alina? You Ok?” I asked her.

“Yes. I like the way that you put that Roy. Much nicer than some of the things that I have heard it called,” Alina said.

“Ja, I like it too. I have seen enough women in the industry to have some sympathy with them. I don’t like the way that they are often treated by other policemen and I try to compensate a little. A lot of them are really nice…” His voice trailed off, and I could see that the subject was still painful for him.

“How is Julie by the way Roy?” I asked him.

“I keep track of her as much as I can. She has put on a lot more weight since you saw her last. She moved down to Knysna and is working as a clerk for a lawyer down there. She is slowly rebuilding her life.”

I decided that Roy had come a long way to be able to talk about it like that. It hadn’t been too long since he wasn’t able to talk about it at all. I could see that both Daise and Alina were intensely curious, so I looked at Roy and asked him “Can I tell them?”

“Sure. Probably a good idea that they know.”

“Ok. Alina, Roy had a girlfriend, they were engaged to be married, and he noticed that money was going missing from their accounts. One day he got a call from Julie’s partner in her law firm to ask where she was. He called around, and no-one knew where she was. She had just disappeared. He hunted for her for days, and when he eventually found her, she was walking the streets. It turned out that she had had a growing addiction to cocaine and it had got her into all kinds of trouble, both financially and professionally. Eventually, the money that she had borrowed landed her in the clutches of the Nigerians. They had introduced her to Crack and were pimping her to maintain her habit. Roy here tried to intervene, but wasn’t successful for a long time; Julie’s addiction wasn’t something that she wanted to shake. He did eventually manage to get her out and into rehab. Once she came out, she started putting on weight. We think it was to make herself unattractive to men. Now she wants nothing to do with men at all.”

“Did you say her law practice?” Daise asked.

“Yes. She was a damn good lawyer. We think that there were a lot of high flyers in the circles she moved though, and they got her into the cocaine as a way to maintain the energy level. It’s a damn shame.” I answered her.

Daise turned to Alina, and put her arm around her. I could see that Alina was close to tears. I knew before I told the story that it might hit a little close to home, but I figured that it was worthwhile as an object lesson as well as to show that both Roy and I were sympathetic to the plight that Alina had found herself in. Alina looked at me and I could see a softening in her eyes towards me. She hadn’t been exactly hostile before, but there had been a reserve there that had bothered me. I guessed that we had taken the first steps towards breaching that reserve, and that made me glad.

“What’s the plan then Roy?” I asked him.

“I thought we could meet down there about twenty-one hundred, go in and just check out the place. See what we can see.”

“Aren’t you on duty?”

“Not really. I have just come off the night-duty shift and I have two days of down time before going back on the day-duty shift. I figure I can maybe convince my supervisor that this is overtime work too.”

“Ok,” I laughed, “sounds good. Lets do that then. I have some things I would like to do this afternoon, so I think we should leave you to your Castle Draft and see you later?”

“Cool. Have fun and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he said with a friendly leer at the girls. Daise and Alina took it in good spirits and both smiled at Roy, even though Alina’s smile was a little wan.

Once we left the Pavilion Mall, I drove into Pinetown. Cpl Maseka and his crew checked in with me via cell phone and I told him where I planned on going. The girls didn’t have a clue though; and it struck me that sometimes it was useful to be able to speak a language that they didn’t know. That thought sparked another, and I decided that I needed to think carefully about how I could get them to listen in to what would happen that night.

Once we got into Old Main Road in Pinetown, I spotted the place that I wanted and pulled in.

“What are we doing here?” Daise asked with barely suppressed excitement.

“What do you think?” I asked. “Have you forgotten that I told you I thought you needed a car?”

“I thought you were just talking,” she said, then she lapsed into what I guessed was either Ukrainian or Russian and her and Alina went back and forth for a while.

While they were talking, I parked the Land Rover and got out. I knew exactly what car I wanted to get Daise; I had been eyeing it for a couple of months now whenever I drove past. As I walked into the showroom, I could hear the excited chatter continue as the girls followed me. Once inside, I was approached by a salesman and I started telling him what I wanted, but I spoke in Afrikaans so that I could keep it a secret from Daise and Alina. It took me a few minutes to explain to the salesman, and to figure out the practical arrangements for payment. I gave him my details and he scurried off to process the paper-work, and phone the bank I supposed, before turning to Daise.

“What do you think of that?’ I asked. Daise turned to look where I was pointing. She went still, looking eerily like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car in the road; dead still and poised to run at the slightest sound or movement. “Yes, in a few minutes that will be yours,” I assured her. I really liked the Beetle 2.0 Cabriolet, and if the look that Daise gave me when she turned around was any indication, she really liked the red one I had pointed out. All of a sudden, I found my arms filled with a very grateful and excited woman.

Chapter 23: Intelligence

2009-03-23T17:50:00.003+02:00

We were right in the middle of our meal, when we were interrupted by a warning from Cpl Maseka. I looked up to see Roy threading his way through the tables towards us. The dark circles under the arms of his blue uniform shirt were a clear indication of how badly he had been sweating in the heat.

“Hey Roy, how’s it going?” I greeted him.

“Damn hot,” he grunted as he sat on the wooden bench across from me. “Hi ladies, I’m Roy,” he greeted Alina and Daise, perking up obviously as he did so.

“Settle down you horny dog,” I warned him. “These ladies are with me.”

“The ones you told me about?” he asked before extending his hand to Daise and Alina in turn. “Nice to meet you,” he told each one and smiled as each told him their name.

“Can I get a beer?” Roy asked the waitress who had arrived at the table, “A Castle Draft please.”

The waitress nodded and left and I decided to jump in before Roy had time to settle and start in on one of his inevitable monologues. They could be interminable, but were usually confined to one of two subjects: how inept and corrupt his fellow Metro-Policemen were; or how bad the scourge of crime was affecting the city. Sometimes both.

“Can you brief us about what I asked?”

“Sure. I just came off duty. We had a meeting earlier this morning to discuss exactly that.”

“And?” I had to prompt him to continue as his beer had arrived, and he had stopped to inhale it, before ordering a second one from the waitress who had hardly had time to turn away from the table.

“Ah, that was what I have been dreaming about since I got on duty. It’s been a long eighteen hours for me already.”

“Eighteen hours?” I asked, surprised.

“Ja. I’m on my night duty cycle. We got a call early on, about twenty-hundred, that there was a big shootout in the Point Road area. We were first on the scene. You know those old buildings down there, just behind Addington Hospital? Well, it seems that one of the Nigerian drug gangs isn’t going to be a problem any more.”

“Oh? What happened?”

“They’re all floppies now,” he grinned.

Daise looked at me with raised eyebrows and asked “Floppies?” I laughed and answered her, “Yes, when you shoot them, they go all floppy and fall down.” Daise smiled a little uncertainly, but seemed satisfied with the answer.

“That’s about it,” Roy continued, “there were a couple of bodies in the street, and then a few more in the stairwell. They had some rooms on the third floor, and the rest of the bodies were there. Lots of blood and gore and tons of AK doppies all over the place.”

Before Daise could ask again, I explained that doppies were cartridges, and that it seemed that her countryman’s brainchild, that most successful export to the shitty little wars around the world, was what had fired them.

“Hey,” Roy interrupted my explanation, “I’m supposed to be the cynical one in this relationship.” He grinned at me and called for another beer.

“Roy, before you get completely plastered, maybe you should tell us the whole story and how it relates to what we need to know.”

“No danger of me getting drunk. Just replacing lost fluids,” he replied. “It relates to you guys because we have been tracking these guys for a few months now. I think they are the same bunch that you are interested in, but their tactics and aggression suddenly got ratcheted up. We haven’t seem them getting into prostitution much as yet here in Durban, although they are apparently getting into it up in Jo’burg, but they have been taking on the drug gangs in a big way. The Nigerian gangs have been running the drugs ‘till now, but last night they were taken out completely. The scene that I covered was just one of three. All the same MO: automatic weapons mostly, AKs and the odd R4; all the Nigerians left dead; all the drugs in the place gone; and no witnesses, well none who will talk anyway.”

“Do you have any leads at all?” I asked hopefully.

“We know exactly who it is. It’s the guys you asked me about. There’s no proof though, nothing to show that they were there or that they did it.”

“How do you know it was them then?” Daise interjected.

Roy gave me a look, then turned to Daise. “I’m sure you’ve watched a few cop shows on TV. You must know that we work with informers and people under-cover?”

“Yes,” Daise answered, “but you said you didn’t have anyone who witnessed it.”

“No I didn’t. I said there were no witnesses who could talk. We have started finding the bodies of all our informers and under-cover people turning up in the strangest places. They all have their tongues cut out and a bullet to the head.”

“Shit. These guys don’t play.” I was a little shocked by that.

“So we have learnt. It gets worse though.”

“How could it be worse?”

“I told you I was in a meeting this morning?”

“Yes?”

“Well, we made a presentation to the big bosses about the whole deal. It turns out that police intelligence knew that some of this stuff was happening, but had decided to wait-and-see as it was pretty low-key, and the politician types were encouraging that attitude. They want to keep this below the public radar as much as possible. There is no way they want anything to impinge on their World Cup cash cow. They are shitting themselves about the publicity on this. Expect to see a bunch of lies in the media over the next couple of weeks.”

“Ok, but if you know it is them, but don’t have any proof, what are you going to do?”

“At the moment, it is cover-your-arse time, so there are no really coherent plans coming out. No real prospect of any either. I have seen chickens without heads make more sense than that lot.”

“Maybe this plays to our advantage,” I said thoughtfully.

“How do you reckon that?”

“Well, I guess that your lot would be inclined to look a little in the other direction if something did happen to them.”

“What the hell are you thinking Major? You got some OPS-ORDER brewing in that twisted skull of yours?”

“Sort of,” I laughed. “Just thinking that we should check them out and see how much of a threat they really are. Unfortunately, if they have taken out their main opposition, then they might have more time to deal with us. I just don’t know. That’s why I gave you a call; I figured you might have some info for us to at least be able to evaluate them.”

“I was thinking a bit about that. I have a plan for you to get a look-see at the opposition if you like.”

“Ok. What did you have in mind?”

“Well, I thought you might like pay a visit to a strip-club.”

Chapter 22: Shopping

2009-03-08T23:01:00.002+02:00

I woke up with the sun in my eyes. I lay quietly for a while, just enjoying the feeling of waking up next to a beautiful woman. Daise was still lying in the crook of my arm, but she had turned to face away from me and I was snuggled up behind her. I had my right arm draped over her waist.

As I lay there, basking in the early morning light, and in the feeling of Daise’s body against mine, I slowly came to realise that something was strange. I hadn’t woken up completely, so it took me a little while to figure it out. It suddenly clicked into place for me when I realised that I had an arm draped across my shoulder. I lifted my head slightly to look over Daise, and saw that Alina was in the bed, on the other side of Daise and had cuddled up to her. It was her arm that was draped over Daise and resting on me.

When I tried to extricate myself quietly, Daise stirred and turned her head towards me. “Good morning Rupert,” she said sleepily.

“Morning Daise. When did Alina join us?” I whispered.

“She crawled in sometime after we fell asleep. I haven’t spoken to her, I didn’t want to wake you. She was probably feeling lonely. We shared a bed most of the time at home.”

“No problem. I was just wondering. I’m going to go for a swim, are you going to join me this morning?”

“I’m so warm, I don’t want to move. It’s probably a good idea though.”

“Ok. I’m getting up now, feel free to go back to sleep if you want.”

I got up and went into the bathroom to relive myself. When I came out to get dressed in my baggies, I couldn’t help but admire the sight of the two beautiful women lying snuggled together in my bed, their arms around each other and their long hair intermingled on the pillow.

I shook my head to clear the images that my thoughts generated at the sight, and went downstairs to start my morning swim.

Some time into my swim, I became aware that the two women had made it down to the pool. I stopped at the end of one length to greet them.

“Don’t stop because of us,” Daise said brightly.

“Why not,” I answered looking up at the two of them, “I couldn’t wish for a better view.”

Daise preened a little and Alina adjusted her bikini self-consciously. It looked as if she was wearing one of Daise’s, as it was delightfully small. “Feel free to join me,” I invited them.

Daise looked at Alina, and responding to some signal I couldn’t pick up, turned back to me, “No, I think we’ll just watch from here.”

They settled down on the pool steps. I carried on swimming for another thirty laps before stopping.

When I got out, they joined me and we wrapped our towels around us before walking into the house for breakfast.

Nqobile had set the table with a variety of cereals and I started the coffee percolating. As we ate, I told them what I had planned for the day.

“I thought we could go to the Pavilion Mall to do some shopping,” I told them and saw the interest bloom in their eyes. “After that, I have made an appointment with a friend of mine. We’ll meet him a bit later.”

“Who is it?” Daise asked.

“His name is Roy Peace. He is a Staff Sgt in the regiment, but more importantly for us, he is in the Metro Police. I called him the day before yesterday when I was making plans and he told me that his section is tasked with dealing with a ‘new wave’ of organised crime in the city. He says that it is mostly to do with the drug trade at the moment, but Police Intelligence has speculated that they are getting slowly into prostitution. From what he says, I think that it might be the people we are interested in.”

“What will he do?” Alina asked, a little tentatively. I got the idea that she was unsure of her status with me; I guessed she realised that she needed to rebuild my trust in her, as she was trying to build her trust in me.

“He’ll just brief us at first, although he has said that if we do think that these are the right people, he will take us on a drive to see if we can spot some of them. I emailed him the photos you took at the airport Daise, and he says he thinks that he recognises one or two of them.”

“Dimitri?” Alina asked.

“No. I specifically asked him and he doesn’t recognise him. He must be here only because of you.”

When we had finished eating, we got changed and waited for Sgt Major Dhlamini to arrive. He had left me a message to tell me that he had some things to take care of. While we waited, I asked Alina about her joining us the previous night. She was a little tentative at first, but after some prompting, admitted that Daise had been right: she was feeling lonely and scared and needed the company. I reassured her that she was welcome any time.

Two hours later we were at the Pavilion Mall. We had an unobtrusive group running interference for us while we shopped. The women loaded up on all sorts of clothes at my urging, and were ready for me when I called time and hustled them out to the car. Once we had everything loaded, we found a table at Firkins, a restaurant that opened out onto the roof parking lot, and we waited for Roy to arrive.

Chapter 21: Alina Comes Around

2009-03-05T00:08:00.007+02:00

Sgt Major Dhlamini arrived within five minutes, and was not disappointed to hear that it would be a while before Alina would be ready to talk. He listened to my explanation of what I had deduced and his only response was a grunt before he wandered off to find Nqobile.

After ten minutes or so, he came back into the lounge, where I was sitting and flipping through the satellite channels on my TV, and told me that the sheep spit-braai was ready. He was holding a plate, and obviously ready to eat.

“Typical bloody Sgt Major,” I teased him, “always ensure that your stomach is sorted out as a priority.”

He laughed at me. “You know your lessons about the most important lessons for soldiers, ‘Always eat whenever there is food, because you never know when you will get another meal.’”

“Ok, good point I suppose. Why don’t you organise that all the others eat, and you too, and I will wait until Daise and Alina are ready and eat with them?”

“Sounds good. By then I will probably be ready for seconds anyway,” he said with a grin.

“Probably thirds or fourths.”

“True.”

He wandered off and I carried on waiting for the girls, trying to war-game possibilities and options in my head while I channel-surfed.

Almost two hours had passed when I heard the girls coming down the stairs. I turned off the TV and waited for them to appear. They were both dressed casually and I could see that Alina had scrubbed the gunk off her face. Her red eyes betrayed the fact that she had done a lot of crying. I guessed, from my past experiences with women, that this meant that she had poured her heart out to Daise. I was happy about that; there was no way I wanted to deal with a weepy woman again, one had been bad enough.

“Hi Ladies,” I greeted them, “before we start would you like something to eat? Alina, we prepared a special meal to welcome you.”

“Thank you Rupert. I’m ravenous,” Alina replied. Daise just nodded at me.

“Ok, let’s help ourselves. Nqobile has put it all out on the counter for us.” I picked up plates and handed them to Daise and Alina. We loaded up on salads, and I added mielie-pap and sauce to my plate. Both women looked at it suspiciously and avoided it. I led the way out to the braai area where Sgt Major Dhlamini and Cpl Maseka were standing and talking.

When he saw us coming, Cpl Maseka picked up a carving knife and an over-sized fork and asked the women what they wanted, then cut them slices from the carcass on the spit. I selected my preference and once my plate was loaded so much that it groaned, I pulled up a chair. The rest all joined me, Sgt Major Dhlamini with his umpteenth helping, and there was only the sound of mastication for a while.

Once all the plates had been cleared, I prompted Alina, “Time to tell us your story Alina.”

Alina gulped, looked at Daise for reassurance and, apparently satisfied with what she read from her expression, launched into her tale.

“Rupert,” she said, “I’m really sorry about the way I acted earlier. I have been so scared. Daise has been telling me about you and your friends and the way that you have treated her since she got here, and I felt a little better about things now.”

“No need to apologise Alina,” I told her, “just tell us what happened to you please.”

“You were right; I was beaten and I did betray you. I was in the departure hall at Schipol and I had just spoken to you and Daise on the new cell-phone I had bought. When I hung up, Dimitri appeared suddenly behind me and grabbed me by the hair. I didn’t know exactly who he was at first, but he soon told me.” She glanced at the Sgt Major and Corporal, then obviously made up her mind that as they were part of what was happening, that they should hear what she had to say.

“He explained to me,” she continued, “that he had been the one behind me during my rape.” She placed a particular emphasis on the word ‘behind’ which I understood to mean that she meant that he had been the one to sodomise her.

“He forced me to go with him. It was two hours before I was supposed to board, so he told me that there was plenty of time for us to ‘play a bit’. He had booked a room in the airport hotel, one of the ones that is used by people who have long lay-overs, and he took me up to it. When we got there, he started asking me all sorts of questions about Daise and about you. I didn’t want answer his questions. This seemed to make him happy. I realised that it gave him a reason to do what he did next.”

“To beat you?” I suggested.

“Yes. He had some oranges lying on the bed. He stuffed ‘something’ in my mouth …”

“What?”

“My panties.”

“Ok. Sorry to embarrass you.”

“No. It’s OK. I need to tell the story. Anyway, he gagged me and then put the oranges, I think it was four of them, into a pillow-case that he pulled off one of the hotel pillows. He threw me onto the bed and held me down by kneeling on me, then he hit me with the pillow-case. I soon wanted to talk, but he ignored everything I did and just kept beating me; on my legs, my belly; my chest; and even on my face.”

I watched as tears rolled down Alina’s face while she related this. Daise had scooted her chair closer to Alina’s and was holding her hand. When she started crying, she stroked her hair and her back and said something softly. I guessed it was those meaningless phrases that are meant to comfort. Alina seemed to take strength from this support and carried on.

“He stopped after a while and took my panties out of my mouth, then started the questions all over again. He didn’t show any emotion; it was as if he didn’t care whether I talked or not. I didn’t want to take the chance though; the look of pleasure in his eyes when he was hitting me was the scariest thing that I have ever seen. It was obvious from the erection he got while he was hitting me that it was pleasurable for him to hurt me.”

“What questions did he ask?”

“He started out asking about Daise; where she was and who she was with. When I told him about you, he focused on you and I told him everything I knew. It wasn’t much and at first I though he wouldn’t accept that I knew so little. He listened to what I told him and I guess that he must have realised that I was petrified of what he would do to me if I lied or left anything else. When I stopped, he just thought for a few minutes then he told me what I would have to do.”

“What was that?”

“He said that I would have to come here and meet up with you. He told me that they would follow me and that I should lead them to you and Daise.” Alina looked at Daise and I guessed that she had already apologised to her, because Daise just leant in and gave her a hug.

“He must have threatened you somehow?”

“Yes. He told me that there were about twenty-five of his ‘colleagues’ here and that if I didn’t do what he told me, they would all take turns with me and that when they were finished, he would cut me. Cut my face and body. He said they would make sure I survived so that I could learn what it was like to live with an ugly face and body and … with no tongue. As a warning to others.”

“Ok. What were you supposed to do. Call him?”

“He told me that they would just follow me until they knew where you were staying, then they would make an example of you.”

“Do you have any idea what they are doing here? It puzzles me that Russian criminals would be in South Africa?”

“Yes. He told me a little about that when he was explaining about making an example of you. They are busy setting up their operations for next year; for the Soccer World Cup. They are busy setting up their prostitution operation here the same way they did in Berlin a few years ago. They have bought some houses and they are busy removing any competition; either by killing them or scaring them away. From what he said, it seems as if there are some locals that will work with them.”

“Did he give you any hints about what he would do to ‘make an example’ of me?”

“He seemed to think that you wouldn’t be much trouble; that you would be backed down with a sufficient threat. I got the idea that he wanted to threaten you with violence, but that he was under orders to threaten your livelihood or something.”

“That’s great Alina, thank you. That gives us a little more of an idea of what to expect. Knowing how many there are is also good. It will help us plan our defence.”

“You aren’t worried?”

“Well … a little. I have some ideas about how I would like to handle this. I think it would be best to wait for morning though. I think you have had enough to deal with today. I think Daise should help you to bed. Nqobile prepared the guest bedroom for you.”

Daise took the hint and pulled Alina to her feet and led her back into the house. I sat in thought for a while and then noticed Sgt Major Dhlamini watching me expectantly.

“What do you think Sgt Major?” I asked him.

“I think that the best form of defence is attack,” he replied. I could see the battle-lust in his eyes.

“Yes, it makes me nervous to have to sit and wait to see what they will do. We have a little time though because I don’t think they were prepared for the way that we evaded them on the way back from the airport. I think we need to be careful though; they won’t continue to underestimate what we are capable of.”

“They are criminals, not soldiers,” he said with contempt dripping from his words.

“True. It does make them more dangerous in some ways. They aren’t bound by many restrictions, while we do have to worry about the law.”

“Mmmm,” was his only reply.

“I’m going to get some sleep. I think I need to charge my batteries. The next few days might be a little draining.”

The Sgt Major grinned. “I think you just want to drain something else.”

I laughed at him as I got up and gathered the plates. His laughter followed me as I walked into the kitchen. I loaded the plates into the dishwasher and went up to bed.

When I slipped into bed, I was delighted to find a warm, nude, body waiting for me.

“Hiya,” I greeted Daise, “how are you doing with all of this?”

“I am just so happy that Alina is here now. I think you will look after both of us very well. Won’t you?”

The pleading tone in Daise’s voice cut right through to my heart. “I will do whatever it takes,” I reassured her.

“Thank you,” she said and proceeded to almost smother me with kisses. “I am still too sore to do anything like we did last night, but I still want to do something for you,” she told me.

“There’s no need,” I told her, but my body’s reaction gave away the lie. Daise smiled and disappeared under the covers. I soon found my manhood engulfed in a wet, warm mouth. I didn’t last very long and groaned as she sucked my essence from me within a few minutes. Her head popped out a few seconds later and she had a self-satisfied smile on her face.

“How was that, nice?” Daise asked.

“Very nice. Thank you,” I assured her. I fell asleep shortly after that, lying on my back with her head cradled in the crook of my arm and her body tucked snugly into mine.

Chapter 20: Alina is Nervous

2009-03-04T22:31:00.001+02:00

“Relax Alina,” I tried to calm her, “I’m on your side. I’m not sure if you noticed, but you were being followed.”

“No, I hadn’t noticed,” she replied. She shifted in her seat as she said it, however, and turned away to look out the window. I was instantly suspicious. I got the clear impression that she was trying to lie to me. I wasn’t sure quite what she was trying to hide, but at the least, I suspected that she knew that she was going to be met and followed. This put a new complexion on things.

Ahead, I could see Cpl Maseka’s car turning off into Edwin Swales VC Drive, heading towards Pinetown. Our plan was to lose anyone following us before we got to the original car rental agency in Pinetown, so Cpl Maseka turned off at Queensborough. We drove past on another road that ran parallel. There was a subsidiary rental agency there, and he pulled into their parking lot, jumped out, and handed the keys to the attendant. He then jumped over a low wall and into my car. The car that had chased him from the airport was stuck. It had to turn around into traffic and drive about two klicks back to get onto the road that we had used.

“Did they follow you on foot Cpl?” I asked Cpl Maseka.

“No Major,” he answered, a little out of breath, “I don’t think they know the roads here very well. They drove straight on when they saw me go over the wall.”

“Excellent. Thanks Corporal, good job.”

We drove in silence for a few minutes until we were back on the main road. Ten minutes later, I pulled into the Pinetown rental agency, and found the Sgt Major waiting for me. I got out of the car, handed the him my car-keys and bundled Alina into the Land Rover. Cpl Maseka got into the back and we pulled out. Total time spent: less than two minutes. I felt like the Ferrari Formula One Team doing a pit-stop.

As I pulled away, I was almost deafened by the effusive greetings between Daise and Alina. A quick glance at Alina showed a completely different person. It was as if those first few minutes of being re-united with Daise had stripped away her other concerns. As we drove, however, I could see her start to worry again. A few minutes into the journey, her cell-phone rang. She immediately looked guilty, and I could see she was trying to decide what to do; whether she should answer it or just pretend that it wasn’t ringing.

“Alina, pass me your phone please,” I requested politely. She just looked at me. “Now,” I added with a bit more emphasis. Cpl Maseka had picked up on the tension between us and I could see that he was watching Alina very carefully, leaning close to the front seats. I caught his eye in the rear-view mirror and cut my eyes towards Alina. He nodded slightly to show that he understood that he needed to watch her closely.

Alina was still dithering about her phone. “Daise, please pass me Alina’s phone.”

Daise reached into Alina’s bag, grabbed her phone, and handed it to me, giving Alina a puzzled look as she did so.

The phone stopped ringing just as I took it, so I pressed the green button to bring up the list of recent calls and saw that the first missed call was from ‘Dimitri’. I scrolled through the list and saw that there were three or four calls to-and-fro between Alina and this Dimitri, starting from when Alina had landed in Cape Town. I opened the back of Alina’s phone, removed the battery, and dropped it into the storage compartment between the seats.

“Alina,” I said woodenly, “I think you owe us an explanation. It can wait till we get home though.”

Alina just nodded. The expression on her face was guilt overlaid with defiance. Daise started in at her in Russian and I stopped her, telling her that I would prefer it if she kept it to English and waited ‘till we got back to the house. After that, there was silence in the car.

The journey through Giba Gorge seemed as if it had been unnecessary as I detected no tail, but I was still happy that I had made that more paranoid choice. Sgt Major Dhlamini called me just as we were arriving at the house to tell me that he had dropped his guys off on-foot and they would set up stopper-groups on the road leading to the house. He said he would prefer to stay away until we had a clearer idea of what was going on. I was happy with that. It was nice to know that I had backup waiting on-call if needed.

Once at the house, I got everyone to sit in the lounge area; I didn’t want to expose us more than necessary, and I thought being on the veranda was a huge potential risk.

I was watching Alina like a hawk, and as she sat down on the couch, I realised what had been bugging me about her; she was moving very stiffly. With a sudden flash of insight, I thought that I knew what had happened.

“Alina, stand up please,” I told her. She gave me a puzzled look as I walked over to stand in front of her. I looked at her for a few seconds as I considered.

“Ok, lift your arms up above your head,” I told her while I demonstrated what I meant. Daise was looking at me now as if I had turned into a monster. “Relax Daise, I think we will figure this out soon enough. Ok, Alina. Drop your arms. Who beat you up? Was it ‘Dimitri?”

“No-one beat me up. What are you talking about?’ Alina answered defiantly.

I sighed. “Alina, it’s obvious from the way you move that you are sore. Your arms are stiff; you are favouring your right side, I would say that your ribs have been hurt; every now-and-then when you forget to hide it you wince when you turn and I suspect that when you clean all that gunk off your face, we will see that there is either some bruising or other damage there. Do you want me to insist that you remove your shirt so I can see if there are bruises?”

“There aren’t any bruises.”

“Ok, that proves nothing though. There are many ways to beat someone without leaving any marks. What did they do, use Oranges in a bag?”

Alina gasped in surprise. Bulls-eye. “Ok Alina, I think the best thing is to get you into a hot bath to ease some of those pains, then we can have a long chat.”

Alina looked trapped. I watched while she shot darting looks around the room, as if she could somehow spot an escape route.

“Don’t bother trying to ‘escape’ from here Alina. You are going to have to trust us; we have your best interests at heart and we will sort this out.”

“Trust you,” Alina spat at me, “you are a man. I have learnt my lesson: never to trust any man.”

“I can understand that. I tell you what, you chat to Daise a bit while you are having your bath and see if she can’t help you to change your mind a bit. When you are finished, then we can start this conversation over from the beginning. Is that fair?”

Alina looked at Daise. Daise nodded to her encouragingly. She turned back to me, “I suppose.”

I watched as Daise led Alina up the stairs to the bathroom. Once they were gone, I gave the Sgt Major a call.

“Sgt Major, you can come in. It’s important for you to hear this. I think that we don’t have an immediate threat, but we need to explore our options.”

“I’ll be there in five mikes. Should I pull the stopper-groups?”

“Are they covert enough or will they attract attention?”

Sgt Major Dhlamini laughed out loud. “Anyone who notices the guys will think they are just your normal Tsoti’s hanging around the neighbourhood. You might pick up a bit of flack from the private security when the Nervous Nellies call it in though.”

I laughed in turn. “I’ll give the security company a call and tell them we are running a training exercise. They’ll be happy with that, we’ve done it often enough before.”

“That should work. See you.”

“Bye.” I smiled as I hung up. ‘No need to tell them that this one wasn’t a training exercise. What they don’t know can’t harm them,’ I thought to myself.

Chapter 19: Alina Arrives

2009-03-04T22:25:00.000+02:00

Swimming gave me time to do some of my best thinking. I used the opportunity this morning to go over how I felt about what had happened during the night. I was really surprised by just how awkward making love to Daise had been, and how it had confirmed for me what I had guessed the day before; that she was a virgin. I realised that I hadn’t really believed her when she told me I had guessed correctly about that. She deserved an apology from me, and I resolved to do that as soon as I finished my swim.

Once I had reached my limit, I climbed out the pool and towel-dried myself. Daise stood and did the same when she saw me getting out and we walked back into the house. Once we were dressed again, we met on the veranda for breakfast.

Nqobile had made us fried eggs, bacon, tomato, and lots of toast. We didn’t share more than a few words during breakfast.

“Daise,” I started, once I had finished eating, “I just wanted to apologise to you about last night.”

“Oh no, there is no need for you to apologise. I am the one who should apologise; I wanted to make it good for you.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. I wanted to say that I was sorry that I said you should have told me that you were a virgin. You did, yesterday at the pool. I am afraid I either didn’t remember, or I didn’t really believe you.”

“That’s Ok. You were still very gentle with me. I appreciate that.”

“Ok. Please clear you head of the idea that you have any reason to apologise. We can work at this and make it better as we get to know each other.”

Daise was obviously embarrassed to talk about it, so I let it lie there.

“Almost time for us to go,” I told her as I checked my watch. “Is there anything you need?”

“I just need to make a trip to the bathroom then I’ll be ready.”

“Ok. I’ll meet you at the car in ten minutes then?”

“Ok.”

We both went upstairs. I cleaned my teeth and returned downstairs within five minutes. Cpl Maseka climbed into the back of the Land Rover together with his two guards and we were forced to wait for no more than three or four minutes before Daise joined us and we could leave.

The trip to the car rental agency took us twenty minutes through the early morning traffic. Sgt Major Dhlamini called me on my cell while I was driving to tell me that he had arranged for the various people to be picked up and was also en route.

I pulled into the rental agency grounds and found a parking spot, then walked over to the office to sort out the rental agreements. When I walked out of the office, the Sgt Major was waiting for me and I threw him the keys to the over-watch car without saying a word. Cpl Maseka got the second set of keys and I kept the third. The Sgt Major gestured to Daise and she joined him in his car. I waited to see that everyone was set, and then we set off in a convoy of three white Opel Corsas; chosen to be as nondescript as possible.

****

We arrived at the airport half an hour before Alina’s plane was scheduled to land, and Cpl Maseka dropped off one of his guys to wait for her. He parked his car in the “Drop and Go” area, climbed out, and opened the boot to give him the excuse he needed to stay there without the airport security types moving him on.

I drove right through and parked at the petrol station to wait, while the Sgt Major drove onto the third floor of the parking garage and climbed out so that he could watch the entrance to the Domestic Arrivals hall.

I was in contact with Cpl Maseka and Sgt Major Dhlamini via a set of cheap, short-range walkie-talkie radio sets I had bought. Cpl Maseka had instructions to report in as soon as his man emerged with Alina, so I settled in to wait for her to arrive.

I was surprised when fifteen minutes later I got a call from the Sgt Major.

“Nine, this is Niner-Fox. Message. Over,” he called me.

“Nine, Go.” I answered him.

“Niner-Fox, Hens in the Hen-House. Over.”

“Nine, Wait one mike.”

I thought for a second. If he was reporting possible hostiles, then our security precautions were not in vain after all. I wondered how he had identified them positively. ‘Hens’ was our code for people that were definitely hostile. ‘Chicks’ would have meant that they were only possibly hostile.

“Niner-Fox, this is Nine. Say again, ‘Hens’? Over.”

“Niner-Fox. That’s a positive, over.”

“Nine, Ok stand by and continue over-watch. Break. Niner-One did you copy over?”

“Niner-One, positive. Copied your last. Over.”

“All Nine stations, continue as planned, Acknowledge. Over.”

“Niner-One, Positive.”

“Niner-Fox, Positive.”

“Nine out.”

‘Ok. Just have to stick to the plan,’ I thought to myself. Fortunately, we had planned with the assumption that we would have hostiles, so the confirmation just ratcheted up the tension a notch or two, it didn’t change anything. I settled in to waiting again.

The next report I got took about twenty minutes. It was from Cpl Maseka.

“Nine, Niner-One. Message over.”

“Nine, Send Over.”

“Niner-One. Pickup now over.”

“Nine. Acknowledged. Standing by.”

“Niner-One Out.”

I started the car and left it idling so that we could get moving quickly. I climbed out and stood next to it while I waited. It took Cpl Maseka about four minutes before he pulled into the petrol station, and stopped next to me. It had felt like it was taking him forever, but I realised I was running on adrenalin. All my senses were on high alert. Cpl Maseka stopped his car and opened the passenger door.

“Hi Alina, I’m Rupert. Please hurry, I need you to get into my car right now.”

“Hello. What’s the rush?”

I paused to look down at Alina. Even in the midst of my urgency, I decided it was worth the time to admire a seriously sexy woman. She was a complete contrast to Daise with a very curvy body, large breasts, long hair and a perfectly made-up face, albeit a little heavy on the makeup. She was wearing blue-jean shorts, and they were very short, and high-heeled sandals, so her long tanned legs were very much in evidence when she swung them out of the car.

“Sorry to rush you Alina, but we think there are some guys following you and we need to lose them. Just climb into my car please and we’ll get out of here. I’ll explain on the way.”

Alina stood up and walked around the front of my car to climb into the passenger seat. Cpl Maseka had already transferred her small bag into the book of my car and drove off as soon as I slammed the passenger door closed. I jumped into the driver’s seat of my car and called the Sgt Major.

“Niner-Fox, Nine. Message, Over.”

“Niner-Fox, Go.”

“Nine, Package safe. Your status, over?”

“Niner-Fox. ‘Hens’ are in pursuit. Four followed the package out and joined a fifth in a blue Toyota Mini-bus. Approaching swap point.”

“Nine. I see you. I will follow you. Got photos?”

“Niner-Fox. Trying now. Out.”

I waited until the Sgt Major had passed us, and then pulled out behind him. We were soon on the N2 Freeway heading north, back towards Durban. I could see Daise in the Sgt Major’s car with the digital camera. She was tasked with getting as many photos of the men as possible and now just needed to get one of the back of the car so that we had a number plate to work with.

With things running as planned, I looked sideways at Alina, and noticed that her fists were clenched tightly with tension.

“Sorry to drop you right into it like this, Alina. We decided to take some precautions to ensure that we could protect you when you arrived. Are you OK?”

Alina turned to look at me. I was taken aback by the expression on her face. She had a look in her eyes that reminded me of an animal that I had seen caught in a snare during a patrol we had been doing in the Kruger Park near Messina. It was a look of aggression that was pasted on top of fear.

“What the fuck are you doing? Are you kidnapping me?”

Chapter 18: First Time

2009-03-04T22:20:00.001+02:00

Daise walked up behind me, slipped her arm around my waist, and gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek. I turned my head to look at her with a smile and asked“I hope you’re not a vegetarian?”

“No. I haven’t eaten too much meat recently. Those steaks look huge.”

I laughed. “They are fairly large. Don’t worry about it though, what we can’t eat will go into the fridge and we can snack on them later. There’s nothing like cold steak sliced up on white bread with a bit of ‘Old English’ mustard.”

“Sounds nice. Can I get you something to drink?”

“Yes, please. A Coke would be nice.”

As Daise walked over to the bar fridge, Sgt. Major Dhlamini looked at me with a grin and cocked his head at Daise.

“You approve, do you, Sgt. Major?”

“Yes. She seems nice. I really approve because I can see the effect she is having on you, though.”

“You aren’t worried about the shit-storm it is bringing down?”

“No, I’m actually looking forward to it.”

“Yes, you would. You love having an excuse, don’t you? By the way, are you staying over tonight?”

“Yes. Nqobile has me sorted. I have one of my guys fetching the kit we need for tomorrow. He’ll meet us at the car place.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Daise asked, as she returned carrying my Coke and a Castle Lager for the Sgt. Major.

“Alina is arriving tomorrow, and we were just going over the final arrangements.”

“All I heard was something about weapons?” Daise queried, with a nervous lilt to her voice.

I explained the basics to Daise; that we would be picking Alina up but changing cars and that she should stay with the Sgt. Major in the over-watch car. At first she seemed to be a little surprised that all the arrangements were necessary, but I explained to her that we were just taking precautions to ensure that we didn’t make it easy, although we knew that we could be found simply enough once someone knew it was us that Alina was joining. Daise was obviously still nervous about the whole thing, but seemed to be content to leave the issue in our hands.

Once the meat was ready, we all helped ourselves to the salads that Nqobile had made, and ate with our plates on our laps. The Sgt. Major ensured that the soldiers on guard got their food, and then rejoined us.

After the meal, we were all tired so we packed up and went off to bed.

*****

It took me a while to figure out what had woken me. My curtains were open, so I could see that it was still night time. I got out of bed, then walked out into the passage, and then followed the sounds to Daise’s room. I could see that she was still asleep, but she seemed to be having a nightmare; she was tossing and turning, and every couple of seconds she called out in what I guessed was Russian. I was reminded of the many times I had comforted my daughters at night, when they had bad dreams. Daise had kicked off the covers, so I laid down on the bed next to her and pulled her into my arms. She didn’t wake up, but put her arms around me and pulled me close. I continued to lie there, holding her, until I fell asleep again.

The next time I woke up, it was because Daise had moved. I opened my eyes and watched her. She was awake and I could see she was trying to extricate herself from the tangle the two of us had made of our limbs and the bed-sheets. I smiled slightly and tightened my grip on her. She looked up at me in surprise.

“You had a bad dream; I fell asleep as I held you.”

Daise looked embarrassed, “Sorry if I woke you.”

“When? Now, or in the middle of the night?”

“Both.”

“Well, I certainly never expected our first night sleeping together would be like this,” I teased her.

“Me either.” She looked at me again and a mischievous expression crossed her face, “I expected it to be much more active.”

I laughed. “You looked so beautiful in the moonlight from the window, I wanted to kiss every inch of you.”

“Why didn’t you?” Her voice shifted suddenly; from a young girl's, to the throaty voice of a woman. It caught me completely off-side.

“I didn’t want to take advantage of you.”

“And if I had told you I didn’t mind?”

I decided that was an invitation that I wasn’t going to ignore. I bent my head and nuzzled her neck, biting softly as I moved up to her ear. I could feel the goose-bumps on her shoulder and all around her neck. She shivered.

“That’s nice.”

Encouraged, I freed my hand and started stroking her arm and running my fingers through her hair; kissing her skin all the while, and kissing around to her jaw, nibbling with my lips. I could feel the response from her body; the way she arched against me; the way she shivered; the tremble in her throat and how she turned her head so that I could gain access to her skin.

I shifted over slightly, and reached her mouth with mine. It was slightly open and I took her bottom lip between my teeth for a second, then kissed he mouth. Her tongue slipped out and teased my mouth.

I felt my desire rise like a flood and suddenly I was kissing her ravenously. She returned the kiss in full measure and our tongues wrestled; striving to penetrate each other as deeply as possible; in a frantic foretaste of other penetrations to come.

I moved my hand over her nightie, feeling the warm swell of her small breast, with the rigid protrusion which begged to be touched. She moaned into my mouth, and I moaned back, just as incoherently.

Suddenly, we were both frantically shedding our few clothes and I reared above her, intent on consummating what we had begun. As I penetrated her, I looked into her startled eyes, and paused; shaking from a suddenly repressed desire.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She sounded uncertain.

“We don’t have to do this.”

“Yes we do. I want you to.”

I slid forward slightly, held up momentarily at the start, then sank fully into the wet warmth between her legs. I realised, belatedly, that there had been more resistance than I had expected.

“Damn. You didn’t tell me you were a virgin.”

“Did I need to?”

“I would have waited longer, tried to make it better for your first time if I had known.”

“Please stop talking, just carry on.”

I could see that she was determined. I moved slowly out and in, and I could see that she wasn’t enjoying it.

“I’m sorry. It’s hurting you.”

“It doesn’t matter. I want it to be good for you.”

“It’s only really good for me when you enjoy it.”

“Please.” She started crying. “I don’t know what to do. I want you to like me. I thought you liked me.” She turned her head to the side and I watched a teat roll down her cheek.

“I’m really sorry. I’ll stop.”

“NO! Please don’t. Finish it. Maybe next time you can teach me what to do.”

I started moving again, taking it slow and easy. After a few strokes, it seemed to get a little smoother and her frown disappeared.

“Is that better?”

“Yes. Much better.”

“Put your legs around me.”

“Ok.”

I stroked for a few more minutes, then spasmed quietly as I came. I relaxed and lay on top of her for a few seconds, then rolled to the side and pulled her into a hug.

“Are you Ok?” I asked as I cradled her head on my shoulder.

“I’m fine. A little sore, but fine. Sorry I couldn’t make it nice for you.”

“No, I am the one who should be sorry. We’ll try again and take our time. It should be better next time.”

We lay together on the bed as the dawn light started creeping into the room, both of us in a state of near sleep, holding each other. Eventually, I kissed her and asked, “Want to go and swim?”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea, except I think I mustn't now. I'm a little tender and I'm worried that the chlorine will burn me. I'll come with you though.”

We got up and I left her to get dressed, while I went to get my costume.

****

We held hands going down the stairs and out to the pool. Cpl Maseka called out a greeting as he walked passed us. We both dropped our towels on the deck-chairs and I dived in while Daise sat on the edge and dangled her feet in the water.

Edited by Mlle. Euphrosine. Remaining errors are the authors

Chapter 17: Pickup Plan

2009-03-04T22:19:00.002+02:00

I walked back into the house to find Sgt Major Dhlamini sitting on my favourite brown leather couch, drinking a mug of what I was sure was ultra-sweet tea, and chatting to Nqobile.

"Sawubona Sgt Major, what's going on." I greeted him while accepting my own mug of tea from Nqobile.

"Well, I'm not doing anything. Were you?" he answered me with his patented 'innocent' look...

"You bastard. I'll get you for that."

He laughed. "I just wanted to tell you that we are all set. Cpl Maseka and his team will man the tree-house and patrol the grounds. We also have a few soldiers in a mini-bus just down the road. No-one will question them; they look just like a broken-down taxi."

"Ok. Sounds good." I was checking my cell-phone while I listened to him and saw that there was an SMS from Alina. "Alina says that she has boarded the plane and will be here on schedule. I have some ideas about how to handle that."

"All right. You're still convinced that they're going to try to follow her from the airport?"

"Yes. From all I hear about this crowd, they are territorial and very possessive. They don't like to let anyone to get away from them once they have their hooks in them. I think I might have gotten away with just Daise, but not with Alina as well."

"Why are you doing this Major? You haven't even met the woman."

"Because I can. I have heard so many stories about women being trafficked and abused and it has always got me going. When I heard the story of what they have done to her, I couldn't help myself. This is not a story in the paper, this is someone that I can actually help."

"I think you have just gone too long without a deployment to somewhere they are shooting at you," he said with a smile. "You just want the excitement."

"You know me too well old friend. That is definitely part of it."

"I guess the other part is that beautiful young woman out there in the pool then?"

"Yes. I am starting to fall badly for her."

"I can tell. I was watching you on the range today. At the Spring Ball I thought she was just a date, but that had all changed today. You were beaming at her like you had created her out of clay or something."

"I wasn't that bad."

"Well ... that's your story, and you stick with it."

"Hmmph. Ok. We'll see. Should we start the braai?"

"About time, I'm hungry. I've got your spit-braai out of the garage and the guys will get that going as well. Seeing as they will be awake in shifts, they can tend to that. I told them to baste once an hour, and make sure the motor is running to keep it turning. Should be ready by tomorrow night."

"Excellent. Alina should be here by then so we can treat it as a 'Welcome to South Africa' meal for her."

"What cars do you want to use for the pickup at the airport?"

"I want to get Daise a car, so I figured we can go and arrange that first, then we can get some rental cars for the pickup and make the switch to the new car."

"I don't think that's a good idea. I wouldn't like to see them getting any idea of any cars you have. Make them work for the information. I would rather just use rental cars."

"Ok. That makes sense. I'll climb onto their website now and book some cars. Three you think?" I walked to my computer and started accessing the rental car site as we spoke.

"Yes, that should do it. Let's go over the plan again just to be sure."

"Ok. One guy in the arrivals hall with a board with her name on. He meets her and takes her outside. One guy driving the first car, picks her up, drives to the petrol-station just outside the airport. Leave the first car there and transfer to the second car, with the third tailing it to give over-watch security. Have I missed anything?"

"No. That sounds about right. Then we drop the cars off at the rental agency in Pinetown?"

"Yes. That's where we'll leave our cars. We'll get there and transfer to our cars and leave the rental cars at the agency."

"You'll take the Land Rover as usual."

"Yes, I just had a thought. I'll take the route through Giba Gorge, There is no way anyone will be able to follow unless they have a 4x4. We should be able to lose them before then, but if there is anyone following, Giba Gorge will make sure."

"Ok. Sounds good. I'll be in the chase car so I can keep my eye out. You going to be in the second car?"

"I reckon that's the best place. I think Alina is going to need some reassurance by that stage."

"I'd say. What about Daise? What are you going to do with her?"

"I want to involve her in this. I think she deserves to be involved. I was thinking that she could go with you."

"Should be safe enough. Ok."

"Rupert," Nqobile interrupted, "the salads are done. Are you going to braai yourself?"

"Sure. I'll get the meat, you grab the salads," I told Sgt Major Dhlamini, as I grabbed the meat from the kitchen counter and walked outside to the pool area.

"Hey Daise, we are going to start the braai now. Why don't you get changed before it gets too cool; then you can join us?" I called out.

"Ok," Daise replied, pulling herself out of the pool, "I've had about enough for now anyway."

I walked over to the Lapa with Sgt Major Dhlamini following me. I had everything set up to be able to braai there any time the fancy struck me and I had a wood fire going within a few minutes. I had just got that done when Nqobile came out and handed me a T-shirt and a tracksuit.

"You need to get changed Boss," she told me.

"Thanks you old mother hen," I teased her. "I don't know who's really the boss here," I said to Sgt Major Dhlamini with a smile. Nqobile just smiled knowingly and retreated into the house.

By the time Daise came out to join us, the wood had burned down to coals and I had the grid on and was just placing the meat.

Chapter 16: Antics in the Pool

2009-03-04T22:16:00.000+02:00

I had been swimming lengths for about half an hour when I realised that I was not alone. I caught spotted Daise sitting on the edge of the pool, dangling her legs in the water. I complete the length I was busy with, and then stopped, holding on to the pool's edge.

"Hi," I greeted her, "you found it then?"

"Yes," she laughed, "it was easy enough."

I looked up at Daise and was struck by her beauty. The time we had spent together had made be forget a little, but seeing her like this brought it back to me. She was wearing a purple string bikini top, tied behind her neck and back, and a conservatively cut pair of bikini bottoms. Her hair had been loosened from the ponytail she had kept it in all day, and cascaded down her back. She was leaning back on her arms, basking in the late afternoon sun, which gilded her skin with a lovely copper colour. The sun had given her face a red tinged which the rest of her body lacked. Her skin had a beautiful translucent sheen.

I slowly became aware that Daise was watching me, and blushed.

"I was wondering if you still saw me as a woman." she said softly, "You have been very carefully distant with me all day as if I was your aunt or something."

"I'm sorry Daise. Once I heard your story, I went into full tilt mode. I have been so focused on doing what I needed to, to ensure that we were in a position to protect you, that I haven't paid you the attention that you deserve."

"That's OK. Seeing the way you looked at me just now tells me that you aren't thinking of me that way any more... ?"

"No. In fact it is all I can do to keep my hands off you at the moment."

"Then why do you? It must have been obvious that I have fallen completely under your spell. I even told you the story of Alina without any hesitation, and I had promised both myself and Alina that I wouldn't do that. That must tell you something about the way that I feel about you?"

"Yes, I did consider it. Daise, I wanted to thank you for placing your trust in me. The fact that you have though is what has made me back off a bit from you. It feels a little like abuse for me to come on to you under these circumstances."

"You can't rape the willing"

"What?"

"Sorry. I didn't realise I was saying that out loud."

"I smiled. You know you are really cute when you blush?"

"Umm do you always swim like that?"

I recognised the attempt to change the topic and I was grateful for it.

"Yes. I need to do something to keep fit, and I hate running. Never mind the fact that it is hard on my knees, I just find it incredibly unpleasant. Swimming I can do without leaving the property, and it exercises my whole body."

"I did notice that you have no fat on you. I think I have more fat on my belly than you do on yours and I am much younger than you."

"Actually, a little bit of a belly is very nice on a woman, and enough about the age thing, I already feel like a grave-robber," I said with a smile.

"Oh no, I didn't mean to make you think that..."

"I'm just teasing you. I like to see you blush, although I like your laugh more; it's very sexy."

"Thank you. I..." She stopped in mid-sentence and just looked at me with this deer-in-the-headlights look as I rested my hand on her thigh. I was just testing the waters as I was really turned off by any indication of gratitude or reluctance. I knew that I would go fro m100 to zero in 3 seconds flat at any indication that my attention was unwelcome. The look in her eyes though was anything but a rejection. I had a sudden epiphany.

"You're a virgin aren't you?"

"How did you know?" This time there was no light blushing of her face. It looked as if she got an instant sun-burn that spread down her neck and right across her chest.

"Hey ... it's nothing to be embarrassed about. I guess it just means that I was right to take it very slowly. What I want more than anything else is your companionship. That means that we should be friends before anything else. I am quite willing to wait and go only as far and as fast as you are comfortable with Daise."

"Oh no. I really want to you to touch me. I feel as if I have a skin hunger. Ever since I told you all that stuff this morning, and you held me until I fell asleep, I have wanted to be in your arms and have you touch me. It has been driving me crazy all day."

"Well that is really good news, because I have wanted to touch you as well." I moved across so that I was directly in front of her and placed my hands on her knees then moved them slowly up to her thighs. I watched her face the whole time I did this, and when I saw her eyes close in pleasure, I had confirmation that she hadn't been lying to me. She could have been acting, but it didn't feel like it; it looked and felt genuine. I decided that I should stop second-guessing myself, and just accept as real what she said as long as it matched her actions. Daise reached down and grasped the top of my fore-arms and ran her hands up my arms, slowly bringing face close to mine. Her eyes were still closed, and I decided to push a little. I reached around behind her and grabbed her by the hips, then pulled her towards me. Her legs went around my chest and I pulled her face down towards me and kissed her.

She seemed a little startled at first, but then relaxed and started returning my kiss. As we got more passionate, our bodies came together and she slid down with her legs still around me until she was in the water with her body crushed tightly to mine. I supported her with one hand holding her bikini-clad rear and the other pulling her tighter into the kiss by the back of her neck.

Daise moaned into my mouth and squirmed in my arms and I took great delight in the feel of her lithe body held tightly against mine.

Just when I thought that we should be thinking about either moving this out of the pool, I was pulled right out of the moment by a cough. I pulled my face away from Daise and looked up.

"Sorry to disturb you sir," said Cpl Maseka, "but the Sgt Major insisted."

Daise had buried her face in my neck and I assumed it was from embarrassment or shyness.

"Why don't you swim a while and I will find out what's happening?" I suggested to Daise. "Cpl, I'll be with you in a second."

I waited for him to acknowledge my comment and turn away, before I pulled myself out of the pool and grabbed my towel to wrap around me and, incidentally, to hide my almost painful erection. I turned to look at Daise and saw that she was smiling mischievously at me. Maybe it hadn't been shyness at all, but amusement at my predicament...

Chapter 15

2009-03-04T22:14:00.000+02:00

Daise was glowing with energy; she had enjoyed herself thoroughly with the rifle, especially once she realised that she was an outstanding shotist. She had shown that she could shoot out at great distances with incredible consistency. As we pulled out of the range gates, she looked at the old tank parked there.

"My grand-mother was a soldier in the Red Army, she told me stories about it."

"Oh? What did she do?"

"She was a soldier, she hunted Germans. I never understood before when she told me the stories, but I can imagine it now."

"I'm not too sure that I understand. What do you mean she 'hunted' Germans?"

"Remember when you showed me the rifle the first time, when you took it out of the safe?"

"Yes."

"and I asked you if it was a sniper's rifle?"

"Yes... ?"

"Well that's why. My grandmother told me that she was a sniper. They were sent out in small teams and their job was to hunt the Germans, especially to shoot the officers. She said that she was supposed to get a medal for it, but she didn't want to bother with all that."

"Good God! I have read a little about the Russian women snipers. No wonder you can shoot the way you do if you have that sort of inheritance."

"I never thought of it that way. You know what it's like; she was just my babushka. She was friends with Lyudmila Pavlichenko. She had a picture of the two of them together."

"That is fascinating. I would have loved to have met her."

"Yes, I loved her very much. I was very sad when she died

We were quiet for a while as I thought about what Daise had just told me. I considered that there must be some genetic inheritance that made people superlative shots, because while it was possible to train people to shoot well, there was still a large element that was not part of training that separated the 'good' from the 'great', and there was no doubt whatsoever in my mind that Daise was 'great'.

We stopped at the butchery on Inanda Road, and I got a complete sheep carcass, some steaks and some boerewors. Daise was stunned at the amount of meat I was buying and so I explained that we would not be alone. I had asked Sgt Major Dhlamini to arrange for a rotation of guys to stay on the property over the next while. Cpl Maseka and his two riflemen would be joining us.

When we got back home, I carted the meat into the kitchen and told Nqobile that we should expect a few extra guests. She was delighted that Cpl Maseka and his crew would be there. It would give her a chance to 'fatten them up'. She immediately started in on the sheep carcass; preparing it for the spit. I told her that we would braai the steaks and boerewors for supper, and that she just needed to prepare some salads.

"Rupert, I just want to have a shower to get rid of some of this grime, is that OK?" Daise asked me.

"Sure. No need to ask. I want to have a swim though, you are welcome to join me."

"Ok. I have the bikini that I brought with me. See you there?'

"Sure." I walked up the stairs behind Daise to my room and got changed into a new set of baggies and grabbed a towel and I was soon doing lengths in the pool.

Chapter 14: An Interval

2009-03-04T22:12:00.001+02:00

Departure Hall 12, Schipol Airport, Amsterdam

The man sitting apparently reading his newspaper was bored. He had been told to watch out for one particular whore, and he had his instructions about how to deal with her.

He wasn't too happy with those instructions because they removed the creativity that he liked to bring to the job. Just as he was wondering whether he would need to get yet another cup of coffee, he spotted her.

He watched as she went through the process of checking in. She didn't have any luggage at all, so it didn't take her much time. Once she was done, she chose a high barstool at the coffee bar and placed her order. He saw her making a call on her cell phone and frowned. He had been told that she had thrown her phone away.

The man smiled grimly to himself; he knew he didn't have to worry about her recognising him. His sexual preference was young, very young, boys, so it was often difficult for him to perform in the breaking in of new whores.

His colleagues knew of his proclivities, and accommodated him by allowing him to pretend that their new recruits were boys. He normally quite enjoyed buggering them; especially as it brought him into close sexual contact with some of the men he worked with, and he enjoyed that. He made sure that none of them realised that the reason he insisted on double penetration was so that he could feel their penises rubbing against his through a thin membrane of skin.

The man took a careful look at the whore. He was a businessman and whores like her were his stock-in-trade so he had become quite skilful at measuring their worth to him; which was a function of their attractiveness to men and their ability to perform any sexual act that was demanded of them.

He had learnt a long time before that it didn't do to have only one handle on whores like this; say what you like about them but most of them had become as hard and tough as the men in the dog-eat-dog world that was the post-communist Ukraine. This particular whore had just wriggled loose from a few of those strings, with her mother dieing and then her friend disappearing. He had been looking forward to initiating the friend; she was slender enough that he could close his eyes and pretend that she was a boy.

He waited until the whore hung up her phone, then got up and moved around the counter till he was standing behind her and slightly to her left. He reached up her back and, making sure that his hand was covered, grabbed a handful of her long hair.

"Hello bitch. So nice to see you, " he whispered softly into her ear, while he pulled steadily on her hair. He got a thrill at the shocked look on her face, and then all over again when she winced as she tried to turn her head against the hold he had on her hair. "I think we have some things to discuss, don't you Alina?' he asked.

Chapter 13: Holy Shit

2009-03-04T22:04:00.002+02:00

After we had eaten, I started Daise on the process of getting familiar with her weapon, I explained to her that because we were teaching her to use it in anger, we would approach the entire process from the point of view. This meant that we started out by deciding what would be the easiest and most effective way for her to carry concealed. After much discussion, and some hilarity from the peanut gallery, we agreed that if she were wearing pants, then it would be best for her slipped into the small of her back without a holster. If she were wearing a skirt or dress, then an inside-thigh holster would work.

I got on the phone to a guy I knew out in Alverstone that custom made holsters, and he said that he had a couple already made up that he would bring out to the range.

Once we had been through all of that, I started working with her on how to hold, draw, and fire. It was at least an hour after we started that she actually squeezed the trigger for the first time. The earmuffs reduced the impact for her I think, but the first round she squeezed off was still a surprise, and I had to remind her rather forcefully to keep the weapon pointed down-range. After that, it soon got routine. As with most novice shooters, once she got accustomed to the noise and recoil, she was fine.

We spent about an hour on the range, shooting from the standing position at first, and then walking through the combat range, using all the obstacles and cover, but with every shot and position discussed and planned. There was no attempt at speed or accuracy, beyond my insistence that she should take the time to aim every shot, but without wasting any time.

Daise did fairly well for a novice, managing to get the hang of the basics, but by the time we had been through the course twice, she had quite obviously reached saturation point.

I decided to stop while we were ahead, and then showed her how to fieldstrip the weapon and give it a basic cleaning.

"Rupert," Daise asked once she had re-assembled her weapon, "are we going to shoot the rifle as well?"

"Yes. That is a bit of a problem here. The 80 meter range is too short, and there is a rule that limits us to using ammunition no larger that the .22 long."

"Where will we shoot it then?"

"We have an arrangement with the farmer who owns the land just over that hill," I answered as I pointed at the low hill that ran parallel to the range. "He has an unofficial range there. The police don't worry about it, as most people will think that the sounds are coming from this range. Let's get everyone into the Land Rover and we'll head there now."

We got everyone loaded up, and I drove through the gate in the fence that separated the range from the farmer's lands. As I drove up the farm road, I got a call from Brian, the holster guy, and he said that he had been delayed but would meet us there.

It was no more than two kilometres along the farm road, over the hill and through a few fields of sugar cane, before we came to the firing point. We off loaded again, and Cpl Maseka, one of the guys working for Sgt Major Dhlamini, took the Land Rover on down to where the point that we set up the targets.

I showed Daise the classic rifleman's position and talked her through the process of sight picture and trigger squeeze. Once she had dry-fired a little, I explained to her the concept of automatic alignment.

"Look at it this way Daise," I started, "when you start shooting, your body is normally tensed up. As you fire more rounds, you start to relax. One of the most important concepts in shooting accurately is that you need to have a stable platform for the rifle, and you need to do everything the same each and every time. What happens is that you start off a little tense, but as you relax, you change the way you are lying without realising it. There is a little trick that we use that we have found increases consistency incredibly."

I made sure that she was lying correctly, with her legs spread flat and her elbows planted firmly to form a nice tri-angle holding her rifle.

"OK, now aim the rifle at that tree, make sure that it is lined up correctly with the cross-hair in your scope ... All right, now close your eyes and take five deep breaths. Right, now without changing anything open your eyes and take a look. Is your target still lined up correctly with you sights?"

"No, it seems as if I am aiming off to the left."

"Correct. Now the real trick is to not move your arms or the rifle, rather move your body to change where the rifle is pointing. That's it, squirm your body around and your rifle will follow. OK. Is it lined up again?"

"Yes. It's the same as it was before."

"Try it again. Close your eyes and take five deep breaths. Now open your eyes. Has it moved?"

"No. It's stayed in the same place."

"That's it. We call that 'Automatic Alignment'. When you are shooting at a target, that drift will change where you are aiming. The difference between your first shot and your last can be quite large, depending on how tense you were to start with. After a bit of practise, you will see that you can compensate for that so that you get it right from the first shot."

"Can I try that again?"

"Ok, stand up first, pick a different target, and then lie down and aim."

I watched as Daise went through the procedure. I was waiting to see something that I needed to correct, but there was nothing. Her position was perfect; she was completely stable; she held the rifle correctly, with it pulled firmly into her shoulder; and she did the automatic alignment quickly and easily. I thought that this was going to be interesting. I had taught many novices to shoot and I could remember each and every one of the very few who had caught on this quickly. All of those had ended up shooting with some distinction in the Bisley and Service Shooting competitions.

Cpl Maseka got back at this point, reporting that as usual he had set out six standard targets, each at one hundred meter separations: from five hundred meters out to a thousand, with a sixth one at two hundred meters.

"Daise, we have a target out at two hundred meters. Let's give that a try and see how well it goes, OK?"

"Ok, I don't mind. I like the way that the rifle feels. I didn't like the pistol at all. It was too heavy for me and hurt my wrists. The rifle feels nice; I like the wood instead of metal."

"Ok, the range is clear. Lie down and I will give you the first clip for you to load."

I watched carefully as Daise set herself up. When I handed her the clip of ten rounds, she managed to load them into the magazine from the top of the rifle, and waited with the bolt back.

"Fire all ten rounds at the target in your own time. There is no rush. Just take it easy, focus, think of your breathing; sight picture; automatic alignment and don't forget to squeeze the trigger."

Sgt Major Dhlamini had his binoculars to his eyes, and was watching the target. I was more interested in watching how Daise handled the weapon than in how well she shot. She slid the bolt forward, pushing the first round into the chamber, without any trouble. I watched her trigger finger carefully, and saw her take up the slack on the two stage trigger, before she started her breathing cycle: large breath in, out, in again, then half out and her finger squeezed the trigger beautifully. She didn't flinch or wince and without pause, racked the bolt back and forward again and was lined up and breathing.

"Holy Shit!" I heard from behind me and I turned to see Sgt Major Dhlamini had a stunned expression on his face, as I lifted my binoculars to look at the target, the second round went off, and I heard the bolt cycling again. I couldn't see anything on the two hundred meter target; if I hadn't heard the Sgt Major's exclamation, I would have thought that she had missed the target completely, so I looked again. Still nothing. I shifted to the five hundred meter target just as the third round went off. 'Holy Shit' was definitely not expressive enough. There were three holes in the centre of the black bull's eye, and as I watched, a fourth one appeared. I dropped the binoculars and watched Daise again. As I did so, I started getting goose flesh; I could see that she had dropped completely 'into the zone'. She was completely focused and it looked as if this was something that she had been doing all her life. The shots were coming closer and closer together as she got faster; her elbows were completely still, not budging from where she had planted them; she was using the tiniest, most efficient movements of her forearms to cycle the bolt and she had cut down on her breathing cycle so that once the round was seated in the breech, she did only the one half breath: she was timing her breathing cycle to happen while she was cycling the bolt. These were all indicators of a great shotist with this weapon, and it normally took months or years to teach people to shoot like this, if they ever learnt. What was really amazing though is that a lot of these things she was doing instinctively: no one had taught them to her. I turned my head to the Sgt Major, reached out and tugged on his sleeve to get his attention, and put my finger on my lips to show him that he shouldn't say anything. He just nodded his head in acknowledgement and carried on watching the target.

"Was that OK?' Daise asked after she had shot her tenth round and pulled the bolt back to leave the breech open.

"Sure," I replied, not wanting to her to know that there was anything special about what she had done. "Let's try again on a target a bit further way. You OK with that?"

"Ok."

I gave her the next ten rounds, and told her to go ahead whenever she was ready. I hadn't really explained to her that while the rifle could shoot out to 3000 yards (2743.2m), it was only rated as effective out to 500 yards (457.2m), so according to the specifications, she had already shot a 'possible' at beyond the rated effective range. I had learnt from prior experience that when people don't know what is possible, they could often exceed your expectations.

Daise set up within a couple of minutes, loading the clip into the magazine and settling down into her firing position. She squeezed off the first shot within about three minutes of me throwing her the clip. This time I was watching the target at six hundred meters when she squeezed off the shot, and I was disappointed for a second when I saw that nothing had hit the target. A sharp gasping inhalation from the Sgt Major made me realise that I had under-estimated her again, so I shifted the binocs on to the next targets one by one until I reached the target out at a thousand meters. Now it was my turn ... three rounds so far, all on the target would have been impressive enough, but they were all dead centre and the grouping so far was within three centimetres of each other. I kept an eye of the target for all ten shots this time, and all ten of them were within that same grouping. I was stunned; this was world-class shooting. I knew that there the conditions were perfect, with no wind and the light coming from directly behind the firing point, but still, without any corrections to the sights, measuring of the wind, gauging of distance or any of the other things that a marksman will normally take into consideration, she was hitting exactly what she shot at out at a distance of a kilometre.

"How did I do, was that OK?" Daise asked when she was finished.

"How did it feel?" I asked her in return.

"Like I was reaching out to touch the target," she replied. "I could feel each round hitting where I aimed it, except for the first one. That one was funny, after that it was OK."

I lifted the binoculars to my eyes again and took another look at the target. Now I realised what had happened, she had shot her first round a little low, then she had compensated for the longer range by lifting her aiming point. If I discounted the first round, then her grouping was half what I thought it had been. 'Dammit, ' I thought to myself, 'she corrected instinctively.'

"You did very well Daise. The reason your first round was strange to you was because you were shooting at a much longer range, so you need to aim slightly higher to allow the bullet to drop down to hit where you want it. You sorted that out though, and all the rest of your shots were perfectly on target. Well done, that was great shooting."

I heard an approaching vehicle, so I told Daise to pick up her rifle, and she owned it now beyond a doubt, while we found out who it was. It turned out to be Brian arriving at last in his Toyota Landcruiser. He pulled up in a cloud of dust and hauled his bulk out of the driver's seat.

"Howzit man, you still dragging your carcass around in the pile of crap?' I greeted him.

"Well, this pile of crap is what you will need to pull your hunk of junk out of the mud if you ever dare to drive it off-road," was his typical rejoinder.

I introduced Daise to Brian, and explained to her that Brian was just jealous because he couldn't afford to buy a Land Rover. She got the joke and, I think, understood the affection that was disguised by the abusive banter.

"Brian, before we look at what you've brought, there is something that I need to show Daise. Could I ask you to shoot a clip at the 1000 meter target?"

"Sure, with the Emily?"

"Yes. Let's just wait till Cpl Maseka gets back from replacing the target, then you can put ten on it for me, OK?"

"OK."

I explained to Daise that Brian was a very good shot, and had won the national lee-Enfield competition for the last three years in a row.

We didn't wait for more than a few minutes before the range was clear, with Cpl Maseka parking the Land Rover next to Brian's Toyota. I motioned at Daise's rifle and Brian took it from her and was soon in the prone position. I handed him a clip and in short order he had loaded and then fired all ten rounds. We waited without speaking for Cpl Maseka to fetch the target.

Once I had both targets in my hands, I handed them to Brian. "What do you think of this?" I asked him.

"Holy Shit!"

"I see you and the Sgt Major have been comparing notes?"

"What?" Brian asked as he looked up from the targets. I waved it away as unimportant. "Who shot this, her?"

"Yes."

"Where did you learn to shoot Daise?" Brian asked her.

"Right here. Rupert showed me how just now."

"And how many rounds did you shoot?"

"Ten into that closer target," she said as she pointed at the five hundred meter target, "and then ten into that target."

Brian looked at me and just raised his eyebrows. "Can I have her for my team for the next shoot?" he asked.

I laughed, and decided to explain to Daise. "You have just been paid a compliment of the highest order; Brian is trying to tell you in his own way that you are a better shot than he is."

Daise blushed. "I just did as you told me, it was nothing special."

"Ok," I said," then maybe we need to extend you a little. You want to shoot some more?"

"Sure," said Daise and listened while I told Cpl Maseka to place targets out at five hundred meter intervals out to three thousand meters. While he did that, Brian and I explained to Daise the technique for adjusting your aim for distance.

Chapter 12: Taking stock

2009-03-04T22:00:00.002+02:00

Daise came wondering into my office about two hours later. She looked a lot better; her hair was washed and her face was scrubbed clean. She also seemed to be lot calmer. I was on the phone, and I wave her towards the guest chair.

"Hi Daise," I greeted her when I had put the phone down, "sleep well?"

"Yes thank you. In fact, I haven't slept that well in a long time. Was that Sgt Major Dhlamini?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"I guessed. It was kind of easy though because you use a different voice when you speak to him. Sort of your 'command voice'. You don't tell him what to do, or ask him, you just say 'This is going to happen.' and everyone knows that they had better do whatever they have to do to make it so."

"And how did you know it was the Sgt Major and not someone else?"

"I noticed when you spoke to him last night, that you both have a deep affection for each other. It comes through in under-tone of what you say."

"Scary," I laughed.

"What's been happening? I can see in your eyes that you are still furious about what I told you. When you laugh, it doesn't as far up as that."

"The short version is that Alina will be on a plane in a few hours and she will get here the day after tomorrow. I..."

I couldn't continue. I was interrupted by a screech of excitement.

"She is coming here?"

"Yes, the flight is booked and she should board soon. I spoke to her earlier."

Daise jumped up from the couch and sprang into my lap, wrapping her arms around me and planting a very happy kiss on my mouth. Before that could get too interesting, she pulled back and said "Thank you, thank you more than I can tell you."

I spent a few seconds just enjoying this bundle of very sexy woman squirming on my lap, then said "It's my pleasure."

Daise suddenly seemed to realise where she was and what she was doing, because she blushed beet-red and stiffened up a bit, then it was if she had made up her mind and she relaxed again. She turned her face up to mine and pulled me down towards her. I was a little conflicted, as I didn't want to have gratitude too mixed up in this, but I had been wanting to kiss her perfect mouth since I had first seen her walking into the arrivals hall at the airport.

I bent down further and our lips met gently at first. I nibbled at her lower lip opened my mouth to allow her tongue to slip in. We kissed like this, with tongues invading each other mouths, for some time. I was getting more and more aroused but pulled back with a conscious effort.

"Wow," I said, "let me try to catch my breath."

"Mmm," Daise said dreamily, her eyes still closed, "I have wanted to do that since I first saw you in the airport."

"You too?" I laughed. "I could do a lot more of that, but I think we have to focus on a few other very important things first."

"What could me more important?" Daise asked with an arch look.

"Well, staying alive mostly."

"I don't know how you say such funny things with a straight face."

"Unfortunately in this case, it was easy because I was being entirely serious. I told Alina to dump her phone and go straight to the airport once she has a visa. She isn't even going back to your apartment for a tooth-brush. I am concerned that the two of you will be traced. I meant to ask you, is there someone that you could trust to go to your apartment and collect anything there of sentimental value and post it to you here?"

"Yes, I have a friend from the college. I can ask her."

"Ok, that is the first thing we must do. I will give you an address where she can send it. It is at the kwaMashu township post office. Sgt Major Dhlamini will arrange for it to get picked up. There is no way that anyone from any Russian crime syndicate could trace a parcel from there to where we are now. Nothing I have done so far will stop them tracing us, but some things I have done will slow them down a bit. In the mean-time, I want to start preparing for the worst case scenario; if we have to defend ourselves."

"Ok, what are you planning?"

"Have you ever used a fire-arm?"

"No. I have never felt the need."

"I think we will start with that. At the very least, I need you to be familiar with a few weapons so that you can handle them safely around the house. In addition to that, you should be able to use one to defend yourself."

"I will do what ever you tell me to about this Rupert. You are my only hope."

"No. I'm not. You are family to me now and part of the Regimental family as well as my natural family. Sgt Major Dhlamini is going to be like a cousin to you."

"Are you serious?"

"Not really. We think of the Regiment as family though. That's what I meant. We look after each other; watch each other's backs; help out where we can."

"Oh. Ok. I wasn't sure for a moment there."

"No problem. Here, let's get some things and head out to the shooting range."

I opened my gun-safe and considered the weapons I had there. At first I was only thinking about the hand-guns, then I figured that I may as well push out the boat a little and I reached in and grabbed the sporterised Lee-Enfield .303 rifle.

I showed Daise how to open the bolt and check that there were no rounds in the breech or the magazine; how to uncover the scope lenses and how to work the safety. That was enough information to suffice until we got to the range.

"Is this a sniper's rifle?" Daise asked, pointing at the scope.

"No. It is accurate out to a thousand meters and deadly at about eight hundred in the right hands, so some might consider it a sniper's weapon. Snipers rifles are usually built for the purpose, like the Russian sniper rifle; the Draganov. This is a combat rifle that has had a few changes made to it such as adding the scope and a few other bits and pieces. It's a very old actually, made in about 1914 and it is called an 'Emily Mark One'."

"Emily?" Daise asked, puzzled. "Why does a gun have a woman's name?"

"It's not a gun," I answered with a small grin, "it's a rifle. A gun is a large artillery piece or a naval cannon. 'Emily' is actually M.L.E., which stands for Magazine Lee-Enfield. A man called James Lee designed one part, and some problems with the first version were fixed at a place in England called Enfield. The 'Magazine' part of the name is because it has this ten round steel magazine to hold the rounds."

"Oh, OK. I don't understand the difference between what is a gun and what isn't. I can see that there is a lot to learn."

"Actually, you don't have to know any of this to use it, so don't worry about it. This rifle is very simple to use, you put the 'bullets' in here, and then you pull back this handle, push it forwards, and pull the trigger. Whatever you are pointing at you will hit. The skill is to know how to point to make sure it hits what you aim for. Everything else is just vanity and pretension."

"I thought we were going to have smaller weapons?"

"That's next. Here, let me show you."

I briefly considered the Czechoslovakian knock-off Luger 9mmK, but decided that while it was a very nice little concealed back-up weapon, and might make a nice lady's firearm, I didn't like the seven round magazine or the performance of the .380 round. I hauled out both of my Vektors, and showed Daise the SP1.

"This is the weapon I was thinking of for you. It is manufactured here in South Africa and is a nice tough weapon. It's also a 9mm, but the parabellum, which is a longer cartridge that makes it more effective. The weapon is slim so it will be easier for you to hold and to carry. What is really nice though is that you can carry it with a round loaded and the weapon ready to shoot, what is called 'locked and cocked', and it is still pretty safe. My handgun is almost exactly the same as yours, except it is called the SP2 and it has a bigger 'bullet'."

"Is it safe for me to hold it?"

"Sure. Always make sure you keep your finger off the trigger here unless you intend to shoot, and always treat it as if it is loaded and ready to shoot. I will show you the details on the range."

I packed all the weapons along with extra ammunition into the Land Rover. The rifle went into a special lock-box I had commissioned that replaced the top of the one wheel-well.

"There's one stop that I think we should make before we go to the range," I told Daise.

"What's that?"

"It's a shop called 'Cape Union Mart'. It is supposed to be a supplier of outdoor equipment, but I want to take you there so you can shop for some clothes."

It wasn't long before we pulled into the Hillcrest Mall parking lot, and were standing in the shop. I took Daise to the clothing racks and pointed out what I had in mind. She was ecstatic at the quality of the clothing. I liked getting things from there because they were generally of a much higher standard than the normal shops, usually pure cotton or specific blends of fibres designed to handle the conditions that they were designed for. The clothing was about ten to twenty percent more expensive than the equivalent items elsewhere, but worth every cent because they lasted three times as long and were twice as comfortable.

Once we had a range of long pants, shorts and shirts for Daise, I spent some time with her selecting a pair if hiking boots that would be durable and comfortable, as well as a number of pairs of woollen socks. Wearing them in the heat was sometimes a pain, but it was offset by the real pain of blisters and sore feet going without would cause.

I threw in a bottom of the range hand-held Garmin GPS and some decent sun-glasses; ones that wouldn't distort her vision on the range.

On the way out of the mall, I stopped at the Cell-phone shop and bought three cell-phones that ran Windows Mobile. If the trouble that I was expecting was going to arrive, then we would need communications that could not be tied to us in any way and traced or eavesdropped on. These phones could connect to the internet at relatively high data speeds, and I knew that I could then run software on them similar to Skype, but with a tough encryption option so we could speak securely.

We made one final stop for food. Daise said she didn't mind spicy, hot food, so we grabbed some peri-peri chicken takeaway from Nandos.

It took us just fifteen minutes to get to the Hammarsdale Shooting range. Sgt Major Dhlamini was waiting for us; sitting in his Toyota bakkie parked next to the WWI vintage tank at the entrance to the range.

"Howzit Njabulo. Are you well Sgt Major?"

"I am well, Major. Miss Daise, are you well?" he asked ritually.

Daise looked at me. I nodded at her encouragingly.

"Yes thank you Sgt Major. It's good to see you."

The formalities over, I hauled out the keys to the farm-style gate and opened it up. Sgt Major Dhlamini drove through and I moved my Land Rover through and closed up behind me. When I was back in the Land Rover, we drove through the dust kicked up by the Sgt Major's bakkie. When we pulled up at the pistol combat range, the Sgt Major was standing at the door to the storage shed while the three guys that had been on the back of his bakkie ferried the targets out and started setting them up.

"Who are they?" asked Daise.

"Two riflemen and a corporal from the Regiment," I answered her, "they work for the Sgt Major."

While they were setting up the range, I got out all the weapons I had brought with us and laid them out on a counter in the shade of a corrugated iron roof.

"Do you have the ammo Sgt Major?'

He just pointed, and I saw two 5.56 ammo-cases that had been dragooned into service. They were on the floor under the counter. I bent down and checked the contents, and was happy to see that the one was half full of .303 rounds for the Lee-Enfield and the half was filled with 9mm Parabellum. A quick glance in the other ammo-case showed it to be full of 9mm rounds.

I looked up at the Sgt Major, "From the usual place?"

He didn't answer, just rolled his eyes. He didn't say it, but I still heard it as if he had, "Of course, what do you think I am? An officer?" I just grinned at him.

Once the range was clear, I gave Daise a pair of ear-protectors and then proceeded to give her the full briefing on range safety and on the safe handling of a firearm. Once I had been through that, I made sure all the weapons were either stowed or safe on the counter, then we all walked the range while I showed Daise how it was laid out.

"This is a combat shooting range. There are a number of ways that you can go through the course, but you will see that most people follow one particular route; where the grass is worn down." I showed her how to use the obstacles for cover; how to move between the obstacles and how to shoot from behind cover. I started seeing her eyes were getting a bit glazed, so I figured that was enough theory.

I had just announced lunch time and passed out the food we had bought, when my cell rang.

"Rupert, Hello?" I said as I answered the phone.

"Hello Rupert, it's Alina. I just wanted to tell you I am safely in Amsterdam. I am checked in to my flight to Cape Town."

"Thanks Alina. Let me know just before you take off, so I know you have made it onto the plane. Would you like to speak to Daise?"

"Yes please."

I handed Daise the phone, and while she walked away jabbering in Russian to Alina, the rest of us tucked in to the peri-peri Nandos chicken.

Chapter 11: Revelations

2009-03-04T21:51:00.001+02:00

I settled down on the couch, half turned so that I could watch Daise while she talked. She paused for a while, obviously gathering herself, before she launched into her story.

"Everything I have told you so far is true," she started, "except I have left out some of the most important parts."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Please, would you mind if I told you this in my own way? When I am finished, you can send me away if you want, but I need to tell you the whole story; I need to get it all out before I can think about answering questions."

"Sure. Sorry I interrupted. Carry on."

"OK. Well, when Alina and I finished school, we knew that there were no prospects for us. We had no money to go to University, to study anywhere actually; both of us started looking for jobs. I eventually found a job as a waitress in a small restaurant. Alina didn't find anything. The job didn't get me much money. I got a meal during the day, which meant that at least I had something to eat. I took some of the table-scraps home for Alina, you know. She looked after the flat; did all the things that needed to be done like washing the clothes and cleaning the place."

I nodded to show that I was paying attention. Daise had finished her tea, so while she was talking, I topped up her cup.

"That went on for almost six months, but it got very bad. They stopped me from taking home the table scraps and so I had to sneak part of my food out to take home for Alina. Both of us got very thin."

"What about Alina's mother?" I couldn't help asking.

Daise just looked at me reproachfully, and I shut my mouth and motioned for her to continue. She took a ship of her tea, and nodded gratefully at me.

"One night I got back from work late. Alina wasn't there. That was very unusual. I had to look after her mother that night, give her the medicine we had gotten for her from the State Hospital and change the sheets where she had messed on them. I had done it before, but mostly just helping Alina, not on my own. I waited and waited for Alina to come home, but she didn't. I finally fell asleep, and when I woke up, it was late morning and Alina has still not arrived.

"I went out then and walked to all the places that I knew Alina liked to go; the park; the library; a bridge over the river and she wasn't in any of those places. I didn't see her again for three days. I had to go to work again, and then look after Alina's mother when I was at home. I went to the police, but they laughed at me; they just wrote off my story as being about yet another pretty girl disappearing. They seemed to think that she was probably on a binge with a boy friend or something.

"The fourth night after Alina disappeared; I was sitting in our living room darning some of my work clothes, when I heard footsteps in the corridor, then a soft banging on the door. I rushed to the door to open it, and Alina practically fell into my arms. I helped her over to the couch and she sat and cried in my arms for a long time. When she was over that, I got a chance to take a look at her. She was a mess. Her clothes were torn and she was sticky all over. Her hair was matted and she was dirty, as if she had been rolling in the dirt. I got up to help her to the bathroom and I had to undress her to get her into the bath. When I took off her dress, I saw that she had no underwear on, nothing, not even panties. She had also been bleeding."

It was apparent that Daise was not just reciting this story; she was reliving the memory of it. Her eyes were blank as she stared off into the distance, and she was narrating the sequence of events in a monotone. She paused now, and I waited for a long time for her to go on. I had learnt my lesson; she needed to tell this story in her own words and at her own pace.

"She had dried blood all down her legs. It was mixed in with other stuff. She had bruises on her arms and legs, between her legs and on her breasts and stomach. As she turned around to get in the bath, I saw she had bruises all over her back and buttocks as well. Once she was settled in the bath, I asked Alina what had happened. All she would tell me then or later was that six men had continuously raped her. They took turns with her, and sometimes more than one penetrated her at the same time; front and back. Alina's voice was hoarse and when I asked her about that, she told me it was from screaming and then from choking from being raped there too while her nose was held so that she couldn't breath."

Daise paused. She breathed in and out heavily a few times. I could see she was both reliving the experience of hearing the story for the first time as well as imagining the violation as being her eventual fate. As she had told me about where Alina had been injured or bruised, she had touched herself in those places on her own body. I recognised that she had made the transferral of Alina's injuries to herself. When Daise had been quiet and lost in her thoughts for over ten minutes, I decided to prompt her gently.

"Did she tell you why it happened?"

Daise looked at me, but I could see it took a long time for her to come back from where-she had gone to in her head.

"Yes. That was the worst part. It was criminals and they wanted her to whore for them. They had chosen her and this was a deliberate strategy to 'break her in' to make her ready."

"And... ?"

"She only told me that the next morning. That night, after she had bathed, I took her to our bed and held her through the night. That was the last time she cried. After that, she just turned to stone. She would sometimes let me inside, but to everyone else she showed the mask that she developed after that night. They left her alone for two weeks, then one day there was a man on the doorstep. He had a cell-phone for her and told her that she would be called on it and told where to go whenever they needed her.

"After that she would get calls every few days and would go off to be with one of the clients. We found her photos on a website later. They had her listed as an 'independent' and were charging a lot of money for what she was doing. She was only given about 10% of it. It was enough for us to live, just, but I hated using the money. It was dirty. That is why I carried on working in the restaurant. Then we came up with a plan.

"The first thing we thought was that if I could get some education then I could try to get a better job that would allow us to escape from them. As I neared the end of the course though, one of them called Alina on her cell phone and told her to tell me that they were waiting for me to finish my course so that they could 'recruit' me. They thought that they could use my qualification as an excuse on visa applications so I could travel more easily to see foreign clients. I was horrified. That was when Alina came up with the idea of using the web-site to try to find a foreign husband. It was only going to be me, she wanted to save me from them, but then her mother died and she decided that she would also try.

"After we had gone to the agency and put our details on the site, Alina got a call from them again. They laughed at her and told her that it was a wonderful idea. They explained how her and I were supposed to use the contacts we made with foreigners to trap them into sending us money. They explained it all to Alina. I thought it was terrible to lie to people like that. Alina explained to me that I should do it, but I should look out for someone who was genuine who I thought I might have a chance with. It was just lucky that you were the first person that I spoke to. I was so scared, and then we went against the rules of the agency and I gave you my contact details so that we could talk without the agency knowing what we were saying. Alina told them that I was running the scam that they told me to.

"I never did. I am sorry. I can leave now if you want me to."

Daise started crying again. I reached out and pulled her into my arms. "Shush Daise. It's OK. I am not going to chase you away. Don't worry, I will look after her." She didn't know it yet, but she had pushed all the right buttons with me. I am extremely protective of my own, and my own includes any woman who is in trouble. "Don't worry, it'll all be alright."

"I am so scared Rupert," she sobbed into my chest, "they will find me then they will hurt me and you. I am scared about what they will do to Alina. I don't know what to think."

"Don't worry about it. You've told me about it, now it's my problem. You just relax."

I think that telling me the whole story had been cathartic for Daise. She cried for a while longer, then eventually she fell asleep in my arms. I picked her up with one arm under the crook of her legs, and the other around her shoulders and carried her like a child up to her bedroom. I put her into her bed, pulled off her shoes and tucked her in, then I went down to my home-office and got onto the phone. I still had Alina's cell-phone number from when I had used it to contact Daise, and I called it again now. It was answered on the third ring with a curt "Alina."

"Hi Alina, this is Rupert. Do you have a few minutes to talk?" I asked her.

"Hi Rupert. Yes, is Daise alright?"

"She's OK. She told me her whole story though, the real story. About both of you." There was a stunned silence on the other end of the phone.

"What are you going to do?" she asked eventually.

"Alina, what do you have keeping you there? Is there anything that you need that you couldn't do without?"

"Nothing. Why do you ask?"

"I want you to walk away right now. I will send some money via Western Union. Dump this cell phone and buy another one. SMS me the new number and I will call you and we can talk then, OK?"

"Ok. How long will it take for the Western Union money? What are you going to do?"

"I am going to take care of you. The first step is to get you out of there, then we will talk about what follows. Just dump the phone. Go to the main Western Union office now. I have sent money like this before, it will be waiting for you when you get there."

"Ok," she said and hung up the phone.

I got back on the phone again and arranged for 1,000 Euros to be wired to the Kiev Western Union office for Alina, then got hold of the South African Embassy in Live and eventually got through to someone who seemed to know what he was doing. I explained that I wanted to bring Alina out to South Africa as it was an emergency with her step-sister and asked them to expedite her visa application. It must have been a slow day in heaven because miraculously, he agreed and took down Alina's details from me and promised that they would have a visa ready for her as soon as she got there.

I then called my travel agent and lit a fire under her to arrange for a flight for Alina. She thought it was very strange to book a flight on such short notice and for someone who I said I knew only as Alina. She asked me to get the additional details back to her as soon as possible, but that she would go ahead and make a tentative book from Kiev, via Amsterdam's Schipol airport landing in Cape Town the following day and then connecting to Durban on Kulula Airlines.

Now there was nothing left for me to do but wait for Alina to call me back. She did so not half an hour later.

"Rupert?"

"Hi Alina. I see you have a new number, good. Listen carefully to what you need to do."

I explained how she was to take a taxi to the South African Embassy and that they would provide her with a visa while she waited, then that her flight would leave Kiev that evening. She was flabbergasted that things were moving so quickly.

"But what are you planning on Rupert?" she asked plaintively.

"I told you; looking after you."

"These guys will chase me you know. They are not nice men."

"I know lots of men that are better than they are Alina. They will come onto my turf if they come after you here. I promise you that if they do, they will regret it. You have two choices: you can trust me or not. It's as simple as that."

"I will be on that plane Rupert. Thank you. I am not sure if I will survive this, but I am grateful to you for giving me the chance."

"No problem. Don't thank me, get your arse moving. SMS me with status updates."

"Ok. Thank you again. I will let you know, goodbye."

After that call, I decided that the need for immediate action was over, and it was now time for planning: strategy and tactics.

Chapter 10: Breakdown

2009-03-04T21:49:00.001+02:00

I woke up just before dawn. I was feeling a little musty from the Port and table wine, but didn't have a real babelas. I lay in bed for a short while before getting up and pulling on my baggies. I grabbed a towel and headed out for my morning swim. When I walked past Daise's room, the door was closed and there was no sound that I could hear, so I guessed she was still fast asleep.

I headed out to the pool area at the side of the house, but stopped to great Thembi. He was the groom for the people across the road, and he was just bringing their horses across to graze in one of my paddocks. The arrangement was that the horses were allowed to graze, but Thembi had to ensure that all their droppings were cleaned up. I pointed out to him that it was more important to me now than ever because I had a guest and I didn't want a plague of flies and he was very apologetic; promising not to forget.

The water was cold as usual, but after the first few lengths I started to warm up. I swam for half an hour, not counting how many lengths I did, but rather just going into that wonderful Zen-like state that good exercise can often bring. I got out and towel-dried, then went into the kitchen. I pulled on the T-shirt, under-pants and shorts that Nqobile left there for me every morning, and dropped my towel and wet costume into the laundry basket put there for that purpose.

Twenty minutes later Daise appeared. I guessed it had been the smell of the eggs and bacon frying, or maybe the coffee, that had woken her.

"Hi Daise," I greeted her; "did you sleep well?"

"Very well, thank you. Are you making breakfast? Something smells delicious."

"You caught me," I grinned, "although I was hoping to surprise you with breakfast in bed."

"No, no. It should be me doing things for you. I couldn't stay in bed when I realised you were up already."

"No problem, I like cooking breakfast. How do you like your eggs?"

"Slightly runny please."

"Ok ... If you will just grab the toast and that plate of bacon, I'll bring the eggs and other stuff. I think it would be nice to eat out on the veranda."

"Sure. I love the view. I couldn't tear my eyes away while I was getting dressed." I had to ignore the sudden vision that sparked in my mind.

Daise picked up the various bits and pieces and carried them out onto the veranda. I couldn't help watching her as she went. She had gotten dressed in shorts and a plain green T-shirt. I thought she looked adorable and I couldn't take my eyes off her as she walked away.

Once I had everything on the table we settled down to eating breakfast.

"We need to talk a bit Daise, we haven't had much opportunity so far," I said, once we had finished eating and I had poured us both a second cup of coffee from the plunger.

"Yes, you are right. I had a wonderful time last night, and also yesterday afternoon with the shopping."

"Let me lay my cards on the table. I brought you out here to see whether we could get on reasonably well. I didn't have any expectations of having any feelings for you, I must admit I thought that this would be pretty much a loveless match, where I was giving you what you needed in exchange for you doing the same for me..."

"Oh no Rupert," Daise protested, "I got a good feeling about you before I came, or else I would not have come, and now I feel that even more."

"I was just going to say something like that. In the short time that you have been here I have decided that I really like you, and that I think it could develop into something deeper with time. That being the case, are you interested in marrying me Daise?"

"Are you asking me to? Already?"

"No, I was asking you if you are interested. I would like to know that I am not wasting my time, so if you could just think about it and tell me so that I know if it is worth my while. I would prefer not to get involved with you emotionally only to be left high and dry later."

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes I am interested in marrying you and whenever you ask the question, Yes I will marry you."

"Just like that? I thought you would need some time to think about it. I was actually thinking that we would spend some time getting to know each other during this week, then you would go back home and you would have some time to think about it and let me know later on and then sometime after you had finished your course, we could make arrangements for how we would take it further. While I am delighted, I have to ask you if there is a reason that you are so keen to agree."

Daise looked at me for a few seconds, then to my dismay, huge tears started welling up in her eyes. I watched as they gathered up in the corners of her eyes, and then rolled slowly down over her cheeks. I reached out my hands and cupped the sides of her face while I used my thumbs to wipe away the tears.

"What on earth is wrong Daise? Did I say something to upset you?' I was frantically racking my brains, trying to figure how out I had caused these tears with my words of the past few minutes.

"No Rupert," Daise choked out eventually, "it isn't you who upset me. It is just that I was so happy to hear that you said that you wanted to marry me. I was thinking that I would be happy to stay here as your servant. I can still do that if you want. I don't want to go back to Kiev. Ever!"

"I guess it is tough there now huh?"

"More than you can understand. I think I would rather jump into this valley of yours than to go back."

"That sounds worse than what I expected. Why so bad, is it something you can tell me about?" I asked.

At that Daise really broke down and started sobbing. I stood up and moved around the table, pulled her gently from her chair and wrapped my arms around her. After a slight hesitation, Daise put her arms around me and pressed her face into my chest, soaking my T-shirt with her tears. I just held her; patting her on the back every now and then and muttering really unimportant words like 'there, there' at odd intervals. Living in a household with three females had taught me that there is no use in trying to fix a woman's problems when she cries, you just have to listen; hold and comfort them until they were finished crying and talking. I was discovering that women were the same, whether from South Africa, Russia, or the Ukraine.

After ten or fifteen minutes Daise's sobbing had eased and she seemed to realise that she had been crying into my T-shirt. She back off a little and started to wipe at her nose and eyes with the back of her hand, and looking embarrassed.

"I suppose you think I am a big baby now?' she said. Her delightful accent was thicker than it had been before.

"Actually, I think you are the sexiest big baby I have ever seen in my life," I answered honestly.

She gave a small chuckle and hit me softly with the side of her fist in my chest. "Oh, you," she said, "You are bad. You make me laugh when I am sad, and cry when I am happy. I have been so scared and when I am with you I feel as if I am in the safest place in the world."

"Thank you," I said, "you have got no idea how wonderful that makes me feel. Hang on, I think you should sit down on the couch here for a while and let me get you something to make you feel better."

I sat her down and then went inside. I put on the kettle and got out the makings for some Rooi Bos tea, then while the kettle was busy went and found a face cloth in the downstairs bathroom. I rinsed it out in cold water and grabbed a box of tissues before going back outside.

"Here we are," I told her, "let's try this." I sat down next to her and wiped off her face with the cold cloth. Then I handed her the cloth and the box of tissues and went back inside to make the tea. When I came back out with the tea, she had managed to compose herself and was sitting quietly and introspectively.

I sat down and told her, "You are going to have to tell me the whole story now you know. I have to know everything so that I can do my best to help you."

"I wasn't sure if you could," she replied, "and then I saw a different man last night; one whom the obviously tough soldiers like Sgt Major Dhlamini respect. Ok, I will tell you everything."

Chapter 09: The Spring Ball II

2009-03-04T21:43:00.001+02:00

With the obvious delight that I took in the first dress she tried on, Daise tried to stop there, but I insisted that she try the other dresses on too. As it turned out, the first one remained her favourite, but I insisted on buying a second as well.

That set the mood for the rest of our shopping expedition. We visited the shoe-shop next and Daise and I picked out a beautiful pair of black high heels that were held on with two small straps across the top of her feet and another around the back of her ankle. They had a delicate stiletto heel that was about 15 cm high. Daise paraded the shoes for me, and I was enraptured. They changed the contour of her legs, emphasising their length and slender beauty.

Somewhere in the middle of the process of choosing the shoes, Bev caught my eye and, with a tiny smile on her face, waved goodbye to me, and disappeared. She had realised that we didn't need her any more to reassure Daise, so she was slipping away to let us get on with it.

Once we had the shoes, and a pair of sheer stockings to go with them, we moved on to the beauty salon. I had seen the results of their expertise before, when they had selected Mandy, my eldest daughter, for a make-over, to be used in their advertising, so I was very confident of their skill. I had a chat to the lady who owned the Salon, and explained a little of the situation to her. She told me not to worry; just to leave Daise in her care for an hour or so and she would ensure that everything was sorted out. I told Daise that she should just give me a call when she was finished and left to sit at a coffee-shop nearby to read the paper and wait.

I never did get that call. About an hour and a half later, I heard a tentative 'Rupert?' and when I looked up, saw the salon owner standing beaming proudly at me, and next to her stood Daise. She was fully dressed in her outfit. Her make-up had been completely redone, that was obvious. I knew enough about make-up to know that the less you saw, the better it was applied, and this was applied with exquisite skill. Her eyes looked larger; her cheek-bones were enhanced in some way that seemed to give her face more character and her lips had their natural bow-shape reinforced. There was nothing garish at all, and you could be forgiven for thinking that it was her natural face you were seeing. They had, at my request, done very little to her hair. It hung down her back in a beautiful stream, but there were two thin braids on the sides of her hair that had been drawn back and clipped together behind her head. This served to hold the hair out of her face.

I heard a laugh and realised it was the Salon owner. "Dearie, you don't have to wait for him to say anything, his face should tell you all you need to know," she said to Daise and turned and left.

I stood up and took Daise's hands in mine, then leaned down and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. "You look absolutely stunning," I told her.

"Thank you," she said, "I wasn't sure, but she said that I can come back to her for lessons in how to do this for myself."

"Well, I think that if she can teach you her particular magic, then we should make sure that happens." I watched a faint blush spread across her cheeks. "Let's go. I want to take you home and then I need to get dressed so that we can go."

We didn't take long to get back to my place. I watched Daise's face surreptitiously to see her reaction when we went through the electric gate and up the driveway. I had deliberately left the fence-line facing the road to get completely over-grown so that I had privacy from the road, and also to discourage burglars from seeing anything that might attract them. As we drove around a bend in the driveway, the house became visible. It was a double story, with a thatched roof and approaching from the road all you could see was the back. I drove into the double garage and turned off the car.

"Your house is very big and beautiful," Daise told me.

"Thank you. I love the house, but I love the view more. Come, I'll get you settled in your room then you can admire the view from the veranda while I get changed."

I helped her out of the Landy and retrieved her luggage from the back, then led the way through the door that connected the garage to the rest of the house. As we walked I pointed out salient features to her, trying to avoid feeling like a neophyte real-estate dealer.

Daise was particularly impressed by the open-plan kitchen/dining-room/lounge area. It took up almost two thirds of the downstairs area. The curtains were closed, so she didn't get to see out the front windows. I wanted to save that for later. We walked up the stairs and I showed her where her bedroom was, and her own en-suite bathroom. I told her about her own balcony, but didn't open the curtains. I dumped her suitcase and backpack and asked her to follow me out again.

As we left Daise's room, I pointed out my room and led her downstairs. Once we were in the living area, I stopped.

"Watch this Daise," I said as I hit the button on the wall that opened the curtains. I loved people's reactions when I did this.

"My God! Where are we?" was the shocked reaction.

"We are looking out on the Karkloof Gorge. The house is perched right on the side of the gorge and extends out over it, so the veranda is actually hanging in mid air. If the air is particularly clear, you can see all the way to Umhlanga Rocks."

"This is amazing!'

"Yes, I know. We were the first to build here like this. Everyone thought I was absolutely crazy to do this, but there are about twenty other houses along here now that have copied me. Come out on the veranda and have a seat. I will call the maid and she can get you something to drink while you wait. Enjoy the view. Ok?"

"Ok. Thank you. I could stand here like this all day. It is so beautiful. I think when I tell Alina about this she will think I am lieing."

"That's a good idea. Why don't I get you the cordless phone and you can give her a call? I am sure she will want to know you are safe."

"Yes please. I would like to do that."

I left Daise there and went back into the house. I found Nqobile in her flatlet on the other side of the main house and greeted her in isiZulu, "Sawubona Mama."

"I see you too boss," she replied in isiZulu.

"My guest has arrived. Please will you take her the house phone and make sure she has something to drink?"

"I will do so. I have put your clothes for tonight in your room."

"Thank you Nqobile."

I always found it amusing to speak to Nqobile; her name meant 'She has conquered' and we had a subtle game of one-upmanship that we played with each other. She had been with us for over twenty years, acting as nanny to our children and housekeeper for us. She ran our lives and we considered her an integral part of the family. I had paid for the private schooling of three of her children when their education opportunities under the National Party Government's restrictive legislation had made any education difficult, and a good education impossible. One was now a doctor, another a lawyer and the third was a making a name for himself in the Trade Union Movement. She refused to move to a house of her own, claiming that everything would fall apart if she had to leave me to my own devices. Normally, she wouldn't do any work herself, but would boss around the series of young maids that we employed over the years.

I left Nqobile to her own devices and went up to my room. The Spring Ball was a semi-formal event, but that simply meant that there were partners allowed, it did not mean that the event was any less formal. I loved wearing my Scarlets, and I found the uniform hanging waiting for me. It took me only ten minutes or so to have a quick wash and shave and pull on the long blue pants with the officer's stripe down the leg, the starched white shirt, and then the scarlet jacket. The boots took a few seconds to get on, but it took me a lot longer to get the silver spurs attached properly; the prerogative of a field-grade officer.

I bounded downstairs and went out to find Daise standing at the railing of the veranda looking down into the bush-filled valley, sipping quietly at her drink.

"Did you manage to get through to Alina?" I asked as I came onto the veranda.

"Oh. You startled me. Yes, but she couldn't talk long. She was happy to hear from me. I would like to talk to her again later if I can?"

"No problem. I see Nqobile sorted you out with something to drink.'

"Yes. She introduced herself to me. I had some trouble talking to her, her English is not very good."

"I know, I tend to forget sometimes because we have always spoken Zulu as a third language in this house. She is a wonderful old lady and we love her very much."

"I could see that she was checking up on me."

I laughed. "You will get to know her quickly. She can be a real bossy busy-body, but I think she does it to hide her affection."

"I liked her. You are looking very handsome."

"Thanks. I like getting dressed for formal occasions."

"What are your medals for?"

"They are not that important, although this one you might find interesting. It is the Southern Cross Decoration which I got for being where your father was."

"You are just like my father. He also wouldn't talk about the medals he had."

"Well, the ones I have, lots of other people got the same ones for doing the same things. Should we go?"

"OK. Are we in a rush?"

"Not really, but I would like to make sure that we don't get caught up in the Durban traffic if I can help it."

"OK. I have finished my drink. I think I left my new handbag in my room. I just want to get that and visit the bathroom if I can?"

"Sure. I'll wait for you here."

"Thank you Rupert. You have been so wonderful to me." Daise came over and to me and pulled my head down to give me a light kiss before going up to her room.

I took her place at the railing and looked out at the scenery. I wondered what she really thought about all this. I guessed she was slightly overwhelmed by it all, but seeing her delight and wonder when she saw the house, and even more when she saw the view into the Kloof, had made me very happy.

As it turned out, I didn't need to worry about the traffic at all. We arrived in good time at the Regiment HQ, slap bang in the centre of the Greyville Racecourse. It was our turn to host the Ball this year; all the other Regiments would be attending it at our HQ.

I parked in the slot reserved for the 2 I/C, although it hadn't been long since I became entitled to that privilege, and we entered the Officer's Mess where pre-function drinks were being served. After accepting a glass of Port for Daise and myself, I made my way to where our Mess President, an ex Commanding Officer, was holding court so that I could follow protocol and greet him first. I waited my turn, then introduced 'Uncle Bob' to Daise. I could see his lecherous eyes were evaluating her and I excused myself as soon as I could, and made the rounds of the other senior officers and their wives. Once that was done, I looked around for the person that I really wanted Daise to meet. I spotted him in a corner and led Daise over to him.

"Sgt Major Njabulo Dhlamini, I would like to introduce you to Daise. Daise, this is the most important man here, don't let his rank fool you. Nothing would happen around here without the Sgt Major."

"Good Evening Sir," Sgt Major Dhlamini answered with a huge grin, "Nice to meet you Ma'am. Could I introduce you to Mzwandile?"

"Nice to meet you Mzwandile." I greeted her, then I turned to Njabulo, "Well no wonder you have Joy, when the family has increased you bugger." He just grinned at me. I turned to Daise to explain. "Sgt Major Dhlamini's first name 'Njabulo' means 'Joy' and his new wife's name 'Mzwandile' means 'the family has increased'. She is his fifth wife, isn't that right Sgt Major?"

"Yes Major. I finally paid her father the Lobola two weeks ago. The negotiations were very tough. She cost me fifteen head of cattle and a bunch of other things. She is worth it though, she is very beautiful." Sgt Major Dhlamini explained. "We will be having the wedding next weekend in Ulundi, her father wanted me to wait 'till after her sixteenth birthday."

"I hope you are not going to leave school Mzwandile?" I asked her.

"No, I will stay at school. Njabulo has promised me that he will pay for me to go to University when I finish my Matric. I would like to become a doctor one day." Mzwandile answered with shy pride.

"Excellent. The Sgt Major knows that I will help in any way that I can. Just give me a call if he gives you any trouble, you hear?"

"Oh no. I would never do that. If I have any trouble Nobantu will make sure he does what is needed."

I laughed. "She certainly will. Your senior wife runs your family with an iron fist Sgt Major. I am sure that you only come to the Army to be able to get out from under her rule." I teased him." We'll chat again later," I promised, "there are still a bunch of people I need to meet and greet."

"Is that really his fifth wife?" Daise asked me as we walked away. "Is he allowed to have more than one wife?"

"Yes. He is married under the Lobola customs of the Zulus and the marriage is recognised as a legal civil marriage now. It is only a fairly recent change. It's one of the really strange things about this place that the law is different depending on your culture."

"That is strange, but he seems to be a nice man."

"Never mind nice. I don't care about nice at all. What is important is that he is a very, very good soldier. We are very close, as close as our ranks will allow us in the army, and outside of the army we have done some business together. He runs my development site for me, handling all the day to day supervision of the whole process. Don't let his friendly nature fool you, he is a very intelligent, very competent man; ruthless when he needs to be but an absolute baby when it comes to his wives and his kids."

"Oh, Ok. This is such a different place to what I had imagined. Nothing is at all like I had thought."

"Well, don't worry about that too much. We are used to people who come from outside having a simplistic view of the place and the way things work here. It is pretty much the same as anywhere though when you get right down to it. People are people where-ever you go."

"But you speak so many languages here. I have heard you speaking English and Afrikaans, and then Zulu as well."

"We have eleven official languages. Most people will speak at least some English, especially here in Natal, so you won't have too much trouble making yourself understood. I saw on your profile that you also speak some German?"

"Yes, not too well though."

"Well, that will help you a bit. There are a lot of similarities between Afrikaans and German. German speakers can normally learn Afrikaans very quickly. Zulu is another matter. You will only learn that though if you spend a lot of time immersing yourself in the language, although there are lots of good courses that you can do to get you to understand enough not to make a fool of yourself. If you decide to stay here, then we can think about getting you into one."

We circulated for a little while longer, before the Regimental Adjutant made the call for us to go in to the Dining Room.

We went through the normal process that these dinners follow, with a three course meal and a few speeches with lots of toasts. Daise mainly kept quiet, although she did chat quite a lot to the Adj's wife, who was sitting at her right, during the course of the meal as the Adj was scurrying around the whole time ensuring that everything was running smoothly. Once the last speech was completed, The Regimental Band started playing and couples got up to dance.

"Would you like to dance?' I asked Daise.

"OK. I am not sure that I can dance like that though." She pointed at the couples who were on the dance floor.

"Don't worry about that. Most of them can only do what we call the 'lang-arm' or long-arm dance. It is a sort of a waltz but our own local version. Other than that, we can just make up our own steps."

I got up and took her by the hand. When we got onto the dance floor, I held her in my arms and we started moving. It was a sort of modified waltz but a lot simpler, more a sort of shuffle with the one arm held out. I didn't care about that as much as I cared about actually holding Daise in my arms and feeling her body pressed against mine. As we moved, I got a whiff of her hair. Nothing had smelt as good to me for a long time. At first Daise was very stiff, and I held myself away from her, not wanting to press her too much, but after a few minutes she started to relax and she moved a lot more fluidly with the music. As we moved widdershins around the dance-floor, she started to cling more to me and I realised that the feel of her body against mine was starting to overload some of my much neglected senses.

I was slightly embarrassed when Daise's belly rubbed against me and she flinched when she discovered that I was saluting her with the gallant reflex, but after a few seconds, she obviously thought it over and moved in close again.

We danced off and on for the rest of the evening with each other and then with others as one does on occasions like this. After a while I decided that I had had enough, and I could see that Daise was getting tired, so I took her through to the bar area to pay my respects to the Mess President and the Commanding Officer so that we could leave.

On the way out, Sgt Major Dhlamini stopped me to remind me that we would have to meet at some stage to go over a few issues with the development site and then we greeted him and his wife and left.

On the way home, I could see that Daise was battling to keep her eyes open, so I just tuned the radio to 'East Coast Radio' where they were playing some pretty chilled music and saw her fall asleep.

When we got home, I parked in the garage and Daise woke up. She started to apologise for falling asleep and I reassured her that it was OK, that I understood that she had had an extremely long day. We went upstairs and I said goodnight to her at the door to her room and left her there.

I got undressed and climbed into bed, well pleased with the way that everything had gone. Before I could even think much more about it, I was asleep.

Chapter 08: The Spring Ball

2009-03-04T21:39:00.001+02:00

I gave Bev a call and asked her to meet us at the Heritage Market. I figured that it would be good for Daise to meet her earlier rather than later, and it might also help to have a sympathetic female while she was shopping.

I was very surprised at how compliant Daise was being. I got the feeling that she was determined to escape her situation, and that she had decided before even coming to meet me that she would accept me just as long as the situation was something better than what she was leaving. I was not under any false impression that what we were about was any sort of text-book romance, but I hoped to make some sort of emotional attachment before anything else, that that I could avoid any sense of her obligation or gratitude. I could see that was going to be difficult though; Daise was acting like a small puppy that had been mistreated all its life and was suddenly shown a little affection. I could see the start of the puppy-dog eyes. It was my ambition to turn that into something a little more like mutual attraction, before taking this too far.

We chatted a little more as we travelled, with me pointing out various landmarks and things that I thought were interesting along the way. There wasn't really much to see that was out of the ordinary, although I could see that Daise was appalled by the sight of the squatter camps at various places where they were near to the freeway. I had to explain to her about the huge divide that still existed between the rich and poor in South Africa, and how while that divide still had a majority of blacks on the poor end, there were a lot of blacks on the rich end; most enriched as a result of either climbing onto the political Gravy Train or of the BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) polices of the ANC led government. She was woefully ignorant of South African politics, but had, of course, heard of Nelson Mandela. She did tell me that she had a photo album at her home from her Father, and that there were a number of pages from when her father had served in Angola. She remembered that they were mostly labelled as have being taken near a place called Cuito.

“Cuito? You mean the Cuito River? Or Cuito Carnavale? Do you remember any labelled with the Lomba River?”

“Yes? How did you know?”

“It seems we fought against each other,” I laughed. I was in Operation Modular in 1987 near the Lomba River in Angola and near the town of Cuito on the Cuito river in 1988. We knew that there were Russian 'advisors' with the FAPLA soldiers. How strange that your father was there. I have got some photos from those same places, especially of a battlefield just over the Lomba river where we wiped out a FAPLA Brigade in an afternoon.”

“That's amazing. I can't believe that that sort of co-incidence.”

“Not that difficult I suppose. From what you tell me about your father, it makes sense that he would have been there, and there were almost three thousand of us.”

Just then we got to the Heritage Market. I pulled to a stop in front of the Keg Restaurant, and as I got out of the Land Rover, saw Bev waiting for us. I went around to the passenger door and opened it for Daise. She needed the help getting out: the Land Rover is high off the ground. I took Daise's hand in mine to lead her over to Bev, and was surprised at the way that she gripped my hand and held on. It was suddenly a wonderful feeling. I was at the beginning of a relationship with a very beautiful girl, and we were holding hands. I felt young and excited, more so than I had about anything for a long time.

“Daise, this is my daughter Beverley. Bev this is Daise.”

I could see the two women appraising each other in that indirect way that woman have while they greeted each other with a quick kiss to the cheek.

“What's your plan Dad?” Bev asked me.

“I thought we could start with a dress, then shoes, then maybe the Salon for hair and nails. What do you think Daise?”

“Um. Ok. If that is what you think.”

“Cool. Let's go take a look.”

The Heritage Market is a series of small shops, all in long rows of buildings with brookie lace in the corners between the pillars and the ceiling. The intention is to make it look sort of rustic and cute. If you ignore that, there are actually quite a few nice little shops. I knew that there was a boutique there, having seen the shop's name enough times on my wife's credit card statement, so we went there first. We were greeted politely by the shop assistant, but I waved her off as I knew exactly what I thought would be appropriate.

“I was thinking something like this Daise, what do you think?” I asked as I pointed to a rack with about thirty little black dresses on it. Each one was a different style, but they were all beautifully made and I knew that any one of them would look stunning on her.”

“Good call Dad,” said Bev, “now get out of here and we will call you when we need you.”

“You Ok Daise?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said, “but I would like you to stay.” She was still clinging to my hand. I could see that in spite of her nervousness about everything that was going on, her eyes had lit up when we walked into the shop, and were riveted on the rack of black dresses.

The shop assistant was still hovering, and she must have figured out some of what was going on. “Sir, You are welcome to sit on the couch while your daughters look at the dresses” she said.

“Only she is my daughter,” I said pointing at Bev, “this is my girlfriend.”

I don't think I could have chosen anything better to say at that moment. Daise turned her face up to me with an abrupt movement. She must have been reassured by what she read there as she smiled sweetly at me, then let go of my hand and went over to the rack of dresses to start looking through them with Bev.

I sat down on the couch and watched them while they picked over the dresses. It only took about ten minutes before they had selected four and disappeared into the changing room to try them on. When Bev emerged a few minutes later, she came over to me and told me, “You've found a good one there Dad.”

“You think?” I asked her with a lifted eyebrow, “You can tell in such a short time?”

“Yes. She seems really sweet and just watching you, I think she is already starting to think of you as her big protector. The way she was clinging to your hand was a bit of a clue too.”

I grinned at Bev, then I stopped and stared; gobsmacked. Daise had just come out of the changing room wearing the first dress. She was a little hesitant, but when she saw my face, she got that secret little smile on her face that women do when they know they have caught the attention of a man. She walked closer, then twirled around.

“Do you like it?”

“No,” I said, “I love it on you. You are going to stop traffic everywhere you go.” I was rewarded with a huge smile, then Daise threw her arms around my neck and planted a kiss on my lips. I knew right then that I was sunk. No more rational thought was going to be possible.

Chapter 07: It starts to happen

2009-03-04T20:51:00.000+02:00

Over the next few days all the arrangements fell into place. I had Daise booked on a flight from Kiev to Istanbul, then to Johannesburg connecting to Durban on an internal flight.

We chatted on the phone every day about inconsequential things, as both of us seemed to want to avoid committing ourselves to anything too serious until we were actually face to face. We were definitely becoming less still and awkward with each other on the phone though. I was hopeful that this would translate into a similar ease in person.

I think Beverley was just as excited as I was about the impending visit, although her sister and mother couldn't have been more disapproving. She came over to the house a few times, 'just to check on things' but I saw that she made sure that the maid had washed all the linen, prepared the guest bedroom (her old room) properly and generally made sure that everything was ready. My protestations that I had made reservations at a local guesthouse were dismissed out of hand. She had decided that Daise would stay in my house with me, and just to make sure that there was no pressure, she would have the guest bedroom with its en-suite bathroom.

On the Friday that Daise was scheduled to arrive, I got up early and went out to do some shopping for some groceries and other odds-and-sods. Then I moped around the house waiting for it to be time for me to leave for the airport. I had just finished eating some lunch I had prepared, when my cell rang, and I saw it was Daise from the caller-ID, calling me from the cell I had sent her.

“Hi Daise.”

“Hello Rupert. I am calling you from the airport in Johannesburg. I am through customs and about to board the flight to Durban. I just thought I would call you and tell you that I am here safely.”

“Thanks Daise. I am really glad to hear that. I will see you in about an hour?”

“OK. You will be there when I arrive?”

“Yes. I'm looking forward to it.”

“Me too. I must go now.”

“Bye. See you soon.”

After I hung up the phone, I cleaned my teeth one more time out of sheer nervous anticipation, and jumped in the Land Rover. I had a bit of problem with my two Labradors. They had obviously picked up on my excitement and thought they were going out to the bush with me as they did at irregular intervals.

“No Jaxon. No Holly. Down. Not today.” I told them. They were not terribly convinced and they gave me the peculiar wet-eyed look of sadness that Labradors do so well. I had to firmly suppress the guilt feelings that they were so adept at producing and I watched carefully until the motorised gate had closed fully behind me to ensure that they weren't trying to follow after me.

It took me just over half an hour to get to the Durban International Airport. Fortunately, the fifty or so kilometres wasn't congested too badly at this time of day. Parking was a lot easier now that the parking garage built in anticipation of the 2010 Soccer World Cup was completed, and I was waiting in the arrivals hall in good time. I was glad to see on the announcement screen that the South African Airways flight was scheduled to arrive on time.

Once the status changed to Landed, I got up from the seat at the coffee-shop where I had been sitting to watch the passing parade, and stood at the doorway that separated the hall where arrivals collected their luggage from the rest of the airport.

I was surrounded by the usual crowd of people waiting to greet the arrivals. The composition of crowds like this neverseems to never change. I was pretty oblivious though as I waited anxiously for my first glimpse of Daise 'in the flesh'.

It took just over twenty minutes before the first arrivals from her flight started coming through the door. She was not in the first group and I was barely able to contain my impatience. I finally spotted her at the rear of the second group. She was wearing a small back-pack and carrying a small battered suit-case by its handle.

I stood for a few seconds and watched her as she walked closer, obviously scanning the crowd to try to spot me. I really liked the way she looked. The photos on the website, and the few others she had emailed to me since, did not do her any justice. Her skin had a clear, translucent look and her hair was extremely fine and very long. It was a brown colour with natural highlights that made it look blond. As she got a little closer though, what struck me was her eyes. They were a piercing blue. I couldn't understand how that hadn't shown up clearly in the photos.

Just then, she turned her head again and her eyes caught mine. She stopped, like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car travelling on a dark road at night, looking as if she was frozen in place but ready to bound away at any second. I decided I had been right; this was one woman that had to be handled very gently; coaxed almost like a wild horse being gentled to the reins. I smiled at her and half-lifted my hand in greeting. I could see it took a conscious effort for her to break free of her apprehension and greet me in turn.

“Hi” she said.

“Hi. Welcome to Durban. It's great to finally meet you.” I reached out and took the suit-case from her hand and our hands touched briefly. I was instantly transported back to when I had been twelve and had held hands with a girl for the first time. I was in the same state of excitement mixed with apprehension. “Here, let me take that for you.”

“Thank you. It is nice to finally meet you too.”

“Are you OK? Do you need to use the ladies' or something?”

“What?”

“The Ladies.” I pointed to the universal airport sign for the toilet and she suddenly grasped what I meant.

“No thank you.”

“OK. Let's go then. There is no need to hang around here.”

With that I led her out of the arrivals hall and across the road to the parking garage. It wasn't more than ten minutes and we were on the N2 highway heading back towards Durban. As we drove, I took the time to evaluate what I had just experienced. I hadn't even had a second to think about what I thought about her; I had just stored my impressions.

She was wearing one of the dresses that I had seen on the website. An orange coloured, peasant style dress whose hem rested just at the level of her knees and had slightly puffed sleeves that were just off her shoulders, showcasing her slender neck. Her hair was clipped back from her face, but fell in a long continuous wave from the top of her head, down over her back. She had delicate, flat leather sandals on her feet, and I could see that her toe-nails were painted a delicate pink. I thought she had on just a little too much make-up, especially around her eyes, but on reflection decided that she was probably wearing her best dress and had made an effort to get her makeup right. Unfortunately, there was just a bit too much and it was done just inexpertly enough to be jarring. I decided that if I had watched the two of us meeting, I would have thought that she was the teenaged daughter meeting her father or uncle. She looked as if she was a thirteen year old girl who had borrowed some of her mother's makeup.

I could see that she was very thin, even with the way that the dress concealed her figure, and her face looked a little gaunt. She looked very much as if she had been eating too little for too long. Everything about her told me that she was exactly what she had claimed to be; someone who was almost all alone in the world and was looking after herself in the best way she knew how.

“So, what do you think of South Africa so far?” I could have kicked myself. What an inane question. All she had seen was Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg (from the inside), Durban International Airport and about fifteen kilometres of freeway.

“I am surprised. There are so many white people. I thought everyone would be black.”

I laughed. “Yes, most people who come here for their first time are surprised by that; also by the fact that we have such a well developed infrastructure.”

“You have beautiful roads. This one is wonderful.”

“Yes. There is some deterioration around the place, but the main road are still well maintained. How was your journey? Are you tired?”

“The journey was wonderful and I slept a lot on the plane. I have never flown before that I can remember. My father told me that we flew to Kiev from Moscow when I was very young, but I have never left Kiev again that I can remember.”

“Oh, I thought you were born in the Ukraine?”

“No. We are Russian. My father moved because of the Army. After everything changed, we could have moved back, but my father decided that it was safer for me in Kiev. He was away a lot of the time anyway, so he just visited us when he could.”

“That's sad. Parents have to make hard choices sometimes, but it's still difficult on the children, even when they understand what the reasons are.”

“There was much trouble with the Glasnost and the breaking up of the USSR. I think my father was scared that something bad would happen in Moscow.”

“Wasn't it difficult being in a place where you didn't really know anyone?”

“I had Alina and her mother. We kept to ourselves a lot. The others at school didn't really like us because we were Russian, but it was fine because we had each other.

“OK. I can understand that. I was asking because of the arrangements. I have booked you into a guest-house …”

“I am not to stay with you? I didn't understand this from your message.”

“No. I thought that might make you think I was putting pressure on you.” I glanced sideways at Daise and her expression was slightly panicked. “What's wrong, don't you like that idea?”

“Is it not possible to stay with you? I don't know anyone else.”

“Ok. My daughter, Beverley, thought that you might want to. Seems she knows better than me. She has prepared the spare bedroom in case you wanted to stay.”

“That is much better.”

I could see the relieved look spread across her face. Obviously, she was a lot more apprehensive that I had thought.

“If you are up to it, there is a function tonight that I have been invited to. I don't want to overwhelm you when you have just arrived, but I thought you might like to go, especially after finding out about your father.”

“Why? What sort of function is it?”

“It is my Regiment's Spring Ball tonight.”

“Your Regiment? Are you a soldier? Why didn't you tell me this?”

“Sorry, I suppose I should have. I am a part-time soldier. It doesn't take up much of my time at the moment. I am just involved with training.”

“Oh, OK. There is much for me to learn about you.”

“And me about you. So, would you like to go?”

“I don't think I can. I don't have anything to wear. This is my best dress.”

“That is an easy problem to fix. How about we stop at some shops before we go back to my house then we can get you sorted out?”

“Ok. If you think that this is what we should do, then it is fine.”

I was happy about that. I looked forward to arriving at the function with this beautiful girl on my arm, but more importantly, to introducing her to some of the important people in my life.”