The Code War (16 page)

'OK.
Let's get back to Agatha. I've arranged with Ruth that
she's going to brief me on Nancy in a short while. Why don't you
and Agatha join us for that? That can be where Agatha makes her
entrance to the team. I don't think I'll have time to make her
acquaintance properly before then. She'll have to hit the ground
running and we'll all get to know each other as we go
forward.'

'Sure if that's what you want. I'll make
sure we're both there.'

'Done.'

Serrekunda, Gambia,
West Africa.

Lafi Touray gunned the engine on the
ten-ton troop truck one more time and swore loudly in dialect. The
huge vehicle lunged forward out of the hole in the dirt road that
had virtually swallowed his front wheel.

'Ah bah raka' -
'Thank you,' he shouted through the open window in Mandinka
to the three young men who had come to his aid, pushing the rear of
the vehicle with all their might. Lafi threw a few coins out of the
window in parting. Not too many that they would talk about him to
others and not too few that they might harbour a grievance against
him. It didn't do to make unnecessary enemies in his line of
business. He had enough enemies already.

He checked his wing mirror and was
relieved to see that the three men were casually walking back to
their compound-cum-drink store, a hundred yards back down the road.
They showed no body language that might indicate they had
discovered what cargo he was carrying and were rushing to call the
police.

A hundred yards later and the dirt road
became tarmac, a huge relief after the constant lurching of the
last forty miles.

Up ahead Lafi could see lights.
Within minutes he found himself approaching Serrekunda market, only
a couple of miles from Banjul. It was Friday evening and the market
was closed and virtually deserted. That suited him
perfectly.

He pulled into the dusty lorry park that
was used by all the meat and produce sellers, found himself a spot
in the shadows and reversed the lorry into it. Then he killed the
lights and switched off the engine. So far so good, but the next
few hours would be critical. Would Brother deliver?

Lafi opened the door of his cab,
swung himself out onto the metal step and descended to the ground.
He shook his arms out and arched his back, using the stretching
exercise as a cover to look around and see if anyone was watching
him. When he was sure he was not being observed he moved slowly to
the rear. The canvas sides of the vehicle bore the huge logo of the
tour company, GambiSafari.

The truck was designed to carry
soldiers. This was an old model and had been sold off by the
country's military to the tourist trade. Now it mostly carried
visiting westerners such as birdwatchers and wildlife
photographers, eager to explore the lush forests in the east of the
country with their startling rollers, hornbills and jacanas. Today
however, Lafi's truck had a different cargo.

He pulled at the four tie ropes
that secured the canvas cover to the rear tailboard, still looking
about him as he did so. Then pulling back the cover just a little
he brought his head up close to the opening. He recoiled
immediately and turned his head away, coughing and screwing up his
eyes. When he had recovered he took a deep breath of fresh air and
held it while he returned and pulled the canvas back again. As he
peered in cautiously thirty-five pairs of eyes gazed back at him.
They barely moved as Lafi looked left to right and front to back,
counting the heads. The thirty-five children were clearly terrified
and their frozen attitudes betrayed their fear. One little girl
held another in her arms who sobbed and wiped her face with a tiny
hand. Lafi breathed out through his nose..

'Give me the bucket,' he ordered.
A boy stood and lifted the handle of a large plastic bucket. The
handle was soiled with human waste but Lafi couldn't worry about
that now. He would wash his hands later. It was more important to
keep his charges where they were than to worry about minor matters
like child shit.

Lafi took the bucket and swung it over
the tailboard and placed it by his feet.

'Stay where you are,' he ordered
roughly. 'I'll be back in a minute and then we'll see about some
food.'

As he took the waste bucket away to
empty it, Lafi contemplated his next major challenge.

Westerners could be gullible and
credulous. But they could also be sceptical and savvy. He might
have to use all of his powers of persuasion to convince the man -
for a man it would surely be - that his southward mission was noble
and humanitarian. If persuasion failed, what then?

Lafi's nostrils picked up the
delicious aroma of spiced meat roasting over a barbecue at an
eating-house on the road nearby. He walked over.

'Hey,' he called. 'You got steak? How
much for a steak?'

A middle-aged man turning the meat
on the rack looked at him cautiously, eyeing the bucket. 'Yeah, we
got steak. And hot rice and peas. And cold beer. How many
for?'

'One,' replied Lafi with a
winn
ing smile. 'Just one. I'm by
myself.'

'When?'

'About quarter hour. Just got to get
myself a wash.' He held up the bucket.

The man nodded and Lafi continued on
towards the public latrine.

Further along, a gate in a stone
wall opened and a young woman came out onto the pot-holed road and
looked at him. She leant against the wall and remained there,
showing that she had no other errand. She continued to hold his
eyes. Lafi nodded at her, acknowledging her offer.

What would he have first? The
woman? O
r his dinner? Difficult choice.
At least he could afford both.

He smiled at her. 'Don't you go away,
now. I'll be back for you. See you in an hour.'

He continued on, smiling to
himself. Good decision. Eat first. Then relax with the woman. Got
to pass the time somehow.

Another thought intruded and Lafi
glanced back anxiously at the lorry he could still see behind him.
Brother had better bring that driver. And he'd better do exactly as
Lafi told him. Or else he might have to ditch the children. In a
ditch. That would be bloody. And unprofitable.

Near Kodrob's
Squadroom, Pentacurse, Inferno. 4 levels underground.

The corridor walls
were hot and glowed slightly red. There was no
other light source this far underground so the overall effect was
like being on the inside of a coal furnace. Kodrob and Lafarge
picked their way along in the semi-darkness towards Bezejel's
temporary private quarters.

A siren demoness of Bezejel's rank
demanded - and got - the best rooms in any part of Inferno that she
visited. Even demons needed to rest and it was known that Bezejel
loved her bed, though not always for sleeping.

Kodrob approached her room, a
large hollowed-out cavern. Strings of amber were hung around the
doorway and mother-of-pearl shells had been recently pressed into
the lintel. Femininity continued beyond the grave.

He stepped over the first
satyr
husk slumped in the passageway. The
demon's bare feet were clearly visible protruding from one end of
the husk and the top of the head from the other. Then he saw the
second husk and then a third. Scattered items of uniform lay strewn
around, some intact and some torn. Unit badges and stripes were
visible on some of the battleshirts. A fourth satyr lay in the
threshold of her open door, its back broken and its neck twisted at
a wrong angle. This one was a recent kill. The husk bonds -
reed-like fibres as tough as flax - were still growing. He could
see them stretching out from the skin and tightening as they
wrapped around the body, cocooning it.

Kodrob felt a tap on the shoulder.
'Four, guv'nor,' whispered
Lafarge
throatily. 'Four good lads. Done for. She's doing the angels' job
for them.'

'Shut up,' hissed Kodrob. 'If she
or her shadows hear you, you'll be a husk too. And so will I. So
shut yer gob.'

'So what happened?'
persisted
Lafarge, cupping his hand over
his mouth and leaning in to Kodrob's ear.

'I recognise the unit,' replied
Kodrob heavily, pulling Lafarge back into an alcove in the corridor
wall. 'They're from the 5th Ambush Regiment. It's an all-satyr
outfit. Been away for years. Just got back. I reckon Bezejel met
this lot when they'd just been let out on leave and heading for a
squawhouse. She'd have promised them lots of drink and as much
action with her as they could manage. Too tempting by far, offer
like that.'

'So the Ambushers got ambushed.'

'Something like that,' sighed
Kodrob. 'Dropped their guard. They see a pretty female like Bezejel
and their brains sink three feet. She takes them home and charms
them one by one while the others play cards with GogMagog. She's
done it before. Got form. She dulls them with diesel then settles
them in between her knees and they think it's happy hour in Hades.
They've no idea how deadly she is. Once she's used them she gets
all nervy and agitated. Then she crushes them.'

'And now they're husks.'

'Yep. They've taken one step on
the long slide to final death. This lot will probably come back as
jager imps. Hunters. Time after that they'll be charnel imps. Then
sprites, gremlins, trolls, mawls, pixies and finally
gurns.

You
been
to many gurn burns?'

'No, never
been to one.'

'You've never been to a gurn burn?
You're kidding me? How come? You've been in Inferno a couple of
hundred years or more, haven't you?'

'Well..not exactly.' The French
demon was suddenly reticent. 'OK, I admit I pretended I had more
experience when I joined your unit. In fact I only arrived in
Inferno a short time before.'

'That's a
sackable offence, Lafarge. What were you doing between
dying and arriving here?'

'Oh, the usual.'

'Go on.'

'Well, after I died, I knew I was
destined for Hell. Only I didn't want to come. So I hung around my
chateau for a long time, resisting the pull.'

'Haunting.'

'That's what they call it. But I
was just frightened. I hung on. Then one day I lost my
concentration and the pull took me unexpectedly. I lost my grip.
Next moment I was here. Then I met your guys and they persuaded you
to hire me.'

'Because of your way with the
ladies.'

'Yeah. The boys have
had a lot more fun since I joined. The vixen
fixer, they call me. But so have you, Captain. You've got to admit
that.'

Kodrob was silent, staring
at the opposite wall. 'Quiet a moment.' He
lifted a finger to his lips and strained his ears towards Bezejel's
door.

'What?'

'If Bezejel is sleeping off her killing
spree I don't really want to disturb her till she's ready.'

'How did she manage to kill guys?
Soldiers like that? They're much bigger than her.'

'She's a lot stronger than she
looks. The Leader gave her special strength. He likes her.' Kodrob
paused, thinking. 'Come on Lafarge, let's get us a brew. We'll come
back for Bezejel a bit later. It's too dangerous to go in
now.'

He pulled Lafarge by the shoulder
and the two demons walked back down the corridor. Kodrob led
them
further underground to the soldiers'
canteen, a large square hall with a continuous stone seat all
around its walls.

'Barman, get my tab,' he ordered.
'Two regular diesels.' Around the room twenty or so uniformed
soldiers of different castes were gathered in dour groups, talking
in hushed tones. A few acknowledged Kodrob with a nod. He was a
captain and they might need his help some day.

Kodrob and Lafarge found themselves a
length of seat away from others and installed themselves.

'Are you going to sack me Guv'nor?'

Kodrob gave him a long hard look. 'Not
now, Lafarge. Not in the middle of a major project. But if you want
to stay part of the team you'd better work hard. It's not enough to
pull cheap vixens. You need to pull your weight. Understand?'

'Yes Guv. I'll work harder Guv. Thank
you. I really appreciate the opportunity…'

'Shut up.'

'Yes Guv.'

The drinks arrived and Kodrob
drank deep on his diesel. Its volatile fluids immediately sent his
brain spinning, relaxing him. 'So, you never been to a gurn
burn?'

'No, Guv.'

'Well, it's probably the
mos
t fun you can have in Inferno. Apart
from being the steak in a siren sandwich.'

'I've done that a few times,'
grinned Lafarge. He caught Kodrob's look. That wasn't what his
captain wanted to talk about.

'So, how do gurns catch fire,
Captain?'

'They don't just catch fire,
Lafarge. They burn because other demons catch them and set fire to
them.'

'Why? Just because they're
ugly?
'

'Because they're ugly. Because
they gang up like rats. Because they attack others in packs.
Because of their twisted faces. Because they're the size of
footballs and you just want to kick them. All of those. But mostly,
Lafarge, because it's fun. No-one likes gurns and when some
clean-up squad or Finger Force corners a group of them and captures
them without losing too many of their own in the process, it makes
for a great spectacle.'