The Colour of Gold (36 page)

Shadow stared
at the frightened man and then looked at his two companions.

"What do
think?" he asked. "Are we safe now? Have our enemies really lost
us? Should we let him go?"

"I think that
we should wait a little longer." Isaiah said. "While we were
walking here from the car I thought that I could hear a police
helicopter high above us. I couldn't see anything but I'm almost
sure it was there. If we let him go now and the police know where
we are then we're as good as dead. Without the hostage they'll kill
us but if we still have him there's always a chance that we can
negotiate our way out."

"Isaiah's
right." Bogdan said. "I don't like the idea taking innocent people
as hostages but we had no option. I suggest that, if the police
haven't found us my morning, then we should let Bala go."

"Okay." Shadow
said as he turned to Bala. "Unfortunately, as you've just heard, we
can't let you go yet. But you must remember that our enemy cannot
afford to have you die so, if they do find us, I'm sure that we'll
be able to trade you for our freedom. But, again I must warn you;
if you try to escape, you will die with us."

As Shadow
finished talking he saw Isaiah stiffen as he looked out of the
shack's window.

"What is it?"
he asked.

"I think I saw
some movement out there." Isaiah replied. "It looked very much like
a man in camouflage uniform."

Shadow quickly
leant down and blew out the candle.

"It looks like
the security police have found us." he said, grimly. "I didn't
think that they would find us this quickly. If we all want to live
we're going to have to talk our way out of here."

***

Captain Tiaan
Botha led his four men along the dark Soweto street until they
reached number sixty nine. They waited in the darkness as Tiaan
studied the house and its surroundings. The little brick dwelling
was typical of the houses in the city; square with a sloping
corrugated iron roof and low walls separating it from its
neighbours but no wall in front. There were no lights of any kind
inside the house. Signalling to his men, Tiaan moved swiftly into
the gap between the house and the dividing wall and as they reached
the back of the property they could vaguely make out the tiny
wooden shack at the back. A faint glow emanated from the small
window and was suddenly extinguished.

"I think that
they may have seen us." the Captain whispered. "Stay absolutely
still while I figure out our next move."

The five men
huddled against the brick boundary wall of the property and waited
while their leader studied the surroundings and planned their next
move.

***

Inside the
little wooden shack Shadow and Isaiah peered out of the window
trying to identify the enemy in the darkness outside. While they
were so absorbed, Bogdan began to move stealthily towards the door
of the shack and silently opened it.

"I think I can
see them huddled against the boundary wall!" Shadow said.

"Yes, I think
that I can also see them now." Isaiah said. "It looks as if there
are five of them."

Bogdan slipped
silently out of the shack being very careful not to knock anything
with his AK47 or scrape his feet on the uneven mud floor. Leaving
the door open he began to creep towards the far side of the house
and away from the waiting policemen. He reached the corner of the
house and stood waiting, unsure of what to do next. He glanced back
at the dim shape of the hut, relieved to see that the door was
still open.

***

"Two of you go
around the front of the house and up the side so that you can cover
that side of the shack just in case they try to make a run for it
that way." Captain Botha whispered. "In the mean time I'm going to
attract their attention by calling on them to surrender. After I've
done that I'll move quickly to the other side of the shack and
hopefully be able to open the door and toss in a stun grenade. As
soon as I leave you I want you to begin firing short bursts of
automatic fire over the roof from both sides. It's important that
nobody fires directly at the shack with the intent to kill though.
We must get the hostage out alive. When you hear the grenade go off
I want two of you, one from each side of the shack to rush in and
help me get the hostage out. Once we've got him safely away you can
saturate the shack with rifle fire and even toss in a few grenades.
I want those kaffirs dead. They've caused me a lot of
problems!"

The police
captain stood up slowly and took a deep breath. In his periphery
vision he saw two of his men begin to move towards the front of the
main house.

"Attention
those people in the shack!" he shouted. "This is the South African
Security Police! You are completely surrounded and cannot escape!
Throw out your weapons and come out with your hands up!"

Tiaan moved
swiftly towards the back of the house as the first short burst of
automatic fire shattered the quietness of the sleeping black
city.

***

As Bogdan
crouched at the corner of the main house he heard someone begin to
shout to the inhabitants of the shack, telling them that they were
surrounded and should surrender. At the same time he heard heavy
footsteps moving along the side of the house towards him from the
street. Suddenly a short burst of automatic rifle fire shattered
the quietness of the night and he heard the deadly rush of bullets
hiss through the air above him.

Bogdan turned
towards the shack and as he did so he saw a dark figure move around
the side of the shack towards the open door. Without thinking he
raised his AK47, aimed at the shadowy figure and squeezed the
trigger. The shock of the exploding bullets and the backlash of the
weapon caused Bogdan to almost drop the rifle. He watched in horror
as the heavy bullets smashed into the man just as he reached the
door, blasting huge holes in the man's body and driving him through
the doorway and into the shack. At the same time an enormous
explosion occurred behind the man as the stun grenade that he'd
been about to toss into the shack exploded harmlessly in the
yard.

Realising that
he couldn't possibly outgun the men approaching from the street
Bogdan raced back towards the door of the shack. As he reached the
shack he saw a figure round the corner of the shack. He tried to
raise his AK47. A brilliant flash of light erupted from the rifle
in the man's hands and for a second before he died Bogdan felt the
excruciating pain of the bullets smashing into his body. He fell
sideways into the shack, ending up on top of the dead police
officer lying on the floor.

***

Shadow and
Isaiah tensed as they heard one of the policemen outside shout that
they were surrounded and should throw down their weapons and
surrender. They both lifted their AK47s in readiness to fight to
the death. Shadow glanced over his shoulder to see where Bogdan
was. To his horror he saw that the door of the shack was open and
Bogdan had disappeared! He was just about to tell Isaiah had
disappeared when a shadowy figure appeared outside the doorway but
before he could react a long burst of AK47 rifle fire from outside
the shack smashed the man into the shack. He heard one of the
bullets that had missed the man thud into the back of Isaiah's
head. He turned to see Isaiah's head hit the window and then his
body slumped to the floor.

Shadow fell to
the floor of the shack as a loud explosion outside the dwelling
shook the whole structure. In the dim light he could see Isaiah
lying dead on the floor next to him. He looked up just in time to
see Bogdan appear in the doorway and stared in shock as another
burst of automatic rifle fire smashed into Bogdan's body throwing
him into the shack and on top of the dead policeman lying on the
mud floor.

Suddenly the
whole shack began to disintegrate as automatic rifle fire from both
sides sent a deadly hail of lead crashing through the thin walls.
Shadow saw bullets knock the Indian hostage off his chair, his head
exploding in a mass of blood, bone and brains.

Shadow lay on
the mud floor of the shack and began to fire blindly through the
open doorway. He heard the window above him shatter and a heavy
object fall onto the floor next to him. There was a blinding flash
of light and heat, followed by incredible pain and then
blackness.