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As Klaus poured out the boiling water for his first cup of Nescafé, a knock sounded sharply on his front door. He went to see who wanted him this early. It was Richardson, looking grim.

–You’d better come and see this. A body’s been dumped just outside the gates. It’s Zawawi.”

Klaus pulled the door closed behind him, and together they hurried to the compound’s front entrance.

The gates were wide open. Three of their armed security guards stood by, eyeing the corpse uneasily. Next to them, Atkins and the company’s paramedic huddled together in uneasy discussion.

Klaus and Richardson squatted down beside the body. Zawawi’s killers had done a thorough job: three bullet wounds to the chest and abdomen, and a fourth shot at close range through the centre of the forehead. Richardson dug into the corpse’s pockets, searching.

Atkins cleared his throat nervously. –Richardson, don’t you think we should let the authorities deal with this?”

Ignoring him, Richardson pulled open the dead man’s shirt, and lifted out a blood-smeared card with the stylised black and white image of an eye printed on it. –Secret police. A warning.” He handed the card to Klaus.

Klaus turned it over and read the untidily-scrawled words written on the back: Berrent you’r next.

Atkins moved closer. –What’s this about? Who was this man? What’s on that card?”

Klaus pushed the card into his top pocket without letting Atkins see it. He and Richardson both stood up, and moved Atkins back a step or two.

–He was a local militia leader.” Klaus glanced around to make sure they couldn’t be overheard. –The government saw him as a threat. That’s what got him killed - but dumping him here was a warning to us to stay out of local politics.”

–But we don’t-”

–We deal with the local landowners and men of influence. The government probably has suspicions that we interfere. I’d suggest you alert the operators at the mines that they need to be on the lookout for trouble.”

Atkins stared at the body. Flies crawled over the lifeless form, gathering at the dead man’s eyes and the edges of the congealing blood-tracks. –Who did this?”

–Secret police,” Richardson said, keeping his voice low. –So be careful what you say when you talk to the authorities. Get one of those security men to find something to cover up the body. Call the police and get them to take the body away - but mind what you say. Don’t pass any opinions, don’t ask any questions, and don’t let on you know who he was or who killed him. Then meet us at my office.”

Richardson and Klaus went back into the compound, leaving Atkins to deal with the corpse.

Once they were inside Richardson’s office with the door closed, Klaus pulled out the card once more and threw it onto the desk, the handwritten message facing upward. –They know I’m involved with the FRA. They’ll be watching me - that’s going to limit my usefulness.”

Richardson frowned. –Dikembe’s a bad man to have as an enemy, and if he’s watching, we’ll have to tread carefully. But you need to get in contact with the FRA, because they’ll probably go on a rampage to avenge Zawawi’s murder, and the coup preparations might get lost in the uproar. Are there any obvious successors in line to take over from Zawawi?”

Klaus snorted. –Of course there aren’t. Zawawi didn’t groom any successors in case they got ambitious and decided to make a move on him. The FRA was a one-man show. Now that Zawawi’s gone, there’s going to be a lot of in-fighting. The FRA might fragment if they can’t agree on a new leader.”

There was a knock on the door, and Richardson let Atkins in to join them.

Anger smouldered in every line of Atkins’ face. –You two seem to know quite a lot about that dead body outside the gate,” he seethed. –I think there’s something going on here that you need to tell me about.”

Klaus looked across at Richardson, who was, technically, the ranking officer on this mission. He raised an eyebrow: Go on. Tell him enough to keep him from causing a fuck-up.

–Well? Come on!” Atkins spluttered. –Don’t just look at each other like a pair of schoolboys caught smoking behind the bicycle shed. I need to know if there’s something going on that’ll affect West Equatorial’s productivity.”

–Something like a civil war?” Richardson suggested.

–What?” Atkins’ jaw dropped.

–Listen, Atkins,” Klaus broke in, –you need to be worried about more than productivity. The dead man, Zawawi, was the leader of one of the parties opposed to the government. The secret police got rid of him because he was posing a threat to the President. With Zawawi dead, his forces will start fighting amongst themselves, and one or another of his men is likely to make an attempt on President Kisulu’s life just to prove he’s the one who ought to be Zawawi’s successor - but they won’t be able to follow through and form an alternative government.”

–So, what’ll follow will be all-out civil war,” Richardson finished.

Open-mouthed, Atkins looked from one to the other.

–There was nothing this specific in my briefing from Head Office,” he said at last. –So how is it that you two are both so well informed? Does Head Office know about this? And if they do, why didn’t they tell me? And if they don’t - why don’t they?”

–What you need to know,” said Richardson, –is that we’re in a precarious situation here. The country’s on the edge of anarchy. Forget profits and productivity for a while: you need to think about survival. If open conflict breaks out, your main concern will be getting your expatriate workers out.”

Atkins took out his ever-present handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his face and neck. –Christ. Is it inevitable, do you think?”

Klaus said, –Right now, the government would think it has the upper hand. They’ve eliminated the President’s main rival. What happens next depends whether Zawawi’s forces do anything rash - or whether the President’s forces decide to take further action against them.”

–How likely is it that either of those things will happen?”

Richardson shook his head. –What do you think, Atkins? My advice is to get on the phone to North Rivers and the other outlying camps, and tell them to get ready for trouble. When it starts, it’s going to get very bad, very fast.”

Atkins turned to go. He looked shaky.

Positioning himself between Atkins and the door, Klaus said, –Now, remember: be careful what you do and what you say. When you’re talking to the police, or any other Husuni nationals, don’t say too much and don’t ask too many questions.”

–And don’t repeat what we’ve said here,” Richardson added.

Atkins’ hand shook as he turned the door handle. Neither Klaus nor Richardson spoke until Atkins’ footsteps had faded away into the distance.

–You realise,” Klaus said at last, –that we can’t just wait to see what happens next? With Zawawi dead, things are going to turn to shit in a hurry.”

Richardson rubbed both hands over his face, took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Klaus recognised the action as a sign that for once, Richardson was shaken out of his usual level-headed calm.

–Yeah, you’re right. Zawawi’s death might be the start of a longer string of assassinations. I guess Dikembe’s decided that the FRA’s a genuine threat to the President.”

–To the President, or to Dikembe himself,” Klaus said darkly.

Richardson nodded, thoughtful. –Yeah, there’s a lot of self-interest at work there. If Kisulu’s regime gets toppled, then Dikembe’s out on his ass as well. He’s lining his pockets just as much as Kisulu is. He doesn’t want regime change either.”

–Unless it changes to his even greater advantage.” Klaus looked pointedly at Richardson.

–What d’you mean?”

–He gets rid of Zawawi; Kisulu breathes easier with his known rival out of the picture; and Dikembe is the hero of the day for shoring up Kisulu’s leadership. And then - when Kisulu’s lulled into a false sense of security - Dikembe makes a move on him and seizes power.”

–Jesus.” Richardson got up and walked over to the window. He turned and looked back at Klaus. –Are you just painting worst-case scenarios, or do you think that’s a real possibility?”

–I’ve spent a lot of time with Zawawi and his inner circle over the last six months. Most of them think Dikembe has designs on the top job. Zawawi himself believed that Dikembe was just biding his time, and the day would come when he’d use his secret police to get rid of Kisulu. Zawawi always regarded Dikembe as his greatest barrier, not Kisulu himself. And believe me: Fabrice Dikembe is the last person we want in control of this country. He’d make Kisulu look like a benevolent ruler.”

Klaus watched Richardson stare out of the window, hands shoved into his pockets, shoulders rigid.

–Richardson, Zawawi’s assassination changes everything. We’ve had the FRA getting ready to stage a coup and take control of the country, but now, with Zawawi dead, the FRA isn’t going to be in any shape to take over. They were our check on Dikembe. Without them, he becomes the biggest threat to Kisulu, and the biggest threat to the West.” Klaus let that sink in for a few moments, then said, –I think the situation needs an extreme solution.”

Richardson turned back to face Klaus. –Maybe you’re right. If Fabrice Dikembe seizes power, there’ll be a blood-bath. Reprisals against his enemies; mass executions of dissidents. Not to mention months, maybe years, of civil war. He’s not universally popular, and when the blood starts to flow, all sorts of opposition groups will jump into the fray.”

–It’ll be a fucking mess.”

–And the mission will have been a complete failure.” Richardson paused. –So, what’s your analysis?”

–We need to remove Dikembe. If Kisulu stays in power for the time being the country won’t be any worse off, and we can buy some time to get the FRA back into shape. But if we leave Dikembe where he is, it’s only a matter of time before he stages a coup of his own.”

–Extreme solution, then,” Richardson said.

–It’s what I’d recommend.”

–Van Owen’s the targeted removals specialist. He’s missing in action. One of us will have to step up.”

Klaus looked Richardson squarely in the eye. –I’ll do it.”




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