“This’ll do,” Tucker said, drawing Christopher to a stop.
Tucker climbed out with Kane and pointed. “SCOUT AND RETURN.”
The shepherd trotted off into the darkness, exploring the edges of the clearing and what looked like several game trails. Tucker did the same, circling completely around the Rover. In the distance, he heard the huffing grunt of lions, accompanied by several roars. Other creatures screeched and howled.
He waved Anya and Bukolov out and turned to Christopher.
“Let’s get the tents set up. But what do you think about a fire?”
“The flames are good at keeping curious animals at bay, but also good at attracting rebels and bandits. I vote no.”
Tucker agreed. They quickly set up camp; even Bukolov pitched in before finally retiring, almost collapsing into the tent. Anya soon followed him.
“I’ll take first watch,” Tucker said to Christopher. “You’ve been driving all day. Get some sleep.”
“I don’t need much sleep. I’ll relieve you in a couple of hours.”
Tucker didn’t argue.
He drifted to the Rover and leaned a hip against the bumper. Overhead, a brilliant display of crisp stars flushed the sky, accompanied with the glowing swath of the Milky Way. He listened to the cacophony of the African night: the trill of insects, the distant hoots and hollers, the rustle of wind.
It was hard to believe such beauty hid such danger.
March 21, 1:24 A.M.
As Tucker kept a drowsy guard, Kane stirred from where he’d curled beside the Rover’s tire.
Tucker heard the zip from the tent.
He turned to see Anya push out, wrapped in a blanket. Her breath misted in the cold desert air. She slowly, shyly joined him.
“Couldn’t sleep?” he whispered. “Is your wrist bothering you?”
“No. It’s not that—” She ended in a shrug.
He patted the hood next to him.
She sat down, shifted closer, and tugged the blanket around Tucker’s shoulders. “You looked cold.”
He didn’t object. He had to admit the warmth was welcome . . . as was the company.
Kane glanced at them and made a deep harrumphing sound, then lay back down.
“I think someone is jealous,” Anya said, hiding a grin.
“He can get grumpy when he’s tired.”
“You know each other’s moods very well.”
“We’ve been together a long time. Since Kane was a pup. And after the years of training, we’ve learned each other’s tics and idiosyncrasies.”
He suddenly felt foolish talking about this with a beautiful woman at his hip.
But she didn’t seem to mind. “It must be nice to have someone so close to you in life, someone who knows you so well.”
At that moment, he realized how little he knew about the real Anya Averin—and how much he wanted to know more.
“Speaking of getting to know someone,” he whispered, “I don’t know anything about your past. Where did you grow up?”
There was a long pause—clearly it was hard for her to let her guard down, especially after so many years of wearing a false face.
“Many places,” she finally mumbled. “My father was in the Russian Army. He was a . . . a hard man. We moved around a lot.”
He heard pain there as she looked down. After a long awkward silence, she shifted away. He had clearly touched a sore point.
“I suppose I should try to sleep,” she mumbled, hopping down and drawing the blanket with her. With a small wave of a hand, she headed back to the tent and ducked inside.
The night was suddenly much colder.
34
March 21, 5:16 A.M.
Groot Karas Mountains, Namibia
Christopher shook Tucker awake while it was still dark. He instantly went alert, muscles going hard, shaking off the cobwebs of fitful dreams.
“It’s okay, Mr. Wayne,” the man reassured him. “You asked me to wake you before the sun was up.”
“Right, right . . .”
He slithered out of his sleeping bag and grabbed the AR-15 rifle resting next to it.
As he followed Christopher out of the tent, Bukolov snorted and woke from the commotion. “What’s going on? What’s happening?”
“Nothing, Doctor,” Tucker said. “Go back to sleep.”
“I could if you two would stop bumbling around like a pair of elephants.” He rolled over, putting his back to them.
Across the dark tent, Anya’s eyes shone toward him, then she turned away, too.
With Kane in tow, Tucker pushed out into the predawn chill. He stomped circulation back into his feet, while Kane darted over to a bush and lifted his leg.
Once the shepherd had returned, Christopher asked, “Which way will you two go and how far?”
He pointed east. “We’ll scout a few miles ahead. We can move quieter than the Rover. We’ll make sure nothing stands between us and the coordinates. If it looks safe, we can continue with the Rover. I should be back before noon. If I run into any trouble or you do, we’ve got our radios.”
“Understood.”
“Have the Rover packed and ready. Run if you need to. Don’t fight unless you have no other choice.”
“I would much prefer to come with—”
“I know you would, but someone has to guard Anya and Bukolov. That’s why we’re here. They’re more important than me.”
“I don’t agree, sir. Every life is precious in the eyes of God.”
Tucker knew it was foolish to argue with the young man. He just prayed that when it came to a firefight that Christopher placed his precious life above that of his enemy’s.
With matters settled, Tucker suited up Kane, then thoroughly checked his rifle and strapped a Smith & Wesson .44-caliber snubnose to his belt. As an additional precaution, knowing he might encounter guerrilla forces, he wanted something extra in his back pocket, something with a little more bang. He fished out a block of C-4 plastic explosive from their reserves and shoved it into the cargo pocket of his pants.
That’ll have to do.
Ready now, he and Kane took to a game trail that led them down the steep north face of the hill and into a short valley. He took a compass bearing, marked his map, then they set out east. The terrain of the Groot Karas Mountains was as unique and strange as the desert that bordered it. From satellite images, it appeared as though a giant hand had poured molten metal across the mountain’s slopes: rock formations looped and whorled around one another forming a flowing maze, all of it broken up by plateaus, boulder-strewn ravines, and tiny crescent canyons tucked tightly against steep cliffs.