PRIMAL Vengeance

Chapter 54



The Bunker, Lascar Island



"Seriously Vance how long do I have to keep babysitting the kid?" asked Saneh.

"Twenty-four hours. Chua wants to let Zhu simmer a bit before he makes his demands." Vance was in his office talking to PRIMAL's only female field operative via the island's integrated radio network. Saneh was only a few kilometers away on an isolated part of the island.

"Twenty-four more hours? I won't lie, Vance. There's a good chance I'll neck the spoilt little shit before then. He whines like a school girl."

"He's on a tropical island with a beautiful woman, what's his problem?"

"I might've taken him for a run."

Vance started laughing. "Tubby little f*cker struggled, did he?"

"Just a little. He vomited twice before we even made it to the first ridgeline."

"Just make sure you keep him alive."

"I will. Vance, how's Bishop doing?"

"He's OK. Needs a bit of down time. The boys should be back tomorrow. Look, I've got to go. We've got an O group in a few hours. I'll let you know what falls out of it."

"Thanks. Saneh out."

Vance walked out of his office into the operations room. There were only a handful of people at their desks. The LED screen that outlined the status of all the units currently in the field was empty. All PRIMAL operatives were safe and sound. For the Director of Operations that meant a good night's sleep for once.

"Good outcome all round," said Chua from the other side of the room. "Just need to finish negotiating with Zhu, and wrap up that traitor Garang.

"Yeah, I can't help but feel we got real lucky on this one, buddy. It could easily have been Bishop going home in a body bag." Vance turned to the watchkeeper. "That reminds me, what's going on with the girl's body?"

The watchkeeper looked up from his terminal. "Sir, one of the SFF fighters, Jonjo, returned her to the hospital in Juba. From there she was moved to the US embassy."

"OK. Her father is some kind of big wig surgeon, right? I want to make sure he gets more than a short note from the State Department. He deserves to know his daughter died for a just cause."

Chua nodded in agreement. "The SFF have put a serious dent in both the Sudanese deniable capability and the Chinese will to continue the fight. From what I understand Doctor Hutton played a critical role in that."

"Mirza spoke very highly of her, she saved a lot of lives," agreed Vance.

"Her loss won't be in vain, Vance. We're in a good position now. We've cost PETROCON and China a lot of resources and should be able to force Zhu into withdrawing his support for the Janjaweed. Maybe even a Chinese vote in the UN Security Council for an increased peacekeeping force."

"You seriously think that's an option? You think Zhu has that much clout?"

"He regularly meets with a number of members of the People's National Council. He's got serious connections and wants his son alive."

"Sir," the watchkeeper interrupted them, "you've got a call. It's Tariq."

Chua gave Vance a sideways look. PRIMAL's wealthy benefactor rarely called them. Chua took the call. The conversation was short; the owner of Lascar Logistics and former head of Abu Dhabi Police Special Branch was a busy man. Chua handed the phone back to the watchkeeper.

"We've got a big problem!" the Chinese American said.

"What?" asked Vance.

"Yang has been spotted in Abu Dhabi."

"What the f*ck?"

"The security system at the airport detected him but he escaped arrest," Chua explained.

"But how the hell did he track the team?"

"There's only one way that could have happened," stated Chua.

"Bishop!"

"He's the only one they've had contact with. They can't have tracked Dragonfly. Mitch runs bug sweeps over it regularly, it's got no markings and he ran a crazy Ivan flight path. It has to be Bishop."

"Wake the boys up. They've got work to do."