Place of Bones by Larry Johns Read Free Book Online Page B

have nothing to do with Brown. I shrugged. “Hell knows!”
    “Well, you have, colonel. Why then, you may ask, do I not do the sensible thing and remove this - this viper from our midst.”
    “Okay,” I said. “I’m asking.” Despite everything, I was interested.
    He leant towards me conspiratorially. “Because, colonel, we stand to gain no capital from such action.” He straightened. “Besides which, it would be retrogressive. We know this person’s identity, where it could take weeks, months, to uncover the identity of a replacement. And a replacement there would most definitely be. So we watch, we study, and we feed - you will no doubt be familiar with the term disinformation. ” He did not wait for confirmation. “Disinformation is a highly positive form of intelligence, colonel. So, to eradicate the intruder, would be to lose something positive. The other facet is that we may, at some later date, require some bargaining power. A quantity to trade with. We may lose an agent of our own to SAI, and wish to have him or her returned to us. With our - our tame SAI mole...no, colonel, I will not add to your worries by even hinting at identity...we have such a ransom to hand. On ice, if you like.”
    “Clever,” I said. He was teaching his grandmother to suck eggs, but I went along with him.
    He shrugged offhandedly. “Not especially, colonel. But necessary. The point is - returning to your concerns - our position here in the Congo is on a sounder footing than most. We have friends here, which means we have an advantage. Though others may well be in possession of certain snippets of information regarding your presence here, there is no way, at this moment in time, they can gain capital from it...”
    Think again , I mused wryly.
    “In forty-eight hours the situation will have altered, which is why we must move swiftly. The very last thing anyone is expecting is for us to digress from a schedule we have taken such pains to establish.”
    “Via your mole?” I ventured, to show I was paying attention.
    Luang nodded. “In one respect, yes, Except that that was but a single example of the complex web we weave.”
    On impulse I decided to chance my arm. “How about over in Zaire, mister Luang? Aaron Motanga also employs an intelligence system.”
    Luang scoffed. “Certainly! The head of which is a supporter of the man Motanga deposed. We know this, and the British know this, and perhaps the Americans. And the French.” He grunted. “Accept this, and then ask yourself why Aaron Motanga remains in ignorance of it. The British, on the surface, profess undying friendship towards Motanga, yet he still is not aware of the true leanings of his chief of intelligence. No, colonel, not one power will be prepared to confide fully in Aaron Motanga unless they stand to gain more than he is prepared to concede.”
    I thought; Wrong again! I said, “So what does Motanga know?”
    “Of our operation?”
    “Of my operation. You’ll have to excuse my bluntness, mister Luang, but I’d say that your operation is pretty much an open book.”
    Luang smiled. “Oh, it is not as bad as that, colonel. But you are excused. Of the mercenary operation, our source in the Motanga cabinet tells us that whilst he is aware of our aspirations in general, and that we are financing a sizable force, he is convinced, along with the British and the S.A.I. that we plan to move the day after tomorrow. At this moment in time Motanga is mobilizing his personal guard close to the Isanga valley, prior, we assume, to transporting it to Matadi.”
    “Why Matadi?”  I asked, trying to ignore an odd feeling of deja vu.
    “Disinformation, colonel. That word again. We let it slip that Matadi was to be our point of entry. And it may further amaze you to know that Motanga obtained this information from his own agent within SAI.” He smiled happily, as if the whole system pleased him greatly.
    “Jesus!” I said. “You’re walking through a goddam