needed.”
“Oh that would be wonderful. Let me show you around.”
The two examining rooms were austere, furnished with basic tables and some cabinets. There were two rooms with beds where patients could rest, a pair of small offices, and a storeroom. A dozen people, all women or children, were being seen by two aides, both locals whom Marie had trained. They had been open only a few weeks, said Marie, but already had seen a number of difficult cases, including many patients with AIDS.
“We are going to be involved in a program,” she said. “But for now, we send those with AIDS to the capital. We can’t really help.”
“What about the other clinic in town?” Nuri asked.
Marie glanced at Gerard before answering.
“Many people won’t go there.”
That had to be because the other clinic was associated with Sudan First. The friction between the two groups was new.
Most likely it wasn’t serious, or Gerard would not have been in the city center. But you could never tell.
“Give me a list of what you can use,” said Nuri as the tour ended. “And I will see what I can do.”
N uri led Danny back to the car without Gerard and his small entourage. Boston was in the driver’s seat; Danny got in the back.
“Why didn’t you ask about the UAV?” asked Danny as Boston backed out onto the road.
“The time wasn’t right,” said Nuri.
“Why not?”
“Let me handle this, all right? We have to get this medicine.”
“That’ll take weeks.”
“No. They just want over-the-counter drugs mostly. I’ll fly to Egypt and buy it. It’s all simple stuff. The clinic’s a gold mine of information. If we could find a way to talk to some of the women who are waiting to see someone, we can figure out what’s going on.”
“It’s not worth waiting,” said Danny. “The longer we wait, the better the odds someone else will come and get in the way. We can take two men out pretty easily.”
The sun had set; Boston turned on the headlights and found that only one worked, and only on high.
“I know we have different approaches to things,” Nuri told him after a few minutes of driving in silence. “But I don’t think there’s any harm in waiting.”
“I agree giving medicine to these people is a good thing,” said Danny. “But we can give it to them after the operation. My orders are to recover the UAV as quickly as I can. We’re going in tonight.”
“The only reason I’m giving it to them is so we can recover the UAV with a minimum of fuss,” said Nuri. “I don’t really care about helping them.”
“That hardly cements your argument.”
“Well it’s true. Listen, if we can do it with a minimum of fuss—”
“We can,” said Danny. “We go tonight.”
Chapter 8
Duka
I n the end Li Han solved the problem like he solved many problems: shortly after sunset, he had Amara bring him three teenage boys, gave them each five American dollars, and told them he would give the first to return with the proper cord another twenty dollars.
Amara predicted they would have a cord by morning. Instead, all three of the boys returned within the hour. One had a cord with RCA plugs; the other two, however, had found network cables. Which building in town they’d stolen them from was irrelevant to Li Han; he paid both young men as promised.
“You should give that one something as well,” suggested Amara as the other two were paid. “Having an angry thief in the city is not a good thing.”
“Yes,” said Li Han, nodding. It was a wise suggestion; Amara had more intelligence than he’d thought. He gave the boy three dollars in consolation, then watched as Amara explained.
Amara spoke English as well as Arabic and the local lingo, but there was something else about him. He had a curiosity about him that the others lacked, and he seemed to put it to good use. Perhaps he could be useful.
“Are you good with computers?” Li Han asked him when the boy was gone.
“I use them for e-mail. The Web,
“Oh that would be wonderful. Let me show you around.”
The two examining rooms were austere, furnished with basic tables and some cabinets. There were two rooms with beds where patients could rest, a pair of small offices, and a storeroom. A dozen people, all women or children, were being seen by two aides, both locals whom Marie had trained. They had been open only a few weeks, said Marie, but already had seen a number of difficult cases, including many patients with AIDS.
“We are going to be involved in a program,” she said. “But for now, we send those with AIDS to the capital. We can’t really help.”
“What about the other clinic in town?” Nuri asked.
Marie glanced at Gerard before answering.
“Many people won’t go there.”
That had to be because the other clinic was associated with Sudan First. The friction between the two groups was new.
Most likely it wasn’t serious, or Gerard would not have been in the city center. But you could never tell.
“Give me a list of what you can use,” said Nuri as the tour ended. “And I will see what I can do.”
N uri led Danny back to the car without Gerard and his small entourage. Boston was in the driver’s seat; Danny got in the back.
“Why didn’t you ask about the UAV?” asked Danny as Boston backed out onto the road.
“The time wasn’t right,” said Nuri.
“Why not?”
“Let me handle this, all right? We have to get this medicine.”
“That’ll take weeks.”
“No. They just want over-the-counter drugs mostly. I’ll fly to Egypt and buy it. It’s all simple stuff. The clinic’s a gold mine of information. If we could find a way to talk to some of the women who are waiting to see someone, we can figure out what’s going on.”
“It’s not worth waiting,” said Danny. “The longer we wait, the better the odds someone else will come and get in the way. We can take two men out pretty easily.”
The sun had set; Boston turned on the headlights and found that only one worked, and only on high.
“I know we have different approaches to things,” Nuri told him after a few minutes of driving in silence. “But I don’t think there’s any harm in waiting.”
“I agree giving medicine to these people is a good thing,” said Danny. “But we can give it to them after the operation. My orders are to recover the UAV as quickly as I can. We’re going in tonight.”
“The only reason I’m giving it to them is so we can recover the UAV with a minimum of fuss,” said Nuri. “I don’t really care about helping them.”
“That hardly cements your argument.”
“Well it’s true. Listen, if we can do it with a minimum of fuss—”
“We can,” said Danny. “We go tonight.”
Chapter 8
Duka
I n the end Li Han solved the problem like he solved many problems: shortly after sunset, he had Amara bring him three teenage boys, gave them each five American dollars, and told them he would give the first to return with the proper cord another twenty dollars.
Amara predicted they would have a cord by morning. Instead, all three of the boys returned within the hour. One had a cord with RCA plugs; the other two, however, had found network cables. Which building in town they’d stolen them from was irrelevant to Li Han; he paid both young men as promised.
“You should give that one something as well,” suggested Amara as the other two were paid. “Having an angry thief in the city is not a good thing.”
“Yes,” said Li Han, nodding. It was a wise suggestion; Amara had more intelligence than he’d thought. He gave the boy three dollars in consolation, then watched as Amara explained.
Amara spoke English as well as Arabic and the local lingo, but there was something else about him. He had a curiosity about him that the others lacked, and he seemed to put it to good use. Perhaps he could be useful.
“Are you good with computers?” Li Han asked him when the boy was gone.
“I use them for e-mail. The Web,
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