Chapter 1.8
Chapter 9
Hans Jungmann rubbed at his abundant white hair in a gesture that reflected the bewilderment and bewilderment in which his European clients sometimes placed him. I knew Gabriel Janssens only from a couple of phone calls and a meeting at Kinshasha Airport where they had met a year ago. Jungmann wondered if the Belgian really knew what pot he was lifting by communicating with him in Bukavu, or if instead he would believe that he was hiring the services of a private detective as he might find them in Ghent or Bruges.
Jungmann had begun his long African journey fifty years earlier in the former Belgian Congo, as soon as the clashes between the government of the nationalist Patrice Lumumba and his rival Mobutu, lidr of the Katanga mining province, had ended, a conflict that had ended with the murder of the first to Second thugs' hands and the enthronement of Mobutu as absolute owner of the Congo for a period. Hans, then a teenager from East Germany
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in the hands of the communists, he had joined the Katanga militia, led by white mercenaries, many of them former South African non”commissioned officers, former French legionaries and, finally, adventurers from all over the country and country willing to make money with the blood of blacks , poured out by the others in excessive abundance by the warlords who hired them.
Eventually Jungmann decided that he should assume that the Belgian knew who he was messing with and that he would therefore proceed to make contacts with the groups he used to work with in that geographic area. He made a mental review of the four or five contingents with which he usually handled for actions that could include war episodes, and after a quick analysis confirmed the first alternative that had come to mind. The group led by that Serbian Popovic and made up of several fellow nationals of the same or other Slavs, who led a considerable force of fierce Hutus. With a grimace Jungmann thought that from Popovic to the last of his hutus they should have the recommended international catch for crimes against humanity. This group was fierce and determinedly commanded by the Serb, although Hans could not help but a certain displeasure with the turbulent men of the Balkans, and what was decisive was that the other armed groups were integrated and commanded by Africans of various ethnicities and included numerous very young children, who had been brainwashed by violence, drugs, alcohol and access to prostitutes. Although these groups served in warfare, they were prone to lack of control, the barbarism embodied in killings, rapes, and torture unnecessary from Jungmann's point of view. The German had forged his code in the tough times of his youth spent in the French Foreign Legion after World War II; he was an admirer of war and force, but not of genocide.
Despite all his reservations, he approached his radio team and sought to contact Branko Popovic.
"But Hans, what do you want, or rather what does your client want us to do if we find those phantom competitors?"
Jungmann shook his head, regretting talking to the Serb; he understood that in man's understanding being interested in someone meant eliminating him. However, the German knew that he had no alternative and had to continue with Popovic, so he armed himself with patience and explained.
“You should NOT attack him, you understand me, not at the moment.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Look, I'm going to go to Bukavu and Goma, which are two probable places to start to organize an expedition and there I will look for the point of the ball so that you can follow it later. You must track them and follow their actions without interfering with them. If the time comes to ... act I will let you know. For now, we are interested in knowing if they do have access to an alternative source of mineral. You have understood?
“Perfectly. Tracking someone in the jungle is something my men can do well. Regarding my pay ...
After discussing the topic of interest to Popovic, Hans made one last warning.
“There is one thing you can do from the beginning when you find them. See if there are any of the native companions of this geologist whom you can convince to act as our informant.
“It is understood.
According to the reports they received from other travelers who moved in the area, when the rain stopped, the situation of the roads or rather trails had improved and the streams had returned to their channel. They were in Bukavu doing the last grocery shopping and some simple tools like picks and shovels. Other more sophisticated analysis teams were already on the Mercier team. They were filling jerry cans of gasoline on the way when the first ray of sunlight appeared on the distant grove.
"Tomorrow we leave," said the Canadian addressing his men.
Upon returning to the Hotel Romain tried to make a video call to Alisha and was glad to get it right away. However the woman was not ready and
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She was dressed in a cook's apron and obviously without any makeup.
“You are more beautiful without any preparation and dressed in a house.
The woman stirred flattered and said in a false critical spirit.
“I also like you with that wrinkled jacket and beard of several days.
After exchanges of taunts and intimate comments the man reported.
“The weather here has improved and I have decided to leave tomorrow.
Are you aimlessly heading to that area of Uganda?
“No. Moliki has some friendly villagers who informed him about a superficial deposit of what in all probability is coltan. Let's first look for them.
Alisha expressed her concern about the dangers her boyfriend would be exposed knowing in advance that she would not be able to make him give up his project.
"It is my profession and my way of life," he explained for the umpteenth time.
“You know that we can live here in Venice in my father's palazzo without being deprived of any kind.
“ I do not want to be the supported of the daughter of an Indian millionaire Rajah due to his doubtful finances. I will come back and we will live in Venice when I have carried out this project.
Then a silence and added.
“Hey, are you sure you didn't leave any clues leading to us in Brussels?
“Except in the hotel I did not make my name known, and I acted with the name and on behalf of the company you know. Something wrong?
“No, it's just a precaution. As we leave on our trip to Uganda we begin the most dangerous part of our journey and we do not know with whom and with what interests we may be confronted. In some cases I couldn't help but use my own name. I ask you to keep your eyes open until this is all over.