Vortex (47 page)

Clusters of red pins dotting the topographic map of the Natal told their own story. The Zulu rebellion was growing, gathering strength day by day, despite the ever harsher measures adopted by Franz Diederichs and his security troops. It was a story matched in smaller scale across the length and breadth of Natal’s neighbor to the west, the Cape Province. Student riots flared in Cape Town on a daily basis. Growing numbers of young men of draft age refused to report for induction. There were reports of increasing opposition to the war in Namibia among the province’s business and labor leaders. There were even disquieting rumors that some of the police and soldiers stationed in and around Cape Town were increasingly reluctant to enforce the government’s security decrees.

Karl Vorster’s angry voice thundered through the room.

“This situation is intolerable, Marius! You swore to me these nests of traitors and malcontents would be rooted out and

utterly destroyed by now! And instead you come here to tell us that matters are worse than they once were?”

Erik Muller hid a satisfied smile as he watched Marius van der Heijden squirm under Vorster’s tongue-lashing. His closest, most dangerous rival on the cabinet had finally bitten off more than he could easily chew.

Muller shook his head, remembering van der Heijden’s proud recitation of kraals burned and Zulus shot down in fields or on rocky slopes. The man and his oafish subordinates really had no idea of how the game should be played-no sense of subtlety at all. Mass executions, indeed. Ridiculous!

Much better results could have been achieved by a series of carefully planned assassinations and kidnappings.

Vorster whirled from his contemplation of the damning situation map.

“Well,

Marius? What do you suggest now?”

Van der Heijden cleared his throat.

“Brigadier Diederichs and his men have fought well, Mr. President. But they are too few to adequately patrol the province. These Zulus have proven more stubborn than expected.” He looked toward the tall, whitehaired general sitting at one end of the table.

“But we could subdue them if General de Wet could just spare three more battalions of motorized infantry. Diederichs assures me the extra manpower would let him form enough pursuit forces to track these guerrillas to their lairs and smash them there.”

De Wet sniffed.

“Impossible. The Permanent Force and those Citizen Force units already in Namibia are vital to our campaign there. We cannot spare units for what should be simple police work.”

Better and better. Muller found it increasingly difficult not to laugh out loud. The two cabinet factions he disliked the most were now going for each other’s throat.

“Then mobilize more troops! You still have Citizen Force battalions held out of the front lines. Let us make use of them where they are needed!”

Vorster held up a hand for silence, interrupting de Wet’s retort.

“Enough.

” He turned his grim, dark-ringed eyes on the general.

“What of these men

Marius speaks of, General? Are they all needed for Namibia? Truthfully, now.”

De Wet hesitated for a moment before answering.

“We need many of the

Citizen Force troops as replacements for our regulars, Mr. President.

Some of our best battalions have suffered serious losses that must be made good.”

“But do you need them all?” Vorster’s tone dropped toward a growl. He didn’t like having to repeat himself.

The general lowered his eyes.

“No, Mr. President. Not as yet.” He nodded toward the map of Namibia now hung permanently on one of the room’s windowless walls.

“Our supply services are stretched to the breaking point as they are.”

“I see.” Vorster thumped a heavy hand onto the table and turned toward van der Heijden.

“Very well, Marius. You’ll have your three battalions.

The Ministry of Defense will select which reserve units will be called up.”

He glowered at the shorter man.

“But I warn you, meneer. Do not fail me again. I expect you to crush this treacherous rebellion within the month.

Is that quite clear, Marius?”

Van der Heijden nodded slowly, his normally plump red face now pate-almost ashen.

Muller was disappointed. He’d hoped for more fireworks, more angry shouting. He glanced covertly toward the man seated immediately to his right. Helmoed Malherbe, the minister of industries and commerce, sat rigidly in frozen silence. Too bad. He’d expected Malherbe to object again to the increasing drain on South Africa’s civilian economy. Every battalion of reservists called to the colors meant one thousand fewer skilled white workers and managers in the nation’s factories and mines.

But Malherbe seemed to have learned his lesson. Contradicting Vorster’s cherished notions was one of the fastest ways known to end a promising government career, so the man stayed quiet.

Muller’s lip curled upward in a tightly controlled sneer. Another toady in a cabinet of toadies. At times, the company his ambitions forced him to keep sickened him beyond all measure. But power brought its own rewards-rewards that made the bootlicking and petty infighting worthwhile.

Power. The very word stirred long-suppressed desires and appetites, sending them racing through Muller’s mind and

body. He shifted uncomfortably. It was October. He would need to make another secret journey-a pilgrimage of sorts -soon. Very soon.

OCTOBER
5-20TH
CAPE
RIFLES
,
REHOBOTH
,
NAMIBIA

Commandant Henrik Kruger had never been prouder of his men. Despite coming out of the line less than twenty-four hours before, they’d gone to great lengths to prepare for the brigade commander’s last inspection. Somewhere they’d found enough water to wash and shave. Uniforms tattered, torn, and stained by weeks of trench warfare had been cleaned, pressed, and re sewn

And vehicles once caked in dust and oil now gleamed in the spring sunshine.

But all the cleaning and polishing couldn’t conceal the fact that the weeks of fruitless fighting had reduced his battalion to a shadow of its former self. Sergeants led infantry platoons now barely the size of squads, and two of his companies were commanded by second lieutenants scarcely out of school. Fewer than half the soldiers who’d marched into Namibia with him were still ready for battle. Wounds, deaths, and combat fatigue had stripped away man after man in a never ending round of artillery bombardments, outpost skirmishes, and massed assaults.

No, there couldn’t be any doubt. The 20th Cape Rifles was fought out.

Now it was going home. Home to South Africa. Home to rest. Home to absorb new faces and new names as willing and unwilling replacements alike filled its shattered ranks. The battalion’s mortar tubes and armored cars would remain in Namibia to equip the reservist units being sent to replace it.

” An impressive display, Henrik. Very impressive, indeed. Your men are a credit to our nation. It’s been an bon or to command them.”

Kruger looked up sharply, suddenly aware that he’d been drifting along behind Brigadier Strydom in his own private haze. Sleep was a high-priced luxury in combat-one he’d rarely been able to afford over the past few weeks. With an effort, he gathered his thoughts.

“Thank you, sir. I’ll pass your commendation on.

I’m sure the battalion will appreciate your kind words.”

Strydom nodded.

“Good.” He studied Kruger carefully, a rare look of concern on his narrow face.

“You may dismiss your men, Kommandant.”

Kruger drew himself to attention, saluted, and held the salute until the brigadier returned it. Then he swung round, his weary, red-rimmed eyes scanning the officers ranked before him.

“Captain Meiring! Dismiss the battalion!”

“Sir!” The bearded officer who’d replaced Forbes as Kruger’s secondin-command stepped forward smartly, stiffened, and wheeled to bellow the order across the parade ground. Instantly, the battalion broke its ordered ranks-each man heading at a fast walk for his tent or for the crowded mess line.

Kruger grimaced as he caught sight of a familiar, loathe some and fleshy face disappearing amid the sea of patched uniforms. So that damned
AWB
fanatic Hertzog was still here, eh? Still circling about like a vulture seeking easy prey-unarmed civilians or officers too tired to guard their tongues. Camp gossip told of continued mass executions and midnight arrests. Without realizing it, he took a step after Hertzog.

“Leave it, Henrik.” Strydom took him by the arm.

“You can’t win a fight with that man. Hertzog has too many friends-too many powerful friends.

Believe me I know.” He sighed.

Kruger stared at him.

Strydom shook his head.

“Go home, Henrik. Go home and rebuild your battalion. Concentrate on that. You are a soldier, not a politician.”

A soldier? Perhaps. Kruger wasn’t sure how much longer that could remain true. At what point did one stop being a soldier who simply followed orders and become something lower, something fouler-an accomplice?

He frowned. He’d read stories of the German soldiers who’d found themselves trapped between their patriotism and

their code of personal honor. But he’d never expected to find himself caught in that same agonizing dilemma. Never.

Henrik Kruger turned slowly toward his tent-praying that, if it proved necessary, he would have the wisdom and the strength of heart to choose the right path.

OCTOBER
6-
PORT
SECURITY
ZONE
,
MAPUTO
,

MOZAMBIQUE

Harsh white arc lights flared along the length of Maputo’s inner harbor-turning night into eerie, shadowless day. Beneath their unwavering glare, dozens of stevedores swarmed around the long, rust-streaked hull of a Soviet freighter, the Cherepavets. Distorted images of the lights and bustling work crews were reflected in the oil-smeared waves gently lapping round the ship and against Maputo’s old, cracked concrete quay. High above the water, massive cranes hovered, hesitated, and then dipped into the freighter’s open cargo holds -each coming up in turn bearing an assortment of bulky crates and loaded pallets. All of the cargo was covered, either by tarpaulins or crates. Some of the crates were large enough to contain disassembled aircraft.

Most of Cherepovets’s cargo went onto a special twenty car train waiting on a side track paralleling the waterfront. Other crates and cargo pallets went into warehouses just off the pier. They were packed with ammunition, small arms, and communications gear-the first promised installment payment for the use of Mozambique’s largest port and its most important railroad line.

Soldiers patrolled the chain link fence separating the harbor from

Maputo’s darkened streets. Others behind them manned a deadly array of heavy machine guns, light antiaircraft cannon, and
SAM
batteries-all sweeping back and forth across preset sectors of the clear night sky.

Cigarettes glowed red near the front of the waiting train, marking the presence of more soldiers. The momentary flare of a match illuminated lighter-skinned faces and different uniforms. Cuba’s generals didn’t plan to entrust their valuable equipment to the safekeeping of Mozambique’s slipshod army. Cuban troops would guard the train on its long journey north to secret assembly areas deep inside

Zimbabwe.

Whistles blew shrilly across the harbor, urging the dockworkers to greater efforts. The Cherepovets was only the first of many Soviet cargo ships bound for Maputo.

OCTOBER
I
O-DIRECTORATE
OF
MILITARY
INTELLIGENCE
HEADQUARTERS
,

PRETORIA

START
= XMT: 12:26 Mon Oct 10 EXP: 12:00

Tue Oct I I

Soviet Union and Mozambique Announce New Trade Agreement

MAPUTO
(October 8)
UPI-A
spokesman for the Mozambican government today announced the signing of a new three-year trade agreement with the Soviet

Union. Under the agreement, which has an estimated value of approximately 40 billion metecais, roughly 88 million dollars, Mozambique will exchange its agricultural products for Soviet manufactured goods. When pressed, the government spokesman admitted that the agreement would include substantial shipments of Soviet military equipment.

Western diplomatic sources expressed no surprise at this revelation.

Mozambique’s armed forces, poorly armed and trained, have been on the losing side of a ten-year struggle against a South African -backed insurgency. New Soviet equipment and advisors are seen by Mozambique’s ruling party as essential to reversing the worsening military situation.

“Here it is, Kolonel. Here is the piece of the puzzle we needed.” Maj.

Willem Metje knocked on the doorframe as he walked into his superior’s office.

Col. Magnus Heerden looked up with irritation from his work. He was responsible for coordinating the SADF’s intelligence-gathering operations in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. The job had once been time consuming and stressful. Now it was simply impossible. He’d once had five men, four of them trained analysts, under his command. Now four were gone-pulled out from under him to bolster the battlefield intelligence effort in Namibia.

That left just himself-and Metje.

The major excitedly fluttered the thin piece of paper in his hand and laid it down in the center of Heerden’s desk, obscuring the map of Zimbabwe he had been studying.

“This explains it all, sir. It’s just as I supposed.

These reports you’ve found so troubling are simply a reflection of this new arms deal between Mozambique and the Russians.”

The colonel scanned the
UPI
story and shook his head.

“Major, I don’t see how this trade agreement could account for all the unusual movement we’re seeing in Mozambique, and—he emphasized-“in Zimbabwe as well.”

Heerden looked at the wire-service report again.