Page 28 - Archangel

They pulled within a mile of the Rwanda coast in half the time of
the previous voyage with two captains versus 26 passengers. There was
less moonlight than the first beach landing. While massacres had been
perpetrated with spears and machetes in previous weeks, more recent
murders were being committed by militia with military weapons. Tonight,
they could be in range of both, but so was Layla. And Skye and Ndara had
received no further response via short wave radio from Layla or her team to
inform or aid evacuation planning.

an angel ascends

Pausing for final approach, Ndara said, “I’ll take the helm. You’re a faster
swimmer if Layla or anyone else makes it to the pick-up.”
“Good call,” Skye confirmed. Ndara killed the engine a full 300 yards
off the beach and surfed a slight onshore current to within 200 yards.
With Skye signaling, “Hold Position,” he reached into his captain’s
bag and retrieved the AN/PVS-14 night vision device which provided
excellent visibility.
Both captains looked skyward as the clouds cleared for an instant. As
Ndara pulled from 200 to 100 yards, Skye saw an image from the pits of
Hades materialize on the beach. Suspended from an overhanging tree at
the northern end of the sandy shore for maximum visibility, MacIain saw
a mangled body swinging grotesquely in the light breeze. Breathlessly, he
re-focused the scope. It was Layla. Her Crucifix was stuck in her mouth
and parts of her corpse had been hacked off. With evidence of torture
and only MacIain’s UN peacekeeping experience preventing instantaneous
nausea, Skye haltingly hand - signaled to Ndara for “Fatality.” The Kenyan
immediately stowed his paddle and moved to the outboard motor for
emergency exfiltration. They were made.
Steeling himself for a final image that rage etched deeply into his
soul, Skye sharpened the scope to focus on surrounding elements.
With its superior range and optics, the night scope micro-focused on
the distant form of a Land Rover along the entry road Layla herself had
used in the past for evacuations. It bore a logo for what looked like
“EuroMining International,” or something similar. Capturing a
photograph of the vehicle, MacIain had just turned to replace the night
scope in his captain’s bag, when the forest beyond the beach suddenly lit
up and all Hell broke loose.

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