The Congo Affair chapter nine~ "On the road again..."

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

link to chapter eight: http://section7mfu.livejournal.com/267031.html

                 

Lieutenant Medvedev returned with the requested clothing water and food that was the Soviet equivalent to K-rations. It was nothing fancy but it was palatable.

"Better than the slop these natives eat," he remarked to Illya and Napoleon as he held up a khaki shirt and pants, eyeing Solo.

"These should fit you Comrade Capitan Badenov," he said, handing them over.

"Da, spacibo," Napoleon replied.

"Dobro pozhalovatʹ. YA ostavlyu vas na nekotoroye vremya_you are welcome. I will leave you for the time being." He saluted and disappeared from the tent.

"Tsk," Illya clicked his tongue. "Did I ask you not to speak Napoleon...why did you take that risk?"

"I figured he'd be a little suspicious if I didn't at least mutter something. Da and spacibo are hardly earth shattering," he shrugged as he stripped away his soiled clothing.

"You were lucky your pronunciation was acceptable," Illya sneered.

"Enough with the comments about my accent. I'm getting tired of it. You know you can be a little pompous at times..." Napoleon snapped at him.

The Russian closed his eyes, fighting back a seething remark. "I will not argue with you now, as we need to formulate a plan for getting out of here and to Katanga."

"Oh, so you don't have a plan Mister Know-it-all?"

"No I do not, and please, stop the childish name calling."

"I will if you knock off nitpicking about my language skills."

"Fine, consider it done," Illya spoke in a hushed tone, but his voice was filled with annoyance. "Now why do you not concentrate on a strategy, since that is your forté." Illya removed his clothing, putting on the trousers and shirt brought by Medvedev.

Napoleon ran his fingers through his hair. "Why are we fighting, this is ridiculous. You're right, my accent isn't the best."

Illya looked at his partner with regret in his eyes. "And you are not childish my friend. I think we have been stretched to our limits and have become overly sensitive because of it."

Illya offered his partner his hand. Napoleon hesitated, throwing the Russian off for a second, then accepted it with wide smile. "Tell you what tovarisch; I think I've come up with a plan."

"I am all ears," Illya returned his partner's grin.

When Lieutenant Medvedev , Illya informed him they needed transportation to the border of Katanga as they had a vital mission to complete, regarding Patrice Lumumba. He requested food supplies, water and weapons to replace those that had been confiscated when they'd been captured. Illya knew their communicators were long gone, and dared not mention them.

The Soviet troops here had nothing useful equipment-wise that Illya could even rig to get onto an UNCLE network, so it was not even worth looking around. When and if they managed their escape, both agents knew a landline telephone would be their only means of communication with headquarters in Egypt.

Medvedev immediately ordered a jeep and driver, along with the supplies and told Capitan Kuryakin and Capitan Badenov he would go with them to the border.

Illya tried insisting it wasn't necessary, but his efforts failed.

"I cannot in good conscience let you travel unprotected, considering the problems you had with these animals, the Simba."

Medvedev again disappeared momentarily from the tent.

"I hope your plan works Napoleon." Illya whispered.

"Me too chum. The Lieutenant's presence will complicate matters, but I think we'll manage," he winked at his partner.

Medvedev returned fifteen minutes later with everything prepared for them. He handed the agents a pair of Russian tokarov pistols that were promptly tucked in the waistbands of their trousers. Together they stepped out into the bright sunlight, shielding their eyes until they adjusted, before climbing into the waiting jeep.

Minutes later it was started and they were off, hopefully to their freedom, though the trek across Katanga to the border of neighboring Rhodesia would still not be an easy one.

Medvedev carried a map with him and after nearly an hours drive he called for the driver to halt.

"There," he pointed, that is the border to Katanga just over the ridge. You will have to be careful as I have been told there are Belgian troops patrolling the border."

"No doubt," Napoleon spoke in English, pointing his weapon at Medvedev, and Illya doing the same to the driver.

"Sorry Lieutenant, but you've been had, next time I would imagine you won't be as quick to trust a stranger. Better not tell your superiors of this, otherwise it's to the gulag for you...for sure." Solo relieved the two men of their sidearms, and karate chopped them into unconsciousness.

"I think he did not even understand you...and did you have to be so melodramatic?" Illya asked, as he took one of the extra pistols from his partner.

"Hey my plan worked didn't it?" Napoleon made a face at him.

Kuryakin lifted the Kalishnikov rifle sitting in the front of the jeep and balanced it in his hands. "I miss the feel of these."

"Getting sentimental about a gun?" Solo quipped. "Scratch that, I know about you and guns. Is it really a good time to be getting...ahem, horny? * I mean even my libido has been shut down."

"Napoleon, I am not thinking of sex, and I find it hard to believe that your lib... oh never mind," Illya gave in for once as he wasn't feeling up to any further discussion at the moment.

The agents dumped the Russians alongside the road, and after relieving Medvedev of the map, they proceeded on towards the border and the next hurdle to cross, the Belgian troops. The fact they were dressed in Soviet uniforms, carrying Soviet weapons as well as driving in a Soviet jeep, was problematic, to say the least.

Illya took a swig from his canteen, wiping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve. He was feeling worse than he wanted to admit and opted to let his partner drive, as long as they stuck to the crude road, there was no way he'd get them lost.

He refrained from warning Napoleon about that, as the bickering and jabs had to stop, though it was being driven by tension and physical exhaustion, now with hope looming on the horizon, both their moods improved.

They'd driven a few miles along the road when the trees to the left of them began to shake violently. Napoleon slowed the jeep, bringing it to a halt as a large bull elephant emerged in front of them.

It looked directly at the jeep, taking some quick steps in a charge but stopped. Napoleon grabbed the rifle, raising it and aiming out the window at the immense creature.

"No," Illya spoke softly, using his hand to lower the rifle. "He will not charge, he is just letting us know he is here."

"That's sort of hard to miss..." Napoleon replied.

After staring at the agents and their jeep, the elephant raised his trunk, trumpeting loudly, seemingly a call to his herd. Several females with calves lumbered out into the open, crossing the road and disappearing back into the rainforest on the other side. The bull bellowed again, flapping his large ears, and let out a loud huff before followed his herd, leaving the road clear.

         

"Now how did you know he'd do that?" Napoleon sighed with relief.

"He was issuing a challenge, and if we did not respond, his dominance would be maintained. We did not counter with a challenge and so it was then he deemed it safe to call to his females. That is part of the herd mentality with many mammals."

Once the elephants passed, Napoleon put the jeep into drive, heading out again. They began to see more people walking along the road, and as they neared the border , there were now multitudes of refugees in front of them...young, old and many infirmed. It broke their hearts to see them.

"We can help a few of them," Napoleon said, stopping the jeep again. He gestured for a woman with two small babies and an elderly woman carrying another child to seat themselves in the jeep. At first they hesitated, probably because of the uniforms, but a little boy stepped up to Solo, raising his arms bravely to be lifted into the vehicle.

"Ally-oop," Napoleon smiled, as he hefted the child into his arms. By the time they were done, they had a eight children and adults crammed in with them.

When they finally reached the Kantanga-Rhodesia border, there was a contingent of Belgian soldiers covering a checkpoint there. When the Russian jeep was spotted and they way Napoleon and Illya were dressed, they were stopped, and the two were pulled into an interrogation shack.

At least there was no language barrier here as between Illya and Napoleon, they could both speak French and Illya Dutch.

The officer looked them over as they sat in plain wooden chairs under armed guard, he studied them before he finally speaking.

"Bent u Russische deserteurs_are you Russian deserters?"

"Nee, we zijn agenten voor een organisatie genaamd UNCLE." Illya responded in Dutch. "We werden gevangen in het conflict in Congo en hebben geprobeerd om te ontsnappen_no, we are agents for an organization called U.N.C.L.E. We were caught in the conflict in the Congo and have been trying to escape."

"Where is your identification then?"

"Umm, it was taken from us when we were captured by rebel Simbas."

"Oh how very convenient. I think perhaps you are lying to me, though you admit to being spies."

"I said no such thing," Illya hedged.

"You name the organization UNCLE, if you do work for them, then you are indeed spies, and will be held as such, however, the fact that you are dressed in Soviet uniforms, carrying Tokarov pistols and a Kalishnikov rifle and driving a Soviet Military vehicle, makes me think you are Russian spies, perhaps. Either way you are lying to me. Take them away to the stockade," the Colonel abruptly ordered, leaving them to his guards.

.

* ref to "Happiness is a Warm Gun"

Comments

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

And here I thought they were home free. Still, better to be in a Belgian cell than shot in the jungle. And, two points for the Beatles reference :D

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Always darkest before the dawn...mwhaa haa haa. Ok, I'm losing it...I made a Beatles reference and didn't even know it. LOL.

thanks for commenting here!