Chapter 443

I was in the Hilltop Hilton restaurant at 0400 finishing my first cup of coffee with Robin when all my men that were going with the truck and trailer came down for breakfast.

I was surprised that Robin was up but she had been full of surprises ever since the class. As soon as she heard the covers move and the bed squeak she was up. I guess it was the early morning hunter instinct.

Another surprise was that she had very liberated opinions about some things and rock-hard conservative opinions on others.

Another was that behind closed doors she was a nudist - clothes went flying immediately - and I had no problem with that. The first night it was midnight when we got to the room, but I was too tired to notice. I wanted to get into bed and asleep quickly.

As soon as we were in the room the next evening, off they came. To be liberated that far; still, I was amazed that she was sporting a full bush. When she saw that I was smooth, she said “I thought only young girls did that.”

“Always kept it smooth; I like it that way,” I replied. “Try it sometime, you will like after you get used to it.”

I did tell her the secret we used at home with over-sized tee shirts and sweat shirts by the doors in case anyone knocked.

The men ordered breakfast sandwiches to go; they were that anxious to get started on the trip. Robin and I rode over to the embassy with them to see them off.

I input the IDs of everyone going into the JBG card system. Then I demonstrated how to track the convoy to the people working the duty desk so they could respond if there was an emergency and described the pecking order of people who were to be notified. I also left one of the satellite phones and a call list for everyone that had one.

I had brought JBG ID cards for the guests with us and one each for Ambassadors Fauntroy, Morrison and Bernardi, but did not tell them why.

Back at the hotel I was having my second cup of coffee when the rest of came down. There was enough time for them to get a quick breakfast and then we met the ambassadors.

Andy insisted that the ambassadors be split up; two ambassadors went on each chopper. The flight was uneventful. Hanna and Sylvester were on my chopper. We passed over the truck and trailer about 50 miles from the camp.

As we got closer to the camp I could see the camp had grown since I was there last. I could see why – off to the north - as we made the circle around the camp at 10000 feet to make sure it was safe to land.

There was smoke rising on the horizon. It was a perfectly clear day so from that altitude I could easily see over a hundred miles and at the very edge of that distance tiny flashes of light that I knew to be artillery shells hitting targets. The civil war was on again in South Sudan.

I wondered how long the camp would be safe; it was only a few miles to the south Sudan border. Uganda regular Army soldiers and few UN peace keepers who were worthless were guarding the border. I wondered how fast the camp could be moved or even if at all, if the war came over the border.

“Kate: call the other chopper; tell them the war is back on in South Sudan. They need to stay high and do a sweep on the other side of the road for insurgents. Keep us high and fly a sweep a couple miles north of the camp,” I said into the headset mike.

Kate and the co-pilot were the only ones who could communicate directly with the other chopper. I could only call to someone in the other chopper with a satellite phone.

“Have the pilot verify that Fauntroy has called the doc to make sure it is safe. Then fly over the camp and look for anyone or anything unusual,” I added.

After an all clear from the Doc and nothing on the sweeps, we landed to the east of the camp. There was a little wind from the west that blew any dust the rotors kicked up away from the camp.

Hanna, Sylvester and Bob stepped out as soon as the rotors stopped turning, taking pictures and video of the crowd headed our way following the puttering old jeep.

Doc Palermo was happy to see us once again. After the jeep was loaded with all the meds it could carry, one of his helpers drove the jeep.

While he and I along with the other three ambassadors walked, we talked about the flare up in the fighting.