Halfway down the block from where Harry stood, an open-air market with colorful booths and canopies drew his attention. Clusters of men and women haggled for what food remained in this quadrant.

Harry’s eyes slid past the vibrant stalls. An armed soldier stood, half-hidden, beside an orange canopy. On the opposite corner stood another, his automatic rifle slung crosswise over his chest.

Stepping out of the sunshade’s shadows, Harry surveyed the street beyond. The heat shimmered in waves, and Harry narrowed his gaze. Sure enough, more armed guards were spaced strategically down the parallel road. Unless Nheshal had set up headquarters beside the market—miles from the port and airstrip—that row of humble abodes required further investigation.

Returning to the street below, Harry proceeded toward the market. After the massive power outages, petrol stations were inoperable, and locals had resorted to their millennia-old transport system. Donkeys, pack mules, and carts stood beside almost every booth.

A handgun and a few clips of ammo were no match against soldiers with automatic weapons pointed in his direction. Jingling the coins inside the pocket of his djellaba, he surveyed the beasts tied to the booths.

One of the donkeys beside a fruit stall flattened its ears and brayed at a stray dog that had wandered too close. Harry hadn’t been in Lebatu long before he found that donkeys had an instinctual dislike of dogs. And certain canine breeds enjoyed pestering donkeys, rather like naughty boys who saw a freshly plaited pigtail within reach. Today, he was counting on it. He needed a distraction.

Harry approached a stall and haggled with the proprietor for some jerky. Then, turning about, Harry dropped a piece of his newly purchased dried meat on the ground. The dog sniffed the jerky, then swallowed the piece whole and looked up at Harry for more.

The donkey twitched its tail and flattened its ears.

Harry dropped another piece, this time much closer to the donkey. The donkey backed up against the booth’s pole.

Harry dropped another chunk of jerky near the donkey’s hooves.

The dog snarled and snapped up the meat. The donkey brayed, displaying all its teeth, then lunged, jerking the pole to which it was tied. The support collapsed, and the canopy crashed down on the proprietor and his customers.

The donkey, now free of its tether, took off after the canine, chasing him directly into the marketplace.

Men yelled, and women screamed and jumped aside as the two animals tore through the throng. Soldiers came running to see what the commotion was all about.

Harry skirted the corner of the first dwelling and slipped behind the recently vacated guards’ station. In a matter of seconds, he picked the lock and let himself into the building.

All was dark inside. Nothing stirred. He removed his sat phone from a capacious pocket and turned on the flashlight app, running the light over a row of wooden crates stacked to the ceiling.