That caught my attention. But I didn’t say anything. I needed to get as much information as I could before I started making overt inquiries about Rick Jackson and the contingent from Deep River.

I said, “So the two guys in the tower by that entrance are also contractors?”

Both men nodded.

“I figured they weren’t US military because they both have AK-47s.”

Stout said, “All the Ugandans carry AK-47s. They pretty much cover the perimeter. You can see there are a couple of American contractors where the gate opens. The men on top are just extra firepower.”

We looked around a little more near the gate where the Ugandans stood on top of the twenty-foot metal towers.

Roche pointed to the area beyond the perimeter and said, “Sometimes, at night, you might hear some explosions without any of the warnings over the loudspeaker. That means a rabbit, or maybe a deer, stepped on one of the old leftover Russian land mines. They’re scattered all over the area around the base.”

I shuddered at the thought of some poor, Afghan kid inadvertently stepping on one of the mines. Before I could say anything, I heard someone shout near the gate. Suddenly there was more shouting.

Stout mumbled, “Oh, shit.”

I saw the half-ton truck barreling toward the gate down the road on the outside. It was clear they didn’t intend to stop. Someone shouted for them to do it anyway. The truck kept coming.

The two men on the towers leveled their AK-47s and started firing at full automatic. The men at the gate pulled their handguns and added to the fusillade.

It didn’t seem to have an effect. I looked around for cover.

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Now other contractors, clearly not security people, drew their own pistols and started firing. It made me realize I had a Beretta on my hip. I pulled the gun and scurried across the dry ground until I could duck behind a low concrete barrier.

Just as I leaned around the barrier and aimed the pistol, the truck veered to the right. It smashed into a civilian Humvee parked just outside the gate. The force of the truck knocked the Humvee ten feet into some light poles.

The two men in the towers raced halfway down the ladders, then jumped the rest of the way to the ground. Instead of checking if the driver was still alive, the two men, along with the contractors near the gate, started running away.