"Anything is possible, but often not practical."
Hopper smashed his fist down on the arm of his camp chair so hard he nearly broke it. "By God, I think it's worth a go."
Grimes stared at him. "You can't be bloody serious?"
"Oh but I am. Our pilot and flight crew will have the final say, of course. But with the proper incentive, like a hefty bonus, I think they can be persuaded to risk it."
"You're forgetting something," said Grimes.
"Such as?"
"What do we use for transportation after we land?"
Eva tilted her head toward the small Mercedes four-wheel-drive car with an enclosed truckbed that had been provided by Colonel Mansa in Timbuktu. "The little Mercedes should just fit through the cargo door."
"That's 2 meters off the ground," said Grimes. "How are you going to lift it on board?"
"We'll use ramps and drive it on," Hopper said jovially.
"You'll have to do it under Batutta's nose."
"Not an insurmountable problem."
"The vehicle belongs to the Malian military. How will you account for it gone missing?"
"A mere technicality," Hopper shrugged. "Colonel Mansa will be told a thieving nomad stole it."
"This is crazy," Grimes announced.
Hopper suddenly stood. "Then it's settled. We'll launch our little charade first thing in the morning. Eva, I'll leave it to you to inform our fellow scientists of the plan. I'll hang out with Batutta and throw off suspicion by bemoaning our failure."
"Speaking of our keeper," said Eva, glancing about the camp, "where is he hiding?"
"In that fancy recreation vehicle with the communications equipment," replied Grimes. "He practically lives in there."
"Strange that he conveniently, for us at any rate, wanders off whenever we're gathered in discussion."
"Damned courteous of him, I say." Grimes stood and stretched his arms over his head. He furtively stared at the communications vehicle, and not sighting Batutta, sat down again. "No sign of him. He's probably sitting inside watching European music shows on the telly."
"Or on the radio giving Colonel Mansa the latest gossip on our scientific circus," said Eva.
"He can't have much to report," laughed Hopper. "He never hangs around long enough to see what mischief we're into."
Captain Batutta was not reporting to his superior, not at the moment. He was sitting inside his truck listening through stereo headphones wired to an extremely sensitive electronic listening device. The amplifier was mounted on the roof of the truck and aimed toward the camp stove in the middle of the parked caravan. He leaned forward and adjusted the bionic booster, increasing the receiving surface.
Every word spoken by Eva and her two associates, every murmur and whisper, came through without the slightest distortion and was recorded. Batutta listened until the conversation ended and the trio split up, Eva to brief the rest of the team on the new plot, Hopper and Grimes to study maps of the desert.
Batutta picked up a phone uplink to a joint African nation communications satellite and dialed a number. A voice half a breath from a yawn answered.
"Security Headquarters, Gao District."
"Captain Batutta for Colonel Mansa."
"One moment, sir," the voice said hastily.
It took almost five minutes before Mansa's voice came over the receiver. "Yes, Captain."
"The UN scientists are planning a diversion."