Hyena Dawn Read Free Page A

to the depths of his soul. And how would he ever explain what had happened? Would anyone believe him? They would think he was out of his mind.
    Rayne shivered, his clothes and his body still wet from his swim across the river. It was very dark; the moon was hidden by the trees, making it hard for him to see ahead. Above the usual sounds of the bush at night he strove to listen for the slightest noise that was out of the ordinary. He knew he should move off the path but he was just too tired, his eyelids would droop, stay closed for a fraction of a second too long . . . Only will-power kept him lifting one leg after the other along the narrow path.
    He heard a noise in front of him, but his arms refused to respond. He held up his rifle ineffectually. Before he realised it a man was facing him, pointing a rifle directly at him. Then something struck him from behind and he keeled over, crashing to the man’s feet.
     
    They had been lying in wait since dusk. The path was a favourite route used by ZANLA terrorists coming in from Mozambique - terrorists determined to make an attack in the Thrasher operational area on the eastern border of Rhodesia.
     
    It was thirteen long war-weary years since Ian Smith had signed Rhodesia’s historic Unilateral Declaration of Independence. In so doing he had severed all Rhodesia’s links with the British Crown, thus ending an eighty-year association that had begun when Cecil Rhodes’ famous Pioneer Column hoisted the British flag in Salisbury in 1890.
    The reason for the Declaration was simple. Rhodesia wanted Independence based on her 1961 constitution, which entrenched the rights of the white minority. This was unacceptable to the British government, and so Ian Smith had taken the decision to go it alone.
    In 1966 the United Nations applied selective sanctions to Rhodesia in an effort to force the white government to make moves towards handing over power to the black majority. Four years later, in retaliation, the white government of Rhodesia declared the country a Republic. To black Rhodesians this seemed the appalling culmination of years of political frustration - but then came the offer of assistance. Two countries, China and Russia, were ready to provide military equipment, money and training. With this help, black terrorist groups began to make an impact. To the west were the ZIPRA forces based in Zambia and Botswana and attacking the western flank of Rhodesia in the operational areas designated Tangent and Splinter. The ZIPRA freedom fighters came mostly from the Matabele tribe. To the east were the ZANLA forces, primarily of the Mashona tribe, based in Mozambique and attacking the eastern side of Rhodesia in the operational areas known as Thrasher and Hurricane. Rhodesia was effectively surrounded except for a small area to the south, the border with South Africa. Apart from the air routes, this was her only lifeline.
    What Rayne had walked into was an ambush laid for ZANLA terrorists by the Rhodesian Light Infantry, a crack battalion that was rated by international military experts to be amongst the finest in the world. In this instance the object of the ambush was to capture rather than kill. If a terr talked he would provide vital information about compatriots operating in the area.
    The terr they’d caught coming up the path in the early hours of this morning was obviously pretty badly hurt. He had a serious leg wound, and a stab wound in one shoulder. That would give them plenty to work on during the interrogation. He must have lost his sense of direction, too. Why else would he be staggering across the Rhodesian border instead of returning to Mozambique? They could tell he was in a bad way because he had heard them coming but had been unable to retaliate.
    They had disarmed him and tied his hands behind his back. He was carrying a Browning pistol that he must have taken from a soldier or a farmer. He was white, not black as they had first thought. A white disguised as a