Chapter 3: The Pickup

I had a lot to think about. On the way home I found my mind churning with what I had been told. It occurred to me that I was jumping into something hugely life-changing with only the scantiest information. For some reason that didn't bother me. I felt as if I had nothing to lose. When I thought back over my conversation with Roger, I realised he hadn't even come close to offering proof, and yet I had believed him. I thought about it a bit and then realised that the proof would be what happened when he picked me up.

At home I decided to pack. I ignored Roger's advice that all I needed was comfortable clothing, I had enough experience of going on operations and training exercises to know that while "everything" would be provided, there were a few comfort rations that I needed to pack for myself. I kept it small and light, just a pack of Rooi-Bos tea, a bag of fresh red chillies from my garden, a packet of curry powder and my cigarette rolling machine with some tobacco. I wasn't sure whether I would be allowed to take it with me, but I figured I would try. I knew that adding chillies or curry powder would make almost any food palatable and the tea was an absolute necessity. It served the purpose of warming and refreshing as well as ensuring that the taste of any chemical efforts to make water safe for drinking were safely masked. I pondered what else to take and reflected on what Roger had said about weapons and uniforms and decided that I would have to trust him on that, although I made sure that I was wearing a good pair of boots that were well worn in and had seen some hard usage without damaging my feet. I figured that if I was returning to the real infantry where transport was based exclusively on Shank's Pony, I had better equip myself with the best foot-wear I possessed.

I arranged with a friend to house-sit for me for the month that I expected to be away, and checked that all my monthly bills would be paid automatically from my account. I then spent a day with my business partner going over what he would need to handle while I was away. He moaned as usual, but accepted it; he was used to me going off at odd times so this was nothing new.

On the Thursday morning I was ready early and just sat around and waited. Around 10 am my gate buzzer went off and I walked down to the gate. Roger waved to me from the driver's seat of a TD5.

I opened the gate and jumped into the passenger's seat.

"Morning Cy"

"Hi Roger"

"Still up for it?"

"Sure."

"Any second thoughts?"

"Well, I did think that you hadn't provided any 'proof' but I decided to take a chance"

Roger laughed. "Yes. I figured."

"Where are we going?"

"We have about a seven hour drive"

"In the bush somewhere? Is that why you have the Land Rover?"

"The last bit is in the bush. The Land Rover is just because I love the things and I don't get much chance to drive at all."

"OK." We lapsed into silence and I watched the passing scenery. Roger headed up the N3 and then turned onto the N11 at Ladysmith and headed North. I found myself getting drowsy and dropped off to sleep.

I jerked awake and was disorientated for a few seconds. A glance at my watch made me realise that I must have slept almost the entire journey. I looked around and saw that we were just turning off the tar road and approaching a large gate. A sign next to the gate announced "Mapungubwe National Park and World Heritage Site". Another old battered sign with faded lettering told us that this had been the "Greefswald Military Base".