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Chapter eight

Who’s the girl?

Monika felt a push in her back as the giant plane started to move, slowly at first, then quicker and quicker. Suddenly the nose of the plane lifted and the SAS 747 took off for Johannesburg. She looked out onto the wing and remembered the woman standing on the wing of the Boeing Stearman plane at the Water Festival. She wondered if it really was a dangerous thing to do, and then she wondered how dangerous Vitjord was.

Ten hours later the 747 was over Johannesburg. Monika looked down at the city. She could see tall modern buildings, large areas of low, poor houses on the edge of the city, and huge piles of earth from the gold mines.

The Carlton Hotel was big and expensive. A smartly- dressed hotel porter opened Monika’s taxi door. Another porter carried her suitcase into the hotel. Monika checked in and found there was a note for her.

Have a rest. I will get in touch with you soon. Blom.

She went to her room, had a shower and slept. It was early evening when she woke. She got dressed and went for a walk outside the hotel, but didn’t go far. She passed lines of people waiting for minibuses. The women wore colored woolen hats and scarves. A barber was shaving a man’s head by the side of the road. Monika was the only white person walking and people looked at her. A police car stopped and asked if she wanted help. Monika said no, but walked quickly back to the hotel.

Monika woke up. There were other people by the pool now. Three men were sitting at a table about ten metres away. Another man was walking towards them. He had white hair and a beard. It was Vitjord.

‘Hi,’ Vitjord said again to the three men. He sat down at the table and they started talking.

Monika put on her sunglasses and pulled her hat down over her head. Then she lay on her side, put a cassette into the Walkman and pressed RECORD. She could hear every word of the men’s conversation.

Vitjord was telling the men about his visit to London. Monika listened in horror. She couldn’t believe her ears. Vitjord was buying a nuclear weapon.

‘Were getting the bomb this week,’ he said. ‘Our friends are picking it up in Russia and bringing it to London. Then my private plane will fly the bomb to Mozambique. From Mozambique we will bring the bomb here. When we’ve got it here, we can take over the South African government. We will have the power here, and make South Africa once again the greatest white country in the world!’ The other men smiled and nodded. Vitjord smiled back. Then his face became serious again.

‘There’s only one problem,’ Vitjord continued, ‘Carlsson. He is much better now. Governments and businesses have given a lot of money since he was shot. Soon Carlsson will have enough money. And then the Russians will be able to destroy their nuclear weapons. We must stop Carlsson. One bomb is not enough for us. We need lots of bombs.’

‘Why didn’t we kill Carlsson in Stockholm?’ one of the men asked.

‘There’ll be another chance,’ Vitjord replied. ‘Carlsson’s out of hospital now. It’s Friday today. He’s having another meeting in Stockholm next Friday. First we’ll get our bomb and then we’ll get Carlsson!’ Vitjord hit the table with his hand.

Then one of the men looked around and saw Monika.

‘Who’s the girl?’ he said. ‘She keeps on looking at you.’

‘I don’t know,’ replied Vitjord. ‘Go and get her.’

Monika quickly got to her feet and walked over to the lift. She heard someone behind her. One of the men shouted. ‘Hey, stop!’

Monika jumped into the lift and pressed Ground Floor. There was someone else in the lift. It was Joseph. She pulled the cassette out of the Walkman and gave it to Joseph.

‘Send this to Blom, please,’ she said.

The lift stopped at the third floor and Joseph got out. Monika continued to the ground floor.

The hotel entrance hall was busy. People looked at Monika in her bikini. She saw two men talking into radios. The men walked towards her. She tried to get back into the lift but the doors were closed. She waited. The lift doors opened and Monika stepped in.

‘Hi!’ a voice said. It was Vitjord. The lift doors closed.