The Quest: A Novel

they made eye contact.
    Getachu stood and said to Gann, “So, the good headmaster beat me in that English school, and he taught me something. But not the lesson he thought. He taught me that some men can be broken with the whip, and some cannot. My spirit was not broken.”
    Purcell thought Getachu’s mind was broken, and he saw what was coming, so he said, “General, we will not sit here and witness—”
    Getachu slapped the crop on his desk. “Shut up!” He said to Gann, “I will spare your life if you drop your pants, as I did many times, and allow me to deliver thirty blows to your bare buttocks.” He added, “Here and now, leaning over this desk, in front of your friends.”
    “I think it’s you, Mikael, who needs another good beating.”
    Getachu literally shook with rage, then pulled his pistol, aimed it at Gann, and shouted, “I give you five seconds to do what I say!”
    “You can give me five years and I will tell you to go to hell.”
    “One—”
    Purcell stood. “Stop this.”
    The soldier behind Purcell pushed him down into his chair.
    “Two.”
    Vivian said, “Colonel, please. Just do what he wants… please…”
    “Three.”
    Mercado closed his eyes and lowered his head.
    “Four.”
    Gann stood and Getachu smiled. Gann turned, dropped his pants, and said, “Kiss my arse.”
    Purcell thought he’d hear the loud explosion of the gun, but there was complete silence in the room.
    Finally, Getachu let out a forced laugh, then said, “Very good, Colonel, you may sit.”
    Gann pulled up his pants, but did not sit and kept his back to Getachu.
    Getachu saw that Gann was not going to turn around, and he said, “You will not provoke me into giving you an easy death.”
    Gann remained standing with his back to the general, and Getachu said something to the soldier, who came around and drove the butt of his rifle into Gann’s groin. Gann doubled over, and the soldier pushed him into his chair.
    Getachu holstered his gun and put down the riding crop, but remained standing. “You all understand, I hope, that I can have each of you shot as spies.”
    Vivian surprised everyone, and herself, by saying, “If that were true, you would have done it.”
    Getachu looked at her and said, “It
is
true, Miss Smith, but as we discussed, there are some men—and women—who I would rather see broken than dead.” He reminded everyone, “And those who agree to serve the people’s revolution may also be spared.”
    Mercado spoke up. “I did serve the revolution for many years, and I would be willing to serve it again with my written words—”
    “Your written words are like adding your shit to a fire.”
    Mercado seemed to shrink in his chair.
    Getachu looked at Gann, who was obviously in extreme pain, and said, “Colonel, if you agree to become an advisor to my army—as you did for the former prince’s army—I will spare your life.”
    Gann shook his head.
    Getachu seemed frustrated with the man’s stubbornness and said, “I will take you to see your former employer and also his aides, who I am sure you know, and then you can decide if you wish to help the revolution or if you wish to assist the prince in his new duties.”
    Gann did not reply, and Getachu said, “Or perhaps I will turn you over to the Gallas, and wash my hands of you.”
    Purcell leaned toward Gann and said softly, “Just
say
you’ll do it.”
    Gann shook his head, and Purcell wondered if Getachu really wanted or needed Colonel Gann’s military skills, or if he just wanted the satisfaction of seeing the Englishman—the knight—crawling to him before he killed him. Getachu had tried the carrot and the stick, and neither was working on Gann, who Purcell suspected knew Getachu’s game better than anyone.
    Getachu’s field phone rang, he answered it, spoke briefly, then hung up and said, “My helicopter has arrived from Gondar.” He asked, “Would you all enjoy a ride to the capital?”
    Purcell assumed there was a small catch, but the carrot sounded good. He said, “We’re ready to go.”
    “So you said. But first I need some information from all of you. If you give me this information, you will be put on my helicopter and flown to the capital. If you do not give me what I am looking for, then a fate worse than death awaits you here.” He looked at Vivian and said, “Unless, of course, you enjoy the attention of thirty or forty men a day.”
    Purcell knew these were not empty threats, but everyone seemed to