Evolve Read online

Airborne above the Democratic Republic of the Congo

  Introductions were kept short and sweet after Shango-1 landed. Logan was expecting a local African woman named Kiani N’ta to greet them. He got exactly that…and also so much more.

  He watched as she stepped out of the VIP lounge and into the dimming sun. The angle was such that he had to shield his eyes as she confidentially strode towards them, backlit by the beautiful illumination. The only other way he could have blocked out the sun’s rays was by pulling down the brim of his baseball cap, but that would have completely shielded his view of her. It also reminded him to change into his more protective combat helmet once they were airborne.

  He immediately noticed two things about the newcomer as she continued forward. 1) She was tall and built like a swimmer, lean, but muscular. 2) She looked like she was ready for war, dressed in an olive-drab shirt and black cargo pants, armed to the teeth.

  The gun holstered low on her right thigh was one thing, but the shotgun slung across her shoulder, combined with the massive machete strapped across her back relayed the message that she expected trouble on this excursion.

  Or, he thought, his eyes lingering on her form-fitting clothes, she’s just overly prepared…like me.

  His eyes again went from her weapons to her body and he noted that she wasn’t overly curvy. Her hips and shoulders were actually quite narrow. It was a textbook frame for someone who spent a lifetime of trekking through jungle. She’d easily be able to squeeze in and out of tight spots. He tried to shake away the growing interest he had in her, but couldn’t, causing his eyebrows to knit tightly. He hadn’t been this perplexed by a woman in years. The feeling concerned him.

  It can only be a distraction.

  It’s what he’d been telling himself for the better part of a decade now. It’s also what CJ and Fitz alluded to with his worsening mental state. CJ knew about Logan’s nagging loneliness. He surrounded himself with work and friends, but with the losses they suffered and their own near-death experiences, Logan secretly wanted more out of his life. He wanted someone to confide in, someone to love, and someone to love him back.

  “Wow…” said a voice behind him.

  Logan glanced over his shoulder and saw Fitz staring too. Apparently, it wasn’t just Logan who’d taken a fancy to Ms. N’ta. Averting his eyes, Logan coughed, breaking Fitz’s tunnel vision. He then quickly donned his helmet and activated its headset.

  “Comms check,” he said, getting replies from everyone.

  “Easy boys,” a voice said in his ear. “I don’t think she’ll appreciate the gawking and open-mouthed drooling.”

  Logan could see CJ shaking her head in his periphery, no doubt rolling her eyes. It actually made him smile. He wouldn’t outwardly admit it, but he was actually enjoying having his sister along for the ride. If not for her losing Jan, he’d have pushed harder for her to stay back, but like him, Logan knew she needed to get out. She lost someone near-and-dear to her heart, whereas he’d lost comrades—friends.

  Wasn’t the first time…

  Once a few other members of his team began commenting on their guide’s appearance, Logan stepped in and squelched the grade school behavior. “Prepare for liftoff.” That shut everyone up, including Fitz. Logan was the only one not seated, kneeling with one hand extended outside of the Blackhawk’s rear hold, fully intending to help Kiani in.

  Instead, she bypassed his show of chivalry, shoved her pack into his arms, and climbed in with little trouble, sitting in the first available seat. She quickly slipped on the offered helmet and headset/mic combo, fitting them into place like an expert. She was officially a part of their team now.

  “We need to leave now,” she said, her eyes serious. “If we are to make it to our destination before the sun fully sets, we must hurry.” She quickly scoffed at the pilot's lack of confirmation and action and turned to Logan, looking him up and down. “You Logan Reed?”

  Logan choked on the lump in his throat, only half hearing her question.

  “He is, mum,” Fitz finally said, shaking his head, smiling. “He’s just off his game a tick. He’ll be fine in a spell. The captain thought he saw an angel a moment ago.”

  Feeling flushed, Logan finally spoke up. “Night-1, let’s move.”

  He smiled slightly as Kiani frowned, unhappy with the pecking order. Obviously, she was used to being in charge and didn’t like it when she wasn’t. Logan knew exactly how she felt. After leading an SAS team and now the SDF, he couldn’t imagine taking orders from someone else.

  “Sorry for that,” he said. “They’re used to only taking orders from me.”

  “Or me when he’s in the loo,” Fitz quickly added as chipper as ever. But he was deflated when his comment got no reaction out of Kiani. The awkward silence was finally broken by the last person Logan had hoped for.

  “I most apologize for Logan and Gray, Ms. N’ta,” CJ quipped. “They become confused when around someone of the opposite sex—especially with one that can clearly handle themselves and not need saving every time a hippo farts.”

  That got a slight smirk out of Kiani. She turned around and reached a hand out, shaking CJ’s. “It’s good to see you again Cassidy. Can you fill me in on what exactly you are hoping to find?”

  She tilted her chin at Logan. “He’d be better to ask.”

  Logan’s eyes narrowed and focused on the mission instead of the guide. “I’m sure you’re aware of what happened in the Serengeti last month.”

  “The whole world knows,” she replied.

  “They don’t know everything,” Fitz mumbled.

  She glanced from one Aussie to the next. “What does he mean?”

  Logan readjusted himself and leaned forward on his knees, doing his best to get comfortable in the military-grade chopper. “What he means is that we, including the American government, didn’t tell everyone everything about what actually occurred.”

  “So it wasn’t a virus?” she asked, her thin eyebrows raising slightly.

  “No…” Logan replied, “it was definitely a virus. Just not the kind you think.”

  Between him and Fitz, and occasionally CJ, Kiani was filled in with what really took place that night. While the world knew that a madness-causing infectious disease was released in the Serengeti plains, they weren’t told of anything more than its Nazi origin, playing dumb for the time being. Once they accumulated more information they would decide whether or not to release any additional information regarding the matter.

  “Monsters?” she asked.

  “Worse,” Fitz said. “Devils… The Nach.”

  “Nach?” she asked, not knowing the meaning behind the nickname.

  “The origin of the name isn’t important. What matters is that we find it’s genetic ancestors, the Verbraucher.”

  Again her eyebrows raised in confusion. “Verbraucher? I thought you were here for the walaji—the Ru’kan?”

  Now it was Logan’s turn. “Walaji… Eaters?” Logan asked, getting an impressed look. “Verbraucher is what the Nazi’s called them. It means the same depending on the context.”

  “You speak Swahili, Captain Reed?” Kiani asked.

  He nodded, switching to the language as proof. “Just Logan…and when you’ve been here as long as I have now, it helps to speak the local language. Our old pilot taught us.” He motioned to CJ and Fitz too.

  “The one who perished?” she asked, back in English.

  He nodded again. She could see the obvious pain on their faces.

  “Shetani,” Logan said, seeing the red-eyed demon in his mind’s eye.

  “Devil,” Kiani said, instinctively crossing herself.

  “You a Christian?” Zeus asked, speaking up for the first time. The man wore a crucifix under his uniform at all times.

  Kiani shrugged. “I was taught the Bible by missionaries when I was young. I know of heaven and hell and I know of right and wrong, but I’d be a liar if I told you I looked any deeper into it than that. I believe in some of the
things Christ taught his followers—his disciples.”

  “So that’s a no?” he asked.

  “I will tell you when I ask to be forgiven upon my deathbed. If it works…then you’ll know.”

  That got a shocked look out of everyone. The reaction didn’t go unnoticed by Kiani either.

  “When you’ve been to the heart of the jungle as many times as I have, you stop thinking about such things and consider yourself lucky to make it out alive. Things happen there that can’t be explained. I don’t focus on anything else until the job is over and I—we—are safe. I suggest you do the same from here on out. Any lapse in concentration can end poorly for yourself and those around you.”

  “Believe me, mum,” Fitz said, “you don’t have to tell this lot twice. We’ve seen it all.”

  She shook her head. “No…you haven’t. Not yet at least. If we actually find the Ru’kan, and the legends about are them true, then you may end up seeing much worse things than genetically modified super predators.”

  “What does it mean, Ru’kan?” CJ asked.

  Kiani looked into Logan’s eyes as she answered CJ. “There’s a very old dialect in the jungle, one we think the Ru’kan speaks. Very few know it, nor do I. But… It supposedly means, birthright, in their language”

  “Birthright?” Fitz asked.

  “Yes,” Kiani replied. “The Ru’kan believe everyone not of their bloodline to be trespassing on their land. It makes them very dangerous. They think they have the right to prosecute those they come across.”

  “Prosecute?” Logan asked.

  “Yes, prosecute.”

  Logan shifted in his seat. “You mean eliminate?”

  She only nodded, sitting back in her seat.

  They rode in silence from then on out, only conversing when necessary. Logan watched as the never-ending scenery of darkening green passed by below them, continuing on forever—hour-by-hour. It was like a thick shag rug of leaves, separated by an occasional vein of water.

  He was lost in thought when Fitz and Kiani started speaking again.

  “So you have evidence that the Ru’kan is real—that they actually exist?”

  Logan didn’t hear what spurred her question but figured someone told her about their added intel.

  “We have evidence that they may have once existed, but we don’t have any definitive proof that they still do,” CJ replied. “It’s why we’re here.”

  “And if they’re a threat?” Kiani asked.

  “We neutralize them,” Zeus answered flatly.

  Kiani sat back, a look of shock on her face. Logan had read up on the myth of the tribe and how some believed them to be pure folklore. Being told they were real must’ve been resonating deep within their guide now even if they didn’t exist now.

  “What do you think about the Moleke-mbembe?” Fitz asked, looking at Kiani “Do you think it exists?”

  Kiani blinked hard and Logan saw some of the fire he’d originally seen in her reignite. It was plain to see that she recognized the name.

  “What the hell is he talking about?” Ares asked, looking around Zeus’ napping form.

  “H—He speaks of the Dinosaur of the Congo,” Kiani replied, her face returning to its customary serious tone.

  Logan was surprised when Kiani didn’t laugh off the question. He thought a person with her experience wouldn’t have believed in such things, but he also knew that the people in this part of the world were extremely superstitious, including her apparently.

  “We call it the Nsanga,” she said, pronouncing it with a hard ‘N’ at the beginning.

  “What is it?” Logan asked. He didn’t believe in jungle-dinosaurs but in his line of work he never scoffed at added intel, even if it was of the mythical kind. He wasn’t about to have another disaster on his hands. In the past, he would’ve certainly pooh-poohed the idea of the Nach if told of their existence. Now, he was willing to believe just about anything.

  “Hard to say,” she answered, sitting back. “Depends on who you ask.”

  Logan leaned on his knees again, staring into Kiani’s dark-brown, slightly almond-shaped eyes. “I’m asking you…”

  She opened her hands, conceding the point and continued. “I believe it to be an ancient species of animal within the forest. Some say it’s as old as the dinosaurs from recorded history—evolving from them into what they are now. They are both feared and revered by those who call the jungles home. But in my experience, if there is anything out there that hasn’t shown its face in all these years, I’ll probably lean towards it not actually existing. I’ll always leave open the possibility, though. New species are being found all the time. Why not one like this?”

  “They sound more like ghosts,” Ares responded, dismissing the notion.

  “You’re not too far off,” she said, getting his attention again. “In 1776, a French missionary by the name of Bonaventure wrote that he found large clawed footprints while exploring the area, looking for tribes-folk to convert.” The other men in the group were now intently listening, as was CJ from the front co-pilot seat. Night-1 was the only member of their team that was technically working at the moment and his attention was where it was supposed to be. “Then, in 1909, a renown hunter named Hagenbeck stated that he personally overheard multiple accounts from locals of a half-elephant, half-dragon living in the Congolese rainforests. He was also told of a large creature that frequented Lake Bangweulu in the southern reaches of the country. It was said to kill hippos with little effort. Whether the two creatures are one in the same, I have no idea.”

  “That’s Nsang in the membrane if you ask me.”

  Everyone quieted and stared and Fitz.

  “What?” he asked, seeing their blank, unamused expressions. “No one fancied Cypress Hill back in the day?”

  Another beat of silence finally got him to sit back.

  “Fine…” he said, pouting. “Never mind…”

  “And you think the Nsanga creature exists?” Logan asked, turning back to Kiani as he spoke.

  She shrugged. “Who am I to say it doesn’t? At one time it may have, sure. Up until this morning, I believed the Ru’kan to be a myth. People still look for Nessie and El Chupacabra, right? Even when there has been little, to no, evidence, other than legends told to make a profit or to scare children at night, people still search.”

  Logan knew she had a point, but he wasn’t sure how a cryptid such as the Nsanga-beast fit into the story. Nevertheless, they hired Kiani for a reason, so he’d let the woman finish before giving his two-cents.

  “The specific location you’ve asked to search…” This got Logan’s attention. “While I can’t speak from personal experience, it has seen the highest volume of Ru’kan and Nsanga sightings collectively in the last 150 years. I’ve cataloged them to the best of my abilities.” She tapped the backpack sitting between her feet, thinking back to the map of pins on her wall. “Some of the sightings have never been revealed to outsiders for fear of even more intrusion. Whoever you got your information from, they knew exactly where the hotspot was.” Visibly unnerved, Kiani clenched her fists, showing true emotion for the first time since boarding Shango-1. She calmed and continued. “While I don’t think we’ll encounter such a creature, I thought it imperative that you understand the potential dangers lurking in the shadows. It would be poor practice to take things like this lightly.”

  “So,” Fitz said, speaking up for the first time since he was communally neutered, “we’re headed into Nessie’s backyard by way of a tribe of cannibals’ front door?”

  Kiani thought for a second, but eventually shrugged and nodded.

  “Just wonderful.” He then leaned back and breathed in and out hard, reflexively stroking his beard. It was his only tell when he was bothered, or in this case, nervous.

  “And you’ve been there?” Logan asked her.

  She shook her head. “Like I said before, I generally try to steer clear of anything that wants to eat me and my clients, even if it’s suppo
sed to be pure lore. It’s bad for business if we die.”

  Fitz stayed quiet, now massaging his temples.

  Logan knew how he felt. After the evils the two of them had already gone up against in this lifetime, both human and not, they had no issues about believing in one more.

  Sitting back, Logan once more lost himself in the view outside his window seat, peering into the dense foliage below. But instead of just marveling at it like he did before, he instinctively tried to look through the heavy brush for signs of movement.

  Seeing nothing and cursing himself for getting all worked up over something that may not even be real, Logan looked away and turned his attention back into the rear hold of the Blackhawk. He found only one set of eyes directed at him. He locked onto Kiani’s as she did his, and for a moment, Logan thought he saw what might be fear. Just then, he knew without a shadow of a doubt, that Kiani believed the Nsanga were real. She was obviously scared of the man-eater tribe as well.

  “Damnit,” he mumbled under his breath, laying his head back and closing his eyes. “Here we go again…”

  6

  The Democratic Republic of the Congo

  The jungle was silent—uncomfortably so—like something was just out of sight waiting for them to make their move. They each knelt in a circle, weapons aimed towards the edge of the clearing they found themselves at now. It was the only one in the area, some six miles from their destination.

  “Sorry, sir,” Night-1 said after circling the area twice, “but there isn’t anywhere closer to our target point. We can’t risk you guys getting hung up in the canopy.”

  Logan looked back and saw Kiani watching, listening. He lifted his eyebrows, silently asking the question, “Is this okay?” She nodded slightly and turned back to what she was doing, double-checking her gear.

  After the others dispersed, Logan leaned forward. “Seventy-two hours from now,” he said to the pilot, “…right here.”

  “Copy that, Captain. Seventy-two hours.” Night-1 looked back. “Whistle if you need me sooner.”

  Then, like the rest of his team, Logan leapt from the back of the helo, rappelling into the most beautiful hell he’d ever seen. Fitz led the way with CJ and Kiani bringing up the rear, jumping only moments before him. He wanted to watch from above and use his keen eyesight and quick reaction time to relay anything he saw from the air. It’s not that he didn’t trust any of his men to do so but having Fitz along with Zeus and Ares on the ground first was more important. If he knew the other four Delta operators accompanying them better…