A ‘friendly’ drive

Near Port Selao

I’ve made efforts to stay off people’s radar here, but today I wasn’t so lucky.

While walking through town to meet some refugees bound for the border, a covered rover pulled up alongside me, the windows tinted. A stocky man stepped out in front of me, opened the rear door and gestured for me to enter.

I glanced around. The last thing I wanted was to get in. Then I heard a familiar voice, “Come, Reuben. We’re all friends.”

I peered inside to find Addi Mbantuwe, leader of the UFLL. He was stretched out in the back, clutching a baby blue handkerchief which he used to wave me in. I felt I had no choice. I got in and we drove off.

He was straight to the point, “I hear you’ve met the Jackal. He’s a dangerous man, you know. If you keep meeting with him…well, it would be a shame if you disappeared somehow.”

We’d driven no more than half a block when the driver pulled to the side of the road. Mbantuwe leaned closer to me, his eyes like lasers, “Listen my friend, you will turn up dead if you insist on talking to this man and publishing his garbage”.

The door opened. Our meeting was over and I hadn’t said a word.

The rover drove away. The whole encounter was so carefully orchestrated as if Mbantuwe and his men rehearsed it over and over. Nevertheless, the point was clear. I’ve been living on borrowed time.

How long can I survive like this? What the hell am I doing in this country?

Comments

[Jeroen]

Careful Reuben, careful. This is becoming quite a different kind of conflict than you might have covered before

[Sensical]

We are swiftly approaching a watershed moment for The Jackal. Mbantuwe's 'friendly' drive, however calculated, feels like the orchestration of a man desperate to assert control over a situation he had only a tenuous grasp of to begin with. Mbantuwe may have misplaced The Jackal as a known variable up to this point. And perhaps The Jackal was. But I'm thinking that assumption won't hold any longer. The Jackal -- despite the perceived positions of power the APR and UFLL both feel they grasp -- is about to place both factions (and the country as a whole) into a bloody, bloody checkmate. Mbantuwe is about to have his powerbase usurped, and I have no doubts that he'll take as many lives as possible while it's happening. The Jackal will no longer be that lone gunman taking shots across your bow in the hills, Reuben. Without demeaning your intentions, I fear that you've become the mouthpiece, 'The Voice,' of The Jackal.

[Sebastian]

wow... u gotta watch out for the APR and UFLL, they dont want you to publish the Jakal on ur blog because they dont want to look like the bad guys if you know what i mean...I think you should keep on posting, but to watch out when u do.

[Tom]

Well I am not too sure if going in there to find his dead body really sounds like anything fun, so let us hope he can extract without too much difficulty. But he is a very brave man and he deserves a medal.

[Issac Silverberg]

You're right Tom. I think both the APR and UFLL hope they can manipulate Reuben into spreading their lies. This has afforded him a degree of immunity, but sooner or later they will realize that Reuben is a man of strong principles, and that he is not a puppet for them to use. What happens then? If we're lucky, this conflict will have ended at that point. If not...

[Tom]

That's a good theory Orderly, maybe he is indeed trying to eliminate the oppisition without making himself one of the key factors. Hes like a evil spirit amongst this war torn land, but he will strike when the time comes, and as the two factions are running low on guns, with only the Jackal to supply them (and the factions may choose to stop dealing with him when they enevitably read these comments).
And you are correct Isaac, Reuben has been threatened with death on several occasions during his excursion, maybe this time his unwillingly aquired 'friends' will go and put a bullet in his head. But then again why haven't the factions killed him already? They are using him as an international voicebox, so I doubt they will kill him unless he seriously pi**es someone off.

[Issac Silverberg]

It could be a combination of several factors. In any case, Rueben is definitely rattling the cage now. It remains to be seen what will be shaken loose.
I worry about how Oliver Tambossa will respond. he's already raided the Port Selao Standard's offices, taken Rueben captive, and is most likely responsible for Wayne Mudekwa's death. What drastic measures will he take to protect his power this time?

[Orderly]

i think he's afraid of the jackal's popularity. look at all the "the jackal comes for sinners" or whatever everywhere: the people are starting to fear the jackal more than either warring party. here's a disturbing strategy; is the jackal supplying both sides of the war so that they kill each other, wear themselves out, leaving just the jackal with the power over the people? it seems like the jackal is the man who would be king...

[Tom]

Interesting theory. But due to Mbantuwe's actions with he 'friendly drive', it seems that he dosent like the Jackal that much... 'Publishing his garbage' dosen't sound like a very good take on buisness ettiquete, if there is such a thing in Arms dealing...

[Issac Silverberg]

Could be that he's worried about people finding out who the Jackal is. Mbantuwe's power depends on the war, and to fight the war, he depends on the Jackal for weapons. If someone takes down the Jackal, it could bring the war to a stalemate. This would be great for the country, but bad for Mbantuwe.

[Orderly]

good catch silverburg, but i wonder why? what is mbantuwe afraid of? the jackal eroding his base of power, maybe? curiouser and curiouser...

[Issac Silverberg]

This shows one very important thing, Rueben: Mbantuwe is afraid of you. Tambossa probably is as well. Our friend Addi is afraid that what you uncover will put him in danger. Now, this doesn't mean you shouldn't be afraid of HIM, but it means that now you have a weapon you can use against him. Keep this in mind.