I met the Jackal

Port Selao

I finally met the Jackal at a small café and I have only just realized it. I was there to meet a contact for the last time before shipping out tomorrow. I sat near the window drinking a tea.

I didn’t notice anyone else inside until I heard, “Tea…where small talk dies in agony”.

I stopped mid-sip. Did someone just quote Percy Shelley? I turned to see a solid man stretched back in his chair, a foot resting on an empty seat. He drank from a cup of what I can only guess was tea. He was American with a slow baritone voice that addressed the room if not me specifically. He wore a loose open shirt that added to his strange mystique – like a free love prophet with a .45 on his hip.

“I’m sorry?” I said. He looked at me, I realize now it was a look of familiarity. He knew who I was.

He said, “Something tells me you aren’t a man for small talk. Me neither”.

We spoke for only 10 minutes. We spoke of the war, the two factions. We both agreed a stalemate was brewing, and if that was allowed to continue, these contractors might start turning on the locals left in the country. I told him my time was done. I was shipping out tomorrow.

He said, “I thought you were looking for the Jackal. You never know. Maybe he was looking for you too.”

At that he stood up and strode out the door. Without so much as a nod to me, he was gone.

Now that I’m back at the hotel, it suddenly hits me. That man is the Jackal. It seems so obvious now, but at the time the prospect of meeting him like that was such an impossibility that it never entered my head.

I can’t leave. I have to find him. Michael and Peter are driving out tomorrow morning. I’ve decided…I’m staying.

Comments

[freelance writing]

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[EDge]

? fake... i think it is

[random]

dont wanna saound like im insulting or anything, just no sure if i believe this... i mean how is awereness of this brought up only with a game

[random]

Just a quick question... doesnt that "spray" paint look a little fake, kind of lie its photo shopped in there or someone just used paint to put it in.. and that chicken standing in the middle there, does no look one bit real, the its feathers are too smooth, its not very proportional and its shadow is completely fake... look the light, it wouldnt produce such a shadow

[Ben]

sell the house sell the car the kids!

[KingLeper]

I keep that one in my behind.

[Khabita]

uh isnt this fiction?

[We Know, Dummy]

well, well, mr. "it's just a game" (if that's your real name) -- you ... you mean ... you're telling me this blog has been externally linked from dozens of videogame sites since may, almost half a year ago, and ... and you're telling us that it's just a game? what are you ... what are you saying, exactly?

[It's Just a Game]

If you ever want to make it back out alive sambo, you must get the jade monkey before the next full moon.

[sebastian]

watch out AR and UFLL might be after u Reuben ... may God be with u and were all hoping nothing will happen. Your posts inspire me and want justice i8n that contry.
Please post another one so we know ypur okay.

[Orderly]

i don't know that someone who has gone to such great lengths to conceal himself would be so eager for a kodak moment, tom, but the university point is a good one, especially if he's american; as a former enlisted soldier and future officer (attending university at the moment), i can say that he sounds more and more like a former officer, and if he served, he has records. this whole...warrior-poet gone mad thing reminds me of apocalypse now. ever see it, reuben? i'd be curious to see how the jackal stacked up to ol' mr. kurtz.

[Tom]

Greetings.

Reuben, I would suggest you aquire a photograph of the Jackal immediately, that way those that want him dead will have an easier time. The RU might try and find him, if not, someone will. Alternatively, run as fast as you can.

Dosent it strike you all as strange that an Arms Dealer/Mercenary is so well educated? Most university gradugates dont exactly have ambitions to become a merchant of death. This may shed light on his personal agendas?

I would appreciate my peer's thoughts on this matter.

[Reuben Oluwagembi]

Hello friends,
Thank you for your thoughts. Sensical, you bring up a very good point. The Jackal does appear to be rising to mythic proportions among many of the locals. I hear it again and again. Mere mention of the Jackal brings tension to any conversation.

Isaac, your question is a good one. What will I ask the Jackal first? I've been composing my questions for some time. I have many, but my first question...perhaps his real name so I can know the man behind the growing myth. Whether he will tell me or not, that remains to be seen.

Please keep writing. I love to read your thoughts. They make me feel I have company here with me.

[Sensical]

The photo you've posted brings about an interesting point. "Sinner. Jackal will find you." He's been elevated (if that's the right word) from gun runner to bogeyman. And, by your own admission, this bogeyman was exactly what you expected, just not when you expected it. But since he's been running arms into the country since at least 1992 (according to the bill of lading you divulged to us) -- at least 16 years of The Jackal operating within some capacity in South Africa -- it's not surprising that he's managed to become a Chupacabra of sorts to these people.

[Orderly]

damn, reuben. you watch yourself there. i'd tangle with an insane man or a terrifying man over a coldly intelligent man any day. imagine throwing a rock into a crevasse to judge the depth; soul of a man like that is so black and so deep, you'll never hear that thing hit bottom.

[Issac Silverberg]

Incredible. How do we search for things only to miss them when the pop up in front of us?

Reuben, I'd like to know:
When you find the Jackal again, what will you ask him first?