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 Doctors in the Shadows 15 Nigari Valley East of Loubono

   Onboard Brushfire 66 the Navigator and Ben gave a vector for Olympus to
speed toward as their craft gained altitude in order be positioned to the
best command, control and communication for Olympus to intercept whatever
or whoever was on the westerly trek.

   When the rain in the valley finally slacked off, Oyinloye had his men
let air out of their tires to improve traction as they pressed forward
hoping to be positioned for the strike before dark.

   The Land Rover and other truck roared to life and began to snake forward
again in the valley.  Now the plan was to circle wide and hit the airfield
from the southwest without major losses while 2 vehicles' hit the warehouse
complex, one rebel from each attacking vehicle would steal a truck
hopefully laden with provisions and food.

   With the rebels now trudging forward again, the Lat-21s suddenly came
alive broadcasting a large serpentine radar signature.

   On board Ben, and crew knew there were no friendlies operating in the
valley.  The size of the radar hit told Ben it had to be vehicles.

   The aircraft commander immediately got the J-3 notified of the large hit
moving toward Loubono and queried on any ops that may have strayed into the
Nigari.  That was prudent given that some allied force could be
independently running a search op.

   The J-3 responded in the negative with immediate FLASH TRAFFIC to all
Allied units and COMNAVFORSWA assets to go to "Stand To" within in 200
miles of Loubono.

   With the information from J-3, Ben was able to tell that the heavy
vehicle radar signature was far away from the lone radar hit Olympus was
moving on.  The current plot showed the person or animal was headed
straight west onto the flat plain that would eventually end at the Dimonika
Nature Preserve.

   The big gray Super Sea Stallion, Olympus 24 broke from the overcast as
its radar hit got stronger on the flat plain southwest of the airport.  But
it still was like trying to find a needle in a haystack in the elephant
grass and there was barely an hour and fifteen minutes of daylight left.

   The Olympus chopper stayed on its heading but continued to lose altitude
while all crew aboard were alerted for a BOLO (Be on the Lookout) of a
woman moving through the bush.

   Velma had stopped to tie one of her ragged and worn sneakers.  While
down on one knee she heard a distant, "Whump, Whump, whump." sound behind
her which made the exhausted woman bolt upright.  Silently she prayed it
was help from above.

   The woman began her movement again but now due to fatigue and hearing
the thumps above and behind her to the left, she simply staggered forward.

   The Olympus navigator informed the pilot the hits on the Lats systems
were now within 5 nautical miles of their position.

   Lt Toma and Lt Dume recalled all CA personnel and notified the MSD and
Customs station officers.  Upon Pordelini being informed she spread the
word to the NGOs and Congo civil agencies with staff at the airport to
report to their work stations.

   In less than fifteen minutes CA troops on the airport perimeter were
doubled, resupplied and ready for action.

   Dr.  Pordelini and Dani had all the MSD and Peace Corp staff huddled
together in the clinic area.  The customs office had detailed one
Gendarmerie and a CA soldier to post up outside the entrance to the clinic
building.

   Capt Hollande was observing the perimeter approaches to the airfield
with binoculars while seated in the air traffic control tower.  "Lt Doma do
you have any movement on the perimeter?  He asked urgently.

   He was observing with binoculars to dark colored dots high on the
horizon, it was Olympus and Brushfire trailing their respective targets.

   The Capt notified both CA Officers of the approaching helicopters.  In
virtually the same instance the CA radio net came alive with chatter.

   The Nunez woman was now on level ground and visible to Olympus and the
CA troops as she was south of the airport and her movement was smoother out
of the elephant grass.

   Olympus had descended to three thousand feet, cruising at 200 mph and
was visible to the woman as she trotted along.

   She saw no signs of the rebels back in the elephant grass, however the
Cuban was taking nothing for granted.

   The big chopper hovered 100 feet above and 200 or so yards back of her
position and began to unload by fast rope a 6-man Marine rifle team plus
two Navy hospital corpsmen's.

   The rifle team leader deployed his men at the edge of the elephant grass
in a defensive perimeter as the frightened woman looked on.

   Though scared Velma was relieved seeing the red cross emblem on the
brassard at the corpsmen's shoulder.

   The exhausted woman fell to her knees and made the sign of the cross as
the lead corpsmen pulled a poncho liner from his rucksack and covered her
near nudity.  The other medic had her lay still and take slow sips.  from
one of his canteens.

   The LAT 21s led the Brushfire chopper right to the route of travel
Oyinloye was on.  When the rebels struck the airport they were met by
fierce ground fire from the CA troops on the perimeter.

   Oyinloye retreated back the way he had come suffering casualties to half
his party for his trouble and was almost killed himself by a missile strike
by a French Puma helicopter 10 miles south of Loubono.

   The Puma had been vectored in by the Brushfire mission and carried out a
couple of strafing runs before deploying dismounted CA and French infantry
troops who surrounding the fleeing rebels.  In the ensuing firefight the
rebel politico was killed in action.  Oyinloye was captured alive and
turned over to Col Cisse for interrogation and trial.

   EPILOGUE

   Simone Moreau and the MSD food Convoy element all returned safely to
Pointe Noir two days later.

   Dr.  Moreau planned to place commendations in everyone's personnel
folder for their actions over those dramatic days in May 1978.  She hoped
all would be rewarded by the MSD Foundation back in France for their
performance which contributed to rescuing Castro's niece.

   Claire Girard's mistakes were kept a secret by the Chief of Staff and
the other white doctors who had sampled her girlish charms.  She completed
her tour of duty after six months and was assigned to a small aid mission
in the U.N monitored Sinai in Egypt.

   Velma Nunez was given first aid and flown out to the USS Guadalcanal
where she was interviewed and exploited for intelligence by Defense Attaché
Laurent and other intelligence operatives.

   Dr.  Simone Moreau was advanced within the MSD Foundation two months
later and returned to a management job in Paris.  The End----Fiction.