Nok Nok: Jack Wellington UN Attaché

By Gerald Goble

In the fifth of the series In the fifth of the series, Jack Wellington a UN Preservationist is sent to Timbuktu to help find some antiquities stolen from a Mosque but he must do this under the watchful eye of the Tureag. Then the NYPD find some Nok antiquities and ask Jack to return them to a museum in Nigeria. In doing so Jack is confronted with Islamic radicals from the Tureag and the Boko Haram and an old nemisis from Abu Dhabi.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gerald Goble
• Release date: Jul 24, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370506743

Gerald Goble

Gerald Goble has PhD in Theoretical Physics and has been a research scientist, teacher, federal employee, businessman, manager, and martial arts instructor. He is author of several scientific publications, U.S. Army Publications on Ammunition and Explosives, non fiction books "The Way of Two as One“, "The Bear Slayer – Women’s Self-Defense“; the fiction books, the Bunko Club Murder series, and the Jack Wellington UN Attaché Series, Westerns “Jacob’s Coat”, "Strays" and "Warrior Woman" and Science Fiction, "The Majestic Committee."

Book preview

Nok Nok

Jack Wellington - UN Attaché

by

Gerald Goble

Nok Nok

Jack Wellington - UN Attaché

by

Gerald Goble

Copyright © 2014 Gerald Goble

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical including photocopying, recording, taping by or by information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author with exception of brief quotations.

US Copyright

This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either, the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

For Joan, my friend, my love

Chapter 1

The flashlight went out and Jack banged the side of it with his hand, Damn the batteries have gone. He heard a rustling outside of the tent followed by a deep panting sound. He knew the sound. It was a lion. He looked around at the tent and said, Jack this isn't safe. He retreated backward to the open door of the Land Rover snuggled next to the tent. He backed inside and closed the door just as the female lion pushed her head through the tent opening at the other end. He said, OK girl you can have the tent. The temperature has dropped and I can stay in the car. He thought, When I stopped the car the display on the dash read 83. It must be in the seventies now and the humidity is low, that's good. Do I have water in here?

At that moment the computer came on line and Warren Oats appeared on the screen, Jack, Jack Wellington are you there?

Jack rolled down the window part way and yelled, Warren I'm here, but a bit occupied.

Warren continued, The NYPD came around to the UN with some Nok antiquities and are looking for your help while you're there.

Jack yelled, Warren I don't have time for knock knock jokes.

Warren said, No not knock, 'N', 'O', 'K'. Is that a lion? The lion now in front of the computer pushed over the table with the computer pulling down the satellite antenna. His heated and stirred macaroni and cheese spilled on to the ground.

He shook his head, I was looking forward to that. The female went over to sniff at the reconstituted mixture as a second and younger female eased her head into the tent. The first cat stood on her hind legs and swung her right paw at the second cat as it also approached the bright yellow mixture on the ground to smell of it. The younger lion backed away hitting the front tent pole pulling down the tent. The two cats continued their spat in front of the collapsed tent.

Jack watched out of the window and mumbled to himself again, Jack, West Africa is no place to go camping out even if the one available hotel space had the rats eating the bed bugs. I picked this place cause it was away from the bushes and trees and I had an open view. I guess it was easy for the lions to see and smell.

Jack looked out into the darkness. There were two other females watching from a distance. He looked around thinking, OK where is the male?

Farther out, there a movement caught his eye and the male came into view but did not come closer. Meanwhile the older of the females pulled the tent back where she could lap up the macaroni mixture. When she finished the four cats walked around the Land Rover looking for some entry point.

Jack said, If I smoked or had a bottle of booze this would be a good time for it. Jane and I are having Warren and his wife over next time I'm back in New York. I need to remember to tell Warren to keep his mouth shut about the phone call. He looked out of the windshield at the sign that read, Timbuktu 200km. He said, Road to Timbuktu, where are Bing Crosby and Bob Hope when you need them? He sat without moving in the middle of the back seat as the first female lion placed her feet on the side of the Land Rover and looked inside at him. The cat put her front paws down and went around the vehicle sniffing followed by two younger females.

Three thousand miles away two men met late at night at a small restaurant in Abu Dhabi. The two men were away from the large windows. The table was black with pink napkins folded in a flower pattern. The waiter removed two of the place settings and delivered two cups of tea. He now stood over against the wall ten feet away and impatiently looked at his watch.

Abdul Hakim from Amman Jordan was almost six foot in his late thirties slightly balding with a well-trimmed mustache and no beard. He sat across the table from Saif Basit a small man wearing and expensive light blue suit, with a full will trimmed beard, a full head of hair and a prominent gold watch on his arm. The waiter watched his every move and ignored Abdul Hakim.

Abdul looked over to the waiter and lowered his voice as not to be overheard and said, There are two things, first the General has the items...

Saif Basit interrupted him, How did he get them from the two men that took them? No, I don't care. Is he aware that they need to be treated with care. They are works of art, calligraphic art, the gold lettering is very delicate even if they are inlayed in the baked clay tiles, and the tiles must not be scratched with the clay hook on the back in tact.

Abdul said, Yes he said the tiles were removed with the hooks in back intact and packed in straw inside wooden boxes. When the General got them, he placed them in a refrigerated van to maintain a temperature consistent with the Mosque where the tiles were mounted.

Saif Basit then said, You will verify the tiles and then send me a confirmation then?

Abdul said, Yes I am due to meet the General in Legos for the verification. Then he will deliver them to Port Harcort to be placed in a CRC hermetically sealed container... He paused there is one thing. I have heard that the UN contacted a preservationist that was in Cairo to go to Timbuktu when the tiles were removed. He has given me trouble before but the chance of him catching General Mafabi is remote."

Saif Basit sat up straight and leaned forward a bit then asked, Is this Wellington?

Abdul said, Yes.

Saif Basit said, He cost me the King Sargon relief from Iraq and it was worth a lot of money. He is dangerous.

Abdul said, He looks more like incompetent to me.

Saif Basit said, Get rid of him. If you don't want to do that then he should have an accident. If not that let me know and I will contact someone. I don't want to loose these tiles.

There was a slight hill in front of where Jack parked and as the sun just crested the horizon, an armored personnel carrier pulled to a stop on the hill. The armored vehicle was the first vehicle in a convoy with a large black Mercedes limousine following close behind. A black man in a tan military uniform got out of the car walked to the side of the personnel carrier and looked down at Jack's car. The pride of lions lay on the ground around Jack's car and looked up at the vehicles at the top of the hill with disinterest. The large female yawned and stood taking a couple of steps in their direction. The male lion at the edge of the clearing behind Jack's car stood and turned to go back into the brush. The man pointed to the large black UN on the side of Jack's vehicle and said something to the man on the top of the armored vehicle. He pulled the slide on the mounted weapon making an audible click then pointed the weapon down toward the car. He fired a burst of rounds into the ground near the lions splattering dirt and small stones with each one.

Jack rose up from sleep in the back seat with a start and hit his head on the top of the vehicle. He looked out of the windows and saw the pride of lions scamper off in the direction of the large male. The last of the lions to enter the woods was the large female. She stopped and turned for a last look at Jack and the now approaching convoy of vehicles. Her look appeared to Jack to be more of defiance than fear. He said, It's OK girl, walk away to fight another day.

Jack got out of the Land Rover and rubbed his eyes as he looked up at the approaching convoy. The armored vehicle passed by Jack and turned sideway in the road twenty feet passed the Land Rover and the man on top turned the mounted gun in Jack's direction then raised the barrel upward. The limousine came to a stop and the man in the tan uniform got out. Jack took note of the nameplate opposite the ribbons on his chest that read, Mafabi. Jack also noted that the green epilates had a single star.

The man extended his hand toward Jack and said, I am General Mafabi of the Peoples Army, and you are?

Jack took his hand and said, I am Jack Wellington of the UN.

Mafabi laughed, There are some from the UN I wouldn't bother to rescue. He continued to chuckle at the predicament Jack was in and removed his sunglasses to wipe a tear from his eyes. He continued, And what is a diplomat doing here in Mali in such a precarious position as this?

For a moment Jack looked the General in the eyes and thought, He doesn't have that stone killer look Angel warned me about. His eyes are almost sad. Jack thought, The General has a round face and darker than the soldiers. The soldiers are a mixture of Arabic like faces and oval faces from Africa. They and the General don't seem to go together. The General looks like he is from central Africa.

Jack said, I was on my way to Timbuktu for a meeting there. I stopped to contact my headquarters by satellite. I was in the middle of a phone call when the lions decided they wanted my evening meal. I would have just driven off but my equipment was outside of the vehicle. He paused and said, Thank you for coming to my rescue.

Mafabi turned to a truck following the limousine and made a signal with his hands. Four men dismounted and began rolling up the tent. Two others placed the satellite antenna with the computer in the back of the Land Rover followed by the tent. One of the men held up the broken front tent support so Jack could see it. Mafabi asked, Isn't it unusual for a diplomat to travel alone in such a manner?

Jack said, Yes, but I am just an attaché and given rather mundane jobs to do. I would have spent the night at the Malabu Hotel in Fatoma but it seemed not a good place.

Mafabi laughed again, You are correct, I would risk mutiny if I put my men in that place. I must be on my way. You should tell the UN of my stopping by to assist you if to let them know I am not always a brigand. He laughed again, Of course the other option would be to surround UN Headquarters with Lions and then come to their rescue, perhaps not right away.

Still laughing he motioned to the men to return to the truck as he stepped back into the limousine. The armored vehicle then turned the gun toward the direction they had been traveling and the entire convoy sped off. Jack watched the convoy. There was an armored vehicle at each end, the limousine, a truck with a dozen soldiers and a refrigerated truck just ahead of the following armored vehicle.

Jack thought as he watched the convoy move away, I can't remember what I heard about him, but it wasn't good. I wonder what the refrigeration truck is for? It cannot be for food. The armies in this area of the world use the scavenger method to get the supplies they need. Why have a logistics system for food when all you have to do is take it away from the local people.

Jack climbed back in his vehicle and headed north toward Konna. As he crested the top of the hill he looked in the rear view and saw the older female lion come out of the bush and look at his vehicle as it sped away. Jack said, Sorry girl, I'm afraid your breakfast is driving off. He thought, When I get to Konna I need to get something to eat and call Warren to let him know I'm not in the belly of the beast so to speak. It would be good to get a reminder on who Mafabi is. I have the feeling he is not much different than the lion but I can't remember. - It would be really really good to get a shower some how. - I am beginning to smell.

The land was much the same in Mali with scrub brush trees no more than six feet tall with intermittent bushes and brush on a soil of reddish brown dirt that extended for miles. Konna