Blood Diamonds

By Albert Abbot

Ian Devoss and Thabo Buyeni are members of the South African Special Forces on a mission in the war-torn Central African Republic in 2013. Through circumstances beyond their control they become involved in the smuggling of arms and illicit diamonds. They experience betrayal and murder, but also camaraderie and friendship of the highest order. After demobbing, they continue in this scene in order to retrieve a very large parcel of uncut diamonds and return it to its owner, but also to take revenge on those who betrayed them and killed four of their comrades. After having fought militias and bandits in the CAR, they now add organized crime to their deadly adversaries. Thabo and Ian are not squeaky clean characters; they are highly trained soldiers and are ready to kill if this is required. But they are not bad people either; they have their own set of values and their own moral compass. They are always prepared to stand up for their own rights and the rights of those who are close to them. The action moves between the Central African Republic, South Africa, Namibia, Cameroon and London.
Ian Devoss is also torn between the love for his high school sweetheart and his obligations to his friends and comrades.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Albert Abbot
• Release date: Jul 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463740309

Albert Abbot

I am a retired psychologist, living on the Costa del Sol in Spain. I was born in Austria, but spent the best part of my life in southern Africa, mainly South Africa and Lesotho, but also in Namibia, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Botswana. I have traveled also to many other countries of this wonderful continent. Although I no longer live there, I am still interested in and often dream about this great continent and its people.

Book preview

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

About the author

Chapter 1

What on earth went wrong?’ ‘How did that happen to us’? ‘Who else is still alive?’ ‘Can I survive this mess?’ These and many more questions went through his head, lying naked on a dirty floor in a mud hut, lying totally still without moving at all, because any kind of movement would bring about pain in all parts of his body; pain like he had never experienced before.

Only a few days ago Ian Devoss, 2nd Lieutenant in the South African Special Forces (Recce), had arrived in the capital of the Central African Republic. Their mission – together with other African forces - was to protect Bangui, the capital, from the Séléka coalition, a mixture of Muslim and other militia rebels. Three days ago his CO had ordered him to put a team of six men together to move toward Boda to reconnoiter the area. At that time Boda was occupied by the Séléka and since the area around Boda was diamond country it was deemed to be important and to take it back. Another part of the mission was to accompany two high ranking civilians from the Department of Defense who would come along together with a Sango speaking – a mixture of several local languages - interpreter and guide for a hush-hush meeting with some players from the opposition. They all fitted nicely into a Ratel 60 vehicle.

The following day early in the morning they were on their way. The two civilians introduced themselves as Mr. Mkhele and Mr. Fisher, but then kept quiet throughout the trip and so did the guide. One of them only asked Ian if he spoke French; he lied and said no.

The trip to Boda should be just about four to five hours with the good speed they were driving. There was no enemy in sight when the guide said to Mkhele ‘Ici nous devons éteindre’ – here we have to turn off – and Ian instructed Thabo, the driver, to do so. Now they were no longer on a road, just on a path through some bush and steppe interspersed with woodland. Not ideal for an ambush and therefore the Recce were quite relaxed. The direction to Boda was kind of ok and by Ian’s estimate it should be just about an hour or so away. The team – Thabo, a warrant officer, Phumlani, Lelothando, Mivuyo, Litha, all sergeants, and Ian - chatted among themselves in isiZulu and their three guests just dozed. The squad consisted of men who often had worked together on various missions – overt and covert ones. It was, however, only the second time that Ian was in charge of them. In all previous ones it was Thabo or Litha who had been in command. In the Special Forces rank alone does not count for much; it is experience and knowledge of the given circumstance that matter.

All of a sudden Thabo, who drove the Ratel, said ‘Quaphela!’ – watch out – and slowed the vehicle. A few hundred meters ahead was a small koppie (hill) with thick bush and a few trees and behind it some huts of a small village. A Toyota land cruiser was parked there and two men with AK47s next to it. Mkhele said ‘They are for us; stop the car and give us protection.’ Mkhele, Fisher the interpreter stepped out; Ian, Lelo, Mivuyo and Litha took up positions to the left and right of the Ratel; Phumlani took his position in the turret and Thabo stayed at the wheel. Fisher, Mkhele and the interpreter walked up to the men and started talking with them.

A few minutes later they came back and told them to follow the Toyota. However, the good vibe from earlier on was gone. Ian felt in his guts that something had to be wrong and he saw it also on his comrades that they had become wary. When they arrived at this tiny village and stopped, everyone had their Heckler & Kochs ready. Fisher, Mkhele and the guide went up to the guys in the Toyota and the team took their positions as before. Lelo said to Ian ‘It stinks here of death’ and he was right, Ian smelled it too. At the same time he became aware that there were no other people in this village. Then Ian observed the men from the department walking with the men from the Toyota into one of the huts and they all came out again after a short while. Mkhele was carrying a bag that he didn’t have before and came to the Ratel together with Fisher.

Fisher and Mkhele got into the vehicle, indicating to Ian to wait outside. All of a sudden a shot fell and then many more in quick succession. Ian felt a heavy punch in his back and then another one against his head and everything went blank.

When he regained consciousness, he didn’t fully wake up, he was aware that he was surrounded by men hitting him with sticks, spitting at him, kicking him. He didn’t really feel any pain - this came later – his system had shut down and he was only wondering what was going on. He became vaguely aware that a man forced himself through the crowd, shouting at them. He certainly protected Ian from being beaten to death, because somehow grudgingly the men stopped. Then he was carried to a hut, stripped and someone took care of Ian’s wounds. He cleaned them and covered them with herbs.

‘Perhaps I am not going to be killed – yet. It’s a comforting thought, but on the other hand …

What is going to happen and for fuck sake what has happened and why?

And what happened to Thabo, Phumlani, Lelo, Mivuyo and Litha?

What happened to Fisher and Mkhele?

What was the whole trip about?

Is it Fisher’s and Mkhele’s own game?

And most important, was there anything that I could or should have done to prevent this bloody mess?

After all, I had been in charge. I was responsible.’

Later in the evening somebody came and brought some kind of porridge, a thick vegetable paste, and water and then Ian was left on his own and indeed managed to sleep a bit, interrupted by pain every time he moved or by the voices of the men outside the hut.

Who are they? Séléka, or anti-Balaka, their mainly Christian opponents, or just bandits?

The following day the same man came to clean and dress Ian’s wounds again and to give him food and water. Ian checked with his fingers and found that he had a wound on the side of his head – perhaps a bullet that an inch to the left would have killed him. Another bullet had gone right through his right side and exited near his stomach. This one had probably also cracked one or more ribs. Then there were a wide selection of cuts and bruises; probably the result of the beating he had received. All in all bothersome and painful, but not really life threatening.

‘How do I get out of here? By car it would be about an hour or so to get to Boda. But where do I get a car and what can I do in Boda? What if Boda is still in the hand of the enemy?

Turning back towards Bangui? That’s a very long way, but I could be lucky and meet ‘friendlies’ on the way. Or I could be unlucky and get picked up by the Séléka. Hm, that wouldn’t be so good. I have the bushcraft to find my way through the bush, no problem. But am I fit enough to do it? Certainly not.’

Ian recognized that there was nothing he can do in the current situation. He had just to wait and see what was going to happen to him. As he was lying there and doing relaxation exercises, the image of the love of his life appeared before him – Jessie. He wondered how she was and if her new relationship, that began when her and Ian’s ended, was going. Is she still with him? Are they married? Children? And he thought of the time he had with her and how their romance had started. And he remembered as if it had been only yesterday.

Chapter 2

Her name was Jessica and she was sixteen when she joined grade six at Kingswood College in Grahamstown, where he was in grade seven. He fell for her the moment he saw her. She was curvaceous, with long legs, black hair and big brown eyes. He thought that her face was the most beautiful he had ever seen. And he thought that she would perfectly match his slim and athletic body, his blond hair and blue eyes.

He was just under 5’10’’ and really hoped that he could add another inch or two to his height. People said that he was good looking and when he looked in the mirror he thought that they were right. He was a very good student, very well liked by teachers and learners, in particular by the female gender. He did not come from a rich but well-to-do family, who owned a game park with a guesthouse, which added to his attraction. Being seventeen he had just passed his driver’s test and owned already a car. Nothing very showy and expensive like some of the other boys had, but a small Honda Civic that already had quite a few thousand miles on the clock when he got it. But it was good enough to let him commute free of problems the 40 miles between Kenton and his college. His parents had rented a bedsitter for him in Grahamstown should studies or extracurricular activities (i.e. sex) prevent him from going home.

Jessica’s parents had moved to Kenton-on-Sea from Johannesburg where her father was a partner in a firm of land developers. He was heading the firm’s Eastern Cape office and planned to plow three hundred million rand into new developments. He had bought a very nice house in a prime position with sea view in one of the best areas of the small town. Jessica’s mother looked after her husband, their only child and after the house. Since there was house staff employed, looking after the house was not really a time consuming and strenuous experience and she made herself busy in the local community. And of course, she chauffeured Jessica to college and back. If she couldn’t make the time for it because of her community activities, there was a driver cum handyman in the house, who could do it.

Of course Ian had already gathered plenty of sexual experience. The girls liked him, and he liked them. He was polite, nice to them and treated them well and was not pushy and definitely not aggressive like many boys are at this age. If a girl wanted to sleep with him that was fine and if not, that was also fine and he did not harbor any bad feelings when his advances were rejected. After all, there were so many of them who wanted him and enjoyed having sex with him. He was good at it, not only taking but also giving pleasure.

But then came Jessica and all changed. He didn’t look at other girls anymore, although he had not spoken to her yet. When he looked at Jessica he did not just want to get her into bed as quickly as possible, but he wanted to hold her, caress her face, kiss her and talk with her. Talk with her about his plans, where and what he wanted to be in five or ten years time, and what kind of plans she had. Talk with her about the music that he liked and the kind she liked. Talk with her about what moved him and what moved her. Of course making love with her was also not that far from his mind.

The reason for the move from Johannesburg to Kenton was not only the business consideration, but it was also because of Jessica and to provide her with a better environment than that of Johannesburg. Johannesburg was crime-ridden with the highest murder rate in the country; drugs were flooding the city and suburbs; burglaries and robberies were an every day occurrence. Her parents thought that bringing her up on the Sunshine Coast, as this area was called, was better for her future and certainly for her safety. Jessica was not entirely happy with that. Johannesburg was exciting, with lots of things going on every day. In comparison she thought that Kenton with a population of just 5000 will be boring. In Joburg there were so many boys who wanted to date her; interesting ones too, with parents who were extremely rich, or artists, with fathers who were gangsters or politicians or industrialists. To trade something like that against small-town life with just some country pumpkins trying to get into her panties? You have to be joking! But of course she had to give in and, in the end, promised her parents and herself to make the best of the new situation.

When they arrived here Jessica thought that at least the area was beautiful. The view from the house was wonderful. At school she had studied Xhosa and Zulu, which was good because the area was mainly Xhosa speaking and of course English. Another bonus was that she studied at Kingswood College in Grahamstown, which sounded classier than Kenton and she certainly will meet more interesting boys than in Kenton.

When Ian took heart and spoke to her for the first time and she looked up to see who dared to address her, she liked what she saw. She forgave him the cheesy way he made contact and smiled at him. At that was it. Ian was not only smitten with her, but seriously in love. This was the beginning.

The relationship developed exactly as Ian had envisaged. They started talking on the first day and it clicked between them. They talked and talked about everything. They found that they both wanted to learn about the other’s interests, beliefs, values and future plans. Jessie as her parents, friends and now also Ian, called her, felt a bit disappointed when Ian told her that he was going to enroll in the Infantry Training School in Oudtshoorn, but this was still almost two years away. That he wanted to stay in the army for a few years was also not encouraging for her. But then she thought that perhaps he will change his mind about it. She had in mind to continue her studies in Grahamstown for a business or perhaps a law degree and then join her dad in his business. When they had to split to go back to their respective classes, Jessie had a wide smile on her face. She really liked that boy and she was looking forward to see him later that day again. She also called her mom to tell her that she had a lift back home and that her mom won’t need to pick her up. Hm, she said to herself, maybe Kenton is not all that bad after all. Also her mother was quite happy that it seemed that Jessie had found herself a new admirer and that this could change Jessie’s dislike of Kenton.

Jessie and Ian spent every free minute together. He picked her up from home and waited for her to take her home again when her class took longer to finish and she waited for him whenever he had to be late. After few weeks of just dating, the time had come that they both thought was right for her to come to his apartment and they made love for the first time. For both it was an experience that they haven’t had before. It was profound and tender, wild and gentle at the same time, giving and taking, exploring one another’s likes, admiring their bodies and experiencing lust and love together. When Jessie fell asleep in Ian’s arms he thought that he was the happiest and the luckiest man alive. Weeks and months of happiness followed.

He met her parents and she his. They had officially become an item. Of course, both their parents thought and said so that they were far too young for a permanent relationship and that it would not last forever, but they were also happy for them that they were so in love with one another.

The year went past and Ian started his final year in Grahamstown. Halfway through the year Jessie started feeling miserable when she imagined the end of the year and Ian going away.

Why hadn’t he changed his mind about joining the stupid army and playing soldier? Couldn’t he continue his studies in Grahamstown where they both are so very happy? His parents had this wonderful game park and they’d be delighted if he joins them. Why doesn’t he just do it? Just like she plans to continue studying and then join her dad. What’s wrong about that? If their feelings for one another did not change, then they could get married in a few years. And what’s wrong about that? They loved each other!

Ian tried to explain to her that he wanted to find his own way in the world and make something on his own and not just walk into his parents business and work under his father’s guidance and command. And it was just a five hours drive from Oudtshoorn to Kenton. They couldn’t see each other as often as now, but they were not a world apart. Jessie just didn’t want to know. This lead to the first frictions between them; but they always made up again.

Ian’s last year at college came to an end. He had passed his medical exam at the infantry school, his academic record at Kingswood College was outstanding and he was accepted. The frictions with Jessie increased. She had also become jealous thinking of the opportunities Ian will have in Oudtshoorn. Ian’s promises didn’t matter at all. The day he eventually left for Oudtshoorn was terrible. Jessie could not stop crying and made life miserable for all of them; her parents, Ian’s parents, Ian and most of all, for herself. Ian promised to come back the first weekend he could, but in response Jessie said that he could stay there if he wanted. And on that note, they parted. Of course, the following day already she emailed him to say that she was sorry and that she loved him.

Ian kept his promise and came home as soon as he could. Their relationship was almost as perfect as before. It had become a bit more difficult, though. Whereas Ian had an apartment in Grahamstown, in Kenton he lived with his parents, who were very conservative and didn’t like the idea of Jessie spending the night with Ian under their roof. The same applied to Jessie’s parents. Making love had become an issue. It was of course not impossible, but not as easy and comfortable as before. Parting at the end of his break from school was always the same, tears, anger and jealousy.

At the end of his first year in Oudtshoorn he was offered to join the Special Forces for two years and then perhaps go to Saldanha Military Academy for another two or three years to become an officer. Ian accepted to Jessie’s bitter disappointment.

At twenty three years of age Ian was a decorated 2nd Lieutenant in the Special Forces. He had specialist training as a sniper, paratrooper and demolition expert. But as good as his prowess in the military was, as bad it was on the home front with Jessie.

Although Ian made every effort to be with her as often as he could, his visits became less and less frequent. First because of the greater distance from Saldanha Bay and then from Phalaborwa, where his regiment was, and then because of the frequent missions that he had to undertake with his squad.

Therefore their relationship deteriorated more and more and on the eve of his twenty fourth birthday Jessie ended it. At that time he was in Kenton and she told him that she could not stand the separation any longer. She had met somebody else and had entered into a relationship with him. Ian was heartbroken, but understood. Luckily they parted on friendly terms.

As he was dreaming about this time and reliving it with all its joy and pain, all of a sudden something shook him up.

Something was going on outside. Ian heard the sound of a car engine in the distance, coming closer and closer until it stopped close by. He heard voices speaking Sango, French and – hurray – English. And then people entered his hut. The same man who had saved Ian from being beaten to death, another African man and a European. The Africans both were tall, slim, very well built and there was an aura of assertiveness around them. The European was also tall, but heavyset; taller than Ian was with his 5’11’’ and athletic body.

Chapter 3

The European set down next to Ian and said: ‘I am Chris. What’s your name?’

‘Ian Devoss’

‘How do you feel?’

‘Pretty shitty.’

‘I can help you if you help me.’

‘How?’

‘Tell me your story. Why you are here and what you wanted to do here. How many of you guys you were. I know that you are SANDF Special Forces, but why on earth are you here of all places? As far as I know you are supposed to be in Bangui.’

‘We were supposed to recce the area around Boda and to find out how strong the Séléka … ‘

Chris interrupted: ‘Don’t give me that bullshit. Be honest or I cannot help you. Firstly, you have turned too far south west. Secondly, if this was a recce mission you would have bypassed this village. Who told you to come here? Look, you talk for your life. I take no pleasure in getting people killed, but if you lie to me, I go away and leave you to my friends