Cave of Horrors (eBook)

A South African Hero's Struggle in the French Foreign Legion, Book 24

Meiring Fouche, Pieter Haasbroek (Autoren)

Pieter Haasbroek (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
93 Seiten
Pieter Haasbroek (Verlag)
978-0-00-077874-1 (ISBN)

Infos

He was lured by a beautiful woman's promise.

Now, he's a pawn in a conspiracy that will ignite the Sahara.

Sahara desert, 1940-1960. Teuns Stegmann, a battle-hardened soldier of the French Foreign Legion, is an expert in survival. But when the enchanting Danielle Aubert traps him on his last day of leave, he is plunged into a mission against his will. Forced deep into the unforgiving desert, he is told they are searching for a lost WWII pilot, a cause that mirrors the secret search for his own missing brother.

But the mission is a lie. The true objective is a forgotten Nazi weapons cache, a treasure trove of death powerful enough to arm an army and annihilate the Legion. Caught between a cunning French traitor and a ruthless Arab sheikh who both need him dead, Teuns faces an impossible choice. Cooperate and betray his comrades, or resist and face a brutal execution under the desert sun.

A gritty, high-octane classic adventure packed with the unrelenting suspense of a vintage thriller. Perfect for fans of Alistair MacLean and Wilbur Smith's Sahara epics.

Step into this unforgettable twenty-fourth Sahara adventure now!

Textauszug

Chapter 2

LOST SON

As if a spring were released within him, Teuns Stegmann springs to his feet there in the luxurious suite of Colonel Philippe Aubert. He first looks at Danielle, but her face is completely expressionless. Her eyes look as if they are suddenly devoid of lustre. Then he looks at the colonel. On his countenance, he perceives an almost devilish resolve.

“What are you talking about now, Colonel?” asks Teuns. “I imagined I was the guest of you and your daughter. Now I hear that I am your prisoner. I would appreciate it if you would tell me exactly what is going on, Colonel!”

“Please sit down, Legionnaire,” says Philippe Aubert, making a small gesture with his hand.

“I prefer to stand, thank you,” answers Teuns.

“Perhaps I misspoke, Legionnaire,” says the colonel. “Perhaps I should have said that you are going to be my compelled guest for a time. I do not like the word prisoner. It always makes me think of prison. That is not actually what it means. All it means is that I am obliged to make use of your services for a time, out of necessity.”

“Make use of my services? It seems to me you are under a misapprehension, Colonel. I am a soldier of the French Foreign Legion. Since you yourself are a Frenchman, you ought to realise what that means. There is only one person who can lay claim to my services, and that is Colonel Le Clerq, commanding officer of the Legion fortress Dini Salam. I am here on leave, but early tomorrow morning I depart with my comrades back to Dini Salam.”

Philippe Aubert leans back in the chair, but his entire posture conveys unrelaxed vigilance.

“I am afraid, Legionnaire,” he says calmly, “you are mistaken. You will not be on that aircraft tomorrow morning.” Teuns stamps his foot hard and swings around the table between them, but quick as lightning, Colonel Aubert has drawn a small revolver from the pocket of his dressing gown. He aims it calmly and motionlessly at Teuns.

“Please do not make this difficult for me, Legionnaire,” he says pleadingly. “I wish you would believe that I am not your enemy. If you become rebellious, you can only make the world difficult for yourself. Please sit down and listen to my whole story, then we shall have no unpleasantness. And I just want to warn you that this revolver is loaded. I am an elderly man and I am the sole provider for my daughter Danielle. I will not allow any violence to be done to me.”

Utterly bewildered and astounded, Teuns sinks onto the armrest of a chair. Sits there and stares at Philippe Aubert. It is as if the man’s grey head and his noble face suddenly swim before the Legionnaire’s eyes. Then he looks with fiery accusation at Danielle, but she abruptly turns her eyes away like a guilty person who knows she has transgressed, who knows she has abused a man’s trust.

“Perhaps, Legionnaire,” says Aubert, “you will understand better if I tell you my story, if I tell you for what purpose I am temporarily commandeering your services.”

“Speak, Colonel,” says Teuns defiantly, “and speak quickly. Your company, the company of your daughter, no longer appeals to me in the least.”

“That is regrettable,” says Philippe Aubert, “but for the next few weeks, you will be obliged to endure our company. But let me tell you what is important. I will start at the beginning. You see, Legionnaire, in the last World War, my son, Captain Felix Aubert, fought with the British forces in the western desert. He was a bomber pilot. He was a brave man, Legionnaire. We were proud of him because he fought for the eventual liberation of France. He was my only son. My late wife and I had only two children, Felix and Danielle.

“One day, Felix went to bomb targets in Italy. He and his crew returned safely, and according to the last radio messages they sent out, they were only a few kilometres from the coast of Africa. But then something must have gone wrong. Nothing more was ever heard of Felix or his bomber or his crew. At least, not until a few months ago. Then, after all these years, after about fourteen years, a bomber was discovered in the western desert. It is practically undamaged. Inside the bomber, the navigator’s chart, packets of chocolate, cigarettes, water canteens, and other things were found. Everything still in practically perfect condition. But of the crew, there was no trace. Perhaps you heard of the incident, Legionnaire. It caused quite a stir in the world’s newspapers. The question arose. What happened to the crew? Did they perish in the desert? Or are they still alive?”

Philippe Aubert looks down at the small revolver he has placed on the table before him.

“Lately, I have been making diligent inquiries,” he says. “I have consulted all possible sources in Europe and England. Also here in Africa.” Then he looks up at Teuns. Looks at him long and intently, with the fine sheen of sweat on his face. “I have come to one inexorable conclusion, Legionnaire,” says Philippe Aubert. “I have concluded that Felix is still alive.”

Teuns Stegmann snorts dismissively. “You are a fool, Colonel,” he says. “You are chasing a dream. I read about that aircraft found in the desert. It is very far from the coast. It is kilometres and kilometres from the nearest inhabited place. The region where it was found is practically Sahara. The only living creatures one finds there are the occasional migrating Bedouin or a desert rat or a vulture. Apparently, you do not know the desert of Africa. The Sahara is cruel, but in certain respects, this region where the aircraft was found is even crueler. If you believe your son is still alive, you are either ignorant or incredibly gullible. And if I may ask now, how do I fit into the picture?”

“That is what I want to tell you now, mon ami. I came here to undertake a journey to find my son. I am convinced that he was found by the Bedouin, he and the other men from the aircraft. I feel convinced that they were taken away to a remote Arab dwelling at an oasis or somewhere where they have been held captive all these years. As you know, there are certain primitive Arab tribes who like to hold whites captive, not only out of superstition but also to learn the arts of the white man from them. Even in the furthest corners of the Arab world, people are awakening to the benefits of civilisation. It is my sacred conviction that Felix and the others are being held captive by such a tribe. I intend to traverse the desert in search of my son. Until I have completed this journey, I refuse to believe that Felix has died.

“My major problem has always been that I do not know the Sahara or this part of the desert. One thing I know well. The inexperienced and the uninformed who penetrate these hellish regions are lost. Therefore, I searched for a man who knows the sandy deserts, who knows its requirements, who can follow a route, who can speak Arabic, who knows how any expedition must prepare itself for the journey, and who knows how such an expedition must adapt itself to such a dangerous journey into the unknown.

“I searched for such a man for a long time, Legionnaire. I could find many, but I rejected them all, because some were selfish, some were merely villains, some I knew were hostile, others unreliable, and still others dangerous. I had long thought of a Legionnaire. That is why I asked Danielle to keep her eyes open. She has had her eye on you for a long time, Legionnaire. She has had her eye on you from the day you arrived here.”

Teuns’s voice suddenly bursts through the silence. “You wretched, abominable vixen,” he exclaims towards Danielle. “So all your acting, all your posturing was just put on to lure me into the trap, wasn’t it? At this moment, mademoiselle, I feel only the deepest contempt for you.”

She had lowered her head. She rubs her hands nervously, and Teuns sits staring at the glistening of her hair. He feels within him the pain of disappointment and disillusionment. He feels the hot touch of humiliation because she deceived him so. Earlier this evening, he had imagined himself swept into an incredible dream, but now he knows it was just a lie over which he rejoiced. He feels the dampness of his hands, the tingling on his neck, and the heat of his breath against his nostrils.

“If I weren't restraining myself, mademoiselle,” he says, “I would stand up right now and slap your face until you screamed. Perhaps your screaming, at least, would be genuine. With what you have done, you are meaner and more loathsome than the cheapest woman of Algiers. That is how I will always remember you, mademoiselle, a repulsive seductress who leads a man into a trap in this manner.”

“I can understand that you are angry, Monsieur,” says Danielle without lifting her head. “I did it for a good cause, so that we could try to find my brother. If you try to understand that, perhaps you will not feel so strongly about what I did. I know it is wrong in itself, Monsieur, but then the proverb says that the end justifies the means. If that was ever true, then it is true in this case.”

“Your moralising sermon does not impress me in the least, mademoiselle,” says Teuns bitterly. “Deception remains deception, regardless of the purpose for which it is committed. I do not care what excuse you have, to me you remain abominable.”

Then he turns to Philippe Aubert.

“Colonel,” he says, “if you are then so concerned about trying to track down this son of yours, why did you not get an official guide? Why not ask the Foreign Legion for permission to use one of their men?”

“Legionnaire,” answers Philippe, “as a nobleman of France, I ought now to challenge you to a duel over...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 25.8.2025
• Übersetzer: Pieter Haasbroek, Ai
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-10: 0-00-077874-5 / 0000778745
• ISBN-13: 978-0-00-077874-1 / 9780000778741