Free MAMista by Len Deighton

that immediately, shall we?’
    The lawyer did not respond to the suggestion, knowing that putting it to the vote would start new arguments. Thankful that the dispute about the anonymous donor now seemed to have faded, he picked up a pile of paper and tapped it on the table to align the edges. He did it to attract their attention: it was a trick he’d learned from his partner. As they looked round he said, ‘Getting someone to Guiana and back shouldn’t delay us more than a week or two. Then, if we decide to go ahead, we can airfreight the urgent supplies.’
    â€˜If we decide to go ahead,’ said the peer. The lawyer smiled and nodded.
    The secretary said, ‘I think I might be able to arrange the air freight at cost or even free through one of our benefactors.’
    â€˜Excellent,’ said the research man.
    Bloody fool, thought Lucas, but he modified the thought: ‘Much better to buy locally whenever possible. Cash transfer. Ship it from Florida perhaps.’
    The lawyer gave an audible exhalation. ‘We must be careful. Graft is second nature in these countries.’
    â€˜Easier to protect money than stop pilfering of drugs andmedicines,’ said Lucas. ‘In fact we should look at the idea of flying it right down to the southern provinces where it’s needed.’
    â€˜And of course there will be customs and duty and tariffs,’ said the lawyer. It would be a nightmare and he was determined to dump it into someone else’s lap if he could.
    â€˜That should be arranged in advance,’ said Lucas. ‘World Health Organization people must put the pressure on the central government. It would be absurd to pay duty on medical supplies that are a gift to their own people.’
    â€˜Well, that will be your problem,’ said the lawyer.
    Lucas looked at him and eventually nodded.
    The chairman picked up the agenda and said, ‘Item four …’
    â€˜Hold on. I don’t understand exactly what we have decided,’ said the investments man.
    The lawyer said, ‘Colonel Lucas will fly out to Spanish Guiana to decide what medical aid should be given to people in the southern provinces.’
    â€˜The Marxist guerrillas,’ said the man from Birmingham.
    â€˜The people in the southern provinces,’ repeated the chairman firmly. He didn’t say much but he knew what he wanted the minutes to record.
    The lawyer said, ‘The donor has offered to arrange for a guide, interpreter and all expenses.’
    They looked at Lucas and it amused him to see in their faces how pleased they were to be rid of him. It was not true to say that Lucas nodded without thinking about it. He had no great desire to visit Spanish Guiana, but the medical implications of a large organized community living isolated deep in the jungle could be far-reaching. There was no telling what he might learn: and Lucas loved to learn. More immediately; he was the medical adviser to the board. They’d expect him to go. It would give him a change of scenery and he had no family responsibilities to consider. And there was the unarguable fact that he could report onthe situation better than any man round this table. In fact better than any man they could get hold of at short notice.
    Lucas nodded.
    â€˜Bravo, Colonel,’ said the man from Birmingham.
    The peer smiled. The jungle was the best place for the little Australian peasant.
    â€˜Item four then,’ said the chairman. ‘This is the grant for the inoculation scheme in Zambia. We now have the estimates for the serum …’
    Lucas remembered that he was supposed to meet his daughter next week. Perhaps his sister would meet her instead. He’d drop in on her as soon as this meeting ended. She’d question him about his trip to South America and then claim to have divined it in the stars. Oh well. Perhaps it would have been better if she had got married, but she’d chosen instead to look after