18. SAHARA ADVENTURE SERIES — VENGEANCE IS MINE
The narrative commences in the scorching Sahara desert, where an exhausted French Foreign Legion soldier, Teuns Stegmann, desperately strives for survival. He belongs to a small group left without food or water due to betrayal. Their sole hope lies in attempting to capture vultures for sustenance. The initial conflict rapidly becomes apparent, escalating into a fierce struggle against the elements and the looming threat of death hanging over them. Fritz Mundt and Jack Ritchie are trapped alongside Teuns Stegmann in a desolate temple. Teuns fails to catch a vulture, rendering the situation more critical and thwarting the plans they needed to execute.
Teuns plays a central role as the driving force behind the survival efforts. He leads the desperate attempt to capture a vulture and later, when they are “rescued” by a mysterious group led by Carlos Chanti, it is Teuns who questions Chanti’s true motives. Chanti seeks vengeance against Petacci, another Legion soldier and a friend of Teuns. Tension mounts as Chanti uses Teuns and his comrades as hostages to achieve his goal. Teuns devises a perilous plan to outwit Chanti, hoping to save Petacci’s life and spare their own.
Teuns contemplates various strategies as he races through the desert on horseback, heading back towards the main base. He attempts to outsmart his pursuers but later realises the only way to confront his adversaries is to attack them, hoping to seize their weapons. However, all he discovers is a dead body. These endeavours are marked by the ingenuity and courage of the valiant South African. Will Teuns’s final plan succeed, or is it too doomed to fail, leading to even greater tragedy? The story concludes beneath a shadow of uncertainty, owing to a secret yet to be unravelled.
