Skeleton Coast Quotes
"He knew he should have never accepted the job of guiding the others from Bechuanaland across the vast Kalahari wasteland in a mad dash to the sea. But there was always the lure of the big payoff, the siren song of instant wealth that had drawn him to Africa in the first place."
"He’d taken work as a safari guide so that rich Englishmen and Americans could adorn their mansion walls with trophies."
"They die, you die" was all he had to say, for they knew he was right.
"The sky was turning brassy as light reflected off the infinite desert."
"Ryder glanced at Peter and saw the signs immediately."
"And so he plotted his escape, confiding in Assa Maharero, one of the king’s grandsons and his best friend, what he intended to do."
"You’re fighting a demon out of your childhood."
"The thought of giving him an extra ration never entered Ryder’s mind."
"The first part of Isaka’s reply was muffled by the sound of mortar fire coming from the Swift boats. They hit close enough to throw a wall of water against the Oregon’s side."
"And did you find anything?" Tony asked testily, knowing the answer.
""Do as we say and no one gets hurt," Eddie said, knowing how trite it sounded to the terrified workers."
"Susan Donleavy wasn’t used to failure, so she was especially annoyed the trip had been a bust."
"You bastards!" he raged at the guards. "I will pay you anything. You didn’t need to do this to her. She’s innocent."
""I don’t understand your problem with him. Yeah, he could use a shower and a breath mint, but he really has been helpful."
"I do not understand. Cape Cross is there." Heinrick pointed emphatically northward. "It can not be here." He touched the spot on the map.
"This wasn’t a slow wind down, but a sudden cessation of sound that was more horrifying in its implications."
"The ride was rough and Sloane kept her knees bent to absorb each impact."
"Do you have a radio?" Sloane asked the captain.
"Sloane adjusted the radio dial and thumbed the microphone. 'This is the Pinguin calling unidentified freighter en route to Walvis. We need assistance. Please respond.'"
"A voice suddenly boomed from the speaker. 'You should have listened to me last night and left Namibia.'"
"Sloane mashed the microphone. 'Leave us alone and we will return to shore,' she pleaded."
"Cabrillo was leaning forward in his chair, an elbow on the arm of his chair, a hand cupping his unshaven chin."
"They’d been watching the two craft on radar for the better part of an hour."
"I don’t have the foggiest idea," Juan said at last.
"Anticipating the coming order, the weapons officer panned back to show the fleeing Pinguin."
"'Wait for it,' Max said to no one in particular."
"This is the same with hybrid cars. True, they burn less gasoline, but the pollution expended in their development and production far outpaces what the consumer saves by driving such a vehicle."
"Cabrillo fought to keep his expression neutral and the blood from draining from his face."
"Sloane, oh, thank God. For a minute I thought you were a derelict ship."
"How many times had Juan felt the same way, taking responsibility for the actions of others just because he was involved?"
"It's not just the conditions. Tuberculosis and HIV infection rates in African jails are among the highest in the world."
"But God how that guilt was there, corroding the soul as surely as acid eats away steel."
"People have to see the effects for themselves, in their homes, not on some glacier in Greenland."
"No one wants to hear about how the CIA screwed up. It makes the U.S. look incompetent and, more important, unprepared."
"I always picture vegetarians wearing Birkenstocks and living on organic farms."
"I can’t imagine they rate many stars in the Michelin Guide."
"She plans on introducing me to power yoga, whatever the hell that is."
"We’re going to find out tonight when we rescue Merrick and grab us a couple of kidnappers."
"Hiya, boys. Any chance you could lend me a hand here?"
"Messiah. They'll never know I saved them, but I am their messiah."
"The damned fool. I told him when they first imprisoned me not to try something like this, but I should have known he wouldn’t listen. My old friend Mafana chooses the orders he wishes to obey."
"Feeling no need to be stealthy in this block of cells after such a loud entrance, Cabrillo rushed down the stairs."
"The area around the Chairman was littered with stumpy brass shell casings."
"I think maybe when the time comes I will ask you where you got your artificial leg. I don’t think I will have this foot much longer."
"Great magicians never divulge their secrets."
"‘I’ve got a friend named Max who pulls the same thing on me.’ Juan glanced up to catch Ndebele’s eye. ‘And more often than not he’s right about which ones to disregard.’"
"You realize that after today you will recoil in horror every time you look in a mirror."
"They were always mindful of the physical dangers they faced when they accepted a mission, but there was a hidden cost, too."
"Wars were no longer fought between armies in the field. They were being fought in subways and mosques, nightclubs and market squares."
"The human foot has twenty-six bones. I counted fifty-eight separate pieces of bone on his X-ray before I gave up."
"It all appeared normal except when he started looking more carefully."
"The tiny stick figures lying randomly around the yard were the corpses of workers."
"His own revulsion to the willful act of environmental destruction and the mindless waste of human life."
"The prevailing current was already stretching the spill northward even as the slick grew in size."
"A series of strobe lights mounted throughout the three-deck-high room began to flash."
"He climbed down into the sub and made his way to the cockpit, a claustrophobic pair of reclined seats."
"It was impossible to tell it had once been painted green and yellow."
"The roar of the jet engines intensified; without ear protection they’d only be able to remain inside for a few minutes."
"The bullet-ridden bodies of the six fighters taken out in Eddie’s lightning attack had been laid together and covered with an old piece of tarp."
"The entire deck had been stripped of anything that wasn’t bolted down or didn’t weigh more than a couple hundred pounds."
"The kinetic impact of so many bullets tossing the corpse against a bulkhead."
"The rig’s tool pusher had been killed when the rebels swarmed the platform, so it was his second in command who was in charge of shutting off the flow."
"The oil’s heat evaporated the water around it, leaving a sticky, unctuous residue."
"The ship’s seventeen-knot speed created a breeze."
"They raced across the waves toward the bow of the supertanker lying at anchor."
"The container ship was no more than a silhouette against the setting sun."
"The ship had become a fixture lying at anchor outside the Mauritanian port of Nouakchott, a hazy silhouette against the western horizon."
"To effect change you need alternatives, not ultimatums."
"Office romances are tough enough. It’s even worse when you all live together."
"Don’t worry. Moses will get more than enough money to see the leaders of his country get sent packing."
"That is definitely on my top ten list of ways not to die."
"Last time I helped you I ended up stranded on a giant metal snake in the middle of the ocean."