They all took their seats around the table in the tent and the council meeting resumed, now with a different setting.
‘It’s good to see you Tonal.’ Jesus started the proceedings. ‘You fooled Alex here, he wasn’t sure that you would come. I take it that he has informed you of the current situation.’ Alex and Tonal both nodded. ‘As you see, there are new faces in the council, to be expected after twenty-three years.’ Jesus introduced the two people that she didn’t know. ‘Elena Alvarez.’ Pointing to the petite woman to his right. ‘And our high-tech wizard Joaquin Cruz.’ a young man with flaxen hair and skittish dark eyes behind thick glasses nodded somewhat embarrassed at the compliment. ‘The council of course knows about you; Alex and Dulce were asked to recruit you in the name of the whole council. We have been following your life from a distance while you were in the jungle. It has been quite uneventful really most if the time. Julio wanted to know how you were and just in case the necessity arose to ask you for assistance.’ He paused. ‘And now here you are. Thank you for coming’ she nodded, and he continued.
‘The war has progressed to the point that the revolutionary movement needs to start a big offensive. The combined leaders have decided that this will commence between now and a month. The different cells have been allotted specific tasks. Ours is to sabotage the supply lines to the military in the southern countries and to terminate certain key figures.’ He stood up and moved easily to the board in front of the table.
‘These are the main supply arteries that we will disrupt.’ He pinned photos to the board and pointed out the intended targets. Tonal saw train lines, make-shift runways for small planes, and bridges that spanned important water-ways. The state of the roads was atrocious to say the least. Still the inaccessibility of the jungle and the wildness of the river necessitated their use. Large convoys of trucks were heavily guarded, as were the crucial bridges. More photos and streams of the targets on a laptop showed the presence of the military stationed to guard the strategic objects. Large barracks framed the roads that led to the bridges. High wire fences shut off any other clandestine routes.
A time line was created for the most important targets. The natural order of the attacks and the availability of ammunition and people determined the sequence, keeping in mind the military presence. The debate about the best way to attack the various targets and what the outcome would be was heated. Tempers flared when Jesus cautioned not to be too impatient. Finally, to calm them down and eliminate the debate, Jesus decided that the detailed plans would be made later in another meeting. Reluctantly the rest of the council agreed. Faces were still hot and flushed when cold drinks were brought in and placed on the table. They took a short break, many stretched their legs outside of the tent.
Tonal stayed seated, quietly hoping that she had made the right decision to come here after all. There would be fierce fighting. How she could play a part in this was something that would have to be discussed later. Sabotaging the supply lines and disrupting the military was more the forte of the revolutionaries. Ok, her healing abilities would be handy because she could take more risks than anyone else. But that would not be what they had recruited her for. That left the personal targets.
Jesus asked everyone to take his or her seat again, and the meeting resumed.
‘Joaquin will fill us in on the personal targets,’ nodding to the young man, he sat down.
Joaquin looked much too young to be caught up in the revolutionary struggle. Barely more than twenty-five, but with a much younger babyface. He moved to the front of the table with a stack of photos under his arm and a laptop in his right hand. He attached the laptop to the generator cable and placed it on the table in front of him. Without a word he proceeded to pin the photos to the board. All in all, there were six portraits on display when he turned to face the council. Five stern looking men and one woman looked down on the council from the board. None of the faces were familiar to Tonal. But that was to be expected after twenty-three years of absence. The news that had reached her was verbal. No faces had accompanied the stories.
‘These are our targets’ Joaquin explained. ‘Most of them will be familiar to you, but to make sure that we all have the same basic information I will introduce them anyway.’ This was more for her than anyone else, but Tonal was grateful for the explanation. He pointed to the first photo and continued.
‘This is Arsenio Flores.’ In the photo Tonal saw a round-faced man with an exceptionally thin moustache that appeared to be almost drawn just above his upper lip. His eyes were deep set and cold. His mouth slightly crooked. ‘He is a drug baron in the northern province. His main crop is coca—the basis for cocaine—farmed by the people who are no more than serfs on his massive holding. He terrorises the villages in the vicinity. Flores is one of the main advocates of President Esposito. The drug running plays a major part in the financing of Esposito’s regime. He is a close friend of the Presidential family and stays at the palace often.’ He continued after passing some photo’s around.
When the photos reached her Tonal saw a variety of scenes, in all of them the same man was prominently present. One photo showed him with an elderly woman with sad eyes, another with two strapping young men.
‘Flores lives with his wife and two sons. His elder daughter Domminga married Reyes and left the family home. But we will talk about her later.’ Turning back to the board, he intently observed the photo of his subject. ‘Taking out Flores will be a major blow to Esposito’s finances. Most of the money is used to pay the mercenaries that secure the presidential palace and train the soldiers. We hope that they will leave the President’s employment when they are no longer paid.’
Moving to the next two photos he pointed out the woman Domminga and a muscular man with dyed blond hair and tattoos showing from the lapels of his shirt. The hair on Tonal’s back tingled while she observed the prints. The violence emanated from the faces. The beautiful but vicious contours of the woman and the hard, square features of her husband. This was a partnership made in hell.
‘This is Domminga Reyes, formally Flores. She is Arsenio’s daughter and a real chip off the old block. She and her husband are Flores’s right hands. They have extended their combined reach to the south and west of Flores’ territory. Rolando Reyes is a psycho, only surpassed by his fair wife. There are tales of kidnappings and murders. The couple seem to enjoy raping and torturing young teenagers—both male and female. The bodies are thrown in the river afterwards. The assassination of these three targets has to be perfectly timed. They must die at precisely the same time, otherwise the fall-out will be extensive to the people who live in the neighbourhood.’
The next photo on the board was of the country’s President Raimundo Esposito. The photo showed a friendly looking man with a big smile. This was obviously a promotional photo from one of his campaigns. Looking closer you could see the intensity in his eyes and his smile seemed crooked, or at the least very cosmetic, his friendliness skin-deep, if even that. He looked to be in his late fifties or early sixties, his hair a very distinguished grey. A man comfortable in his pose.
‘El Presidente. He will be the last on our list. Esposito is heavily protected and hardly ever comes out of his palace. We must undermine his confidence and his influence by taking care of the others first. With the demise of his lieutenants and the absence of finances he will lose the cooperation of the mercenaries quickly and become more vulnerable.’ Joaquin paused to drink a little water.
‘Moving on, this is Sebastian Herrera.’ Joaquin pointed to the next photo. The print was of a long-faced man with a dark complexion. His visage was heavily pockmarked and made him look older than his years, the scars were more prolific near his right eye. ‘He is a minister in Esposito’s government. Takes care of all the communication with the Americanos. He is the official liaison. By taking him out we will disrupt the line of support from America.’
Pausing for a moment he turned to the final photo. A handsome man—forty-something—with a dark complex
ion and black hair. His smile was superficial—painted on—his gaze intensive and frightening. He was impeccably dressed and could have been mistaken for a movie star. Throwing more photos on the table Joaquin continued his narrative, his voice laden with pent up revulsion and anger. ‘And this is our final target, Alejandreas Ortiz. He is going to be the most difficult to reach.’ The silence was complete. Even Tonal had heard of this monster, the stories had penetrated even deep down in the jungle. He was legendary—the stuff of nightmares. Elena closed her eyes at the mention of the name—there was a lot of hurt there, the tension was palatable.
‘He is also the most important of all. His power is second only to El Presidente’s, maybe even more in certain regions. This man is a monster. He regularly massacres whole villages, just to make a point. He employs the scum of the earth to do his dirty work, even though he actively participates in the murders himself. The man is a sadist. But, he is also very intelligent and extremely careful. His home is a fortress, surrounded by difficult terrain, supposedly protected by wild animals as well as the mercenaries. He will be a challenge. We must plan his demise well. Failing is not an option. His retribution will be unbelievable. I welcome ideas if anyone has any.’
The council was silent. The atmosphere in the tent had gone cold. Everyone obviously touched by the photos that were passed around. Dulce gasped and quickly pushed them into Tonal’s hands. Her face was pale, and she tried her best not to gag.
Tonal lowered her eyes to the prints that had upset Dulce so much and observed the scenes they portrayed. Chills moved up and down her spine. The snapshots were exceptionally bloody and vicious. Men and women staked on wooden poles set up-right along a road. The agony was clearly visible in their faces showing they had been alive when this had been done. In another photo three mercenaries posed next to a pile of corpses, laughing and holding up the decapitated head of a young girl. A third image was of the intended target Ortiz holding a machine gun in one hand and a bloody machete in the other, his foot on the hacked remains of what had once been human and his camouflage shirt bright red with arterial blood. Thankfully the remaining photos were scenes of a mansion and the grounds around it.
‘We do not need an answer or plan today but keep it in mind.’ Joaquin sat down in his seat again.
Jesus resumed the discussion. ‘Now we should start with the general plans for the bridges and roads.’ He referred to one of the council members who had led the reconnaissance parties. The council immediately started planning the actions they would take.
The meeting lasted all evening, only interrupted by the entrance of food and drinks. By eleven o’clock at night they had detailed plans for two missions, and the basics for three more. During the meeting no more attention was given to the assassinations. This would be done at a later date.
Alex and Dulce led Tonal to a tent further on in the compound. She would share it with Dulce.
‘Thank you Tonal’ Alex held her close ‘Thank you for coming.’
‘You’re welcome Alex. You were right, there was no chance that I would be able to ignore what is happening. I don’t know how much help I can be, but we’ll see, won’t we.’
‘Oh, I think your special talents will come in very handy’ Alex smiled.
‘Will someone please tell me what these special talents are?’ Dulce exclaimed totally frustrated.
‘Soon Sis, very soon.’
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Alex caught up with Tonal in the afternoon of the following day. They had not been able to speak with each other in private yet and he had a bundle of questions to ask.
‘It’s good to see you again Tonal. I have often wondered how you were and what you were doing.’ They were seated in the shade of a large tree, far enough from others not to be overheard. Dulce was accompanying some other women into the small town nearby where the revolutionaries bought the supplies they needed. For the most, the compound was self-sufficient. But some small items still needed to be purchased elsewhere.
‘What happened after you left us?’
Settling down with her back to the tree she told her story.
‘I travelled down to the valley that you described. It took me about two days. I was in no hurry. It just felt great to finally let the whole change come over me. I was enjoying it immensely.’ Alex had never seen the whole change, but his father had described it to him and his mother after Tonal had left so suddenly.
‘The valley was very comfortable. I found the stream and there was more than enough wildlife to sustain me. I stayed there for about six or seven months I think. Then I decided to go further south and found a really nice place near a deserted village. Living in one of the houses I found out why it had been deserted when the fire ants came.’ She chuckled. ‘Even I don’t appreciate red fire ants. They sting.’
‘So, like I told Dulce, I went back to the caves in the haunted valley. I tried to stay as far from people as possible, because I didn’t really trust myself not to hurt them. I even tried to scare them away for a while. But they’re tough, these people. They don’t scare easily.’
‘Julio had informed the elders of the village.’ Alex explained. ‘He’d assured them that you would not hurt them and that you actually needed people nearby whatever you may have thought.’
‘Well that explains a lot.’ Tonal replied ‘Now I know why they didn’t even seem surprised when they were faced with the cat.’ She smiled. She had expected something like this. Leave that kind of thing to Julio. ‘I finally started interacting with the villagers after the mercenaries entered the area, more than a year after I first came to the caves.’
‘Were these the same ones we saw in the stream? The General’s son and the others?’
‘Yes, the same four men.’
‘Do I have to ask what happened to them?’
‘Not really. I killed them. They’d kidnapped a couple from the village and were forcing them to guide the group to me. They killed the man and were about to rape the woman, so I intervened. Later I brought the woman back to the village. You met her there; Marianna—the matriarch of the village. After that, the villagers would sometimes leave supplies for me in the clearing where I found you. Occasionally Marianna would be there and would wait until I showed myself. We would talk, and she would bring me up to speed on the news that they had of the outside world. She helped me through some difficult times when I really started to lose my way. Marianna is not scared of the cat. She is much like Julio in that respect. I suppose she’d seen me at my worst—when I killed the mercenaries—so all else was less imposing.’ She had fond memories of the tenacious woman. Now that was a woman that really didn’t take “NO” for an answer. Tonal laughed at the memory.
‘I stayed in the area and got more and more familiar with my “special talents”. There were ups and downs. Times that I thought I would drown in the blood and killing urges. I sequestered myself in the caves for weeks on end. Hardly eating, not doing anything but feeling sorry for myself, I guess. A red haze descended on everything that I did or thought. Once again Marianna hauled me out if it. She left me food at the mouth of the cave and stayed there for a whole day and night until I finally showed myself. I was wild then, but still she stayed put. She talked to me, like a mother talks to a child. Reassuring me that I would not hurt her, that I could control this. Slowly, very slowly her words started to sink in. When I came out of the cave I was partially changed, I must have looked frightening. But she persevered. She stayed with me for three days. Slowly I reverted back to human form and finally spoke to her. We talked for a long time. After that she left and told me to come to the village within the next few days.’
Alex saw that the story still had an emotional impact on Tonal.
‘I didn’t dare to go to the village. But Marianna’s belief and blind trust pushed me there anyway. I didn’t want to disappoint her. So finally, I dressed and picking up the little self-esteem that I had left, I walked into the village.’
‘Marianne was waiting
for me at the entrance to the village, her young child on her arm. She welcomed me, introduced me to a lot of people and basically organised a party to celebrate my visit. It was so unexpected. So foreign to what I had thought would happen. Initially it frightened me, but I was soon caught up in the enthusiasm and genuine friendship that these people radiated. I only stayed at the village until the next day. Then I left. Baby steps. But Marianna kept including me in festivities, looked me up and my visits to them became more and more frequent and lasted longer. We have basically been looking out for each other since.’
‘Were there other visitors in those long years?’
‘Jesus came to visit once, after I had been there for about three years. He stayed for a few hours. Other than that, most of the visitors were the General’s family, or others that were linked to him. I believe that I must have killed about four or five direct members of his clan in these years, that and a multitude of mercenaries that accompanied them. They don’t seem to be able to get it in their thick skulls that they cannot kill me. However, much they may want to.’
She was silent for a while.
‘After each confrontation, I descended into a deep depression.’ It was clear that it was difficult for her to talk about. ‘I felt that I was immersed in the blood. I wanted to keep on killing. It took every bit of my restraint not to. I isolated myself in the caves or once even miles away, just to make sure that I didn’t accidentally kill anyone from the village. Slowly, I managed to gain control and feel safe again.’
‘Does this happen when you are the cat? Is it related?’
‘No, I don’t think it has much to do with the change. More with what I kill. As the cat, and sometimes as a human, I kill to eat, mostly animals in the forest, but then only what I need and to survive. It happens when I kill humans.’
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