by John Day
At the appointed time, 20 minutes later, Mendez opened fire on the surprisingly few villagers in the compound. He wasn’t concerned though, he knew the firing would draw out the rest, to be gunned down.
The rustling in the bushes behind him took him by surprise. He and his men turned to find warriors had crept up behind them.
It was now a close quarters battle to the death, bullet versus spear and club.
Alan had also noticed the steady migration of natives from the village and saw it as his best chance to release Walter and Benny. Together they stood a chance of getting the girls out.
Just then, the shooting started.
Mendez with his guns, was all the distraction Alan needed and he dashed for the stockade. A cannibal heard him run up and threw his spear. It would have been a kill shot, but Alan was a good squash player and had sharp reactions. He felt the wind of the spear against his arm as he dodged sideways.
He charged the man and headbutted him in the gut. Winded, the man staggered back against the stockade. Following through with a right hook, dropped the man on the spot. Grabbing the fallen guard’s club, Alan threw it to spoil the aim of the next spear throwing guard.
Running towards the next guard, Alan yelled out “Walter, Benny, go to the entrance gate, I am getting you out.”
Using his momentum, Alan leapt up in a flying drop kick, throwing the surprised guard to the rock-hard ground, and he lay there momentarily stunned.
A third guard ran at Alan wielding his club. At the last moment, Alan dropped to the ground and rolled into the man’s shins, knocking him off his feet.
Springing back up again, Alan threw off the wooden bar that held the stockade gate shut.
Instantly the gate flew open, animals charged out, followed by Walter and Benny. Walter clubbed the bowled over guard and threw the weapon at the head of the remaining one. It connected with a loud crack and the cannibal dropped like a stone.
Breathless, Alan shouted. “Let’s grab the girls! Follow me.”
Walter was surprised at how fast Benny could run, now his life was at stake.
Together the three men burst into the large hut where Ellen and Sarah were being held. All the women screamed in surprise and grabbed their two prisoners. The three men firmly pushed the chief’s concubines away from the girls.
Free at last, the five ran for their lives into the cover of the jungle.
“We had better head for the plateau,” barked Walter on the run. “The path is easier to follow and the last thing we need is to lose our way in the dark. After that, we can decide whether we keep going or hide for the night.”
Sarah agreed. “Sounds like a plan, Walter.”
As they groped their way back to the well-worn path, a few spears zizzed towards them, but passed into the darkness.
Walter and Alan turned on the spear-throwers and quickly laid them out with body and head punches. A technique the cannibals would remember for a different fight.
Back on the main path, speed was everyone’s concern. Walter let Alan lead, as they approached the plateau. He dropped back to protect the rear from pursuing natives, or Mendez and his men. The best pace they could manage was a very brisk walk.
They constantly fended off the lash of foliage whipping their faces and limbs as they rushed on. The faint glimmer of moonlight filtering through the canopy, showed the pathway as a dark tunnel in the undergrowth.
It was much cooler now, although that never crossed anyone’s mind, as they focussed on getting as far away from the gun-shots as possible.
Stumbling on, towards the perceived safety of the plateau, they finally reached it. A glance around was enough to see the natives hadn’t tried to uncover the cave.
The gunfire suddenly stopped. Obviously, the battle was over for either the cannibals or Mendez, and the jungle noises quickly returned.
The five paused to regain their breath, then set off again in single file, back down the long, narrow path, to the beach. The pace was much slower now. It was easy to veer off into the jungle, because the path was so indistinct in the dark.
An hour went by and they all believed they were now safe, when disaster struck…
Alerted.
It had been a quiet time for Major Perez, from a military point of view. The recent storm had curtailed planned training operations.
If only his private life wasn’t such a mess. He had a gambling addiction that had spiralled out of control, and now his wife was leaving him. The wife was not an insurmountable problem, but lack of money was. The Government owned his home, so he had no assets to cash in.
The Major had large debts to repay and they were due in two weeks.
He looked around his comfortable office for inspiration, but like all the other times he had looked, the answer was still the same. Nothing!
A Columbian drug lord had offered to clear the debt, for arms and a troop-carrying helicopter. It was a tempting offer, but it would mean the death of the flight crew. That was preferable to his own death, of course.
The plan was to transport some equipment, arms and ammunition on a routine helicopter flight. The pilot would receive a wad of cash to pick up a civilian on route, off the books.
The civilian would be a skilled pilot in the employ of the Columbian and would hijack the aircraft. By maintaining low altitude, it would appear to radar and coms that it had crashed somewhere in the jungle. A search would never find it and the affair would soon be forgotten.
Deal done.
***
The Major’s phone rang and he snatched it up.
An unfamiliar voice enquired. “Hello, is that Major Perez?”
“Yes.” He snapped. “And you are?”
“Brigade HQ, 5th Jungle Infantry Division. Sergeant Lopez speaking.
“Sorry to trouble you sir, but an event has occurred and we need you to investigate the cause.
“Our weather satellite detected a substantial bright flash of light. It coincided with the acoustic detection of a large explosion 4 miles off shore, up near Cabo San Juan del Guia. I have orders for you to investigate immediately.”
Major Perez welcomed the distraction. Now that the storm had passed, there was no reason to delay.
“Send me the details you have, and my orders. I will investigate as soon as I have organised the appropriate resources.”
“Thank you, sir. They will be sent to you in the next few minutes.”
Perez replaced the telephone and leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers as he thought about this god-sent opportunity.
A pretty Brazilian girl knocked and entered the office. Perez looked up at her sweet face, his wife leaving him was a blessing. He reached out and took the documents she had brought in for him. They included his orders.
He smiled and nodded she could leave.
His orders were simple, find out what the cause of the event was and report back to HQ. It was up to him to decide how to deal with the investigation.
He studied the known details and possible reasons for the event, based on the readings recorded by the satellite and ocean listening devices.
The fact that the explosion happened at sea and was a short and intense blast, it was likely the threat was over. The most he would find would be debris and possible wreckage. All their arms and equipment were accounted for, so it must be some other country, up to something dubious.
Sea currents were mapped out, and projections made for the drift of flotsam. A quick looksee would probably be sufficient.
Planned right, this could solve all his financial problems.
Getting up from his desk, he peered out at the girl who was busy typing. He gently closed the office door. Returning to his chair, he tapped a number into his mobile phone.
Just two rings and the person he expected, answered.
“Perez here. Get your man to the following coordinates. I will send the helicopter and a small load of munitions to him. On board will be the pilot and an observer. Make it quick and clean.”
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“Do you have a time for interception?” questioned the voice.
“Not at this moment but be in position before 19.00 hours today.”
“Understood. I will cancel your obligations when we have what is promised.”
“Thank you.” Perez ended the call and deleted it from the log, immediately.
Picking up his desk phone, Perez ordered 20 heavily armed soldiers and two Bell 205A troop carrying helicopters, fitted with light armament. They were to be ready to take off, with him on board, in an hour’s time.
***
The two aircraft followed the coast looking for floating or washed up debris. Eventually they reached the coordinates of the detected flash and circled briefly but saw nothing.
As the flight headed for shore, the Celeste and the stranded Lady Jane caught their attention. Perhaps there was a connection with the vessels. At least being so close to the flash of light, the crews might have seen something and could reveal more information.
Perez checked his watch. He was too early for the pickup of the civilian pilot.
As the helicopters circled the lagoon, villagers who had returned to their huts after the storm, came running out. They prepared to greet the two noisy machines as they landed.
The scream of the turbines and the thump of the slowing rotors died away. The soldiers disembarked and assembled on the beach.
Major Perez spoke to the chief. “Have you or your people seen an explosion out at sea, last night?”
“We were all taking shelter in the jungle when we heard a distant bang, but by the time we reached the sand, we saw nothing except the driving rain. We couldn’t see as far as the shore, it was so heavy.”
Perez snapped his next question. “Where are the people who came in the two boats?”
“Five people were on the white boat. There were three men and two women.” The chief pointed to the catamaran. “They were friendly people and had a party with us. They went into the jungle very early this morning.”
“Many men came ashore from the big ship and had guns. They also went into the jungle soon after a bang, up there.” He pointed up where the cave was. “We saw a tall cloud of smoke and birds above the trees. That was about 3 hours after the others went in.”
With night falling, and the personal deal with the drug lord to complete, Major Perez had planned to camp on the beach and deal with the investigation next morning.
Suddenly, gunfire in the jungle echoed down to the Major and his troops. It was Mendez fighting with the cannibals.
Perez couldn’t imagine what connection this could be to the explosion out at sea, but he was here to investigate all possibilities. He and his men ran at the double, up the beach, following the trail of footprints where they entered the jungle.
Although the gunfire soon stopped, Major Perez was certain the trail would most likely lead them right to the source of the conflict.
By now, the path up to the cannibal village was heavily trampled and distinct. The well-trained soldiers had no problem maintaining a brisk pace through the crushed undergrowth.
With Perez and his armed soldiers, Mendez and his armed men, the aggressive cannibals and the five friends, all meeting up in the jungle, this could only end badly...
The map.
The soldiers moved expertly through the jungle, their night vision equipment showed the path as bright as day, albeit in shades of green. Trained for the jungle, the dangerous environment was second nature to them. They moved almost silently, alert to the possibility of attack by cannibals or the people with guns.
They heard the rustling as the five friends felt their way as quickly as they could, along the narrow path. A hand signal was all it took, for the soldiers to slip silently into the undergrowth, each side of the path, ready to pounce.
Alan was still in the lead, followed by Ellen, Sarah and Benny. Walter still lagged behind somewhat, to listen out for the cannibals, or Mendez, should they be giving chase.
Thinking the group of four were all there were, the soldiers sprang their trap, giving Walter the opportunity to dart away to the side, and hide.
At first, Walter assumed it was Mendez and his men, though how they could have got ahead of him, he didn’t know. Then he heard the voices. He knew they were from a well organised Venezuelan military group, an unexpected development, here in the jungle.
Major Perez had the four searched, though he could see at a glance they weren’t armed. Obviously, they could not have been the source of the gunfire. In his own language, he ordered some men to keep the prisoners under guard. “Escort the prisoners back to the beach and hold them there for questioning. I’m going on with the rest of the men, deeper into the interior. I want to know who is responsible for the gunfire.”
As soon as Perez and the soldiers passed by, Walter realised the patrol had been alerted to the explosion out to sea. Probably by the villagers who lived on the beach. Why else, he wondered, would the military be here?
Hours later, as the four prisoners and their guard approached the beach, Walter hung back and tried to come up with a plan to rescue his friends.
The prospect of all of them languishing in a South American jail was not a pleasant thought. However, Walter decided to bide his time and wait for the main patrol to return. He needed to see how much the Major knew about what had happened here at Cabo San Juan del Guia.
Alan spoke to the Officer in charge. “What are you going to do with us?”
“When the main patrol returns, Major Perez will question you as part of his investigation.”
Sara was at her wits’ end, she needed to shower and slip between clean sheets. She hoped this was just a bad dream and when she woke in the morning, her misery would all be over. “Can we get back on the catamaran for food and a good night sleep?”
The officer of the guard looked at the four dishevelled adventurers and saw no harm in her plea. The officer instructed his men to search the catamaran thoroughly for weapons. Finding none, he allowed the party to stay aboard. He reasoned that beached, they weren’t going anywhere.
The Officer and his few men proceeded to set up a camp site, between the beach and the storm damaged remains of the friendly natives’ huts. They settled down to wait for the Major and the main force to return.
***
Keeping well out of sight, Walter made his way through the jungle and came out opposite Lady Jane. Slowly he crawled across the sand on his belly like a cat stalking prey.
He stood up against the hull, furthest from the troops, and listened to the voices. He just heard the four and much to his friends’ delight, he managed to sneak aboard, unseen.
In the very early hours of the morning, Major Perez and his patrol returned to the beach. He immediately came aboard Lady Jane to question the four.
Walter spotted him approaching and had time to slip over the side and hide in the jungle. He had a plan to put in operation and the early morning darkness suited his needs perfectly.
Major Perez ordered another search of the boat and then asked what the four were all doing here.
Alan decided to provide some answers.
“We sailed from Caracas to take a holiday, planning to do some diving and explore along the coast. Then we spotted the Celeste.
“We were curious about the ship and while we watched them, we discovered they were raising a submarine. When it surfaced, we were invited on board the ship.
“They tricked us. We were treated as guests until the storm broke. Suddenly they cut the sub loose and threw us overboard to drown in the storm. We managed to swim back to Lady Jane but realised we couldn’t survive the storm at sea and beached her.
“During the night, the sub drifted far out to sea and exploded.”
Perez was not convinced Alan was telling him everything. Why would the people on the Celest invite these strangers aboard? “What do you know about the submarine.?”
Alan decided to be economical with the truth. “Whatever it was, it had been on the seabed a long
time. It was totally unrecognisable, covered with barnacles, seaweed, and rust. The crew pumped it out but found nothing of value. Nothing was taken and there were no human remains, according to what we heard.”
“When did the Celeste return?”
Ellen butted in. She hoped to charm the man and adopted her soft and silky tone as she replied. “We never saw it return. It wasn’t here this morning.”
Just then, the officer in charge of their escort called Major Perez away and spoke to him on deck. The four were getting worried now, something that conflicted with what they had said was being brought to the Major’s attention. What could that be?
***
At that moment, Walter crawled on his belly through the sand, towards the nearest helicopter. Apart from the darkness, there was the gentle sound of the sea on the sandy shore, and the bedlam of insects and birds in the jungle, to mask his activities.
The soldiers and pilots guarding the helicopters were no threat. They sat around a blazing log fire some distance away, joking with friends. Walter knew the bright orange flames would destroy their night vision. He could move freely and they would never notice him.
Walter’s challenge was to sabotage both helicopters, in such a way that they would fail soon after take-off and be so incapacitated that they crashed.
His options were quite limited because he only had access to the aircrafts’ workings through a small external side panel. Not only that, he was not familiar with this machine.
The perfect act of sabotage would be a very small hole in the hydraulics system.
The syringe needle from the medical pack, and pliers from the tool kit, would make the perfect puncture through the thick, wire reinforced rubber, hydraulic hose.
It would present in the aircraft as a slightly low pressure reading, but not enough to prevent flying. Once the oil supply became low or exhausted, it would be too late. The aircraft would have insufficient control to land.