Missions of the Retrieval Team - Kilts in a Cage

[davedove]

Scene 23

Factory Compound of General Ricos

We slowly turned around to face the guards who had caught us. They quickly came to us and took the rifle I was still carrying. All the while, other guards kept their rifles trained on us.

They motioned for us to move and we walked in the direction indicated. I noticed that Livingston seemed to be getting weaker. He was probably losing a lot of blood from his wound.

As the guards led around a building, we were taken to the man standing there. Lieutenant Secuaz was now awake and apparently directing the guards as they struggled with the jailbreak.

“We captured these two trying to get through the fence,” the Corporal said to Secuaz in Spanish.

The Lieutenant turned to look at us and sneered. “So,” he said to me. “It’s you, the same one who caused the problem when you arrived. Did you really think you could escape from here?”

I knew I had to buy time for the others. “I thought it was worth a shot,” I said. “We almost made it.”

“But the guards caught you.”

“Yes, but that was pure luck. They’re not trained very well.”

I could see the anger rise in the Lieutenant. He motioned to one of the guards, who stepped towards me and drove the butt of his rifle into my stomach.

I doubled over in pain and dropped to the ground. Livingston, too weak to stand on his own, fell beside me.

“I trained these guards myself!” said Secuaz. “They are more than trained enough to stop the likes of you!”

Secuaz barked an order to the guards. “Go help the others! Round up all the prisoners!”

“But Sir,” one of the guards objected. “Shouldn’t someone stay here with you to guard these two?”

“It is only two unarmed men, and one of them is wounded. Do you question my ability to control them?” It seemed his anger might soon be directed at the guard.

“No sir,” the guard quickly answered and moved away with his companions.

“Now,” said the Lieutenant after the guards had left. “It appears you are just a trouble maker. I would have killed you before if the General had not stopped me. But the General is not here now. I’m afraid I will have to shoot you two as you attempted to escape.”

He raised his pistol and pointed it at my head.

[Livingston]

I get a new job offer and take a vacation but look what happens to me. Shot in the line of duty again.

[Splash_4]

Yeah, Yeah, shot in the leg.... but what we really want to know is if the pith helmet was saved??

[Jock Scot]

I get a new job offer and take a vacation but look what happens to me. Shot in the line of duty again.

But you do it so well.

[davedove]

I get a new job offer and take a vacation but look what happens to me. Shot in the line of duty again.

But you do it so well.

Sorry, but I have to say it.

"Oh no! They've shot Livingston!"

Here I have you making all kinds of heroic and self-sacrificing actions and statements and all you can think about is getting shot.

[davedove]

Yeah, Yeah, shot in the leg.... but what we really want to know is if the pith helmet was saved??

Sorry, wrong character, that's Coemgen you're thinking of. Unfortunately, the captors probably confiscated that along with the sporrans.

[davedove]

Scene 24

Factory Compound of General Ricos

Just before Secuaz could pull the trigger, a shadow moved behind him and something came down on his head. His finger still pulled, but the blow knocked his aim off and the bullet buried itself in the ground several feet from me.

Secuaz slumped to the ground and I could see who had hit him. It was an unassuming woman who stood there holding a club fashioned from a board. I recognized her from the ship as the woman known as ladygriffin.

“Thank you,” I told her as I moved to get the pistol away from Secuaz. I quickly turned to Livingston to help him. He was losing a lot of blood so I tore off some of my shirt to bandage his wound.

“How are you holding up?” I asked him.

“It hurts!” he said as I applied pressure to stop the bleeding.

I heard a small thump behind me and turned to see what it was. Ladygriffin had dropped the club and was staring at the Lieutenant. Her skin had gone pale and her eyes were wide open.

“Is … is he …. dead?” she asked tentatively.

I knew what was happening. This was the first time she had ever had to use violence against someone. The shock of what she had done was hitting her.

“Easy Julie,” I said. “He’s not dead. He will be unconscious for a long time and will probably have an incredible headache for a long time. If you hadn’t hit him, I would be dead now. Now, I need you to come over here and help me. Livingston has been shot and I need your help to get him out of here.”

She looked at Livingston as if seeing him for the first time. It took a moment for comprehension to set in, but she seemed to snap out her spell and moved to help me.

Together we helped Livingston to his feet and supported him as we started to move away.

[davedove]

Scene 25

Factory Compound of General Ricos

“Julie,” I asked, “Why are you alone? Where are the other women?”

“I don’t know,” she answered. “Rebecca started tearing boards from the bunks and handing them out. She told us we were about to escape and that we should use them as clubs. Then the men opened the door and everyone rushed out. Rebecca and some others took off in one direction and everyone else took off in another. Then the gunfire started and I got turned around and I didn’t know what to do, so I just hid. When I looked again, everyone was gone. I tried finding someone and kept hiding when guards showed up. Then, I saw that man about to shoot you and I knew I had to do something.”

“And I’m glad you did. Do you know if the children were released?”

“I don’t know. I’ve told you everything I know.” She paused a moment, then looked at me hopefully. “Are we going to get out of here?”

“We’re going to do our best,” I reassured her.

We moved as quickly as we could while avoiding being seen. As we rounded a corner, a group of five guards spotted us and began firing.

We quickly ducked back between the buildings to run the other way. We heard the guards pursuing us.

We rounded another corner to move between two buildings. We were becoming desperate to find an escape route.

Unfortunately, the route we had chosen was not it. At the end of the gap between the buildings was a fence, blocking our way.

I looked around for any cover I could find. All I could find was a small depression next to the buildings. “Quick,” I ordered, “Get down against the building there.”

I quickly got down in front of them, lying prone with the Lieutenant’s pistol pointed back the way we had come.

The guards were not stupid; they knew they had us trapped. The first guard poked his head around the corner. Apparently, he didn’t see us in the shadows of the buildings, as he slowly came around the corner.

I waited until most of his body came into view, and then squeezed off a shot. The bullet struck him square in the chest and he flew backwards from the impact.

Unfortunately, the pistol I had taken from the Lieutenant, a Colt M1911A1, although a fine weapon, only carried eight shots maximum, seven in the magazine and one in the chamber. I had already fired one round and I couldn’t count on the eighth round, so I only had six rounds left at a maximum. That was assuming the Lieutenant had a full magazine and hadn’t fired any rounds.

The guards were probably deciding what to do, as I heard some voices from their direction, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying.

Suddenly, two guards sprinted across the opening to the other side. I quickly fired off two shots at them. The first shot hit the leading guard, but my second shot missed.

With two guards down, that left three that I knew of, assuming no reinforcements showed up. And I had four rounds in the magazine, maximum.

Another guard swung his rifle around to fire at me, so I fired a round in his direction. Unfortunately, this bullet also missed, knocking some wood from the corner where it hit the building.

That was not the only bad news. Apparently, the Lieutenant had fired off a few rounds before I took his pistol. I was out of ammunition.

One of the guards pointed his rifle around the corner and fired off a burst. The bullets did not come close to us, but I also couldn’t return fire.

After firing a few more bursts, the guards realized there was no return fire. The first guard slowly came around the corner, his rifle at the ready. When no gunfire came in his direction the other two guards followed him.

The three guards slowly made there way in our direction, their rifles pointed at us.

[davedove]

Scene 25


Factory Compound of General Ricos


As the guards kept their attention in our direction, they didn’t notice the three people who moved behind them.

The newcomers stepped up behind the guards, but didn’t move to disarm them. Instead the newcomers’ fists jabbed at the necks of the guards.

The guards spun around to face their attackers. Before they could fire their rifles, they suddenly collapsed on the ground shrieking in agony.

As I watched, the newcomers, obviously women, grabbed the guard’s rifles and started to leave. I recognized one of them.

“Ms. Stork!” I called out.

She spun about and looked in my direction. Apparently, they had not seen us in the shadows, but now knew where we were. They ran down to join us.

As they got closer, I could see that the two women with Ms. Stork were Ms. Pleater and the woman from my table on the ship, Di. Ms. Pleater, seeing Livingston’s wound quickly moved to check on him.

“I’m glad to see you,” I said to Ms. Stork. Looking down to the guards, still writhing on the ground, I asked her, “What did you do to them?”

“Just a little something we made up for the escape. I saw something when I went back to the women’s barracks after visiting you. I thought I recognized them, and Ms. Pleater confirmed it.”

“What was that?”

“Mad peppers,” answered Ms. Pleater. “Or, more properly, Capsicum delirium. They are native to the Yucatan peninsula, although they are very rare. They are more than just hot peppers. The capsaicin within them is different than that of other chilies. If you open one of these chilies, you will find a thin layer of a mucous inside. This mucous has special properties.”

“Normally,” she continued, “If you cook the peppers, this substance in neutralized. They are still hot, but the other properties are lost.”

I looked back at the guards, still writhing in pain. “What properties are those?”

“When a small amount of the mucous,” she continued, “Is injected into the bloodstream, it is an extreme irritant to the blood vessels.”

“How irritating?”

“Well, I’m sure you have eaten some very hot peppers. You know how it burns. Imagine that inside your body, only one hundred times as bad. And it starts burning almost instantaneously.”

“Yikes,” was all I could think to say.

“And that’s not all. Once the substance makes its way through the bloodstream, irritating all the way, and reaches the brain, it is a strong hallucinogen.” She herself looked back to the guards. “Right about now, I would say that those guards think they are burning in the very flames of Hell.”

“How did you administer it?”

“Needles would have been best, but we didn’t have those, so small slivers of wood we tore from the boards worked adequately.”

“Remind me to stay on your good side,” I said to her, only half in jest. I saw she was done with Livingston. “How’s he doing?”

“He has lost a lot of blood, but he should be okay if we can get him some treatment. He’s stable for now.”

“Good,” I nodded to her, Di, and Julie. “You three take Livingston and make your way to the gate. Ms. Stork and I will cover you.”

Ms. Pleater handed me the rifle she had taken and bent to help Julie support Livingston. Di carried the other rifle and helped guard our escape.

We did make sure to take any extra magazines from the fallen guards. I was tired of running out of ammo.

[Jock Scot]

Come on Mr.Livingston!Where is your stiff uppper lip?It could be worse it could be me!