PULAU MATI (15 page)

“Paolo?” she asked tearfully and put her arms around him.

“Yes.”
  He was feeling sick at heart but glanced around at the others.  They were all carrying their weapons.

Anna said, “We laid out two mines in case they followed you back or…”

“Good.  Good work,” he said a little louder to the others.  He told them three pirates had flanked Paolo just before he got to him and they had wounded him.  Paolo had set off the mine so the pirates did not get it.  Gray led them around to the flat where they could sit together.

“Where are the pirates?” Shinobu asked.

“The three went east up the trail.  I don’t think they will come back right away.  Maybe when they get back and report what they found, the whole bunch of them will head this way.  Keegan, will you help me carry his body back for burial?”

“
Of course.”

“
May I see the Glock?” Gray asked, pointing to where the young Irishman had it stuffed under his belt.

“
Of course.”

Gray
unloaded and examined the Glock and was unsure if it would function safely as it had some large gouges in the frame and a deep one across the slide which was especially worrisome.  He worked the slide several times, inserted the clip and dry fired it.  Keegan sat down by him and asked quietly, “Well et work?”

“I’m pretty sure it will fire but I am afraid the slide will separate and injure the shooter.”

“Don’t yer trust me with it?”

“
I trust yer, Kaygun, with me life, but not the gun.  Will you promise to use it only in a desperate situation?”

“
I will.  And thank yer for the trust.”

Gray handed the young man the pistol and he immediately chambered a round.  “
I want ter be prepared for the situation.”

Gray considered
demanding the young Irishman remove the round from the chamber but should he need the pistol, the noise of chambering a round could give him away at a most critical time.  Gray discussed the safety issue versus the noise issue with Keegan and the young man agreed to carry it unloaded until they were likely to encounter an enemy.

Carrying their weapons and a couple of blankets, Gray and Keegan descended to the shelter where they picked up the long bamboo poles they had used for a stretcher.  In twenty minutes they had Paolo’s body back.  Dayah and Anna had come down to help with the burial.  Shinobu came down with the mirror to act as lookout again.
  They buried Paolo next to Malik and Lleyton.  Only five left out of the ten who had lived through the crash.  Six if Melanie was still alive.

It was a somber and quiet group that climbed up to the flat.  Gray checked out where
they had set the Claymore mines and said they had done a good job concealing them and also of placing them where someone might approach the flat.  The cover for the lookout operating the clacker was well chosen.  Dayah took first watch while the others went to the flat.

Gray climbed the northwest side of the peak and glassed the clearing.  T
he only men he saw were at the dock by the motorboat.  The boat moved out into the bay with three men aboard.  Four men carrying rifles hurried across the clearing, two split off and headed toward the head of the trail.  The other two went to the hut.  He wondered if they were the only two men at the hut.  Counting the three in the boat, two going up the trail, the two that went to the hut and the two killed today, that made nine, the number they had seen arrive yesterday.  He focused the binoculars back onto the motorboat expecting it to go to the ship but instead it was heading north when it went out of sight behind the trees.  Had the pirates sent men west on the trail after the three returned that had shot Paolo?  If so that meant there were more than nine pirates which was worrisome but more worrisome was what had they done with Melanie?

When Gray returned to the flat,
Anna said they should eat while the perishable food they had recovered was still good. Despite their sorrow they all agreed with her.  She handed out sandwiches, fruit and drinks.

Keegan was working on his spear while he ate.  Using the hack saw, he had cut the point from the spear and was now cutting a lengthwise slit into the end of it.  Gray knelt by him to watch.  The young man worked the handle of one of the smaller knives they had taken from the hut into the hollow end of the bamboo spear until the handle was completely inside the hollow of the bamboo.  Keegan then wrapped wind after wind of twine around the end.  When he tied it off, the six inch blade knife would not budge.

“Deadly,” Gray said and slapped the young man on the shoulder.  “Where’s that piece of the pole I had you bring?”

Keegan rose to get it.  When he handed it over, Gray
moved closer to Shinobu so he could talk in a soft voice. The pole was tipped with a small hooked blade.  “Shinobu, what do you make of this pole the two men had with them?  And the bucket and the net bag?”

Anna and Dayah move
d closer to hear.

“And the shovel,” the old man added, smiling.  “I believe they were going to harvest papaya or some high growing fruit with the pole and carry them back in the bag.  The bucket and shovel were for clams.”

Gray grinned.  “Mmmm, a sweet papaya sounds so good right now.  And clams in garlic and butter.”

The others groaned and Anna poked him for torturing them with visions of delicious food they could not have.

Gray went on.  “The fruit must be to the south where we have not explored much.  Where might the clams be?”

Shinobu answered, “Some types will be under the sand along the surf.  If there is a tidal flat, another type might be there.
  And of course this area is known for giant clams but one must dive the coral reefs for those.”

“Something to keep in mind if we get the opportunity
,” Gray said.

“You wish
to make the pirates think we are cannibals?”

It took Gray a moment to understand what Shinobu was referring too.  He did not know the old man had seen him remove the hunk of flesh
from the pirate.  “Yes, good idea or bad?”

“Anything that make
s them fear us, or hesitate to be aggressive, is a good idea.  We have inferior numbers and are therefore at a disadvantage.”

“Do you think they are Muslim?”

“I saw no evidence of that at the hut.  To the contrary.  I don’t think their imam would allow the posters on the wall of the hut.  Why do you ask?”

“I was wondering if they would come for their dead before sundown.”
  He nodded out to the west where the sun was about three hours from the horizon.

Anna had been sitting quiet but with a worried look on her face.  “Gray, what do you think they have done with Melanie?”

The question had been in the back of Gray’s mind and the implications had been gnawing at him, filling him with dread because he had not foreseen everything that killing of the men on the trail today might trigger. He sighed loudly and closed his eyes.  His face must have revealed his dread because Anna said, “Gray?”

“
I did not think of it this morning.  I should have but when we set off the mine I think one of the first things the pirates probably did was question Melanie about it.”

Keegan’s fists clenched but he
did not say anything.  Shinobu said, “Gray, none of us thought of it.”

Anna said, “I do not think Melanie ha
s told them about us.  The two men we killed today were talking loudly and hardly watching where they were going.  They would not have done that it they knew others were on the island, would they, Gray?”

“
That is a very good observation.  There is no doubt they noticed all the missing stuff from the hut and would have questioned her about it by now.  She must have told them a good story, and pulled it off.”

Anna started to speak but suddenly lifte
d her head.  The sound of a motor drifted up to the flat from somewhere north of the island.  They moved to the tree line and peered through the foliage to the north.  The motorboat from the ship was rounding the north end of the island and turning south.  Gray and the others moved to the west end of the flat and knelt behind cover.  The boat slowed and moved in close to shore but did not stop.  A mounted machine gun was manned in the center of the boat.  Gray recognized the orange shirt of the second in command behind the machine gun.  One man sat in the stern with a rifle and another stood at the helm in front.  The boat passed below the ledge on which Gray and his companions were crouched and was within range of the AK-74.  He resisted opening fire upon them.

The
motorboat idled along the shore, all eyes focused on the tree line and the machine gun pointed the same direction.  The man at the helm held what looked like a small two-way radio in his hand and was talking into it.  The boat passed directly over the wreck but no one aboard appeared to notice although Gray was sure the two pieces could be seen from the boat.  Maybe the low angle of the sun was preventing them from seeing the wreck.  It was possible the men were not aware of the wreck which meant Melanie and Lex must not have mentioned it or at least did not divulge the location.

Anna and Shinobu were
close beside him, peering through the brush to follow the boat.  “Guys, I considered opening fire on them as they passed.  At that range I may have been able to kill some of them if not all.”

“I wondered,” Anna said.  “I believed you had reason not to.”

“I thought the same,” Shinobu said.

“
Too many reasons.  The rifle is untested. And they could have seen the cave from their angle.  If I did not kill all of them they would guess we might be using the cave and try to attack us here.  I was thinking we needed to have a safe place to rest above all else.  But it is possible they already know about this cave and will eventually come up here to check it out.”

“
We have the mines set up.” Anna said.

“Yes.  And we will have to consider manning the clacker
s twenty four seven.”

“You said they could be detonated using trip wires.”

“I did, but the pirates will be watching for trip wires now.  That is why we have to man the clackers all the time that the mines are deployed.  I do not want them to reacquire any of the mines should they discover one of our booby traps.  If they do not have any mines on the ship I want to keep it that way. ”

“It seems the cave should be easy to defend,” Anna said.

Shinobu shook his head.  “Correct me if wrong, Gray, they might stand off out of range of our rifle and fire the machine gun into the cave.  They may have a cannon or rocket launcher on board the ship to use against the cave.  No, the cave is a death trap if they know of it or discover it.”

“You are not wrong, Shinobu.”

“Thank you.  But perhaps we can use the cave to lure them here while we go someplace else,” the old man said.

“We are listening
.” Gray said.

“While they are drawn he
re, we go to the other side.  Depending upon what we find, play it by ear, set mines, maybe rescue the young woman, burn the hut.”

“
I’m for that!” Keegan said a little too loudly and the others shushed him.

Gray
glanced at the others.  “I wish we had two or three more rifles before we try something like that.  But this might be an opportunity to get them.  I’m thinking the two men that started up the trail are working their way to the beach through the jungle from the saddle on down.  Maybe hoping to catch someone from behind whose attention is on the boat.  I’m thinking if the two men do not come back by boat, they will come straight down the trail because they will think it is safe, especially near the hut.  So we have some options but we would have to move fast.”

There were murmurs of agreement, most sounded enthusiastic.  Gray turned to Anna and asked, “Any reservations?”

“I will follow what you choose.”

“Keegan?”

“No reservations.”

“Dayah?”

“I also follow you.”

“Shinobu?”

He laughed softly.  “It was my idea.”

Chapter VII
I    Day Four, Second Plan

If it were not for Melanie they could be conservative and take much smaller risks.  If the remaining pirates tried to hunt them, Gray and his companions could set up ambushes and eliminate them one by one.  If the men left the island, he and his companions could find enough food and simply wait for rescue or possibly build a boat and sail north.  But if the men left the island
and she was still alive they might choose to take her with them, perhaps to ransom.  As Paolo said, she had put herself in harms way but Gray thought he understood why she had done it and he could forgive her.  Whether she could forgive herself or not was another question.  He was sure the others felt as he did by their positive reaction to just the mention of a plan to rescue her.  Now if he could just get Paolo out of his head and stop wondering why he had done what he did and get on with their plan.

They did not have a
clear plan.  “We’ll go light and fast,” Gray said.  “We’ll take all the mines, water, blankets and food from the cave so if the pirates come to the cave they will not find anything.  We’ll drop most of it off someplace close but hidden so we do not have to carry it.”

First they had to get the
ir gear out of the cave.  They agreed on simple signals indicating whether or not the cave was in sight of the motorboat.  A waved fist was okay to go into the cave.  A waving open hand meant it was not safe.

Gray
scrambled up the peak and located the boat.  It was idling south and even if it turned around immediately it would not soon come back to where those aboard could see them going in and out of the cave.  He waved his fist and climbed down to help them empty the cave.  They quickly parsed out the load on the flat and then headed into the jungle on a south east course.

Initially the going was frustrating in the heavy brush
with their cumbersome loads but once into the taller trees it was easier.  Gray had saved the battery in his phone but it had still diminished even without use.  He brought up the compass function, verified their heading but did not shut if off completely thinking the boot up process used a lot of battery.

A short distance from the peak they found a rock formation surrounded by heavy jungle growth.  When Gray pushed through the foliage to the rock he found an overhang th
at would keep their blankets and the mines dry.  On his phone he brought up the GPS function which he had long ago found could be made independent of cellular connection, and took a reading.  Leaving all but three mines, a spool of wire, some tools, their weapons, water and a small amount of food, they took off at a fast pace. Shinobu suggested the others run ahead because a few minutes could make a difference to their mission, even though they did not have a clear one. He said the south peak, which was occasionally visible through the canopy, could lead him to the clearing.  Gray told the old man they expected to find him in cover at the northwest corner of the clearing.

Not worrying about the noise they were making
and lightly loaded, Anna, Keegan, Dayah and Gray went at a jog through the forest.  Gray had only hope that Melanie was still alive.  If some of the men had seen one of the adventure movies she had made, they might recognize her and see some value in her other than the obvious entertainment.  If she was again shackled at the post, the hack saw gave them a slim chance of freeing her.  Although his desire to free Melanie was painfully strong, the real priority was to acquire more rifles.  He hoped the others did not disagree with that.

They reached the northwest corner of
the clearing and stopped in the cover at its edge.  Melanie was lying motionless in the dirt by the pole.  With the binoculars he could see that she was again shackled and it dawned on Gray that it meant whoever had remained at the hut had a key to the shackles.  It was nearly impossible to resist attacking whoever was in the hut, taking the key and freeing her.  The only things that kept him from it were them having only a single rifle and the thought of the two men who might be coming down the trail to the clearing at this moment.  He scanned the clearing and the ship and then the hut.  A man was standing about where the stove was located.  Gray watched the man for a while and then a second man rose, presumably from a cot and held a small device to his ear, likely a two way radio.

With hand signals Gray
informed his companions there were two men in the hut.  A distant rumble came from the southeast where a line of menacing clouds lay on the horizon.

Gray
was about to lead his group back into the jungle and west along the trail when the sound of footsteps came from the jungle behind them.  He turned the rifle in the direction of the sound and caught a glimpse of the grass hat Shinobu had woven for himself.  The old man had navigated to exactly the point he was expected.  Shinobu jerked in surprise when he saw Gray and the others but did not make any sound.  Gray signaled that two men were in the hut.  In silence the five headed west parallel to the trail.  The sun had dropped below the saddle.  All the light on this side of the island was indirect and turned the jungle somber and dreary, matching their mood.  They could still see to move through the jungle easily enough but that would only last about two more hours and then it would get very dark.

Four hundred
yards up the trail at a series of turns, Gray stopped.  After the turns, the trail ran straight up slope for two or three hundred yards which gave them ample warning if the men came down the trail. 

He was banking on there only being two men
coming down the trail and the simplest and safest method to getting their weapons was to shoot them when they were at a range he could not miss.  He had the rifle, Shinobu had the revolver and in a pinch, Keegan had the Glock.  They could use the Claymores but as experience showed, the mines damaged the weapons.  A few rifle shots would alert the men in the hut but not give them a definite location of the source.  A Claymore sent up a cloud of debris, dust and smoke that precisely marked the source.  Ideally he would have liked to get the weapons silently but successful ambushes of that nature were generally limited to TV and movies.  Men with guns and especially men who used guns in their livelihood can get off shots, making it far too dangerous an undertaking for his group of rank amateurs.

Keegan and Dayah were whispering and drawing something in the dirt.  Gray
had squatted in the cover at the bend in the trail and was selecting the best position to shoot from and judging where the men should be when he fired.  He did not trust the rifle’s accuracy although he was fairly confident it would fire.  The sights could not be so far off that he would miss if he waited until they were inside 75 feet.  Because of the lack of confidence in the accuracy, he was forced to go with chest shots for both men.  His preference would have been a head shot for the first, a sure kill from having plenty of time to aim, and then snap shots to the chest of the second man.  On the off chance the rifle did not fire, he would place Shinobu on the right side of the trail to take the leading or right hand man and Keegan on the other side to take the trailing or left hand man.  They were to fire if Gray had not fired by the time the men reached a marker he would place in the trail.

Keegan and Dayah motioned Anna and Shinobu to their conference.  Gray did not want to leave the trail unmonitored so he did not join them.  They were keeping the noise down enough
and he could shush them should someone appear up the trail.  There was the possibility of someone coming up the trail from the clearing.  He motioned for one of the group to come to him.  All of them moved to his side.

“
Dayah, will you watch the trail coming up from the clearing?”

The
young woman nodded happily and took off east through the jungle.  Anna knelt by him and whispered.  “You told us that it would be ideal if we could get weapons silently.  Does that still stand?”

Gray gave her a sideways glance.  “It does…”

“We have a plan.”  Anna outlined their plan.  They proposed stringing a wire six inches above the ground across the trail after the first turn.  When the men coming down the trail were about a hundred feet away, Dayah would walk onto the trail, pretend to be surprised by the men and take off running.  One or both of the men would run after her, trip, and Gray, Keegan, Anna and Shinobu would jump from the jungle and stab them with spears.

Gray considered it a pretty solid plan until he thought
it through.  “Anna, that is very brave of Dayah to volunteer to do that and brave of all of you to go with only spears against men armed with rifles.   But men can still fire weapons when stabbed if they have not already been stunned and they do not die very quickly which makes it terribly dangerous for you.  I think we might actually succeed in killing them but at a cost we do not need to pay.  Two or three of us might wind up dead. Baseball bats might actually be better than spears because a bat to the head will stun them immediately if not kill them outright.”

Anna listened and when Gray was finished gave him a sheepish smile and
nodded.

Gray glanced
up at Keegan and Shinobu.  Keegan did not appear happy but Shinobu smiled and nodded in agreement.  The young Irishman said, “I could cut a club air two.”

“The silence is not worth the risk.  We would be forced to take those risks if we did not have firearms, but we do. 
It is kind of like what Paolo did.  He did not have to take that risk.”

“Aye, an
d he lost a rifle doing it.”

Gray did not add that he also lost his life doing it.  “Anyway, Keegan, t
he shots will just sound like pops to those at the hut with this distance and the jungle absorbing the sound.  We’ll grab the weapons, carry the bodies into the jungle so they are not found and then I have an idea you’ll like.”

“
I will old yer to that.”

Gray led Shinobu and Keegan a ways up the trail, pulled a
large, dying leaf from a bush and laid it at the edge of the trail.  He explained which men they were to shoot if he had not fired by the time the men reached the leaf.  “And when I fire, do not jump out into the trail until I am done shooting.  I will yell, go, when I am done.”

Keegan took up position twenty
five feet down the trail from the leaf marker and Shinobu dashed across the trail and took up a position on the other side.  Gray told Anna about the go signal and sent her back to tell Dayah to stay in her position until she heard shooting or saw someone coming up the trail.  In either case she was to run up through the jungle and join the others.

They swatted insects but kept motion to a minimum
as the light grew dimmer.  No one complained.  The failing light was sure to cut the pirates’ foray short so their wait would not be much longer.

Gray
listened for the sound of the motorboat but instead of the burbling exhaust of the motorboat, thunder rumbled from the southeast.  He guessed the boat took nearly as long to go around the island as it took someone to walk across the trail.  If the motorboat arrived at the dock, it might mean the walking men had ridden back in the boat rather than take the trail so all his group’s preparation and waiting was a waste.

But their waiting was not a waste. 
In the dim light two men walking single file came around the bend far up the trail.  Gray gave the short bird whistle to alert the others.  Keegan, Shinobu, Paolo and Anna had successfully ambushed the two men earlier so Gray had confidence they would maintain silence and stay motionless.

The men
coming down the trail had their rifle slings over their shoulders which meant they no longer feared ambush.  When the two men were within a hundred yards, Gray raised the rifle with the selector set on single fire.  Then they were fifty yards away, then twenty five and when he had a clear shot at the man in the rear he fired and then fired at the man in the front.  The man in the rear crumpled backward, the one in front stumbled to his knees and was pulling his rifle from its slung position when Gray fired again.  The man fumbled the rifle and toppled sideways as Gray yelled, “Go!”

Anna and Keegan jumped out of the foliage
and drove their spears into the bodies of the men.  Anna grunted savagely as she drove the bamboo spear into the man’s chest.  When there was no movement from the body other than that imparted by the thrust of her spear, Anna threw the weapon aside and pulled a bandolier of clips off the man’s shoulder and picked up his rifle.  Keegan held up a rifle, a pistol and another bandolier of clips.  The men had gone out well prepared for a firefight.  Grey removed a two way radio that was clipped to the top of the closest man’s shorts.

Rather than
dragging the men off the trail and leaving crushed vegetation, Gray and Keegan carried the men by arms and legs into the jungle and dropped them behind thick foliage. Dayah had joined them and they took off north into the jungle as fast as the dim light allowed.

After
they had hiked about ten minutes, Gray brought up the GPS function on his phone, selected the way point for their hidden gear and discovered it was very close.  They located the hiding place, shouldered their new loads and headed for the peak.  At the tree line Gray sent the others around to the right and he went to the left and climbed down toward the shelter.  Before leaving the jungle, he squat and listened for the motorboat but heard nothing.  He went out to the beach and turned to face the peak.  Anna, golden in the setting sun, waved to him from the foliage along the edge of the plateau that ran north from the peak. Perfect.