Slave Of Destiny (21 page)

Michael woke up in
a cold sweat; the result of a nightmare that was already beginning to fade.
Outside, the first rays of dawn pushed their weak light through the gaps in the
curtains and he saw there were some scattered dark grey clouds. Michael crept
out of bed slowly and stumbled towards the bathroom with the need to use the
toilet becoming urgent. The bad dream was about Sally and how she had been
abducted again; something he had already dismissed, because they wouldn’t be
placed in the same situation again.

After using the
toilet he removed his shorts quickly; he needed to cool off. Michael filled up
the shower bucket with cold water and began to tip a refreshing cup of it over
his head. Suddenly the bathroom door opened and Sally walked in. She draped her
arms around his neck and whispered, “I felt you move restlessly in your sleep,
just before I heard you get up. Is everything alright, darling?”

“I’ll be ok” he
murmured.

“Did your dream
relate to what happened to us?” she enquired.

“No. It was just a
bad dream and I can’t even remember it now” he lied.

“Nothing seems to
make sense about what happened to us” she said.

“Well we were lucky
to come out of a very bad situation, alive” he admitted.

“I just don’t
understand why we were the targets” she said; happy to talk about everything
now.

“What do you mean?”
he asked her curiously.

“They were going to
kill me first, but they had no intention of letting you go” she said.

“Maybe the NPA thought
I was a rich foreigner” he said slowly.

“Maybe, but let’s
forget about it for now and go back in the bedroom” she whispered; taking him
by the hand and leading the way.

Fifty minutes later
they both had showered and were sitting down to a morning coffee.

“Are you going to
be ok while I’m having lunch with Magdella?” she asked.

“I don’t see why
not. I have several books to read and you’ll only be gone for a few hours” he
said.

“Well, I better get
ready and leave soon. Don’t get any hostesses in here while I’m gone” she joked
as she got up; ready to put her make-up on and get dressed.

* * *

Sally groaned as
she opened her eyes, then closed them quickly again. Everything was so bright
and she had a hell of a headache. She forced to open her eyes again, but
everything was blurry.

“Where am I?” she
croaked as she tried to focus her vision; sensing someone sitting in the chair.
“I’m so thirsty.”

“You’re in hospital
and I’m so glad you’re all right, love” Michael whispered as he jumped up out
of the chair.

Michael poured her
a cup of water, raised her head with his arm and held the cup to her tender
lips.

“How did I get here
why am I here?” she asked worriedly.

“How much do you
remember, darling?” he urged, seeing the despair in her eyes.

She tried to
remember as far back as she could.

“I remember going
to church, then the markets, before going to my parent’s house. I remember
coming back to the unit late that afternoon. I remember getting up the next
morning and making wild passionate love to you, before going to out. That’s it,
that’s all I can remember” she said slowly. “How long have I been here, honey?”

“You don’t remember
going out to lunch with your Godmother, Magdella Robinson?” he asked.

“Oh my God is she
in hospital too?” she gasped as she remembered the arrangement she made.

“You don’t really
remember anything else? You’ve been here for 12 hours” Michael asked again.

“No. Why have I’ve
been here for 12 hours? What actually happened?” she gasped.

“You were drugged,
Sally. Someone must have put Rohypnol in your drink when you were dining with
Magdella. Someone brought you into the emergency department of the hospital and
a nurse recognized you from the previous time you were here. She contacted your
parents and I’ve stayed by your side since then” he mentioned.

Michael noticed her
hands were shaking uncontrollably and he felt his heart ache as he witnessed
her pain.

“Where’s my
Godmother?” she asked, fearing the worst.

“That’s the
problem; no one has seen her or knows where she is. Your father fears she’s
been kidnapped” Michael added.

“Oh my God - Oh my
God” she cried as she tried to fight the bile that rose in the back of her
throat.

“Your family is
waiting just outside in the hallway. I’ll go and call them now” he said.

Michael poked his
head out of the doorway of the ward and waved to her father; alerting them
Sally had woken up. Suddenly her entire family piled into the small room; her
mother choking back the sobs and tears. Michael made room for her parents to
come to her bedside.

“Sally, thank God
you’re ok” her mother cried as she hugged her.

“Have the police
found out where Magdella is?” he asked Honesto.

“They haven’t found
any trace of her” he said sadly.

Just then the
doctor and a nurse came into the room, checked Sally’s blood pressure,
temperature before checking her vision. He said something in Tagalog to Honesto
for a couple of minutes, before both of them walked out again.

“Ok, I have good
news. Sally is going to be released in about an hour and the doctor said she
will be fine” he reported. “There still isn’t any sign of Magdella.”

The room became
silent as everyone contemplated what those words actually meant. Honesto
continued to say “The police have detailed a report, naming a suspect who they
think put the drug in your drink. Caharian Gonzales, who is an Ilocano and the
leader of a terrorist group, was seen in the vicinity. The police are
suggesting he kidnapped Magdella and has taken her to Mindanao.”

“What are we going
to do to help her?” she asked her father.

“You and Michael
will be going with me to Manila tomorrow by private jeepney. We have to let the
authorities handle the situation; nothing more” he stressed. “It’s only four
weeks until your plane leaves for Australia and we’re running out of time to
have the paper work processed.”

* * *

They sat down to a
traditional Filipino dinner that night at her parent’s house. Adobo is a ubiquitous
dish cooked in every household in the Philippines. It's Mexican in origin, but
Filipinos found that cooking meat (often chicken and pork) in vinegar, salt,
garlic, pepper, soy sauce and other spices, was a practical way to preserve
meat without refrigeration; something very few Filipinos have. The other
popular dish they ate that night was Sinigang. This is a stew of pork or beef
soured by fruits like tamarind, kamias or tomatoes; often accompanied by
vegetables like kangkong, string beans and taro, this stew is eaten with rice.
For desert they ate Leche flan. This is a popular dessert among locals; an egg
and condensed milk-based custard capped off with glistening caramelized sugar
or honey.

After they had
eaten Michael went out to the verandah with Henesto to drink a beer. There was
an ominous rumble of thunder and Honesto forecasted that it would rain tonight.

“What really
happened to Magdella?” he asked curiously now that the two of them were alone.

“Magdella’s husband
is involved in the mining industry. The company he works for has mines in South
Africa, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. Down in Mindanao, gangs or clans
rule because there is very little military activity and the government is
unwilling to intervene; I think these gangs actually give out bribes to the
officials to turn a blind eye to crime. In turn these gangs guarantee their
vote for their supporters. This part of the Philippines is predominately
Muslim, but there are Islamic terrorists, communist guerrillas and other rebel groups;
like the New Peoples Army. Most of the northern part of the Philippines is
Catholic and this is why the people of Mindanao are now fighting for
independence” he informed him. Before adding “There is really very little we
can do at the moment.”

“How does Magdella
Robinson, her Canadian American husband and the
Kennecott Copper Corporation
fit into all this? I know that
her husband is a geologist and they live in New Guinea, near Mount Fubilan.” he
asked.

“Walter Robinson is
actually one of the four directors and part-owner of the company. Based on the
first group of samples, the mine in Mindanao could have one of the largest
copper and gold deposits in the world. The temptation to try and possess this
undeveloped mine site has been too great. Along with the arrival of Walter and
Magdella Robinson and their lack of hard security, the NPA decided to hit the
company hard and hit them quickly. They will probably let her go when the NPA
get what they want” he said.

The thunder and
lightning grew increasingly close and the wind began to pick up.

“We’ll go back
inside; it’s going to rain” he suggested just before a light drizzle started.

Within minutes it
became a deluge. The power went off and the lightning flashed its eerie light
around the room as the women ran to close the windows.

“Probably it will
only last for an hour” he shouted, before he added. “The power will take longer
to restore.”

* * *

Corruption was
rampant everywhere in the Philippines and it was evident when Honesto and
Michael applied for Sally’s permanent entry visa for Australia. The next day at
the embassy, extra pesos were tucked away amongst the papers; an incentive to
expedite everything. Within three weeks all the documentation was completed and
the two of them had six days left until he returned to Australia with his wife.
There still wasn’t any word on the wellbeing of Magdella and he knew Sally was
worried about her, but there wasn’t anything they could do. Michael found an
article in an English written newspaper, while they were in Manila and it was
on mining and exploration in the Philippines, so he read it on the quiet trip
back to Angeles City.
Walter Robinson and the
Kennecott Copper Corporation
had explored the Compostela
Valley and they were in the process of developing it into a mine. To mine the
soil and produce a 20-ton sack of ore takes at least 200 hours using high heat
and chemicals such as carbon, cyanide, and borax. When the gold is extracted
from the ores, it is melted and then sold to middlemen. The gold trade in
Mindanao seems to be anarchic, but the miners and traders are governed by trust
and credibility. Both sides must show that they are trustworthy, that their
gold is pure and that their prices are right in order to be able to participate
in the market. The underground market for gold is another matter. The rebels
melt it and recycle gold into jewelry; this in turn avoids the tax obligation
and the BSP rule that all gold must be sold through the bank. It was highly
unlikely these buyers paid a tax to the government. These buyers are mobile and
so is their main commodity. The Customs Commissioner admitted that the
country's porous borders and the portability of gold make it difficult for them
to track possible exit points for the commodity. It is very difficult to
monitor gold sales that do not pass through the BSP. Also, smuggling of gold
out of the country is very difficult to catch. He went on to say there have
been unverified reports that gold is leaving the country illegally, he said.
The Customs once tailed a businessman who has a history of buying gold bars
here, but that came to nothing. At the moment there is minimal monitoring of
what goes out and not much detail is gathered by the agency in terms of the
smuggling of minerals.

This sounded like
modern day pirating to him. Michael had found a beautiful girl, then a treasure
chest, fell into a coma and had a dream about pirates, gold and jewels. During
that dream he discovered the same brown eyed girl and fell in love with her.
When Michael recovered, he spent more than five years looking for her in real
life. Now he’s back in the midst of pirates, gold and jewels with his real
brown eyed girl and he was about to return to Australia; the place where all
this began.
HE TRULY WAS A SLAVE OF DESTINY.

The End

If you liked this novel, can you please take
the time and give me a review.

Thank you

Derek Easterbrook

Author