Missions of the Retrieval Team - Kilts in a Cage

[Livingston]

May I enquire, does one get into serious bother if one uses their initiative in your outfit?

Oops did I say that out loud? I was supposed to have turned that in.

[The F-H.C.A.G.]

So...they think that by separating my husband from me, they can make him more biddable!? What planet are they from?! Idiots!

Be well,

[Jock Scot]

Oops did I say that out loud? I was supposed to have turned that in.

I have a feeling that lots of things don't get handed in. No matter who's army you are in.

[davedove]

Scene 16

Factory Compound of General Ricos

The large man drove his fist into my stomach, causing me to slump over against my restraints. He stepped back and let General Ricos step close to me. The General placed the end of his riding crop under my chin and used it to raise my head to face him.

“Come now, Mr. Dove,” he said. “Let us have an end to these lies. We both know that you are not a mere tourist, so why do insist on claiming you are?”

The General had ordered his men to take me inside for questioning. Apparently, the General’s idea of questioning was to have one of his men beat the answers out of me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I gasped. “I told you; I was on a cruise, trying to have a nice vacation when your thugs kidnapped us.”

“Mr. Dove, you disappoint me.” He stepped back and barked an order to the large man. The man again stepped forward and hit me.

“You know, Mr. Dove, the Corporal can do this all day and he has no qualms about doing you permanent damage.”

The General was right. If this lasted much longer, I would not be able to hold out and the Corporal had a sadistic gleam in his eye that showed he might even enjoy hurting or even killing me. Plus, I was only human and I would, sooner or later, reach my breaking point.

Fortunately, I had another option. Years ago I had spent some time in a Himalayan temple and had learned some things from the priests there. Along with their martial arts, they had taught me several techniques to control my body. One of these techniques is to place myself into a trance of sorts.

I couldn’t just slip into this trance, though. That would look too suspicious. Fortunately, I had other skills to use. So, while the Corporal had been beating me, I had been acting as though each blow affected me more that it really did.

When the Corporal stepped back, I slumped against my restraints, as though the strength was leaving my body. I wanted them to think I had reached my limit.

“Well, Mr. Dove,” said the General, “Why are you here?”

It was time to put my plan into motion. I spoke as though I was a broken man. “Okay,” I gasped, barely audible. “I was hired, by the authorities, to find out what you were doing.”

“That’s better. Who hired you?”

My gasping was all a ruse. In actuality, my breathing was very controlled as I began the procedures to enter the trance.

“The Mexican government,” I lied.

“What do they know about my operations?” he asked. I could tell he was a bit worried.

“I don’t know.”

The General responded with anger. “Tell me!” he commanded as he slapped me across the face, snapping my head to the side.

My preparations were complete and I let myself slip into the trance. My body completely relaxed, as though I had lost consciousness. However, although my body was limp, I was still completely aware of my environment.

I heard the General speaking to the Corporal in Spanish. “Too bad, he was just starting to talk. Take him back to the barracks. He is no good to us like this.”

The corporal moved behind me and untied my bonds, causing me to fall to the floor. I heard the door open and two men came over to my and picked me up. Supporting me on their shoulders, they carried me from the room.

[davedove]

Scene 17

Factory Compound of General Ricos

The guards carried my limp body back to the barracks. Although in my current state I could not take any physical actions, I was completely aware of my surroundings. With my eyes closed, I couldn’t see where I was going, but I listened to everything. I was also able to count the steps the guards took as they carried me. It wasn’t precise, but I was able to make an estimate of the distance I was carried.

The guards stopped and I heard someone working a lock, then a door opening. One of the guards called out “Get away from door!”

The guards carrying me tossed me forward and I landed on a wooden floor.

I heard the door being closed and locked, and then suddenly movement in the room. Someone’s hands began moving over me as the person examined my condition. I surmised that the guards had left, so I began the process of exiting the trance.

“How is he?” I heard a voice ask. I recognized it as Panache’s.

“It looks like they worked him over pretty well. There are lots of bruises and minor cuts, but luckily I don’t see any major damage.” This man’s voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place who it was.

I came out of the trance just as the man’s hand pressed on a sore spot.

I winced in pain. “It is a bit tender though,” I told the man.

My eyes fluttered open and I glanced up at the man. I saw that it was the man known as Macdoc. “Sorry,” he said to me.

I took the hand he offered and he helped me rise to sit on one of the bunks.

“Thanks,” I told him.

Most of the other men gathered around me. I noticed that a few others were standing looking out small windows set in the wall. We were in a large open room filled with bunks.

“What happened?” Jaime asked me.

“Well,” I said, “the General recognized me. I can only assume that since he’s involved with Globo-Fashion, that he received my description from them. It shouldn’t be any surprise that I’m on their list. I guess he decided that he needed to get some information from me, which apparently means beating me until I talk.”

“And did you?” I could tell that Jaime was worried I may have said too much.

“Nothing important. From what I could tell, he was surprised to see me here. I think he really was just trying to kidnap tourists. I basically hinted that I was a plant from the Mexican government.”

“Nothing else?”

“No, I managed to fool him into thinking I had passed out.”

“How did you manage that?” asked Macdoc. “It doesn’t take much to determine that someone is faking.”

“Well, I’ve picked up a bit of acting. When you’ve got a master con artist on your team, you tend to learn a bit. Plus, let’s just say that I have certain … techniques that make the task a lot more realistic.”

“What kind of techniques?”

“Remind me when we get out of here and I’ll tell you.”

I turned back to Panache. “What’s our situation?”

“Not good,” he answered. “As you can see, we’re locked in the barracks here. They’ve stripped us of everything except our base clothing. Our sporrans, belts, even our shoelaces were taken.”

“Inside the building here we have only these bare bunks,” he continued. He pointed to one end of the room. “Behind that panel is our toilet, which consists of a simple hole leading to a pit under the building. The only windows are those few you see high on the wall. They’re only big enough to let in a little light and to see a little bit of the grounds outside.”

“Have you seen anything outside?” I asked.

“First of all, they have removed the busses we came in. They drove them away into the wilderness. The soldiers who took them away returned about an hour later without them.”

“What else?”

“We can see the building where they are keeping the women, but there is another problem.”

“What’s that?” I could see the concern on Jaime’s face.

“A few moments after they put the women in their barracks, we saw them leading the children away. They marched them out of our field of view and we don’t know where they were taken.”

[Jock Scot]

The bounders!

[davedove]

Scene 18

Factory Compound of General Ricos

“That’s going to make things a lot harder, but it’s not unexpected,” I said. “By separating us from the children, they figure on keeping us complacent. They know we’re not likely to risk the safety of the children.”

“And they’re right!” said Jaime. “We can’t risk the children.”

“Easy Jaime, I have no intention of risking them. But, it is going to take some planning and we’re dreadfully short of intelligence right now.”

“Right.” He addressed everyone. “Okay, man all the windows and observe everything you can. Everyone else search the walls, floors, ceilings, anything you can think of. We need to know everything we can about our situation.”

As the men moved to begin the search, one man hesitated. James MacMillan approached me. “Dave,” he said, “I feel so bad about what happened. If it wasn’t for me, you never would have been discovered and they wouldn’t have beaten you.”

“James,” I said, “You were only trying to protect your wife. I can’t fault you for that. And since he had my description, Ricos probably would have discovered I was here anyway. And, I certainly couldn’t let you be shot.”

“I appreciate you saying that and I can’t repay you for the risk you took, but I still feel it’s my fault. How can I make it up to you?”

“James, you’re an old marine. You know that things happen. Just be ready when the time comes.”

He looked me right in the eyes, and then nodded. I could see the resolve in his expression.

As James walked away to help in the search, I noticed a small group arguing at the end of the room. It was Grant and his crew.

Big Mikey moved away from Grant in disgust. Grant was seated on a bunk, his arms crossed in determination.

Mikey noticed me and walked over to me.

“Mr. Dove?” he said.

“What is it Mikey?”

“I want to help, but Grant is being stubborn. He says he refuses to help out any group that has you and Panache in it.”

My mind was whirling. We needed all the cooperation we could get and Grant’s crew needed to be a part of it. We could especially use Mikey’s talents.

“Tell you what Mikey. I’m not too happy about having to work with Grant either, and I’m sure Jaime’s not either. But you remind Grant that we’re all in this together and it will probably take all of us to get out of this. If he won’t do it for that, remind him of the children. I don’t think he will turn his back on them.”

Mikey nodded and started to go back to Grant.

“Mikey,” I said to him. He turned to look back at me. “Thanks,” I said.

He paused a moment, as if searching for some sign of my intentions. I looked him straight in the eye in return. He smiled and nodded slightly, then turned back towards Grant.

“Someone’s coming!” called out one of the lookouts.

“Who is it?” asked Jaime.

“It seems to be an old woman. She’s carrying a basket of some sort.”

“Probably our food for the day,” I said.

A few moments later we heard the lock being opened. As the door opened an old woman staggered inside, struggling under the load of her basket.

The guards spoke to her in Spanish as she entered the door. “Knock when you are finished.” They closed and locked the door behind her.

Panache, ever the gentleman, quickly moved to help the woman with her load.

“Why thank you,” said the woman, in perfect English and in a voice I recognized immediately.

“And welcome to the men’s barracks,” I said, smiling and pausing for effect, “Ms. Stork.”

[starbkjrus]

snip...
and we’re dreadfully short of intelligence right now.”
...snip

[davedove]

Scene 19

Factory Compound of General Ricos

Ms. Stork laughed as she rose to her full height; throwing back the head covering that had concealed her identity.

Jaime was a bit startled to see who it was. “How did you manage that?” he asked. “I was right next to you and didn’t recognize you.”

“Because,” she answered, “like most people you saw exactly what you were expecting to see. Fortunately, the guards saw the same thing or I wouldn’t be talking with you now. But then, most of them aren’t very bright, so it was easy.”

“How did you get out of your barracks?” I asked her.

“When Rosalina, that’s the woman whose identity I am using, came around to bring us the food, I began talking with her. She was so surprised to find that one of the captives could speak Spanish in her Mayan dialect. It’s fortunate I participated in that archeological dig a few years ago.”

“She’s as much a prisoner here as we are,” she continued. “The General’s men raided her village and kidnapped all the people. Her village was so small that no one took notice. The General takes these people and uses them as slave labor in his mill until they die. Rosalina says she lost her husband and two sons here. I believe the General plans to use us the same way.”

“No doubt, but how did you take her place?”

“Her job is to take food to the prisoners. By the way, there’s not much and it’s not very exciting, just corn tortillas and a bland bean paste, but it’s fairly nutritious. Take advantage of it and eat it all.”

“I’m ahead of you there,” said Jaime. “Dee, come here and help me pass this out.”

“Go on,” I told her.

“Rosalina was so surprised that one of the prisoners could speak with her that she began telling me everything she could. I questioned her about the mill and our surroundings and got quite a bit of information out of her. Once I promised we would help her and the other villagers, it was a simple matter to convince her to let me take her place for a while. I just have to get back to the barracks in a few minutes so we can swap back.”

“What’s so important here that the General has to use slaves to produce it in secret?”

“Nothing as unusual as you may think. He’s not refining drugs or anything like that. He’s using the slaves to make clothes.”

“Clothes?”

“Yes, and designer knock-offs at that. We already know that he has connections to Globo-Fashion. His company, Yucatan Textil, is a probably a supplier for them. He’s running his own slave labor sweatshop here. All it costs him for the labor is some scraps of food.”

“Okay, tell us everything you found out.”

[Pleater]

[QUOTE=davedove;
[SIZE=3]“Her job is to take food to the prisoners. By the way, there’s not much and it’s not very exciting, just corn tortillas and a bland bean paste, but it’s fairly nutritious. Take advantage of it and eat it all.”[/SIZE]


Now - that bean paste - with a few onions, a spot of seasoning, it could have been done a lot better - though it really needs a good green salad, lots of watercress, and a herb dressing, naturally.

It must be dinner time.