Missions of the Retrieval Team - Kilts in a Cage

[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.

[Ancienne Alliance]

[QUOTE=Pleater;544828]

“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.

Chili peppers perhaps ?

[Panache]

All I know is that it almost the cocktail hour and Ensigns Splash, BEEDEE, and Mender are taking their sweet time getting here!

Gents, time is of the essence please make haste.

Cheers

Jamie

[davedove]

All I know is that it almost the cocktail hour and Ensigns Splash, BEEDEE, and Mender are taking their sweet time getting here!

Jamie, don't you remember, you had the keys to the Saltire in your sporran.

[Panache]

Jamie, don't you remember, you had the keys to the Saltire in your sporran.

They are resourceful chaps, I've every confidence they shall think of something.

Right Gents?

Cheers

Jamie

[Splash_4]

All I know is that it almost the cocktail hour and Ensigns Splash, BEEDEE, and Mender are taking their sweet time getting here!

Gents, time is of the essence please make haste.

Cheers

Jamie

*BEEP*

You have reached Ensign Splash, I am unavailable right now, as I am recovering from a year in P**NTS. Should you need to reach me, please contact the Stirling Trouser Recovery Treatment Center at 800-dam-pant.

*BEEP*

[Jock Scot]

All I know is that it almost the cocktail hour and Ensigns Splash, BEEDEE, and Mender are taking their sweet time getting here!

Gents, time is of the essence please make haste.

Cheers

Jamie

I wonder what Jamie's idea of haste is?If things are not going too well over there ,then we on this side of the pond could rustle up an expeditionary force and mount an opperation.You never know Jamie, we could be with you in well,say 6 months or so,if we got a move on.

[davedove]

Okay everyone, I am back from my trip and back at the keyboard.


Scene 20

Factory Compound of General Ricos

Ms. Stork quickly gave us as much information as she could. Unfortunately, she only had a short time as she had to return to her role as Rosalina and return to the women’s barracks so the old woman could continue her duties.

I told her to be ready for our signal. Once the signal came, she and the team she had formed among the woman prisoners would carry out their part of the escape plan.

We men had divided ourselves into three teams. The first team, led by Grant and his men, would move immediately to the children’s barracks to free the children and get them away from danger. The second team, led by Panache, would head for the women’s barracks to free them and link up with Ms. Stork’s team. The rest of the men would come with me as we headed straight for the General’s headquarters.

First, though, we had to get out of our barracks, or the rest of the plans were meaningless.

The ploy we used was one of the oldest in the book. I got into one of the bunks and pretended to be unconscious. Macdoc bent over me as though he we attempting to revive me.

Jaime went to the door and beat on it to get the guards attention. He heard the lock being opened and stood back when the sergeant entered with his pistol drawn. The other two guards also entered the room with their rifles ready.

“We need a doctor,” said Jaime. He pointed to where I lay on the bunk. “He never regained consciousness and his heart seems to be getting weaker, his breathing erratic.”

The sergeant moved over to my bunk and poked me with the barrel of the gun. “Weak Gringo,” he said with contempt when I didn’t respond.

This was my opportunity and I had to act quickly. My hand shot out to grab the sergeant’s hand holding the pistol and twisted. As I did this, I spun up from the bunk and bent the sergeant’s arm behind his back, twisting the pistol from his hand. Simultaneously, Jamie and Macdoc grabbed the sergeant from each side. I quickly bent the sergeant’s head back and placed the barrel of the pistol under his chin.

The guards at the door quickly raised their rifles, but they couldn’t shoot without endangering the sergeant. They seemed unsure of what to do.

“Gentlemen,” I said in Spanish. “Allow me to introduce Big Mikey.”

The big man had hidden behind the door as it opened and stepped out behind the guards. When the guards heard him step out, they started to turn, but he grabbed their heads and smashed them together. They slumped to the floor.

I took the pistol away from the sergeant’s chin and hit him over the head. He too slumped to the floor.

James MacMillan and some other men quickly moved to bind the guards with strips of cloth torn from the mattresses.

“I can’t believe that worked,” said Dee.

“The simplest plans are often the best,” I said. “The enemy doesn’t expect to be outwitted in such a simple manner. Team 1, go!”

Big Mikey grabbed one of the rifles and tossed it to Grant. Their team slipped through the door on their way to the children’s barracks.

“Is this a good idea?” Jaime asked. “We’re putting the safety of our children in their hands.”

“Well,” I answered, “I wasn’t sure about Grant, but they need our help to get out of here, and I believe we can trust Mikey. But it’s too late to worry about that now. Take you team and go.”

Jaime grabbed the other rifle from the guard and led his team through the door.