Missions of the Retrieval Team - Kilts in a Cage

[Ancienne Alliance]

Ouch !

[davedove]

Scene 29

Factory Compound of General Ricos

Since he was wounded and in a hurry, the General had not bothered to cover his escape. Although I’m not an expert tracker, it would be easy to follow him.

“Jaime,” I asked, “Can you get them out of here?”

He looked at me and asked, “You’re going after Ricos?”

“We may be able to get some information from him.”

“Go, and take someone with you. Don’t try it on your own.”

I turned and addressed the others. “Ms. Stork, Coemgen, you’re with me.”

The three of us each grabbed a rifle and made sure we had an extra magazine.

It appeared that the General had simply plowed through the vegetation. Occasionally there was a spot of blood from his wound.

The trail led deep into the wilderness, away from the General’s compound.

Suddenly, we burst into a small clearing. Sitting on a small mound at the opposite side of the clearing was General Ricos. He appeared exhausted, but did hold a pistol in his lap.

We raised our rifles and slowly approached him. The General made no attempt to raise the pistol to defend himself.

“Mr. Dove,” he said as we moved closer. “You are indeed a resourceful individual. I really should have listened to Ivana. I’m afraid I underestimated you.”

“Don’t feel bad,” I told him. “You’re certainly not the first.”

He glanced over towards Ms. Stork. “And you must be the one who led that small group of women who caused my guards so much trouble.”

“You may call me Ms. Stork,” she said.

“Stork, of course, I was told there were several women with bird names. I take it you are one of Mr. Dove’s associates?”

“The best at what she does,” I answered for her. “Now, General, if you would please drop the pistol, we can help you with that wound.”

“I don’t think so Mr. Dove. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“General, there are three of us with rifles. You surely don’t think you can beat us.”

“No, I don’t believe I can.”

Suddenly, twelve guards stepped into the clearing with rifles raised, surrounding us.

“But, as you can see,” the General continued, “I am not alone.”

We lowered our rifles and tossed them to the ground.

“Well played, General,” I said.

“Thank you, it’s good to see that you know when you’re defeated.”

“What now?” I asked.

“Now? I am going to leave. I can continue my operations elsewhere. You, however, will not be going with me.” He motioned to one of his men. “Corporal,” he ordered in Spanish. “Help me.”

The guard moved to the General and helped him stand. The two of them moved to the edge of the clearing. Ricos looked back over his shoulder.

“Kill them.”

[Livingston]

Jamie, I sure hope you decided to send some others out to follow Mr. Dove.

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

Jamie, Snip...

Thank you for getting it right! Dave, who is this Jaime you keep talking about? Jamie would have called in an air strike long ago and gotten rid of all those, not already killed by myself. Dave, haven't you ever seen The Avengers?

Be well,

[davedove]

Thank you for getting it right! Dave, who is this Jaime you keep talking about? Jamie would have called in an air strike long ago and gotten rid of all those, not already killed by myself. Dave, haven't you ever seen The Avengers?

Be well,

Ah, but I have seen that Jaime is a man of honor and would not endanger any innocents that may be in the area, namely the captured villagers.

Now, if he knew the villagers were safely out of the area......

[davedove]

Scene 30

Yucatan Wilderness

After the General disappeared into the wilderness, the guards motioned for us to stand together.

My mind was racing. I didn’t see any way for us to get out of this situation, or at least not all of us. I began to slowly position myself forward of Ms. Stork and Coemgen. Perhaps when the shooting started, I could buy them a few seconds.

The guards raised their rifles. I braced myself to try and draw their fire.

Suddenly, the trees exploded with action. Dozens of poorly dressed people burst forth and swarmed over the guards, overpowering them.

A man stepped forward. Although he showed the strain of being overworked and underfed, I could still see the strength of his spirit shining through.

He extended his hand to me. “Are you all right?” he asked in Spanish, but with an odd accent.

“Yes, thank you,” I answered. “We are grateful for your timely arrival.”

“We are happy to come to the aid of the beautiful woman who befriended my aunt, Rosalina, the same beautiful woman who freed us from our captivity.”

Ms. Stork stepped forward to greet the man, speaking with his dialect. “I am Rebecca. You must be Miguel. Rosalina spoke of you.”

“Miss Rebecca, I am so pleased to speak with you and so pleased I could help you. After we escaped the General’s compound, those of us who were strong enough stayed behind to help those who had helped us. I am so sorry the General got away.”

“Do not apologize,” I said to him. “We owe you our lives.”

“As we owe ours to you,” he said. “But we can help you one more time.” He pointed to the west. “The busses you arrived in are about two kilometers in that direction.”

We thanked the villagers again, and crossed through the wilderness to the busses. Oddly enough, inside the busses, we found not only the keys, but all of our gear as well.

Coemgen searched through the gear and pulled out his pith helmet. He sighed as he placed it on his head.

“I say,” he said, in an accent a deep as any Georgia gentleman, “I do feel much better now.”

Ms. Stork and I both laughed at the pleased expression on his face.

“Ms. Stork,” I said, “find the phone and contact the team. Have them come to our location with medical assistance. Meanwhile, let’s take these busses back to the others.

Each of us took the wheel one of the busses and we drove them to where Jaime and the others had gathered.

As we approached I saw him direct the others to cover on the side of the road. He crouched down with a rifle and kept it trained on the bus as I pulled up.

I stopped the bus alongside him and opened the window. Jaime relaxed when he saw that I was driving.

“Anybody need a ride?” I asked.

[davedove]

Commercial Break

Great Hall of X Marks the Scot

We hear a voice from down a hallway. “Arlen, do you have the figures for the budget yet?”

A man with close-cropped hair comes running down the hall with a notebook.

Form the other end of the hall we hear another voice. “Arlen, I need that book on pre-Roman highland culture.”

Another voice calls out. “Arlen, do you have that information on the fabled stinging butterfly yet.”

Yet another voice calls out. “Arlen, I need the comparative analysis of the schemes of the different Bond villains now.”

The man looks completely harried from all the different requests, and looks like he doesn’t know which way to turn.

We hear the narrator’s voice. “Have you ever felt this way? Do you have so many requests for information that you can’t keep up? We have a way to help.”

The scene changes to a close-up of a handheld computer.

The narrator continues. “The new Intelli-Quest from Freelander Electronics allows you to access your records from anywhere in your office. Its wireless interface connects to your office network from anywhere in the building and displays the response to your query on the handheld screen. No longer do you have to leave that important meeting to return to your office, simply because you forgot something, or your boss asks for something you didn’t anticipate.”

The scene changes back to the man in the hallway and we hear another voice. “Arlen, where is that treatise on medieval Scottish music?”

The man pulls out his Intelli-Quest and punches in a query. A few seconds later, he calls out, “Right here, sir.”

The scene changes back to a close-up of the handheld.

The narrator speaks. “The Intelli-Quest from Freelander Electronics, all your information at your fingertips, always.”