Scene 36

Jungle Outpost in the Guyana Highlands

My group hid in the undergrowth outside the slave camp. As I suspected, the guards had been increased since our last visit. I had brought Ms. Crane, Jock, Greg, and Wompet with me. We had been forced to leave Kevin behind, as he was unable to travel with his broken leg.

I pointed out the major objectives around the camp. I showed my companions the main building where I believed Secuaz was quartered, the women’s prison on the side of the hill, and the opening to the mine.

Our role was to secure and rescue the women. We had placed ourselves so that we were as close as we could get to the prison while remaining hidden. However, we couldn’t approach any closer while the guards were present. Plus, we would have to cross a significant stretch of open ground, open ground that would be under heavy fire if the guards spotted us. We had to wait for the others in my party to take action.

As we waited, we heard the first part of our plan go into action. Vmac and John had taken the rest of the dogs and had circled around to the far side of the outpost. We heard the dogs begin to bark in the distance.

“Alpha is active,” said Ms. Crane. Alpha was the designation of Vmac’s portion of the operation.

The guards obviously heard the dogs, but were not leaving their posts.

Apparently, Lieutenant Secuaz had heard the dogs as well, since he came out of his quarters. He looked in the direction of the barking and then back at the guards.

“What are you fools doing?” he demanded in Spanish. “There are no dogs in this jungle. Take some men and find out what it is!”

One of the senior guards quickly organized a team of five men and they moved off towards the dogs.

“Not as many as I had hoped,” I said, “but it can’t be helped. Liz, get ready to move out when Beta activates.”

Beta was the second part of our plan. Frank and Ms. Pombo were to approach the camp from yet another direction. Once the dogs drew some of the guards off, the two of them would begin to harass the remaining guards. They would take a single shot at a guard and then move to a new location, eluding the guards while leading them away.

A single gunshot rang out from the jungle and struck one of the guards in the shoulder. The other guards immediately dropped for cover and focused their attention towards the gunshot.

Secuaz again yelled at the guards. “Do I have to tell you everything? Go get whoever that is!”

This time ten of the guards moved away, leaving only Secuaz and a dozen others to guard the camp.

“Beta is active,” I said to Ms. Crane. “Move out!”