Chapter 17

We didn't have any solutions so the boat with us inside it continued south along the coast. We followed the coast and eventually reached Panama. I decided that we should check the Panama Canal area. It was a last hope for Central American and I wasn't sure we should consider coasting South America. I wasn't sure about the coastline but thought it not very "beachy" from memory.

We reached the canal area, passed it and came back to it. We had no good charts or maps but were moving based upon a map of Central America that we had found in Camp Pen. I didn't plan to put all my trust in it.

We went under a weird looking arched bridge and entered the Canal. We found many buildings and piers. We docked the Marianne at Balboa and talked it over. While docked, we looked around the harbor area from the boat. The harbor portions which we could see looked deserted and showed no evidence of humans in a long, long time.

After some discussion, Mike and Ann were going to go ashore and scout while the rest of us stayed in sight of the Marianne. We had no real maps of the area and gave them a two hour window for a "there and back" trip. They were armed with rifles, pistols, knives, and plenty of ammo. They left on their trip as I had seen looking forward to looking around. Rob and I would be the emergency party if we heard gunshots. They had been gone about forty-five minutes when gunshots rang out. Rob and I grabbed our arms. Rob had shotgun on his back and was carrying a sub-machine gun. I carried a shotgun also on my back with a rifle-grenade launcher combination. We left in the direction of the gunfire. We could still hear shots but not fast and furious like at first. We hurried for twenty minutes as the shots became louder before slowing down to prevent us from being surprised.

We looked around a corner before going around it and saw two strange men aiming bows and arrows further down. "Rob, they're not here to help Mike and Ann. You take the one on the left. I'll take the one on the right." We stepped out and shot each one from about fifty feet in the back. It was not really sporting but they planned to shoot our folks from ambush. It's a tough life. We moved up slowly.

As we did, the shots slowed. Neither Mike nor Ann had that much ammunition and would be running low. We looked out from the dead guys former ambush point and saw Mike and Ann moving slowly toward us. Their rifles were shouldered but both had pistols in hand. I saw Mike aim and shoot at someone further away from us that I couldn't see.

They were backing rapidly toward our position. Rob readied his gun and I loaded a grenade when I could see a target. They were a hundred yards away and I could see their attackers in the distance. They were within my range and I aimed roughly and let fly. The grenade hit less than twenty feet in front of the attackers and exploded. I saw two drop limply. The rest, and there was a lot of them, kept coming. I reloaded and shot again.

Three of the attackers charged Mike and Ann with loud screams. Rob took two easily before they could do more than make noise. The other got off an arrow before he, too, was hit and fell. Another grenade slowed the remainder as they adjusted to the fact that they were facing different weapons from more people. The arrow that was shot hit Mike in the arm and it dropped loosely. He and Ann ran back toward us. Both were breathing heavily and Mike was bleeding. While Rob watched, I put a bandage on the arm to get him back to the Marianne and then we left.

We returned to the Marianne without further incident. While we all huddled around Mike as Terry patched him up, Ann told their story.

"We stumbled upon their camp as we crested a small hill. They had no fire and came at us as soon as they saw us. They were expecting to attack someone. I don't know if we were the ones but they were in an offensive mindset. We just ran firing shots as we went. We heard your shots and knew help was coming. They didn't seem to care about casualties leaving their wounded where they had fallen. I think the grenades finally stopped their rush because they didn't seem to understand the rifle shots but the explosions did seem to register."

Ed shouted, "Everybody, someone's coming!" We all hunkered down and looked toward shore. Coming around a building was a man waving a small flag and walking slowly toward our boat.

"Ed, keep watch. We don't want any surprises from these people."

"Okay, Sal. From what Ann says, that's a good idea."

As the man approached, we could see that he was unarmed and his hands were free. "I will go meet him but close to the boat. I won't have a rifle but will carry my pistol holstered. Cover me." I gave Jennifer a quick kiss and went on shore. I walked about twenty feet from the boat and stopped with my arms crossed waiting for the stranger to approach. As he did, I took the opportunity to look him over. He was not a promising specimen. I looked over my shoulder and said, "Someone needs to watch the water. Why should we trust them now?"

I heard a murmur of agreement and focused upon our flagger. He was about thirty feet away. He was dressed in a skin breech clout and nothing else. The short, thin stick with his ragged flag was roughly cut and not sharpened on either end. He was not bearded and I didn't think he shaved like I still did. His black hair was shaggy and haphazardly cut with a hacking look to it. His features were faintly Indian looking which made me think that he was a true native of the area. His skin was brown from more than just a tan. When he got to fifteen feet, I held up my hand in a stop motion. He stopped and I said, "Hello."

He looked at me for a moment and then responded with a strange language. It wasn't English nor did it sound like Spanish. I shook my head gently and pointed at my chest and said, "Say, my name is Sal."

He launched into another round of gibberish not seeming to notice my response. I shook my head again and smiled. I pointed at my chest again and said, "Sal. Sal."

He seemed to notice that I was not responding to him. He turned away and shouted something to people we couldn't see behind the building. He turned back to me with an unfriendly look on his face. He made a sweeping gesture and launched into another long string of gibberish. It was frustrating to me to know he was saying something and not to know what he was saying nor be able to respond to his talking. He probably was getting frustrated with me for the same reason. At least, I was trying to communicate or I thought I was anyway. Finally, I lifted both hands palms out in, what I hoped was an "I don't understand" gesture.

He gave one more gesture and another statement of gibberish and backed away toward the end of building from where he had come. Just as he went around the corner, an arrow landed about ten feet in front of me. I looked in the direction from where it had come and saw a band of similar men starting to charge me. I ran for the Marianne yelling, "Untie! Let's get out of here! Everybody move!" I stopped at the closest cleat and whipped the rope off it and threw it on the deck. I heard shots over my head as I went to the other. I pulled it loose and jumped on the deck. The motor started and the Marianne started to move away. Suddenly, I heard more shooting on the other side of the boat and looked over that way. They were trying to get close on logs! I used the pistol on both sides since I was at the bow. Ed was behind me about six feet. He was shooting from a crouched position. I hollered, "Get down!" An arrow hit him in the arm and he went down.