Chapter 1

Stranded on a desert island with three models. Every red-blooded male dream, am I right? HA! Right now, they are all pissed off at me and I am about ready to swallow the barrel of our flare gun and use our last flare to get away from these bitches. After four days on a raft and two on the island I was ready to kill people. How did I get into this mess? Let me tell you.

My name is Jack Ryan, no relation to the guy from the novels. I spent 8 years in the Air Force because I always wanted to learn to fly. The flying was awesome, the rules not so much. I kept my head down and was a good little automaton because that was the only way I was gonna get up in the air. I would probably have signed up for another hitch despite the fact that I hated everything about service because that was the only way a poor white trash kid like myself was going to be able to fly an airplane. I loved strapping into the C-130 and throttling up to take off. That moment when your wheels leave the ground and the pressure is on your chest is the greatest feeling in the world as far as I am concerned. Like I was saying, I would have signed up for another round of dropping things over a desert until I heard my uncle died. I was his only living heir and he had a bunch of stocks. He was the last one living in his generation and had inherited stocks that were issued in the 1930’s to my great grandmother. He was a prick and was always telling me how he had never spent any of the principal and very little of the interest. Turns out he was a lying bastard as well. Don’t get me wrong, when the estate was cleared I had about 1.3 million that was coming my way. He should have had a ton more though if he was telling the truth. No matter, I got the money then I got the hell away from Uncle Sam.

I also had a nice little nest egg from my time in the military and with the combined monies I was just able to pay cash for a sea plane. I decided to head to the Caribbean and be a freelance air cabby. It was the life for me. I had an in with a few resorts and got some business there. I had a couple of islands that I had scouted out and would take families to for an authentic overnight trip to a deserted island. And when I needed some cash in a hurry, there was always some people who wanted nothing more than to be able to move their goods without having to pay the taxes that the government wanted to charge. I shied away from most of that stuff, but it was a nice side business. There were three islands that were drop points. The Casey brothers would load me up at their dock in Grand Caymen and I would go to one of the drop points and land on a small grass strip. There would be a tin shack manned by a couple of Latinos with AK’s and they would unload me. I would get a large cooler filled with cash and then take that back to the Casey’s. To be honest it twinged my conscious occasionally, because I was sure that whatever I was dropping off wasn’t bootleg videos. However, when you needed the cash it was any port in a storm. It was needing cash that led me to my current debacle.

I had been having no luck with either my solo business or my resort contacts. We were wrapping up the busy season and heading into the wet season when tourism would take a hit. Sometimes this happens. My job was very much feast or famine and right now I was in the middle of a two-month famine. What really sucked was that it was time for my plane to be inspected and that was cash I didn’t have. I hadn’t heard from the Casey’s in about six months so I figured they were laying low. That is why I was eager to hear what Avion Modeling agency was willing to offer.

“The job is simple, we need to get three of our models and a manager to and from an island on the outer rim. The photographer fell in love with this particular island and the company is willing to spend the cash to indulge him. In the meantime, another job came up for Tiffany and Amber so we are going to send the photog and makeup crew in a boat and fly the models in and out to get to the next shoot,” the guy across the table was telling me.

“Tiffany and Amber? Are those their real names? It doesn’t matter,” I replied. “The issue we are gonna run into is storms. We are getting to the wet season and small localized storms can pop up faster than you think. I just want you to know that I won’t be running through any hurricanes for you,” I said with a smile.

“Safety first is the name of the game. The last thing either of us wants is a plane going down,” he agreed.

So how did I end up flying through a storm and ditching my plane in the ocean you ask?

One Word : Pirates

The models were exactly what you would expect them to be. Amber was a brunette with impossibly long legs and decent chest. Tiffany was a redhead with freckles and actually had a bit of an ass. Svetlana was high class European bitch personified. The look they gave me and my plane was the same look you would give to dog shit you just stepped in. Hopefully they would just shut the hell up and let me do the flying. They weren’t the only ones who were unimpressed. I know these were models but give me a feisty Dominican woman with an ass I can grab onto over these twigs.

Thankfully the manager was a pretty decent human being. Her name was Jill and she was older and probably had been in front of the camera at some point. We talked a little about the area and I gave her a rundown of the island we were going to. It was not marked on any maps, but it did have a fresh water source that involved a really cool waterfall and lagoon. The ship would be anchored on the lee side of the island and we would be putting in on the opposite side in a small cove. The shoot was going to take place by the waterfall at first then out to the sandy beach where the boats would be anchored. Our princesses would have to walk about a half mile, I could only imagine the bitching that was going to bring on.

Soon I found myself picking over the buffet table that had been set up for the camera crew. I had landed and done a post inspection of the plane while the models and their manager picked their way up the rocky path to the waterfall shoot. I came up about an hour later and damn if the ladies didn’t look hot. I was a little disturbed by how fast they could switch it on and off though. They would be playing grab ass in the water one minute, looking like they were best friends, then they would all head off to different corners to get makeup or done or change outfits. It wasn’t anything I was used to. Things were wrapping up and they were moving to the other end of the island when I decided to grab a nap in the plane. I also wanted to check the weather, something felt off, it felt like a storm was coming. As I was walking down the path, I stepped behind a big rock to take a leak. I had just zipped up when I heard a voice come from where the plane was parked. Ducking down I saw two guys hop out of an inflatable Zodiac style boat and start picking their way up the path. These men were Hispanic and obviously not with our crew. It was the AK-47’s that gave them away. They were between me and my plane and I wondered what the hell they were doing here. Suddenly, gunshots rang out on the far side of the island. The two goons started picking up the pace up the rocky trail. They were in a hurry and didn’t notice me behind the rock. They were just passing me by when I heard screaming and saw the three girls running toward the plane. They got to the top of the trail and screamed when they saw the two goons leveling rifles at them and shouting in Spanish.

DAMN!!

By now you should have figured out that I am not exactly a white knight, hero type, but I wasn’t going to let these girls get captured and killed or worse. I came up behind the trailing goon and rabbit punched him just below his skull. He went down and I managed to get his rifle away from him before his partner turned completely around. I pointed and pulled the trigger before I realized what I was doing. Three red spots appeared on his partner’s chest and he went down. I stood there for second staring. I was brought out of my reverie by more gunfire and the screaming of the girls as they scrambled down the path. I did a quick search of the bodies and found an old semi auto pistol stuck in the waistband of the guy I shot. I grabbed his AK and started scrambling down to the plane. The girls had made it to the beach and were loading in the small rubber dinghy we had used to get from the plane to the beach

“Not that one!” I yelled at them. “Get in the fucking zodiac.”

They looked at me like I was crazy as I was running along the beach pointing at the boat with an actual motor as opposed to a small rubber dinghy with oars. I heard a scream behind me as saw Jill hitting the top of the path at a full run. She made it about halfway down before she stumbled and fell. Right then a couple more guys wielding AK’s appeared at the top. I pointed my rifle at the top of the path and brushed the trigger. A three round burst sent those guys back behind some rocks as Jill painfully got up and started limping toward the boat. I ran back and helped her, putting a short burst of gunfire up top every time I saw movement. I ran out of ammo as I got to the Zodiac, so I threw that gun down and brought up the other one I had scavenged.

How in the hell was I in a firefight on a tropical island?

I hopped in the zodiac and started it up. The guys at the top of the trail were working their way down when I caught a break. The one in the lead tripped and ended up knocking down the other two. That bought me enough time to get to the plane. The girls hopped in still screaming as bullets started flying around us. Jill climbed slowly into the plane. I looked around.

“Does anyone know how to shoot a gun?” I yelled.

They stared at me blankly while another round of bullets came through the fuselage. Jill nodded so I gave her the AK.

“Keep their heads down so I can get the plane going,” I told her.

She gave me a grim nod and groaned as she laid herself prone and sighted down the barrel. I heard her squeeze off three shots. She knew what she was doing. I was afraid she would go full auto and run out of ammo in less than two seconds.

It was obvious these weren’t trained soldiers as they all hit the sand and scattered. I turned my attention to the plane. The girls were milling around not knowing what to do.

“Get your asses strapped in and keep your head as low as possible. NOW!” I yelled as I got the engine started and flipped the necessary switches to get going.

They scrambled into their seats I heard on last burst of fire from Jill then I heard her curse. She tossed the rifle to the ground and slowly moved up and into a seat and started buckling in.

“It’s all you, big guy,” she yelled over the sound of the props.

Bullets started ringing through the cabin as we were gaining speed to lift off. Two hit my instrument panel causing a few sparks and a puff of smoke. I pulled back on the stick and we were off. As we gained altitude the gunfire died off. I looked over the side and saw the yacht that the rest of the crew had come in on was pulled alongside a larger boat. There appeared to be people crawling over both ships, but I wasn’t about to get any closer. I reached for the radio to make the emergency Mayday call and swore. There was a bullet hole dead center of my radio and instrument console. I had my altimeter and compass so we could navigate but we weren’t getting any word out. I would have to report this when we landed. I looked back and saw Svetlana had unstrapped herself and was leaning over Jill. Amber started screaming at me.

“Omigod, she’s bleeding everywhere!” she yelled.

I turned around as best I could.

“There is no need to scream. Just calm down. There is a first aid kit in the compartment above you. Does anyone know first aid?” I asked.

Svetlana gave me a withering look and reached up to get the kit. From what I could see she was doing a good job tending to Jill. I had to get my shit together and get us home. Our fuel looked a little lower than I remembered it. DAMN I hope we didn’t take a shot to the tank. After 15 minutes the fuel gauge was dropping slowly but steadily. We barely had enough to get back as it was. I was scanning the horizon when I felt someone take the seat next to me. I looked over and saw Svetlana looking at me with a measuring gaze.

“Jill took a bullet through the thigh. It looks like it went through, but I don’t see that it hit anything major. I have it wrapped up tight and hopefully she will get through. How far away from a hospital are we?” she asked with a trace of accent.

“If we can get to St. Kitts, we will be good so about two hours. However, I think we might have taken a shot or two to our fuel tanks because we seem to be using a lot more than we should.” I replied.

I looked out the window and pointed to a line of dark clouds forming in the distance.

“We will probably also be having to deal with weather. If we had more fuel, I would try to go around that front that is forming but I don’t so we are going to have to try to go over it,” I continued.

She gave me that measuring look again.

“So how bad is it?” she asked.

“Better than being on an island with a bunch of pirates, but not as good as kicking back in a hammock with a beer and a spliff,” I replied.

Her perfect eyebrows furrowed together as she considered my words. She nodded and returned to her seat. She had to duck down to exit the cockpit which put her perfect ass inches from my face. I wish I was more relaxed so I could enjoy it.

“Ladies be prepared for a rough ride. Amber if we hit the water, the life raft is right above you. Get it out of it’s container and toss it out the door. Pull the line and it will inflate. The rest of you wait for it to inflate then jump in,” I yelled back