Chapter 7: Mercenaries

We started walking down the crushed oyster shell service road behind the hospital complex, heading for the Emergency Room at the opposite end (naturally). As we walked, I asked Gabriela if they had hurt her.

“Not really,” she replied. “They weren’t much rougher than the guys in my neighborhood.”

“How long had they been holding you?” I asked.

“Not long. Since early this morning.”

“Do you know why they were holding you?” I asked.

“It had something to do with Carlos wanting my dad to take a bunch of guys in his fishing boat somewhere to knock off some gringo,” she said.

“Who’s Carlos?” I asked.

“You don’t know Carlos? He’s like the baddest dude on the whole island,” she told me. “At least he was until you arrived.”

“That was Carlos with the knife?”

“Yeah.”

I haven’t bothered describing Gabriela because it was not a pretty picture. About five-foot-nothing, she was a thin waif of a girl. No clue on her age, but she was young. Maybe twelve or thirteen? Her brown hair was shoulder length and a greasy, matted mess. She wore a tattered men’s shirt that buttoned up the front and was too large for her, and an old pair of trousers that she had cut off just below her knees. Her sandals were simple and on their last legs.

Her face was dirty, her hands and arms were dirty and her feet were filthy. However, her eyes were clear and actually sparkled when she smiled.

When we reached the Emergency Room, the attendant address us in Spanish, so I was lost.

“Do you speak English,” I asked politely.

“Un momento,” she said and scurried away.

“How can we help you?” a gentleman asked us a few minutes later.

“My name is Alex Masters and earlier today, some men tried to kill me. They failed, but they were also holding this young lady hostage in one of your warehouses behind the hospital. I rescued her and we walked down here. Could you call Admiral Bouchard at Fort Saint Louis on Martinique and tell him I am here. Also, that I found and liberated Gabriela. And would you ask him to bring Dr. Carina Rappeneau, and my passport?”

“Oh my!” he said. “That is quite the story. Let me get someone to begin processing you in and then we’ll call your parents.”

“No!” I told him. “You will do exactly as I said.”

“Now see here, young man...” he started.

That’s when he noticed that his cell phone was smoking.

“What?” he stammered as he stared at the smoking cell phone.

“Do you see that old computer sitting over there in the corner?” I asked, referring to what looked like a pile of very old hospital equipment.

He looked, but didn’t answer me.

“Watch...” and we both watched as the several screens came to life with all sorts of crazy, colorful patterns. I don’t think he ever realized that one, none of the computers were plugged in, and two, he was watching very colorful images on old black-and-white CRTs (cathode ray tubes).

“Now I am sure that your fine institution here is not equipped to deal with my problem just now, and actually reporting it may bring you all sorts of bad publicity. I’m talking the very worst kind of publicity. This young lady and I need a safe haven, just long enough for the Admiral to arrive. I’m sure that he and my family will be very appreciative if you were to offer us that safe haven,” I explained.

“Let me see what I can do,” he said as he stood to walk away.

Next it was an older looking nun who entered with the young man who’s cell phone I had messed up behind her.

“I’m Sister Teresa,” she told us in English. “Miguel says that you made his phone no longer work and the dead computers come to life.”

“I am truly sorry about his phone and if you’ll help us, I’ll see that it gets replaced.”

“What can we do for you, Senor?” she asked politely.

“Well, my name is Alex Masters...” as I again repeated what I had told Miguel earlier.

She stopped me and pulled a small notepad from one of the hidden recesses of her habit and then nodded for me to continue as she wrote down the information.

Then she turned to Gabby and spoke to her in French. I later learned she was inquiring if she was okay and if she was in danger.

Whatever Gabby told her seemed to satisfy the nun, then she turned to me.

“I do not understand how you damaged the phone or made the computer come to life?”

“I was struck by a bolt of lightning last March. When I recovered, I discovered that certain electronic equipment often does weird things around me. I do not know why. Again, I am sorry about his cell phone and I will try to replace it when the Admiral arrives,” I told her.

“I think that to keep you safe, I’ll have Miguel show you to a small waiting room next to my office. It is private and no one should bother you there while you wait,” she said. Then to Miguel, she issued some instructions in the French/Creole language that is prevalent throughout Dominica.

It was almost two hours later when Carina rushed in the door, followed by Roland, Reggie and Admiral Bouchard. Once the initial hubbub died down, I introduced them to Gabby. It turns out that Gabby was fifteen years old and had grown up in Miami. But when her mother passed away last year, the authorities had shipped her off to live in squalor with her fisherman father. She claimed she had a passport, but she didn’t know where her father had put it. She didn’t want to go back to her father’s shack and have to fight off the old men without her father there.

Carina quickly checked her over and announced, “You, young lady, are coming with me. A warm bath and a good hot meal will do you wonders.”

I pulled Roland aside and introduced him to Sister Teresa, explaining about Miguel’s damaged cellphone. He quickly pulled some bills from his pocket and handed them to the nun, all the while conversing with her in French. It turned into a five minute conversation with him offering her a business card.

Sister Teresa smiled and thanked him for his generosity. I later discovered he had offered to put her in touch with the Foundation for some additional aid.

Less than two hours later, we were all back on board the Serendipity. The teenaged girls swarmed Gabby and helped her get a bath and into some clean clothes. Then they led her to the table and made sure she had plenty to eat. After supper, they all took up residence out on the bow to become better acquainted.