Chapter 46

We were awakened by someone knocking on the door, telling us that the evening meal was being served on the patio at our convenience. The voice was male, so I knew it wasn't the young girl. I woke Kat and got a kiss, and told her we needed to get dressed. When we came down the steps, we were greeted by the young girl saying that as soon as we were seated, our meal would be served. Everyone was there, and Sally was telling everyone about their visit to the village and how nice they had been treated by the people. I smiled to myself, hoping she and the rest continued to have a good time while we were here. The men from the Legion were seated at another table and were already eating and chattering up a storm. They were talking about how nice it was here. One spoke up and said if there was a bar for some cold beer, this would be an almost perfect place to sit back and take it easy. I looked over at Quanta and he was smiling to himself as his wife was whispering something to him.

"Quanta, do we have any beer in the cellar? I think the men would love a cold one while they are visiting."

"Jon, this place was completely stocked before you arrived. There is beer, whiskey and cognac in cases in the wine cellar next to the armory. Also, one of the buildings out behind the main house is full of the same items. I think there is enough to last several months. The cook in the kitchen has the key to it."

"Thanks, Quanta, when I get through eating I will make sure that she puts some beer in the cooler for everyone to sip as we sit and chat. I know there is soda and fresh juice for the girls so they won't be left out. Carver, what was in the care package Maurice sent us?"

"Jon, we won't have any worry about protecting ourselves. We now have plenty of automatic rifles, and the ammo to put in the hundreds of mags that he sent with them. We have grenades of all types, about twenty cases, I think. And he sent us a whole case of ten millimeter pistols and thousands of rounds of ammo for them. With what we have now, we could stand off a small army, if it came to that. Your friends came in with their own weapons, and I was told they had extra ammo with them. Jon, your friend seems to want to make sure we can protect ourselves well. I was also told all the weapons were legal and none were listed as being stolen."

"For some reason, that doesn't surprise me, Carver. I would be almost willing to bet they all were AKs and brand new. I would also be willing to bet they all had the attachments for firing grenades."

"Yes they did, Jon, and frankly in all my military experience, I have only seen a few of the modified AKs. They were made on the factory assembly line, but strictly made to order for important customers. The old AKs were known to blow up from using the grenade launchers too much, but these new ones are all made of stainless steel. One of your men told me these were the only ones that were not destroyed when they found them. Jon, these types of weapons tell me that someone very powerful is behind these rebels. Do you know what their interest could be in these small islands? It just doesn't compute that they would spend all that money to take over some islands that are worth nothing strategically to them."

"They need bases to supply the rebels, and these islands are spread out all over this area and there are thousands of them. If one gets raided, they would have others to operate from until they in turn are discovered by our troops. Why they are stirring up a civil war again, was not in my briefing. But if I had to hazard a guess, I would say it's because of the lucrative drug trade. It has been cut off almost completely in the last few years, by the constant patrolling by the United Nations and all the countries that have been cracking down on dope runners. Maurice told me they were having trouble in French Guiana again and they were sending in more troops to control the situation. The government there has been under a lot of pressure to run the French out and declare Guiana an independent country. The French Government has offered this several times over the years, but they chose to stay a French colony because of the lucrative tourist business from Europe. The people have voted overwhelmingly in the last two elections to remain a French colony. The rebels who want it to go back to the old style military junta leadership are the ones who are stirring it all up again. Their previous President, who was voted out of office by his own tribe, caused all this when he started the anti French rule party. That's when the rebels, who are mostly disenfranchised fighters from other countries, started putting pressure on the tribal leaders to overthrow the government. Those that didn't join were assassinated. The rest of the tribe was threatened with death if they didn't start growing poppies again. The government troops brought back order, but the rebels, who are being equipped by outsiders, are starting to get bold again with raids and ambushes on troops patrolling the outlying villages. When the Rebels killed an entire Legion Patrol that was on a training mission last month, it was the worst thing they could have done. That's all it took for the Legion to move in, in force, to shut this trash down and quietly try to find out who's supplying them and put him out of business. Believe me when I say, you do not kill Legionnaires and not expect some retribution to come at you. They are actively patrolling these waters and looking for rebel bases twenty-four hours a day. There are probably thirty or forty small battle cruisers in the area as we speak. Each carries a full platoon of soldiers who can be in the air and headed to a certain area in minutes. Now if you all don't mind, I think Kat and I would like to walk around and get accustomed to the island a little. I will be right back, dear, as soon as I tell the cooks to put some beer on ice for the men."

Kat was smiling, and Sally was too, as I got up and headed to the kitchen to pass on the message about the beer. I also needed to tell the cook about the coat hanger on the men's doors that I had forgotten to do earlier. I got the messages passed on, and got a strange look from one of the women when I told the cook about the signal. Other than that, they said they had already had the beer iced down and were going to take it out to the men when they were through eating. I hurriedly exited the kitchen and went straight to the men, who were just finishing up their meal. When I walked up they all started to stand but I waved them down. I looked over at our table and they all seemed to be talking, so I leaned over the men's table and spoke in a low voice that wouldn't carry.

"I have beer on ice that will be coming out for all of you when you are through with your meal. Need I remind you why you're here? There will be no drunkenness, and some of you need to stay sober at all times. There will be plenty of beer the whole time you are here, so you can switch back and forth to see who drinks and who doesn't. I will remind all of you again about any bad treatment of your visitors, and that they are to be out before dawn or I will stop all visits. Remember, you are Legionaries, and will conduct yourselves as such while you are here. I have told the women the signal that we use to not be bothered so all will know. Now have a good time, and please don't make me regret this, because if I do, so shall all of you, my friends. If there are any problems, I am on the second floor to the left at the top of the steps. Do not hesitate to wake me if something happens that I need to know about."

I turned and walked back toward my table with the men's cheers in my ears. Kat was grinning at me and got up hooking her arm in mine as we walked toward the beach. The rest of the evening was spent with talking about our future together and what we both wanted that to be. I had several questions that I asked her and to my surprise she was able to help me solve a few of the problems that had been troubling me. She told me she had an aunt that had been in the Peace Corps for many years and had been recently laid off from her teaching job due to budget cuts. She had taught junior high and high school for twenty years and was forced into early retirement and hated it. She loved kids and might be interested in living here and teaching again, if I asked her.

"Hon, why do you think she would just pack up and move here on such short notice?"

"Jon, she loves children and that's what she did in the Peace Corps, teach. To get an opportunity to teach these kids, she would gladly pack her clothes and sell her home to come here. She is fifty-one years old, and quite attractive, from the pictures I have seen. You never know, she might just marry and settle right here for the rest of her life, if she is happy here. Jon, this place is beautiful and I know a lot of people who would love to live in a place like this. I also have a friend who is a GP and has a bush pilot license and is looking for a warmer place to open up a new practice. Right now he is in Alaska, but there is one problem that might make you a little leery of him."