Following ancient legends, each day he worked in his conuco, or jungle garden, instructing his servants where and what to plant, what to harvest and how his meals should be prepared. Each morning, he walked alone to ‘the bathing place,’ a pool fed by a modest waterfall. There, a young maiden would suddenly appear, naked, in the water and beckon him in. Each time, she asked, “I am from Tuenkaron, have you cleared the cunoco yet?”
Each day he replied, “I have just started, let us prepare for our work.” Whereupon, she came up out of the water and took his hand. Leading him through the water, she stood him on a flat rock under the falls and gently washed him from his head to his feet. Once done, they worked together for the day. It wasn’t really manual labor, but more symbolic, although over time, his body became sculpted and very masculine.
At the end of the day, they shared chichi, a native fermented drink, and she lay with him overnight. By morning the girl was gone and another would appear at the pond. Wei was told that she was a daily gift from the other gods to their supreme deity. Over the years, he had grown accustomed to being very much more than human. In the past few years, his people would come together to worship him and make a sacrifice. He would look down on them from his place in the obelisk and watch as his people worshiped. His high priest, Lord Parente, visited often and made sure all his needs were met. At one time, he was even given a ride in what Parente had called an ‘aircraft’ to begin getting him used to flight, since as he aged, that would be another godly power which he would attain. He loved soaring in the clouds and would enjoy it even more when lowly servants didn’t have to go with him.
After his morning stroll, he made his way to the bathing pond. This morning, a particularly beautiful young girl came from the water. After the ceremonial exchange, she led him to the falls where she bathed him in a way very stimulating. They caressed under the crashing water for a long time. After all, he was a god. People would wait for him. Later on, he was told there would be another ceremony tomorrow night. He always felt good after these ceremonies. With this girl as beautiful as she was, he looked forward to an evening of fun to prepare himself.
Roger Hammond walked into the briefing room with General Claire Richardson. The select team had been brought up from Camp Lejeune to begin briefing in on the current situation and making their plans. As he entered the room he was amazed to see Master Sergeant Ricks standing at the end of the table.
“Ricks! I had no idea you were going to be here,” he said with some enthusiasm as he shook Ricks’ hand.
“Always go with a cripple,” said Ricks. Both men were happy to see each other again.
“I heard what your team did down in South Carolina. I guess I should have guessed you had a hand in it,” said Hammond. “When did you join up with Special Forces?” he asked.
“About eight months ago. It seems they found out about me and Paul in Korea. It was that or they found out just how sneaky I really am,” Ricks joked.
Hammond laughed. “Well, I’m personally glad you’re here to help out,” he said.
Hammond motioned for everyone to take their seats. After some introductions, everyone got down to business.
“You have all gotten the situational brief, so you know as much as we do. Right now we don’t have enough to kick off, but we have enough to get ready,” said Hammond. He pointed to a PowerPoint slide projected on the screen at the front of the room. “Right now, we are concentrating on this area right here. This is all mountainous terrain between four and seven thousand feet. Most of it is rain forest. There are few clear areas and the villages are few and far between. The idea is to use a C-130 to fly the team near the area of the hostages and make a drop where the canopy is sparse or in some open area. We are already talking to some of our allies to see about using them to stage from. We will go in at night to hopefully look like some training flight from the host country simply overflying the area. Unfortunately, once you’re dropped, there is not much chance we can come in and pull you out in an emergency. It depends on where you’re dropped and where you will be going. So just be prepared to walk back to Colombia,” he said.
The men in the room chuckled.
“There is a plan to get you out, but I’m still working on it. A lot will depend on where these people are. My hope is to fly you out in some way,” Hammond said. He gave a slight sigh. “In the mean time, we need you to think of everything you may need to get the job done and assemble it back at base. You know what you will need and what you can carry. As we get more information, we can make changes, but get the basics in hand. We may not have time to get everything perfect. We just don’t know yet. But start the process going,” he said. “Any questions?”
Captain Chapman raised his hand. “How long do you expect we will be escorting the hostages once we get them? That will make a difference in the supplies we carry. Also, do you expect they will be able to walk very far? The video we saw showed some older people who didn’t look in the best of shape.”
Richardson stepped up. “Plan for the worst. Maybe a week on short rations with a walk most of the way. As Admiral Hammond said, we hope to provide some air transport. But you can use your imagination on how you get these people where you need to go. Let’s face it, guys, a lot of this is up to your imagination. The goal is to get these people out and home. I really don’t care how you do it,” she said.
Ricks held up his hand. “Any restrictions on casualties for the opposition?”
Richardson shook her head. “Gentlemen, whoever did this has committed an internationally condemned crime against the United States. Your goal is to get our hostages back alive. Quite frankly, I don’t care what bad guys you kill to get the job done. Obviously, innocents are off limits, but from what we’re guessing, the opposition will be military types. We’re just not totally buying what the video says. If you get concerned in the field, call in and ask. We are providing you with some communications gear where you can securely get in touch if absolutely necessary. It’s being assembled and will be provided before you get started.”
“What about prisoners?” asked another man in the room.
Richardson chuckled. “Do you really think you will have time for that? But I will say this, if you think you have the person responsible for this, feel free to bring him home to Mama,” she said pointing her thumb to her chest.
The man laughed again at the thought. They could only imagine what “Mama” might do.
Chapman raised his hand again. “Admiral, where do you fit in all this? I know your wife is one of the hostages, but I need to know who I’m taking orders from and what their motivation might be. No offence, sir.”
Now it was Hammond’s turn to laugh. “What? You SEALS suddenly having qualms about your roots?” he asked in jest.
Again the men in the room laughed. They were beginning to like the leadership and were getting to look forward to this mission.
“Actually, you’re quite right. I am involved, but will be staying out of your way. We have found out that the bad guys seem to be a little bit afraid of what I might do, so I’m going to make them even more afraid. You might hear about me, but you won’t really see me until the end. One thing I am going to do is make sure you guys get home. As we said, I’m working on that. Between the two of us, we’re going to make someone wish they were never born,” said Hammond with a sly look in his eyes.