Steve
Oh my, I have to pee very badly. I was able to slip from the pile of bodies to stand in front of the throne for about an hour. Not really, but for a couple of minutes, at least. I was about to shake it off when long arms surrounded me to take my hands away and took hold of me. A recognizable voice said, "I'll do that. As soon as I do the same, let's use the shower real quick. This morning is going to be busy with people leaving."
Long, tall Kathy sat on the pot while I turned on the water and adjusted the temperature. Before we could really get started washing, the door slid open and the smaller Mercy got in with us. Mercy was more direct and pulled my head down for a kiss. Before she let me go, she said, "Fuck us, do it, hurry, I'm in need this morning."
We performed in the usual manner with them leaning against the wall with their rears sticking out in the air for my pleasure. Or would that be for "our" pleasure. While I was pounding away on Kathy, I noticed a red tinge to the water running from her body. When I switched to do Mercy, we had only been at it a few strokes when she said, "Oh darn, I have my period."
That didn't bother either of us about what we were doing, considering where we were at. Kathy had turned also and was touching herself when she raised her fingers. Looked at them and said, "You're not alone, Mercy, I started too."
As we groaned our pleasure, Kathy added, "If we've started, Sue will too." Kathy hugged me as I pulled my reddened pleasure poker from Mercy, "You'll still have Juanita and Mickey for some fun. But darn, we're going to be sailing tomorrow, and I was looking forward to some high seas fun."
Just as we began washing in earnest, the door slipped open again and Sue stepped in. She hugged me while pulling on my satisfied poker, "I need you this morning, Lover. I think I'm going to start my monthlies and you know how horny I get. Do me. Do I need to help you a little after these greedy sluts used you all up?"
Sue's fondling was doing the trick, but of course, playing with the huge mammary playground in front me, didn't hurt either. In seconds, Sue was turned, leaning against the shower wall, moaning as I thrust into her. It always amazes me the way these beauties can milk me so soon after I've already performed. Perform again I did, which caused a red tinged mixture to run down Sue's leg as we washed.
While getting dressed, I noted the time and figured the rest of the world was going to be waiting on us.
Out in the suite's parlor area, Chuck and Dewey looked as if they had just sat down. Both had a cup of coffee and a tall glass full of red stuff. I smiled at the two, "Hey, you guys, hitting the sauce a little early, aren't you?"
Dewey grinned, "Never too early, Grasshopper. I'm training another how to properly begin his day."
I joined the two by making myself a Bloody Mary and also pouring a cup of coffee. As I sat with the other two men, a procession of women began coming from bedrooms. Most of the non-pregnant women wanted one of the morning drinks as well. We were about to run out of glasses before we ran out of booze and mix. Everyone appeared to have what they wanted to wake up with.
A couple of kids came out of their room, naked, ready for the beach. They were sent back to dress as the mom's didn't want the wait staff bringing breakfast to see a bunch of naked kids running around.
As the kids ate, others began coming to our suite as it was the largest. John was trying to get a consensus as to what time the folks wanted to take off this morning. Chuck's women said anytime would be just about as bad as any. They really didn't want to leave. Chuck had to promise them more sailing back home.
Kevin and Susan, Dennis and Marie, and Don and Jan said they were ready any time.
Martin was having coffee, with Glenda sitting beside him, when he said, "Well, we really enjoyed sailing, but my bride and I are homesick. We're packed and ready.
Merlin and Ben were the only two really anxious to leave. Merlin felt as if he needed to get back to his business, and Ben was anticipating the consummation of another one of his big investment deals. John said, "I'll call and tell the pilots to be ready about ten, okay?"
There was a general theme of acceptance and everyone began gathering their bags. Chuck spent a great deal of time talking and comforting his Fruitful Five, knowing that it would be better if they were closer to medical help when they should decide to give birth. Tina said she had already delivered a few babies, but had not been the primary physician. That gave Chuck some comfort to know one of his own could take care of the others if necessary.
Wow, sixteen were leaving us. Seven originally came over with us, but we were picking up eight additional people from the band, the two new smiling women, and four more kids. I think that as soon as both of the Italian women realized they were sailing to the U.S.A. with us, they had permanent smiles on their faces.
Mac and Lorna came to the room to say their goodbyes to us as well as to their grandkids who had been staying with all of ours. They said their reservations were for nine thirty, so they needed to leave now. All of their grandchildren gave them hugs, along with most of our kids. That had to make the older couple feel they were loved.
A little later, attendants came to the door to carry luggage out to Ed's bus. Chuck and Lisa gave their women kisses and they were walked out to the bus with tears in their eyes. At the last minute, Maria decided she needed to go with Chuck's five, so she hurriedly packed with Chuck and Lisa by her side. She was telling them she felt the girls might need her to take care of them. That was originally her job, and she felt she wouldn't be doing it if she was to stay.
Oh well, there goes another.
It didn't seem to be that much later that Chuck, Lisa, the band, and all of the kids were ready to go to Cannes for practice before the show. Ed was already back from the airport trip, so all of us adults got ready and accompanied the kids. The only missing member of the party was Dewey, who was still messing with his casino/resort problems.
We watched the kids practice and warm up for the show. I know I was still amazed that Chuck and Lisa had brought the kids along this far. I knew that Bonita had pushed her brothers and sisters to learn the guitar, and for some to learn and practice the piano, but what we were listening to was professional grade, at least to my ear.
The reception room was empty when the band and kids got there, but they didn't have time for much of a snack before the doors were unlocked and a whole new set of movie stars and celebrities came swarming in with their pseudo backstage passes. The only thing backstage was the free food and drinks before and after the show.
The concert was really good today. It seemed to go on forever and when they finally shut down and began putting their equipment away, I checked my watch to see that it was almost nine. Almost five hours up on stage. None of the band or the kids seemed worse for wear. They were tired, but excitedly tired.
The band people separated the equipment they wanted to take with them on the boat and told the roadies to take it out to the boat and set it up in the music area of the big salon again. They made arrangements to meet Chuck out there to let them in.
On the way back to the bus, two of Chuck's ever present security people took him off to the side and spoke with him for a lengthy period of time. Lisa had been with him and came to the bus. She announced, "Chuck has been asked to do something, and I'm going along for moral support. We'll see you back at the room later. Would someone let the roadies in the boat so they can deliver and set the instruments up?"
I watched as the two got into a big Mercedes and took off, going fast. They seemed to be heading back toward Nice. If those weird security people needed Chuck and Lisa, I just knew it was for more than making up a foursome for bridge. I said a silent prayer that they would be okay.
Chuck
I was dozing in bed, knowing it was time to get up, but wishing for another five minutes of sleep. Something was spinning around in my head that had the hair on the back of my neck standing tall. My senses were tingling, telling me something was up.
Lisa nudged me and after a gentle kiss, said softly, "Me too, let's get up."
Shoot, I didn't mean to let her in and worry her.
The two of us took a quick shower, knowing this morning, and possibly the whole day, was going to be busy. As soon as we were ready for the day, the other ladies began waking, showering, and packing. The only five not packing were Maria, Taiying, Sing, Julie, and Gina. My Funny Five were all acting like blondes trying to make up their mind what flavor of milk shake they wanted. They couldn't get their clothes in the suitcases. It didn't help when I made the observation, "Heck, you guys brought back a huge pile of clothes from your shopping trips. Either leave some for us to take on the boat or order some big suitcases."
You could tell they didn't care for my comments. Tiani even said, "It's your fault, you know; you gave us that card and told us to get anything we wanted. You didn't set a limit. We didn't even get everything we wanted, but we did get a lot." She was grinning when she did her climbing demonstration to hug me around the neck, kissing me, "You're so good to us and good for us. Hurry home, we're going to miss you and Lisa." She looked around and added, "Maria, Julie, Taiying, Sing, and of course, Gina too. Anyway, hurry home."
The whole time the girls were getting ready to leave, I still had that sense of anticipation that something was up. Before we went to the show, I strapped my backup onto my stalk. Better to be safe than sorry. As Lisa and I were preparing to leave the room, Lisa handed me a corduroy sport coat along with my clip on holster and regular gun. She said, "I'm just as spooked as you are. I don't know whether listening to you has me this way, but I'm anticipating something. Sure hope it doesn't have anything to do with the families.
Just as everyone was about to leave, Maria said she had to go home with the Frivolous Five. Lisa and Maria rushed into the room and packed her suitcase. Maria came to me, kissed me, and said, "The girls are going to need me. They brought me to you to take care of them, and I need to go with them to do that. I love all of them and need to do that, to take care of them. Please hurry home to us."
That was a quick change of heart. I suppose she did feel obligated to the girls, since they were the ones that brought her into our home, and if you thought about it, into our private life as well.
The rest of the morning was spent in preparing to go, and finally going to Cannes for practice and the show. The kids were getting excited as they loved performing. What a bunch of applause and attention hounds.
Our music was special today, and we kept adding in the music we had kicked out for the new stuff we learned. The end result was a five hour concert. All of us were tired, but we were all pleased with the way we sounded. It had been fun and it is really exciting to play well. When the music is right and tight, everyone feels it and plays that much better. Jack even commented that this was one of the best live performances he's heard. He had it all recorded, of course.
Lisa and I were about to get on the bus to return to Nice, when two of the security people called me aside. Lisa went with me, of course, and when one of the security guys began getting rude to her, I touched him on the arm and said, "She's attached. Wherever I go, she follows, get used to it; now, what do you need."
Another suit got out of a big Mercedes and came to us. I recognized him, but couldn't place the name. He said, "We have a problem your service said you could handle. We have a situation similar to what you had in Mobile. The government doesn't care about the prostitution, or even the drugs so much, but they have discovered a large slave trading group that needs to be stopped. The French have a large contingent that needs to be led and you have the experience. Will you? Will you lead us?"
I looked at Lisa and she cocked her head with a slight nod. I could hear her say, "It's up to you, but I'm good for it if they are slavers."
Looking at the new suit, I asked, "Any kids involved, or all teens and up?"
He looked almost morose, "Yeah, almost all kids. The Bratva has been kidnapping them and transporting them to near here. They are mostly shipping them to the Arab countries, with a few going to South Africa, and a few to South America. We need to put a stop to it and put these people out of business."
I asked, "If I do this, no names. I don't want either of our names associated with this. Take all the credit personally, or give it to someone deserving, but not us. If you leak our names to anyone, I will personally hunt you down and make you pay. Got me?"
The guy was smiling and nodding, "Your Secret Service boss said you would be like this. No names, anything else?"
I said, "Yeah, take us back to the boat real quick so we can get some work clothes on, along with our armor vests and equipment."
The man said, "We want you to wear our clothes. They are black camouflage with face covers. We'll go for your equipment, but you need to dress like us. Some of the people we are confronting wear your camouflage uniforms."
Lisa went to tell the folks on the bus that we were leaving. While she was gone, I made a quick call. The other end answered, "Giovanni."
I said hurriedly, "Gio, this is Chuck Johnson. I'm going to ask you an important question and you must answer me honestly."
"Ask me, Chuck Johnson."
"Gio, are you involved in any kind of slave trade stuff in Nice?"
Gio answered quickly, "I do not sell people. We have street women and women who visit hotels, but we do not make them work for us or harm them. I hate that. Do you need help?"
"Thanks, Gio, I appreciate you being straight with me. Do you know anything about some Russian gangsters in Nice?"
He said, "Oh no, Chuck, they are very mean and dangerous. They will kill you as soon as look at you. Don't mess with them; don't get involved with them in any way. If they come to our areas, we don't ask them to leave; we ship them away unable to hurt anyone again, ever. Listen to me, don't mess with them."
"Okay, Gio, I will call you again soon. Gina and Gio and your grandkids send their love."
I heard the man's breath catch when I said that, and soon the line went dead.
When Lisa and I got into the Mercedes, we realized it was a limousine with a big back seat and two seats facing the back. There was already a man in black camouflage obviously wearing armor sitting facing back and another in the front. The driver looked to have on just a plain black T-shirt and jeans. The suit sat in the other seat facing back with a grim look on his face.
I asked the man, "Am I going to have a language problem?"
He said, "No, Jacques, here," he pointed to the man facing me, "And Pierre up front, will be with you the whole time. They will make sure your directions are followed." He opened a briefcase and handed me a map, another enlarged map, and a stack of 8X10 photos. "This is where the operation is. They don't appear to be at attention or on guard very much. We know they usually have guards out from their places of business, but we've been watching them for over a month and can't find any out guards."
I showed one of the photos to Lisa, "Looks just like the last one, doesn't it, except no casino, just a barge made into a hotel of sorts." I looked up at the suit, "Where are the kids held?"
The suit said, "We captured a man and hid him away while we questioned him. We used some of your techniques to have him, what you say, spill the beans. He told us the children are held in the lower deck area of the barge until they are shipped to who the highest bidder is. We've been able to hack their website and watch the auctions. It is sickening and we have been able to stop a few deliveries, but not all. As soon as we have disabled the apparatus here, we will be notifying the countries where the kids are shipped as to who has bought child slaves. The KGB said they are working on the case and will strike back in Russia when we take this place down."
I told the suit, "If they have the same weapons and manpower present as they had in Mobile, we will need to hit the target from land and water at the same time. In one case, we dropped men from helicopters. That was effective too."
The suit said, "We have helicopters and men trained to come down from them. What else do we need?"
"How about from the water, you will need an equally large force to come from the opposite side. You'll also need some recovery boats, as there will be many who will jump overboard to escape. If you want to catch them all, you need to be ready."
We arrived at the yacht club where Jacques accompanied Lisa and me to the boat. We pulled our equipment cases and came back to the salon where we had left our chaperone. The man was marveling at the luxury before him.
In the car, on our way, I asked the suit, "Can we get all of the team leaders together so I can explain the best way to do this. We must be in sync when this goes down or someone will get hurt. Someone usually gets hurt anyway, but let's try to protect your people as best as possible."
That's when I had a thought, "If you are State Department, what are you doing with this?"
The man looked at Jacques and said, "We are a part of the American CIA who work with the State Department and whatever host country we are in. I was originally from Nice, so I am enjoying visiting here."
In perfect English with a New England accent, Jacques said, "Most Americans just call me Jack. The French name is reserved for here."
I looked at Lisa and told her, "You know I don't like working with the CIA." I looked back at the suit, "I'll do this since there are kids involved, but I don't like to be misled. My people know I don't want to work for the CIA, and I won't. I'll make an exception for this."
I thought about it for a second and asked, "Why is the CIA involved in this? Why not the French police or their high security team?"
Jack answered for them, "These people are part of the group you helped take down in Mobile and we've found out they have operations in San Diego, San Francisco, and a new one in Elizabeth, New Jersey. This is a huge group of very dangerous people our government wants eliminated. This group is too big to snipe at, as they would just go underground for a while. We have to eliminate the entire group to make sure the operation here is out of business."
The suit had made several calls, and when we pulled into a big warehouse, he said, "I have all of the team leaders here. Use them as you see fit to keep as many as possible from harm."
I asked, "How far is it to the target? I'd like to see it firsthand before I set the final strategy."
The suit replied, "I'll have the group leader who has been observing the operation take you. He knows the terrain and how to get in and out without being spotted."
Outside of the car I was met by about a dozen men and two women all dressed in the black camouflage fatigues, their face covers pulled under their necks. After the first introductions, I said, "Whoever is the group leader; you and I are going for a quick look at the target. To be safe, we should have a detail go with us for backup. I know these people we are going to confront, and they are smart and ruthless."
I spoke to Lisa, "Stay here and give these people a brief description of what happened in Mobile the last time, and what dangers there might be. I shouldn't be gone long."
Lisa was skeptical, but did as I asked. The group leader, five more heavily armed men, and I went out another door of the warehouse and walked between buildings through the darkness. When we slowed at a fire ladder that led to the roof, the group leader began climbing up. I indicated for two men to remain below to guard our exit.
Once up on the flat roof of the building, the group leader had us down on our hands and knees crawling toward the front edge of the roof. There were scupper holes in the wall that let water on the roof run out into guttering. The holes were big enough that we had a great view of the big barge, or in this case two barges joined together with a structure built across the width of both. The good news was the structure was only two stories, but the bad news was that it was so big. Knowing the Bratva, I could just imagine how many ruthless guards there must be on the boat. The guards were not the only problem, as even the businessmen in the group were equally as dangerous.
I searched the area thoroughly. Next, I took a long look at each of the buildings flanking the building we were occupying to see if I could see any outer guard. I saw no one, nothing. This was unusual for these people, as they were usually set up to observe their entire perimeter. We had to sneak up on guards the last time, but here, I really only saw one man walking around the deck, outside the structure.
While we were lying there, a door opened on a cupola, or stairwell doghouse, that went below. A guard stood by the door smoking a cigarette. The walking guard came around and stopped to talk to the smoker and lit up as well. Too bad we weren't in position to strike at that moment as both of their night vision would have been affected by the flare of their lighter. I asked the group leader, "How often does the guy come out of that stairwell to have a smoke?"
The leader said, "There are probably four of them that are below. They come up on deck about every fifteen minutes. Sometimes they will trade off with the one walking the deck and deck guy going below. In an hour, the deck walker is back up and takes over the walking job."
I asked, "Do you know if there are other accesses below?"
The man said, "There is another stairwell doghouse on the other end of the barge, and I'm pretty sure another entrance inside, as children are seen coming out of the first floor of the building that we didn't see come out of the stairwell doors."
I told the group leader, "This is what I suggest; we split up groups to hit the barges on both ends and both sides at once. Since the barge is so big, we should have two groups hit each side so we have enough coverage. At the same time, we need to drop at least a dozen men on top. I can see access doors on the roof of the structure, so they need to be ready to break the door down if it's locked. If we're lucky, none of the doors will be locked and we'll have a little surprise going for us. We have to take the guy walking the deck down, and we should take the smoker out as soon as he's on deck. That way we only have three below deck with the kids to worry about."
I pointed to the access gangways and said, "The doors by the gangways probably swing both ways, so we will have to go through them from both sides at the same time. The photos I saw showed the water side is the same as this one. That's where and when we will meet a lot of resistance. These guys have AKs and are not afraid to use them. I think they are all well trained ex-military. Your men must know to negate, neutralize, or just plain shoot anyone with a weapon. If they even look like they are reaching for a weapon, they must eliminate that threat. What I'm telling you is important. I need to make sure you will make all of your people understand this."
As I moved away from the wall, still crawling, I said, "I noticed all of your weapons had sound suppressors. That's a good idea and we may not wake up as many before we can get at them as a result. As soon as that first AK is fired, you're going to be under heavy fire."
Down on the ground, I went to the front of the building. While staying in the shadows, I looked up and down in front of the double barge to make sure there was not anyone guarding from the other side of the street. It looked like we could use the walkways between the buildings to get us close to the gangways. While I was watching from the shadows, a guy came out of the rear stairwell door. He too lit a cigarette while looking around. The walking guard joined him and smoked another cigarette while talking. The group leader was with me, so I asked, "Is this the first time you've seen men come out of the rear door?"
The man said, "Once before, when we think they had a large amount of people to deliver on board, we saw a man come out of there. I guess we can assume there are four down at the end as well."
"Let's wait here and see if the guy trades off every fifteen minutes."
We waited and saw men coming up at both ends about every fifteen minutes. This gave me an additional idea. As we made our way back to the warehouse, I said, "How about doing our attack the way we planned, but we'll take out the smoking deck guard at each end of the boat as well as the walking guard first? As soon as that is done, we attack from all four sides and on top. What do you think? Is it doable?"
The group leader didn't answer until we were inside and when he turned to me he asked, "So, are we going to kill those three people without them ever taking a shot at us?"
I shook my head and said, "That would be best, but if you want, take them hand to hand, but you better be sure they are neutralized, stuffed, and cuffed. You know, knocked out, cuffed, and gagged." The more I thought of what the guy said, I had to ask, "You're not CIA, are you?"
The man shook his head no, "We are a special operations group of men in the French army. This is different for us because none of us have ever seen combat."
That'll send chills up and down your spine.
When the guy said that, I looked at the suit and Jack. They both just shrugged their shoulders.
Lisa said, "Oh shit, now what?"
I gathered all of the people around me and told them I needed three men to take the three guards on deck. They needed to be experts on stealth and hand to hand. That's when one of the female leaders asked, "Why not just shoot them? Our weapons have sound suppressors so no one will hear them."
The group leader had a horrified look on his face. "We can't just shoot people unprovoked, we'll have to take the guards quietly."
The same woman said, "The hell with that. They are going to shoot us if we don't shoot them first. I'm not going to let one of my men die before we return fire. This is an attack, we have to be pro-active. If you want to do this by yourself, you're welcome, but if you want me and I would say the rest of these teams, you better pick out your best three snipers while you have us."
The man was angry; shaking his head in despair that one of his countrymen could think the way they had just suggested.
I said, "How about we go in and take out the guards via hand to hand but after that, we have to be ready to fire at anyone who displays a weapon."
The group leader didn't like that we would fire first, but reluctantly agreed. I continued, "I want three two-man teams to take out the three guards. The first team takes out the walking guard while the two ends of the boat are empty. As soon as that guard is down, the two other teams go to the boat and wait for the man to come out the door you are assigned. As soon as that is complete, you will signal both offshore and at the men waiting on land to board. If we have the helicopter hovering in the area, they can join in the attack by dropping men on top of the structure roof."
All of the people were nodding in agreement. I surprised them by saying, "Lisa and I will be one of the teams to take out either the walking guard or one of the guards from below. I need two more teams."
The lady who spoke up said the she would go with one of her men as one team and another team leader said he would be the third with one of his men. I said, "We need cuffs and a couple of strips of duct tape for their mouths. Don't cover their noses too or they will die on you. If you're ready, get your people into position, and you," I pointed at the group leader, "Get the helicopter up with their men, but off to the side and low so the boat guards won't know what's going on. Let's go."
When Lisa and I were in the shadows with the other two teams, I told the others, "Lisa and I will wait until none of the below deck guards are out and the walking guard is on the other side of the boat. We'll take him as soon as he comes around the corner. Both of the other teams need to be on the boat with us to handle either below deck guard who might come up at any moment. We should be fine, but be prepared. If you have silenced handguns, don't be afraid to use them before an alarm can be sounded."
It took almost a half hour before we had the condition we wanted. The walking guard disappeared around the front of the double barges, and no below deck guards were up smoking.
The six of us quickly made it across the gangways and stayed against
the side of the structure. Four of us headed to the rear of the
structure and two went to the front. We were ready for the walking
guard when the rear below deck stairwell door opened and two below deck
guards stepped out.
They both lit up just as the walking guard came around the structure.
They were talking fairly loud, but none of us understood Russian.
I motioned for all of us to step back a little and pulled my sidearm to screw on the noise suppressor. Lisa and the other two followed my lead. I whispered as quietly as I could, "I'll do the one on the left; you two do the ones on the right. Make it count or we'll be in a world of shit."
I knelt down at the corner of the building while the other two stood over me. Lisa was lying on the deck with her Glock pointing at the men too. I took careful aim and fired. Almost simultaneously, the other two men fired at the same time. The problem was that both of them fired at the same guy. Those were good shots, but the third guard on deck was reaching for his gun when Lisa and I fired at the same time. The guy's head exploded, but he crashed into the stairwell door.
We heard someone from below yell and when there was no answer, the door opened just enough for a face to appear. I put a round into the peeking face and signaled the shore to begin the attack.
Too late, alarms were going off all over the boat. I told the other team with me to rejoin their group, and for no one to go below until all of the others were neutralized. I waved at Lisa and headed for the nearest door off the deck to go into the main structure.
We were able to go into a large room where there were couches and tables for the guards' leisure time. Lisa and I had holstered our sidearms, and we both had our MP5s with sound suppressors at the ready.
We heard feet on stairs right beside us and stepped to either side of a door. Four men burst out of the door with AKs at the ready. Two bursts from Lisa and I had those men down, then we heard noises that sounded like running on stairs coming from below.
We didn't know which door would open, so we waited against the wall. Another door on the other side of Lisa burst open and little girls from around six to early teens came running out. They didn't even look around but headed straight for the side door. Hopefully, the men coming aboard would not shoot them.
There were shots being fired below, so I jumped at the door and leaped down the stairs. There, two men were firing at little girls that were hiding behind beds. I knocked down the first guy that was turning toward me, but the second guy hit me with a burst from his AK. As I was propelled backwards by the hits, I heard Lisa scream and saw her put several bursts into the guy who fired at me.
I didn't black out, but I was not feeling too good about moving around. I had just picked up my rifle, when two more men came from a door that looked as if it came from the rear of the boat. They each had rifles at the ready, but died from Lisa's bursts before they had completely cleared the door.
Someone from the other side of the door opened up with an AK on full auto, shredding the door, sending splinters everywhere. I aimed through the dark doorway and shot the rest of my magazine at whoever was shooting. Lisa and I heard some groans from hits, but we didn't advance toward the door. I dropped my magazine, inserted another, and jacked in a round.
We could hear shots being fired above us, but there were no more shots being fired below deck. I got up on my hands and knees, trying to make sure I could get around. Lisa came racing to me, but I told her, "Stay away, stay alert, and watch the doorways."
I stood, actually getting my breath and being able to breathe. I told Lisa, "Check those kids, have them lie flat until we can safely get them out of here. Hopefully, these two didn't kill too many. I'm going to the back to see what's up."
I cautiously stepped over the bodies of the two men who had come from the back and through the shattered doorway. I rubbed against a light switch, so I flipped it on and went to my knees with my rifle at the ready. Nothing happened, but just ahead, there were three men lying in blood. One was moving around trying to reach his rifle, but I kicked it out of the way before using my boot to kick the guy into unconsciousness.
The back bunkroom was dark, totally blacked out. While hugging the wall, I slid my hand around the open door to find the light switch. As soon as I hit it, I went to the floor to give whoever might be in there a smaller target and be in an area he wouldn't expect.
Nothing, no one moved. I peeked around the doorway, and then gently pushed the door complete open so I could see in both directions, and still nothing moved.
I could see small kids hiding below the bunks. I did see a few bodies in front of the bunks where they had been shot by the guards. It was sickening to see, and made you wonder why the guards would do that.
I heard men coming down the stairs and yelled for them to enter carefully and that I would be right in front of them at the door. Knowing it could be guards still trying to hide, I kept my rifle trained on the door. The lady team leader came through, leading her men. They spread out and checked the room carefully, making sure there was no one hiding.
I told her, "The kids are all behind the bunks. You can see some of them didn't make it." Some of the men began checking the little girls who were down to see if they could be helped. They did find two who were just wounded, so they began carrying them out.
I walked back to the rear room to see how Lisa was doing. She was lying on the floor, her rifle was missing. I immediately looked around to make sure no one was hiding before going to her and checking her pulse. It was strong, but I could see she had been hit on the side of the head by something. We didn't have radios, so I couldn't call for a medic but I looked at the little girls and they were all looking back and forth from a closed door to me. I hollered at the team in the other room for assistance. The team leader came up, and I told her about the kids looking at the closed door. She went to one side and I went to other. I was holding my MP5 with one hand and turned the door handle and pulled with the other.
Another silenced MP5 began firing full auto from inside the closet or room, whatever it was. Knowing you could go through a clip fast, I waited until I heard the bolt lock back. The lady team leader had heard the same thing, and we both opened up into the dark closet. When I turned on the light, we saw what was left of the man who probably hit Lisa. The team leader and I cleared the rest of the room before I went back to the closet to get Lisa's MP5. I slipped fresh magazines in mine and hers, went to the unconscious Lisa, picked her up, and carried her up the stairs.
As soon as I cleared the door to the big room, two men took Lisa from me and led me out to a big medical van on the dock area. While they put Lisa on a rolling gurney and began checking her vitals, another corpsman pushed me down on a gurney and began taking my top off. That's when I realized I had blood all over my side.
When the corpsman took off my black fatigue shirt, he gasped as there were five rounds embedded in my vest. I guess the guy must have fired two bursts if there was five there and I was hit by another. The guy was putting a compress bandage to my side while another began checking my ribs. None seemed to be hurting, but I was still high on adrenaline. I was more worried about Lisa than about myself.
I was trying to tell the corpsman to let me up, but we were having a language problem. I think he was telling me to stay down in French, while I was telling him to let me up to check on Lisa in English. Jack, or Jacques, appeared and said, "Let me help." He talked to the corpsman a couple of seconds and the man stepped back. I stood and moved to Lisa who appeared to be coming around. They had the blood cleaned off the side of her head and had a small bandage on it.
When Lisa's eyes opened, they opened real wide in fear, then softened as she looked at me. She asked, "Are you all right, you were bleeding."
"I'm fine, Baby, I'm more worried about you." When she tried to sit up, I said, "Lie still. Let a doc look at you again. You're probably going to need x-rays, so be still."
"Chuck, you were bleeding, are you sure you're alright? Don't your ribs hurt? You took a couple of bursts straight on before I could do anything."
I told her, "I think I made it without any damaged ribs this time. The thing on my side is just a scratch."
Lisa smiled, but was still groggy, "Yeah, sure, just a scratch, says the man with blood all over his pants."
I showed her the bandage and said, "See, all better."
That's when Lisa noticed the rounds embedded in my vest. She began counting and said, "I guess the first of the two bursts got you. How did you make it without getting some chest damage? You must have flown backward a couple of feet." Lisa looked around and asked, "Did we save most of the kids. There were some in the room who had been killed and hit. I was looking at a little one who was wounded when I was hit. Did you find the guy? Did he take my rifle?"
I told Lisa, "We got him, and I have your rifle."
A doctor came over to Lisa and did the light in the eyes thing. He inspected her head and felt around on her neck. He asked her to sit up, and while she did, the doc watched her carefully before pronouncing her probably having only a slight concussion if any. He told me, "You have a deep cut, but won't need stitches. Just change dressings for a couple of weeks with some antibiotic cream. Have you had a tetanus shot in the last five years?"
When I nodded yes, he said, "You two can leave, but I want to thank you for helping to free all of these little girls."
I had to ask as I could see several body bags, "How many kids were there, and how many made it?"
The doctor said, "From the count we have, there were right at a hundred and fifty-two little girls on board. No little boys on this boat. Seven died, and eleven have been wounded."
"Are there many troop casualties?" I was thinking that with all the gunfire, it was likely there were some.
The doctor looked sad, "We lost four men, and have nineteen wounded. This has been a bad day. If you want to know, there were fifty three guards. Forty-eight are dead and the other five will probably make it to stay in prison for life. Too bad we don't use the guillotine any longer."
The suit showed up with Jack. The suit said, "Good to see you two were not badly hurt. I'm going to be in trouble for letting you get hurt at all. You did a hell of job planning, but you were probably right the first time when you wanted to use rifles before ever going on board. I think that group leader is rethinking his attitude about only returning fire. Come on, if you're released, I'll take you back to the hotel."
On the way to the resort, Lisa said, "I don't want to hear it from all of them at the hotel. They're going to be all upset that we were hurt. Hell, we're alive. That's more than can be said about some of those little girls and some of the troops that were there. This was not a good one, was it?"
I said honestly, "Nope, not good at all. They are getting worse, aren't they? There are more guards and more resistance every time. If it was not for having to try to save the kids, I would have been all for dragging those barges out to sea and sinking them so no one would have been hurt. We need to talk about this."
When we reached the resort hotel, I told the suit and Jacques, "Don't do that again. Don't call. Just forget that I exist. I don't work with you guys and I don't want to."
When the suit offered his hand, I reluctantly shook his, but shook Jack's hand more willingly. When I did, I asked, "Where were you. I thought you were supposed to be our shadow?"
Jack looked embarrassed, he nodded at his boss, "He wouldn't let me go on the inside of the raid. He stopped me when I was following you to go onto the boat. He's my boss and I have to take his orders. I need this job, as I have a family back in the states. Sorry I wasn't there to back you up."
As Lisa and I got out of the car with our cases, I glared at the suit as he smugly sat in the expensive limo. He had accomplished his goal and without damage to any of his men. I didn't say anything else, but closed the door without slamming it. Lisa and I walked around the resort onto the dock and back to the boat. We went down to the cabin, showered, put fresh dressing and goop on our wounds, and dressed in the clothes we had been wearing before.
I looked at Lisa and said, "It's almost five, so they will be getting up soon. How about I leave a message on the room phone and we'll just snooze here. You need an x-ray tomorrow, and I may have to have one too, depending on how I feel later today."
Lisa had wadded up the fatigues and put them into a plastic bag so no one would see the blood. We lay back on the bed, and as Lisa snuggled up with the good side of her head on my shoulder, she said, "I think I'm done with this stuff. I won't keep you from it, but I may be done. That was too close."
We were both still a little wired and lay there with what happened this night running through our heads. I think we both yawned at the same time, and Lisa giggled, "Just like our guitar duo." We both fell asleep.
Primary Editing by Pepere
Proofing and Continuity by Sagacious
European tours, by Rotorhead
Another set of eyes – Knight6
Last one through - Deenara2000