Chapter 12

Posted: March 26, 2007 - 12:11:30 am?

The next morning, Gabe and Selena followed the trail from town for another few hundred meters, until it started inclining downhill again. They took a break on the edge of a medium sized clearing with a clear view of the sky, while Gabe studied the map that he'd obtained at the sporting goods store. The map was a US Geological Survey 1:50000 relief map of the Prado Administrative District, and seemed to be well surveyed. He activated his small civilian GPS receiver, and waited until it acquired a three-satellite fix of their position. He cycled the GPS to the UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) mode, and plotted the eight-digit coordinate from the GPS's screen onto the map.

The trail they had been following was not on the map, so Gabe used his best guess to draw it in with a pencil. The trail meandered about half way up the mountain, ran parallel to the ridge line for about five hundred meters, then ran back down slope, probably intersecting the road to town, about a half mile from its starting point. The bisecting trail that the couple disappeared on last night ran up slope towards the summit of the mountain.

As mountains go, the one they were on was not very impressive. The summit was about three thousand meters above sea level, and about twelve hundred meters above the Prado plateau. The mountain was about two kilometers long, and one kilometer wide, on a North to South axis. A taller peak rose a few kilometers to the North and another a little further to the South. The entire area was covered with ruggedly beautiful and serenely undisturbed high jungle and rain forest.

After eating one of the freeze-dried meals, Gabe and Selena carefully crossed the trail and slowly moved back towards the concealed bunkers. When they found the bunker at the trail intersection, they turned up hill and found a location from which to watch the smaller trail. They had been watching the trail about three hours, when four soldiers came down it. Five minutes later, four different soldiers returned. Gabe figured out immediately that it was a changing of the guard, so they followed the four men getting off duty as they climbed the slope. Sure enough, the four guards being relieved stopped at another concealed bunker, and picked up two guards from there.

Gabe and Selena had an easy time following the chattering guards for about two hundred meters. At that point, the voices just disappeared. Gabe had Selena sit down for a break, as he went closer to the trail to investigate. Gabe found that the trail ended at a rocky outcropping, and that there was no sign of the six soldiers. He went back and brought Selena to the edge of the jungle near the outcropping.

"There must be a hidden tunnel or cave entrance somewhere around here. We are going to wait here and see if we can spot it," he whispered in her ear.

She nodded, then gave him a mischievous look.

"We can make love while we wait," she whispered back.

Gabe had to bite his knuckle to keep from laughing. As loud as Selena was, FARC soldiers within a grid square (1000 meters) would know exactly where they were.

"Maybe after dark, Little One. Then maybe the soldiers will think it is just a very noisy she puma mating," he replied.

She gave him a cheeky grin and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Too bad, my husband, because I feel like being a very naughty girl today."

Gabe wrenched his thoughts from her lithe little body and started thinking about the problem of dealing with an enemy in a tunnel system. He had a base of knowledge about such warfare, from his time in Vietnam. During his second tour of duty there, he had conducted reconnaissance missions around Nui Ba Den (Black Lady Mountain aka Black Virgin Mountain). The area around the mountain and the Cu Chi district was honeycombed with over two hundred miles of tunnels. One of the facts he knew for sure was that any tunnel system used as a base of operations had to have more than one entrance.

Finding at least one more entrance to the tunnels was imperative, because he'd bet good money on the likelihood that the interior of this main entrance was guarded or monitored. He needed to find the back door. Gabe sighed when he realized that they were going to have to return to town and resupply themselves for a longer stay on the mountain.

Gabe and Selena lucked out, when two females dressed in civilian clothes exited the caves only an hour later. The women seemed as if they magically appeared from some scrub brush growing against the cliff face, in fissures in the stone outcropping. As soon as the women were out of Gabe's sight and sound, he and Selena started working their way back down the mountain. Before reaching the road into Prado, the couple cached their weapons and camo outfits, and put on their civilian hiking clothes. They strolled into Prado, holding hands and laughing, at four in the afternoon on day thirty-five.

Thirty-seven days after the kidnapping of Peter Ballard and his sisters, Colonel Nuñez, Arturo Guzman, John Riley and one of the DEA Agents, sat in the restaurant of the Hotel de Purificación. Guzman took a photograph out of his briefcase and slid it onto the middle of the table.

"This photograph is of one Marta Cardenas, also known as Commander Zorra, taken about eight years ago, when she was a student at the university in Bogotá. Until the capture and questioning of Manuel Suarez, or El Chico, as you knew him, we didn't even know she was a member of the FARC, let alone the commander of a column."

The three other men examined the picture, and the DEA agent let out a low whistle.

"She is some kind of good looking woman!" he exclaimed.

Guzman smiled at the man's rapturous look, and continued his narrative.

"Yes, she is very attractive. She was a part time model while she was a student; she was even on the cover of a few magazines. When her college roommate was killed during the Marxist student riots of 1999, she stopped modeling and dropped out of school. She disappeared so completely, even her parents, staunch supporters of Presidente Uribe, have not heard from her."

John Riley broke into the conversation.

"So do you know where she is now?" he asked.

"We do not know the exact location of her camp. She is a very smart woman. El Chico said she was adamant in refusing to ever disclose her cell's location. As you know, that is common guerilla doctrine, even if El Chico's other units didn't practice it. We do know the general area it's in, however. El Chico told me that it was somewhere in the mountains around the town of Prado."

"Did El Chico say how big her unit was and how well equipped?" Nuñez asked.

"That I can answer," Guzman said, "because of pay documents we found. There are one hundred and one rebels in her column. Her unit, named the Columna Carlos Sanchez, is well armed and equipped. It seems that the young lady is in much favor with the FARC Central High Command, because of her recruiting skills, and has received numerous issues of the best weapons and equipment they have available."

"Carlos Sanchez, I recall that name. I eradicated him and his unit three or four years ago, after they blew up a bridge across the Magdalena River, south of Ibaque."

Guzman shook his head and fixed Nuñez with a hard stare.

"No Colonel, you only killed him and part of his unit. This woman was his second in command and also his lover. Because you broke off your mission, she was able to evacuate the area with over half the company and their equipment."

He turned his gaze from the red-faced Nuñez, and spoke to the table in general.

"Do not take this woman lightly. She is as cunning as the animal she has for an alias. El Chico said that many missions, for which we gave his front credit, were actually her work. She is secretive and avoids the limelight, yet she is highly effective and dangerous."

Guzman departed, and the remaining discussion revolved around the Tiger Battalion deploying to Prado. Nunez said that he would be ready to move out in three days, and would set up his base camp at the Prado Airport, in order to protect the new helicopters that were arriving later in the week. They would use the same tactics to occupy and seal off Prado that they had used so successfully in Purificación.

"I will free your employee and his sisters," Nuñez vowed, "and rid the world once and for all of this Commander Zorra."

The Tiger Battalion's decimation of the majority of the 21st Front was all anyone in the caverns talked about. Rumors ran rampant through the ranks as the story spread. Commander Zorra finally assembled all her soldiers, and gave them the information she had gleaned on her visit to Prado.

"My comrades, it is with a heavy heart that I officially inform you that El Chico, the Commander of the 21st Front, has been captured. According to Caracol Televisión (a Colombian television network, ) El Chico is in Bogotá, awaiting a hearing on drug trafficking charges. In addition to El Chico, Caracol stated that over one hundred FARC soldiers were captured and sixty-two were killed.

"The cowardly administration of Yanqui Puppet Uribe, stated that El Chico and our comrades were captured when they attacked a private security force hired by the US DEA to guard against future attacks on their helicopters. From speaking to people who were in Purificación, I have learned that the 'private security force' is actually an AUC battalion.

"I am certain that the AUC lackeys will be arriving in Prado soon, because new earthen parapets are being constructed at the airport that I am certain are designed to protect more DEA helicopters. If the soldiers do as they did in Purificación, they will move into Prado, seal off the town and try to catch one of us. Because of that, I am placing Prado off limits until we can assess the threat these soldiers represent, and find a way to neutralize them. We will fight these bastards, but it will be at a time and place of our choosing."

Marta had a lot on her mind as she walked with Pilar towards her room after addressing her soldiers. Partly, her thoughts were on the threat posed by the AUC unit. She had no doubts at all that the right wing paramilitary group was acting on orders from the government. Although the current administration denied it, she knew that they used the AUC to do their dirty work. She thought her unit was secure in their base camp, but a protracted siege of the caverns would be grim. Marta had the fall back option of dispersing her unit until the AUC departed the area, but such a major step would be premature at this point. Besides, she and her soldiers were not cowards, she would think long and hard before she did such a thing.

The AUC battalion was not all she was thinking about, however, as she quickened her pace. For the last couple of weeks, everything she thought about was filtered through the lens of her feelings for Peter. Try as she might, there wasn't a single thing about him that she didn't love. Even when they weren't making love, she wanted to be with him, wrapped in his calm and loving aura. She knew now why his sisters were so crazy about him, and wondered how any woman could be anything less, once they had a chance to know him. Yes, he was a fine man, highly intelligent, sweet and caring. Maybe, she mused, that was why he was such a phenomenal lover.

Her pulse quickened as she thought about their lovemaking. Marta was not a novice in the arts of the boudoir, she had a number of lovers over the years both male and female, and she had learned from and enjoyed them all. Marta had a strong sex drive and had never been shy in exercising it while staying firmly in control of herself and her sexuality. That is, she had been until Peter came along. With Peter, she became aroused just sitting next to him; his slightest touch set her on fire. Marta actually shivered when she thought about their first time together...

Marta had to wait three days after the day she had fallen asleep with Peter, before she had a chance to be alone with him for her own pleasure. Although she had wanted to be with him in the worst way, she made sure he bred each of his sisters and the volunteers from among her soldiers first. She had also let Pilar have a turn, which she had shared with his sister Katherine. Marta had stopped the practice of being in the room while Peter made love to the other women, because it was too hard for her to refrain from jumping into bed with him also. Finally on the forth day, Peter joined her in her quarters after bathing in the pond.

Pilar brought him to her room about two in the afternoon, freshly scrubbed and well rested. Marta was wearing a civilian dress for the occasion, and had carefully brushed out her long black hair until it glistened. She really didn't have any kind of seduction of him in mind, she thought they would just disrobe and tumble into the bed together. Peter, though, had an agenda of his own. He took her in his arms and kissed her softly, then leaned back to admire her.

"Marta Cardenas, I think you are the most beautiful woman in the world, so I must be the luckiest guy in it, just for being here with you," he said.

She gave him a smile and kissed him on the cheek. Smiling was something that she found herself doing more of nowadays, and invariably, Peter Ballard was the cause of those smiles.

"Thank you, Peter, but you don't need to compliment me to get me in bed. I'm yearning to be there with you anyway."

It was Peter's turn to smile, as her voice let him know she was teasing. Marta was usually all business, so teasing and playfulness were a side of her he'd never seen. He decided he liked it. Pete stepped to the side and swooped her up in his arms. Marta squealed in surprise and locked her arms around his neck, as he cradled her in his arms as if she were a baby.

"In that case, I better hurry before you change your mind," he said, as he stalked towards her big bed.

Marta clung to his neck, impressed by his strength almost as much as she was by his romanticism. He deposited her onto her back in the middle of the bed and stood up straight. Marta put her elbows down to her sides and pushed herself up on them, as she looked at him, a curtain of raven tresses covering one of her eyes. Pete shook his head in wonder at the vision in front of him, before climbing on the bed with her.

Once on the bed, he'd kissed her again and guided her back down on her back, as her arms came up around him. Pete started to unfasten the buttons that ran down the front of the dress. As each button popped from its hole, Pete kissed the skin it uncovered. When the last button was undone, he pulled the sides of the dress apart and kissed all the exposed skin he'd missed. Marta, already aroused in anticipation even before he arrived in her room, reached behind her back to unfasten her white satin bra. Peter stopped her by grabbing her hands and pushing them up over her head.

"I'll get to that, Marta. You are all my holiday presents rolled into one and I want to savor unwrapping you."

Marta nodded her head and closed her eyes, as she delighted in the feelings sweeping over her. All this was a new experience for her, this slow and romantic teasing. Marta had loved sex from the first time her roommate at the university had introduced her to it, but she had never known loving like this. Peter was slowly awakening almost mystical feelings, as he seemingly worshipped her body. She thought to ask him what he was doing when he rolled her onto her stomach, but the question died on her lips, as he pulled her dress from her body. He unfastened her bra and she wiggle to help him remove it; she raised her hips when he dragged her matching satin panties down her legs.

Marta turned her head to the side, so she could watch him as he knelt beside her, kissing and caressing her back. His touch was by turns, feather soft then firmly stroking, it was an astonishing erotic combination. Pete kept one caressing hand on her as he shed his own clothes. Marta stared in mouthwatering fascination at his large swollen penis, as he knelt beside her. She was eagerly compliant, when he rolled her onto her back, and splayed her long legs in anticipation. Peter did not disappoint her either, as he crawled between them with his thick shaft in his hand. When he lined the engorged knob of his spear up with her lightly downed slit, her hips pumped up on their own volition.

"Hold still, relax and close your eyes, sweetheart. I want us both to always remember this," he commanded.

Marta willed herself to be still, as he started entering her with agonizing slowness. He felt huge in her after doing without for over three years. She could feel every ridge and vein of his member, as he pulled out and slowly pushed in, until he was fully seated. Marta couldn't recall it ever feeling this good before, and he wasn't even moving yet.

"You feel wonderful in me, Mi Querido (My Darling). It is as if you were made just for me."

Pete moved his hips around without pulling back from her. Her eyes closed in pleasure, as she felt him stirring her insides. When he leaned down to kiss her, she wrapped her arms and legs around him. He broke the kiss and gently untangled her limbs from around his body. She opened her eyes and looked at him in confusion when he pulled out.

"We will get back to that later, but first I'm going to make love to every square inch of your glorious body."

Marta's groan of frustration at the loss of him inside her, turned into a moan of pleasure, as he dipped his head and captured her nipple in his mouth. Peter moved his lips and tongue from one breast to the other, and then started trailing kisses down her body. Marta had never experienced this slow languid lovemaking; never before had she been driven to the precipice and slowly reeled back like this. It was a most exquisite torture, as he played her supple, lanky body as if it were a violin. When he finally worked his way up her legs and was hovering around her steaming center, she had had all she could take.

"¡Aye bebé dulce, lamerme por favor! (Oh sweet baby, please lick me!)" she begged.

Peter obliged her with a vengeance, as he wrung wave after wave of orgasms from her. She was actually starting to fear for her mental health, when he finally relented and moved up to remount her. She started to wrap her legs around his hips, when he grabbed her behind the knees and pushed her mile-long legs back towards her chest. When he did that, it elevated her pelvis in such a way that every stroke passed by her g-spot, and mashed her clit when their hips collided. Marta had always enjoyed sex, but even with other women, the sessions had been short and raw couplings. With Peter, it was anything but, as he displayed the incredible stamina and self-control, her breeding program had helped him develop.

Marta lost track of time, as she screamed herself hoarse under him. When they finally climaxed together in one massive, cataclysmic convulsion, she had been holding her breath so long, she passed out for a few minutes. When her eyes fluttered open, Peter was wiping her brow with a cool, damp rag. She gave him a smile and pulled him down for a kiss. Marta had finally found her match, yes, she was still Zorra, the Comendadora de Columna Carlos Sanchez, but he was now 'Comandante del cuerpo de Zorra' (the commander of Zorra's body).

Marta shook her head in wonder, as she pushed open the door of her room. That first night was a magical event, but amazingly, it was more of the same every time they were together. Her heartbeat quickened, because she knew he would be waiting on the other side of the door, all pretense of him being her captive lost by the wayside of their yearning for each other. They were now both captives; bound heart to heart with gossamer filaments. They were both prisoners of love.

He was waiting for her, reading her dog-eared copy of Che Guevara's biography (James, Daniel. Che Guevara: A Biography, New York: Stein and Day, 1969). Marta smiled at the sight; they'd had some spirited debates on the merits of communism versus capitalism. Surprisingly, they had both admitted the failing of each system. Perhaps even more surprising, they both agreed that some sort of hybrid form of social democracy, coupled with a capitalistic economy, seemed to work the best in underdeveloped regions like Prado.

"Hi, honey, I'm home," she quipped as she plopped down in his lap.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed the spot on her neck that gave her shivers.

"I'm very happy about that, Baby. I was getting lonely enough to go find a Baby Brigade soldier to keep me company," he teased back.

Marta's expression changed as his statement brought back the reality of the situation they all faced now.

"Peter, the situation is even worse than we initially thought. The military unit that attacked our front's headquarters in Purificación turned out to be a very powerful AUC battalion that I fear will be looking for us next. I am thinking of dispersing my column, so that we might reform later after this threat is passed. It would be difficult for us to stay together now anyway, given that we have such limited sources of funds. And of course, I have to get you and your sisters to safety, too."

Pete's heart went out to her, as she contemplated giving up all she had worked so hard to establish. In addition, he wasn't about to let her send him anywhere.

"Marta, I can't speak to any military decisions you have to make, but I agree with getting my sisters safely home. However, unless you tell me you have no feelings for me, I am staying with you."

Marta hugged him tighter and ruffled his hair with the fingertips of her left hand.

"Of course I have feelings for you, silly man, I love you. I want with all my heart for us to be together, but how can that be? You would be a geologist without a job, and a wanted woman as a companion. That doesn't sound like much of a future for you."

Pete shrugged noncommittally, and played his hole card.

"Maybe there is a future for a politically active agrarian reformer and a geologist, right here on this mountain, and Prado at large. Maybe there is even a way to keep your column together, although it might be as a business instead of a fighting force," he said.

Marta looked at him askance, "And just how would we do that?"

Peter pulled a tailings sample out of his pocket and handed it to Marta.

"This is a sample of the mine tailings we've been clearing out of the passageways. You see these silvery-white veins in this rock?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"I am fairly certain that it is one or more of the platinoid group of precious metals, which includes platinum. We would need to have it assayed to know for sure. When this mine was operating, these tailings were thrown away."

Marta's eyes went wide at hearing the word platinum.

"But Peter... platinum is a very valuable metal. Why would the miners just throw it away?"

"The Spanish conquistadors didn't consider these metals to be of any value. Even years later, in the 1700s, platinum was still unknown in Europe. Dishonest miners used to alloy platinum with gold so it increased the weight. The practice was known as 'doubling' and was such a problem that the Spanish treasurers made a rule that required miners to dump all the tailings into bodies of water, to discourage doubling the weight of gold with it."

Then he asked her if she knew of a body of water into which the tailings from over the centuries might have been dumped. Marta took him by the hand, and led him to the cave entrance forty feet above the lake and concealed by the waterfall.

"This is where we dispose of the debris you have been clearing from the tunnels. I am quite certain that this opening was put here and used for that purpose from the beginning; it is very convenient, as the force of the water pushes the rocks out into the deeper water. There must be a thousand years of tailings in this lake. Do you really think we can profit from what the earlier miners threw away?"

"I know we can, Sweetie. That's what I do for a living. How profitable we will be depends on what percentage of the tailings contain platinum, and how deep the water is. If it is a reasonable depth, say fifty to a hundred feet, we could recover the ore quite easily, and platinum is about twice the value of gold. The tailings could even contain other valuable elements, such as palladium and rhodium."

"This is a very good thing, Peter. Now we only have to figure out a way to stay alive, so we can implement your idea."
Joe J & Wet Dream-Girl
Chapter 13