Chapter 20

Posted: April 26, 2007 - 10:36:53 pm?

As Nuñez made his escape, chaos ruled among the troops he left behind, when they suddenly found themselves trapped in a deadly crossfire from three directions. They would have been cut to ribbons in mass, had Gabe's cooler head not prevailed. Gabe furiously blew on his whistle and started yelling cease-fire at the top of his lungs. Those near him took up the call until the firing died down to a few sporadic pops.

As soon as everyone could hear Gabe, he started bellowing instructions in his best parade ground basso.

"Tiger soldiers, your cause is lost, so there is no need to die for it. Enough brave soldiers from both sides have died on this mountain the last two days. Throw down your weapons and we will lower ours."

The Tiger Battalion soldiers were more than glad to lay down their weapons. Gabe moved among the AUC men and identified the medics, officers and NCOs. He turned the medics over to Lupe at the makeshift aid station she had established, while Morales grabbed the NCOs and the one lieutenant that was still alive. Morales quickly gave the NCOs a few details to organize among their men, the main one being bringing the bodies of dead soldiers back into the perimeter and checking for wounded soldiers along the jungle's edge. The most senior NCO and the one lieutenant they'd found were hustled down the mountain to help talk the remnants of the field camp into surrendering.

Gabe and Selena took off with one squad down to the northern base of the mountain to retrieve the last of the three stolen trucks. Zorra wanted Gabe at the airfield with Delgado to make sure there were no problems.

Colonel Nuñez had not been among the casualties or those who surrendered. The fact that Nuñez was loose was of great concern to Zorra for a couple of reasons. The major reason was her desire for revenge for all he'd done to her troops. However, the immediate reason was his capacity to cause them more trouble. Zorra wanted a quick accounting of the Tiger Battalion's soldiers, to determine how many men escaped with him.

Zorra wanted nothing more than to take a company of soldiers and scour the mountain for Nuñez. What stopped her was the obvious exhaustion of her troops and the need for her to direct the recovery of her unit in the aftermath of the battle.

As Zorra walked around speaking with her soldiers, neither she, nor they, felt any elation about their victory. The brutality and swiftness with which death had been both dished out and received had taken care of all that, as mainly they were just glad to be alive. The column had lost a total of fourteen soldiers killed and seven wounded. Some commanders would cheer the fact that they killed and wounded six times as many of the AUC soldiers. Zorra saw it differently. To her, one fifth of her family had just been killed or seriously wounded.

Darla Ballard, Captain Garza, Lupe and the other medics did yeomen's duty, treating soldiers from both sides. They probably saved a dozen lives, paying no regard to which side the wounded soldier came from. They worried that the emergency procedures would come undone without evacuating the most serious to Prado's hospital soon. Fortunately, they weren't the only ones thinking about medivac, because an hour and fifteen minutes after Gabe and his troops rushed off, six trucks came lumbering up the main trail.

Gabe found no problems at the airport camp, as even the ten men who stayed behind had all rushed to lay down their arms. Sergeant Morales found about the same reception at the field base camp. At the first suggestion from the AUC lieutenant, they stacked arms and waited for transportation back to the airport. Zorra planned for the AUC soldiers to be transported off her mountain and back to the airfield as soon as possible. The men wouldn't be prisoners, but they would be watched. By the end of the day, everyone except the observers at the airfield, the soldiers in the hospital, and Nuñez 's party of three were exactly in the same place they had started out three days before.

Pedro Nuñez was a colonel with a command of exactly two soldiers, when he wearily trudged off the mountain. Nuñez hustled his two men up, intent on reaching the airfield. He had ready cash available there, and transportation out of town, not to mention maybe a few more troops to salvage. He was even angrier and more bitterly disappointed when he saw the rebels had beaten him there.

Nuñez hunkered down off the side of the road and tried to marshal his thoughts. He checked the contents of his field pack as he sat there. Thankfully, he had all his personal documents, bankbooks and credit cards with him. Regretfully, his ready cash was locked in the field safe in his command tent at the airfield. As he sat there, he realized that revenge would have to wait for another day; the rebels were just too alert and no doubt looking for him at the present.

Nuñez glanced at the two men he'd managed to convince to stay with him. They were both greedy and heartless, men he understood well. Would their greed propel them to act in his behalf if he wasn't present? He had to take a chance that it would. He turned his full attention towards them and started talking.

"Amigos, I have a plan..."

While Nuñez was outlining his plan to the two soldiers, Gabe Ballard and Juan Delgado were dragging a field safe out of Nuñez 's former command tent. Delgado had told Gabe that the colonel kept a large sum of cash in the safe to pay the battalion's expenses and payroll. Gabe wanted access to that money as part of his plan for disbanding the soldiers and getting them away from Prado as soon as possible. Gabe had been thinking about that particular problem quite a bit, and had come up with a solution he thought was fair and workable.

He'd put part of the plan in action already by freeing the prisoners the battalion was holding, and having a quiet conversation with the mayor and constable. The basic idea was that the constable would arrest the soldiers in mass for a variety of crimes. After the arrests, the mayor would grant them amnesty after they swore in front of a priest an oath to never take up arms for the AUC again. After the oath, the mayor and Gabe would disburse severance pay to the soldiers and drive them to the bus depot in Purificación.

Gabe and Delgado muscled the safe into one of the compound's machinegun bunkers. Once it was in position, Gabe formed a fist-sized ball of C4 around each hinge, inserted blasting caps in the explosives and cut off two pieces of primer cord, each one foot long. As Delgado looked on nervously, Gabe lit the fuses and stood up.

"We've got about forty seconds, Captain, I suggest we get the hell out of here."

Delgado nodded emphatically and sprinted away. Gabe yelled, "Fire in the hole" and followed Delgado at a fast trot. The safe blew with not much fanfare, as the sandbags Gabe used to cover the C4 somewhat muffled the explosion. It was quick work with a sledgehammer to finish knocking off the hinges, and a little more work with a crowbar to get the door of the safe open.

Gabe was surprised and delighted by the amount of money in the safe: one hundred and three thousand U.S. Dollars, all in one hundred dollar bills. That amount of money would go a long way in putting the lives of the people of Prado, the Carlos Sanchez Column and the AUC soldiers back to normal. Gabe counted out thirty four thousand, two hundred dollars and handed it to Delgado.

"Including the two men who just straggled in, I count one hundred seventy one soldiers. Tomorrow, when each man accepts his amnesty, you will pay him two hundred dollars severance pay. We will divide the men into groups of around twenty, based on where they are from, and give them a truck to get home in."

Delgado nodded as Gabe counted out another six thousand.

"This money is for you to start your trucking company with. I hope you can recruit at least twenty men from among your former soldiers to work for you. All the trucks that the soldiers going home don't drive off with will belong to me, but I will lease ten of the best ones to you for a dollar. The trucks I keep will eventually end up being donated to the townspeople. I want you to immediately paint the trucks you get a color besides green, and come up with a name for your company. It might take a few months, but eventually, I have a feeling you will be a busy man."

Delgado accepted the money without reservation, he was pleased at the trust that this strangely compelling gringo placed in him, and intended to show the man that he was worthy of it.

"It will be done as you say, Gabriel. I think that you and I will end up doing much business together in the future."

When Gabe was satisfied that the situation at the airfield was under control, he stuffed the rest of the money into his rucksack, left his ten troops to keep an eye on things, and drove back up the mountain with Selena.

It took the rest of the afternoon to sort things out on the mountain. Zorra was finally able to send out a couple of patrols to look for Nuñez. Because her troops were all exhausted, she only searched a kilometer around the front of the cave. They did not turn up the cursed colonel, but they did find two wounded AUC soldiers that had managed to crawl off into the jungle. Zorra was disappointed at not capturing Nuñez, but she was realistic in accepting that she couldn't have everything. With that in mind, she called a meeting of her soldiers right after their evening meal.

When Gabe arrived and presented her with over thirty thousand dollars, she almost cried with relief. The money would allow her to catch up her soldiers pay, and keep the ones who stayed fed for a couple of months, while Pete worked on his ore extraction scheme.

Once the troops were assembled after supper, she again put forth the question of amnesty or leaving to join another FARC unit. Only twelve soldiers, mostly older, die-hard communistas, opted to leave. Zorra directed Gabe to set the men up with a truck, and she brought their pay up to date. Early the next morning, they would head south across the hydroelectric dam and on towards the FARC controlled area east of Cali.

After the meeting, those who were staying talked excitedly among themselves about their future. But nowhere was the talk nearly as exciting as the one held in Marta's room between Pete Ballard and his father. With all of his women and Selena present, Pete told Gabe his personal plans for the future. Gabe sat too gum-smacked to respond as Pete talked.

"You are probably not going to like this Dad, but I have never lied to you and I'm not going to start with something as important as this. First of all, I have asked Marta to marry me and she has accepted, that makes me about as lucky as a man can get."

Gabe started to congratulate him when Pete held up his hand and cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Thanks Dad, but that's not all. I am also going to take all the other women here except Katherine as my mates as well, because they are all carrying my children and because I love them and they love me."

Pete stopped talking and everyone looked at Gabe expectantly. Gabe Opened his mouth twice, but nothing came out. Finally, he drew a deep breath and announced in English.

"I don't want to be within a thousand miles of your mother when this bit of news reaches her, and you had best not either."

Pete nodded glumly at the prospect of hurting his mother. To him, that was the only down side to the matter. Surprisingly, Katherine took exception to what Gabe had said.

"Mom will handle this better than you think. She won't be surprised about Stephanie; I guarantee it. In fact, I think she'll be relieved that it was Pete that Steph latched on to instead of some creepy loser." Then Katherine gave an impish grin and continued. "What will surprise Mom is that I am not pregnant too. I told her when I was thirteen that I had the hots for Petey. Mom wasn't at all shocked when I said that, she laughed and told me that it was genetic, anyone with her genes was predisposed to be attracted to Ballard men. I knew she was right, because Mr. Ballard always excited me too."

Gabe rocked back in his chair, once again speechless. Marta translated what Katherine said for the benefit of the women who didn't speak English. When she finished, Gabe looked at Selena to gauge her reaction to all this. Selena didn't seem concerned in the least. She squeezed his hand and kissed his cheek.

"Relax husband, it is no big deal. Polygamy was common among our Muisca ancestors, and so was the practice of brothers and sisters marrying each other. I fully expect that you will end up with a few more wives before long, you are too much a man for that not to happen."

All the Colombian women laughed and nodded when Selena made her proclamation. When Marta translated for Stephanie and Katherine, Stephanie smiled, but Katherine just looked thoughtful. Katherine was remembering the wistful way her mother talked about Gabe and the way he had always made her feel. Alexandra Stovall admitted that she still carried a huge torch for her first husband, even though she loved and respected Charles. Katherine stole a glance at Gabe and his wife. She had to admit that he was the manliest male she'd ever met, and Selena looked as if she'd be a tasty little morsel. Selena caught her staring, and gave her a saucy wink. Katherine smiled back at her flirtatiously. She and step-mommy Selena were going to have a talk before Katherine went home.

Everyone was just too tired to get into any more of a discussion than they'd already had. There was much more to talk about, but it was going to have to wait for another day. Gabe and Selena tumbled tiredly into their bed after shucking their dirty, sweaty clothes. Both were too beat to worry about how they or their mate smelled. It was the same through out the caverns, as soldiers dropped into exhausted sleep, while Lorena and the walking wounded pulled security.

Gabe gently shook Selena awake at five the next morning. She grumbled sleepily, but eventually sat up. Gabe was dressed and standing next to the bed. He was holding a couple of towels, a bar of soap and a squeeze bottle of shampoo.

"Come on Little One, we have a busy day ahead of us and we both need a bath."

Selena climbed out of bed and pulled on her pants and t-shirt. Slipping her feet into her flip-flops, she took his hand and followed him out the door. Selena was more awake when they reached the bathing pond. It was just at sunup, and the eastern sky was shot through with reds and purples, as the sun melted the morning mist. Hand in hand, the couple ran out into the pond, Selena shrieking at how cold the water was. They stopped when they were waist deep; Selena plastered herself to his side for warmth. She spoke her first words of the morning as she swatted Gabe on the arm.

"I never would have agreed to marry you if I'd known you were this cruel," she said.

Gabe laughed, splashed a little water on her back, and started washing her.

"Don't you just love me when I do romantic things like this?" he asked teasingly.

Selena giggled and took the soap out of his hand.

"Yes, I even love you when you do evil things like this to me."

Gabe and Selena moved deeper into the pond as their bodies acclimated to the water. They were having a grand old time washing all those hard to reach places on each other when Pete and about two dozen other people, mostly women, came down to the pond. As the new comers whooped and splashed into the pond, Gabe embarrassedly checked to make sure his erection was safely hidden under water, and turned his gaze away from all the female flesh on display.

Selena was unconcerned by the arrival of company, and called out to a couple of the women with whom she'd made friends. Soon there were two other women with them, gabbing away as Gabe tried to find somewhere to focus his eyes. Finally he gave up and enjoyed the scenery. Selena noticed when he relaxed, and gave him a smile.

"I told the ladies how good it feels to have you wash my hair and they want to try it," she said as she turned around and handed him the shampoo.

Gabe caught onto Selena's little game, when she rubbed her hard little ass against his erection as he lathered her hair. He was not surprised when the next woman, a dusty skinned woman only slightly larger than Selena named Belicia, did the same thing. Gabe did not shy away from the woman as she rocked her butt against his staff, but he didn't push into her either. When Belicia's hair was clean, Gabe swatted her on the ass and called next. Belicia sighed and moved over to talk to Selena. The two women were whispering and giggling, when Marisol Orosco took her place in front of Gabe.

Gabe knew he'd been set up, when the women who joined him were Marisol and Belicia. Selena knew that next to her, he thought those two were the most beautiful of the FARC soldiers. Selena had teased him about his taste in women a few times.

"So my husband, you like the sweet, young and innocent looking Indian maidens. It is more proof to me that you are truly my warrior-priest."

What could he say? He thought the strong features, thick black hair and small, lithe bodies made the women uniquely beautiful. In addition, he'd found that the Muisca women were fiercely loyal and fearless.

After Gabe finished Marisol's hair, the three women ganged up on him and washed him squeaky clean. It was a totally new experience to have six clever little hands all over him at once. He could have split a diamond with the erection he had, an erection that drew lots of comments from the women. Gabe swam across the pond and back a couple of times to let his throbbing erection subside, before joining Selena on the shore. Selena gave him a mock sad look when she noticed he was soft, then grinned as she toweled him dry.

"We best hurry, husband, so we can eat breakfast and drink some coffee before we go to the airfield. Belicia and Marisol have volunteered to go with us to keep me company, while you are busy with the soldiers."

The official disbanding of the Tiger Battalion went as Gabe had hoped it would. Captain Delgado assembled AUC soldiers in formation as soon as the Mayor, Chief Constable and Father Gonzalez arrived. The Chief Constable arrested the soldiers, and the Mayor pardoned them as soon as they took an oath renouncing the AUC. The mayor had prepared a stack of pardons that had blank lines for the soldiers name and hometown. The soldiers came up one at a time and filled out two of the forms. The Mayor signed the pardons, with Father Gonzalez signing as the witness. One copy went to the soldier and the other went to the Chief Constable.

The soldiers next went to a table where Captain Delgado sat. Once the soldier showed Delgado their pardon, the officer paid them two hundred dollars severance pay. It was a slow process, but by noon all the soldiers had been processed, and all but Delgado and fifteen men he eventually hired had departed for home. Delgado and his men had taken over the tent that had formerly housed Colonel Nuñez's hostages. Delgado had agreed to keep an eye on the equipment and supplies of his former battalion, until they could be disposed of.

The driver of one of the trucks full of soldiers bound for Ibague pulled off the side of the road about two miles from the airfield, and Pedro Nuñez hopped in the front seat. The driver filled Nuñez in on what happened at the camp, and told him about the mysterious gringo that had set up the pardons. Nuñez had to admit that it was a diabolically clever solution that effectively demobilized his unit. The signed pardons kept by the constable were a powerful incentive that would insure most of the men would not rejoin any force that Nuñez formed in the future. Well, he'd worry about that later, right now he was intent on reaching Ibague and gaining access to his money. A pocket full of money had a way of making problems seem smaller.

Gabe had a nice chat with the Mayor, Constable, and Father Gonzales, after the last troops were put on a truck. The Prado men were amazed by his story, and pleased that he wanted to live there. While talking to the Mayor, Gabe had the thought that the pardon scheme they'd used with the AUC could also work with the FARC rebels. The pardons were legally enforceable only in Prado, but Gabe thought that if the local government offered Marta and her troops amnesty, it would help sway the national authorities to do likewise.

The Mayor, Constable, and Father Gonzales agreed to the concept immediately. All three men held Commander Zorra in high esteem, because of her efforts to secure a better life for the campesinos, and because she had never tried to collect protection money from the town. Gabe called Marta on the radio and asked if she could come down and discuss amnesty with the Mayor. Marta quickly agreed. Half an hour later, Marta, Pilar, and Pete roared up in one of the trucks Gabe had left on the mountain.

It only took a few minutes for Marta and the Mayor to hash out terms for the column's amnesty. The only sticking point was the disarming of the soldiers. Zorra did not feel she could turn in her weapons while Nuñez was still on the loose. The negotiators finally settled on allowing the soldiers to keep their small arms for personal protection, in exchange for Zorra surrendering her RPGs, mortars and machineguns. The Mayor would issue the amnesty documents for the FARC soldiers as a decree. Father Gonzalez would also give his blessing to the amnesty in a letter to the Archbishop of Ibague.

Marta called her father before she headed back up the mountain. She told him about the agreement she'd reached with the mayor, and informed him that the Columna Carlos Sanchez was officially disbanded. Don Diego said he would pass the word of her actions on to his contacts in the Uribe administration and press harder for an official pardon. Marta also spoke to her mother. Before they hung up, her parents promised to come down to Prado to visit her in the next week or so. Marta was elated both with the amnesty and the prospect of seeing her parents.

Gabe drove back up the mountain in one of the two and a half ton trucks with Selena, Belicia and Marisol all squeezed into the cab with him. He was happy that his wife had made friends, even if the three of them liked to tease him. He was also happy that all of the unpleasantness was over, and he was looking forward to moving out of the caverns and back to the hotel that afternoon.

As he drove, Gabe thought about the twenty-five thousand dollars that he had remaining from Nuñez's safe. Gabe was going to use the money to help start the restaurant that Serafin Morales, Lupe, Selena and he had talked about. Any monies left would go towards helping any other members of the column who didn't want to participate in the mining venture. Gabe had thoughts of using the money to start some sort of cooperative bank. For the first time in his life, Gabe was actually planning for the future instead of trying to survive the moment.
Joe J & Wet Dream-Girl
Chapter 21