by John Muir
CHAPTER 47
A GREEK PICK-UP
APO EAST PASSAGE, MINDORO STRAIT, WEST OF MINDORO ISLAND.
Captain Theodopolous felt his luck had already extended beyond what he could have reasonably expected. The maritime maps he was using for the Philippines did not inspire much confidence in their accuracy. That confidence was disappearing fast with every lucky escape from another scrape of the hull over yet another uncharted reef. So far there was no critical damage.
The satellite navigation equipment was only as good as the reliability of the navigation charts he had available.
The rendezvous points and the time frame given for collecting the Libyans meant he had to use sea passage not normally used by tramp steamers. Not because he wanted to avoid the usual sea lanes. The speed of his tramp was not enough to get from one rendezvous to another for the designated pick-up time without taking shortcuts.
All the pick-ups were at night, but the moonlight probably did little to conceal their actions. But it did make sightings of the small bancas easier and he had already barely missed running over several. The human eye was still more reliable than radar under some circumstances. There were not many parts to a banca that reflected the radar's probing. The seas were thick with Filipino fishermen in assorted size bancas trying to earn a meagre living. Most, if not all kept bright lights burning, both to attract fish and to allow larger boats like his to see them more easily.
With the exception of two small groups, all the Libyans had been collected so far. There had been seven pick-up points on the first night, five so far on this second night. The next was to be the sixth and final pick-up before they could begin the home trip to Libya. This rendezvous was near Sablayan, on the west coast of Mindoro. Too close to Manila for the captain to feel comfortable.
As the tramp neared the last pick-up point, the Libyans who were already aboard, and hiding below deck, re-emerged to see their countrymen. Again they lined the handrails of the deck looking like what they were, a heavily armed and alert army, even though they were shabbily dressed. Their presence made him feel angry.
On the third pick-up that night, a helicopter had flown an intersecting course. Several of the Libyans quickly brought anti-aircraft missiles on to the deck and began preparation to fire on the helicopter.
One of the armed Libyans on the bridge saw what was happening and screamed out in Arabic. Within seconds, they all disappeared below decks.
Captain Theodopolous was relieved no-one had fired. There was no certainty of a successful hit and no way to know if the helicopter had transmitted a mayday. In his mind it was an even better result, there would be no further loss of life. The last thing any of them needed was for any attention to be attracted to the steamer.
During the day after the first night of pick-ups, a quick loading of cocoa-nut fibre was made in Cagayan de Oro. The turn-a-round was quicker than usual because the loading was made into the upper decks. The Libyans already on board were hidden on the lower deck among the sugar bails collected in Fiji. The tramp steamer's presence in the area had to be accounted for by at least one genuine port of call. It was not until the tramp had left Cagayan de Oro harbour that the Libyans returned to their quarters "tween decks".
One hundred and ten Libyans were already "tween decks". Nine others had sailed with the tramp for the whole trip. In groups of three, that same nine had taken turns watching everything happening on the bridge. The automatic weapons they all carried were too readily flashed at his crew when demanding an explanation for actions they thought unusual or different. The captain's hate was growing by the minute. He was no longer master of his own ship.
On the previous round trip he had given up considering how to get away from the Libyans and break the contract. Now there were too many of them on board. Too late he had realised that once he accepted their bidding, there was no easy way out. Any attempt to double-cross them would result in his death at least, and probably all of his crew as well. Those deaths would mean a huge loss among his greater family. Despite the quandary he was in, his brain continued storming through the idea he had. The first hardware part he had already organised in Fiji. Now he was refining a plan as each extra mile passed under the bow. He still had three weeks before they would approach the shores of Libya. He ordered his Chief Engineer to place chains and padlocks in the compartments near the water-tight doors at the engine room, under the mast house and through to the foc'sle.
----------
APUAO GRANDE
It felt like a small rough dry cloth was being applied to his face. His eyes were too heavy to open yet. The pain in his head was worse than any migraine he had ever suffered.
His hearing told him the deafening noise must be the cicadas on their pre dawn wake up call.
The wiping of his face stopped. He waited a few seconds, then, opened his eyes. He could not see anyone. He tried to sit up and immediately the pain in his head increased. His mouth too was dry and he needed to find Pater's water filled condoms for a drink.
He forced his body to beat the pain as he slowly sat up. He soon saw the leaf pile hiding the water and carefully untied the top of a bulbous stretched condom. The water stung his lips which, he realised, were swollen, but it felt good. He knew enough not to gulp it, but within seconds felt his stomach react violently. He rolled onto his hands and knees and began to dry retch. When he opened his eyes he saw the little wire haired terrier lying on its side, dark brown eyes staring at him.
"Ah, Fred my friend."
The dog barely reacted. Its head moved slightly and the tail gave a little twitch. Then T.A. saw the long open cut on Fred's side which had exposed his rib cage.
"Oh shit Fred, what have they done to you?"
T.A. crawled closer to Fred and let some drips of water fall from the condom onto Fred's tongue. Fred reacted positively pushing his tongue further out of his mouth and tried to crawl closer to T.A.
"You don't look too well my little fellow, what am I gonna do?"
T.A. poured a few more drops onto Fred's tongue before he tried again to reduce his own thirst. He sat back to think about his situation. He could remember a fight on the path but could not remember the details. He could remember seeing pink running shoes and hearing Pater's voice. But that was all quite a bit after sunrise. Now it was just starting to get light again, with the cicadas still into their crescendo. He realised he must have slept for nearly twenty-four hours.
He felt his head and then felt the bandages wrapped around his head. He tried to think who had done that. It must have been Pater, but where was he? He saw the .22 pistol and knew Pater would have taken that with him if he had gone reconnoitring. Had something gone wrong in the fight?
As he tried to recall details his head hurt more.
He remembered the well-stocked medicine box at the Brooke house and wondered if he could sneak back there for some supplies. Perhaps he should carry Fred and try and stitch his side and apply some anti-biotic creams.
It was barely daylight; just enough to see his way and still avoid any NPA groups as long as he kept off the main paths. A lot could have happened while he had slept for about a day.
He carefully tucked a sheet around an uncomplaining Fred so it would be easier to carry him, and reduce pain from branches he would have to push past on the way.
He looked up and down the path outside the hideout. It was totally clear. He was sure he could find his way through the rain forest to the Brooke house by the most direct route. It was only a few metres between the back door and the forest edge so he would be unlucky to be seen, especially this early.
Once he had crossed the main path he began to think about Malou. He hoped she was safe of course, but the combination of his own doubts and the observations of Pater and a few others had crystallised his thoughts. When they all got out of this situation he would face her with his decision. It would not and could not work between them.
He wondered what her reaction would be. Would she put on a silent routine or would she display a
n outburst of temper. He had seen both sides. Either way he felt resolute in his decision and perhaps even she too had realised it would not work. If so that would make it easy.
The strain of carrying Fred was greater than he anticipated. He was feeling even weaker and dizzier, stopping more and more often for rest. His footfalls were not as sure as he would normally expect of himself and he had nearly fallen several times. He had to get something to bind Fred’s side. The open wound would attract all sorts of infection in the tropics and Fred would certainly die.
T.A. was too dizzy to be pleased or surprised at his jungle navigation. He was directly behind the Brooke house. He paused to verify there was nothing suspicious to compromise his presence or that anyone nearby might see them enter. He knew he could not dawdle. The tiredness and dizziness made him concerned that he might pass out before he could reach the door or before he treated Fred.
He tried to run from the forest to the back door but the jarring caused him to feel nauseous. By the time he reached the door he was breathing heavily. He entered quietly. His heavy breathing confused him as it sounded as though it was echoing in his head. He knew he had to sit down or lie down to rest for a while before he passed out.
“Yes,” he muttered as he made his way through the lounge to the main bedroom. Greater nausea swept over him and he barely managed to retain his feet.
“Yes, yes, yes,” replied the little echo in his head.
As he got closer to the doorway of the bedroom, the yes’s got louder as he felt dizzier.
“Oh my God, yes,” screamed the voice.
T.A.’s dizzy mind was confused. The echo was sounding like Malou.
He stopped at the bedroom door. The half-closed jalousie still let in enough light for him to see Malou lying naked on the bed with the Filipino he knew as Boy on top of her.
“God, yes,” she screamed again.
T.A. knew he had been in this situation before.
Malou saw him through half open eyes which then opened wide as she let out a scream. The pain shot through T.A’s head as if he had been hit again. The dizziness and exhaustion were too much. He felt himself dropping Fred and losing his balance. Slipping into unconsciousness he fell to the floor.
