What You Don't Dare The People

"You are correct," said Angelo solemnly. "She spent the whole night out in the jungle. She must have bought some voodoo magic from Olgues." Olgues disappeared into the jungle.

"What kind of voodoo magic do politicians usually buy up here?" asked John.

"You know surprisingly much about our local politics. She is the local campaign manager for Dieter. Most voodoo spells are some form of curse. It's usually for misfortune or outright death. Olgues is different. He thinks of himself as a high priest, someone who can speak for the spirit world. Maybe, she was buying the votes of the demons on this island. I offend you with my superstitious babble. We must talk about climate change or recombining DNA. I am quite educated actually."

"Sorry, Angelo. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. That was interesting. I'm late for my mating Hispaniolan Trogan."

John hurriedly threw his backpack over one shoulder and stomped out into the jungle with his shoes untied and his sullied shirt. The fern leaves were knocking against his shins. The backpack was bouncing on his hips with the straps undone. His breathing was sharp. The noise made the birds flutter up ahead of him. There was a stirring in the jungle.

As soon as he found cover behind a fall tree, he threw the backpack out and pulled his MIL-56 laptop out.

"Cold dragon here. There are operational difficulties."

"1. Locals have vandalized my car."

"2. The woman from the Hilton has showed up here. She is making deals with a local voodoo priest. Cutting through the superstitious bullshit, she may have bought a poison to assassinate one of the presidential candidates. It could be nothing as well. Though, the local populace is thoroughly terrorized by the local voodoo priest."

"3. I sleep walked last night and almost caused enough damage to have to abort the operation. I have never sleep walked before."

"Advice my next step."

"Starlight here. The capital is extremely unstable civil strife has erupted. You cannot ex-file through the city. I repeat: Ex-file through the city is blocked. You need to cross the mountains and leave by land to the other half of the island. Before you do that. You must get us eyes on the capital. It is imperative. All of our other intelligence operators in the city have gone dark. We have no intelligence about what's going on there, except for some blurry satellite photos."

John took some deep breaths. His mind was racing. He needed to make a priority list. He muttered to himself: "#1 Keep cool. #2 The village is remote. It'll take days for anything to spread up here. #3 I must accomplish my mission. #4 I must think about a route to cross the mountains, very probably on foot. #5 Think good thoughts about the future. The neighboring country is a peaceful tourist haven. Maybe, I'll get some R & R in a nice beach resort. Think about girls in bikinis dizzied by margaritas."

He slapped his face a few times and returned to typing: "Affirmative. ETA to oversight point two hours."

"Godspeed," was starlight's reply.

John tied up his boots with the swiftness of a soldier. He strapped the backpack tightly. Then, he broke into a light jog. A run through the lush forest would have been beautiful under different circumstances. His body was quickly soaked in sweat. He was glad about the darkness to keep him somewhat cool. Without a shower for the third day, he could smell his musk. The thought crossed him that a wild boar's nose might be so offended that it would run away.

He was so focused on the jog that in his mind it took an instance to arrive at the observation spot at the edge of the mountain face. He set up the camera, laser microphone, and antenna.

"Cold dragon is operational."

"Check Rue Commandante 87 for anteater."

A white body hung out of the window. A rope was around the foot and kept the man from falling down. The man was in his underwear. The throat had a ghastly red slit. John snapped a photo.

"Anteater is down. Photo is attached."

"Check the Plaza de Liberte."

A huge crowd was pressing and enraged. There was a podium at the center with guys in uniforms raising AK-47's to the sky. The people were shaking the podium. Nearby was a pitched fight of five soldiers shooting into a crowd and civilians carefully darting forward to throw rocks and quickly retreating. One soldier got hit into the head and went down. The other soldiers raised their weapons overhead. The crowd stormed them, enveloped them, and made them disappear without a trace. John snapped pictures like mad.

"Locate Dieter's red BWM convertible."

Dieter's convertible was parked in front of the Ambassador's Hotel. Scanning room to room, Dieter was visible in what seemed like a suite. He was involved in a struggle. He was rolling on the floor. He was trying to hit something with a vase. There was nobody. Yet, it seemed like he was fighting something invisible. He fell over a chair going sprawling on the ground. He quickly rolled on his back and crawled away. He got a hole of an umbrella and was hitting into the thin air. Strangely, the umbrella was bending as if there was something invisible.

His advisors were silently sitting around the coffee table on the couch, not getting up, not even looking in his direction. John focused on them and snapped photos of their expressionless eyes. They all had red dots in the center of their foreheads.

Dieter hit a counter with the back of his head. He was jumping across the room. Or, it looked more like he was thrown across the room. There was nobody. He managed to open the door and crawl into the hallway. He was out of sight. The flashes of AK 47's lit up the open doorway.

"I think Dieter went bat shit."

"Locate Bronte."

John's head nodded forward. He jerked it back with violent force to avoid from falling forward. Roused standing as if someone had snuck up behind him, he found himself in darkness. The air was cold. There wasn't even the tiniest movement of air. The walls had a van shimmer to them. They seemed wet. He stepped forward. There was a light puddle of water on the ground. The sound of his splash on the water echoed. It sounded like he was in a cave.

He checked his wrist. They weren't tied. He apparently wasn't captured. He carefully stepped forward, reaching with his hand. The blackness made empty space and hard rock appear nearly the same. The shimmer came from ahead. He carefully rolled on his toes to make no sound. If unsure assume an environment with extreme prejudice.

Stalactites had formed in the cave. There was a tall cavern ahead. The very top of the cavern had an opening into the outside world. There was sky visible. A large water pool was in the center of the cavern. A six foot waterfall poured fresh water into it. The splashing sound echoed in the cavern. At the foot of the pool was a boudoir of velvet pillows, blankets, and mattresses. It was nestled into between stalactites. Lucy was in the center of it in a teddy bear negligee. The black sleeves ran all the way down to her fingers.

"Come to me," moaned Lucy. Her eyes were darkened by mascara to make her even more seductive. Her voluptuous breasts were bare under the negligee. The pattern obscured a clear view onto her nipples. However, a lot of her boob skin shimmer through the black number.

"This is my safe place. Olgues cannot find us here. I've been working all morning. I went to a little slumber and have all these feelings moving inside of me, these feelings of aliveness, good vibes, and salty skin. Have you brought your hard candy stick for me?" invited Lucy.

"Shouldn't we get to know each other first?" asked John coyly.

"Look deeply into my eyes and get to know me," Lucy was in the throes of lust.

"I like hiking and working out," said John weakly.

"I want to take you alone into secluded nature. I want to watch your muscles move under heavy iron," replied Lucy with unabashed, heavy lust.

John moved carefully closer. Lucy watched him with her big black eyes. Her pupils had widened to make her look more in love, more youthful, more like an anime girl. Her chin was resting on her hands. She was on her belly. Her legs were playing the air. She curled her little toes under. The negligee ran skinny in between her butt, disappearing almost completely. John reached the boudoir and bent down on his knees onto a soft pillow. His pants were a rock hard bulge. And he didn't need to be afraid of showing it.

She unzipped his pants. His circumcised, stout dick jumped out. "Don't be shy," she cooed.

She rose up and put her arms around his shoulder. Her face was intimately close in front of his face. He melted into the love and feminine aspects of her face. Her cheek bones were round. Her skin was healthfully tanned by the mix of her white and black blood. Her lips had dark red, near black outlines that blended into the cherry-rich red bulk of her lip stick. Then, she spread her wings, purples wings, scaled like those of a dragon. The wings rose ten feet high, very thin winged skin, sharp claw points at the end. The skin on her wings was scaled. He couldn't fathom it.

Her lips dove onto his mouth. She enveloped his mouth with warm moisture. Her tongue entered his mouth and bashed around like a wild horse breaking out of the stable in spring. Warm feelings gushed through him. He pulled her close. Her boobs pressed against his chest. He grabbed emotionally for her.

John fell flat on his face. The laptop dropped down. He saw the long line of "L" letters that he had drawn into the chat window from having held down the "L" key. Starlight had inquired over and over, "Cold dragaon, are you there?"

"Starlight, I had passed out. I don't understand. My physical was completely fine pre-mission."

"Cold dragon, you were gone for three hours. Evacuate now. The intel that you have is way more valuable than what you might gather by staying longer. You must not be captured by the mob. Evacuate now by any means possible. The best route seems to be across the mountain. I suggest getting a night's sleep and pulling a long day. The terrain is treacherous."

"Affirmative."

John gathered his gear into the backpack. He was careful to slow down to neatly stow everything. In the field, it was foremost importance to be careful about gear. Any piece of gear could become critical at some point and spell the difference between life and death. The jungle had lost its beauty. It was as functional thing that let him tread back toward the hut. It was functional thing that got in its way with its plentiful vegetation, mud puddles, and heavy humidity.

The leafs hitting his face no longer bothered him. The mud marking his boots and pants no longer bothered him. The layers of sweat stains on his shirt no longer bothered him. The sprouting facial hair no longer bothered him. Hunger and thirst could not touch him. His heart was pounding. The adrenaline was fueling him.

He was lost for a moment. He didn't remember this spot from the past trips. The plants had given way to flat rocky ground. The brooding jungle clouds were visible above the clearing. Ant streets were running across the rock as thick webs. A cloud of butterflies was fluttering around, green and blue with black eyes painted on their wings. There was a circular hole in the center of the rocky outcropping.

He carefully walked toward it. There was a cave underneath. Very much like in his dream, there was a pool inside. There was the sound of a waterfall. John started distrusting his sense of reality. In the half light of the cave was a woman's body swimming in the water. The waves in the water rippled the view on her body. The body was definitely female, round. The skin was white. The hair was black and long. He starred down at her ass and her feet.

Something startled the woman. She tensed. She turned around. She looked up at the ceiling hole. She saw John. John froze. It was Lucy. She grabbed her big breasts. Her breasts were pushed higher and to be rounder by her naked arms.

"John, fuck off!" she screamed at him.

He stumbled back and ran into the forest. He was confused. She was so warm before. Why was she so cold? Was he passed out and dreaming again? Why didn't he feel his heart pounding? Was that because he was dreaming or because the adrenaline had made him numb to focus on the threat?

John stumbled through the wall of green into the village clearing. He instantly knew that he was a disheveled mess. He tried wiping some of the sweat and grime out of his face. He realized how heavy his clothes were, because they were soaked in his sweat. He needed to drink to avoid becoming delirious. He walked to Angelo's bar.

"Angelo, I caught a photo of the mating bird!"

"You don't have to lie to me. Ain't nobody look scared like he is chased by a panther when he finds the cover of National Geographic. I told you my secret. You can tell me yours."

"I passed out and Lucy was seducing me. And then I saw her in reality, and she yelled at me. I don't understand what's going on with me."

"It's simple. Lucy has a mighty crush on you. Her subconsciousness desires you. So, when she takes a nap, her subconsciousness takes control of her and uses magic to enchant you. However, when she is awake, she'll be the sister that her brother wants her to be. You are in grave danger. You should leave."

"I'm leaving tomorrow morning. I fear the elections have destabilized the country."

"Oh, you haven't heard. Dieter killed his entire leadership. He went insane. His in an insane asylum now. Bronte won by a landslide. The generals rebelled. Tanks rolled into the city. You are lucky to be up here. It's civil war down there."

John took the coke bottle that Angelo handed him. He ran the cool glass across his forehead for wonderful relief. Angelo pointed at the partial cut finger thick snake. John nodded. Angelo cut a bloody piece off and moved it towards John with the tip of the knife. John put it into his mouth. The skin was tough, impossible to chew. The skeleton cracked under his heard bites. Everything else in between oozed out into his mouth with a bile taste. John shuddered.

"Hit me again," said John.

Angelo cut another half inch of snake off and moved it toward John. With a face of agony, John shoved it into his mouth and chewed with an open mouth. That way, he got at least some fresh air into the vile taste. The repulsive taste had worked its way into the nose from the inside. John moaned overcome by distaste.

"Hit me again," said John with steely resolve.

John had to somehow spend the time of the afternoon until he could start his track. He was sitting at the bar and slowly sucking on his coke. There was a yellow flower the size of a head that he hadn't noticed earlier. The beauty of the red veins in the yellow petals was mesmerizing. "Go ahead and smell it," encouraged him Angelo. It smelled like raspberry honey.

Angelo got a board of chess out. They played for a while. Angelo was no match. John explained to him the traps in a Sicilian opening. "The danger of openings is not that they give you a strong advantage. See, chess is very balanced. The tiniest advantage is what tips the scale towards a win without recovery for the other party. The value of openings are that they are narrow ledges that we both dance across. A single innocent misstep seals the fate. It's the narrowness of the ledge that makes a good opening."

After a long pause that had John feel victorious about the wisdom that he was dispensing, Angelo said, "Take me across the border with you. Tourism is dead for years with civil war. You don't have to take me to America with you. Simply get me across the border to the other side of the island. I know what you are. You are no birdwatcher. Your secret is safe with me."

"I can be useful. I know these mountains," continued Angelo.

"I'm not supposed to get involved. I'm an observer," admitted John.

"He's going to get you," said Angelo and pointed to the green wall at the boundary of the village. Olgues stood there, quietly and motionless, watching John. "He's reading your aura. He's going to do something to you. You need someone to watch your back."

"Let's have a chat with him," stated John and got up with swift feet toward Olgues. Olgues remained motionless. As the distance shortened, John felt himself victorious. Olgues was within arm's reach and still not moving. He'd talk it out. He had advanced psychological training. He mindlessly wiped an insect from his arm. When he looked up Olgues was gone.

John broke out into a quick sprint. He reached the leaf wall within 5 seconds. He pierced through it and watched through the expanse of bare tree trunks. Olgues was gone. He could have sworn that she should see Olgues' ass running. John got on his knees to inspect the ground. There were a few lumps of dirt thrown over. He could tell that the upside was wetter than the downside. That means Olgues' feet must have flung them over. He followed five feet. Olgues had made a sharp left turn. A complete foot print showed Olgues' was running barefoot. A bent over dead branch was another hint of Olgues' direction. After the initial hook, he seemed to have run in a straight line. How could he have disappeared that fast?

John went deeper into the jungle. The canopy opened to allow sunlight to penetrate the forest floor. Plant life at the forest floor flourished here. There were many spots to ambush John. John was walking carefully and systematically checked for hiding spots. He saw a fast movement in the corner of his eyes.

He turned quickly. The moment he turned, a naked body jumped up right from where he had been looking before. Something had distracted John. Olgues had been straight in front of him in a ditch. Olgues was running. A sixth sense told John to be cautious. That movement that had made him turn made him cautious. There was another one. This time, he caught a glimpse of a naked female body with full breasts and a firm, round butt running from one tree to the next. There were at least two people. He might be surrounded. That little patch of greenery could be a trap.

John cautiously looked around to search for a defensible position with a good view. The female, naked body flashed again to run to hide behind another bush. The sound of the chirping birds was maddening. It was hard to tune into the hearing to hear soft footsteps, when this crashing orchestra pit of birds drowned out everything.

The leafs bent ten foot away from him. Something was crawling toward John. John got his knife out and lowered into a ringer stance ready for someone to jump at him in a deadly fight. His breathing became pressed. He knew that every second of standing tense, he was losing his edge to whoever was taking his time in the bush, slowly wearing him down. He swallowed.

He slowly moved back behind a tree to get the tree in between himself and the movement in the leafs. Sure enough, the movement circled around the tree ever cautiously staying out of his sight. It was utterly soundless, someone with amazing skill was moving through the forest. John quickly realized that this mission might be his last. From feeling confident about his training and experience, he realized that he was dealing with another heavy-weight out there.

The naked female body was popping up for short flashes and strategically moving closer. John realized that the noose of being outnumbered was tightening around him.

"Okay, you guys have me outnumbered. Chances are you win. However, I'll exact my toll in flesh and blood. Let me withdraw. I'll leave. This is your land. I get that."

A low roar sounded from the moving leafs. The low roar was so visceral that it chilled John's bones. He could feel the hair crawling up on his back. His eyes got teary. The sound as low as it had been, it was very deliberate. It spoke of power and deadly determination. John tried to bark back in his best angry dog way: "Wrraaaah!"