Chapter Two

The group had been walking for about three hours after their break when they were suddenly confronted on the trail in front of them by two armed men. The admiral and his men stopped and looked behind them. Two more men were on the trail behind them pointing assault rifles at them.

One of the men in the first group spoke to them in Spanish. The admiral walked ahead of the Seaview's group to talk to them. Listening to the admiral effortlessly converse with them, Morton smiled to himself. He'd never known the admiral was so fluent in Spanish, but then the admiral was constantly surprising him.

After a moment's conversation, the admiral laughed heartily and the other man grabbed Nelson and pulled him into to a back pounding hug, which the admiral returned. Both men turned back to the Seaview's group wearing big smiles.

"It's all right, men. I know these people," Nelson said happily. "I haven't seen them in years. This is Juan DeVega," he said pointing to the first man. "And this is Pablo, Tomas, Raul and Diego. They are members of the rebel army."

Juan told his men to put their weapons down, and then explained to them in Spanish who Nelson and his men were. Two of the men, Tomas and Raul, rushed forward and shook Nelson's hand.

Amazed, the men of the Seaview watched their commanding officer laugh and talk with the insurgents. They seated themselves on the ground and talked like old friends, expounding on how the years had changed them all. After a time, Nelson asked the men if they knew anything of Captain Crane.

"Yes," replied Juan, the apparent leader of the group. "Two days ago, two of our men met your friend at the rendezvous. We haven't heard from them since. It shouldn't have taken them that long to reach the site."

"Is that what you are doing here then, looking for your friends?" asked Nelson, visibly upset.

"Yes. When they did not return when they should have, we came to find them. Perhaps we will look together, eh Harry?"

"I guess it would be best if we stayed together. You know where this installation is?" Nelson asked Juan.

"Oh yes. We discovered it by accident on a scouting mission a few weeks ago. That is when we contacted your government."

"Come," the rebel leader said rising from the ground. "We will go now."

After contacting the Seaview for a check-in, the two groups, now banded together, set off down the trail. They walked for another four hours in the gathering dusk before stopping for the night in a cave that had obviously been used more than once as a stopping place. Foodstuffs, blankets and ammunition lined the walls and fire pits were dug into the rock floor of the cave.

"We will be safe here, Harry. The government has never come close to discovering our hiding places," Juan said with a laugh. "We have caves like this set up all over our territory. In fact, mi hermano, I will cook you and your men your favorite camp meal. Do you remember?"

Nelson grimaced at the memory. "Not baked campfire Spam, Juan! I haven't eaten that stuff since I left here!" Nelson said laughing.

Morton smiled at the exchange between the two men. The admiral seemed to have lost that edge of sadness about him. Whatever it had been about this place, he seemed to have forgotten it. Shaking his head, Chip reached down for his sleeping bag and unrolled it, setting up his camp for the night.

Later in the evening, the others asleep, Nelson and Juan sat in the night and talked softly of things from the past. At one point, Chip awoke to find Nelson, his head bowed and shaking, and Juan with a hand on his shoulder as if sharing in some heartbreak. Morton started to rise, but thought better of it. Whatever was wrong, it seemed to be a matter between the two men. He lay back down but protectively watched Nelson and the other man until they both retired for the night.

Toward dawn, Chip was awakened by soft cries coming from the admiral. The older man tossed in his sleep and moaned. Chip rose from his pallet and crawled to the admiral's side.

"No. No. Not again. No. Please. Please, don't go," he called softly.

"Admiral? Admiral? Are you all right?" he asked, shaking him lightly.

Nelson's eyes flew open at the jostling. His eyes traveled from Chip's concerned face to the cavern, as if trying to place where he was.

"Chip... where..." The confused look on the admiral's face left quickly and was replaced by one of embarrassment. "I'm...all right, Mr. Morton."

"Yes, sir," Chip said moving away a bit. He looked about at the others and was relieved to see they still slept.

"How many times have you had that dream, sir?" Chip asked, watching the admiral sit up and run a hand through his mussed auburn hair.

Nelson looked up suddenly. "What makes you think I've had that dream before, Chip?"

"Just a guess, sir. You said you hadn't been sleeping well. I think I see why."

Harriman Nelson lowered his head and squeezed his eyes shut. Looking up into his exec's concerned eyes, he said, "A few times. Ever since we came into San Marco's waters I've had the same dream. It is always the same. I'm on the shore and there is someone there with me but I can't see who. There's this feeling of danger and that's when the dream ends."

He rose from his sleeping bag and walked to the almost dead fire, stoking it until it blazed, then sat staring at the flames.

After a moment's hesitation, Chip rose and walked to the admiral's side and sat down.

"Do you know what the dream means, sir?"

"How the...!" he yelled, then said in a softer tone. "How should I know, Chip? I only know I know who the person is in the shadows, but I can't place them."

"Maybe it has something to do with when you were here last. Some part of your life here that..."

"I think I have thought about it all I want to for now, Mr. Morton," Nelson said, rising from the fireside. He walked a short distance away then stopped and turned. "Thanks, Chip. I…I don't mean to sound so gruff. It's just..."

"I understand, Admiral. It's ok," he said trying to give a reassuring smile.

By this time, the others had begun to stir. Nelson looked about him at the activity and walked to the cave opening. He was still standing there, staring out at the awakening jungle when Chip approached and handed him a plate filled with food.

"Here, sir. You should eat something."

"Thanks, Chip," Nelson said as he took the plate and slowly ate, his eyes never leaving the jungle before him.

"He'll be all right, sir. We'll find him," Chip said staring out at the same scene.

"I hope so. And soon. I think I'll go see how close we are to moving out," he said in a distracted way.

Chip turned a questioning stare at the admiral. He shook his head and walked back into the interior of the cave to begin packing his things.

A half hour later the group was on the trail again after having attempted repeatedly to make contact with the Seaview. Either they were too far inland to be heard or the government was jamming their signals. The latter explanation was the most logical and the one that worried Nelson the most. There was no reason for the signals to be jammed unless the government knew of their presence here. And that did not bode well for any of them.

The group continued down the trail for the remainder of the morning with no sign of Crane or the others.

"Hold up," Nelson said when they had walked for most of the morning and part of the afternoon. "Let's rest."

The others gratefully agreed and slumped to the ground. An attempt was made again to contact the Seaview, but it met with the same results.

A short time later, Tomas, who had gone out ahead to scout, slipped back into the camp. He put a finger to his lips and pointed down the trail. The men picked up their rifles and held them ready.

Someone was making their way through the jungle in a not too quiet fashion. The group waited tensely until finally someone lurched into camp. He was dressed as the others in the uniform of the rebel party and was covered with blood. He looked up and, seeing Juan, reached out a hand and collapsed into his arms.

Shock marking his face, Juan laid the man on the ground and checked his wounds. He said something to Tomas and began to tend the man's wounds. But the injured man fought him and tried to speak. He spoke in soft, weak tones to Juan and then stiffened. The men of the Seaview knew he was dead before Juan could even move.

He laid his friend back down and then turned to Nelson with anguished eyes.

"They killed him. Our men were captured yesterday coming from the installation with your captain. Enrique escaped, but he was shot in the attempt."

Nelson stared at the man on the ground, his teeth clenched in anger. "How far ahead of us are they?"

"Not long. Maybe... five hours," he said, rising. "They will be moving slowly. We can catch them before nightfall." He gestured for two of his men to pull the body off the trail. "Come. Let's go."

"Juan!" Nelson called. He gestured towards the body. "Enrique. He needs to be buried."

Juan stared at his friend's body for a moment, and then closed his eyes. "There is no time, mi hermano," he said sadly. "Enrique would understand. We waste time. Let's be off." Juan gave orders to Raul and Tomas, who sprinted down the trail ahead of the column.

Juan turned back to Nelson and the others. "They will scout the road ahead of us and look for signs the men we seek passed by."

The men continued down the trail, keeping as quiet as possible. Juan led and the others followed with Nelson bringing up the rear. Chip found himself walking beside Juan and took the opportunity to ask him the question that had plagued him since the Seaview's group had joined with the revolutionaries.

"Juan, you keep calling the admiral 'mi hermano'. Is there some reason for that?"

Juan gave a short laugh and turned to look at his companion. "I call him mi hermano because that is what he is, mi amigo. My brother. Or he should have been my brother," he said with a sad, wistful tone. He looked back again and saw the question in Morton's eyes.

"You do not understand, do you? He never told you or the others?" At Morton's shrug of bafflement, Juan continued in a quiet tone, looking back to make sure Nelson was out of earshot. "When he was here before, when he lived with us and fought with us for those long months, he and my sister, Maria, fell in love. They would have married but..."

"But?"

Juan's expression grew even sadder and he seemed hesitant to speak. "She was... killed by government troops. When he left, I never saw him again until now. But he did not forget us. Packages would arrive mysteriously from contacts we have in the capital. Packages of medicine, books, parts for radios-whatever we needed it seemed to be there, when we needed it."

"And these packages came from the admiral?" At Juan's nod, Morton asked, "How do you know?" he asked, knowing the admiral would never openly aid the rebels.

Juan smiled. "The letters were always signed with his code name, a name only we would know-El Tiburon."

Morton slowed his gait and turned back to look at the admiral, who seemed lost in thought. El Tiburon-the Shark. Appropriate he thought with a smile.

Three hours passed before the group was met on the trail by Tomas. He hurriedly spoke to Juan, who turned to Nelson.

"Tomas says they are in front of us. They have stopped for the night and are bedding down. He reports there are twenty-five government troops guarding your captain and our man."

"Crane, is he all right?" Nelson asked with concern.

"Tomas says both men appear fine. They are tied up but seem to be uninjured aside from a few bruises."

Relief filled Nelson at the news Crane appeared unhurt. "What's our next move?"

Juan looked at the little slice of light that made its way to the jungle floor. "It is near dark now. We will wait until midnight. They should be asleep by then. Two of us will sneak into the camp and overcome the guards. You and I will then free our men. The rest of us will wait on the perimeter. If there is trouble, and only if, we will attack."

The men continued down the road quietly. Within a half hour they were met by Raul, who gestured that the camp was near. Using hand signals, Juan directed the men to encircle the camp. Nelson and Juan remained on the side nearest the captives. The group hunkered down for a long wait, keeping constant watch on the camp and their men, who seemed to be ignored by their captors.

Morton, off to Nelson's left watched the two men as they crouched in the undergrowth, whispering. He found it hard to believe the things Juan had told him of the admiral. Not the part about how he had been in love. But the fact the admiral had, over the past fifteen years, provided the rebels with supplies with no one knowing. Morton shook his head and returned his gaze to the encampment. Maybe others did know, and had simply chosen to ignore it. After all, he was Harriman Nelson, he thought with a slight smile.

The hours to midnight came and went until it was time. Two guards in the camp had taken up positions on either side of the grounds. Crane and Juan's man, Jaime, were asleep along with the other men, save the guards.

Two men from the rebel group crept silently towards the guards, one from the north side and one from the south. Without a sound, the men dispatched their targets and dragged them back into the brush.

Nodding to Nelson, Juan began to crawl towards the captives with Nelson close behind. They reached the men and, placing a hand over their mouths, woke them.

Surprise and joy flooded Crane's face as he saw his friend attempting to free him from his bonds. The men worked quickly and silently until finally the men were free. Juan motioned the men to stillness when they heard the rustling of one of the troops moving. They held their breath as they waited for the man to quiet and once again fall asleep.

When all was silent again, Crane, Jaime, Nelson and Juan crawled towards the dark brush. When they had reached the sanctuary of the darkness, Juan gave the signal to the waiting men to move back towards the trail.

After what seemed an eternity, the men reached the trail without incident. Now far enough away from the encampment, they allowed themselves to give into the joy they felt at freeing their friends.

"Admiral! How did you find us? We thought we were goners!" Crane asked excitedly as he shook everyone's hand.

"Ask Juan. He was the one that got us here," Nelson said, gesturing to his friend. "But I think that can wait. We should keep moving. We want to be as far from here as we can when they realize what has happened."

"I agree, mi hermano," Juan said as he shook Crane's outstretched hand. "But we should stay off the trail as much as possible. It will make it harder for them to follow us."

With that, the group, except for Pablo and Diego, who waited until the column was far ahead before they too started, continued on, picking their way carefully through the dense underbrush in the black jungle night.

After walking for more than three hours, Juan signaled a halt. The air was still in the early morning darkness and the heat of the new day was still a few hours off. Nelson, Crane and the others collapsed on the ground in exhaustion.

"We should rest as well as we can for a few hours. Pablo and Diego will keep watch on the trail for the troops," Juan said as he handed food to Crane and Jaime. "Eat and rest. I will stand watch. You will need your strength."

Nelson walked to Crane's side and sat down. "So, what did you find out? Is it there?"

Crane looked up from his plate and nodded. "They have all the equipment to start production on biological weapons very soon. Not more than a few weeks away, from what I saw."

"But there is no sign of production now?"

"No. They were still setting up their base and moving in the supplies. But it won't be long."

Rubbing his forehead, Nelson nodded. "We don't have much time then. We can't seem to contact the Seaview. We need to get back as quickly as we can. Washington is going to need all the time it can get to use this information. Good job, Lee," Nelson said slapping Crane on the leg. "Now get some rest."

Crane finished eating and bedded down as well as he could in the jungle brush. Nelson walked to Juan's side and sat down, intending to stand watch too.

"You should sleep too, mi hermano. It is a long walk back to your boat."

Nelson lowered his head and spoke softly to Juan. "I'd just as soon not. I... haven't been able to sleep well since we arrived off the coast of this... place," he said as he looked about him.

Juan looked at the man he called brother and nodded his head. "You dream of her, don't you?"

Surprised, Nelson's head shot up. "No! No... it ...isn't her. It's...I don't know what it is. It's just a feeling. Like... there's something I'm not seeing. Something I'm missing. Something..." he gave up, shrugged his shoulders and settled down to wait, not seeing the look that passed over Juan's face.

After the excitement of the past few hours, Crane found sleep an elusive quarry. He rolled over and glanced in the direction of Nelson and Juan, who continued to talk softly. He raised his head as he heard, what he thought was soft laughter, come from the admiral. With a puzzled look, he lowered his head and heard Chip whisper, "They're old friends, Lee. The admiral was here at the beginning of the revolution. He and Juan seem to have a lot of reminiscing to do. Or a lot of commiserating."

"Commiserating? That's a strange word to use."

Morton was just about to explain when the sound of someone or something crashing through the brush interrupted. Immediately alert, the men jumped to their feet, their guns pointed in the direction of the noise.

Pablo and Diego raced through the brush and into the clearing. They ran to Juan and began to talk rapidly, occasionally pointing down towards the trail.

Nelson and Juan gathered their things quickly and informed the others that the troops had found their trail and were closing in on them. Supplies and rifles were hurriedly gathered and the column started out once more at a fast pace.

After more than an hour, the column reached a clearing that was bathed in the jungle dawn's brilliant light. The men hunkered down as they stared at the meadow before them. From one side to the other, the field was more than 200 yards across-200 yards with no protection.

Juan turned to the others. "We must cross here. The way to the left and the right is clogged with impenetrable vines. This is our only choice. I will go first and make sure the way is clear. When I am across safely, the rest of you follow. Stay low. And run fast."

Juan prepared to make his run, but Nelson put a hand on his arm. "Be careful. I don't want to lose you too, eh?"

"I will, mi hermano. You just make sure you cover me and run fast. Like old times, no?" he said with a smile.

Nelson smiled back and nodded. "Yes. Like old times."

Juan raced to the far side of the meadow, crouching low as he ran. He made the far side without drawing any gunfire and waved for the next man to follow.

Kowalski went first, followed in succession by the remaining members of both groups, none drawing gunfire, until Nelson and Crane were the last two.

"All right, Lee. Your turn," Nelson said as he peered behind them into the still dark jungle.

"No. I'll cover you. Get going."

"Lee, now is not the time to argue. Move out!"

"With all due respect, sir, I think..."

"Lee, I am not the one with the information our country needs. You are. Now go. That's an order!"

Knowing it was useless to argue, he set off.

He hadn't gone more than twenty yards when the air erupted with gunfire. Crane turned back to see Nelson crouched and firing into the jungle darkness. He started to go back to help when Nelson suddenly jumped up and started running to the far side of the field. It wasn't long before he reached Crane and grabbed his arm.

"Come on! Let's get out of here!" Nelson said without stopping.

The two men raced across the field while the men on the other side put down a volley of gunfire.

Crane and Nelson were still fifty yards from the waiting men when Crane suddenly fell. Nelson turned and raced back to help him to his feet.

"Are you all right?" At Crane's nod, the two men turned back towards their goal, as bullets ripped into the ground around them. Kowalski and Patterson ran out from the relative safety of the brush and fired round after round at the pursuers, covering Nelson and Crane as best they could.

"Get back, Ski, Pat! We're..." The admiral's words were suddenly cut off and he grunted.

"Admiral! Are you all right?" Crane asked as Nelson stumbled.

Regaining his balance, Nelson nodded and continued on.

The four men reached the far side and plunged into the jungle brush. They turned and began to fire at the now retreating troops. Bodies of the government forces littered the ground. Few of the attackers had escaped unscathed from the short battle.

The men of the Seaview watched the retreating forms disappear into the thicket on the far side of the meadow. Juan gestured to Tomas and Pablo who ran back across the meadow.

"They will keep tabs on our friends and make sure they do not attempt to sneak up on us again," Juan said as he walked to Nelson and slapped him on the back, not noticing Nelson's grimace.

"You are not as fast as you once were, mi hermano. Perhaps you spend too much time behind a desk, eh?"

"Perhaps," Nelson said weakly. "We should continue on. We don't want to get caught again. We still have a long way to go."

"I agree. I am afraid they will not give up, now that they know you know of their secret, Captain. Come. Let's be off," Juan said as he headed off down the trail. The others followed behind him, Nelson once again bringing up the rear.