Chapter Nine

The last chapter was rather short so here's the next one!

The drive to Santa Barbara Municipal Airport was accomplished quickly, Kohler regaining consciousness shortly after leaving the apartment, much to Lee's disgust. He remained belligerent, tossing angry words at the three men who grew angrier with each word out of Kohler's mouth.

"Look, I told you! Nelson is dead! There's no reason to go back in there! We're gonna get caught. Just like he did! We can't…"

Chip slammed the brakes on his truck just as they had reached the hangar Jake had indicated was where his plane was housed.

Turning to look at Kohler, Lee and Chip glared at him angrily. "What did you just say?" Lee asked in a deathly quiet tone.

"I…I said…we're gonna get caught," Kohler whimpered.

"No, that isn't all you said. You said we were going to get caught just like he did. He, as in Admiral Nelson? Is that what you meant?" Lee asked reaching in the backseat to grab a hold of Kohler's shirt.

"No! I meant…I meant like the…the rebel - Perez. He got caught!"

"How do you know that?" Chip asked. "You said you left him."

"I…I…did but…he must have been caught. That's all I meant! I swear it! Nelson is dead!"

Lee flung Kohler away from him. "I swear I'm going to kill you. If Admiral Nelson is dead, I will kill you. And there will be no one around that is going to see."

"Well, all this chitchat is fun and all but let's get moving," Jake said as Chip moved his truck inside the hangar door and parked it. The men jumped from the truck and stared at the plane that sat before them. Lee whistled softly. "That is some plane, Jake."

"That is some old plane," Chip said dismayed.

"Old? She's not old. She's a beauty though," Jake said proudly as he walked to the plane and ran a hand over the nose affectionately.

"What kind is she?' Lee asked as he came up beside her.

"Beechcraft C-45H. Flew a lot of missions and she'll keep flying them," he said proudly.

"So she does fly, right?" Chip asked in concern as he dragged Kohler along with him to the old plane.

"Of course she flies! What kind of a question is that? She flies like a dream! Don't listen to him," Jake whispered as he turned back to the plane, patting it softly. "He doesn't know you like I do."

"When was the last time you had her out?" Lee asked.

"Last weekend. Do you want to do this or not? I'm telling you she flies. She's been checked out as last night."

"OK, Jake. Just checking," Lee said with a grin. "I'm used to different methods of flying. That's all."

"Yeah, well the Flying Sub would be nicer and faster but also quite conspicuous. What do you say we get ready to fly? We have a schedule to keep. My friend in San Castana won't wait all day for us," Jake said.

"San Castana? Why are we going to San Castana? Santiago would be closer," Kohler said, seemingly resigned to his fate.

"Because, Eric, we don't want to alert the government or the rebels we're in country. Further away from any of your friends, too," Jake said, glaring at him.

"Friends? I…I don't have any friends there," Kohler stammered. "No one there I want to meet again. I did the mission, just like they said. Got the information and got out."

"Yeah, except you forgot to bring one of your team home," Chip said crossly as he yanked his bag from the back of his truck.

"You just don't get it, do you? He's dead! This is just a big waste of time. And I'm not sticking around for what's about to happen," Kohler said as he grabbed his bag and made for the hangar door.

Before he had gone two feet, Lee grabbed him, spun him around and cuffed him across the face, smiling grimly when he howled in pain.

"You will do what we say and when we say it, Eric," Lee said as he towered over him, his fists clenched in anger. "Got it? You're coming with us, you're going to show us where you left Admiral Nelson and you're going to keep quiet unless we ask you a question. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it. But all you're going to find is a dead body, if that," he said angrily, as he wiped his bleeding nose with a handkerchief.

"Then we bring his body home," Lee said quietly, turning to gather his bags from the truck and stalking to the plane, his jaw clenched tight.

Chip waited until Eric had gotten up and moved slowly to the plane, not attempting to hide his disdain for the mode of transportation they were utilizing.

The men clambered aboard and stowed their bags in the back. Chip pushed Eric into a seat just behind the cockpit and seated himself by his side while Lee headed forward with Jake and sat down in the co-pilot's seat.

"You ever flown a C-45, Lee?" Jake asked as he started his preflight checks.

"Nope, but I'm looking forward to it. I've had training in a lot of different planes but this will be a first," he said with an eager grin.

"Well, she ain't the Flying Sub but then what is? You'll be fine."

Jake finished his checks, alerted the tower they were ready for takeoff and moved swiftly to their spot in the queue of aircraft awaiting takeoff. When their turn came, the old plane rose gracefully into the air, the engines humming.

Jake turned to look behind him to his two passengers. "Told you she flew like a dream," he said, laughing at Chip's expression of relief that they had made it off the ground and were rising steadily.

The plane flew easily through the night, the men within taking turns sleeping. When dawn was painting the southern sky dusky shades of pink and purple, Jake radioed the San Castana airport for landing instructions and safely landed the plane on the tarmac.

Taxiing to a ramshackle hangar on the far side of the small airport, he shut down his engines and patted the plane gently. "There. Another good job," he said, laughing at the look on Lee's face. "What? You don't thank the Flying Sub for getting you places safely?

"Uh, not usually," Lee said with a laugh. "But don't let me hold you back."

Jake laughed. "Well, let's get moving. My contact should be here somewhere," he said as he grabbed the bags from the back, grabbed Eric by the arm and helped him none too gently down the steps. He was just handing out the side arms and rifles to Lee and Chip when they heard someone call out.

"Senor Jake! Over here!"

Jake turned in the direction of the voice and smiled broadly as he watched a short, thin, dark-skinned man with a big smile walk towards them. "Miguel! How the hell are you? It's been how long?"

"Ah, too long. Too long. Are these all the men you brought?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yep. Just a quick get in and get out kind of thing we hope."

"Whatever you say, senor. I am here to guide you as always."

"Always? How many times have you been here, Jake?" Chip asked as he pulled the struggling Kohler with him.

"A few. Miguel here is quite good at guiding and he doesn't like to leave people behind, unlike someone I could name," he said glaring at Eric who kept his eyes downcast and his face turned away.

"You…I know you," Miguel said, moving to stand in front of Kohler who turned his head away. "Yes, you have been here before. More than once."

"I…I was in Santiago a little while ago," Kohler mumbled.

"Yes, I saw you. You were with another man, a short, stocky man with red hair. I did not see his face though. When I saw you a few days ago, you came out of the jungle and he was not with you."

"He left him behind," Lee said, his face twisted in grief.

"Ah. And this is the reason you are here? To find this man?"

"Yes," Lee answered succinctly.

"He must be important to you for you to come back expecting to find him."

"He is very important to us, yes. And we will find him," Lee said, glaring at Kohler.

"Alive?" Miguel asked.

"Hopefully. Yes."

"I hope this is true, however if he was caught by our wonderful government, this may not be so."

"Be that as it may, we're going to do our best to find him - alive or dead," Lee said, his jaw clenched tightly.

"So, let's plan where we're going," Jake said as he walked to a rickety table off to the side of the hangar. He unrolled a large map of the area they were going to be entering. "Eric? Show us your route."

Eric stalked to the table and stared down at the map before him, his eyes darting from the map to the door.

"Don't try it. Just show us where you and Nelson went."

"Nelson? Not Admiral Nelson," Miguel said

"Yes, Admiral Nelson," Lee said, curiously. "Why? Do you know him?"

"Many around here know him or know of him, senor. He has been here many times over the years."

"Doing what?"

"I assume missions for your government," he said shrugging. "Not so much the last few years but in the early 1960s when our rebellion first began, quite frequently. Less often after that."

"I never knew that," Lee said quietly, pondering the man that had become so important to him. His heart ached to know there was still so much to learn about and from the man.

"Nelson…he was the red-haired man then? He was the one I saw briefly with your friend here?" Miguel asked.

"He's no friend but, yes…Admiral Nelson was in Santiago with…him," Lee said pointing to Kohler.

"Well, as interesting as this is, we need to find him soon," Jake said gesturing for Eric to point out the route.

"We took this route to the government installation. We met our contact here," he said as he pointed to a spot on the map. "We took longer than anticipated getting to this point. Ran into more than a few torrential rainstorms that slowed us up on the way. Anyway, we finally got to the installation, here. We tossed some gas grenades inside and Nelson went in. Perez and I ran back down the trail and waited for him as he did his little look see. When he caught up to us, he said he'd seen enough to know the rebels were right. He had photographs, diagrams or equations or…I don't know what all he had. We left. The next day the government troops caught up to us about here. Our guide, Perez, was hit and went down. Nelson ran back to help him and the two tried to keep up. Then Nelson was hit and went down. He got back up and the two of them kept running. I saw blood on Nelson's chest and he was struggling to keep up. I went back but he told me to go on. He handed me his backpack with the film and some notes he had made in it. Next thing I knew he went down again and when he fell he went over a cliff about here. I ran back. He was at the bottom of the cliff and troops were coming out of the jungle. They surrounded him, kicked him and I thought shot him again. There was nothing I could do. That's the truth."

"Why did you say you checked him and he was dead?"

"I…I don't know. I just thought it would be easier to say I knew for sure he was dead. I've gotten this reputation of leaving agents behind," he said, glaring at Jake and then Lee.

"A reputation that is well deserved," Jake said angrily. "You forget, we've been with you on missions. And if you say Nelson was dead, then I can't help but feel he's alive. Or was," he finished softly, trying to ignore the pained look that flashed over Lee's face.

"Either way, we're going to do our best to find him," Lee said.

"Well, let's be off then. I have procured a lovely old truck to carry us part way through the jungle, at least where there are roads. After they disappear into the brush, we walk," Miguel said as he grabbed a well-worn knapsack from the ground and slung a rifle over his shoulder. "Come. The truck is over here."