Disclaimers and other Info. in Part 1 - additional acknowledgements will be included in parts where needed.
Part 15: Luther
Jake leads them to a building that resembles a huge barn. Vin looks in the window and sees wooden crates stacked everywhere. Not far from the front door there's a man with dark brown hair and a moustache. He's sitting on a wooden chair using crates as a desk. There's a young boy unloading a crate near the man. Vin watches to see what he unloads. He sees bags of what looks like sugar - Vin doubts it is though. He decides to bust the man and force him to help them. Vin draws his gun along with JD, Buck and Josiah. Chris and the others wait outside.
The small group go inside and say "Freeze - police!"
"Pol-ize? You aren't the local pol-ize!" says Luther, clearly frightened by the word though.
"No, we're the ATF police," explains Vin.
Luther looks questioningly at them and asks, "What is ATF?"
JD answers him slowly so he'll understand, "Illegal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms unit."
Luther draws a bigger gun and suddenly is by JD's side with the gun pointing at the side of his head.
"Don't make things harder fer yerself," says Vin, in a calm voice so as not to force Luther to shoot JD.
"I am not afraid to shoot Shake."
Buck whispers to Vin, "He thinks he's Jake!"
Vin whispers back, "That could be to our advantage."
Vin points his gun at JD, "I will shoot him for you - I don't believe you would really shoot him." JD is shivering with fear as Vin speaks.
Luther drops his gun revealing that he's really a coward, "Okay I give up. Please don't shoot Shake."
Vin steps forward putting his gun back where he had it concealed. He produces handcuffs and puts them on Luther. "Okay, Luther you are under arrest," says Vin "Is that your lorry?"
"Yes, it is," answers Luther, hoping maybe they'll let him go free if he helps them.
"We need it ta get home. You'll drive us ta the seaport," demands Vin.
Buck whispers to Vin, "Ain't we gonna get plane fuel?"
Vin whispers back, "No, the sea's not far from here - we flew over it before we got here."
The man shouts to the boy in a foreign language. The boy argues back in North American; "As long as you are going to jail I might as well hand in my resignation now. My name is Ian, take me back to the USA with you, he bought me from my parents a long time ago but only because they needed the money. They would be glad to see me again."
"Okay we'll take you home to your parents," agrees Buck.
The group walk into the cargo loading bay where the lorry is parked and Vin unlocks Luther's handcuffs so that the man can drive.
"Okay, everyone in the lorry," says Luther roughly.
"The rest of our friends are outside," explains Vin.
"Okay I'll stop outside; I hope there's enough room for everyone."
"Do you have friends on a ship who could take us back to USA?" asks Vin, wondering if Luther has any smuggler friends locally.
"Yes, I will take you to them," agrees Luther very obligingly.
Vin sits beside Luther in the cab to watch him, while Ian, JD and Buck get into the back of the lorry sitting on some crates that are there. Then Luther drives the lorry outside.
Chris doesn't trust Luther at all, so after he's got directions from him, he puts Luther in the back and ties him up. Nathan doesn't like the look of the man either, so while no-one is looking he uses a hypo on him to put him to sleep for a while.
After 45 minutes of driving they get to the place where the ship is moored. The man is untied and woken up, then leads them to a big ship with some scruffy looking men onboard.
Luther speaks to them in Mexican.
The man with the Captain's hat on his head placed crookedly, replies in Mexican.
Luther tells Chris, "Captain Elias says welcome aboard. If you want passage to USA you will have to work and we will have to go a longer route."
"Okay, but if there's any tricks, there'll be trouble," warns Chris, not too happy about going home on this ship that is clearly a smugglers' ship.
Luther speaks to Captain Elias, telling him in Mexican what Chris just said.
Captain Elias talks to the guys in good American; "There are 20 crewmen's beds, five of the men and the two women will make the beds while the others will do some other jobs. You and you will clean the deck," he points at Vin and Buck then continues, "and you two will report to the man over there and he'll give you a job to do." Elias points to Jake and Ian.
Vin and Buck go to a big man who gives them mops and buckets. The others go to the crew's quarters. Ian and Jake report to a small man who gives them brooms and tells them to sweep the floor.
Vin and Buck start to clean the deck.
"This is hard work," moans Vin.
The first mate looks at him angrily and orders, "No talking allowed. Do it again and we'll throw you in the Brig for the rest of the journey."
"You can't do that," argues Buck.
"What you gonna do? We're at sea, there's nowhere to run from us," taunts the first mate.
"We could jump overboard," says Vin.
"I've had quite enough of you both," says the other man, then the two men start walking toward them.
7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Meanwhile Chris is standing by the captain's double bed, staring into space.
Lu comes in and notices he's not doing anything, so asks, "What's wrong?"
Chris replies, "I miss Shirley."
"At least she's safe where she is," answers Lu, not trusting the crew and their captain.
"If we get out of this alive, I'm gonna call her and invite her to my place," decides Chris.
"Of course we'll get out of this alive."
"Be careful not to be left alone, I don't trust the crew one bit."
Then they hear someone shouting. "I don't like the sound of that, we're going to find out what's happening," says Chris. He grabs Lu's hand and pulls her after him.
They creep up on the deck and see Buck sitting on the floor groaning in pain.
Chris rushes over, concerned; "What happened?"
"They told us to stop talking or they'd throw us in the Brig. But I said that would be wrong, and they started chasing us. Next thing I know, some other guy puts out his leg and trips me up," explains Buck, rubbing his leg that hit the wooden deck hard.
"I can't allow this to happen - I'm going to talk to the captain, you two get back to the others," says Chris.
Chris goes to the captain's cabin; "We need to talk, Captain."
"Service not to your likin'?" asks the captain in an agitated tone.
"One of my men was threatened with being thrown in the Brig for talking, and then he was chased until another of your men tripped him up," explains Chris angrily.
"It's called discipline."
"It's called unfair treatment."
"You gonna phone 911?" asks the captain.
"You're in big trouble when we get back to the States," shouts Chris very angry now.
"How about we throw you all to the sharks?" shouts the captain.
"Don't threaten me - I can contact the authorities and they'll have helicopters and boats out here."
The captain smiles at Chris, showing his teeth; "My men will shoot the helicopters down as soon as they get here."
7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Lu and JD are making a bed and chatting when several crewmen come in.
"What have we here?" asks one man smiling evilly.
"Don't come near me, I know Karate," bluffs JD.
"I have a gun," threatens another of the men.
JD draws his gun; "Me too, fancy that!"
The gun 'accidentally' goes off and the man drops to the floor
"I didn' mean to shoot him," lies JD convincingly.
"Now, you're in trouble," says the third man.
The remaining crewmen grab JD and Lu and take them to the Brig. They push them in and lock the doors.
Nathan and Ezra come into the room where they heard the gunshot and find the crewman lying on the floor.
Nathan checks his pulse, but he's dead. "Uh-oh," says Nathan, worried what the captain will think when he finds out.
"Can't we revive him, Mister Jackson?" asks Ezra.
"I don't think so, Ez - he's been shot in a critical place. I wonder who shot him?"
"It must have been one of the crew - unless, he provoked one of our group."
The same crewmen from before come back without JD and Lu (although Ezra and Nathan don't know they had them)
"Good, I'm glad we found you - Captain wants your entire group up on deck," says one of the crewmen.
Ezra and Nathan follow them to the deck.
Everyone is gathered there except Lu and JD.
Captain Elias speaks first; "As several of you now know, we practise strict discipline. One of your men and women have been put in the Brig for shooting a crew man. We will not take any more disobedience from you. You will all stay in your cabins until we get to the United States."
"You must release JD and Lu," demands Chris loudly.
"No," says Elias calmly.
Everyone is taken to their cabins (most of them having to share) by crewmen and the doors are locked. At meal-times the crewmen bring food to the cabins always locking the doors after them. It seems to take forever to reach the USA.
To be continued…
Part 15: Luther
Jake leads them to a building that resembles a huge barn. Vin looks in the window and sees wooden crates stacked everywhere. Not far from the front door there's a man with dark brown hair and a moustache. He's sitting on a wooden chair using crates as a desk. There's a young boy unloading a crate near the man. Vin watches to see what he unloads. He sees bags of what looks like sugar - Vin doubts it is though. He decides to bust the man and force him to help them. Vin draws his gun along with JD, Buck and Josiah. Chris and the others wait outside.
The small group go inside and say "Freeze - police!"
"Pol-ize? You aren't the local pol-ize!" says Luther, clearly frightened by the word though.
"No, we're the ATF police," explains Vin.
Luther looks questioningly at them and asks, "What is ATF?"
JD answers him slowly so he'll understand, "Illegal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms unit."
Luther draws a bigger gun and suddenly is by JD's side with the gun pointing at the side of his head.
"Don't make things harder fer yerself," says Vin, in a calm voice so as not to force Luther to shoot JD.
"I am not afraid to shoot Shake."
Buck whispers to Vin, "He thinks he's Jake!"
Vin whispers back, "That could be to our advantage."
Vin points his gun at JD, "I will shoot him for you - I don't believe you would really shoot him." JD is shivering with fear as Vin speaks.
Luther drops his gun revealing that he's really a coward, "Okay I give up. Please don't shoot Shake."
Vin steps forward putting his gun back where he had it concealed. He produces handcuffs and puts them on Luther. "Okay, Luther you are under arrest," says Vin "Is that your lorry?"
"Yes, it is," answers Luther, hoping maybe they'll let him go free if he helps them.
"We need it ta get home. You'll drive us ta the seaport," demands Vin.
Buck whispers to Vin, "Ain't we gonna get plane fuel?"
Vin whispers back, "No, the sea's not far from here - we flew over it before we got here."
The man shouts to the boy in a foreign language. The boy argues back in North American; "As long as you are going to jail I might as well hand in my resignation now. My name is Ian, take me back to the USA with you, he bought me from my parents a long time ago but only because they needed the money. They would be glad to see me again."
"Okay we'll take you home to your parents," agrees Buck.
The group walk into the cargo loading bay where the lorry is parked and Vin unlocks Luther's handcuffs so that the man can drive.
"Okay, everyone in the lorry," says Luther roughly.
"The rest of our friends are outside," explains Vin.
"Okay I'll stop outside; I hope there's enough room for everyone."
"Do you have friends on a ship who could take us back to USA?" asks Vin, wondering if Luther has any smuggler friends locally.
"Yes, I will take you to them," agrees Luther very obligingly.
Vin sits beside Luther in the cab to watch him, while Ian, JD and Buck get into the back of the lorry sitting on some crates that are there. Then Luther drives the lorry outside.
Chris doesn't trust Luther at all, so after he's got directions from him, he puts Luther in the back and ties him up. Nathan doesn't like the look of the man either, so while no-one is looking he uses a hypo on him to put him to sleep for a while.
After 45 minutes of driving they get to the place where the ship is moored. The man is untied and woken up, then leads them to a big ship with some scruffy looking men onboard.
Luther speaks to them in Mexican.
The man with the Captain's hat on his head placed crookedly, replies in Mexican.
Luther tells Chris, "Captain Elias says welcome aboard. If you want passage to USA you will have to work and we will have to go a longer route."
"Okay, but if there's any tricks, there'll be trouble," warns Chris, not too happy about going home on this ship that is clearly a smugglers' ship.
Luther speaks to Captain Elias, telling him in Mexican what Chris just said.
Captain Elias talks to the guys in good American; "There are 20 crewmen's beds, five of the men and the two women will make the beds while the others will do some other jobs. You and you will clean the deck," he points at Vin and Buck then continues, "and you two will report to the man over there and he'll give you a job to do." Elias points to Jake and Ian.
Vin and Buck go to a big man who gives them mops and buckets. The others go to the crew's quarters. Ian and Jake report to a small man who gives them brooms and tells them to sweep the floor.
Vin and Buck start to clean the deck.
"This is hard work," moans Vin.
The first mate looks at him angrily and orders, "No talking allowed. Do it again and we'll throw you in the Brig for the rest of the journey."
"You can't do that," argues Buck.
"What you gonna do? We're at sea, there's nowhere to run from us," taunts the first mate.
"We could jump overboard," says Vin.
"I've had quite enough of you both," says the other man, then the two men start walking toward them.
7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Meanwhile Chris is standing by the captain's double bed, staring into space.
Lu comes in and notices he's not doing anything, so asks, "What's wrong?"
Chris replies, "I miss Shirley."
"At least she's safe where she is," answers Lu, not trusting the crew and their captain.
"If we get out of this alive, I'm gonna call her and invite her to my place," decides Chris.
"Of course we'll get out of this alive."
"Be careful not to be left alone, I don't trust the crew one bit."
Then they hear someone shouting. "I don't like the sound of that, we're going to find out what's happening," says Chris. He grabs Lu's hand and pulls her after him.
They creep up on the deck and see Buck sitting on the floor groaning in pain.
Chris rushes over, concerned; "What happened?"
"They told us to stop talking or they'd throw us in the Brig. But I said that would be wrong, and they started chasing us. Next thing I know, some other guy puts out his leg and trips me up," explains Buck, rubbing his leg that hit the wooden deck hard.
"I can't allow this to happen - I'm going to talk to the captain, you two get back to the others," says Chris.
Chris goes to the captain's cabin; "We need to talk, Captain."
"Service not to your likin'?" asks the captain in an agitated tone.
"One of my men was threatened with being thrown in the Brig for talking, and then he was chased until another of your men tripped him up," explains Chris angrily.
"It's called discipline."
"It's called unfair treatment."
"You gonna phone 911?" asks the captain.
"You're in big trouble when we get back to the States," shouts Chris very angry now.
"How about we throw you all to the sharks?" shouts the captain.
"Don't threaten me - I can contact the authorities and they'll have helicopters and boats out here."
The captain smiles at Chris, showing his teeth; "My men will shoot the helicopters down as soon as they get here."
7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Lu and JD are making a bed and chatting when several crewmen come in.
"What have we here?" asks one man smiling evilly.
"Don't come near me, I know Karate," bluffs JD.
"I have a gun," threatens another of the men.
JD draws his gun; "Me too, fancy that!"
The gun 'accidentally' goes off and the man drops to the floor
"I didn' mean to shoot him," lies JD convincingly.
"Now, you're in trouble," says the third man.
The remaining crewmen grab JD and Lu and take them to the Brig. They push them in and lock the doors.
Nathan and Ezra come into the room where they heard the gunshot and find the crewman lying on the floor.
Nathan checks his pulse, but he's dead. "Uh-oh," says Nathan, worried what the captain will think when he finds out.
"Can't we revive him, Mister Jackson?" asks Ezra.
"I don't think so, Ez - he's been shot in a critical place. I wonder who shot him?"
"It must have been one of the crew - unless, he provoked one of our group."
The same crewmen from before come back without JD and Lu (although Ezra and Nathan don't know they had them)
"Good, I'm glad we found you - Captain wants your entire group up on deck," says one of the crewmen.
Ezra and Nathan follow them to the deck.
Everyone is gathered there except Lu and JD.
Captain Elias speaks first; "As several of you now know, we practise strict discipline. One of your men and women have been put in the Brig for shooting a crew man. We will not take any more disobedience from you. You will all stay in your cabins until we get to the United States."
"You must release JD and Lu," demands Chris loudly.
"No," says Elias calmly.
Everyone is taken to their cabins (most of them having to share) by crewmen and the doors are locked. At meal-times the crewmen bring food to the cabins always locking the doors after them. It seems to take forever to reach the USA.
To be continued…