Chapter 5
Ken woke up to the pleasant sounds of small children playing just outside the small hut he had been in for the past week- he sat up a fraction, despite the screaming pain from his damaged ribs. The rebels that found him unconscious in the rainforest had proved to be good people. They only wanted to live a life that they owned for themselves. Not running in fear of a group of militia coming into the villages and taking theirs sons away to serve as soldiers.
His memories of the night he'd crashed the small helicopter were still hazy, every now and then he would have a dream about it, but all he saw in the dream was a man wearing black with fierce eyes and gravelly voice pulling him out of the twisted burning wreckage.
When he asked Arun, the rebel leader about the man who pulled him out of the crash the older man frowned and shook his head. Ken later learned Arun hardly spoke any English. His sister Htet, the young girl Ken helped escape spoke English better than she let on at the time he first met her.
Laying back on the simple sleeping mat and pondered in the missing details of that night.
The Generals helicopter had been shot down by someone just outside of the camp, and it wasn't the rebels from what he had from Arun learned. They found a hand held rocket launcher in the jungle, a heavy weapon that would be impossible for a man to carry on his own. They found Ken when a gun shot went off close to the location he had been abandoned by the person who pulled him out of the wreckage.
The only memory that stood out in Ken mind is that gravelly rough voice, whoever that man had been he had to be long gone by now. He could have been another operative for the ISO but Ken doubted that, if he had been then he would have taken Ken out of the jungle at least.
Likely then man was a loose canon, operating on his own with his own agenda. Ken figured as long as it didn't hinder his, then his rescuer could continue to fight against the militia that ruled here with an iron fist. But he did interfere by shooting down the
General before Ken could learn more about the operation that he was involved in, and the real leaders behind it.
"You awake." Htet said smiling gently while she brought him in a plate of rice.
"Thank you." He said forcing himself into a sitting position.
"You looking much better today…Ken." She placed the bowl next to him and sat down, bringing her long slender legs underneath her when he ate the plain rice.
"I'm healing, which means I should make my way back to my home." He said briskly.
He felt a twang of guilt when he saw Htet's crest fallen face; he knew she had taken a genuine liking for him. "You going …back to her…" She said sadly.
He nodded still watching her; he longed to see Jun again. But first he needed to see Dr. Nambu and talk to him about his findings, and he needed to know if another person had been assigned to this mission and if so, why didn't Dr. Nambu tell him about him.
Arun poked his head through the door and grinned broadly, he said something to his sister in their native tongue. She faked a smile and moved over to let her brother sit close to Ken.
"I...I...know." He stopped while he tried to find the words he needed in Ken's tongue."Ameris people…missions…going back on river." He indicated.
"When?" Ken asked him his eyes shifting from one face to the other, Arun said something again to his sister- she looked at her brother intently taking in every word he said to her.
"We will take you to the boats today so you can return to your people…and woman, then you can find other transport." She said, her eyes looked mournfully at him, and he knew she was about to cry, Htet held back her tears and stood up elegantly and left the hut.
Arun began to apologise for his sister, but Ken indicated there to be no need for it.
He picked up his tattered shirt and pulled it on gingerly aware of his sore ribs. He stood up slowly she the blood wouldn't suddenly drain and make him dizzy.
"I'm ready to go." He told Arun, while pulling on his dark brown combat boots and tucking in his dark kaki coloured cargo pants. He picked up his one feather Shuriken, his birdrang he lost when the chopper crashed.
Arun lead the way out of the hut, Ken followed.
He jumped into the military style jeep with welded shut side doors. Three other armed rebels and they began to make the journey down the river.
"We be there…two hours." Arun shouted over the noise of the engine. Ken acknowledges him and then kept a sharp look out for militia that could be hiding in the more jungle part of the rainforest they had begun to drive through as they made their way along the rough slippery dirt road.
They had been driving for an hour when he caught a glimpse of something following them deeper in the jungle. Whoever their shadow was he could move fast Ken noted.
Signalling for Arun to slow down Ken ignored the pain in his ribs and jumped out of the moving jeep, Arun kept going but at a slower pace to allow Ken to catch up with them.
With stealth that came naturally to him from years of practise in a deliberate half crouch Ken moved in on his stalker. At a short distance he saw that he had his head and hair covered in a black bandana, a black scarf covered most of his face except for his hard eyes. Ken couldn't totally make them out in the semi soft sunlight coming through the trees. The rest of tall solid built man, covered in black clothing and he could see a long curved knife in his black gloved hand.
Ken moved in wide circle around him being carful not to disturb the undergrowth.
He assessed to best way to attack him from his current position, to subdue him enough to find out what he wanted from him.
The ninja dressed man must have sense him from the way he went fluidly into a fighters stance. His eyes held a predatory gaze as he looked for Ken, and his head moved like a snake waiting to strike, showing him to be an experienced fighter.
Ken had felt like a hunter as he picked his moment to strike. He leapt out of the large leafy bushes, his right foot hitting the man directly in his chest knocking him hard onto the soft damp ground.
The masked man moved lightning fast, flipping over several times before coming to his feet and throwing Ken hard against a tree, sending bolts of pain through the Eagles still healing body. Ken yelled to let it out as the pain began to pulsate through him.
The man grunted he pulled out something from his pocket. Ken tried to stand up as he threw his aching body out of the way of the object flying towards him.
He looked up to see his birdrang sticking out of the tree above him. Looking straight ahead to where the man had been standing he saw only the movement of the soft green ferns indicated that he had been there. Ken got to his feet, pulled out his weapon from the tree dove through the moving ferns. Kens gut feeling told him this could be the man who saved him from the wreckage of the chopper and got him too safely.
Ken's chest heaved from the rushing adrenaline through his body, and he bared his teeth in his frustration of not catching this mysterious man.
"Who are you?" Ken called out to the jungle. "If you mean to help me…then why do you run from me? "
He heard a short rough mocking laugh far in the distance. "I don't need your help…you're in the way so go home." The gravelly male voice called out.
Then he vanished like a ghost.
Ken stood there his chest heaving from the adrenaline racing through his veins. He stood still listening for any signs of the black clothed man for a few minutes before he turned to run back to the jeep and board the boat on the river. Ken became more determined by the minute to find who this man was… His mission didn't look like it was over yet- he knew he had to come back here to find out what this one man army was up too.
Jun pulled up on the side curb close to the medical building she had her second appointment with.
The first one had gone smoothly, the doctor examined her to see how far along she really is. Ten weeks his conclusion had been from what she told him and the ultra sound he quickly did in the office.
Jun tried not to look at the screen as he conducted the ultra sound, holding a full bladder was hard enough, at least she had practise on missions to tune out to the need to run to a toilet.
But she didn't miss the slight movements on the black and white screen nor the heat beat. The doctor didn't say much during his examination. He asked her if she was certain she wanted to go through with it.
She told him yes, she could care for a baby.
Once he had been satisfied with her examination, and certainty he book her in to perform the curette.
Butterflies became lose in her stomach as she walked towards the clinic. A woman stood out front holding a protest plaque. Jun didn't need to read it know what the woman's protest is about.
The woman gave Jun a condescending glare as she walked past her into the building. "Whore…" She hissed under her breath.
Jun glanced at the woman but she didn't give her the satisfaction of a response. Who did that woman protesting think she was judging her like that. Jun thought, walking into the clinic Jun made her way to the reception desk.
The polite nurse handed her a clipboard and pen. "We need you to fill in some details before we can admit you for day surgery. Jun appreciated her professionalism. Sitting down in a waiting room chair she tried not to look at the faces of the other three women in the room. No one spoke- each woman had her own reasons for being there.
She couldn't truthfully answer half of the questions, so Jun made up answers for some of the medical background required. The last appointment she had to make up a surname. She almost gave them Washio. Then decided against it, instead she gave herself Jonson, a common surname, and less likely to be traced back to her.
"Jun Jonson." A young nurse said from the doorway.
Jun stood up, and handed her the clip board, then she followed her out of the room, down the hallway to prep room for day surgery.
"We need you to put on this surgical gown- the doctor will be with you soon." She said gently.
Jun sat there alone in the small room holding the light blue cotton theatre gown. A gut wrenching dread washed through her to her core being, and then overwhelming nausea took over. She ran from the room into the nearest restroom, straight into a cubical and threw up whatever had been left in her stomach from the day before. Dry reaching for some time she sank down next to the toilet bowl tears cascading down her face in painful sobs. She didn't know if the nausea was from the pregnancy or her own dreaded emotions of what she had been about to do.
She didn't want to do this. She knew deep in her heart she wanted to keep this baby more than anything in the world. After a part of Ken was now growing inside of her and it has a heartbeat. She put her hands over her abdomen protectively. "I'm so sorry little one…I won't hurt you."
Pushing her long locks away from her face she rested her head against the cold porcelain.
She knew she couldn't go through with it, she just couldn't. Now she had to find another way of keeping her child. Ken would be back soon- maybe they could find a way together after all. Determination set in and she forced herself to stand up, washing the vile taste out of her mouth she looked at her image in the mirror and gathered strength inside of her for the months to come. She had feeling she was going to need it now more than any time other time in her life.