Globusz^® Publishing 

quiet calm permeated the fringes of the rain forest, Juan Juangorena or JJ to his friends was lying on his back watching the stars of the Milky Way stretching across the sky. It was late evening and this was the only light, apart from a faint glow of light pollution from the city away to the West. Otherwise it was dark and still humid. He could vaguely make out the cables of the electricity grid as they spanned the sky directly above him. If he stood, which he was not inclined to do, he would be able to see the neon lights of the taller buildings in the city, the electricity being fed from these very cables above his head. Instead of standing however, he preferred lying beside the naked form of Angie, his girl friend. It felt good to have some privacy and freedom, to get away from the oppressive humidity of Sao Agusta down in the valley. Even the gentle breeze from the Pacific made little difference to the city at this time of the year.

Here, where they were lying in open pasture, recently reclaimed from the rain forest the breeze was more pronounced. He was panting... his breathing still heavy as he felt the perspiration running down his chest. Turning his head slightly he saw myriad reflections of the stars on the droplets of sweat that speckled her breasts as her chest rose and fell. She also was breathing heavily and with her arms above her head, appeared to be stretched on a medieval rack. Rising onto one elbow, the better to watch her, he raised a languid arm and with one finger traced a path from her chin down between her breasts to her navel. She shivered and twitched in response. Her eyes where closed but she certainly wasn’t asleep. ‘She must be sated,’ he thought. ‘For her to be this quiet was most unusual.’

Words of endearment came to his mind.

Juan opened his mouth to speak as the sharp crash of explosives assailed his ears and his eyes caught a double flash from the field beyond. Angie’s eyes flew open having not only heard the explosion but in the same instant, felt it through the ground; alarm showed in her eyes as she trembled. Juan’s hand remained suspended one finger poised above her navel. Neither had uttered a sound as fear showed in her eyes when suddenly they went wide with wonder and she raised her hand to point at the sky beyond his head. He turned to see what she was gesturing at and for a moment couldn’t see what had alarmed her. Only then did he see the electricity cables moving across the stars.

‘They’ve blown up the electricity pylon!’ In one quick movement he rose pulling on one of her arms, then stooped down to gather an armful of clothes before running in the opposite direction to the moving cables. She gathered up their shoes but was by his side, still naked, as they reached the bushes at the edge of the field.

A gentle crash created sparks that flew behind them, setting alight to the dry bracken. Broken cables danced and thrashed like black snakes in the growing firelight. Then a moment later, when the power had been cut, it was quiet again save for the crackle of the flames. The black snakes now lay dead, still draped over the burning bush whilst light from the fire flickered as it quickly consumed the bracken, throwing dancing shadows over where they had been lying.

In their nakedness modesty decreed that they moved into the bushes out of the light from the fire, where jeans and pants, skirt and shirt flew in all directions as they rapidly got dressed. Angie was having a hard time trying to suppress a giggle but neither had uttered a sound and it was this that saved them. The pylon had fallen across bushes into the field they were in and now a man, dressed in dark camouflage fatigues, appeared and walked over to the top of the fallen pylon. Two hard jabs with the butt of his rifle dispatched the remaining ceramic insulator which had until that moment somehow survived intact. The man turned and as he glanced around a last flick of flame from the dying fire illuminated the badge of the army specials on his shoulder. The lovers both drew a sharp breath, sinking still further into the shadows as the man once again scanned the field before leaving.

Frightened though she was Angie could contain her giggles no longer and, leaning across to Juan, whispered in his ear. “You made the earth move.” He turned, put an arm around her, drawing her towards him, a finger over smiling lips before whispering in her ear. “Quiet! - Army! - Specials!

Several minutes later they were still standing, entwined in each others arms and hardly a word had passed between them. Juan had his hand over her mouth, the only way he managed to keep her quiet as all she wanted to do was ask questions. Questions to which he didn’t have the answers. Angie was a chatty young woman especially when excited, and now it seemed she was very excited. The bush fire had at last died down to mere embers, the shadows had crept back and it had become even darker as the light pollution from the city had vanished. Little could be heard from the other field as night noises from the rain forest returned.

“We had better go,” he whispered. “This place is going to be crawling with people soon and then they will start looking for the terrorists who did this.”

“But JJ, they weren't terrorists; they were soldiers that did it, why? I don’t understand. – And we can’t ride the scooter. What about the noise of the engine?”

“We can free wheel down the hill on the scooter as I won’t need to start it until we are a long way from here. But do be quiet, no talking... I’ll explain it all later.”

They pushed the scooter out onto the road where looking back up the hill they could just make out some soldiers near the dark smudge of a vehicle parked across the road on the skyline. Angie sat astride the pillion and adjusted her skirt. Juan pushed off down hill taking one or two strides before stepping on the scooter. A squeak from the springs brought a lump to Angie’s throat and as they increased speed, the click of a pebble or two and the swish of air round her ears seemed to shatter the silence. Faster and faster they went all the time gathering speed. She glanced over her shoulder but could see nothing. Nonetheless she tensed waiting for the shout... the challenge that would precede the smashing impact of a bullet between her shoulder blades. Would it go right through her and hurt or even kill JJ in front? She hoped not and her arms tightened around his body. With the small amount of light from the stars she could see the hairs on the back of his neck standing up and could feel the tension in his chest like a steel spring. Neither of them looked back again but stared in front as they approached the first bend. It seemed much too slow whilst the rumble of the wheels on the road appeared to get louder. More squeaks and a small rattle from the scooter before, moments later, they swept round the curve and out of site of sudden death.

Angie let out a gasp and started breathing again, the tension left her as she was taken with yet another fit of giggles. Her arms tightened further around his waist as her face snuggled into his back and her teeth took a bite of his shirt whilst trying to suppress a cry of relief. They where now going at a healthy speed when she remembered the sharp hairpin bends further down the hill.

 “Do these brakes work properly when the engine isn’t running?” Angie asked, remembering how her father had once switched the engine off in his car when going down hill and very nearly had a crash.

“Yes of course they do, now be quiet I have to concentrate. Without lights it’s difficult to see the road... and relax, I have to be able to breath.”

Another sharper bend was in front now, and sure enough the brakes did work though with a loud squeak. He was going too fast, leaving the braking a little late and they had to lean over sharply to get round the bend. They continued on down the hill, relatively quiet for some time, leaning first this way then that as they rounded each successive bend. Occasionally the scooter slowed as the road levelled out, speeding up again when the slope increased. ‘At least it is saving petrol,’ Juan thought. ‘Another bend and they should be far enough away to safely start the engine.’ Straitening up from the last bend he saw off to his right the red glow from a cigarette. They where going fast now and still in complete silence which allowed them to get past the glow before the owner reacted.

“Stop! Halt.” The cigarette arched through the air to land in a shower of sparks on the road behind them. This shout, followed by the few clinks of a rifle being removed from the shoulder, was all they heard as they swept around yet another hairpin corner. Juan started cursing. ‘A guard watching the road; probably there to stop traffic from going up the hill and disturbing his friends. Well, now was the time to start the engine, let’s hope it fires first time!’ He switched on, de-clutched, set it in gear then let in the clutch. The scooter hesitated, a squeak from the rear tire and the engine fired.

They accelerated down the road just as the soldier above fired two rounds, both missed. But the man was a professional and quickly shifting aim, tracked the scooter as it went round the next bend he waited until it was going past him on the road below. The rain forest was thinner on these lower slopes and now the brake light was working. The soldier saw the flash of red light through the trees, as the scooter slowed again and leaned far over for the next turn. Again two shots were fired, the first would snick Juan’s sleeve but the second one hit the handlebars and momentarily straightened the scooter. At this speed it was impossible to recover in time and they went off the road into the trees. Then their luck ran out. An old tree had fallen, the trunk nearly rotted away and half buried in old leaves and twigs. The scooter’s front wheel hit it and stopped, the rest somersaulted and the riders parted company. Juan, JJ to his friends, hit a tree with his head and died instantly, before he hit the ground, when his neck broke. Angie, catapulted slightly to his right missed the tree and landed on her back on soft ground, though it still drove all the wind out of her. The scooter rolled and crashed through the trees to land as a wreck on yet another stretch of the road below.

Fortunately the scooters engine was still running and masked the noise Angie made whilst scrambling about trying to find Juan. She didn’t dare call his name but whispered it as she felt about on the ground. At last she felt the softness of his arm, his face, and holding his head made to whisper in his ear. She thought at first he was unconscious but his head was unnaturally loose, he wasn’t breathing, there was no pulse!

It took a few moments for all this to sink in and a moan escaped from her lips to be cut off sharply as the scooters engine stopped. The soldier must have stopped it, or perhaps it had just died. Is he down below with the scooter or is he up above with his rifle waiting for any movement in the trees? A deep enmity for this unknown soldier entered her being. Her lovely JJ was dead but now she must get away from here before the soldier came looking for her. ‘Which way?’ she thought rapidly. ‘Up! The soldier may be waiting, below! He may have gone down the road to examine the scooter, back! Across the open road, don’t be silly, besides hadn’t JJ always said, in life we must always go forward!’

Angie began to move forward slowly and quietly across the slope through the trees but resolved to work her way upward if there were anything blocking her path. She was sure the soldiers would expect her to make for the valley floor to escape. After only travelling ten metres or so she heard noises from lower down the slope where the scooter must have landed. The man with the rifle was not attempting to be silent whilst climbing up through the forest trail that the falling scooter had made, but was making so much noise he wouldn’t be able to hear the little noise Angie made. She speeded up, being careful not to trample the undergrowth and leave an obvious trail of her own. It took two hours of clambering over dead trees and scrambling up steep slopes before she found a track. Two hours of hard sweaty work and broken finger nails, pushing aside the vegetation and climbing around the more dense growths. Two hours trying to travel across and up the slope through this humid, frighteningly squalid rain forest. On the rough track with a little more light she was at last able to make better progress. She had heard no sign of pursuit and began to think she was safe. Profusely sweating with the gruelling exercise and humidity she needed to rest and paused, sitting in a small clearing, just for a minute or two to get her breath then just for a minute or two longer. Scared, dirty, dishevelled and very tired, the original burst of adrenalin had long since abated. She had lost track of time and her spirits were low when she heard it! The rasping sound of high revving motorcycle engines and it was right ahead of her... And coming closer. Was this part of the search party? Or was it a saviour? Discretion prevailed and she climbed to the top of the small clearing, hiding behind some thick leafy growth as the noise came nearer.

The first headlight appeared only seconds before the motorbike blasted into the clearing and skidded to a halt, broadside across the track in a maelstrom of dead leaves and flying debris. Seconds later it was joined by the second one. Angie carefully parted the leaves and peaked through, immediately she saw that the two riders were also wearing the uniform of the specials. ‘What were they doing? Why are they riding around in the forest at this time of night?’ She could see they were talking together in sign language, at the same time twisting the throttles to make the engines rev louder. Suddenly she had a thought. ‘They’re the herders, the beaters; they’re trying to get me rattled, and panic me so as to push me down into the valley and straight into the arms of the others... Well sod you lot, I’m going the other way.’ The bush Angie was hiding behind was near their rear wheels and the exhaust from the two motorbikes was coming directly into her face, with the fumes and the noise of the screaming engines she decided now was the time to move. Slowly, first one foot then the other she started to withdraw further up the slope when suddenly crack! She stood on a dried branch that snapped and looking up in alarm expected the soldiers to be gazing at her. But with the noise they were making they wouldn’t have heard her shout. Throwing further caution to the wind she scrambled and climbed further up the hillside, deeper into the forest and soon left the noise behind.