10-Personal freedom

10

 Personal Freedom

Long Before…

None of the workers could figure out how a kid so young could be on the rig for so long and never hurt herself, or fall off, or something else equally as terrible.  Kimberly Nakatomi was different.  She had been raised, nearly her entire ten year life, on the giant oil rig, Monoliths.  She had personally been on seventeen different oil rigs, each unique in its own way.  She had lived on every type as well, from floating production platforms, to compliant tower types, and now this semi-submersible.

 Kim was half Japanese and half American.  Her American mother, Mary, had died during Kim’s birth, leaving her father alone with the child raising responsibilities.  Kim’s father, Sato Nakatomi, was one of the world’s foremost platform engineers and was currently working under contract with Holster Oil.  Sato could not quit the one job he knew how to do and ended up taking Kim with him wherever he went.  Although children her age were never allowed on the platforms, the owners made a special exception for Sato because of his skills.

Kim dodged a worker as she sped along one of the lower catwalks.  She grabbed a railing and swung herself out and over the edge to the other side of the worker.  The worker, a man named Harry, who was exactly what the name sake advertised, spun.  “Jesus H Christ, kid!  Your gonna get yourself killed!”

Kim turned, still running backwards, “Don’t worry Harry, I’m fine!  Where’s my dad?”

Harry shook his head calling after her.  “Meeting room three!  But he’s in a…”

Harry trailed off as Kim disappeared from sight.

Kim moved at top speed seamlessly through the rig.  In her years aboard the rigs she had become adept at navigating the places, memorizing all the nooks and crannies, much like her father.  She couldn’t have an accident.  She was invincible.

She broke onto the outer edge and stopped at the railing, the pure sight of the Pacific Ocean standing before her.  The backdrop of a beautiful afternoon made her smile. Many kids would hate this kind of life, always moving around, never having a best friend or other things normal kids would have.  Not Kim, however.  To her, this was freedom. She loved her father and enjoyed his company and the workers aboard the rigs had always treated her like a little sister.

Kim was positive there was not a happier kid on the planet.

Kim was snapped out of her sudden loss into the beautiful view as she heard voices coming around a corner to her right.  She stood and waited, trying to catch her breath in order to hear what was being said.  A couple of seconds past and three men stepped out onto the walkway.  One was her father, the sight of which made Kim smile.  The others were two young, but overbearing Mexicans, both dressed in military attire.  One looked like a General, the other wore a plain green field uniform.  He wore a cap and aviator sunglasses, dark hair spilling out from under the hat.

The General smoked a stogie.  He was young to be a General and bald with a heavy beard and a distinguished look to him.

Her father looked bothered, and both men looked dominating.

They looked to be men that were capable of great violence.

“All I’m asking is three large crates, once a year?  Is not what I am offering generous enough?”  Kim caught the end of the General’s sentence as he spoke to her father.

Her father just stared back with a stalwart frown.  Kim had seen the look many times before, usually when she was in trouble.

The General finally sighed, “I will not make this offer again, senor.  Think about it, set up a life for your daughter with what I offer.”

The General turned, his dark haired bodyguard following, leaving Kim’s father standing there alone.  Kim watched as his resolve faded and she could suddenly see the fear on his face.

Kim had never seen him afraid before.  It scared her.  She looked out one more time at the ocean and had the distinct feeling that very soon she was going to lose something.

Something that meant everything to her.

****

Back in the present…

Ein stared at Kim as she hit a break in her story.  She had reached a memory too painful to be easy to say.  The whole thing was quite amazing.  Ein had become sucked into a plot, bigger than life.

“They killed him, didn’t they?” Ein asked.

Kim nodded, wiping her eyes quickly to stop herself before she started crying.  “He ‘slipped’.  That was the official report.  My father worked on rigs for almost forty years.  He didn’t slip.”

Kim adjusted herself.  “Anyway, soon afterward, Holster went bankrupt and the rig got shut down.  Your father took me in, having met me many different times.  He set up a fund to put me through college and take care of me.  All I wanted though has been to get back to my place.  To get my freedom back.”

Ein started to piece it together.  “So, these people are the Mexican smugglers who wanted the place all those years ago?  The ones that arranged your father’s death?”

Kim shook her head.  “It's my guess, but I’m not sure.  With no one laying claim to the rig, they could use it at will.  I do know one thing for certain…”

Kim looked up into Ein’s eyes.  “The General’s bodyguard is the man you have tied to a chair in the briefing room.”

****

Harriet and Thad were sitting at one of the tables with the other woman, The Doctor, finally wearing pants, had been exiled to a separate table by himself.  Harriet surveyed the situation, trying to think of a way out, while also trying to keep herself calm in the face of absolute doom.

Only two of the four guards actually watched them at the ready.  Between the other two, one was napping on the floor in a corner while the last of the four had helped himself to Harriet’s cereal in the kitchen and was eating her lucky charms directly from the box.

Dirt bag.

“If we are going to do something, it has to be soon,” Harriet said quietly, banking on the fact that the soldiers didn’t speak English.

“What if we just wait it out?  Maybe they’ll get what they want, and go,” one of the blondes said.

Harriet had a moment of fear as she couldn’t remember what her name was.  “They wouldn’t be so concerned with finding the rest of us if they weren’t planning on killing us.  Do you think they are going to let us sail back to America knowing what we know?”

“No way, they are going to kill us,” The red head chimed in.  Her name was Stephanie.

“What’s the plan?”  Thad asked, his heart pounding.  Finally he would get a chance to make up for his cowardice earlier.  And, he could do something.

“The girls and I get close to one of the guards on the alert and we tackle him, hopefully the other will be distracted and unable to shoot because of his buddy.  So, you lay him out with one of those anti-Doctor right hands.  Hopefully, that gives us guns before sleepy and grubby cereal hands, get a chance to move.”  Harriet laid out the simplicity of her bum rush plan in hopes that it was fool proof.

In hopes that it could get them all out alive.

Thad nodded, trying to strengthen his will, attempting to remove the fear that was welling up inside of him.  The ladies moved, all standing at the same time and beginning to make their way towards the guard.  The guard began to yell something in Spanish and angrily raised his gun.  He didn’t fire.

The girls were on him suddenly, like a swarm of deadly scarabs, each grabbing a limb and all screaming in high pitched voices, as they wrapped themselves around the guard scratching and calling.

The other guard turned, gun raised and began to scream commands in Spanish.  He wasn’t shooting, however.  Harriet was right, he didn’t want to kill the hostages against his commander’s orders, nor did he want to risk killing his brother in arms.  Thad had his opening and he stood.

It was now, or never.  He would finally get his chance at redemption.

Why wouldn’t his legs move?

Thad stood there.  He could feel the sweat beading on his forehead and his knees were shaking.  The image of the guard turning at the last second and squeezing the trigger was clouding his thoughts.  Thad could see himself being riddled with bullets like in a cheesy action movie where the friend of the main character is shot to hell by the bad guy.

NO!

Thad felt it happening again.

Not Again!

Thad didn’t want to die…

Harriet could see what was happening as if a slow motion tragedy was playing out before her.  The girls had the guard on the ground now and were working him over good.  Stephanie was actually raining close fisted blows down on the guards face while he covered himself with his hands.  As good as they were doing though, Harriet saw it all falling apart.

Thad had frozen up again.

She could see him, one foot to the right of the other guard, in perfect striking distance. He wasn’t moving though.  He just stood there, as if fighting some battle inside his own head.

Meanwhile, the small window began to close.  Fast.  The guard eating cereal had dropped the box and was going for his gun while the sleeper had begun to awake with a confused look on his face.

The Doctor dropped to the floor predicting violence.

Harriet had to do something and she screamed desperately.  “THAD!  HIT HIM!”

Thad suddenly snapped to.  Out of instinct, he balled his fist and stepped in on the guard.  Harriet’s scream had been double edged, alerting the guard to Thad’s presence to his left.  As Thad came in with the punch, the well trained Mexican soldier countered with a quick jab of the butt of his gun to Thad’s stomach.  The blow stopped Thad’s forward motion and doubled him over.  The soldier stepped in and drove the butt of the gun this time into Thad’s face.  The blow busted his lip and sent him sprawling to the floor.

Harriet brought up the rifle, this would be the only chance they had she had to make it work.

****

“This is insane, Ein.”  Kim whispered, as the two watched the guards smoke at the end of the hall.

The two guards stood in front of the door to where Cazador was held captive.  “Last time I checked, neither one of us can fight the Mexican army.”

Kim frowned at Ein’s response.  “We don’t even know if he’s alive in there.  Not to mention whether he’ll help us or not.  He could be working with them!”

Ein shook his head.  “You don’t guard a door if there’s a dead man or a friend on the other side.”

“You hit him with a pipe and tied him to a chair!” Kim insisted.

“And he put a sword to my throat and threatened my life,” Ein began to respond.  “Our relationship is off to a pretty bad start, true, but I think this is our best chance.”

Kim stared at him and the frown became a smile.  “You lose your stutter when you’re sure.”

Eisenhower’s eyes widen as the comment took him by surprise.  “I… Er… m-m-maybe I-”

Kim took a deep breath.  “Just in case.”  

Kim then grabbed Ein by the collar and kissed him, hard on the mouth.  She let the kiss linger and go deep.  Her passion was heightened by the life or death situation.  She then released a very confused and blushing Ein and took off down the hall.

Kim was aware there was only one way into the briefing room and the guards stood in front of it.  If Ein was to get to Cazador, the guards would have to be distracted.  Kim knew the platform better than anyone, and she was a runner.

Kim blew past the two unsuspecting guards.  As she did, she yelled.  “Bandahos”

The guards were stunned as she sprinted past for only a second.  They spit out their smokes and took chase.

Ein, in the wake of the kiss heard round the world, could only watch it unfold.  He realized what Kim had done and he suddenly found himself praying to every God that there was, that she had a plan.

 ****

All that was left was to wait to die.  Oddly enough, Cazador didn’t mind this fact.  He did wish he could go by someone else’s hand, as Chavez was an evil greater than himself.  At this point, though, it didn’t matter.

Death was death.

Death was freedom.

As far as Cazador was concerned, the joke was on Chavez.

Suddenly, the door began to open and Cazador realized that it was finally time.  He began to chuckle. “So will you be beating me to death personally amigo, or will you be having someone else do it?”

The door shut and Cazador’s eyes widened.

“Hunter.”  Ein said, as he stepped in front of Cazador.  “Cazador Means Hunter.”

To Be Continued…