Chronicles of Revenge

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2

Sue Young was sitting in a rundown bar in the wrong part of Bangkok, waiting for a contact to come. He said he would meet her here at 8pm, but it was now almost 8:30pm. She looked around the bar. There were two locals chatting and well on their way to being very drunk, and in the corner of the bar there were five working girls. It seemed to Sue that they were paying her a little more attention than she liked, but hey, so what? She’s been in worse places in her career. She’d chosen this particular table because she could see anyone coming in or leaving, and also she could cover the whole bar area in case of danger.

In the half hour she had been waiting Sue had counted ten tables, thirty-seven chairs, six lights, all with no shades, just bare bulbs. Out of the ten tables, only three were occupied. One had an old couple chatting, and the other two had tourists with working girls around them, playing their trade. Hanging from the ceiling were two large fans. Neither was working, making the bar very humid. The mixture of tobacco and cheap perfume coming from the girls was very pungent.

Sue had decided she would give this contact another fifteen minutes more, then she would leave. It suddenly dawned on her that she could not remember his name, but she knew what it sounded like. Chow, Chi, Chen… Cen. That was it, Cen. Glancing down at her glass she noticed it was empty. She raised it to the barman for another water. The barman nodded at her. Not that she was usually teetotal, but this is work. While she waited for the drink she started to re-examine the reason she was here. Well, I am the best reporter, I know that’s my opinion, she thought. And the best reporters always get the best stories. Second, he had contacted her, or she believed it was him. Looking at her watch, then around the bar, Sue began to wonder if this was not just a big joke being played on her by a colleague. She hoped not. Thirdly, and most importantly, this was going to be her big break. The most sensational story she could write. In fact, this would be her Watergate. An interview with one of the world’s most wanted men. A man who is said to have been responsible for the deaths of family members from some of the most powerful men in the western world, and according to the source, there are still more deaths to come.

Sue was still not sure if she was doing the right thing, for she had got as much information on this man as she could find and that was not a lot. In fact she knew more about the Prime Minister than this man. Having met with a former unit member who wished to remain anonymous, he had said that, ‘no one knew how many people he had killed, but it ran into many hundreds’. The former SAS man had not stayed long, but he did tell her that the picture the governments had painted was nowhere near the truth. He said, ‘Shark, that was his SAS nickname, was in fact a loyal and trustworthy man, and should you be lucky enough to be accepted as his friend, then he would give his life gladly for you. Every man in the regiment that had served with him would not hesitate to fight alongside him again. The fact is, I would gladly fight alongside him right now if he asked me to. The guy’s a living legend. You’ll see for yourself when you meet him’.

The former SAS man leaned over the table, took a cold bottle of beer, put it to his lips and took two long draughts from the bottle. He replaced it on the table and got up and left. Sue never saw him again. Sue sat very still for some minutes, re-running all she had heard through her head, putting the words in some sort of order that she could later work with. As was her way with all her information about a potential story. It was her own way of filing and it worked for her.

Cen had not shown and it was now 8:47pm. Time to go. Sue went to the bar and paid for her drinks. As she turned to leave she glanced at the five working girls. They seemed to be happy she was leaving. Less competition, she thought, as she walked out the door. Still thinking about the girls and the competition, she caught her reflection in the show window opposite and let out a short laugh. She was standing there with her blonde hair drawn back in a ponytail, dripping with sweat in her cargo shorts, t-shirt and with a less than ladylike pair of desert army boots. Some competition, she thought, and headed back to her hotel. She decided that a couple of cold beers and a cool shower were now the order of the day.

She had walked for about five minutes when out from a doorway stepped Cen, just standing there wearing a stupid grin on his face. Cen was a typical Asian man. About 5ft4 tall with a slim, wiry physique and round face. In his broken English Cen said, “Sorry for cloak and dagger Miss Young, had to make sure you alone.”

“I told you I would come alone, you should trust me more.”

“Not you I don’t trust, it all others.”

“All right, so when can I get to meet him?”

“Soon, very soon. Follow me.”

Sue fell in behind Cen as he set off, twisting and turning through the overcrowded built-up area. Some fifteen minutes or so later, and god knows how many left and right turns, they entered a rundown house. It appeared to be all one room. The floor was covered with some reed mats, the walls were bare, and just one light bulb hung from the ceiling, dirty and grubby. It was fighting a losing battle to give off much light. Cen indicated that she should sit. As she did so he put two bottles of water down on the mat he had taken from his bag. He checked outside then came back, sat down and opened a bottle of water and drank half of it straight down. He pointed at the other bottle, implying Sue should drink. She wanted to ask him more questions but knew it would do no good, so she took the second bottle, opened it and drank. A few minutes later she started to feel a little tired. Sue looked at her watch to see what the time was, but she found she could not focus on the hands, and by now was feeling a bit dizzy. It was then that she realised she had been drugged. Panic set in and she tried to get up and leave, but found she could not move. The last thing she remembered was falling.

Sue Young opened her eyes, not sure exactly what had happened. She lay back and closed them again. She was feeling very groggy, trying desperately to clear her head and get a grip of what had happened. Sue felt that she was in no danger for now. She was not sure how she knew that, but she did. After taking a few moments to gather her senses she decided to get herself up and sort herself out. For one thing Cen was sure to get a mouthful when she saw him. Who the hell did he think he was, drugging her?

Sue laid back, waiting for her head to clear. She knew she had to have her full faculties about her. It took a few minutes before she felt that it was okay to get up. It was difficult, and she couldn’t make out much in the gloom. The light bulb from earlier had clearly given up the ghost. As her eyes started to become accustomed to the lack of light it seemed to her that the room was smaller than when she had first entered it. Come to think of it she thought these walls are round in shape. Sue sat back down on to the mats. Okay, she said to herself, tell me what you see. I’m sitting on reed mats in a room. There is not much light and it looks like the walls are made of mud. There was one opening, quite small, and at the opening hung a cloth. There was no form of light that she could see, no furniture. In fact not a stick, nothing at all. So, I’m now in a small, round mud hut. But why? And where?

While Sue was pondering her situation she noticed that it seemed to be getting lighter outside. She would wait until it was light enough to leave and then she would go back to her hotel and try to make sense of all this. After that she would find Cen and let him have it full bore, no holds barred.

She sat and waited for the sun to rise still further. There was something else that concerned her. The outside sounds seemed wrong. Where were the noisy cars, bikes, and people? Yes, that’s it. That’s what’s missing; the day to day sounds of life. Her first thought was she must be outside the city somewhere, and now she was starting to become concerned for her safety. Deciding it was light enough to leave, she crawled through the small opening and straightened up way too quickly. She immediately felt faint. She put her hand on the mud wall to help keep herself upright. It took a few seconds for her to stop feeling faint enough and look around. In truth her head was moving back and forth so fast it looked like she was watching a tennis match. As she became conscious of that she stopped moving her head from side to side, deciding to take five paces forward and she turned a full circle slowly, and took in all that she saw and heard.

The first thing that caught her eye was the two crude chairs to the left of the hut opening. After completing her circle she went and sat down, and once again she asked herself to describe what she had just seen. Well, she thought, let’s start with the hut. It was just like one she had seen in an old Tarzan film once; mud walls, palm leaves for a roof. She chuckled to herself. So this must make me Jane. The two chairs were made of wood tied together with some sort of vine, and that was it for manmade objects. In front of her was a small clearing and around this was nothing but trees and leaves of all shapes and sizes. Some were a stunning shade of green, while others were a drab green, but all in all it was green. It occurred to Sue that she had never seen so many different shades of green. She could also hear animal noises, but had no idea what they were. Sitting there for about ten minutes, absorbing her new surroundings, reality kicked in. She now realised she had no idea where she was or how long she had been there. She had no water and no food, and no way of protecting herself. Putting her head in both hands she stayed like this for some time. Sue was thinking to herself, how did I allow myself to get into this situation? Alone and lost, her single minded pursuit of the story had led her into some bad places and situations, but nothing like this. Why, she thought, why? She raised her head and took a deep breath, giving herself a mental kick up the backside. Sue had never been one for feeling sorry for herself, and she wasn’t about the start now.

Sue decided she must form a plan to get out of here and back to Bangkok. But before Sue could start to get a plan sorted in her head she heard a noise. The sound was very faint, but she was sure it was human. Her attitude now changed instantly from feeling sorry for herself, to full alertness. Her senses were now working overtime. She had involuntarily slowed her breathing and for the first time could smell the jungle around her. Her most keen sense was her hearing as she wanted to try and pick up the sounds that she heard a moment ago. Turning her head slowly, she strained her ears to listen. There it was again! She listened intently, and yes, it was human, but not a language she knew. Taking in what she had heard, Sue tried to work out what language it was, but was unable to place it. All she knew was that it was not English. Having worked in many countries she did have a good smattering of languages, but nothing like this. The next thing that shot into her head was; were they friendly voices? If not this could get ugly very quickly. A single woman lost and alone, she knew what would happen; rape then death. Both of which she had heard of while reporting in Africa. She looked and found a fairly good piece of wood that would serve as some sort of club.

Then she heard the voices again, this time much closer. She jumped up and moved to the middle of the clearing, not sure of which direction the voices were coming from. Her makeshift club was held like a baseball player waiting for the pitch and she hardly dared to move of breathe. To her surprise a voice came from behind her. Sue spin around and waited. Suddenly the voice turned into English. She could still not see anyone, but she was sure she was facing the voice. Then she heard it again. It was clear as a bell and it said her name.