Antonio looks at Elena with concern in his eyes. He lowers his voice, whispering to her in Spanish. <Is something wrong, my child? Have they hurt you? You can tell me. If not now, then later perhaps.> He looks around for anyone nearby.
Abraham followed Louise to speak with Dr. Gomez, walking in behind her as she questions the man about the letter and the meaning behind all of this. Rather than get the answer that he was expecting, puzzlement or secrecy, the man instead urges them to hide the wounded soldier that they had brought him. His eyes widened as he considered the fact that they could be sleeping right next to hostiles.
As the man talks, Abraham takes the moment to really study him for a second. His mannerisms, how he is acting. He had questioned numerous witnesses, suspects, and clients in his lifetime and had begun to get a good sense of who was telling him the truth and who was feeding him bull.
"Are we in danger here doctor? That injured man tried to kill us. If it weren't for my friends and myself, your aid would've been gunned downed and chopped to pieces in the jungle. We need some goddamn answers." Abraham pressed, trying to get more out of the man than what little they already had.
Minerva stays to the back of the group. She knows she's not good at figuring out why people do things. She keeps an eye on the door of the room as the other's talk about what happened to the group.
What are we here for? Why us? A mummy? That's insane. Mummies are in Egypt not in South America. Did the soldiers know we where here for the mummy? Is that why they killed our guide? The questions keep spinning in her head, but now is not the time to bring them up.
Dr. Gomez looks confused by the documents Louise has handed him. ”I don’t know what any of this means,” he says. ”We just... we just help people. Caduceus is a medical charity and we’re doctors and nurses in a war zone. Isn’t that why you’re here, Doctor Zhao? If Doctor Ursini was doing something else, we don’t know anything about it.”
"Of course you're in danger, Mister...? Those soldiers over there are survivors of a battle not long past. They're angry and they're scared and they're heavily armed."
Abraham believes that Gomez is truly baffled by the letters.
______________________________________________________________
Meanwhile, Father Antonio is talking to Elena in Spanish, and the conversation is going very differently. She looks up at Antonio through lowered brows, an almost demented expression. <I saw. He thinks I didn’t, but I did. I saw underneath. He wears it like the uniform, but it fits him no better.> She begins to giggle like a little girl.
<You’re real, father, but he’s not. He’s waiting, watching. I’ve seen him! The fangs! The eyes! Wearing it like a uniform!> She begins to laugh hysterically.
"So what do you want me to do with the man? Take him into the jungle and put a bullet in his head? If you're here to help, why would they gun down nurses and doctors?" Abraham believed the doctor's confusion was earnest; it made as much sense to him as it did to the good detective. He took a deep breath for a moment, closing his eyes as he did, before centering himself again.
"I'm sorry doc, I don't mean to be alarming you. I was told this was charity work but I hadn't expected to be in the actual battlefield. Who did they get into a fight with? Should I be concerned about creating a perimeter?" He finally catches that the man was asking for his name and he mutters a curse to himself, offering out a hand. "Again, my apologies doc. I'm Abraham Pierce. I was brought on as security and help with this relief aid. I just...just went back to the war a moment ago, is all."
Antonio's eyes grow wide with concern as Elena rambles. He pulls her a few steps away from the other medical personnel and tries to catch Enoli's eyes, motioning him over. He turns back to Elena, holding her hand to assure her he is real. <Of course I'm real, Elena. I'm real and I'm here just for you. Who are you speaking of, Elena? Is there someone here who is hiding something?> He speaks in measured tones.
Enoli sees the Father's concern and his waving towards him, he brushes aside the nurses in mid stitching and grunts as he gets out of the bed. The drugs they gave him make it difficult to walk but he stumbles towards the Father Pena.
When he gets there he sees the look in her eyes, and he whispers, "I've seen this in people before, Grandfather would say their mind was attacked by evil spirits, but he told me something, a prayer to shield them."
Enoli lifts the arm from his uninjured side, holds it against her head and whispers "usonvi didanvdo Ꭺ agehya, unitsi elohi adasdelvdi nasgi ageyv" Evil spirits be gone, Mother Earth protect her Repeating this several times.
Enoli whispers back to the Father, "I'm afraid this may be temporary though if her mind is truly under attack, but it should help protect her for a little while."
Louise, Abraham and Dr. Gomez.
Doctor Gomez waves off any affront. "There was a battle between the Bolivian and Paraguayan armies in the jungles to the west of here. They tell me the fighting has moved on to other fronts and that we are safe for the time being. I don't know if I believe them. The soldiers seem very tense and are keeping away from us and from the native people most of the time. The few I have managed to examine are exhausted and malnourished. I think they are suffering from shell shock."
"It is not myself I fear for, Mister Pierce. These soldiers are on edge. If they learn you have killed their fellow soldiers, they will surely kill you. Of course I do not want you to kill this man. But I fear for your safety if he remains here. I can try to keep him quiet, but perhaps you can have him moved for his safety and yours?"
"Alas, the radio is broken, they tell me."
______________________________________________________________________
Enoli, Antonio and Elena.
Elena chuckles a little and then falls silent. She looks from Enoli to Antonio. <The Captain,> she whispers quietly, still in Spanish, but now showing more cultured tones. <He is not a man. He wears a man's shape, but I have seen what lies beneath. He is a devil, father. Maybe he is the one from the Garden. The soldiers, they...there is something very wrong with them, but they are men. Not like the Captain.>
Louise is disappointed no explanations are forthcoming from Gomez. With no notion of where else to take her questions (locally), she decides to bide her time for the moment.
"Let's get that leg of yours taken care of Minerva."
Louise helps Minerva back to her tent. She collects the things she needs and gets Minerva seated with her wounded leg up. With the tray on her lap and pick, tweezers and iodine standing by, She prepares Minerva for whats to come.
"So, this is going to take a little while. I'm going to remove all of the pellets I can locate first. Then we'll get it cleaned up and disinfected. After that I'll stitch it if needed and we'll get a bandage on."
"You're probably going to want something for pain, this isn't going to feel great. Morphine or gin?"
"Gin please. Something tells me that I need to stay more focused than Morphine would leave me." She grabs a bottle and takes a couple of swigs and readies herself for pain.
"What in the world is going on around here? We're not supposed to be a the front. The soldiers won't let anyone tend to them, and are staying back from everyone. I wonder what the local people feel about this?" She hisses as Louise starts digging out pellets, and begins cursing in German.
"Once my leg is patched up some, I can try to climb a tree and get the antenna for the radio set up. Maybe we need to put a call into Headquarters."
The pain isn't as bad as it could be. Louise's hands are deft and steady, and she works quickly.
"I don't know what to make of it. I hope the others can figure out something to do with the soldier we brought with us. Later on we can set up the radio and see about contacting New York."
"I imagine if they really want whatever it is done, they'll answer some questions. If they don't , I suppose we should just pretend nothing happened and get on with helping here like we thought we'd be doing."
Louise has worked hard on her American english since she's been living in New York but at times like this, when she's concentrating hard on something else while talking, the veneer partially falls away. The proper British english fundamentals of her education become more prominent, while her pronunciation slips into Chinese habits.
Antonio pats her hand, his tone softening. <The Captain of the soldiers? I am sure he has seen many horrible things, perhaps he did them as well. We all can have a devil within us, Elena. And maybe he has done unspeakable things in war. If he has hurt you or disturbed you in any way, I will speak to him. You don't have to tend to him anymore. We can ask someone else to do it. Which one is he?>
Now temporarily in possession of her full faculties, Elena reaches out and grasps Antonio's hand. She leans in close. <He. Is. Not. A. Man. The devil is real, Father. And he is here in this village, wearing the face of a Bolivian army captain.> She lets him go and looks around.
<I have said all I can. I...I don't know why I said that to you, father. Perhaps when you see what I have seen you must believe in a higher power or go mad. I must go.> She looks around nervously and starts to leave.
Abraham follows Louise, as equally unsatisfied with the doctor's observations. The situation was tense and only would be getting tenser as news of the gunfight spread between them the rank and file. He hands Minerva the bottle of gin and stays out of the way of the good doctor, letting her get to work on removing the pellets embedded in the woman's leg.
"You're both right; we're not supposed to be on the front but there was a recent fight to the west it seems. Dr. Gomez thinks it was a skirmish but the Bolivians are acting suspect now." The captured soldier was a problem now. If he was a member of this unit, he would alert the others of what happened and a bloodbath could occur. There were other ways to deal with him of course, none of which really seemed good.
"I'll take care of the soldier, find someplace quiet and keep him tied up there. It ain't the best plan but...I don't have much better." It was that and he wanted to make sure that they were far away enough in case the work got dirty. It would be better not to sully their hands.
"I'm going to deal with that now. See how Enoli and Father Antonio are doing. I'm going to talk with some of the others here, see if anyone else has some loose lips." Abraham would give Minerva and Louise a nod before exiting the tent and seeking out the unconscious, captured soldier. Quietly, he would take him into the jungle along with a decent amount of rope and something to gag the man.
Antonio jerks back reflexively as she speaks right in his face. He opens his mouth to respond, but can't find the words until she departs. He looks at Enoli, switching back to English. "What do you make of that? Thank you for calming her, but she seemed only more insistent."
He looks over to the group of soldiers, then back to Enoli. "I believe in the divine and in the real power of Satan, but...the devil in human form? Possession? That is...disturbing."
Abraham manages to take the soldier out of the western end of the camp and secures him some distance from the camp.
Enoli is slowly crawling back into his gurney as the nurses fuss over him.
"Growing up, I was taught in white schools about your Satan, didn't he show up often in stories to talk to people, to tempt them? As for a man possessed, that is something grandfather often talked about, and something I've seen. I saw a cousin drag their own child through the streets by the hair and attack them with a hatchet, over and over. Some say it was the alcohol, but grandfather knew that it was an evil spirit and was able to drive it out. There are other things I've...seen... as Enoli's voice trails off.
As Enoli gives in to the insistent nagging of the nurses, he speaks up again, "Father, please be careful with this man, and the others, you cannot assume they are the same as you and me."
In the jungle, Abraham fastens the man around a tree after ensuring every bit of sharp implements were taken off of him. Using some clothing, he gagged him as well before squirreling away a little bit of dried rations and some water a bit away for the next time that they met. It was always easier to have a conversation when you had something that they wanted.
"Good luck." Abraham mumbled before he quietly left the man behind, memorizing his steps and how he got there. He didn't want to kill the man if he didn't have to and dying alone in the jungle seemed like an awful predicament. Slowly, he approached the camp and waited for the right moment to rejoin the activities of getting the newly acquired supplies setup and brought together. He kept an eye out for the others though, waiting for his chance to reconvene and plan their next steps. Things were too strange out here.
"Thanks Louise. Let's go see how we can help. Maybe someone has information for us. We could try to fix the camp's radio. Between the two of us we should figure it out." She stands up slowly and heads out the door looking for a place to start working and listening to the conversations around her.
She heads over to the hospital tent, and offers to move the supplies inside. "Hey Enoli. How are you feeling? Are they treating you well?"
"Thank you for asking Louise, they have completed the stitches, but they now have to do surgery to remove the bullet, I may be here a little while." says Enoli, as he settles back into the bed, tired from trying to stay awake.
After finishing help unpack all the supplies, Abraham made his way into the medical tent where Minerva, Louise, Enoli, and the good father were all gathered. There were others around but the nurses and doctors all seemed to be busy and focused in on their work.
"Enoli, I'm glad you're alright. Was worried about that shot." Abraham said with a small smile as he fished out another cigarette before lighting it. The nicotine helped dull the ache in his bones from the adrenaline of before. His eyes looked over the rest of them though and his smile slowly faded.
"Anyone hear anything yet? What are you all thinking?"
Antonio sits near Enoli, having his leg examine too and then the wound stitched up. He winces as the wound is closed. He motions to Abraham for a cigarette.
When the nurses are clear, he gathers the others closer. "I'm still not sure what to make of it, but Nurse Elena spoke to Enoli and I earlier. It...it was almost as if she was having an episode. She seems to fervently believe that the Bolivian Captain is a devil wearing human form. She insisted that it wasn't a metaphor. That he was not a man." He glances over to the soldiers. "Between that and the one we captured, something makes my skin crawl."
"The radio is broken. We can try to contact New York or Louise and I could try to fix the one here. It would be interesting to see if they will let us."
She looks to Father Pena, "What do you mean insists he's a devil?" She sighs, and starts ticking things off on her fingers, "There is ay a temple with a mummy. A mummy we're supposed to bring back to New York. We were attacked on the way here by crazy people, have no easy way to contact the outside, and now we have a devil among us. This is not what I signed up for." She pulls out a flask and passes it around after taking a sip.
The mention of an officer being possessed by a devil brought a disgruntled look to Abraham's face. His mind raced back to the thought of the fight earlier in the day and the man who was shot twice and didn't fall down. He was dressed in an officer's uniform but there was really no way to figure that out without possibly pissing off the Bolivians. The last thing they needed was a gunfight with a riled up enemy. He happily takes the flask from Minerva, giving her a toast and taking a quick sip before passing it to whoever is next.
"There was a man dressed like an officer, the one firing down on you all from the hillside. I...I swear I put two solid hits in his chest but he ran away. Maybe I just clipped him." Abraham murmured, rubbing at the stubble growing on his face. "I think contacting Caduceus tomorrow would be the best plan of action, see about getting into contact with Shapiro. He seems to know what the hell is going on, if the letter means anything."
"There are a few more people we can talk to here, get an idea of our surroundings. There is that one woman, Dr. Salvatore. Maybe she knows more. We could also talk to the locals and the other nurse, a man by the name of...oh...hell, what was it...Sergio! Yeah, Sergio Lorenzo." Turning to the Father, he would give a nod. "If the locals speak Spanish, you'd be best to talk to them I think. Maybe even the soldiers; they might be disarmed by a man of the faith. Later though, I'll need you to translate for me when I talk to our...guest."
Antonio nods. "I'd be happy to speak to anyone who can shed light on what is going on. I also want to find this Captain and assess him for myself. It's hot and the stresses of battlefield medicine are innumerable. Perhaps Elena...was mistaken." He throws up his hands. "Of course, out of all of us, I should be the one to believe a vision from God the most. If He has a revealed the Enemy to us, it is a blessing. But if we hurt an innocent man based on words of a potentially unstable person with heat exhaustion... that is not acceptable either."
"Our...guest. If you are right and he is under some influence, perhaps we should start with him. We know he was hostile, so we can question him appropriately. If a demonic influence is here, it could be revealed in him."
Louise takes a pull off Minerva's flask and ponders the oddball pieces of information they have. She's not given to putting stock in devils and such, so she ignores that part. The nurse has been in a war zone, so it could easily be she's suffering something akin to shell shock.
"Let's see if we can do anything with the camp radio Minerva. If we can't get it working again, we'll try using our own. But, considering how very weird all this is, I'd rather we do it outside of camp so as to not give away that we have one. Just in case it turns out it's a problem for someone that we have it."
Minerva pockets the flask, and stands. "Let's get going Louise. WE'll let you know if we hear anything or what we find about the radio. Heal fast Enoli. We need you mobile."
Minerva heads out of the medical tent to the radio tent. Once there she looks around for anyone who might stop her from going in. If she sees no one she heads inside to take a look at the broken radio.
No one stops you from entering the tent, Minerva. The radio has been smashed deliberately. You'd guess it was a hammer or the but of a rifle, but it is beyond repair.
Abraham pats Enoli's shoulder, giving a silent bit of support to the injured man. None of them were looking that great but he kept his opinion to himself as he walked out of the tent. Lighting up another cigarette, he counts how many he has left and mutters to himself. Rationing was always a pain. When Father Antonio comes out, Abraham would be waiting for him.
"While the ladies are seeing what is happening with the radio, lets go talk to our guest. C'mon."
Making sure they weren't being watched or followed, Abraham would quietly lead Father Antonio through the jungles and back to where the body was. It was about a twenty minute hike through unpleasant, but not impossible, terrain. Around a tree would be the man, tied up securely to it. A thick piece of cloth was secured in his mouth to keep him muffled.
"Now Father, I know you're a good man. If he speaks Spanish, I need you to translate. If he doesn't, we're going to gag him and keep him here until..." Abraham sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "...until we get a better idea. I'm going to wake him up."
Taking a bit of water from the waterskin he had stowed away nearby, he would splash the man's face until he started to wake up. Crouching down, he made sure he was the first person the soldier would see.
"Hey. Hey! Look at me. Not him, me. You must be thirsty, right? Nod if you're thirsty, you want water...want...uhh...
"Aqqwha. Yeah, Aqqwha. You thirsty?" He would offer the waterskin, letting Father Antonio translate for him as needed. Just before that sweet water would go over dry, chapped lips, he'd pull it away. "You need to stay quiet. You make noise, no water. Understood?"
Antonio follows Abraham to where he's tied up the soldier. He begins translating for the man, watching his expression to see if there was any hint of demonic influence. He pats the man on the shoulder, trying to reassure him.
The soldier is injured from two bullet wounds and has evidently neither shaved nor bathed in days, possibly weeks. His uniform is bedraggled, his shoes nearly useless. He neither looks at you nor responds in any intelligent manner, merely moving when told to move. It reminds you eerily of a sleepwalker. Neither one of you have any idea what to make of this. you only know that the man is completely non-responsive.
Antonio tries to shake the man's shoulder, but then looks at Abraham. "I've never seen anything like this before. I'm not even sure he's aware of us." He looks over the man's uniform and searches his pockets for any belongings, especially ones that might bear his name or have a personal connection.
"What should we do with him like this?"
"Yes, the radio is very broken" Louise notes dejectedly.
"Since this is obviously not an accident, why didn't Dr. Gomez say so? It makes me wonder if the relief workers here are free to speak. Are they uneasy cohabitants of this camp with the soldiers, or are they more like hostages?"
Louise considers for a moment then makes a suggestion to Minerva.
"Let's go ask Dr. Gomez for a work schedule. It is a perfectly normal thing to request, and it will give us a sense of the camp routine. We will know better when we can take our radio into the forest without notice."
Abraham studies the man for a moment now, watching his eyes flutter from one place to the other. This wasn't the look of a madman, it was someone who was lost.
"Father, this man just isn't home." He snaps his fingers right in front of the soldier's face and he doesn't respond, making Abraham's scowl just that much deeper. He lowers the cloth in his mouth just to try and feed him some water for the moment. Replacing the cloth in his mouth again, he would stand back up and brush himself off.
"I'll try and make sure to keep him fed and hydrated. If and when the Bolivians move on, I'll bring him in to be treated. I've seen men that were broken like this in the trenches but...not this badly." Abraham would make sure to double check the rope bindings on the man so he could not escape, turning towards the father with a small, forced smile.
"Let us go and talk to Sergio. He's another nurse. Maybe he can corroborate Elena's strange story right?"
Louise, Doctor Gomez is happy to run down the work schedule for you. I don't have one for you, but he's not hiding anything. If asked about the soldiers, he'll tell you that there are about twenty of them, but that most go off into the forest each morning and come back at night, leaving only two or three in the camp during that time.
"Thank you Dr. Gomez."
Louise folds up the schedule and puts it away in a pocket.
"I'll take a tour of the facilities before dinner so I'm familiar with the equipment on hand and what treatments the patients here are undergoing. Are there any patients who aren't members of the Bolivian Army?"
"I will be ready to start according to the schedule tomorrow morning."
Louise does exactly what she told the doctor she would do. After dinner she begins noting in detail all of the irregularities involving the Bolivian army so far, including the attack on her caravan and the destroyed radio. She writes in her journal in Chinese as a precaution.
She is determined to have satisfactory answers to her questions, or she will be sending a letter to the League of Nations on the subject of possible violations of the Geneva Conventions by the Bolivian military.
"There were some Paraguayan wounded, but they were taken away by the army several days ago over my objections. I don't know what has become of them. At the moment, we're not treating anyone other than your friend Mr. Black Fox. We also treat the natives for basic ailments every now and then but they've remained to themselves since the army arrived."
Antonio nods at Abraham. "Perhaps that is it, then? Shell shock? But it was said that he was like this during the attack. Very strange. Perhaps with some food and water later he will be more responsive." He pats the soldier on the arm gently, addressing him in Spanish. <We will care for you. You are safe with us as long as you do no harm.> Then he says a prayer for the young man and makes the sign of the cross to bless him.
He turns back towards the camp. "Yes, Sergio may be able to tell us more. I would like to know which of the men is the Captain too."
没收中立医疗机构的没收或挑衅就没收了巴拉圭受伤的部队并将其遣散
Returning to the camp, Antonio and Abraham approach Sergio Lorenzi, a small, bright-eyed man with a strong Bronx accent and a wide smile. "Yeah, what? Oh, hey, Father. Sorry about that. What can I do for you gentlemen?"
Abraham's grin grows just a little hearing the strong accent on the man. He offers him out a hand as a friendly shake, nodding.
"Good to hear someone else from the big city. Bronx right? I'm from Brooklyn, myself." Abraham took a moment to look around the camp and make sure they weren't being listened to before he leaned in closer.
"The Father and I have been hearing reports about some strange things here; the Bolivians acting crazy, the radio is all broken to hell, everyone just seems really tense. You know anything about it?"