Pirates In Fast Boats

The Fast Boats Pages

Chapter 1

Joe's Gold Prospecting

This is the first chapter of "Pirates In Fast Boats".

When the new day broke the nocturnals lowered their tone for fear of giving away their positions to the hungry daytime predators. The time had also arrived for Joe Wezley to rise up, from his bivouac in the dense jungle of Borneo.

It is always better to rise just before the crack of dawn when he could carefully check his surroundings for safety. He had no enemies of whom he knew.

His drills for self-preservation were inborn from his military training. When you are the type of person that lives off of the land in these rain forests, then your presence there makes you become a delicacy for other creatures, should you be too careless.

Here alertness is the only way to stay ahead of the food chain where you never take anything for granted because to do so is fatal. Being frightened of the jungle makes you its enemy, if you like the jungle then it becomes your friend.

Joe Wezley remained until daylight had completely set in before he could start to partly relax. He would rely on his acute sense of hearing for warnings of danger.

Feeling confident that it was safe to do so, he rose from his bedding. Cautiously he moved towards the stream that was close by. Still wary Joe scanned the far bank carefully, using his trained binocular vision, he looked deep into the undergrowth and avoided the foliage at the front.

Sensing that it was safe to do so, he dipped his battered tin mug into the clear running water. First he tested the water by putting some of it on the inside of his lower lip. There was no tingling sensation so there was a good chance the water was safe to drink.

Jungle Breakfast

He filled the mug then drinking as quietly as he could he drank his fill never once dropping his guard. For food he started searching the undergrowth looking for the tell tale tops of the plants that had the soft sweet edible roots. It did not take him long before he had found enough to fulfil the nourishment he needed to survive.

The former Special Boats Squadron trained commando had spent many years in the different jungles of the World. He had been specifically trained in jungle warfare, often working in small teams or alone, behind the enemy lines.

It was on a similar occasion after he had stopped at the side of a stream, to fill up both of his water bottles. He was observing his surroundings, when he happened to glance into the water. He picked out a shiny item that he saw there. It was a small lump of gold.

Looking at the nugget instantly it triggered his imagination. Joe looked into the water to see if he could find anymore, but there wasn’t any to be seen. At that moment he was on a mission to capture an enemy soldier, he did not have the time to search the area thoroughly.

He made a vow to himself that one day he would return to these islands, and investigate the area. That would be when his services were no longer required by the government. Then he would have the time to delve deeper into the hidden depths of the jungle.

He could search until he found where Mother Nature keeps her hidden treasures. He made a mental note of his position it would never leave his mind.

Today he would be taking a direct route going by map and compass readings, through dense jungle to a remote mountain range that had intrigued him for many years.

Travelling Through Iban Country

He was aware that he would be travelling through Iban country. The Ibans would leave him alone as long as he stayed on his own and did his own thing. Then he would be free to pass through their lands and journey as he wished.

The Ibans would be aware from the moment that he set foot on their land that he was amongst them. They would know every step that he took, but they would not harm him, because he was of no threat to them.

He still had a few hours of travelling, going through very thick secondary jungle, before he would reach the borders of the Iban lands. By habit Joe always walked through the jungle using compass bearings and his map. This method of travel had never let him down.

He liked the protection of the rain forests. Whereas open tracks offered his enemies positions that would give them endless opportunities to ambush him, or track his movements.

He was using some old maps that he’d had for many years and a well worn but very accurate military compass that he treasured. He moved naturally through the jungle using great stealth and cunning never once forgetting his basic training.

Keeping his eyes alert for movement, and his ears pricked up for sound, he moved through the forbidding jungle concealed by its leafage. This day was turning out like most of the other days in the jungle; staying alert made life interesting.

That was until he heard a foreign noise that sounded very familiar to his experienced ears. Slipping further into deeper cover he hid in the foliage and listened more intently to the noise of screaming.

Somebody had just started to do some killing that was for sure. Joe knew all about those screams and their victims. He could guess roughly whereabouts that they were coming from. But he needed to know more; he dare not put himself at risk until he was sure of his circumstances.

Whenever you hear women screaming frantically in the jungle then it could only mean one thing their man was dead and they were in deep trouble, with no-one to help them.

Somebody Was Doing Some Killing

Joe could hear one woman who was running wildly not caring how much noise she made. She was desperate and totally oblivious of any dangers she might be running towards.

She was so determined to escape from the clutches of whoever was chasing her she did not care about any other dangers. She was now running blindly in Joe’s direction. It was time for him to make his move.

His reactions and confidence were born from common sense. He watched her run past, and then he stepped out from behind a stout tree. In her panic she did not notice him he silently withdrew his commando knife from its sheath.

He could hear the heavy footsteps of the woman’s clumsy lawless assailant. When the criminal approached the tree he was suddenly aware that he was not alone. He realised that Joe was standing in his way.

The assassin tried stopping his momentum but he had left it too late. Joe had moved and spontaneously reacted with a hard trust of his sharp knife. Pushing hard into his wide midriff, the Banks Fairbain commando knife entered into his body right up to the hilt.

He had inserted his knife deep into the man’s lower body, and jerked it quickly upwards. Joe Wezley watched the horror etched on the frightened man’s face, when he realised that his body had been ripped open.

The pale look of fear and shock in the killers’ eyes were evident, but that was nothing compared to the horror that appeared when he realised exactly what had happened to him.

Fortunately for the villain the dismay only lasted a short while. He died trying forcing his innards back where they once belonged.

Ready for his next encounter Joe cleaned his knife on a large banana leaf. The woman had heard the commotion behind her and had stopped to watch the outcome. She realised Joe’s presence had stopped her need for running.

She stood staring at him in amazement. She had been fleeing from a monster that wanted her only for his selfish pleasures. She was more than a little surprised to see what had happened to him and how quickly Joe’s actions had been.

It was only a swift glance over her shoulder that had allowed her to witness her assailant being executed so effectively. At first she thought that she had been dreaming but now she realised that she wasn’t.

Tall Handsome Stranger

She took a good long look at the tall handsome stranger who had slain her pursuer, he had spared her life. She knew that she was now traditionally duty bound by Pinda Law to be his wife.

He had protected her when her life was in peril, therefore she must serve him as best she could for ever. She would almost certainly have died a horrible death if the stranger had not interceded in the way that he did.

Joe looked at the woman and could see that she had calmed down. He put one finger over his lips, while making a sweeping movement with his other hand. Indicating to her to keep quiet and duck-down into the cover of the undergrowth.

This she did without making a sound, from this position she could keep an eye on her new man. With his back to the tree he held up both hands displaying his fingers. He wanted to know how many of them there were.

She held up four fingers, Joe held up four fingers and pointed to the dead man on the ground. She waved her hand and held up three fingers. Then pointing to the dead man she raised her fourth finger.

Joe pointed to her, doing a pushing movement and then he stopped. Silently, indicating to her that she must remain hidden until he came back for her.

Taking his cheese wire out of his emergency pouch, he had at his side. He stepped back into the jungle and waited a moment. Before moving off he took a glance once more at the person he had just killed.

The insects had already started eating away at the man’s wet and sticky intestines. He moved quickly but cautiously towards the area of concern. It was not long before he heard the sound of another person approaching.

This one was moving a lot more stealthily through the undergrowth. Joe knew that he must not take a look and that he had to slow his breathing so that it would not give him away. He tried to judge by the sound exactly where the next villain was.

He knew that he would have only a fraction of a second to tackle the criminal. He also knew that the dead man’s body would soon be discovered.

The dead man’s comrade was taken aback with shock when he saw his former friend lying stretched out dead. What made the situation worse was the amount of intestines that he could see lying on the jungle floor and all the creatures roaming over and entering inside his body alarmed him.

He Had Left It To Late

He realised that he had let his concentration lapse and was about to shout a warning to his two other comrades. When he discovered that he had left it too late. He could not shout because there was something tightening around his neck squeezing his throat tightly.

He could not breathe the thin wire was getting tighter and tighter. The sudden realisation that he was dying of strangulation horrified him. The thing around his neck was so thin he could not get hold of it.

It was tightening so tightly it felt like his eyes were about to pop out. A little later Joe released the garrotte and let the dead body collapse on top of his half-eaten mate.

He looked down and thought: ‘Now there would be plenty of food for the creatures of the jungle floor, so much they could have a feast.’

Moving through the jungle with all of the guile and stealth of a wild animal, Joe made his way in the direction from which the other two villains had appeared. When he arrived at the edge of the jungle clearing, he could see two men.

They were bellowing with laughter and happiness they both had a wild screaming woman under them. Joe could see the dead body of the native that had been guarding his four wives.

He had also noticed the dead body of another woman lying in a pool of blood. She must have been the youngest wife, because she looked so frail lying motionless on the ground.

As far as Joe could tell there were no signs of any guns of any type. He decided to get as close to the nearest rouge as he could and take him out. Then he would take his chances on being able to master the other villain in hand to hand combat.

Joe’s only weapons were his garrotte, his commando knife and his parang (jungle knife). What he would have given for a sub machine-gun was nobodies business.

Fighting this way was against his combat training. Experience had taught him when you are going to fight someone to the death you should not give him or her, the slightest chance to win.

A Chance To Win

A chance is what he would be giving to one of these chaps. He could only hope the last chap would be the weaker of the two. He crept as close as he dared without being seen, then like a wild savage he sprang from the jungle.

With his knife raised high in his hand, it came crashing downwards with such force that it had no problem entering the first rouge’s neck. The man and woman under him both screamed for different reasons.

When the knife had gone in as far as the hilt a sleight movement to the side severed through all of the man’s main facilities of life. Then he let the dead man’s body collapse in a heap on the ground next to the woman, who was still screaming hysterically.

Joe jumped up and ran with all his effort towards the remaining villain. The murderer pulled out a pistol from his belt; he started shooting wildly in Joe’s direction. Joe felt the heat of a hot bullet rip into his left shoulder and then another one.

In a last all out effort he threw his commando knife with all his might in an attempt to save himself. Bullets were flying past him some were so close he did not know if they were wounding him or not.

He saw his knife hitting the man in the face, the seven-inch blade entered his right eye going into the brain, killing the assassin instantly. Joe did not know how badly he had been wounded, he was satisfied that he had survived by killing the others.

He started coming over dizzy the sky was losing its colour and the trees of the jungle were spinning round and round. He knew that he was losing his fight for consciousness.

He knew he had lost a lot of blood but there was nothing that he could do about it. He felt so tired; all he wanted to do was to go to sleep. Unconscious he collapsed onto the floor of the jungle.

When Joe Wezley heard a noise it was the first indication that told him that he was still alive. He tried to open his eyes but he did not have the energy. Then he dropped off to sleep again.

Each time that he heard a noise he tried to open his eyes but each time he dropped of to sleep. After weeks of drifting into states of unconscious and semi-consciousness he was gradually able to open his eyes a little longer each time.

It took a little while for him to focus and then the rest of his senses would gradually started to click back into place. Taking his time he started taking in his surroundings.

He could see that he was in a basher and there were three women washing his body. Realising that this was no time to make a fuss he let them carry on with whatever they were doing.

All three of them had seen Joe open his eyes and they all smiled sweetly at him and to each other. One of them said ‘you do not have to worry anymore because we will look after you. We are your wives?’

Joe's Three Wives

Joe was astounded he found his situation very worrying, in fact the thought kept him awake. He kept quiet there was one woman on his right, who was washing his lower body and smiling at him, she said. ‘I am Natasa, this is Julior and your other wife is called Martus.’

Joe tried to utter a few words but Natasa gave him a little kiss, she put one of her fingers over his lips. He realised that he was not fit enough to argue so he lay back and relaxed letting them bathe all of his body with cool soothing water.

Joe could see that he was in a bit of an awkward predicament and that he would have to sort things out when he felt stronger. However he was too tired to do anything for the time being.

Joe laid back and thought about his situation. He had gone to assist the ladies because he knew that he was the only help that was available to them.

At the time Joe did not need to get so involved, it was his pride that would always override his instincts. He would always do whatever he could to help any damsel that was in distress.

Joe continued to doze into and out of sleep, most of the time he was totally unaware of what was happening around or to him. Sometimes when he woke up, he could feel hands manipulating his muscles or other parts of his body as it was being washed or exercised.

He was not always aware of what was happening to him, sometimes he was very hot and other times he was cold and needed more covers. Then as he gradually came round he could start to understand that he had been ill for a number of days, possibly weeks, but he did not know how many.

He tried getting up and moving around but felt slow and lethargic. He had never felt weak like this before and wondered if he would ever recover to full normality.

Each time that he awoke the same three ladies were looking after him. Sometimes he could not work out who they were, or where he had seen them.

Other times it worried him to think that he had acquired three wives. The ladies who were caring for him were doing a good job because he was getting stronger by the day.

One day he was drinking from a utensil with warm water that had a herb mixture in it. It did not taste very nice but his instincts told him that he must drink it.

We Are Your Three Wives

He spoke saying ‘can I ask you ladies who you are?’ ‘We have already told you many times before. We are your wives?’ Natasa said. Joe gave it some thought he could vaguely remember something about wives but he was not sure exactly what it was.

He was beginning to wonder if he had done something whilst he was not in the right frame of mind. To him it appeared that he had gotten married three times. It began to worry him about what he might have done.

He was looking very serious and worried when Natasa said: ‘Don’t you remember? You saved us from those terrible men. They killed our husband and you bravely fought and killed all of them and saved our lives.

So now under our law traditionally we are to serve you as your wives. We will respect anything you say and we will care for you at all times. In return, you must treat us all equal. I am Natasa, this is Julior and this is Martus.’

Joe began to delve deeply into his memory banks looking for clues. It slowly started to come back to him what had happened out there in the jungle. As each piece of memory slotted into its correct place he was able to collate a general picture.

When it had dawned on him what had actually happened after the fighting he began to feel a lot better. He said ‘I must tell all of you something that you should know. Under my countries laws I am only allowed to have one wife.'

'Therefore it will not be fair for me to choose one wife from you three pretty ladies. The only way that I can be fair equally is to release the three of you from all of your obligations.’

We Have No Obligations

‘We have no obligations,’ Julior said ‘As long as you are in our village then you will have to abide by our laws. When you leave our Kampong, then we will abide by your laws. Is that fair?’

Joe gave it some thought; ‘the young women were still pretty. None of them have had any children. No one could get seriously hurt. If they wanted to be his wives while he was here, then no harm would of it.’

He said: ‘It is a deal while I am in your kampong I will do as you wish. When I leave then I am free to do as I wish.’ Natasa said: ‘that will agreeable with us.'

'When you are ready to sleep with a partner, then you must let us know. Martus will sleep with you for the first night, Julior will sleep with you the next night, and I will sleep with you the night after that.'

'If you want to sleep on your own on any night, you must also let us know. Then whoever’s turn it is to sleep with you will sleep with you the following night, and so on. What do you have to say to that?’

‘I am flabbergasted and lost for words. Infact I think that I feel a bit stronger already,’ answered Joe. Julior smiled and then turning to Martus she said. ‘Martus, you had better start comforting your man now he is feeling stronger.’

Martus rose from her place on the bamboo floor and undressed. Then she crossed over to Joe’s bed and lifted up the cover and nestled up close to him, and then she started to comfort her man.

Joe suddenly realised that the other two ladies were allowed to watch because they were smiling freely; after all they too were his wives. At first he thought that it was a novel idea.

But he was not sure if he wanted to be watched all of the time, however, right now it did not matter because he did not care who was watching what he did.

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