River of Fire

?Oh One More Thing. Admiral Sam Wants To Know If You Need Back-Up.? ?Great! The More The Merrier.? A Minute Later Sam Appeared Next To Debbie Clad In His Long Cloak And Wide Brimmed Hat And Asked ?When Does The Fun Begin?? Debbie Instantly Snapped To Attention And Saluted. ?Hold On There Cadet. Don?T Go Military On Me. Relax We?Re In The Field.? Calistus Explained ?We Have To Stop About Two Dozen Men And Two Gun Boats Before Sunup. Su Should Be Sending A Large Tank Of Flammable Solvent Through A Portal Any Moment Now. But I Haven?T Seen Any Guards As Of Yet.? A Horizontal Portal Opened Twenty Feet Above The Water And A Large Metal Tank Slipped Through Unnoticed And Hovered Just Above The Water To Close To Their Position. Calistus Sighed And Said ?I Can?T Ignite It There It?Ll Fry Us All.? ?I'M On It? Whispered Debbie Eager To Show Off For The Admiral. As She Dove In The Water And Pushed The Container Into Position. Just Then A Pirate Poked His Head Out Of One Of The Gun Ships Spotted Something Moving And Hollered ?Who?S There?? And Began To Fire At The Tank Of Flammable Solvent Igniting It Into A Ball Of Fire. That Swiftly Spread Over The Water Turning The Inlet Into A River Of Fire. Debbie Quickly Dove Underwater To Avoid Getting Hit. But She Was Struck In The Side Before She Could React. She Struggled Desperately To Stay Afloat And Managed To Make It To Shore Where She Collapsed. Calistus Hollered ?Sam Let?S Try And Get Them In A Crossfire!? In Minutes The Camp Was Swarming With Pirates Firing At Anything That Moved. After A Ten-Minute Gun Battle The Pirates Strapped Debbie?S Limp Body To A Tree And The Leader Hollered ?Drop Your Weapons And Surrender Or The Woman Dies!? ?Sam They?Ve Got Debbie! Hold Your Fire!? The Two Men Approached The Pirates With Their Hands And Guns Over Their Heads Sam Whispered ?Protective Shields On Weapons On Stun Once We Reach Debbie We Position Ourselves In Front Of Her To Protect Her Then We Let 'Em Have It.? As They Reached Debbie The Men Quickly Spun Around Calistus Hollered As He Leveled His Rifle At The Pirates ?I Think It?S You Who Should Surrender!? Laughter Suddenly Broke Out Amongst The Crowd Mocking Calistus?S Bold Statement. Sam Shouted ?Fire!? Blasts Of Energy Streaked Through The Night Rapidly Finding Their Marks As Bullets Ricocheted Off Their Shields. Once Silence Reined Calistus Glanced At Sam And Inquired ?What'S Wrong?? ?I Was Hoping For A Knockdown Drag Out Gun Fight. Instead All We Got Was A Bunch Of Wimps!? ?Whatever Sam. Why Don?T You Round Them Up Before They Come To While I Take Care Of Debbie.? Carefully Untying Her And Lying Her On The Ground Calistus Contacted Moon Base One ?Su I Need You Here And Fast Cadet Debbie?S Been Injured.? Seconds Later Su Appeared Then Hollered As She Dove For The Ground Firing Her Pistol ?Look Out!? A Blast Of Energy Struck The Would-Be Assassin Liquefying His Body Into A Yellow-Brown Ooze Which Swiftly Seeped Into The Sand. Su Quickly Returned With Debbie. Sam Bellowed ?A Little Help Here If You Don?T Mind!? Having The Prisoners Tied Up Sam Surveyed The Pirates And Commented ?What A Motley Crew They Are. Do You Think We?Ll Get Any Information Out Of 'Em Cal?? ?Nope! None Of Them Look Like They Have The Brains To Come Up With A Strategy As Complex As This. Deb Did Mention About Norm Who Tried To Waste Her. He?S Probably Their Contact.? ?How Are We Going To Locate One Person In This Jungle? ? Questioned A Frustrated Sam. ?Sam You?Re Slipping In Your Old Age. Deb Mentioned That She Was Washed Up On The Beach After The Ship Was Destroyed. That Should Be On The Other Side Of The Island.? Calistus Contacted Su And Inquired ?Can You Contact The Nearest Coast Guard And Inform Them About The Bunch Of Pirates We Have Tied Up. Then See If You Can Bounce A Signal Off One Of Earth?S Satelli