Plantation Road
by Nick Stark
nickstarkusmc@hotmail.com
Chapter 2
Towering oaks, over a century old, lined the gravel drive. Tourists would even stop at the locked wrought iron gates to take a picture of the magnificent trees and the portico of the plantation home at their end. The gates appeared rusted shut; noone had been seen using them for years. DeLucien, as the home was known, was not open to the public. Paint could be seen peeling on the main house, although the roof was in good repair and the gardens were obviously lush and thriving; someone lived there and maintained the place.
High in the oak tree closest to the levee, there was an ingenious structure. Built in the days of the riverboats, to spot them coming upriver around the bend, it had been retrofitted quietly in the last few years. Now it was a state of the art sentry post, with wireless internet and a satellite dish. The best part was that is was completely hidden, with greenery covering the outside walls, which were cleverly positioned among the stout branches of the oak, and painted to match them. It was from within this structure that Captain Stark and his 4 marine recruits were being observed.
Pieter Rusafov was originally from Russia; or, more accurately, the Soviet Union. Trained in the army, then selected for recruitment into the KGB, he was a highly trained surveillance expert as well as a skilled fighter. Pieter found himself out of a job after communism fell; his skills no longer desired or appreciated, and indeed a fair amount of resentment against former KGB men existed in Russia. So he had left, and peddled his services elsewhere. After various short lived stints working for foreign governments, mostly in the Middle East, Pieter was hired by Boniface DeLucien. Indeed the Middle East connection was one of the reasons DeLucien wanted Pieter in his employ.
Boniface DeLucien owned the 8,000 acres of Mississippi riverfront that the dark green United States Marines Corp jeep was parked in front of. As Captain Stark bent over the hood and indicated the recruits' route on the map, Pieter was scanning the entire scene through powerful binoculars from up in his sentry post hidden in the oak tree. He focused and zoomed in, just in time to see them receive the last of their orders and stand up straight, adjusting the heavy packs on their broad shoulders.
"OK men," Stark was indicating with his finger, "DeRossi and Kowalski, you two follow the river road to the end of the DeLucien property, then head inland. We have permission from the owners of Houmas to cross their property." Stark indicated the property to the north of DeLucien on the map. "They're out of town anyway, only the caretaker staff will be around, and they usually make themselves scarce during our maneuvers. So you should have the place to yourselves." The big Captain turned to the other team. "Davison and Quinn, you men head back downriver, and just below DeLucien is a state wildlife sanctuary. It's not open to the public, but the Corps has the right to use it. The only people you might see are the park rangers, and there have been reports of poachers. If you see someone not wearing a ranger uniform, avoid them, circle around, and you can radio me with the location, I'll call it in to the rangers. They're trying to put a stop to the poaching of endangered species." Stark then indicated the rendezvous point where both teams were to meet up. The five men in olive green camouflage then stood up straight as Stark rolled up the map.
"Now some ground rules," Stark continued. "By no means are you to engage anyone you encounter. Your presence is known by the Houmas staff and the park rangers. If they approach you you can interact with them, but you are not to initiate contact. The goal of this exercise is to simulate remote traverse conditions. Any poachers that might be in the wildlife refuge are there illegally, they will be armed, and not wanting anyone to see them, that's why you are to avoid them," Stark said to Quinn and Davison. "All right men, any questions?"
DeRossi cocked his head, "Yessir, I have one."
"What is it, DeRossi?" Stark asked.
DeRossi held the straps of his pack, making his pecs flex and stand out and his arms bulge. You could see the muscular Italian's nipples through his tight olive tank, which was exposed under his unbuttoned camo shirt. Regulations stated that the camouflage shirt should be worn buttoned as it increased one's ability to blend into the woods, but it was hotter then hell out and DeRossi didn't give a rat's ass. Stark wasn't going to bother to correct him. The other three were dressed to regulation. Quinn and Kowalski always did as they were told, and Davison followed every one of Stark's orders to the letter; he was eager to emulate the big stud Captain in every way he could. Even Stark had his camo shirt buttoned up.
"Well Sir it occurs to me that there's probably more to this exercise than just tromping through some bullshit wilderness. Care to give us any clues?" DeRossi gave Stark his usual streetwise smirk, with one dark eyebrow raised and a glimpse of his white teeth showing.
Always thinking one step ahead, Stark thought; that's why DeRossi'll make a good intelligence officer one day. Stark crossed his arms over his chest and shifted his weight onto one foot, adopting a more casual body language. "What makes you think that, DeRossi?"
DeRossi paused, then looked the Captain in the eyes. "Well Sir, none of the upperclassmen who've gone through this drill would tell me anything, so that made me suspicious. I know there's something up, just not sure what."
Stark just shook his head in mock annoyance. "Only one way to find out." The men all chuckled, and Stark looked at his watch. "All right, let's get started. Both teams have until 19:50 to arrive at the rendezvous. If you run into something that will delay you, radio it in. I'll be in the area.
To be continued...