Elements of the Mountains

Bar

Vietnam was one of the most controversial wars of our time. For both those on the home front and those on the battlefield. I had originally enlisted to help bring our troops home, thought I could help bring peace with words rather than with violence. The US government had a different plan. I served as a translator for our troops in the major cities they stayed in. While I was stationed in Can Tho, I met a British man by the name of James Conrad. He was tall, dark, and handsome. Serving with the SAS during the war. But when the time came for us to go back home, neither of us wanted to leave. So with no family back home for either of us, we decided to stay in Vietnam together.

We found a nice place above a bar and made a decent living scamming the poor bums who came in to play pool against James. The plan was always the same, I would lore them in to the game, by talking James up, and then once they placed a large beat against James, he would destroy them before they even had a chance to hit the ball. The bar owner didn't seem to mind because we always paid on time and spent most of the money we made in the bar so it worked for everyone.

One night we were finishing up a game, I had walked behind James, wrapping an arm around him as I walk by. He hardly noticed, slightly glancing up to me as he lined up his shot. I wink down to him and walk around the table. Once James sinks the 8-ball, I place my hand on the stack of cash his opponent had placed down for a bet.

When I do the man grabs my arm, speaking in Vietnamese. "I was cheated! You two cheated." The man complains in his native tongue.

I smirk and reply back, calmly in the man's language, "You shouldn't play against those you can't beat." The man pulls on my arm, as he does I grab his pool cue, routing it so the butt sleeve hits him in the nose, as I do I look back to James and see a man standing there with a knife, "James, behind you." I call out to him, as the man behind me grabs me once again. I elbow the man in the stomach and push him away, before I hear the crack of the pool cue that James had also used to hit the second man in the face. As the first man moves toward me again, I stick the tip of the cue in his mouth and swing down, bring his head down on to the table and breaking the cue into three. As we continue to fight a third man starts to throw pool balls at us. James quickly takes the butt sleeve from me and hits one of the balls the man is throwing, almost like a baseball, only with one hand. Hitting the man in the face as it goes back to him. Once the fight is over I look over to James and smile. Him placing an arm around me and kissing me deeply and passionately, no doubt due to the adrenaline of the fight.

We continue like this for a few minutes, before we hear a gentlemen clear his throat, when we look over we see an older, slightly overweight gentleman in a two piece tweed suit, and a young man, who looks like he's a grad student.  "Sorry, but we would like to talk to the two of you about a job opportunity."

"We're not interesting." James states plainly.

I shake my head, "Now, dear, shouldn't we hear the man out." I smile over to the man, "I mean once he buys us a round of course."

"Of course," The gentleman nods.

The four of us find a table that isn't covered in body glitter and sweat from one of the dancers and James and I enjoy our very free beer while the two men explain what they want us to do. They want us to track and translate on a trip to an uncharted island. James chuckles, "An uncharted island? Let me list all they ways you gonna die. Rain, heat, mud, disease carrying flies."

"Mosquitoes..." I nod as I take a sip of my beer.

"Sure you could load up on the antibiotics for the malaria...what about the other bacteria?"

"I mean we haven't even started on the things that want to eat you alive."

The older man nods toward the stack of cash he had offered to us as payment, "We'll double that."

James shakes his head, "You have no idea how dangerous this is. We want five times that."

I smile, "Plus a bonus if we make it back."

"If?" The grad student looks at me rather scared. "Pay them," he looks over to the older man, "I think Mr. Conrad and Ms. Davis should be fairly compensated." James smirks.

The older man lifts a shot to his mouth, "Here's to profit during peace."

"One question," James takes a deep breath, "You came here looking for a tracker. Who or what am I tracking?"

The young man shakes his head, "This is all the information that we have. Okay? There is no map. Only satellite images. So we need people like you. With your skills and unique expertise in uncharted jungle terrain... To lead us on our ground expedition. We are just scholars and scientists."

"We need someone with experience." The older man takes a deep breath, "In case things go sideways. Men go to war in search of something, Mr. Conrad. If you had found it... you would be home by now."

"What makes you think I haven't found it." James wraps an arm around me.

"You two weren't looking for each other when you came here."

The two men tell us where and when we can meet them, if we decide to take the job and the two of us head upstairs. "So what do you think?" I smile to James as I kick off my boots, after sitting on the bed.

"Think of what?"

"The job?"

"You think we should take it?"

"I mean with the money we'd be getting we could go anywhere we wanted."

"If we make it back."

I sigh, "James, always looking to the future or the past, never living in the moment."

"You're the one who scared that poor college kid with the talk of 'if' we come back," James laughs, "and I think the bar fight you got us into tonight counts as living in the moment."

"Hey, that was not my fault, alright. Just a business snag."

"Well, whatever you call it, I call it living in the moment." James laughs.

"I'm serious, I know you miss it out in the jungle."

"It's not me I'm worried about, Amelia. Do you think you could handle it out there?"

"I'll have you know, I'm tougher than I look." I laugh.

"Oh I know you are." James comments as he crawls onto the bed on top of me, his voice getting low with almost a growl to it.