Freedom Earned by Justin Sloan

Author:Justin Sloan [Sloan, Justin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-22T22:00:00+00:00

17

On the plane ride over, I had read one of those inflight magazines about Thailand, mostly skimming along about the temples, crazy amounts of traffic in Bangkok, and issues surrounding elephants. I hadn’t known how bad it really was for the elephants to be ridden. Sharks had been discussed briefly, but only to say that they weren’t much of a problem in Thailand. Only one confirmed death and a few people bitten in recent years.

Even so, swimming in the darkness and having seen what I was certain was a fin, I was anxious to reach shore quickly. It was dark, so maybe I was confused? I kept swimming, although now I was beginning to feel a growing ache in my shoulders and my breaths were coming way too fast. I couldn’t keep this up but was making steady progress as I headed back for land. My plan wasn’t to aim for the cove nearest to my position, but to head for what looked like an overgrown part of the island, the sort of place where trees and vines hung out over the water. My logic was that I needed to get under cover as soon as possible and stay there. Pursuers would look in the obvious places, the nearest coves and beaches. There was also a higher probability of other boats passing by or random visitors coming ashore in such places, but I had no idea which islands I was near, or whether that was at all likely. It wasn’t a chance I could take. For all I knew, nobody came by this way. And of course, there was always the chance that it might be a haven for the criminals who were after me, so anyone who came by could be their ally.

That meant I needed to get smarter about this situation. But first, I wanted to fully understand what the situation really was. You don’t go to a general with a half-cocked plan based on incomplete information. Likewise, my goal here was to gather intel, develop a plan, and then execute it. Do whatever it took. If that meant learning about another group I could leverage against the first, great. If it meant doubling back and working to pick off the enemy one by one until I was able to sail out and find my way back to civilization, that might work, too.

The downside of both plans was that they were risky on multiple levels. For now, I would stick to stage one, which was to gather intel. From there, I was hoping said intel would lead to a smarter strategy, one with a higher rate of survival.

Holding that thought, I glanced back nervously, wondering what had become of that fin. Dark waters, a wave rolling my way, then moving past me and lapping against the hanging bushes. Then it was there, that fin again. Only, now there was more than one, and a sinister-looking form on the water’s surface, arching before diving back down. Moonlight glistened on another, then another.

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