“The Guns of Navarone,” he said.
“What?” asked Luke.
“It was an old movie that Dad used to watch. It’s set in 1943 during WWII. TheAxis powersplan an assault on the island ofKeros, where2,000 British soldiers are marooned, hoping to convince neutral Türkiye to join them in the fighting.
“The Royal Navy tries to rescue them but they can’t because of two radar directed large caliber guns on the island of Navarone.”
“Cam, what the fuck does this old movie have to do with us?” asked Hex.
“Listen to me. The guns, the weapons are so heavy they are perched precariously over the edge of the cliff. British, Greek, and American forces join to plant explosives around the guns so that when they fire, they actually blow themselves into the water.
“What if Andriopoulos is trying to do the same damn thing, or similar? What if he wants to place weapons on that island, not to fire at neighboring countries but to build something there and protect it? He wants everyone off that island. No tourists, no one.”
“What about the residents?” asked Eric.
“It’s two-hundred people, brother. They could be claiming that a pandemic, a fire, an earthquake, anything has made the island a place where others shouldn’t come. They could even claim whatever is there is contagious to keep people away. Maybe that’s why the ferries aren’t running out there. Maybe that’s why the people are scared to talk about the island. He’s building something to keep the world out.”
“Shit,” muttered Luke. “Have we heard from the boys yet?”
“Not yet but it’s still early there. Hopefully, we’ll hear something soon,” said Hex.
“Yeah, I damn sure hope so because whatever this maniac has planned is going to change the entire mediterranean,” said Cam.
The four men were careful to lift their feet, not shuffling or kicking rocks. It was difficult. The entire fucking island seemed made of rock and gravel. The residents seemed to stay near their homes, not willing to venture anywhere near the cliffs.
It was a good thing. For Frank, Devin, Ian, and Bodhi, it allowed them to move freely without civilian interference. They stilled as two men approached with weapons, holding their breath as the men passed by.
They were speaking Greek but Ian and Devin knew what was being said and Frank and Bodhi had translator pods in their ears. They spoke of nothing important. Women they wanted, food they craved, a movie they were tired of watching because the ship only had one DVD.
When they were gone, the men huddled closer together.
“They’re staying on the cargo ship at night. Not here on the island,” said Frank. “That’s our next stop boys.”
“Oh, goody,” smirked Bodhi.
As they crested the hill just before the cliff, they could hear the sounds of construction and then someone yelling ‘clear’. They stilled, waiting for what they knew would come. The explosion rocked the earth below their feet, the cracks immediately became evident.
“These assholes are gonna sink the whole damn island,” frowned Ian. “We need to find a way to get the residents off this island and somewhere safe.”
“Brother, I don’t think they’d leave even if we tried to force them. This is their home. But I understand the need. We’ll find a way. We will,” said Devin, “but first, we need a good look at what they’re doing.”
At the edge of the cliff the four men knelt down, peering over the edge. Talk about precarious, dangerous work! There were machines dangling from cables held up by other machines on the edge of the cliff. One wrong explosion and they would all go tumbling down.
“We need to get inside that hole,” said Bodhi.
“Tonight. We wait until tonight. If we try to go down now, they’ll see the ropes,” said Ian.
“Not so fast my good man,”said the voice of Sophia Ann.
“Soph, you better be calling to tell me you love me,” said Ian.
“I do love you, as family, but that’s not why I’m in your head. The new ropes that you have are made of the same stealth materials as your suits and blankets. They won’t see them. Now, the danger of that is if they run a machine over them that could slice the earth, you’re out of luck. It will slice the ropes as well.”
“Great, so we fall to our death five-hundred feet below,” said Bodhi.
“More or less. Just be careful.”
“Thanks, Soph,” said Frank. “Alright, we wait until tonight to get to that damn cave, then tomorrow night, we see what’s on that fucking ship.”
