It was just a little later that Marie answered a call on her radio, and learnt the rebellion was quelled. She was to go on to meet the security personnel and supervise their hunt for survivors while Munroe was to meet up with Morton before returning to Darlings complex. And that shortly the Deathbringer would be sent out to eliminate any rebels who were still alive. She told Munroe which path to follow to find Morton and they separated.  Before he had travelled far his attention was caught by someones voice, just ahead of him but still out of sight, as he couldn’t see far through the vegetation. The voice was  loudly whooping and laughing, and then the words ’I bet you loved that bitch’ were clearly audible. He recognised the voice as that of Morton, and with a few more steps reached him. He was pulling up his trousers, and greeted Munroe as he fastened his belt.
 “Howdy Frank, just been having some fun,” and indicated with his eyes a young Brazilian woman who was naked and tied to a tree. With a glance at her Munroe saw from her bloodied face and body she’d had a severe beating, and looked like she might be unconscious.
“So I see,” he observed.
“Seen any action yourself?” Morton asked.
“Yea, met a couple of the er, rebels. Marie dealt with them. Don’t ever try with her what you’ve done with this girl, you’d regret it.”
“Your telling me” Morton replied “That bitch would cut your balls off soon as look at you.” he added, laughing as he spoke.
“And so would I.” Both men looked round to see who had spoken, then gasped with surprise. It was Rose, and she had a gun pointed at them.
“How the,” Munroe began but Rose interrupted him
“I’ll tell you later. Now Mr Morton, I’ve heard they call you the rabid dog , is that true?” . Morton nodded. “Then you need to be put down.” she added.
“Rose” Morton spoke nervously, frantically, “I don’t know how you escaped but your not safe. Your in the middle of the jungle, you won’t get out without someone to guide you.” Morton was despareately trying to think of an argument to stop her killing him, “I can do that. Kill me and you’ll die here.“
“Oh I’m not going to kill you Charlie, Frank is. Frank, shoot him.” As Munroe unholstered his gun Mortons voice shook as he spoke.
“Frank, you can’t do this, Darling will have you killed.”
 Munroe laughed slightly, “You think I’m afraid of Darling? And did you really think I’d switched sides? I’ll tell you who I’m afraid of and that’s the CIA. Betray them and they don’t forgive, they don’t forget and wherever you go they’ll find you. So,” he raised his gun to aim at Mortons head, “I wish I could say I’m sorry.”
Rose spoke again, “Change of plan Frank. Don’t shoot him.”
Morton began to smile with relief “Your doing the right thing Rose, I can help you.”
She ignored his words.
“I’ll do it”.
 And with that she shot Morton in the throat, the bullet bursting from the back of his neck in a fountain of blood, and she followed it with two bullets into his chest and another in his stomach. She stared at his body for a few seconds, then, still gazing at him spoke again, in a flat, emotionless tone.
“He’s the only person I’ve ever wanted to kill, and I thought I’d enjoy it. Shows how wrong you can be.”
Munroe lit a cigar, “Whats a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?”
With a slight, wistful smile Rose turned to him, “Interesting question!” Then she untied the young woman, who, lacking the strength to support herself began to sink to the ground. Rose held her shoulders to slow her descent, and the womans head slowy turned to face her and she opened her eyes slightly. Rose stroked her hair and and spoke softly to her, “I don’t know if you  understand  English, but I wish there was more we could do for you.” The woman looked at her for a few seconds then her eyes closed. She was still alive but Rose wasn’t sure she would survive. With a heavy sigh she got to her feet.

“Mind telling me,” Munroe asked, “How you escaped?”
“Ingrid. She’s MI5. Once we got into the forest the three of us, Al got out to, split up to make it harder to catch us all. Apparently she’s been cultivating Darlings friendship for some time, and just before she got here a plant of ours in Darlings complex sent a message to the Pentagon,”
“That was Robbie,” Munroe interrupted “I’m afraid to say he’s dead now.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Rose continued “Anyway, when she saw me and Al she thought the best thing to do was spring us, so here I am. This rebellion is of people enslaved in some plantation, or something, near here. Its connected to Darling though I don’t know how. We have someone in there, amongst the gaurds, and he’s been organising a revolt for some time. But it wasn’t supposed to happen yet, they hadn’t managed to get any guns to the slaves and it doesn’t look as if the revolt came to very much. Other,” she glanced at the young Brazilian woman “Than a lot of suffering.”
Munroe grunted, “Looks like this whole set up has been pretty thoroughly infiltrated by our security services.”
“I was thinking that myself,” said Rose, “Makes you wonder who is running the show here. Anyway, I’m heading to liase with our contact in the slave camp. Hopefully Ingrid and Al will make it there to. You go back to Mr Darling, sit tight, and wait for the cavalry to, hopefully, arrive.“ Rose paused, and noticing the young woman was regaining consciousness, grasped her shoulder. “Go on kid, you can make it!” She hugged her then turned to Munroe, “I don’t know whats going on here Frank, but there is something really evil happening. Be ready for anything.”
“And I was thinking that to,” he said. “Rose before you go, ” he reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the devices Marie had given him to ward off the Deathbringer and handed it to her. “Keep this safe. Remember that monster we met at the police station where we saw Dr Riva? Its called the Deathbringer and its about to be unleashed. This device emit’s a radio signal that makes it recognise you as a friend.” Rose grasped it and looked at Munroe, slightly surprised at his action.
 “Thankyou.”
“And a piece of advice. Be wary of Marie, I’ve seen her in action, and she’s lethal.”
“Ok, I’ll keep that in mind. Time we were gone.”
And as Munroe turned to walk away she spoke again. “Frank. Good luck.”
He smiled slightly, “You to.”

He had not travelled far when his attention was caught by some hair hanging from the branch of a tree, human hair it seemed. He looked closely at it, touched it, it seemed old, grey and decaying. A rustling in the bushes made him draw his gun, aiming at the undergrowth. Was there movement? It seemed so but then he reflected, there was always something moving in the forest. Keeping his gun aimed at the thick vegetation he moved on, nervous and watchful. He hadn’t gone much further when a loud scream emanated from where he and Rose had left the girl Morton had assaulted, a scream of terror. It reassured him, as he assumed  the Deathbringer had found her amd  if there was anyone else close by they’d meet the same fate. And for a second he thought of that young Brazilian woman. Beaten and raped by a maniac, now torn apart by a machine built by maniacs. And by now he’d forgotten the hair.

Arriving  back at Darling,s complex he found Marie waiting for him at the entrance. She asked him if he’d seen Morton, and when he said he hadn’t  she told him he’d been shot.
“Oh, by whom?” Munroe calmly asked. 
Marie ignored his question and asked to see his gun. After feeling the barrel and finding it cold she concluded that the weapon hadn’t been fired recently and returned it to him. “Thankyou. Mr Darling wants to see us both immediately.” With that she led the way through the corridors, neither speaking as they walked, until they were met by Tommy.
“Marie, Frank, I was worried about you, I heard there’s been trouble.” Marie smiled at him with what, Munroe thought, was the first indication of affection for another person he’d seen from her. “We’ve sorted it Tommy,” she said “there’s nothing to worry about.”
“What happened?” Tommy asked, “Uncle Eddie won’t tell me anything.”
Marie hesitated before replying. “He doesn’t want to worry you. Look, we’ve all been stressed out, stuck out here in the jungle, but we will be leaving in a couple of days, and then your uncle is retiring, well sort of, and we’ll all be able to do whatever we like. I’ll have time to take you to gym again,” she turned to Munroe, “I’ve been teaching Tommy gymnastics,” then spoke to Tommy again, “And we’ll see if we can get your weight down,” she patted his corpulent stomach, “get you fit and find you a nice girlfriend.”
 Tommy now grinned, “Ain’t ever had a girlfriend, hardly had a chance to meet any girls. Do you think some might like me?”
“With the money you’ll have,” Marie laughed as she spoke, “I think you’ll find plenty of women want to be in your company! We have to go now but I’ll talk to you later.” With that she gave hin a quick kiss on the cheek and Tommy smiled, elated, though slightly embarrassed.
 “Ok, I’ll see you later, and you Frank.”Munroe nodded then he and Marie continued, in silence again, until they reached Darling,s office.

It was, as Munroe  expected, luxuriously decorated and furnished. Sumptous armchairs were scattered about it, Darling seated in one, and beside him a Brazilian man who was dressed in an expensive looking suit, about fifty years old, and his face was creased with anxiety. Darling greeted Marie and Munroe, “If your thirsty after your trek in the jungle there’s cold orange juice on the table.” Both poured a glass before sitting . “Frank, you haven’t met our guest,  Carlos Torres, he’s the owner of the plantation where the rebels worked. Torres, Mr Munroe.” The man glanced at Munroe, grunted, and Darling continued, addressing Munroe. “Has Marie told you Morton’s been shot?”  Munroe nodded. “It’s a serious loss, Morton was very good at his job.”
“He was a pig!” Marie said, with some force, “But he was good at his work.”
“This has been a bad day,” continued Darling,  “not only did we lose Morton but your friends from the CIA have escaped.”
“Oh, how?” Munroe asked, his voice perfectly calm.
“Ingrid. You remember her?”
Munroe nodded, “We spoke?” 
“She was not what she seemed. She sprang the other two and they all escaped into the forest.”
“Won’t the Deathbringer get them?” asked Munroe.
“Maybe, but they had a good start. And then there was the rebellion at the plantation. No coincidence, I think, that it should happen when the rescue of Al Nixon and Rose Mcdonald was planned. Twenty of my security staff, a third of the force, were needed to deal with the rebels, so we were understaffed here. And I have no doubt it was the CIA who organised the rebellion.”

Torres now spoke, “That cannot be!” he almost shouted, “The CIA and my family have worked together for fifty years, we helped them crush the communist rebels. I remember as a boy in the sixties seeing our land being used by the Americans to train counter insurgents to go and fight communists all over Latin America. Some of them went to fight Allende and his commie scum in Chile, we helped train fighters in the eighties to battle with the communists in Nicaragua and El Salvador. The CIA was even involved in our business sometimes, and made sure the police didn’t interfere in our, er, recruiting methods. We are friends and allies, they would never betray me!”
“An why,” Munroe enquired, “would the police be interested in your recruiting? Or am I right in thinking your workers are slaves?”
Torres leaned forward, his face red with anger.  “You English, who are you to talk of slavery? You were the worlds biggest slavers for two centuries! Now you lecture us about human rights! You know nothing about the Americas, about how people like my family have fought communism, helped save your precious British democracy from it! You call my workers slaves if you like, but they are simple, ignorant folk, they are nothing. And my ancestors from Portugal they civilised this land. They brought her folk,” he pointed at Marie, “From the jungles of Africa, where they were loin clothed savages picking nuts from trees, and they’ed still be like that if it wasn’t for us!”
Marie,s eyes flashed with anger, “We’re not slaves anymore Torres and some of us have learnt how to fight back! Care for a demonstration?”
“Enough!” Darling interjected. “We have to address the situation we are in, the political polemic can wait till later! Torres, your security staff have been infiltrated. We only know of the one and he has disappeared, no doubt to meet up with Ingrid and the escapees. We don’t know if any others are traitors so this is the action we are taking. My people have taken control of your plantation for the moment. All the gaurds have been told to report to you here, having first laid down their weapons. They will be ambushed in the jungle, that way we make sure we get rid of any other traitors.”
“No”! Torres was almost hysterical. “You cannot do that. Some of those gaurds are friends of mine. Let me talk to the CIA and find out what has happened.”
Darling now turned to face Torres directly, his face stern as he spoke, “The only alternative is that we take permanent control of your business and wipe out you and your entire family. Which would you prefer?”
Torres mouth opened in shock, he gasped, went to speak, then slumped back, silent, in his chair.
“Good. Marie will drive you to the plantation now.” He turned to her, “Is everything ready there?”
“Yes. All mobile phones and computers have been confiscated and I’m taking one of the detectors that will alert us if any radio broadcasts are made. So the place will be cut off from the outside world.”
Darling motioned to Torres to accompany her and they left.
“The mood Marie’s in,” Munroe was smiling slightly as he spoke, “If he says the wrong thing he’s dead.”
 Darling shrugged, “What would it matter? And the mood I’m in I need a large glass of whisky. Now that you’ve quenched your thirst with the juice do you want to join me?”
“Best idea I’ve heard all day,” Munroe responded.
 After pouring them each a glass Darling spoke again, “You have experience of the CIA, what do you think they’ll try next?”
“Well”, Munroe began, “Obviuosly they wan’t to close down your operation.”
 “Obviously,” agreed Darling.
 “So they’ll have another go, but if that revolt by a group of lightly armed peasants is the best they can do I don’t think we’ve got much to worry about.”
“Your probably right Frank, it would take them time to organise a proper assualt, and we only need a couple of days.”
“We do seem pretty well protected anyway,” Munroe added “your security staff are well armed.”
“And well trained,” Darling said, “But they’ed be no match for American special forces. But my customers are returning to their homes as we speak, the money will be transferred to my accounts tomorrow, and within twenty four hours  they will have the first of my creations, people like the man you saw shoot himself when ordered to, at their disposal. It’s a wonderful product I possess, a  combination of biology, chemistry and micro electronics that takes complete control of a persons mind. Developed by some of the finests brains on the planet and they are now waiting to leave and make this available to my customers, and then governments throughout the world will tremble. I will be the most powerful man on Earth.”
“Isn’t there one difficulty,” Munroe asked, “Where do the subjects for this treatment come from?”
Darling laughed slightly, “Yes, when the raw material of your product is human beings there can be a supply problem. But we have an answer.”
“Torres plantation?” asked Munroe.
“For the time being yes. He has a long established set up for obtaining people, the poor, the dispossessed, those who nobody misses, nobody cares about, and that, for the moment, is our supply of,” he laughed slightly again, “raw material.”
“And for decades the CIA has been protecting a slaver,” Munroe added, “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Marie had arrived at Torres plantation and was organising the control of it by Darlings people. The machine for detecting any radio signals emanating from the vicinity had been set up and the operator soon called to her. “We have something. Someone is sending out a signal from about two miles west of here,” the woman at the device said.
 “I didn’t know it could detect something that far away,” Marie replied.
 “Just about,” the woman responded, “it’s a very faint signal and its on the road out of here. It’s not moving and it seems to be a regular signal. Look at the graph,” she pointed to the machines screen, “If this was someone talking on a radio the size of the signal would be constantly changing, but it’s a regular blip, every two seconds, like a signal  of its location.”
Marie bent over, staring at the screen for a few seconds, then stood erect . “Or,” she said, “Like one of the transmitters we all carry to stop the Deathbringer killing us.”
“Yea,” the other woman replied, “it could be, and I can’t think of anything else.”
“But who is out there?” Marie wondered aloud, “None of our people are in the forest and it can’t be Munroe, he’s with Mr Darling”. She was silent in thought for a few seconds. “Well, we’d better find out .” Speaking to two men she told them to come with her, “And bring your rifles,” she added.

Rose had now reached the road Ingrid had told her she would find if she kept moving west, though it was really just a dirt track through the jungle. Seeing the vehicle she’d been assured by Ingrid would be waiting for her she was relieved to find both she and Al Nixon had already arrived. They hugged as they greeted each other, and Ingrid introduced Rose to Rafael, a Brazilian who was their agent in the plantation. Rose asked him if the rebelllion of its workers had achieved anything, and replying in English he said it hadn’t, apart from possibly distracting Darlings people and making it easier for Ingrid to free her and Nixon.
“Why were they so desparate that they took on Darlings armed thugs?” she asked him.
“They have no life, no future. They are slaves, worked to death, and sometimes some are taken to Darlings complex. There are terrible tales of what happens to people there, so when I unlocked the cell doors of as many as I could they were willing to attack his forces, an act of the desparate. It wasn’t meant to happen yet, there were plans to make guns available to them, but when you were captured I was ordered to act immediately. ”
“I sent him a siganl”, Ingrid informed Rose, “Darling’s people may have detected it, but we were getting out of there anyway.”
“So they were sacrificed to save me and Al. Didn’t their lives count for anything?”
“Rose,” it was Nixon who spoke, “This is a war and wars a dirty business. I know you’ve had, in the past, to do a few things you’d rather have not, and we have to stop that maniac Darling or a lot more are going to die. He’s got something terrible in that place, Ingrid’s seen it.”
“Yea,” now it was Ingrid who spoke, “he has something that takes away a persons will, completely, they will do whatever they are instructed to. I saw a man shoot himself when Marie told him to, and he’s about to start selling it to all who will pay.”
Rose thought for a second before speaking again, “I see.” Then speaking directly to Rafael she asked if there was anyone else in the forest. “I don’t think so, why do you ask?”
“I thought I saw someone. They were obscured by the vegetation but it looked like a human figure, sort of shuffling along, and there was a smell, like, rotting meat.”
“Might have been an animal,” Nixon suggested.
“Yea, maybe. Whatever, it’s probably nothing, lets go, get back to civilisation and call the troops in, and bring Darling’s dream to an end.”
As they got into Rafael’s landrover Rose spoke again to Nixon, “One good thing did happen today. Ever heard of Frank Morton?” 
“The rabid dog? Yea, we’ve met.”
 “Well I’ve put him down,” Rose added, “He was working for Darling, but not any more.”
Nixon grinned widely, “That makes the world a bit of a better place!”

Rafeal started the landrover and hadn’t driven them far when the sound of a vehicle behind them got their attention. “Hell!” Rafael exclaimed, “Its someone from the plantation”. He was a very good driver and might have escaped but for the fact his pursuers had automatic rifles and a few volleys  from them took out the back axle of his vehicle, making it slither and slide, out of control, until hitting a tree and turning on its side. They all  staggered out of it, slightly dazed and bruised, to be met by the occupants of the other vehicle, two men, each pointing a rifle at them, and Marie.  With a triumphant smile she asked who had the transmitter.
“I do,” Rose admitted.
“How did you get it?” Marie enquired.
Smiling grimly Rose answered, “Do you really think I’m going to tell you that?”
Marie’s voice was casual, almost nonchalant, as she replied, “I can have you and your friends shot if you don’t.”
Rose almost laughed, “We’re kinda expecting you to do that anyway.”
Marie stared at her briefly, then turned to the two men with her and spoke in Poruguese to them. Clearly troubled by what she said they protested but after a few more words from her were quiet, and she turned to face her prisoners again. “I’ve decided to give you all a chance to escape,” Marie smiled as she spoke, “You can  walk away from here as free as birds. All you have to do,” and again she smiled, “Is get past me. I’ll take you on one at a time, no weapons, hand to hand, and I’ve told my men that if any of you beat me they must let you go.”
“Did she say that?” Nixon asked Rafael and he nodded.
“I should add,” Marie continued, “That each fight will be to the death.”
Nixon stepped forward, “I don’t think your men will let us go, I think they’ll shoot us. But if I’ve had the satisfaction of wringing your neck at least I’ll die happy. So bring it on bitch!”
“Ah Mr Nixon,” Marie laughed as she spoke, “I thought you’d be first, don’t want to be intimidated by a woman, do you? And I’m sure you want to protect the lovely ladies.”
Nixon wondered if Marie was mad. She must know that all CIA operatives had combat training, and many, himself included, had a lot of experience. But what mattered, he thought, was that he now had an opportunity to kill one of Darlings most valued people. He raised his fists and stepped forward as if to throw a punch at her face, then quickly dropped to a crouching position and swung his right leg to kick her feet from under her and put her on her back. Marie wasn’t fooled by his feint, and  simply stepped over his flailing leg then brought her foot down in a brutal stamp on his ankle. The others winced as they heard the crack of bone breaking, and  Nixons agonised scream as he fell face down on the ground. Marie grabbed both of his legs and forced them up behind his back, the pain now making it impossible for him to resist her, and she pulled his head back with one hand and with other pressed her fingers into the arteries in his neck, maintaining the hold until he was first unconscious and then dead. With an expression like a sated leopard she stood, “Oh dear, your knight in shining armour has let you down. Never mind, who’s next?” Marie was in her element now, “Ingrid. You’ve caused us a lot of trouble, freeing our prisoners and killing one of the gaurds with a knife through the neck. Expertly done, but I expect you took him by surprise. How good are you when your opponents ready for you?”

Her face ashen with fear Ingrids mind raced to try and think of a way to fight this woman, and noticing a large spanner on the ground, it must have fallen fron the landrover when they crashed, she bent and grabbed it and hurled it as hard as she could at Marie, aiming for her head. Again Marie reacted instantly, turning so her side faced the thrown spanner which hit her on the shoulder. A bruising, painful blow which she ignored and, with Ingrid still in the throwing position, her head low, Marie grabbed her hair and propelled her downwards, at the same time  bringing  a knee up to strike  her in the mouth  Ingrid staggered back, her front teeth knocked out and was an easy target for Marie now, who took advantage with a martial arts kick she often used in the gym to break planks of wood. As the the target on this occasion was the other womans kidneys the damage done was awful. In to much pain and shock to even scream Ingrid would have sunk to the ground had Marie not kicked her again, this time hitting her full in the face. Rocked back against the landrover, blood gushing from her shattered nose  Ingrid now had no defence as Marie delivered a sweeping kick to the temple, splintering bone and driving it into her brain. She fell, dead.

Marie was aglow with excitemnt, “I hope somebody is going to give me a better fight than these two managed!” The men with her were agog at what they had seen, clearly thrilled by the carnage, and Marie enjoyed their amazement and wonder at her lethal skills. “Rose” she spoke with a grin, “Your so concerned about ethics, doing whats right, fighting evil doers,” her smile showed her contempt for the American woman, “Well, come and teach the bad girl a lesson.” One of her men, grinning broadly, spoke to her in Portuguese and she laughed. “He really enjoyed that! Ah men, they always love a catfight! But never mind them Rose, lets talk about us. You Americans have always been good at bullying  Latin America, never caring how many you kill in the process,” Maries smile disappeared, “so, Yankee bitch, try it on someone who fights back!”
Rose was calm. There had been times in her CIA career when she’d been in danger and she had always been scared, but now she felt no fear. Maybe, she thought, its when you have a chance of surviving danger you feel frightened, it helps to motivate you to do all you can to stay alive. But now, with no chance of surviving, as she knew there was no possibility of her defeating this murderously efficient amazon, she was calm. Rose was ready to die.

And she probably would have had not a noise behind Marie and her men made them all turn round. It was the Deathbringer, bursting from the forest with giant strides of its metal legs. “Looks like I’m not going to have bother with our gentleman friend,” Marie laughed as she spoke and turned back to face Rose, “So lets watch him die before I deal with you.”

Experience had taught Rose to always respond quickly to changing events, and maybe this, she thought, could provide an opportunity for escape. As the mechanical monster approached, its feet leaving deep imprints in the soft earth, she stepped in front of Rafael, “Don’t move, this thing won’t kill me, I’ll shield you and we’ll see if we can confuse it.” Glancing at him she saw his mouth and eyes were wide with wonder, probably, she thought, because he’s never seen the Deathbringer before. As it stopped within two feet of her and she could see its long, pointed metal teeth she told herself to keep her nerve. It stared at her then reached out with one of its claw like hands to touch her face, and then grabbed the shoulder of her jacket and hurled her to one side. Falling at the edge of the track she hit a tree and was stunned for a second, and when she looked back she saw Rafael was finished. The Deathbringer had lifted him with a hand round his neck, squeezing it and almost decapitating him, but she now had a  chance  as the giant machine was between her and the gunmen, and one step would take her into the forest. Reflecting that this was the best opportunity to escape she was likely to get she leapt into the undergrowth, forcing her way through it, running with all her strength. She kept her head down as she heard the rifles being fired, hoping the thick vegetation would absorb the bullets. One of the men asked Marie if they should pursue her, but she said no, as Rose wouldn’t survive long in the forest on her own.