Fatatatutti Welcomes O5vx (CLOSED, Attn: O5vx)

[Fatatatutti]

"It might be possible to link some of the major cities with fast trains,' the Prime Minister said thoughtfully. "Right now, the only way to travel between them quickly is by air, and that isn't particularly efficient or good for the environment.

"I don't know if there's enough traffic between the cities to justify a major expenditure on trains, though. I'm sure that fast trains would increase the travel between cities. I'm not sure if that's a good idea either.

"But we can certainly look into it. Your people can help us do a feasibility study.

"In the meantime, shall we get back on our lowly bus and see if we can meet some more of the Fatatatutian people?"

[O5vx]

Sure.The president is intrested in working with prim minister chang to criate the best speed trian for them.

[Fatatatutti]

They got back on the bus and back onto the road.

"Hey kids," Marie-Louise called. "Do you want to do me a favour? Tell me when you see a road branching off to the left. That's where we're going to turn off." She looked at the President in the rear-view mirror. "If they have something to do, it'll help them settle down so they won't be too rambunctious now that they're confined to the bus again."

"Did you have that problem with your troops in the field?" the Prime Minister joked.

"More like the opposite," she said. "Before an operation, they'd be nervous and worried. I'd get them to safety-check each other's equipment, tell stories about home, anything to take their minds off the fact that we were about to jump out of an airplane."

The road was still paved but it was just wide enough for two vehicles to pass in opposite directions. There were trees on both sides again and the ocean was just visible now and then.

"There it is! There it is!" they children all called out suddenly. "There it is!"

"Already?" Marie-Louise slowed the bus. "I guess you're right. Thank you. I would have missed it. I was too busy talking and not busy enough watching the road." She turned onto the side road, which was gravelled and narrow.

"Maybe we'll see some logging up here," the Prime Minister said. It usually isn't easy to see from the road because of all the trees that they don't cut. You know, some of the loggers still use horses to pull the logs out of the bush. Most of them use little tractors though.

"And maybe we'll see one of the little narrow-guage railways. They're used to haul logs to the mill. I'm afraid they're not very environmentally friendly. Most of them burn wood."

The road climbed up the shoulder of a mountain, with a steep drop on the right-hand side. They could see out across the tops of the trees to a little silvery stream in the valley below. As they rounded a long curve and came out on top of a ridge, they could see the ocean again behind them. In front of them, the mountains rolled away toward the horizon.

Marie-Louise stopped the bus. "There's a crossroads up ahead. We can continue straight ahead and go further inland or we can go left toward the city or we can go right, further away from the city. I'm going to take another look at the map. Maybe you want to take some pictures."

[O5vx]

The president took some pictures. And sead it time to go for prayer

[Fatatatutti]

"All right," Marie-Louise said. "There's a quiet spot right here beside the road, if that's okay."

[O5vx]

Ok kids let go pray. You can come watch if you whant?

[Fatatatutti]

After prayers, they got back on the bus. The road descended into a dark valley and the ocean disappeared again. The trees were close to the road on both sides and almost seemed to lean over the road but there was still a strip of blue sky visible.

"The crossroads should be up ahead any minute now," Marie-Louise said. "I don't know what's wrong with me today. Everything seems to be closer or farther away than I expect."

Then they saw the crossroads. The trees had been thinned a little so that drivers could see other vehicles coming from other directions. Marie-Louise slowed the bus.

Suddenly, a dark figure stepped out of the trees and onto the road. It was a soldier, dressed in camouflage like Marie-Louise, with a red beret on his head and a rifle slung over his shoulder. He held up his hand for the bus to stop.

"It's okay, "Marie-Louise said, looking in the rear-view mirror at her surprised passengers. "It's probably just a training exercise."

The soldier stepped up to the window. "I'm sorry if I startled you ma'am, but we're...." He looked at her and stopped talking, his mouth still open. "General?"

Marie-Louise smiled. Sometimes it was good to be famous. He face was as good as a password. Just as important, the fact that he recognized her meant that he was legitimate.

"General, I'm sorry. I didn't know...."

"It's all right, Corporal. I didn't expect to find you either. It isn't a problem, is it? You're just training?"

"Yes, General. I mean, no General, there's no problem and yes, General, we're on a training exercise." He made a gesture toward the trees and immediately a half dozen soldiers jumped out and surrounded the bus, rifles ready.

"Stand down! Stand down!" he said, and the others relaxed a bit. "It's General Castro-Stalina." They relaxed a little more.

A young soldier peered curiously in the door, so Marie-Louise opened it. He stepped up on the bottom step, looked at the passengers and almost fainted dead away when he saw the Prime Minister. "Uh, Corporal...."

The first soldier walked around the front of the bus and took his place on the step. "Mr. Prime Minister! I'm sorry...."

The Prime Minister smiled. "Good afternoon, Corporal. It's a lovely day for a roadblock, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir. I mean...."

Marie-Louise smiled. "Relax, Corporal. I hope you don't get this flustered if we're really invaded.

"We're just taking our friends here on a little tour of the island. "This is President Kazeem of O5vx.

"Mr. President, there's nothing to worry about. Our troops train where they might have to fight, so you're lucky to bump into them once in a while. I'm sure they're more professional with the average tourist.

"Corporal, we were just looking for a place to spend the night. Do you know of any place close by?"

"We just jumped in this morning, General, so all I know is what I've seen on the map and what I've heard from the patrols. Our camp is just up the road and back in the trees a klick or so. You're welcome to stay with us."

Marie-Louise turned in her seat to look back at her passengers. "What do you say to spending the night in an Army camp? I don't know about sleeping arrangements but Army food is pretty good and they'll have solar-powered showers. You do have showers, don't you, Corporal?"

"Yes, General."

"What do you say, Mr. President?"

[O5vx]

First of all i will like to thank you all for your dedicated job that you. It will be an honor to speend the night with you. When i was in amy i use to go out on patrol and when i cam back it was with friends. And i will like to make a speech tomorrow befor we go.

[Fatatatutti]

"It will be an honour to have you as our guests, Mr. President," the corporal said. "General, instead of giving you directions, I'll have one of my people drive you, if that's all right."

"Of course," Marie-Louise smiled.

"Hendrix!" the corporal called.

"A short young soldier stepped forward. "Corporal."

"Would you drive this bus back to our camp, please?"

"Yes, Corporal."

Marie-Louise got out of the driver's seat and went back to sit with the President and his family. Hendrix took her place.

"I'll radio them to expect you," the corporal said. "The platoon commander is Lieutenant Svoboda."

"Thank you, Corporal."

He stepped down from the bus and signaled to the soldiers and they soon disappeared into the trees.

Hendrix drove the bus through the crossroads and into the tunnel of trees on the far side. A half-kilometer or so later, he slowed and turned off the road. There was no trail. He just drove between the trees as if he knew where he was going. Sometimes, branches brushed the sides of the bus. The children didn't seem to be sure whether the bumpy ride was frightening or fun.

"Sorry about the road, folks," Hendrix said. "We weren't exactly expecting a bus. We walked in from the DZ."

"A DZ is a drop zone," Marie-Louise explained. "These soldiers came in by parachute. The DZ is where they landed.

"You've seen how rough the terrain can be in some parts of Fatatatutti. If they need to protect something like that crossroads, it would take too long to get there by road, so they parachute in."

Soon they were an a sort of clearing. At least the trees were thinner. There were a few soldiers moving about and they looked up when the bus appeared. One of them ran toward the bus and waved it toward a parking place.

"Thank you, Hendrix." Marie-Louise was the first to step off the bus. The camp consisted of little more than a couple of tents and some gear piled here and there.

A young man wearing a helmet came striding toward her with his hand extended. "General Castro-Stalina, it's a pleasure to meet you."

She shook his hand. "Lieutenant Svoboda. I have the Prime Minister with me and also some distinguished guests, President Kazeem of O5vx and his family. We're just taking a quick tour of the countryside and we were wondering if we could spend the night here."

"Of course, General."

"The President and his family are Muslim, so they'll need a private place for prayers."

"Of course, General. There are lots of private places in the woods. It's all private, really, when we're not here. I can station a sentry to make sure they're not disturbed."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Do you mind if i ask, Why are you wearing a helmet? Expecting an attack?"

"No, General," he smiled, a little flustered. "Just force of habit."

"Well, we don't want to make our guests nervous, do we?"

"No, General," he replied, taking off his helmet to reveal closely-cropped blond hair. Without the helmet, he looked much younger.

"Let me introduce you. You already know the Prime Minister. And this is President Kazeem and his First Lady. And these are their lovely children. I'm sorry, I haven't gotten all of their names straight yet."

[O5vx]

The president moveing close to his kids and wife. I better do the introduction then smileing. He move closer to his wife this is my wondeful wife her his sande. The Lutendent move close to shake hands. Welcome to our camp. it an honor to meet you. The First Lade repply. And then president point to his son Sam his 13. My douter Isha She his 16. Jonanana She his 18. Kristen She is 1O. And those are my angels.

[Fatatatutti]

Marie-Louise smiled. "I would have gotten that all wrong." She turned to the Lieutenant. "One stick?"

He nodded. "The second platoon is a few clicks down the side road. there's a bridge there."

Marie-Louise turned to the President and his family. "A stick is sixty-four paratroopers. That's how may will fit into one C-130 transport. Each stick has two platoons of thirty-two each.

"If Fatatatutti was attacked, we'd have to control the roads and the bridges to prevent the enemy from moving around. So our paratroopers pracitice parachuting into an area like this and setting up roadblocks at crossroads and bridges and so on. Of course, in a real war, it would take more than two platoons to control that road. We only have big exercises once in a while though."

Lieutenant Svoboda beckoned to a passing soldier. "Watson, grab Crick and clean up the bus' tracks back to the road, please."

"Yes, Lieutenant."

The Lieutenant turned to the President. "It's just routine. If there were enemies out there, we wouldn't want your tracks leading them to us, would we?"

Marie-Louise added, "We also try to clean up any damage we do to the environment or people's property. In war, there isn't always time to do that, but it's always a good idea to leave things the way you found them."

"I'm sorry I don't have anybody in camp right now to show you around, the Lieutenant said. "I've got patrols out checking for farmhouses and things like that. When they get back, we'll only have night sentries out and we'll be able to take better care of you.

"The President and his family can sleep in the command tent if they like. We're not really using it anyway except for communications equipment. I'll get it cleared out for you as soon as I can."

"Thank you," Marie-Louise smiled. "Our original plan was to sleep on the bus, so this is an improvement. I think I'll leave the bus to the Prime Minister and I'll sleep on the ground.

"Where has the Prime Minister gotten to?" She looked around and saw him strolling around the camp. "Kids," she said, "you can have a look around, but don't go too far and don't touch anything, please. The Army carries some dangerous things around with them. If you have any questions, just ask me."

[O5vx]

The president whent around the camp with the prim minister he wanted to know more about the camp.epeopledemocraticparty

[Fatatatutti]

"The Army trains with live ammunition sometimes," the Prime Minister smiled. "Any weapons you see could be deadly. We hope we don't have to use them, but if we do, we want to be ready."

Soldiers were coming into the camp in groups of two or three. Some of them looked curiously at the Prime Minister and he waved cheerily. "It bothers me sometimes that they're so young," he said. "Some of them are no older than your children. I'd hate to have to send them to war."

Marie-Louise came toward them. She had to wave at the returning soldiers too as they recognized her. "Mr. Prime Minister, I've arranged for you to call home if you want to to let them know where you are and that you won't be back tonight.

"Mr. President, you'll soon be seeing how well our army eats. Every soldier carries at least enough MRE's for three days - that's Meal, Ready to Eat. It's a whole meal that just has to be heated. I think we have a choice of lasagna or chicken salad tonight. I've already checked to make sure there are no pork products on the menu.

"And any time you're ready for prayers, we'll show you to a quiet spot just outside the camp."

[O5vx]

Well on the yong solder isusse we have a lot of older solder we could send to help out the yong solders.

I think it almost time to go and pray.

The president send for the kids so they can go pray.

I like praying in the jungle when i was in the army.

So were are those kids.

The food sound like what i use to eat.

[Fatatatutti]

"There's a quiet spot right over here where you can pray," Marie-Louise said. "We'll round up the kids and send them over.

"You know, we do have a lot of experienced soldiers too. But I like your idea of sending some of your experienced soldiers over. We could send some to you too, to exchange ideas."

She showed him to a little spot that was almost completely surrounded by bushes, like a little room with the sky for a ceiling. "Here's your little mosque in the jungle," she smiled.

[O5vx]

The president and his family whent to pray for a will they were praying. The president wanted to know if it is posible to have the solders can have meal with them.

[Fatatatutti]

"Certainly, we'll be eating with the soldiers," Marie-Louise smiled. "About half of the platoon is in camp. The rest is on sentry duty or down by the crossroads. So we'll borrow some mess kits from the ones who aren't here.

"We'll share the rest of our fresh fruit with them. They haven't been on a very long campaign and the MREs are very good, but they still appreciate something different once in a while.

"I think you said earlier that you wanted to speak to the soldiers. Now would be a good time, since they're all by the fire, ready for supper."

[O5vx]

My Fellow dedicated solders of Fatatatitu. I am most grateful for you worm welcome that you have bestolde on my family tonight. It is with grate pride that i admair your courage to this noble profession. The job of an army is one that is very important to the world at large. As you protect the intrest and values of your people bear inmind that the rule of law must be followed. I am exsited and happy to tell you all that prim minister change and i have talk about sending some of you to o5vx and bringing som

[O5vx]

some of our trianed solders here. I hope with you help we can make our relationship envyous. Thank you and enjoy your foods

[Fatatatutti]

"Thank you Mr. President.," the Prime Minister smiled. "My younger daughter, Harmony, was in the Army for a while, and she was Defense Minister for a while. I have never been in the Army myself, but I like to think we take care of our soldiers as if they were all our own sons and daughters.

"Now, I suggest that you all dig in. As you may have noticed, Fatatatutians are a very hungry people and our soldiers are no exception. They have a tendency to eat like they haven't been fed in days."

Marie-Louise smiled as she helped the children with their mess kits. "We'll be going to bed pretty soon after supper," she said. "Soldiers tend to go to bed with the sun and get up with the sun. There's no electricity out here and they don't like to carry a lot of batteries around.

"Mr. President, we'll be heading back toward the city tomorrow. We can take it slow and talk to some more people along the way if you want. Or we can go straight back to the city if you're in a hurry."

[O5vx]

I like geting to know new people so it will be grate. As we still gote all next week.know hury right kids.

[Fatatatutti]

The next morning...

Marie-Louise was a little stiff from sleeping on the ground. The soldiers were up and gone on patrol already, so there was nobody else in sight.

The Prime Minister stepped down from the bus and walked awkwardly toward her. "Are you as stiff as I am?" he asked. "I think maybe we're getting a little too old to sleep out in the wild like this." He smiled.

"Well, a warm shower should fix us right up." Marie-Louise ran her fingers through her hair to comb out the braids. "The water has been in the sun for a couple of hours, so you can go ahead and start if you like. I'll wait until after our guests are finished, just in case there isn't enough hot water."

"Ordinarily, I'd be a good host and do the same," the Prime Minister said, "but just this once, I think I'll take advantage of my position and have the first shower. I hope you won't hold it against me at election time."

"Go ahead. I'm going to put the coffee on so it will be ready when the family gets up."

[O5vx]

The president and his family who slept confortable through the night. Woke up to a bright and sunny. It was just the pafect time to take advantage of the sun to take shawer. The president and his wife who are not use to sharing washroom enjoy there shawer togther in the wilde. The president rember the old times when he will go out and enjoy the shawer with one of his friend in the army. He and his wife work over to say good morning to there host before the kids are ready.

[Fatatatutti]

"Your breakfast is ready," Marie-Louise smiled.

"I hope you don't mind the lack of privacy. We don't usually have male and female soldiers showering together, but you know there can be awkward moments once in a while when they're living so close together.

"Private Hendrix will be here to drive us back to the road whenever you're ready. I'm afraid we won't get a chance to say goodbye to the rest of the soldiers since they're all busy on their exercise.

"And now, if the coast is clear, I'm going to have my shower while you eat." She headed for the showers to see if there was any hot water left.

[O5vx]

Janada who was 18 would want her parent stope calling her kid so she and the others work over to were there parent were standing. She tolde marry Lious that the was still more water in the washroom. It will be a grate time to set the table for the food. The first ladey who is use to doing so even thoe she as mades offer to help with a smille on her rosey checks.