Free PULAU MATI by John L. Evans

only decorations on it were tattered posters of scantily clad or nude young women.  The other three walls were about three feet high up to a railing and made of the same woven material.  The hut was open from the railings up to the overhanging roof.  From the roof hung rolled up screens made of split bamboo that looked like they could be dropped down to break the wind. Ten unmade cots, most with plastic boxes or chests at one end, took up the sides.  In the center a propane stove, a sink without a faucet and a table formed a kitchen.  Against the back wall stood a rusty beige colored, six foot high metal cabinet with two doors.  Beside the cabinet were shelves that held bags of staples like rice and beans and jars with sugar, salt and meal of some kind.  The stink and squalor of the place gave Gray an uneasy feeling. There was no sign of a woman’s or child’s presence.
    The cabinet was flimsy and Gray guessed he could break into it with little trouble using one of the heavy knives from the kitchen.  Something made him reluctant to do so.
    “Here’s some shampoo,” Anna said, holding up a scummy bottle.  “Maybe we could wash off the jet fuel and salt in the pool.”
    Gray nodded absently.
    Using two fingers only, Anna held up a towel that was in dire need of laundering and grimaced.  “They live like pigs here,” she said,
    “I’m thinking of breaking into the cabinet,” he said to her.”
    “The situation warrants it,” she replied.  “It may contain something we need.”
    Lex and Melanie came back into the hut.  The young man was excited.  “Gray, you should check out the dock.  It leads out into this bay that is so clear you can see the bottom and the fish and crabs.”
    “Mmmm, crab would make a nice lunch.  Any traps out there?”
    Lex raised a finger grinning.  “I’ll look!   There are also coconuts just laying around,” he said and turned to leave.
    “Hang on a minute , guys.  I have some thoughts about this place and they are not good.  I’m going to open the cabinet.”
    “Sure.  What are you thinking?” Lex asked.
    Gray did not answer.  He grabbed a meat cleaver from a box of filthy knives and eating utensils and stepped to the cabinet.  Before prying at the door he grabbed the handle and gave it a jerk upward and the door opened.
    “Oh, that’s how it works!  Like a school locker.  Duh!” Lex said, sounding embarrassed.
    Gray pulled both doors open.   A couple of rusty AK-47s leaned against the back.  A dozen canvas bandoliers were stacked to the side.  He lifted one up and exposed the end of an olive drab device that looked like a large flattened plastic brick curved into a slight crescent.  Boxes of ammunition and an old revolver lay on a shelf toward the top. A few odd canned goods took up the rest of the shelving.
    “Huh,” Lex said, shaking his head.  “Why would anybody leave guns in a n unlocked cabinet?”
    “Probably because no one in this part of the world would steal from these guys.  I think they are pirates.”
    Melanie laughed.  “Pirates!  You aren’t serious?”
    “Is that a Claymore mine ?” Lex asked, pointing to the device Gray held in his hand.
    “ Good call, my man.  I hope they don’t have some of these set up on trip wires around here.  We had better watch where we walk.”
    “Pirates!” Melanie again exclaimed in a skeptical tone.
    “Pirates!” Gray repeated, mocking her tone.  “Only these are Asian but they still board ships and rape and plunder.”
    Melanie shook her head.  Lex looked a little less skeptical.   A fearful expression came to Dayah’s face.
    Gray said, “The y probably have an old rusty trawler that can launch speed boats for hauling boarding parties.”
    “What would they use mines for?” Lex asked.
    Gray shrugged.  “I don’t know.  Maybe these are just booty they saved for some reason.  Maybe they use them as some anti-boarding weapon once they have taken over a ship.  This area is