On Friday morning, Popov was up early and waiting to catch Ivan before he left the hotel. His room was three doors down from Ivan's door. The big Russian sat near the door he kept cracked open.

Popov was asked by Adolf to make contact with Ivan as soon as possible. He needed to inform Ivan that the Minute Men were there to extract him once their plan could be put into action.

They'd already begun surveillance on Ivan's handlers, and they were developing a plan to neutralize them with the least amount of fireworks. Once the pieces were in place, John Carl would take over. He'd call the shots.

Popov heard Ivan's door open. He stood and stepped out into the hall as Ivan was locking his door. As soon as he turned around, the floor seemed to come out from under him. Ivan was sure he was seeing things. There was an apparition in the hallway and it looked just like Popov.

At first Ivan contemplated going for his gun, but you didn't shoot ghosts. When Popov put his index finger up to his lips, Roland backed out of his room, locking his door before finding himself standing between the big Russian fisherman and Ivan.

"What?" Roland said.

"In my room. Is safe. We are needing to talk."

Popov explained his room was swept the night before. There were no bugs, but he turned on the faucet as he was instructed anyway. He was told it would mask their conversation should they have missed something. They needed to keep the element of surprise on their side.

Popov explained his involvement, starting with Clay asking him to come to get Ivan. There was the mix up with Harry's plan and a military contractor smart enough to make the most of impediments. Putting Clay's plan with Harry's plan, here Popov was.

Ivan couldn't believe his ears. Both Harry and Clay met in the middle of plans to come for him, and Popov was in the middle of the rescue. For the first time Ivan became sure he was going home. He'd seen a lot of scenarios in his head. He hadn't seen this one.

After the briefing, when they stood ready to go down for the morning's first cup of tea, Ivan hugged his big Russian friend.

"Thank you, Popov. You don't know how good it is to see you."

"It is time for you to come home. Popov comes to see to it. Good men come with me. You'll see."

"What do I do?" Roland asked, unsure he had a place in the plan.

"Exactly what you've been doing," Ivan said. "You're the only reason I'm still sane, My friend. Keep doing what you've been doing. We might make it out of here alive."

Roland smiled. They left Popov to make their morning appearance at the tea house.

*****

At the time of the meeting at the hotel, Ken Ho is receiving a briefing from one of his undercover assets. He sat up in bed to hear what the man came to say. He'd been watching Ivan and his handlers since Jon Ho reported on the plan to kill his father.

"I was told a North American Airline landed Thursday, General. It had a military type of group on board. They met with another man who has been at the tea house often. They took up residence in the hotel where Ivan and his bodyguard are staying. There is a big Russian with them. He's with them, but he's an independent operator. He isn't with them but he came with them. I'm watching to see why."

"They came in that huge North American Airliner. They can't possibly believe no one is going to notice it sitting there. They must be planning to move fast. You need to do what you plan to do, or Ivan will be gone soon, I think."

"Describe the men who came on that plane," Ken Ho said.

"There are a dozen. Some stay on the plane. Three or four are soldiers. They immediately contacted their assets who are watching the Americans who came with Ivan. They are most interested in Ivan's handlers. I'm sure they've studying how they'll get Ivan out of their reach. If you intend to talk to him, General, you should make contact soon. These men are serious players. Once they move, Ivan will be gone within hours. On that airliner I suspect."

"Tell Jon Ho I need him to go to Ivan with a message. Find a way to speak to one of this new team. We don't want to make a misstep that gets people needlessly killed. Send two of my best men with Jon Ho. They're to watch the handlers while Jon Ho talks to Ivan. He'll explain what I am planning. By now the new team is in touch with him and we can head off any complications."

"Yes, Sir," the morning visitor told Ken Ho.

"Breakfast this morning, General?" his aide asked.

"Yes, I am hungry this morning. I should have a visitor soon. I want to be strong. I didn't know what to do about Ivan, but it seems someone has come for him. They'll need to wait for me to get finished with him. Coffee. Bring me a cup of coffee."

*****

Ivan and Roland carried on as usual. There was a Filipino man seated at a back table. Popov came in and sat with him. They sipped tea and ate sweet bread. Brock and Lance were the morning team. Lance watched Ivan. Ivan watched the window. Roland watched Ivan.

There was no reason to change their movements yet. Ivan needed to wait for the army that came to rescue him to make their move. He'd been in Phnom Penh for way too long. It seemed like he'd been away from Clay for way too long. He'd stay calm and wait for someone to make the first move. If they took their time, they should be able to move without killing anyone, but Ivan wasn't sure of that.

The Company could send an army to get in the way of anyone messing in their business. It was important not to give them a reason to send in reinforcements before Ivan was on his way home. The people Popov were with surely knew the lay of the land. They wouldn't move until they were ready.

A little before it was time to go get lunch, an Indian man from India came in and took a seat at the table with the Filipino man. Popov was gone and a black man came in and took a seat at the same table fifteen minutes later. Ivan was sure he'd seen most of the team. They fit into the tea house far better than the American handlers did.

Ivan could have passed for part Middle Eastern or Northwestern Asian or Eastern European. His Lithuanian heritage gave him an ability to fit in with almost any group, including Americans.

Most of the visitors to the tea house were Southeast Asian, but a wide variety of people came and went. Ivan watched the window. He wanted to see who or what was coming. Most people who came into the tea house walked in front of the window first.

Popov was waiting for Ivan and Roland to cross the street to go to lunch. He'd been briefed on Ivan's routine. After Ivan and Roland went in to eat, Popov followed them inside. The sight of Popov created a confidence in Ivan that wasn't there before the big Russian arrived, and Van's handlers paid little attention to where Ivan went to eat. They knew he'd be right where they expected him to be, when they expected him to be there, because if he wasn't, there'd be hell to pay.

This gave Ivan and the Minute Men a lot of time to work with. As long as the Company men didn't know the Minute Men were on the scene, even while they drank tea in the same tea house, there was no hurry to take Ivan out of there.

If the Minute Men could appease a local official, they would. John Carl insisted on it. He'd worked in concert with the Company more than once, and having that experience told him that the closer Ivan got to fulfilling his contract, the safer he'd be.

Regardless, in the end, the Minute Men would deliver Ivan and Popov to Tampa before month's end. Their fee was hefty enough that it was best not to overtax even the richest of employers. They depended on their reputation to attract employers, but no job was really done, until it was well done.

They could grab Ivan and run and be out of there in less than a week, but that would put Ivan on the spot. He signed a contract. Coercion in getting someone's signature on a contract was null-and-void in a court of law, but they weren't dealing with legal and illegal. The Company wasn't bound by law. It worked out best when you didn't push them too far off the outcome they had in mind. Letting them think Ivan was fulfilling his obligation to the Company would go a long way once they realized the outcome couldn't be achieved.

The entry of General Kenji into the equation didn't do any harm to the Minute Men, and they were still working in the shadows, so the Company men would be left to deal with Ivan being taken by the man they were trying to off.

They didn't know why Ivan was taken, or how they might get him back, but with Ivan and the general being in the same spot, they saw an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, and Lance had a pistol full of stones he was dying to use.

Ivan, Roland, and Popov had a pleasant Thai lunch. There was an attempt at a complete information exchange. Popov had brought all the information the Minute Men wanted Ivan to know. In turn, Ivan told Popov everything he thought might be useful.

One of the Minute Men's assets, brought General Kenji's message to John Carl the day after he arrived. Being fast on his feet, he listened without having an immediate reaction to what he was told.

While Ivan, Roland, and Popov sat eating lunch, General Kenji's aide sat down across from John Carl at the nearly empty tea house.

"The general wishes Ivan to be his guest for a couple of days."

"Why have you come to me with this?" John Carl asked, seemingly oblivious to the undercurrents present at the tea house.

"You are Major John Carl of the United States Marine Corp, retired of course. You are the right hand man of Bob Alexander, former marine, and the contractor who runs your Minute Men. You are here to extract Ivan. We will assist you in that endeavor, after the general and Ivan have time to visit. General Kenji will let you know when their meeting is coming to a conclusion, and we'll work in concert with you to assure a safe exit."

Halfway through the briefing, John Carl broke into a smile. He'd need to clear the new arrangement with Bob, but it was so well executed and so innocuous concerning his mission, there was no reason to try to find fault with the general's precise plan.

"Tell me when and how you plan to remove Ivan from under the nose of his handlers, and my men will help sell your move. Give the general my compliments. Tell him I'm at his service if I can help."

John spoke of needing to advise Bob Alexander of the change over a secure communication device, but he knew Bob well enough to know there wouldn't be a problem. There was no reason not to cooperate with the general. Getting into a pissing contest with the Cambodian army while in Cambodia, didn't seem like a good move.

John Carl elected to inform Popov of what was coming, but he told Popov not to inform Ivan what was going down the following day. If Ivan didn't know what was coming, he couldn't anticipate it and give his handlers a reason to be suspicious something was coming.

*****

I took the time with the film clip that came out of my camera the day before. Dealing with an image no one could identify reduced my fear of what it might be. If it meant us harm, I'd have been dead.

When Bill and Logan were getting ready for the next morning's dive, I got ready beside them. No one said anything to me, but Logan watched me pulling on my wet suit. I carried my flippers, mask, and tanks to the deck, handing them down to Dolf, when it was my turn to go down the ladder after Bill and Logan went down.

I stuck close to Logan and he kept an eye on me. We set up almost where my camera was the day before. There were no shadows. Nothing hovered over us. The day was calm and underwater conditions hadn't changed.

I did the film I'd been doing for several weeks. We were leaving this spot the next day. I could have passed on today's dive, but I wanted to come back to where we'd seen the thing. I needed to face up to my fear and realize there wasn't anything in the water to be afraid of that wasn't in the water two and three days before. They'd be there tomorrow and they'd be there after we were on Guam.

Logan once again went back to the ruins. The murky water was greatly reduced, and we could see much of the foundation of the ruins. This was exciting to me because I could see the ruins more clearly than ever. I couldn't wait to set up and Logan and I both filmed for half the time we were underwater.

When I looked up, Bill was behind the reef and near the ruins. When I looked his way, he gave me a thumbs up. Bill was trying. I didn't want to be angry with him, but I was. I waved and went back to my work on and around the ruins.

I was sure I got some of the best footage that had been taken behind the reef. I never gave a thought to the trench a few yards away. My excitement kept me focused on that mysterious place.

Logan gave the signal to surface and I didn't realize we were down to less than ten minutes of air. It seemed like I'd just gotten down there. It made me smile. Everything went smoothly and before I knew it, I was sitting on the platform, getting out of my gear.

"See anything down there. Was the thing there?"

"No, but we got some great film of the ruins," I said.

Dolf was disappointed. Captain Hertzog stood on the catwalk as I came up the ladder and hit the deck. I waved. He waved back. It should have been apparent that the morning dive had gone well.

I didn't plan to dive in the afternoon. I wanted to stay in the film lab to see how much clearer the pictures of the ruins might be. I wasn't sure if we'd dive in the morning. I didn't know if I'd dive in the morning. By the afternoon, we'd be on our way to Guam.

I'd give some thought to what I wanted to do once I got there.