"Five years ago we overthrew a tyrant that sought to be king."

"He had declared he with his communist conspirators would make our nation a workers haven. He used force to seize power from an elected president. He used force to hold on to power."

"As all other communist regimes they used terror to control the people. They robbed the people to make themselves rich. They made the people slaves, surfs to the king."

"We must be a free people. When I became General of the Army I swore to protect the freedom of the people of this nation. When the tyrant stole power I was left with a choice, to protect the people by attacking the illegal government or to protect the king by enslaving the people. I chose the people.

There was applause. When it died down he continued.

"It has been a hard road to weed out those that conspired against the people."

Another applause.

"It has been a hard road to reestablish democracy."

Applause.

"We have held national elections for a president and legislature. We are again a free people."

The crowd broke out in loud applause and chants of "we are free."

"Last week your newly elected representatives took office and swore to serve and protect the people. They swore to protect the rights of the people."

Applause.

"Your legislature approved my appointments of judges to serve until your new president can make his own appointments."

"Today we are to swear in our new ELECTED president."

Applause.

"There shall not be a king in this land."

Applause.

"The government and military shall never again be above the people. They exist only to serve the people."

Applause.

"So my beloved people. I have broken your shackles of slavery and lead you back to democracy. But as Moses could not lead the people to the Promise Land I must step aside and let you, my people, go on without me."

People shouted pleas for him to stay and guide them. But he silenced them.

"My friends. I seized power. I took it from a tyrant and his thugs, but I took control by force. I am a man of war. A man of peace must lead you. I must leave so your elected representatives will not be hindered by my shadow."

"Hold on to freedom with both hands. It is not something achieved and forever held. You, the citizens of this nation, must be the guarantors of your freedom. You must oppose all, both foreign and domestic, that would again make you slaves. You must not deny anyone their freedom to express ideas. Such is a sure road to tyranny. The truth freely spoken can destroy all that would seek to destroy your freedoms. Learn what freedom means and how to hold on to it."

He started a chant of "FREEDOM." As the people chanted he turned and walked away from the podium and out of sight.

The inauguration went on without him.

Latter that afternoon he said his farewells to his former staff and friends as well as the new leaders of the nation. He had insisted that he would leave alone. He boarded his small fishing yacht, drew in the lines as they were detached from the pier and started his engine. He waved as he pulled away from the pier.

They watched his yacht as it sailed out of the harbor and turned to go down the coastline. They started to drift away to the celebrations of the new government.

There was a boom that startled everyone. It was soft and distant. No one was even certain which direction it came from.

On the horizon there was smoke that started to rise.

"The General" someone whispered.

The yacht had blown up. The investigation never found his body. There was no evidence it was anything but a very tragic accident.

The nation had a week of morning. The General had left instructions in case of his death that any funeral be very quite and simple. They were not to praise him but the people and freedom.

The legislature voted to erect a monument. As per the General's wishes the statue was not directly praising him. It was of his kneeling to break the chains from the wrist of a child.

Years later.

Tom Bane just finished interviewing the last of the witnesses to the General's yacht blowing up as it left the harbor. He did not find anything that the investigation had missed. He was hoping to find some thing more to the end of this General that the people revered for giving them democracy. But it appeared that the man that had survived numerous assassinations attempts fell to a simple spark in the engine.

He decided to take his jeep to the shoreline closest to the yacht when is exploded. Maybe there he would find some inspiration for the ending of the book he had written.

Walking along the beach he noticed a pier down the coast on which was an old man. He went over to strike up a conversation.

"Hello friend."

"Hello, Hello. I mean Hello." That was the last intelligent thing the old man said. His pier did not reach the water.

But there was one thing that he said that interested Tom. The old man remembered the day of the explosion. He said that he recalled something being thrown off the yacht as it passed between the pier and the other yacht. The old man also said that the man pulled in a big fish after the explosion.

The investigation report did mention a yacht that the General passed before the explosion. They had been fishing. The investigators did question the three men on board from America and had not found anything suspicious. After the yacht had been examined and they found that the explosion came from an engine malfunction the men were allowed to leave.

Tom decided to follow up on the boat. Maybe he could find the men and interview them.

He was able to get the names from the investigator and found out where they were headed. But when he at their destination the boat was listed with only two men.

Two weeks of further investigating the movements of the yacht lead him to a very remote island. This island was occupied by an old fisherman and his dog. The fisherman was a real longer. The village that he took his boat to for supplies was a three-hour ride in calm waters. The villagers said that he never spoke to anyone. Even when he bought a drink he would sit by himself. If someone tried to talk with him he would get up and leave. So nobody bothered him any more.

Tom was able to get a boat from the village and ride out to the island. He landed the boat and searched for the fisherman. It was dark when he found him huddled over a fire cooking his dinner.

He entered the clearing where the old man was seated in front of a fire where he was cooking a fish. Before he could fully walk out of the woods the old man swung around and trained a rifle on him.

He threw up his hands so fast that he lost grip of his camera.

"Who are you?" The old man shouted.

"Tom Bane, I am not armed." He said with a tremble in his voice. He never did deal well with fear when looking down the barrel of a gun. But at least he did not wet his pants.

The old man looked him over carefully. "What do you want?"

He got bold, lowered his hands and stepped forward. Before he could finish his first step a bullet hit between his feet. Tom jumped back, putting his hands as high as he could reach.

"I'm a writer, a writer."

"And what is a writer doing on this island."

"I am doing research for a book that I am writing."

"And what are you writing about?"

"The life and death of General Romerez."

"Do I have to keep asking questions or are you going to give me a full explanation?"

"Yes, of course. I am researching why he left Cuscu and his death. I found that there was a boat nearby when his yacht blew up. I am trying to interview everyone on the boat. In tracking the boat I found that someone meeting your general description left the boat in this area. So, I came here to interview you to find out what you saw the day of the explosion."

"Why do you think I was on the boat?"

"You first showed up on this island at the same time the boat was in the area. Were you on the boat?"

The old man lowered his gun and sat down. He motioned for Tom to join him at the fire.

The old man stared silently into the fire.

"General."

The old man looked up at him quickly.

"General, why did you fake your death?"

He looked back into the fire. "What am I to do with you? How did you figure it out."

"A man on the beach at the time noticed a splash from something leaving your yacht and then an extra person on the other boat. Then I found that the boat lost a passenger here. I figured the only logical explanation was that you faked your death with the CIA's help. You retired to the island to stay out of the public eye."

"That was good detective work Tom. I thought my friends had thought of everything when making me disappear. Tell me, why nobody else followed up on what your witness saw."

"The man is a drunkard. Likely nobody thought to interview him or did not take him seriously."

He shook his head. "I thought Col. Martinez would not miss a thing. I do not know whether to be happy or disappointed."

"General. Shy did you do it? You had the power to have gone into retirement without leaving the country."

"No, I could not have." He said sternly as if rebuking a foolish student."

The General continued. "I explained in my speech why I had to leave. As long as I stayed the nation would look to me for leadership, not their elected officers. There was too much risk that regardless of what I said a civil war could begin to restore me to power or someone that claimed to have my blessings."

"But why fake your death?"

"Because it did not matter where I lived, as long as I lived the people would have looked to me. I was a dictator. My hands became bloody leading my people to freedom. There had to be a clean break from me so that democracy could take hold."

"Why come to this island? You could have disappeared but stay in comfort with the CIA's help."

"I could not have asked the CIA to support me. Neither could I take money from my country. Besides, all I ever wanted in life since my wife died was to fish. I have all I want here."

"General...."

"Wait." He raised his hand to stop him. "It is late. You are welcome to share my cabin tonight. We will talk in the morning."

The sun was well up by time Tom woke up. The General was nowhere to be found. Even his few personal items were gone.

He realized that he would again disappear, with or without the CIA's help. Silently he wished the General luck. He deserved peace.

He knew how he would end the book. He would let the General die in the explosion. The free nation he gave life to needed a fresh chance.

All rights reserved by George William Sweeney

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