The Spook

For some reason, my mind on Sunday strayed during the sermon and faded back several decades to when I was where I should not have been.....

I was in a less than exciting country, in a less than exciting town and walking up to a dirty little pub on a winter's day.  I was supposed to meet a guy from a company in the US whom was having problems with an operating system I knew well.  I had been hired to sort of help him along by answering some questions.  A man stood outside the pub door, black trenchcoat on, one foot resting on a foundation stone, while his body rested against the door frame.  He was smoking a pipe with a very pleasant blend of tobacco - very unusual in these parts.

Probably police I figured, they were everywhere in this country and all of them dressed exactly alike.  He also had an air about him of complete and total control - the kind of guy whom others fear either physically or politically.

He waved his pipe towards the door I was almost at and said, "Don't want to go in there."  And, in darn good English too!

I looked at him in question and he continued, "Been a fight.  Five men killed.  A very big clean up."

He offered to take me to lunch at a better place.  Pretty much, in that country, if a man in a black trenchcoat offers to take you anywhere, you go - or someone will be cleaning you up off the floor in short order.

My mind raced through this information.  Police blocking door, guy I am supposed to help was supposed to have been in there, lots of dead bodies to be cleaned up.  Yup, Kris got snookered by whomever employed one of those dead men.  He must have been hired to hack a system I had written the operating system to.  I was shafted, he must have been a spy, killed four others sent to detain him, and this policeman?  He probably was the one whom had just killed him and now he wanted to have 'lunch' with me! 

We had a very interesting lunch. He had no real interest in me.  I was just passing through the area and going for lunch after all, and I really did not know anyone in town.  To him, I was just a westerner to practice his English on.  Then he discovered my hunting interests and we became almost instant friends.

In the strangest of circumstances, we not only ran into each other often every year after this, but also all over the world.  Now in my life, there are no coincidences - only God's opportunities.  In this stranger's life there were also no coincidences, but opportunities for conspiracies to be ferreted out.  I have no doubt he came to the conclusion I was a spy or on some sort of intelligence gathering mission, so he played along.  From his viewpoint at the time, that first chance meeting might have been his ticket to promotion.  From my viewpoint - he was a mighty hard rock to witness to.

Across the years I was to learn he was actually a member of the Security Services - spell that one S-P-Y and hysterically enough his name actually translated in to English as Spook!  He thought that quite funny when I told him several years later.  But, I had him dead to rights when we crossed paths in of all places, Nicaragua.  This time I was there as part of a mining venture and he, well, let us say he was heavily armed with something I am also quite good with.  So, I think he understood now that I was not a member of a foreign power but a businessman - and well yeah, he actually flushed when he saw me - he was so surprised.  He bought the drinks that night.
 
Yeah, I think I am going to tell you more about him this week.  It is bringing back all sorts of pleasant memories.....