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we could get the Viking boats or those Haida canoes and get back to the mainland.”
    Doug stared at him without emotion.  The man seemed pretty well informed if he knew the canoes belonged to the Haida, a warlike native people who lived on the islands off the coast of British Columbia and southern Alaska.
    “What did you have in mind?  I would think that with the helicopter you could just go take those boats without any help.   What can they do against your machine guns and rockets?”
    “It isn’t the taking that we are worried about.  The four of us couldn’t do much to row a large boat or canoe.  We need a plan that involves capture, retraining and operations.  We will need the people we capture to provide most of the muscle.”
    Never taking his eyes of the Pirate for a second, Doug reached over toward Erin and took her hand in his.  “We need to consider your offer.  We will let you know in one hour.” 
    “Fine.  Pardon us if we don’t wait here for now.  We will return in one hour and land over by those graves you were digging earlier.  If you are going to work with us, we will exchange two of our people for two of yours.  Then together we will go after the boats we need.”
    Both Doug and the pilot jumped when Erin suddenly broke her silence and said, “Why don’t we just ask the people with boats if they would work with us?  It seems like a better strategy than attacking them and trying to steal their boats.”
    “One hour.”  The pilot got back into the small helicopter and was joined by the three other men.  He started up the engine and lifted off, flying quickly out to sea at a very low altitude and then making a sharp turn towards the north. 
    Erin turned towards Doug.  “They are planning to kill us all, aren’t they?”
    “Absolutely.  And they won’t wait for an hour.  This ‘meeting’ was just a scouting mission.  It is interesting they were watching us earlier.  They must have people somewhere in the forest around us.”  With that, they turned and ran back towards the forest where Tom, Megan and the rest were waiting.

 
    Chapter 4
    “What did he tell you?”  Tom was the first to come forward to ask what had been discussed.  “I thought about just shooting them but I didn’t want to dishonor the white flag.”
    “They were just buying time.  I’ll bet that squad of men we saw pursuing John is out there getting ready to attack us.  This little theater production was put on to stall for time while they get into position and for the helicopter gang to locate where we are hiding.”  Doug knelt down once he got within the cover of the forest and he waved for the others to circle around him.  “You too, Gaby.”  He saw her hesitancy and wanted to reassure her that it was going to be all for one the rest of the way.
    “Our smooth-talking buddy with the helicopter proposed we work together to get the Viking and Haida boats so we can escape this island and get to the mainland.  He correctly pointed out that neither the zodiac nor the helicopter could carry all of us very far and there isn’t enough gas for multiple trips.”
    “What is a Haida boat?”  Peter asked the question that the others were thinking.
    Doug shrugged.  “They are the native people who live in this area.  I don’t know anything about them, but the pirate said they are an indigenous people in this area and that they are warlike.  I am guessing that it would be hard to convince them to let us borrow their canoes.  We would have better luck with asking Arny for a ride across to the mainland.  If getting to the mainland makes any sense.  For now, I think the immediate problem is staying alive and avoiding the pirates.”
    Peter looked around the area to the west, expecting to see attackers coming from that direction any second.  “Should we try to get out of here?  If you are so certain they will attack, why don’t we prepare something special for their arrival?”
    Doug