Of course, the American women were much too dedicated to their scholarly pursuits to waste any more time away from their appointed tasks. They worked extra hard the next few days to make up for the morning spent observing justice being delivered, until one afternoon when the tropical heat became almost unbearable. Sarah moaned, "God, I wish there was somewhere to swim here."
Jennifer said, "I know there's a river about a half-mile away. I wonder if there's a place to swim and a way to get there without getting lost in the jungle."
"Let me go ask Thura," Susan volunteered. She returned about 15 minutes later, smiling. "He says there is a place to swim if you just follow the trail from behind the dining hall. He says it's technically forbidden, but many people swim there anyway."
Priya had a bit of a bad feeling. "Are you sure we should risk trouble after that little demonstration we saw the other day?"
"Well, Thura assured me it's alright and that many Trabbians and foreign guests have been there without any problems, so I don't see any cause for worry," Susan replied.
Jen seconded the idea "It's soooo hot, if I don't get some relief, I might pass out."
Sarah agreed.
Faced with the peer pressure from her classmates and the approval of her professor and the presumed permission of their Trabbian host, plus the fact that she, too, was suffering from the heat, Priya agreed to join them.
"So let's put on our swimsuits and go down to the clearing by the river," Susan told them. "I'll see if I can score a few cold beers from the kitchen. I think we've all been good and deserve a break."
About ten minutes later, the women assembled, dressed in two piece swimsuits and sandals, each carrying a towel. Susan had her small day pack with four bottles of the local beer she had found in the refrigerator. They left the camp on a jungle path, accompanied by the screech of monkeys and the cries of beautiful exotic birds. After a short descent, they reached the edge of the clearing where they could see the water directly ahead, looking very inviting.
Without further hesitation, the women deposited their towels and Susan dropped her pack, and they all plunged into the water, which was blissfully cool, having flowed down from the mountains some distance away. They floated and played, Sarah and Jen splashing each other and hugging. Watching them, Priya felt a strong urge to hug Susan but she felt far too ashamed of her feelings to act on them.
After a while, they got out and laid on their towels, able to enjoy the feeling of the tropical sun on their skin now that the water had cooled them off. "Boy, I'd love a joint right now," Sarah sighed.
"Are you insane?" Priya asked, incredulous. "After what we saw them do to those two students for smoking a joint?"
"I'm just kidding," Sarah replied. "Believe me I wouldn't do anything that stupid while we're here. But I would love one of those beers you brought," Susan.
"Me too!" Jen cried and Priya nodded that she would like one too, so Susan pulled the beer bottles out of her pack and gave each of them one and opened one for herself. They sat happily, enjoying the sun and the quiet of this lovely spot.
As they were relaxing, they heard footsteps on the path and looked up to see four uniformed police officers, two males, one rather young and fairly tall for a Trabbian, the other older and shorter, and two females, both strong and rather dyke-looking, similar enough that they could have been sisters.
The officers had their cell phones out, as though they were filming the American women. The four cops strode purposefully across the sand to where the women were sitting and stood over them with stern expressions on their faces. The older male officer, who appeared to be a Sergeant based on the stripes on his uniform, asked, in good, but accented English, "What is going on here? It is forbidden to be here. The river can be dangerous and people have drowned, so it is not allowed."
"We are archaeologists working at the Mongha camp," Susan replied, "And we just wanted to relax. Besides, our host, Thura, told us it was OK to swim here."
"I know Thura and I doubt he would say that," the Sergeant told her, "And even if he did, it's still against the law."
One of the female officers knelt and picked up one of the beer bottles and said something to the Sergeant. "Is this beer?" he asked the girls. "How old are you?" he demanded looking back and forth between Jen, Priya and Sarah. "Do not lie," he advised, "It will be very easy to check your passports."
"I'm 20," Sarah replied.
"19" Jennifer indicated.
"19" Priya added.
"I see," the Sergeant nodded. "The drinking age in Trabbia is 21, so all of you are too young to drink here. Where did you get these?" he asked.
Susan stood up. "I borrowed them from the camp refrigerator," she told him. "We have been working really hard and I felt my students deserved a break. We are visitors, not familiar with your laws, so I'm sorry if we did anything we are not supposed to. I will be happy to buy a whole case to replace those bottles."
The Sergeant turned to Susan and told her, "This is a serious matter under our laws. We have underage drinking, we have trespassing and we have theft of government property. You will have to come with us. Stand up."
Priya was puzzled and nervous over this show of force on the part of the authorities. She knew that they were honored foreign guests of the Trabbian government, and she imagined that they wouldn't want an international incident over such a petty matter as drinking a beer and swimming. Then, she thought about the two young students, their asses welted and bleeding over a couple of joints. 'Who knows what kinds of idiotic laws they have in this crazy country?' she thought. 'God knows, they might even cane people over something like this.' She shivered, despite the heat.
Before Priya could speak, Susan, as the oldest and most experienced, took charge, "Look, officers, we are very sorry. We really meant no harm."
The Sergeant took out his cell phone and tapped a few things into the pop-up keyboard. After a moment, it appeared he had found the site he was looking for. "I hope you ladies realize how much trouble you are in," he told the foreign women. "Read this aloud," he instructed, handing the phone to Susan.
"Students receive six strokes of the cane for underage drinking," she intoned.
