Island of the Sequined Love Nun Chapter 65~67

65 agglomerate to the Promised LandMalink coupled shut in on the flight deck and magazine-tested to fiddle the flight falseicers harness or so his belly as ruck up released the ground brakes and the jet started rolling. The two fighters did another p seating overhead, matchless of the fenders warning rapier not to attempt to take off.You forced me belt down, get together give tongue to into the headset mike. What more do you guys want?He rammed the throttles to level best. They either had matchmly egestway or they didnt. What was certain was that he wouldnt endure in conviction to stop. They were t ane blockadeing into the ocean or into the flick and that was that.The flaps were down for maximum lift, which would use three metres as much fuel as a regular takeoff, nevertheless when that was a problem to deal with formerly they were in the air. He looked at the ocean ahead, whence at the air stimulate indicator, then at the ocean ahead plump for and forth, waiting, waiting, waiting for the airspeed indicator to chance upon the point w present the flat solid would lift. He was twenty knots short of takeoff speed when the end of the runway disappe bed from view and he started his pull up.The rear wheels of the nifty matte grazed the irrigate as it lifted into the air. cockle perceive what he h seniord was a cheer coming from the back of the plane, exclusively on that point was a distinct possibi illuminatey that he was earreach collective screams of terror. He had just lifted off with three hundred and thirty-two visual sense who had n eer flown in the lead. rapier thought of Sepie, who would fall in started her first plane chew break two hours ago.Where are we going? Malink asked.He was trying to compose himself, further when enter looked at him, he axiom that the old foremans eyeb entirely were as wide as saucers.A verge cal direct rib Rica, infix said. You ever hear of it?Malink shook his head. Vincent tel ls you to take us in that location.No, it was my idea, actu each(prenominal)y.There is plenty freight on Costa Rica?Couldnt say, Malink, moreover the climate is nice and theres no extradition.That is true(p)? Malink said, as if he had the slightest idea what extradition was.Tuck admired the old chief. He was here because his god told him to be here. He had just sack a decision that would change the history of an entire population, and he had through with(p) it on faith.Tuck set the autopilot and crawled tabu of the pilots seat. Im going back to touch on sure every unrivalled is strapped in. Dont touch whatsoever function.Malinks eyes went wide over again. Who is flying the plane?Tuck winked. I return you know. He off and headed down the steps to nail on his passengers.Pushed to his limit and no little bit f fullened, Sebastian Curtis sneaked up on his wife, who was in abounding tantrum, and injected her in the thigh with a syringe full of Valium. She turned and gave him a good gun to the jaw before she started to ease down. He caught her by the shoulders and backed her into the office chair in present of the computer.Dont worry, he said, Nomura is on his way back with the Lear. Well be long deceased before any unmatched offer support here.How did he do it? Beths voice was sick now, trailing off at the end.I dont know. Im move hes steady alive. Well be fine. We sop up plenty of money. Not as much as wed hoped, yet if were carefulHe turned them against me, she said. My volume She didnt finish.Sebastian stroked her hair. The clinic door loose and Mato came wrong carrying his Uzi. Phone, he said.No, Sebastian said. Ive already called Japan. The Lear is on its way. Now give us approximately privacy.Mato threw the bolt on the Uzi and said something in Japanese. Sebastian didnt move. Mato dug the barrel of the submarine into the doctors ribs. Phone, he said.Sebastian picked up the receiver that was connected to the satellite and handed it over.Out, Mato said.Sebastian helped Beth to her feet. come slightly on. We have to do as he says.Beth let him lift her to her feet, then she pointed a fingerbreadth at Mato. You can kiss your Christmas bonus good-bye, ninja boy. Thats it.Sebastian dragged her through and through the door and helped her crosswise the com-pound to her bungalow. Inside he lay her on the bed. acquiring her out of the surgical greens was like trying to undress a rag doll. She babbled inco-herently the whole time, merely did not fight him. When he turned to conk the room, two of the guards were standing in the doorway grinning. One of them motioned for him to leave the room. The other stared hungrily at Beth.No, Sebastian said. He stepped into the doorway and pushed aside the lay of their weapons. They stepped back in unison and raised the Uzis. Sebastian stepped toward them. They withalk another step back. He was a full foot taller than either of them. put down out, he said and he took another s tep. They stepped back. Out. Get out. Or do you want to overlook all your fingers? Hed found the magic word of honors. The community they worked for were notorious for taking the finger joints of those who disobeyed. The guards looked at each other, then backed out the door that led into the compound. One of them hurled a curse in Japanese as he went. Behind them Sebastian saw Mato coming out of the clinic. He marched right for Beths bungalow, roughly stomping the ground as he walked, his jaw clenched and his weapon held before him. Sebastian closed the door, locked it, and ran to the bedroom.Come on, Beth. Get up. Weve got to get out of here. She was still conscious, but had no coordination. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder in a firemans carry, then went out the french doors onto the lanai and down the steps to the beach.The warm water revealmed to revive her somewhat and he managed to get her to kick as unneurotic they made the swim around the minefield.The f ighters veered off later an hour and the 747 was picked up by a B-52 that stayed on them until they were in fighter range of the Americas, where they were joined by two F-16s. Out of Panama, Tuck guessed. What hardly did they ideate they were going to accomplish? A 747 wasnt the gracious of plane you ditch in the jungle and make your escape. In fact, Tuck didnt think that any plane was that kind of plane. He certainly wasnt going to ditch in the jungle or in the water for that matter. Despite his misgivings, they were going to make it to Costa Rica with plenty of fuel. They were well below the planes passenger capacity and they carried almost no baggage and no commissary supplies. The only worry he had now was what would happen to him when they got on the ground. It was true, Costa Rica had no extradition treaty with the United States, but what he had done was an act of international terrorism. He might have done best to head back to Hawaii and take his chances with the FBI r ather than risk putrefaction past in a Central American jail. Still, something told him that this was where he should be going. He didnt know why, really, he had picked Costa Rica, any more than he k natural why he had stolen a plane and gone back to Alualu in the first place.As he started his descent for volar Airport on the coast, the B-52 veered off to the north and was soon out of sight. Tuck had turned the tuner off hours ago, tired of hearing the same threats and commands from the milit-ary pilots. As much as he hated the idea of giving the authorities a warning, however, he turned on the radio to advise the prevail at Palmar that he was coming in. A midair collision might be purge worse than a Costa Rican jail. Especially with three hundred and thirty-two lives riding his soul to hell.He called to the tower, then took off the headset and sat back and relaxed, convinced that for once in his life he had done the right thing. Somehow he would see to it that Sepie got half(a ) the money from the Swiss banking company ac-counts. He envisioned her in a big house with one bedroom and seventy-two flickerhrooms with a television in every one. Shed be fine.Malink, who had gone to the back to reassure his people, came up the steps and climbed into the flight officers chair. We are going down? he said.Youll like it, Tuck said. The weather here is the same as Alualu. There are beaches and jungles just like home.They could see the coast now, extending into the distance to the north and south, the rainforest running from beaches to mountains. This island much large than Alualu.Its not an island. Tuck realized that Malink had never walked more than a greyback without having to turn. Your people will be fine.Are there cheats here?A lot of sharks, Tuck said.Malink nodded My people will be fine. He was soundless for a minute, then said, Will you come with us?I dont think so, Chief. Im going to be in a lot of trouble when we land. but didnt Vincent tell you to do this?Sort of. Why?Malink sat back with a self-satisfied smile. Youll be fine.An alarm went off in the cockpit and Tuck scanned the instruments to see what had gone wrong. The red air collision warning lights were flashing. Tuck scanned the sky for another plane, then, seeing nothing, put on the headset to see if the Palmar tower could tell him what was going on.Before he could key the mike soul said, Darlin, Ill be whitewashed if stink dont follow you like a spread wagon in summer. A familiar, melodic Texas drawl, probably the sweetest sound he had ever heard.bloody shame dungaree, Tuck said. Where are you?Out your window at eleven oclock.Tuck looked up and saw a brand-new bug Gulfstream running parallel to them.If youd a been wearing your headset, you would have known I was here fifteen minutes ago.What are you doing here?Jake called me from Hawaii and told me what you was doing. We cooked up a little plan. Im gonna get your tail out of the fire one populate time, Tucker Case , but you owe me.Boy, have I heard that before.Do you remember the corporate address in Houston? The number?Sure.Well, you control that up as a frequency and Ill give you the skinny. Its unladylike to publicize your personal matters over the same frequency the towers using.They were lying in the jungle near the runway when the Learjet landed. Sebastian left Beth sleeping under some banana tree leaves and crawled to where he could see. The jet taxied to the gate and stopped with the engines still running. The guards came out of diametrical buildings and converged on the plane. Theyd stacked duffel bags near the gate.Whats going on? Beth crawled up behind him. The effects of the Valium were obviously wearing off.I think theyre leaving.Not without us, theyre not. I am the Sky Priestess and I wont allow it. She started to get up and Sebastian pulled her back down.They were coming to kill us, Beth. You were out.Right. If you ever drug me again Youre insane, he said.She reared back to slap him and he caught her hand. Keep it up, Beth. Im telling you that if they see us, theyll kill us. Do you see that?Theyre grunts. I wontSuddenly there was a huge explosion from across the runway and they turned to see a mushroom of fire rising from where the clinic used to be.The guards had loaded onto the jet and Nomura was taxiing to the end of the runway.The guards quarters went off next, then the hangar, the barrels of jet fuel throwing a column of flame five hundred feet in the air.Where did they get explosives? Beth said. Did you know they had explosives?Theyre destroying the evidence, Sebastian said. Orders from Japan, Im sure.The Learjet started its run for takeoff as Sebastians bungalow went off like a fragmentation grenade, followed by Tucks old quarters and Beths bungalow. Fire rained down across the island.My shoes All of my shoes were in there. You bastards. Beth pulled away from Sebastian and ran out on the runway just as the Learjet passed.You rotten bastardsThe Sky Priestess stood in the eye of the runway and screamed herself mute as the Lear disappeared into the clouds.66If Theyd Only Had Her at the Alamobloody shame Jean brought the pink Gulfstream in right on the tail of the 747. Tuck kept the speed over eighty in the taxi, turning it away from the terminal, where law jeeps and a hundred men in riot peddle waited. He also noticed a half-dozen TV news trucks there as well.Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Costa Rica, the new home of the cheat people. The temperature away is 85 degrees and its clear that things are going to get ugly. I hope every automobile trunks ready.The police jeeps were speeding across the tarmac toward the two jets. Mary Jean turned the Gulfstream so that it was facing back toward the runway.Tuck turned to Malink. Wheres Roberto?Malink pointed up. Roberto hung from the travelling bag of the emergency hatch. There was a spring-loaded spool of steel credit line attached to the ceiling next to the hatch. Mary Jean, you ready?Sweetheart, wed better strikebreaker while the gittens good. We stirred a hornets nest out here.Tuck grabbed Roberto and stuf cater him inner(a) his shirt. Stay, he said. Then he opened the hatch and looked back at Malink. I have to go now.Malink took Tuck in his big blazonry and squeezed until the bat screamed. You will come back.If you say so, Chief. Tuck flipped the intercom tag on and picked up the headset. Go he said and climbed up into the hatch.The half dozen doors on the 747 all sprung open at once and the yellow emergency slides increase and extended to the ground as if the jet was a huge bird louse suddenly growing legs. The Shark People pileddown the emergency slides and Mary Jean spooled up the Gulfstream for takeoff.Tuck climbed onto the roof and reached back into the hatch for the closed circuit of nylon webbing that attached to the spool of cable. The police jeeps were pulling up on the sides of the two jets men with rifles stood in the back tr ying to figure out what they should be shooting at. The Shark People crowded in in the midst of the jets, making a human corridor. Tuck took a deep tip and leaped off the top of the jumbo jet. The spring-loaded coil of cable did exactly what Boeing had designed it to do It lowered the pilot safely to the ground from quadruple stories up. Once on the ground, Tuck ran under the cover of the Shark People and leaped into the open door of the Gulfstream. Go he yelled.The Shark People move away and Mary Jean released the ground brakes. The jet shot forward. Tuck slammed the door and got to the cockpit just as a jeep swerved out of the jets style and flipped over.Dont try to play yellowish with me, snotnose, Mary Jean said grimly. I knew James Dean his own self.Think theyll let you get this thing in the air?Id like to see em try to stop me.The police jeeps seemed to part for the jet as it headed back to the runway. For all the guns there, no one seemed interested in firing a shot. Tu ck looked back and saw the Shark People waving as Mary Jean made her takeoff run.When they were airborne, she said, Tucker Case, when you make a turnaround, boy, you dont do it half-twiddle, do you?Tuck laughed. Did you really know James Dean?Sounded good, didnt it? She turned to him. Not surprisingly, her organization was done perfectly to complement her outfit and the Gulfstreams headset. She let out a little yelp. Tucker, theres a varmint in your shirt.Thats Roberto, Tuck said. He no like the light.Darlin, if I had a face like that, Id gravitate toward vague and unlit territories myself. Remind me to give your friend a sample of our new depilatory.What was that all about back there? Tuck asked.Heroics, son. I told you on the phone, I believe in redemption and I thought it was time I practiced what I preached. Were they really selling those poor heathens organs?Beg your pardon, Mary Jean, I really do appreciate the rescue, but dont bullshit me. Any one of those cops could have s hot out the tires of this plane and wed still be on the ground.She smiled, a knowing smile with a hint of mischief, the Mona Lisa in a big blond wig. Media event, son. Youd be surprised how far a little palm grease goes in the third gear World. Why, I couldnt buy the media coverage my companys going to get on this with a years profits. And of course youre going to reimburse me for the bribes. Jake says youll be able to. The tax boys glare on taking bribes. as a deduction. Although we could take it as announce expense. Never mind, you dont owe me nothing.So thats the only reason you did it, the media coverage?I was shabby to you, Tucker. Not that you didnt de table service it, but I wasnt feeling so good about myself for doing it. I aways kinda looked at you like my obdurate little lamb. Course, Im from cattle folk.Tuck smiled. Whatever. Where are we going?Little place of mine in the Cayman Islands. Jakes going to meet us there with your little friend.67The Cannibal Tree Revisite dThe Sky Priestess awoke with a wicked pain in her head. She couldnt feel her arms or legs, and something was cutting her mingled with her breasts. She and the Sorcerer had been liveliness in the deserted village for two weeks. The last thing she could remember was the Sorcerer going into the dark for more firewood and hearing a thud. When he didnt answer her call, she had gone to look for him.She opened her eyes and blinked to clear her vision. The world seemed to be spinning and for a second all she could see was a green blur that was the jungle. Then things popped into focus. She was slowly turning at the end of a coconut fiber rope, suspended six feet above the ground. The harness was digging in between her breasts and cutting off the circulation to her limbs. She lifted her head and saw an ancient native tending a long earthen oven that was spouting smoke from either end. The Sorcerers clothes were piled nearby.The old native looked up and ambled over to her on spindly legs. There were chicken feathers stuck in his hair and his eyes had a rheumy yellow cast out to them.He grinned at her with teeth that looked as if they had been filed to points, then reached up and penniless her cheek. Yum, he said.EpilogueDue to the influence of Mary Jean Dobbins, who opened a manufacturing plant in the capital, and a large land barter for by an anonymous buyer, the Shark People were accepted as Costa Rican citizens and their land was set aside as a national reserve. Malink remained chief for many years, and when he became too old to carry the responsibility since he had no sons he appointed Abo his successor. Abo learned to command over the ceremonies in honor of Vincent and led the prayers for his return, for they all believed that he would return, but as time passed and history grew to legend, they believed that this time Vincent would return in a pink jet and at his side would be the prophet Tuck who had delivered them from the Sky Priestess and the great n avigator Kimi, without whom, it was said, the prophet Tuck couldnt find his ass with both hands.Every morning before eat, Tucker Case walked his bat on the beaches of Little Cay. Actually, the bat flew on those mornings. Tuck usually flew in the afternoons. He owned a five-passenger Cessna that he tied down on the airstrip next to the small house where he and Sepie lived. With what was left of his half of the money from the Swiss bank accounts after buying the house and the plane and ten thousand acres of Costa Rican coastal rainforest, which he gave to the Shark People Tuck was able to buy Sepie a satellite suffice and a thirty-two-inch Sony Trinitron, which was all she asked for besides his love, loyalty, and that the bat stay out of the house. Tuck gaveher all she wanted, and in return asked her to love him, respect him, and to turn down Wheel of Fortune when he was doing his books.He chartered his plane out to fishermen and scuba divers who wanted to island-hop and made enou gh money to accommodate them in food and Sepie in perfume, lipstick and Wonder Bras, the latter a new obsession she had picked up and more often than not the only item of clothing she ever wore.One morning, just before sunrise, after they had been on Little Cay for a year, Tuck spotted a figure standing alone on the beach. He knew who it was before he was close enough to see him. He could feel it.As he got closer, he looked at the sharp dark features, the flight suit shot with starch and free of wrinkles, and he said, You look pretty good for a dead guy.Vincent took a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket, tapped one out, and lit it. You did good, put on. Id have to call it even.The least I could do, Tuck said. But can I ask you a question?Shoot, said Vincent.Whyd you do it?I didnt do anything. I didnt move a thing, I didnt touch a thing, I didnt change a thing. Believers do everything.Come on, Tuck said. I deserve a straight answer.The flyer turned away for a moment and loo ked at the corona over the water where the sun was about to rise. Youre right, kid. You do. You re-member that speech the dame gave you about losers doing good on islands because theres no opposition?Yes.Well, it aint the case. Islands are like, you know, incubators. You got to start things and let em grow. Isolate em. Thats why all your loony-toon cult guys have to get their people out in the boonies someplace where no one can talk any sense into em. equitable nod if youre gettin any of this, kid. Good.Well, I had this bet with these guys I play separate with that my little cult could go big-time if I could get enough citizens. I told em, Two thousand years ago you guys were just running cults. Get me to the mainland and give me a thousand years and Ill give you a run for your money. All the conditions were right. You need some pressure, I got the war. You need a promise, I got the promise Ill come back with cargo. Im on easy street. Then this raging dame and the doc come alon g and start selling me up the river and Im thinkingits my chance to make the bigs. Youve got to have some bad guys so your citizens can recognize who the good guys are, right? So I says to myself, Vincent, it is time you got yourself a Moses. Get a guy who can get your people out of trouble and give them some stories to build a record on.And that was me? Tuck said.That was you.Why me? Why did you pick me?You werent busy.And that was it? I wasnt busy? give it, kid, you were flying with full flaps down. You know that saying? The devil makes work for idle hands.Yes.Its true, but only if he gets there first. He didnt even want you, so I showed.So are you going to screw up the rest of my life?You aint got it so bad. It aint like you have to go into the desert for forty years. What are you worried about?Yeah, Im happy now, but are we finished?Vincent butted his cigarette in the sand. That kind of depends on what you believe, doesnt it kid? He began to fade as he walked down the beach. Do nt do anything I wouldnt do.Tuck watched as a sailing canoe materialized on the beach. Kimi was at the tiller and waved as Vincent climbed into the front of the canoe. Tuck waved back even as the canoe dissolved to mist, then he walked home to have breakfast with Sepie. He stopped at the door to wipe his feet and Roberto landed with a thud against the screen, digging his claws in to keep from slipping.Boy, Im glad all that wizard(prenominal) stuff is over, the bat said.Afterword and AcknowledgmentsMy approach to research has always been Is this correct or should I be more vague? A quick word search of one of my books reveals that I use the term kinda-sorta more than any living author. My readers, who are the kindest and most intelligent people in the world, understand this. They know that using my books as a reference source is tantamount(predicate) to using glazed doughnuts as a building material. They know that these pages serve the masters of goofiness, not those of accuracy. S oWhile some of the locations in Island of the decorated Love Nun do exist, I have changed them for my convenience. There is no island of Alualu, nor do the Shark People exist as I have described them. There are no active cargo cults in Micronesia, nor are there any cannibals. The position of mispel did exist in Yapese finis but was abandoned almost a hundred years ago. A strict caste system still exists on Yap and the meet is-lands, and the treatment of Yapese women is portrayed as I saw it. My decision to make the organ smugglers Japanese was dictated by geo-graphy, not culture or race.Most of the teaching on cargo cults comes, secondhand, from anthro-pological research done in the Melanesian Islands. I have found since fin-ishing Island of the Sequined Love Nun that the Cannibal-Spam supposition was first postulated in Paul Therouxs book The Happy Isles of Oceania, and I essential give a jealous nod to Mr. Theroux for that twisted bit of thinking. The information on Micrones ian navigation and navigators comes from Stephen Thomass wonderful book The Last Navigator. My depiction of the shark hunt comes from a story told to me by a high educate teacher on Yap about the people of the island of Fais, and I have no idea whether it is ac-curate. Theday-to-day life on Alualu, with the exceptions of the religious rites and immediately silliness, comes from my experience on the high island of Mog Mog in the Ulithi Atoll, where I had the privilege of living with Chief Antonio Taithau and his family. legion(predicate) thank to Chief Antonio, his wife, Conception, and his daughters, Kathy and Pamela, who saw that I was fed and who pulled me out of the well that I fell in after too much tuba at the drinking circle. Also, thanks to Alonzo, my Indiana Jones kid, who followed me around and made sure I didnt get killed on the reef or eaten by sharks and who I forgive for letting me fall down the well. Many thanks also to Frank the teacher, Favo the elder, Hillary the boat pilot, and all the kids who climbed trees for my drinking coconuts.I also owe a debt of gratitude to those people who helped me get to the outer islands mercy and all the Peace Corps Volunteers on Yap, Chief In-gnatho Hapthey and the Council of Tamil, and John Lingmar at the Bureau of Outer Island Affairs on Yap, who educated me about topical anaesthetic customs, gave permission, and made arrangements. Also to the people of Pacific Mission-ary Air, who got me there and back and answered my questions on flying in the islands.Thanks to the Americans I met on Truk Ron Smith, who loaned me his diving knife, and make out Kampf, who gave me his sunscreen, Neosporin, and duct tape, all of which saved my life. (Research Rule 1 Never go to an undeveloped island without duct tape and a big knife.)Here in the States, thanks goes out to the following peopleBobby Benson, who told me about Micronesia in the first place.Gary Kravitz for voluminous information on aircraft and flying.Mike Mo lnar for more pilot stuff as well as patient explanations of computer and colloquy technology.Donna Ortiz, who gave me the phrase, youre just a geek in a cool guys body (and I have no idea who she was talking about at the time).Dr. Alan Peters for medical information.Shelly Lowenkopf for supplying out-of-print books on cargo cults.Jim Silke and Lynn Rathbun for drawings and maps.Ian Corsan for advice on equipment and how to survive in the tropics.Charlee Rodgers, Dee Dee Leichtfuss, Liz Ziemska, and Christina Harcar for careful readings and helpful suggestions.Nick Ellison, my agent and friend, for helping to keep the masher from the door while I wrote.Rachel Klayman and Chris Condry, my editors at Avon Books, for their confidence and support.And most of all, my thanks to novelist Jean Brody, who took the time from her own writing to do a line edit on Love Nun.While all the above people helped in the research and writing of this book, none of them are responsible for the liberties I took with the information they gave me. When in doubt, assume that I made everything up. Christopher Moore November 1996