The Navidad Incident (13 page)

Why do they have to do things in such a half-assed way? It makes him furious. He's the president here, no one else. Why can't they just come to him straight out? Instead of sneaking around, why not ask to build a Marine Self-Defense Force base right up front? All they have to do is come up with sufficient compensation. This Suzuki doesn't have to spell out the difficulties that lie ahead for a tiny country, as if Matías can't read the grim realities himself. In actual fact, Navidad can only prosper by strengthening her ties with Japan. That much he can do himself. And not as a stooge, but as the father of an independent national policy, able to justify his relations with Japan to any and all nations in East Asia. And yet, perversely, they choose to jerk him around? How is he supposed to deal with them? The foundations of his political life are starting to shake. A time of change is drawing near.

As the afternoon Southwest Airlines charter departed with 113 passengers on board, including ninety-nine returning tourists from the previous week's charter, a bus was sighted taking off directly behind their Boeing 737. The bus moved down the runway at the same speed as the plane, nosed up at exactly the exact angle, and rose skyward in similar style. It was like a child playing airport.

For some reason, no one in the control tower saw this development as dangerous. It wasn't until both the bus and the 737 had disappeared into the clouds that it occurred to anyone that even by sheer determination a bus without wings should not be able to get airborne. The traffic control crew contacted Regional Airspace Authority in Guam, though of course they balked at reporting a flying bus. Instead they reported a near miss between a Boeing jetliner and a small craft. The radar in Guam, however, picked up only the passenger plane, which was flying on course; their reading was that there had been no accident. The Southwest Airlines jet itself likewise called in “no sign of any aircraft in the area.” The small craft had submitted no flight plan and by now was probably off in some other quadrant.

One week later, when the next Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 arrived with another 122 tourists, the off-chance hope that the bus might also return failed to materialize.

“I'm thinking of calling that girl over here,” says Matías.

“Indeed,” thrums Lee Bo, waiting on his flesh-and-blood counterpart.

“I want to have her nearby to see how psychic she really is.”

“And have you no int'rest in her as a woman?” taunts the ghost.

“Not in the least. If you mean wanting to see her naked, or sleep with her, then no, I don't particularly need to stake a claim. I just want to ask her things.”

“If that be so, 'twould serve as well she stay at Angelina's, and foolhardy to try to possess her. E'en now, she belongs to no one. As quoth Angelina, that one is not for sale.”

“I told you, I've got no sexual motives. But I would like to know how she came to work there. And no one's going to convince me she's an ordinary maid. Clairvoyance—as a politician, that's something I'd like to keep on tap.”

“Verily,” says Lee Bo without a trace of irony. His words hide no duplicity, and Matías likes that. “Tho what would Angelina think?”

“She'll be all right with it. I'll explain. All I want is a few predictions. She's not the sort of woman to get jealous over something like that.”

“Nay? In times past, you took your wenches to bed at Angelina's, but always wi' her say-so. 'Tis only her forbearance about a man's philanderings that things ne'er got serious.”

“And I'm not serious now. I'm not interested in her as a woman. It's her psychic powers, dammit, which Angelina herself told me about in the first place. I just want a closer look.”

“Whate'er, your manner is strange. 'Tis doubtful you'll be able to convince Angelina.”

“Well, maybe this once I won't explain.”

“These past four nights after she told you of the maid's premonitions, you've hardly look'd Angelina in the face. Ye ha'nt been yerself. Not touch'd any hemp, nor spent the night there. She knows something's amiss. If now you call the maid to the manor, your Angelina will not be pleas'd.”

“You don't really believe she could possibly be jealous? She knows me too well. If occasionally I take a fancy to one of her girls, Angelina doesn't say a thing. But that's still nothing to do with my reasons for asking that girl over here.”

“Aye, but how strong the grip of lust upon the adult male. When I dwelt on my isles, I did my share of wenching. Alas, 'twas child's play. I ne'er knew adult license ere I cross'd o'er … Nay, not to counsel 'gainst the maid, but the risk may be higher than you think.”

“So you hinted the other night. That's why I want to keep the girl here beside me. Lately, there're signs of change all around. Powers shifting. Everything's buzzing, closing in. I need to go on the offensive, and summoning the girl may just do the trick. If ever there was a time I needed to read the future, it's now.”

“Aye, I grant you that. She has the look of a sorceress about her.”

“So she
is
a medium? I want to hear what she says about the Japanese delegation disappearing, ask her about Suzuki's plan and that anonymous letter this afternoon.”

“Perchance, if medium be the word, she can predict the future, but how she means to use those powers of hers is another question. As I say'd, she may foresee, yet not foretell. I can see things ye can't, but e'en so, I am not privy to the future nor can I read minds. My eyes see only the powers at play a little clearer than ye do.”

“Okay. So what you're saying is, whatever benefit I may gain by having a psychic on call, I risk bringing unknown forces into this house.”

“Uncharted and unharnessed.”

“But as you yourself know very well, there comes a time when one needs to take risks. I have a feeling now's such a time. It's not about my tastes in women.”

“As I say'd, lust can bewitch as much as any wine, tho not in the same way. And if the girl hath powers twice o'er, I see trouble ahead.”

“Sexual witchery? Yes, I suppose some men do get hooked by it.”

“Verily.”

“Did I ever tell you about that time with Heinrich, my driver? The weirdest thing—really surprised me. Showed me I didn't know jack about sex.”

“How so?”

“Once, just on a whim, I had him fuck someone with me present. Just wanted to see what it felt like to be a voyeur. Sex movies, stage shows, that sort of thing I'd seen in Japan. Probably even have a few videos stashed away here at the mansion, if I felt like digging them out. But all that's phony. Playacting. No, I wanted to see what a normal man would do, given the chance. So we drove to Angelina's, and I told Heinrich to come in with me. He didn't seem to know what I was saying at first, but when he caught on, he balked.”

“What did you expect? Startled the poor man, and for what craven purpose?”

“Well, I set him clear on that. Told him I was happy with his work, so I was giving him a bonus. Anyway, I had him go upstairs to the corner room. It's set up so you can peek in from the next room. Then we sent in Magda.”

“Magda? Can't say as I know her.”

“She's long gone. A lady of leisure somewhere up in Manila now, married with kids. Or so her letters say. Angelina reads them to all the girls as an object lesson: work hard, get yourself a good john, one day you'll be on easy street. One smart cookie, Magda was.”

“As is your Angelina. Hardworking too, yet ne'er cold and calculating.”

How well did Lee Bo know his Angelina—and
how
? Did the ghost watch the two of them get it on? Could he be seeing her on his own? Matías has no idea how much the phantom gets around. “You'd expect a woman of her profession to be cold?”

“Nay, I'm the bloodless one, remember? On wi' your story. About Heinrich?”

“Well, he was unbelievable! A completely different man. Normally so reserved, so cautious. But once inside that room with Magda, he went insane.”

“Oh?”

“Magda tells him, ‘Let's take a shower, shall we?' like with any customer, but he doesn't even hear her. He just grabs her with both hands and throws her down—
wham!
—headfirst onto the bed. Magda's used to a little rough stuff, that's her job. All kinds of men in this world, no telling how they'll behave with a prostitute. So they'd better be ready for anything.”

“ ‘Behave with a prostitute'? Lo, a scientist!”

“Give me a break. I may not be the most sex-driven male, but still. I'm happy to have Angelina as my special bonus for the long hours I put in as president. I might enjoy the occasional night with one of the girls there too, though I wouldn't miss it if I didn't.”

“Wi' some men, physical desire may blossom into a desire for power.”

“It never ceases to amaze me how you, who died just barely adult and never even had a grown woman, could know all this.”

“I saw a few things in me time.”

“And since?”

“Aye, for the most part since. Life alone wasn't time enough. But go on, what of Heinrich? 'Tis an eternal twenty-one-year-old you're talking to, so gi' me the bump and grind.”

“Be patient! Like I was saying, Heinrich went wild—”

“Details!”

“First, he started ripping off her clothes. Magda put up no resistance, but that only turned him on even more. He was all over the girl. Swept her arms aside, big hands pawing her breasts, ripping at those, you know, those drawstring knickers to grab her ass, pushing her legs wide. Like he only had fifteen minutes before they took his toy away.”

“Some men're like that.”

“But we're talking about a man with a wife and five children. Can you imagine him doing that to his own wife? … Do you believe in rape?”

“Believe, you say?”

“Taking a woman against her will, by brute force.”

“Seems mere cockmanship to me.”

“No, it's a power thing. Like Heinrich had to show Magda who's boss.”

“But, go on, what next?”

“You're impossible. Anyway, he gets Magda naked, but she's smart. She just rolls over and waits for the beating she knows is coming any second. Meanwhile Heinrich's eyeing her the whole time while he steps out of his trousers, one leg at a time, like a soldier.”

“Took off his belt and thrashed the wench, did 'e?”

“No, there you go again. He took off his pants, but he was still wearing his chauffeur's jacket. That's how he climbed onto Magda.”

“Aye, the captain's vice.”

“Strange, don't you think? His tool was charged up from the moment he got his pants off. An ordinary size cock, at least from what I could see.”

“An
Everyman
piece, was it? And the moral?”

“Only that I don't understand sex. Or no, I don't understand people. You suppose Heinrich's so frustrated? So pent up in his daily life?”

“I daresay, no.”

“Well, the moment he shoots his load, he's off her in a flash and crouching down beside the bed. He still doesn't say a word. And I heard afterwards, even when Magda's telling him how good he was, how virile—things to boost a guy's illusions—it was like he didn't even hear her. He never spoke to her, start to finish. Like some little demon was pulling his puppet strings, no better than a spook.”

“I beg your pardon! E'en we dead have our pride.”

“A slip of the tongue, I assure you. But tell me, Lee Bo, what makes us humans dance?”

“Don' look at me. I died at twenty-one, too cursed short a plank to reel or jig.”

“Some excuse. You've had plenty of time since. Two whole damn centuries.”

“True. People come in all stripes and ev'ry one thinks hisself normal—except when none are looking on. Prob'ly all wipe their buttocks diff'rently too.”

“But we're talking about him—Heinrich. That night, I had Angelina send him off alone—I didn't even want to look at the man—and Angelina drove me home herself. The next morning, when I saw him, it was like nothing ever happened. Maybe he knew I was watching. Maybe he acted that way because he wanted to give me my money's worth. I never asked.”

“And what say'd Angelina 'bout it all?”

“Just that men are a mixed lot. And that if you built a place like that for women to have their way with men, women would be a mixed lot too. And here I imagined all men were alike in bed.”

“People lie together for all manner of reasons. The only ones who do it always for the same reason are harlots, very likely. So what's your verdict on the new maid?”

“Ah yes, that was the point of all this, wasn't it. My mind's made up. Tomorrow I tell Angelina to send the girl over. Things have changed course. Having her close by might just make things change course again. That's my move.”

A fisherman set out by canoe from the village of Uu and paddled through a southern break in Saguili Reef to the outer coral slopes and the open sea, where there are big fish to be had. Only this day, he had no luck. From morning low tide until afternoon, he didn't see a fish worth the name. Some days are like that. He was about to call it quits and head home, when a large something cut across his field of vision—a very big cabrilla. Stealthily, he dove after it; the fish didn't notice it was being chased. Cabrilla are none too bright, but curious, which makes them easy to catch. The fisherman was closing in from behind when suddenly the fish darted off. He wanted to give it one last try but ran out of breath, so he had to surface and hope he wouldn't lose his quarry by the time he dove again. He found the fish calmly feeding on the coral in the distance. Slowly, he swam toward it, this time coming right up on the fish; he pulled the rubber sling on his harpoon gun and let fly. The point pierced it straight through.