State Of Fear

State Of Fear Page 55

She thought: You could walk five feet into that and get lost forever. You'd never find your way out again.

Along the road were the rusted hulks of long-abandoned cars, windshields smashed, chassis crumpled and corroded brown and yellow. As she walked past she saw ripped upholstery, old dashboards with clocks and speedometers ripped out, leaving gaping holes.

They turned right onto a side path and she saw the helicopter ahead. She gasped. It was beautiful, painted green with a crisp white stripe, the metal blades and struts gleaming. Everybody commented on it.

"Yes, the outside is good," Henry said. "But I think the inside, the engine, maybe is not so good." He wiggled his hand. "So so."

"Great," Bradley said. "Speaking for myself, I'd prefer it the other way around."

They opened the doors to get in. In the back were stacks of wooden crates, with sawdust. They smelled of grease. "I got the supplies you wanted," he said to Kenner.

"And enough ammunition?"

"Oh ya. All things you asked for."

"Then we can go," Kenner said.

In the back, Sarah buckled her belt. She put on headphones. The engines whined, and the blades spun faster. The helicopter shuddered as it started to lift off. "We have too many people," Henry said, "so we will have to hope for the best! Cross your fingers!"

And giggling maniacally, he lifted off into the blue sky.

Chapter 78

TO RESOLUTION

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14

9:02 A.M.

The jungle slid beneath them, mile after mile of dense canopy forest. In places, wisps of mist clung to the trees, particularly at the higher altitudes. Sarah was surprised at how mountainous the island was, how rugged the terrain. She saw no roads at all. From time to time, they passed over a small village in a jungle clearing. Otherwise, nothing but miles of trees. Henry was flying due north, intending to drop them off along the coast a few miles west of Resolution Bay.

"Charming villages," Ted Bradley said, as they flew over another one. "What do the people grow here?"

"Nothing. Land's no good here. They work the copper mines," Henry said.

"Oh, that's too bad."

"Not if you live here. Biggest money they ever saw. People kill to work in the mines. What I mean to say is, they kill. Some murders occur every year."

Bradley was shaking his head. "Terrible. Just terrible. But look down there," he said, pointing. "There's a village has actual thatched huts. Is that the old style, the old way of doing things, still kept alive?"

"No man," Henry said. "That's a rebel village. That's new style. Big thatch haus, very impressive, big house for chif." He explained that Sambuca had instructed the people in every village to build these huge, three-story structures of thatch, complete with ladders going up to high walk-ways at the third level. The idea was to give rebels a view over the jungle, so they could see the arrival of Australian troops.

But in the old days, Henry said, the people never had such buildings in Gareda. The architecture was low and open, erected mostly to protect against rain and let smoke out. There was no need for high buildings, which were impractical since they would blow down in the next cyclone anyway. "But Sambuca, he wants them now, so he makes the yangpelas, the young fellows, build them. There may be six or eight on this island now, in rebel territory."

"So we're going over rebel territory now?" Bradley said.

"So far, so good," Henry said. And he giggled again. "Not so long now, we'll see the coast in four, five minutes andOh damn shit!"

"What?" They were skimming the forest canopy.

"I made a big mistake."

"What mistake?" Bradley said.

"Tumas longwe es."

"You're too far east?" Kenner said.

"Damn shit. Damn damn shit. Hang on!" Henry banked the helicopter steeply, but not before they all glimpsed a huge clearing, with four of the enormous thatch structures interspersed with the more common houses of wood and corrugated tin. There were a half-dozen trucks clustered in the muddy center of the clearing. Some of the trucks had machine guns mounted on their backs.

"What is this?" Bradley said, looking down. "This is much bigger than the others"

"This Pavutu! Rebel headquarters!"

And then the clearing was gone, the helicopter moving swiftly away. Henry was breathing hard. They could hear his breath over the earphones.

Kenner said nothing. He was staring intently at Henry.

"Well, I think we're all right," Bradley said. "It looks like they didn't see us."

"Oh yeah," Henry said. "Nice wish."

"Why?" Bradley said. "Even if they did see uswhat can they do?"

"They have radios," Henry said. "They're not stupid, these yangpelas."

"What do you mean?"

"They want this helicopter."

"Why? Can they fly it?"

"Orait orait! Yes! Because they want me, too." Henry explained that for months now, no helicopters had been allowed on the island. This one had been brought over only because Kenner had pulled some very important strings. But it was specifically not to fall into rebel hands.

"Well, they probably think we're going south," Bradley said. "I mean, we are, aren't we?"

"These boys know better," Henry said. "They know."

"They know what?" Bradley said.

Kenner said, "The ELF would have had to buy off the rebels in order to land on the island. So the rebels know there's something going on at Resolution Bay. When they saw this helicopter, they knew where it was going."

"These boys aren't stupid," Henry said again.

"I never said they were," Bradley protested.

"Ya. But you think it. I know you, waitman. This in the back of your tongue. You think it."

"I promise you, I did not," Bradley said. "Really. I have no such feelings at all. You simply didn't understand me."

"Ya," Henry said.

Sarah was sitting in the middle of the second seat, wedged between Ted and Jennifer. Peter and Sanjong were behind in the little backseat, with all the boxes. She couldn't really see out the windows, so she had trouble following the discussion. She wasn't sure what it was all about.

So she asked Jennifer. "Do you understand what's going on?"

Jennifer nodded. "As soon as the rebels saw the helicopter they knew it was going to Resolution. Now, whatever we do, they'll be expecting it to show up in that area. They have radios, and they're in different groups scattered around. They can keep an eye on us. And they'll be there when we land."

"I am very sorry," Henry said. "So very sorry."

"Never mind," Kenner said. His voice was neutral.

"What do we do now?" Henry said.

Kenner said, "Continue exactly as planned. Go north and put us down on the coast."

There was no mistaking the urgency in his voice.

In the backseat, pushed up against Sanjong, smelling the grease that coated the machine guns, Peter Evans wondered where this urgency came from. He looked at his watch. It was nine in the morning, which meant that of their original twenty-four hours, only twenty remained. But this was a small island, and it should allow plenty of time And then he had a thought. "Wait a minute," he said. "What time is it in Los Angeles?"

Sanjong said, "They're on the other side of the dateline. Twenty-seven hours behind."

"No, I mean elapsed time. Actual time difference."

"Six hours."

"And you calculated a transit time of what?"

"Thirteen hours," Sanjong said.

"I think we made a mistake," Evans said, biting his lip. He wasn't sure how much he should say in front of Henry. And indeed, Sanjong was shaking his head, indicating not now.

But they had made a mistake. There was no doubt about it. Assuming that Drake wanted the tidal wave to hit on the last day of the conference, he would surely want it to happen during the morning. That would provide the most visible disaster. And it would allow the whole afternoon for discussion and media interviews afterward. Every television camera in America would be at that conference, talking to the scientists who just happened to be there. It would create a gigantic media event.

So, Evans thought, assume the wave was to hit Los Angeles no later than noon tomorrow.

Subtract thirteen hours for the wave front to cross the Pacific.

That meant the wave had to be propagated at eleven P.M. Los Angeles time. Which meant that the local time in Gareda would be amp;five P.M.

Five P.M. today.

They didn't have a day to stop this thing from happening.

They had just eight hours.

So that was the reason for Kenner's urgency. That was why he was going ahead with his plan, despite the new problem. He had no choice, and he knew it. He had to land on the coast somewhere very near Resolution. There wasn't enough time to do anything else.

Even though it was possible they were heading right into a trap.

Leaving the forest behind, the helicopter burst out over blue water and turned around, going east. Evans saw a narrow sandy beach with patches of ragged lava rock, and mangrove swamps clinging to the water's edge. The helicopter swung low and followed the beach, heading east.

"How far from Resolution are we?" Kenner said.

"Five, six kilometers," Henry said.

"And how far from Pavutu?"

"Maybe ten kilometers, on a mud track."

"Okay," Kenner said. "Let's find a place to put down."

"There's a good place I know maybe one kilometer ahead."

"Fine. Go there."

Evans was thinking. Five kilometers walking on a beach, that was about three miles, should take them an hour and a half at most. They could make it to Resolution Bay well before noon. That would give them "This the spot," Henry said. A finger of rugged lava protruded into the ocean. Centuries of waves had smoothed it enough to make a landing possible.

"Do it," Kenner said.

The helicopter circled, prepared to descend. Evans was looking out over at the dense wall of jungle, where it met the beach. He saw tire tracks in the sand and a sort of gap in the trees that was probably a road. And those tire tracks "Say listen," Evans said. "I think"

Sanjong jabbed him in the ribs. Hard.

Evans grunted.

"What is it, Peter?" Kenner said.

"Uh, nothing."

"We're going down," Henry said. The helicopter descended smoothly, slowly settling onto the lava. Waves lapped at the edge of the rock pad. It was peaceful. Kenner looked out the bubble canopy, scanning the area.

"Okay? This good spot?" Henry said. He seemed nervous now that they were down. "I don't want to stay so long, Jon. Because maybe they come soon amp;"

"Yeah, I understand."

Kenner cracked open the door, then paused.

"So, alla okay. Jon?"

"Just fine, Henry. Very nice spot. Get out and open this back door for us, will you?"

"Yeah, Jon, I think you can get it"

"Get out!" And with astonishing swiftness there was a gun jammed against Henry's head. Henry sputtered and moaned in fear as he fumbled with his door. "But Jon, I need to stay inside, Jon"

"You've been a bad boy, Henry," Kenner said.

"You going to shoot me now, Jon?"

"Not now," Kenner said, and abruptly he shoved him out. Henry tumbled onto the sharp lava, howling in pain. Kenner slid over to the pilot's seat and shut the door. Immediately Henry was up, pounding on the canopy, his eyes wild. He was terrified.

"Jon! Jon! Please, Jon!"

"Sorry, Henry." Kenner pushed the stick, and the helicopter began to rise into the air. They had not climbed twenty feet before a dozen men emerged from the jungle all along the beach and began firing at them with rifles. Kenner swung out over the ocean, going north, away from the island. Looking back, they could see Henry standing forlorn on the lava. Some of the men were running toward him. He threw up his hands.

"Little shit," Bradley said. "He would have gotten us killed."

"He may still," Kenner said.

They flew due north, over open water.

"So what do we do now," Sarah said, "land on the other side of the bay? Walk in from the other side?"

"No," Kenner said. "That's what they'll expect us to do."

"So, then amp;"

"We wait a few minutes and go back to the western side, same as before."

"They won't be expecting that?"

"They may. We'll go to a different spot."

"Farther away from the bay?"

"No. Closer."

"Won't ELF hear us?"

"Doesn't matter. By now, they know we're coming."

In the back, Sanjong was breaking open the wooden cases and reaching for the guns. He stopped abruptly.

"Bad news," he said.

"What?"

"No guns." He pushed a lid higher. "These crates contain ammunition. But no guns."

"That little bastard," Bradley said.

"What do we do now?" Sarah said.

"We go in anyway," Kenner said.

He turned the helicopter and, skimming the water, headed back to Gareda.

Chapter 79

RESOLUTION

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14

9:48 A.M.

The western arc of Resolution Bay consisted of a hilly, jungle-covered spine that jutted out into the water, terminating in a rocky point. The outer side of the spine flattened into a rocky plateau, some fifty feet above the beach, which curved off to the west. The plateau was protected by high overhanging trees.

That was where the helicopter now stood, covered in a camouflage tarp, overlooking the beach below. Evans glanced back at it, hoping that it would blend into the landscape, but instead it was only too obviously visible, especially when seen from above. The group was now already fifty feet above it, as they scrambled and clawed up the jungle slope that rose steeply from the beach. It was surprisingly tough going. They were climbing single file, and had to be careful because the ground underfoot was muddy. Bradley had already slipped, and slid some ten yards down. His whole left side was covered in black mud. And Evans could see that there was a fat leech on the back of his neck, but he decided not to point it out just then.