[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
176
The materiel is awaiting suitable means for transport past the
American shore patrol. Your judo boat was to have been one such
means. Now wouldn't it be terrible if something happened to that
main cache?"
This time we didn't even try to interrupt his dramatic pause.
He didn't need any response; he had it all worked out. Very cleverly,
I had to admit; there was a brain behind that beard. "Now it
happens there is a launch anchored not far from here, on the
Almendares River. An excellent craft, fueled and provisioned, capable
of doing almost fifty knots. I'm afraid the skipper has been
very careless; he leaves it unguarded while he goes ashore for an
illicit drink. Tonight the naval guard is away on maneuvers. Somebody
might steal that boat, and I shall be most upset. My rage
shall be heard all the way to China! But I suspect the skipper,
afraid for his hide, will not report the theft for sevt, h hours, so
there will be no alert." He wiped away a mock tear. "Such a fine
boat, too! What a shame! But we have so few criminals, we do get
careless. A thief could take that boat all the way to the Marquesas,
and I really do not understand why the Maoist faction should be
so upset about that, since it is no concern of theirs-that we know
of."
He stood up. "It has been pleasant talking with you. We must
get together again sometime, in better circumstances. Have a cigar!"
He shoved a fresh Havana into my hand. "I always like to
exchange views with others, even Americans." And with a careless
wave of his hand he dismissed us.
I looked at Ilunga, and she looked at me. I looked at the damned
cigar. She opened her mouth to speak as we passed through the
door with the guards.
"You'll want to check the sifu's kwoon for weapons and food,"
Fidel called. "There is water aboard the launch."
Chapter 10
EVERGLADES
It all fell out as Fidel had suggested. So long as we followed the
charted course, his men took no notice of us. The moment we
deviated, even to pick up extra food, they closed in. The message
was plain enough. We had better perform.
We went to the sifu's kwoon, saddened that he had perished for
nothing, and picked up an assortment of hand weapons for later
use. Knives, daggers, a nunchaku, a kusarigama-the chained
sickle-a sling, a manriki gusari, or chained ball, kamas, the
Okinawan sickle, bows and arrows, and a powerful Chinese crossbow
ornamented with silver and engraved with the figures of birds:
an eagle fighting a phoenix. All in all, a deadly assortment of items,
for we knew we were traveling into danger.
We also took some food: packages of dried shrimp ready to eat,
salt fish, and even some leftover cooked rice. But it was sad, inheriting
these spoils from Sifu Tuh. He had been quite a man, and I
wished I had known him sooner.
The cache lay buried on a small island, but only the smug-
178
glers knew the specific spot. Since they could dig anywhere in the
sand and have the tide wash out all traces, or dig away the turf
inland and replace the squares carefully, a quick search would be
futile. We had to catch them in the act of picking it up. Only then
could we discover and destroy the weapons and heroin. Too early
or too late, and we would miss the Hyena's men, or alert them.
We anchored the craft in a secluded cove in a nearby island,
then swam across to the cache-island. I was concerned about sharks,
but we had shark repellent, and Ilunga assured me that they rarely
attacked men in this area. We used rubberized swim suits, frogmen
outfits we found in the launch. Ilunga was really stunning
with the black rubber clinging to her body and nothing underneath.
We used snorkels and swim fins, and towed our weapons and
reserve food in an inflated black rubber raft that could be deflated
and hidden in the sand. The island was small-hardly a hundred
yards across, jungle-covered. There would have been no place to
conceal the launch, and it would have been a dead giveaway.
We were in plenty of time, as the Hyena's pickup party was
not due till well after nightfall. We arrived in the morning, wanting
no premature encounter. They had to think the isle was deserted,
and no doubt they would spy it out hours beforehand,
before coming ashore to dig up the cache.
It was going to be tricky, because only from one of those men
could I get the rest of the Hyena's address, and they were unlikely
to be eager to talk. We would have to capture their party, then
radio the U.S. Coast Guard to pick them up. I had the suspicion
that Fidel had known the exact location of the Hyena's estate, but
had withheld the information as an added inducement for us to
make contact with the Hyena's party.
We made ourselves comfortable under the concealing fronds
of a palmetto patch, rubbed on mosquito repellent, and settled
down for what would probably be a wait of several hors. Naturally [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl karpacz24.htw.pl
176
The materiel is awaiting suitable means for transport past the
American shore patrol. Your judo boat was to have been one such
means. Now wouldn't it be terrible if something happened to that
main cache?"
This time we didn't even try to interrupt his dramatic pause.
He didn't need any response; he had it all worked out. Very cleverly,
I had to admit; there was a brain behind that beard. "Now it
happens there is a launch anchored not far from here, on the
Almendares River. An excellent craft, fueled and provisioned, capable
of doing almost fifty knots. I'm afraid the skipper has been
very careless; he leaves it unguarded while he goes ashore for an
illicit drink. Tonight the naval guard is away on maneuvers. Somebody
might steal that boat, and I shall be most upset. My rage
shall be heard all the way to China! But I suspect the skipper,
afraid for his hide, will not report the theft for sevt, h hours, so
there will be no alert." He wiped away a mock tear. "Such a fine
boat, too! What a shame! But we have so few criminals, we do get
careless. A thief could take that boat all the way to the Marquesas,
and I really do not understand why the Maoist faction should be
so upset about that, since it is no concern of theirs-that we know
of."
He stood up. "It has been pleasant talking with you. We must
get together again sometime, in better circumstances. Have a cigar!"
He shoved a fresh Havana into my hand. "I always like to
exchange views with others, even Americans." And with a careless
wave of his hand he dismissed us.
I looked at Ilunga, and she looked at me. I looked at the damned
cigar. She opened her mouth to speak as we passed through the
door with the guards.
"You'll want to check the sifu's kwoon for weapons and food,"
Fidel called. "There is water aboard the launch."
Chapter 10
EVERGLADES
It all fell out as Fidel had suggested. So long as we followed the
charted course, his men took no notice of us. The moment we
deviated, even to pick up extra food, they closed in. The message
was plain enough. We had better perform.
We went to the sifu's kwoon, saddened that he had perished for
nothing, and picked up an assortment of hand weapons for later
use. Knives, daggers, a nunchaku, a kusarigama-the chained
sickle-a sling, a manriki gusari, or chained ball, kamas, the
Okinawan sickle, bows and arrows, and a powerful Chinese crossbow
ornamented with silver and engraved with the figures of birds:
an eagle fighting a phoenix. All in all, a deadly assortment of items,
for we knew we were traveling into danger.
We also took some food: packages of dried shrimp ready to eat,
salt fish, and even some leftover cooked rice. But it was sad, inheriting
these spoils from Sifu Tuh. He had been quite a man, and I
wished I had known him sooner.
The cache lay buried on a small island, but only the smug-
178
glers knew the specific spot. Since they could dig anywhere in the
sand and have the tide wash out all traces, or dig away the turf
inland and replace the squares carefully, a quick search would be
futile. We had to catch them in the act of picking it up. Only then
could we discover and destroy the weapons and heroin. Too early
or too late, and we would miss the Hyena's men, or alert them.
We anchored the craft in a secluded cove in a nearby island,
then swam across to the cache-island. I was concerned about sharks,
but we had shark repellent, and Ilunga assured me that they rarely
attacked men in this area. We used rubberized swim suits, frogmen
outfits we found in the launch. Ilunga was really stunning
with the black rubber clinging to her body and nothing underneath.
We used snorkels and swim fins, and towed our weapons and
reserve food in an inflated black rubber raft that could be deflated
and hidden in the sand. The island was small-hardly a hundred
yards across, jungle-covered. There would have been no place to
conceal the launch, and it would have been a dead giveaway.
We were in plenty of time, as the Hyena's pickup party was
not due till well after nightfall. We arrived in the morning, wanting
no premature encounter. They had to think the isle was deserted,
and no doubt they would spy it out hours beforehand,
before coming ashore to dig up the cache.
It was going to be tricky, because only from one of those men
could I get the rest of the Hyena's address, and they were unlikely
to be eager to talk. We would have to capture their party, then
radio the U.S. Coast Guard to pick them up. I had the suspicion
that Fidel had known the exact location of the Hyena's estate, but
had withheld the information as an added inducement for us to
make contact with the Hyena's party.
We made ourselves comfortable under the concealing fronds
of a palmetto patch, rubbed on mosquito repellent, and settled
down for what would probably be a wait of several hors. Naturally [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]