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“I don’t know about you,” the navigator said as he began to walk down the steps, “but I’m hungry.”
The driver removed his earpiece, stuffed the cord inside, then folded the case back together.
“Then let’s eat,” the driver said.
The navigator reached the landing and flicked on a tiny flashlight. “We can’t ask our hosts what’s good,” he said. “They’re in sleepyville.”
“And by the time they wake up,” the driver said, “we’ll be long gone.”
The two men made their way to the kitchen, but nothing looked good. So they walked back to the van, drove through town to the casino and ordered a meal of ham and eggs.
15
SUNRISE on Good Friday, March 25, 2005, was at 6:11 A.M.
On the decks of the sampans in the i
A few small three-wheeled motorized rickshaws plied the avenue, their drivers stopping for strong black coffee served in small cups, then continuing on to deliver packages or people to their destinations. At a small restaurant two hundred yards northwest of the casino, the owner finished a cigarette then walked inside. On the stove in the rear was a pot of caldo verde, the Portuguese stew of potatoes, sausage and locally grown greens. He stirred the mixture, then set the long wooden spoon onto a counter and started to prepare chickens marinated in coconut milk, garlic, peppercorns and chilies by rubbing them with rock salt. Later, the poultry would be slid onto skewers and slow-cooked on a rotisserie.
Across the water, Hong Kong was hidden by a haze of humidity and smog, but the sound of the first highspeed ferry leaving port could be heard. The first few jets of the day, mainly cargo planes, streaked across the blue sky and made ready for landing at the airport. A Chinese naval vessel left its moorage below A-Ma Temple and started out for a patrol, while a large luxury yacht with a helicopter perched on her fantail called on the radio for the location of her slip.
A lone cargo ship, decades past her prime, started into port to deliver a cargo of bicycles from Taiwan. On another cargo ship, this one appearing old and decrepit, a man with a blond crew cut was sitting at the table in his stateroom reading.
Juan Cabrillo had been awake for hours.
He was ru
A light knock came at the door, and Cabrillo stood up and walked over and opened the hatch.
“Somehow I knew you’d be awake,” Hanley said.
Hanley held a tray of plates covered by metal lids, steam escaping from under them.
“Breakfast,” he said as he walked inside.
Cabrillo cleared a space on the table and Hanley off loaded the contents. Next he pulled the lid off a di
Cabrillo nodded and pointed to a seat.
Hanley slid into the seat and poured two cups of coffee from a thermal carafe, then removed the lid from another plate.
“Anything unusual happen overnight?” Cabrillo asked.
“No,” Hanley said easily, “everything is still according to plan.”
Cabrillo sipped his coffee.
“There’s a lot here that could go wrong,” he said.
“There always is.”
“That’s why we get the big money.”
“That’s why we get the big money,” Hanley agreed.
“SO, do you know when I lost my virginity?” the brunette flight attendant asked. “You seem to know everything else.”
“That’s too personal.” The blond-haired man laughed.
“But my failed relationships and credit card bills aren’t?” The attendant gri
“Sorry about the intrusion into your privacy. The group I work with has a thing for detail.”
“Sounds like you’re a spy,” the attendant noted.
“Oh, heck no,” the blond-haired man said, “we just work for them.”
“Tax-free income enough so I can retire?”
“Everyone’s dream,” the blond-haired man admitted.
The brunette attendant glanced around the forward cabin. She was really nothing more than a glorified waitress on a restaurant in the sky.
“How can I say no?” she said finally.
“Good,” the blond-haired man said, rising.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“I have to go kill the pilot,” the blond-haired man said lightly.
The look on the brunette flight attendant’s face was priceless.
“Just kidding,” the blond-haired man said. “I have to pee. I’m qualified in 737s, but I think Mr. Fabulous would think it odd if I disappeared.”
“Who areyou people?” the attendant muttered as the blond-haired man slipped into the lavatory.
“ARE you sure this beast will make it to the border and back?” Carl Ga
Ga
Ga
“Oh, yes, sir,” the Bhutanese owner said easily. “She has a strong heart.”
Ga
“Can you start her up?”
The man walked around, opened the door and climbed into the driver’s seat.
After pulling out the choke, he pumped the gas pedal, then twisted the key. After turning over a few times, the engine roared to life. Smoke drifted out of a rusted hole in the exhaust pipe, but the engine settled into an idle. Ga
“Rev her up,” he shouted.
The owner depressed the gas pedal, then left off. He did this four times.
“Okay,” Ga
The owner turned off the engine, pocketed the key, and then climbed from the cockpit. He was small, a shade over five feet tall, with ta
“Do you have spare belts and hoses?”
“I can find some,” the man told him.