Chapter 89
Meanwhile, Susanto was having a hard time with Cruz. During the night, Cruz had come to the conclusion that it would be better to put off the takeover of Pitcairn and the Pitcairn colony in the New World.
"I think it's better to to return with a professional force," he told Susanto. "I can easily gather a hundred security men, all with military experience. Plus an extra fifty in support personnel."
"Not a thousand or two?"
"Stop it, Rafi. I got carried away, I admit."
"And now you're being too cautious. We've got three a.s.sault rifles, a scoped hunting rifle, two shotguns, and eleven handguns. All with plenty of ammo! There's a gun for everyone excluding the wh.o.r.es. And they can be usedtoo, in support roles, as cooks or nurses. A couple of them have even got nurses' uniforms. Latex, but what the h.e.l.l, at least they are easy to keep clean. Gabriel, if what you say is correct we have more capable men than they have, on that f.u.c.king island of theirs."
"It's better if this gets done by professionals, Rafi."
"What are you talking about? My crew are professionals! Listen, it's going to take a while before we can return home. And once we do that, it's going to take a very long while to get everything under control. We're going to arrive in Chaos City, Gabriel. I know it and you know it. It's going to be six months - at least! - before we can get around to dealing with Pitcairn. That's around five New World years. A lot can happen in five years. A lot can happen in six months too, come to think of it. We have to move faster than that."
Susanto went on and on until Cruz crumbled, and agreed that they would stage a coup almost as soon as they found themselves on Pitcairn. They'd get the brothers to immediately grant Pitcairn citizens.h.i.+p to Susanto and his crew, and organize an election a couple of days later. Susanto would be unanimously elected as the new ruler of Pitcairn in both worlds. Speed was essential: Susanto had be enthroned before the new global government in New York got in touch with Pitcairn. Otherwise, complications could ensue.
"Are you quite sure you don't want to be included, Gabriel?" asked Susanto.
"No, Rafi. The New World is all yours. Once those two inbred throwbacks get their faces rubbed in s.h.i.+t, I'm retiring from all that. I have different priorities."
"Pity," Susanto said, and meant it.
They finally set out for Pitcairn just after seven in the morning, with Cruz in one boat and Susanto in the other: they'd agreed beforehand it would be a wise move. The wind was three quarters front, and the Pitcairn men grumbled they wouldn't get the island by nightfall. Things got worse during the night: by morning, they were sailing directly into the wind, and the waves had swollen to the point where their crests would occasionally break over the bows of the boats, drenching the occupants. Clouds were gathering rapidly too, and Cruz felt a return of the fears he'd felt on his earlier solo journey. It was mid-afternoon by the time they finally docked in Pitcairn's tiny harbor, and for Cruz it couldn't have happened
He needed to find his feet before leading an armed takeover of the island, and communicated this to Susanto as soon as they got out of the boats. He was also made apprehensive by the fact neither of the Christian brothers had come to greet the returning expedition. They sent half a dozen men instead, of ages ranging from seventeen to seventy, ostensibly to help with the luggage. Two of the older men came ill-equipped for porter duties: they already carried heavy shotguns, big pieces with pump action.
One of those men, an oldster with gnarled features and s.h.i.+fty eyes, approached Cruz and informed him the whole party was to proceed to Adamstown, where everyone would be allocated their quarters. Cruz pretended to agree. As soon as they'd formed a column and set out for the town, he whispered to Susanto:
"I'm going to the front of the column. When we reach the town, we all stop and tell those guys we want to talk to the governor and the mayor first. They'll have no choice but to see us, and that's when we start the show. Make sure the men are ready."
It didn't work out that way. As they entered the town, they were met by the Christian brothers. The rulers of Pitcairn were accompanied by a third man, who wore a naval uniform complete with peaked, braided cap and a pistol on his belt. The brothers looked sheepish when they introduced him as Lieutenant Commander Jared Knight of the Royal New Zealand Navy.
"Pleased to meet you, gentlemen," the commander said, shaking Cruz's and Susanto's hands. "I am happy to see you here. I am not so happy because it appears I've sent my s.h.i.+p on an unnecessary journey."
"Your s.h.i.+p?" said Susanto. "What s.h.i.+p? You have a s.h.i.+p?"
"Take it easy, Rafi," said Cruz. He turned to the commander, and said:
"Please excuse my companion. It's a little hard to believe. You sent your s.h.i.+p to rescue us from Henderson Island? What sort of s.h.i.+p?"
"The HMNZS Kahu. It's a training vessel. A three-masted barque with a crew of sixty, plus sixty naval cadets. I suspect that you must have pa.s.sed each other during the night. Unfortunately all of our electronics have been shot to h.e.l.l. Otherwise they'd picked you up on radar. Anyway, gentlemen, I am pleased to welcome you on New Zealand territory."
There was a heavy pause.
"Oh," said Cruz. "Last time I was here, this island was independent."
Lieutenant Commander Jared Knight spread his hands, and smiled.
"Things change," he said. "And not always for the worse. Sometimes, they change for the better." Turning to the Christian brothers, he added:
"Isn't this true, gentlemen?"
"Yes," said Peter. Paul said nothing, just nodded and looked away. It was clear that the Christian brothers didn't feel the change in Pitcairn's status was a change for the better.
Neither did Susanto. He let Cruz do all the talking while his mind worked feverishly on this new development. His plans for a coup were blown to bits. It was one thing to take over an independent island with a population of forty two people, and another to stage a revolt in a freshly claimed province of New Zealand. But hadn't Cruz told him there was just one, global government? And if that was true - where was the commander's authority to claim Pitcairn as New Zealand territory?
But when he joined the ongoing conversation to make this point, the commander said:
"That's correct. There is a single, global government, and it has rearranged things. From the administrative point of view, it makes no sense to create territories out of island states with no population to speak of. We've been in contact with the world government in New York for over a week already, and the governor of New Zealand has received instructions to incorporate the whole Pitcairn archipelago into his territory. It was one of the first messages to come through, actually. You see, it's a matter of being represented in the world parliament. New Zealand has a member there, Pitcairn has not. So we set sail for here right away to put this situation straight. And also conduct an inventory on all the items taken from the cube that appeared here. Did you have a cube appear on Henderson Island?"
"Yes," Cruz said right away. It was no use pretending otherwise. When HMNZS Kahu reached Henderson Island, its crew would quickly discover both the cube and the enromous pile of items that were taken from it by Susanto's crew.
Cruz didn't mind telling the commander this. He was happy. It made him happy to see the Christian brothers stripped of all their powers. It made him happy to hear there was a s.h.i.+p capable of taking him back home, or at the very least - to New Zealand. He'd visited New Zealand a few times in the past, and he'd liked it.
"Don't worry, Rafi," he consoled Susanto once they were settled in their quarters. "This s.h.i.+p is actually a G.o.dsend. I was afraid we'd be stuck for months here."
"But all our plans have been destroyed! Can't you see that, Gabriel? All right, all right: those two Christian guys got their a.s.ses kicked, and without any effort on your part. But what about the New World? What about timon? You don't care, right? You're out of this. But you wanted out. I didn't. I've been kicked out. And all that stuff, all those implant kits and s.h.i.+t - lost!"
"You can still set up a colony in the New World, Rafi," said Cruz. "You can even set one up from here. I'm sure the New Zealand governor will be agreeable. You'll simply be going the legal route. That's nothing bad, is it?"
Susantro grumpily agreed going the legal route wasn't bad. However, as a rule it was much less profitable.
"You'll come out on top anyway, Rafi," Cruz a.s.sured him. "If anyone can do it, you can, and will. Once you've sorted out everything back home you can return to Henderson with a party of good people, hand-picked for the job."
"I guess I can," Susanto said dejectedly. He still hadn't told Cruz about the expeditions to the New World he'd undertaken in Cruz's absence. Well, maybe Cruz was right. That last trip, from the southernmost tip of Henderson Island, was promising. And he could also hire some professional mountaineers for another go at the cliff he'd discovered from Candy's secret beach. He sighed, and said:
"You're right, Gabriel. I'll just have to arm myself with plenty of patience."
"That's the spirit," Cruz said.
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