After I posted last week's portion, I got to thinking that not enough had passed between Clete and Mu to make me believe he had enough data to decide to rescue Nu. The stakes needed to get just a little higher on both their sides to warrant a change of position. So, I have backed up conversation a few seconds to make sure you get the additional words that they exchange.
Also, have you ever bought a car or a large appliance after going through a hard-sell session and you thought the selling was over, but it really wasn't? The sales bastards then start trotting out extended warranties, accessories, EZ credit deals, rustproofing, blah blah blah. Think of that feeling when you enter this next section.
But Clete, bless his arrogant heart, he really thinks he knows best. Does he? We'll get it confirmed some time soon
... as the story continues ...
She grabbed the phone out of my hand and stared at the
number for a long time.
“You are a scoundrel. Did you know that? No,
I will use your words, you are a real FUCKING BASTARD. Saying such things to me
at a time like this. How DARE you!”
I think I saw Lee timidly peeking out at us from the
boathouse. Mu saw my eyes wandering away. She whirled about.
“LEE! Bring the duffle! NOW!”
Lee disappeared and came out quietly and hurriedly with a
green duffle bag. Mu practically threw my phone back at me. She knelt down,
unzipped the duffle and pulled out a couple of things. Her apparent rage
subsided a bit, but I could tell it was lurking just below her now steeled
exterior.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Things that you will need should you go
in pursuit. Special clothing, a flag, various artifacts.”
She took out what seemed to be a long, sheathed short sword.
She drew it out and tested the sharpness of the blade with the flat of her
thumb.
“Dull and a but rusty. Needs to be
sharpened. The sharping stone is in the duffle.”
“Not much good against someone with a gun.”
“A skilled knife master can defeat a
pistol-wielder. But some weapons can be convincing if you only show them.”
“I have not agreed to assist you.”
“I know. I’m realistically weighing my
options. This is an ancient heirloom of ours. The swordsmith was quite gifted. It feels quite balanced
even in my hand. And yet it has sufficient weight to carry itself into a target
with the right push.”
“Mu. You need to put that away right now.
You are in an agitated state and probably not thinking clearly.”
“Quite the contrary Dr. Wong. This
situation has given me absolute clarity. And as sorry as I am to say it, your
conjectures about Nu are not without merit. They’re unlikely, but … you’ve
given me something to think about that I haven’t before. And she has met you, a
man from the outside. And I invited that situation myself. And though it is
small, now I have doubt. Is that your mission in life Doctor? To undermine
certainty and belief?”
“I like to think I’m in the business of uncovering
and rejecting false assumptions.”
“And what is the best way for you to
conduct an investigation of what you think is true?”
I really did not want that job. But if Nu was really there
against her will, which I doubted, it was a worthy effort. And so I caved.
“Deal.”
The “Dragon Lady” closed her eyes and then put down her head
for a bit. She looked up at me.
“Thank you.”
For a moment she almost looked vulnerable to me, but I’m
sure that was just either wishful thinking or a passing illusion. She
immediately got down to business.
“You will send radio transmissions of your
coordinates to the channel that is preset, Channel 3, and advise them at 30-minute
intervals that you are coming at my request. They will not answer but they will
hear. You will advise them each time that you are unarmed. A course plan and
map Lee will have for you. When you get
a visual fix on them, you will raise this flag. If they act as I expect them
to, they will cut their engine and wait for you to approach and let you board.
You will put on the garment that is in this duffle before boarding. You will
read a statement to them that I will give you. They will then release Nu, whom
you will collect and bring her back.”
“What if . . .”
“I’m giving you the contingencies now. You
may call in the authorities if they do not cut their engine when you come into
view flying those colors. You may also call in the navy, mine or yours, if they
fire any shot, warning or otherwise. If you return with her on board, continue
flying those colors. If you are returning without her, fly the black flag that
is onboard.”
“What the hell? You trying to impress me
with your knowledge of Ovid? This ain’t some Greek myth. I’ll just radio you or
leave your Island phone on and I’ll make an oral report.”
“I’m not concerned. You will come back
with her.”
“What if I don’t have her? What if she has
chosen to move on?”
“If that is the case, then communicating
by flag will keep me focused on your return. I will be on The Point watching
for you. Seeing a black flag will give me enough time to kill myself before you
make shore. Tell her that if she refuses to come.”
“WHAT!? You want me threaten your daughter
with your suicide if she refuses to come back? This is some adolescent
brinksmanship bullshit. I will help you, but I’m not going perpetrate your
childish mind games on her. Ask me to do that kind of crap and I’m off the job.
No deal.”
“If she is not here, there is no point to
my life continuing.”
“You’re bluffing.”
“I am deadly serious. I can end my life
right now if it will make you move on my terms.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I will prove my resolve. I was hoping not
to lose time on such things, but you are you. The water is not deep here. I
will go under, only two meters, and hold onto the piling until I lose
consciousness and start to drown. The only thing that will stop me from
drowning myself is you. If you sincerely believe I am a liar, then I will
drown. And in that case, goodbye Clete.”
She slipped out of her clothes as lithely as any of her
Third Branch cousins and disappeared into the water with hardly a splash. There
was a rope secured to the piling which she then grasped and she stayed there
suspended facing up. She kept her eyes open for a time, but then closed them. I
was sure this was an elevated bluff. I knew from my own experience in free dive
and scuba training that we all have about two minutes, but then the body will
spasm, and that’s the end of that. But Mu stayed down there holding on
peacefully to the rope for three and then four minutes. Lee had come to stand
by me as I watched.
“She has been down there five minutes. What
will you do, Clete?”
"Why do I have to do anything? It's hardly ethical to use this kind of coercion to make a point. It's a desperate move. To me it's a signal that she's lost the argument; at least at the rhetorical level."
"So now that you have won, you feel better? And now you will help as she asks?"
“I really want to help. But what she is
asking me to do is wrong. Nu has made her choice.”
“Only if Nu wants to leave, that is. Tell
me. Has Mu ever asked you to do something childish or stupid while you have
known her here?”
“No.”
“Have any of us asked you to do something
childish or stupid while you have been here?”
“YES. Several of you actually.”
“Then that should tell you something.”
“Has she had hypoxia training?”
“What is that?”
“Holding your breath for a long time.”
“She used to free drive for fish and
shells when she was young. Yes. And she meditates for hours instead of sleeping
much of the night; that increases the ability. And I think it slows down her
heartbeat. Is that what you mean?”
“So she knows how to suppress her
diaphragm spasms?”
“She will never gasp for air if that is
what you are thinking.”
“I think you should go down and get her
Lee. She’s pissed at me.”
“I heard her. She will not do anything for
me. She is waiting for something from you. YOU are her target. So YOU need to
do something.”
“And if I don’t do anything?”
“She is very tenacious and loyal to what
she believes. You forced her into this. She will let herself faint and then
sink and drown. She is rightfully the Dragon Princess. Why is it you are SO
hard to get to do the right thing and the things you DO do are so troublesome? Ai yah! Just do what she is asking.”
“But she didn’t say to do anything
specific to get her back up here.”
“Then she expects you to think of
something. Just pull her off and bring her back up.”
“Shit, shit, SHIT. GODDAMN IT! Another
fanatical Island bitch. Why aren’t any of you bitches normal?”
So I stripped down to my shorts and dived in after her. I
got next to her and tried to get her attention but she had gone into some kind
of deep trance state. I tried to force her hands free, but she had a grip that
I could not get to release. I was starting to panic because I needed air. I
went to the surface, took in a deep breath and tried to pack my lungs as much
as I could. I went back down, forced her
mouth open, and as she let loose a bubble, I latched on and emptied my breath
into her. She took it in but did not release nor come out of trance. I went
back to the surface.
“Lee!
I need to cut that rope. Get me some kind of tool. That short sword she had
might do the job.”
“That will take too long. Rope is too
tough and too thick.”
“What do you suggest?”
“She’s going to faint sometime right?
Probably sometime soon? She’ll let go then. Grab her and bring her up before
she sinks, or it will be hard to find her on the bottom.”
“Throw me a flotation device then. A ring
would be good.”
“In the meantime, see if you can get her
to hold onto you instead. That could work.”
I took a big gulp of air and went back down to her. I did
not want to miss the point at which she would release. I tried prying her
fingers off the rope again to no avail. She was not looking good. I decided if
I acted like I was hugging her she might instinctively hug back. I wrapped my
arms around her and put mouth to hers again.
C’mon Mu. Take my breath. She did. And we just kept passing that stale,
hot air. I vibrated my vocal chords as if I were talking and saying “Fuckin’
let go! You win goddamn it! I’ll be your bitch, Bitch!”
The whole situation seemed like it needed some other kind of
punctuation, so I rammed two of my fingers up her asshole. I’m pretty sure that
made her evacuate her bowels because something relaxed suddenly—like pushing
the flush button on a pressurized water-saving toilet. Yeah, it was a pretty
fucked-up move—I could go to prison for rape back in L.A. for that—I guess I
was on my way to being a career felon having already started a rap sheet as a
smuggler. But her hands then clasped around my neck. It worked.
I forced us back up to the surface where I got the ring
around her. She had not become conscious yet. We pulled her out and laid her on
the deck and let her drain of the water she had taken in. Life finally came
back in to her eyes as she looked up at me sitting beside her. I was just about
to scream my displeasure at her, but because I wanted her to hear whatever
insults I would hurl, I rolled her head to one side and then the other, tugging
at her earlobes to clear the water.
She looked like she had just woken up from a peaceful nap.
Me? I felt my heart thumping and my chest heaving up and down because of my
elevated rate of breathing. But I was coming down and I just accepted all of
the serenity that was emanating from her. What was odd was the vibe we had
resting there together—it had been years in my case, but my mild exhaustion just
felt very post-coital. Surprising myself, I did not yell when I uttered the
first words.
“Ah. You’re back. You made your point. I
don’t agree with your tactics, but I will do as you ask,” I said.
“You won’t have to do anything difficult.
She will come back.”
“You’re pretty goddamned good at holding
your breath.”
“I used to be better. I passed out sooner
than I expected. I haven’t done that in a while. I feel exhausted.”
“Exhausted? You nearly killed yourself you
fuckin’ lunatic. I thought you were the sane one on this island.”
“When you have died as many times as I
have you lose your fear.”
“The
reincarnation thing again, eh? Meh! You sound like my grandmother.”
“She sounds like a smart woman. She would
be ashamed of your apostasy. Don’t be so skeptical. Your soul is very old too.
I can feel it. It’s why you’re so callous about everything. You’ve seen too
much.”
“I’ve had enough scrapes and bumps in one
life to make me cynical. I don’t need more than one life.”
“I wasn’t worried about dying. I knew you
would pull me out. You don’t want to be blamed for anything. You are such a selfish
coward.”
“My status is rising. I’m up from ‘reprobate.’
You are one tough old bird.”
“True. I am no young chicken. That means
you must simmer me gently and for a long time if you want me to be tender for
you.”
“Why are you like this?”
“I am just like you. Tough times made me
tough. And I also prize certainty.”
“I was just thinking. I owe you a favor.
Why didn’t you call it in on me?”
“Don’t think I did not consider it. Unfortunately
I am a reasonable woman. It would not be an equal trade.”
“In retrospect, no. But at the time, my
agreement was unconditional because I had no idea what you people were capable
of. Damn if you aren’t one to play for all the marbles.”
“I only want you doing this job because
YOU want to do it. Shouldn’t you be on
your way?”
“You never totally briefed me about these
guys. I just have their names.”
“Too late. We’ll talk when you return.
Just do it. Believe me when I tell you it’s perfectly safe and they are all
fine gentlemen polite to a fault. They only transport all of those machine guns
and rocket launchers for the benefit of others and only mount them on the sides
of their ship for testing purposes. Got all that? My little ‘bitch?’”
I would like to point out that it’s always a better stance
in life for a man to believe that everything comes out of a woman’s mouth is a
lie, or at least shaded with ambiguity. It puts you on your toes. You will
never underestimate them and you will give them and their cunning the respect
that they deserve.
© Copyright 2012 by Vincent Way, all rights reserved.
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Be truthful and frank, but be polite. If you use excessive profanity, I'll assume you have some kind of character flaw like Dr. Wong. Tks!