by Bob Nailor
The volume of the squealing increased until he could hardly bear the pressure on his ears. To his horror, the boat began to rise out of the water. Dozens of female faces with glowing, red eyes were positioned around the gunwale. They lifted the boat back toward the shore using their wings.
The squealing rose in pitch until it was hardly audible. The boat was a few yards above the surface and rising. The engines raced, searching for water. Soon they would burn. Edson hit the button to activate the sonar system. Waves of unheard energy radiated outward toward the flapping creatures. In unison, they screamed and let go of the boat. Their hands clamped over their bat-like ears and they fled, darkening the sky above.
The boat crashed into the water. Edson was thrown to one side. He found his feet just as the engine jets filled with water and the boat lurched forward. Within seconds he was at the center of the river, in full daylight. He barely breathed until he hit fifty knots and flew above the surface. A pair of black wings followed him by the river’s bank, hovering in the shade of the trees, but unable to keep up with his speed. After fifteen minutes, he dropped his speed back to a reasonable pace and set the autopilot on Boca do Acre.
As the river flew past, he remembered the stories of the two dogs. He thought over his father’s scolding about breaking Nature’s rules. There was nothing natural about what he had just witnessed. He remembered how Fábio’s father had dealt with the bitch which had set out to dominate their farm. A bullet in the head followed by fire. He knew what he had to do, but first, he had to find some clothes.
Itotia toyed with Aaron in the small salon where she and Ejup had seen Ana. He stood as tall and straight as he could manage, sucking in his gut under her narrow, critical eyes. She ran her fingers over his body as if she were testing the wares before deciding on a purchase. He pulsed in arousal and didn’t appear able to withstand much more.
Ejup stormed into the room and struck her again, this time with the back of his hand. ”You befouled her!” he bellowed. “A virgin from the homeland!” Itotia fell to the floor and Aaron deflated like a used party balloon.
“You had to taste. You had to contaminate her purity.” Ejup stomped about the room in a rage. “I saw the mark on her ear, the same one you always leave. Do you have any idea how long it has been since I have tasted European flesh?” His red eyes glared at the woman sprawled on the floor. “I have controlled my urges for nearly five centuries. You couldn’t just leave this one for me. And now, with your game playing, one of them has escaped. All of this is your doing, you slut.” He kicked her and marched to the door. “Never again,” he barked from the balcony corridor.
Itotia slowly stood, holding a hand to her cheek, gently massaging the crushed bone underneath. She glared at the empty doorway, then back at Aaron. He was rigid again, breathing heavily after the rush of violence. She smiled.
“You have a chance, my insolent one,” Itotia said and wrapped her body around his. Aaron shivered then inhaled deeply. She bit down on his earlobe until she pierced it. She drew in deeply, then licked her lips and whispered, “But only one.”
Edson tucked the shirt into the pants he found onboard. He tied up on the dock at Boca do Acre, just behind another Federal Police craft he recognized and detested. He cursed and jogged up the concrete ramp toward the PF commander for the capital of the state of Amazonas, and technically his boss. Edson saw he was pissed with a look that could have frozen a supernova.
“What the fuck is going on here in Boca do Acre, Macedo?” he asked. “We haven’t had a body count like this for twenty years. In three days, you have ten bloody corpses.”
“Indian trouble, Captain. Things like this happen.” He tried to sound sincere. He wasn’t even convincing himself as they walked to the shed which served as an office.
“Paulo’s wife runs out of their shack of an office screaming like a crazy woman. The Vera Cruz is floating on its side, half-sunk, out by The Meeting of Waters. You didn’t hear any of this?”
“I’ve been out on the river for some time, sir,” he said. His eyes were finally open as wide as saucers. “What about Paulo and his crew?”
“There wasn’t enough left of them to fill one body bag. The piranhas looked like a swarm of bees. What a fucking mess.”
“What about the woman with him? The one who made a mess out of the street fair here?”
“It was only Paulo and his crew, Edson. There were no women on board.”
“He left here with one naked Indian.”
“Well, she sure as hell wasn’t on board when I got there,” his commander screamed. “So where is she?” People were staring.
“Don’t ask me,” Edson snapped back and shrugged his shoulders. “I just got here by luck. You can believe it or not, but I had a shitload of mulher morcego lift my boat out of the water.”
“Don’t tell me your jungle fairy tales,” the commander said.
“Listen to me,” Edson yelled, stood up, and paced in front of the desk. “If what I saw in the forest comes after us, you won’t be able to count the bodies fast enough.”
“Look, Lieutenant, you’ve got a mess on your hands. Get your ass back out there tomorrow. Get your river under control,” he said. He was in Edson’s face, his voice nearly at a shout. “Do I make myself clear?”
“Sim, Senhor Capitão,” Edson replied with a salute. “I can guarantee the Indian trouble is over.”
The commander looked over at Edson as he opened the door. “Do you actually believe these mulher morcego lifted your Swede ship out of the water?” He roared in great belly-laughs and closed the door behind him.
“He who laughs last, laughs best,” Edson whispered to the walls.
Chapter Thirty-Five
JUDGMENT DAY
Ejup, Itotia, and Ana lay still in the early evening heat, humid and lush after the daily rain. Ejup’s quarters were cloaked in darkness, even when the sun was high overhead. Generally, Itotia slept just outside the entrance to the room. There were no doors. For four centuries she had taken pride in satisfying their master’s needs with her own body and with those whom she chose for his bed at midday and at night. Today was no different.
Since the ceremony, he had been insatiable. The scent of his homeland had swelled his already excessive libido. Now Itotia and Ana lay sated and sore, gently snoring in each other’s arms. Ejup smiled at the sight: they thought he didn’t know.
He stood and stretched. “Wake up, my black orchids,” he called out “It’s time.” When there was no response he jumped back onto the wide jungle mattress. “Or, do you want another bout with me?”
His last remark snapped Ana upright. A day before she’d been a virgin. Her body couldn’t take any more abuse. “What do you mean, ‘it is time?’ Time for what?” she asked.
Ejup paced rapidly, nervously. “The day has come which was foretold since the founding of Vamazonia. It is the time to carry our gift of eternal life to the world.”
Itotia had heard Ejup’s grandiose pronouncements for hundreds of years. She was less than impressed to hear the end had finally come. “I’m sure that it’ll be exciting,” she said and rose to leave.
“You didn’t hear me?” Ejup snapped. “Summon the tribe. Everyone. It is time.”
She never stopped. “After lunch, then. Our capybara is ready,” she said on her way.
Ejup strode past her and blocked her path out of his quarters. “Itotia, my child,” he said in a tone much kinder than usual. “We have little time. I have told you this day would come since the beginning. Call everyone together at the Great Table. We must act now.”
Ana had no need to ask what he was doing. Her powers of hearing had grown so keen since the ceremony that she knew exactly what was happening around them. Her life had changed in every way from one moment to the next. She was now part of the tribe.
“There,” Edson shouted. “Near the middle.”
They hovered over the sparkling blue lagoon into which he’d plunged just a few days earlier where the M
arines had been attacked. A hundred yards below he picked out the tiny stream he’d followed. “Now follow it north, as far as you can,” he instructed the pilot. He dropped the helicopter to just above the soaring treetops and crept ahead.
The last time he had roared up the river, he had been ill-equipped for what he would find. It had cost four Marines their lives and nearly his, too. This time he was prepared. The flight plan read “Search and Rescue” but none of the men in the chopper were prepared to save anyone. He and the three soldiers were dressed like forest ninjas in green camo fatigues over Kevlar vests. Their faces were black and their eyes hidden behind wraparound sunglasses.
“What are we looking for?” Júlio asked, his eyes pressed into binoculars.
“Trust me,” Edson answered. “You’ll know when you see it.”
It had taken him two days to round up his little crew. Júlio was just glad to get out of Boca do Acre. The pilot needed S&R requalification hours. The other two had to see mulher morcego with their own eyes. They had loaded the military aircraft right after Edson had bought them lunch and they took to the air when the daily rains had passed.
“Slower,” Edson commanded. “We don’t want to fly over the place.”
He checked the odd collection of equipment he’d finagled from here and there. It didn’t look much like any armory he had ever seen. But, neither did their adversaries.
“Filha da puta,” murmured Júlio as he focused his field glasses. “How could that have been here all the time and no one ever noticed?”
“Drop us over to the right, Sandro,” Edson called out. “Give us a half-hour.” The only spot that had ever been cleared was for Ejup’s mining operation a century earlier and it gave them half a chance to set the chopper down on the ground. He grabbed a chain saw and repelled down to the forest floor, never waiting for the two others who followed close behind.
Two hours later they hiked quietly under the virgin canopy toward the white walls and golden roofs of El Dorado. The forest was possessed with an eerie silence. No parrots. No monkeys. Nothing broke the continuum of stillness, except for the ever-present feeling they were being watched.
Ejup stood atop the table in his battle armor, it gleaming as brightly as on the day he had arrived. Hundreds of tribal members milled around the Great Table, both mortal and eternal. They whispered among themselves, guessing what could be the reason for the gathering. Rumors abounded. The native men huddled in the back, waiting to see what their fate would be.
Ejup breathed in the tropical air with pride as he took in the race he had created.
“My first words are to those of you who have not been chosen to receive my gift of life. You are to leave and make homes for yourselves in the forest or in the cities. You will do this now. Go!” he said. No one moved. “I said go. Now. Do not look back. Do not seek us out.” Little movements rippled through the crowd.
Ejup motioned to Itotia. “Bring me three.”
She grabbed humans closest to the table and brought them to the space in front. The three stepped next to Ejup, proud to be chosen by their god.
“I said to go,” he roared and grabbed the nearest, an older woman in the tribe. He bit her neck and tore away the flesh with such a fury that her head dangled to one side, held only by her spine. Everyone screamed. He spat the gore onto the ground. “And, so it shall be for all who have not received my gift to disobey my command and not leave.”
The remaining two natives jumped from the table in terror. Most of the crowd ran toward the path away from the Table. Many fell and were trampled to death. The panic lasted only a few minutes. The remaining chosen few gathered close to their master as the rumble of flight by the majority of brown natives and a few white ones disappeared into the forest.
“Vamazonia,” he began. “Today is the day that has been foretold since the beginning. Today is the day of The Great Ordeal we must all enter together. Some, though few, will emerge victorious. You will join me in ushering in a new era for the earth. Others will fail and perish at the hands of our enemy. His vicious attack will rob us of the life which we have here together — the life we have built through the centuries.”
He paused. A hubbub of murmurs overtook the crowd. “Fight to the end, my people. Raise your fury as a sword. The power of our dominion shall be your shield. Conquer your enemy so we can rule together for eternity!” He held his broadsword high over his helmet, its ancient metal gleaming in the last few rays of daylight.
Ejup jumped from the table and walked from person to person. He gave each a kiss on the spot where he had bitten them so many years before. Then he strode back to his quarters with Itotia and Ana in tow. Neither quite believed what they had heard.
The sunlight was beginning to slip into dusk when Edson and his squad arrived at the foot of the walls of the gleaming city. Without a word, they walked to the ancient stone and tested it with their hands. Each man’s head craned back to stare at the golden tiles which capped everything.
“Are you sure you want to blow this up, Edson,” Captain Sandro, the pilot, whispered. “This place is going to be swarming with scientists in no time.”
“Not with those creatures here, it isn’t,” he answered. “At dawn, we take care of mulher morcego. Then you can have your press conference and get famous.”
They planted C4 charges quietly along the base of the walls and towers. They could hear voices and activity drift to their ears as the last rays of sunlight filtered through the leaves. Silently, they retreated to a few hundred yards from the structures and settled in under thick underbrush to eat and wait. Edson smiled to himself as he thought through the other surprises he had in store for Ejup and his flying army of evil.
A flurry of activity erupted around them and they dove for cover. Clusters of natives rushed through a single opening in the thick ivory wall. The massive doors were held open. The natives ran as if lions were on their heels. They scurried along the narrow path leading back toward the smoldering ashes that had once been a village. Their eyes revealed fear and panic, but none glowed red in the low light.
“Something’s happening,” Júlio whispered to Edson.
“They’re evacuating the city,” he answered.
Júlio furrowed his eyebrows, confused. “Why?”
“They know we’re here,” Edson replied. A cold fist grabbed his gut and squeezed. “They’ll come at us during the night.”
“Just before dawn,” Júlio added. “When it’s darkest.”
Ana found Ejup in his quarters, energized by his own speech. Itotia stood nearby, braiding and coiling her long hair on top of her head. He had thrown his Spanish armor in a careless pile next to his bed. The broadsword hung from a thick leather belt at his waist. When he felt her presence, he snapped his head in her direction.
“Prepare yourself, Ana Pavlović,” he growled. “It’s nearly time to leave.”
She glared at him in skepticism. She’d had less time for brainwashing than the others. “Ejup,” she began. “If they are indeed going to attack us, I can understand your concern. But, why don’t we all just fly away and establish a colony in another place?”
He turned to her with a wholly different expression. He wore the calculating she recognized from street-wise politicians and businessmen.
“You have prepared yourself to understand the world of weak men,” he said with a sneer. “One where each life is significant. Where something called good is supposed to conquer something called evil. In this new life you have chosen, we have no need for superstitions or half-truths. In our existence, the strong win and the weak lose. Period. There is nothing called virtue that demands one give his life for his tribe. If he is strong, he survives. If not, he perishes.”
Ejup’s face appeared chiseled from granite and as cold as ice. A few days before, Ana would have been frightened to the depths of her soul. Now, she trembled with the excitement of what was to come.
“Those who left here today are pathetic, unfit for my service. They will p
erish in the forest at the hands of the invaders. Those few who manage to survive, through bravery, cunning, or deceit, will earn a second chance. I have no interest in how many bodies are piled high by your friends.”
Ana started at the word “friends.” Their memory was already fading from her consciousness.
“Now, go. Prepare yourself. Make sure you’re one of my chosen.” His face only inches from hers. “And, don’t ever call me Ejup.” He turned, headed for the balcony, leaving her with her thoughts.
“Is he serious?” Ana asked Itotia.
She turned to face Ana, her face hard and resolute. “When you arrived with your friends, I killed a tapir for your dinner,” she said quietly. “You consumed it without a thought. You will become a hunter, my sister. You will kill and eat in exactly the same way.” She walked toward the balcony to join her husband. She had a bow taller than she strapped across her chest. Itotia stopped at the entrance. “Or, you will be eaten.”
Ana followed without another thought.
Edson’s eyelids drooped heavier than he would have liked. He and Júlio had spent countless hours whipping up the little party they were about to throw. They sat over gallons of coffee in the little interrogation room at the police station in Boca do Acre arguing over how to kill a creature who had laughed in his face after fifteen 9mm slugs. They’d come prepared with an arsenal that would have reduced them to giggles a week before.
“Tucano to Onça,” rang through Edson’s earphones. Sandro’s voice and call sign shot his eyes wide open. “I am under attack. Repeat. I am under attack.” Edson could hear the sound of machine gunfire in the background. “They are swarming all around the chopper. Will have to take off. Caralho, there are hundreds of the things.”