Fire Cult

by R. B. Shaw

  Within an hour, Tiana returned in the old Ford. She had made time to leave a large message at Dave’s camp in case anyone returned.

  As they finished stacking the bags of gold in the back of the Ford wagon, Kless turned confidentially to the big Buka. ‘I’m leaving you in charge of the plantation. Send out a few runners to tell my patrols to return. They’re probably wasting their time. I’m sure that bitch pilot escaped in my jetboat last night. They found it tied up at the wharf near the airstrip. When I’m gone, find out what Lani did with the keys. After that, she’s all yours.’

  Lani realised resistance was pointless. Kless had taken Tiana with him to the airstrip in the gold-laden Ford. With the threat of further violence, she gave up and showed the ogling Buka where she buried the keys behind the shed. The big Buka had craved Lani from the first moment he saw her. He watched intently while she leaned over, raking for the keys. The black dress stretched tight across her backside and slim waist. The satin shone like a beacon. The tiny muscles in her bare back moved sensuously beneath smooth caramel skin that glowed from her exertion.

  The Buka revelled in the stirring of his loins. ‘Keep raking till you’ve got every key!’ He breathed heavily as he gloated and watched her slender calf muscles straining. Her silken hair looked alive as it rolled across her bare shoulders in a cascading black curtain. She had the most alluring face he had ever seen—startling dark almond eyes shaded by long lashes over smooth high cheeks and full blooming lips.

  Lani brushed hair away from her face with delicate fingers. ‘That’s it, you’ve got them all,’ she panted, then turned to face the Buka.

  There could be no mistaking the Buka’s lecherous intentions. His black eyes shamelessly undressed her. Lani did not resist as his huge arms encircled her waist. He started rubbing against her, relishing the sensations and compounding his already heightened arousal.

  ‘Wait,’ Lani whispered. Her lips sensually brushed his ear. ‘There’s something I must do first.’ She beamed her entrancing smile and as he let her slide out of his embrace, she turned away briefly.

  The Buka’s reflexes almost failed him. He saw the rake coming but he reacted too slowly to avoid being hit. The force of the swing meant for his face deflected painfully off his shoulder.

  ‘You bitch!’ he screamed in agony. ‘You wanna play rough? That’s what you’re gonna get!’

  He grabbed Lani’s wrist and forced her into the house, slapping her face each time she tried to kick or bite him. The other girls saw his rage and ran to their rooms. He punched anyone who got in his way. Stopping briefly to lock the car keys away, he dragged Lani into a bedroom and slammed the door. As she made a dash for the door, he deftly stepped in her way, then slapped her face a stunning blow. He tore her skirt off and threw her dazed on the bed.

  The big Buka eagerly dragged his grubby pants off over his boots and tossed them in the corner. He stared at her black lace pants and bra snugly caressing skin soft and smooth as a satin pillow. As she moaned and rolled, her gossamer hair tumbled in a black cascade. Her lashes looked like silken combs over flushed cheeks and parted full lips. The Buka ripped away her bra to expose her small breasts. He slid his big palms up her smooth thighs and under her pants. Uncharacteristically, he slid them off gently, savouring the experience.

  Kneeling over her, the Buka nuzzled his stubbled face into Lani’s naked breast. She began to rouse as his huge muscled legs kneed her thighs apart. The heavy sweating body over her panted foul breath. Lani felt the frantic blind thrusting and then the Buka let her wrist go briefly to guide himself. He ran his hand up the cool smoothness of her inner thigh and she recoiled in terror. Lani shoved her knee as hard as she could into his crotch. As he clutched himself in pain, she rolled off the bed and hurled herself through the flimsy flyscreen of the window.

  The Buka roared and ran awkwardly after her, clumsily forcing his bulk through the small window. He tangled with the broken screen and fell heavily to the ground. Lani made a desperate dash for the beach, hoping she had time to paddle a canoe out to safety. The crunch of the big Buka’s boots pounded behind her. Another sound broke the silence, a motor cycle at full throttle. Lani glanced over her shoulder. A rider raced up the entrance road at the head of a plume of coronus dust.

  Jake rode his Yamaha 350. He saw Lani naked and terrified, running toward the beach ahead of the bare-arsed Buka. He assessed the situation quickly and steered straight for them. The Buka turned, his features contorted with rage. Jake made no attempt to confront the heavily-built bodyguard. He simply rode the Yamaha directly into the Buka at full speed, tossing him into the air. The motor cycle slewed sideways, out of control, tumbled awkwardly and threw Jake into a garden. Despite his size, the big Buka tumbled over Jake and the Yamaha. He landed awkwardly on his head and lay still.

  Lani trembled thankfully. She stopped running and turned back to Jake. The native highlander had risked his life to save her. ‘Jake, thank you. Are you okay?’ she asked with concern and helped him to sit up.

  Jake grimaced as he tried to flex his wrist. ‘No, I think I broke my arm!’ He glanced at Lani’s naked beauty, then carefully removed his shirt over his broken arm. He offered it and she quickly donned his shirt and buttoned it full length.

  Lani flinched when she saw the bruised kink that confirmed the break in Jake’s arm. She searched around the garden and found two stakes as a temporary splint. She questioned him anxiously. ‘What happened to Fang, Dave and the others? Kless said they were killed by the cult.’

  Jake winced with pain as she secured the splints with his belt. ‘Only Ted. He saved us from the Sangami. Jan did the rest in the helicopter. I don’t know about Dave, he’s still missing.’ Jake looked over at the bodyguard, concerned he could attack again. ‘How’s the Buka?’

  ‘Unconscious. It looks like you dislocated his leg. I don’t care.’ Lani anxiously wanted to rescue her sister from Kless. ‘I’m more concerned about your motorcycle. I need it to follow Tiana. Kless took her and the gold to the airstrip. All the car keys are locked away.’ She searched the Buka for the safe key. ‘The safe key must have been lost in the fight.’

  ‘You?’ Jake glanced at her, surprised. ‘Ride the Yamaha?’

  ‘Never been to Thailand? Everyone rides a motorcycle or scooter. With your arm broken, you can’t take me.’

  Jake wanted to help. ‘I’m coming along then.’

  ‘What about your arm?’ Lani enquired.

  ‘I’ll be okay, I can hang on with one arm. First I’ll check the ‘bike.’

  The adrenalin rush of the incident left Lani in a high state of tension. Withdrawal set in and she craved another hit. ‘Jake, I’ll just get my clothes.’ While Jake checked over the Yamaha, she hurried to the house.

  Her craving sated, Lani returned relaxed but determined. She again wore her torn dress and handed back Jake’s shirt. They quickly levered a bent mudguard away from the wheel. She mounted the motorcycle, Jake as pillion guiding the way, then gunned the throttle toward the airstrip.

  As they reached the coast road, they heard the roar of a powerful V8 engine following. Fang’s orange Thunderbox charged up behind. Jake turned, saw Fang signalling and shouted to Lani to move over. Neither wanted to stop and lose time.

  Fang drew the Thunderbox alongside—he could not tell if it was Lani or Tiana. ‘Where’s Kless and the gold?’

  ‘He’s in Joe’s Ford, heading for his plane at the strip,’ Jake shouted and noticed Seiji in the passenger seat.

  ‘Do you wanna stop and get in with us?’ Fang shouted back.

  Lani butted in urgently. ‘No, Fang. He’s got Tiana. Don’t waste time—we’ll meet you there. Take the first right up ahead and then through the river. It’ll save ten minutes. He can’t go that way in the wagon. Maybe you can with four-wheel drive.’

  The news of Tiana enraged Fang. He did not reply and instead floored the accelerator. The Thunderbox fishtailed off in pursuit, trailing a cloud of dust. The river obstructed their progre
ss not long after taking the right hand short cut. It was much wider and deeper than Fang imagined. He realised he should have stuck to the longer coast road.

  ‘You can’t get across here—it’s too deep!’ Seiji rebelled, clearly worried.

  ‘She’ll be okay, mate.’ Fang ignored him and selected four-wheel drive, low range. ‘With the snorkel intake and exhaust the old Thunderbox can go just about anywhere.’ He slowly powered the vehicle into the muddy water, carefully staying behind his own bow-wave.

  As the water crept ever higher, tiny leaks developed in the cabin. The water flowed across the bonnet. With the increased pressure the cabin leaks turned to scores of tiny fountains.

  Fang smiled at Seiji, trying to hide his concern. ‘Like standin’ in a schoolboy urinal.’

  The water in the cabin crept above their ankles. Halfway across the river the brawny V8 revved free. They felt the wheels lose contact and the Thunderbox started to float downstream.

  Fang shouted at Seiji. ‘Open your door!’

  Seiji looked incredulous. ‘What! I don’t want to drown!’

  ‘You will if you don’t force your bloody door open against the current. Now open it you stupid Samurai arsehole!’ Fang forced open his own door, allowing the cabin to flood. The huge tyres briefly gripped the riverbed.

  52

  The volcano thundered overhead. Dave crawled feebly across the slope, slowly being cooked alive. To one side a hot wall of black lava tumbled over itself like fiery molasses. On the other side, a liquid flow advanced toward him. The crust contorted hypnotically. The silver jellified skin stretched open, then tore away to form compacted braids and curtains. Orange bulbs of lava glowed and bulged before rupturing to expose the bright red molten core.

  Dave finally crouched into a foetal ball, trying to avoid the withering heat, and gulped for air. A blast of stinging debris made him turn away. Something solid hit him firmly on the back. He turned to see a sling hook and safety harness bouncing crazily across the fuming slope.

  ‘Jan!’ he shouted excitedly and looked up to see the vague shape of the helicopter through the smoke and mist. It bounced and cavorted in the hot updraughts.

  Trying to catch the harness required an almost superhuman effort in his weakened state. Like a startled beast intent on evading capture, it whirled around in sympathy with the gyrating helicopter in the turbulence above. Finally he snagged it. It dragged him around like a tethered animal. He got an arm and then his head into the padded rig. It seemed to take forever.

  Jan imagined what it would be like in that burning blinding cloud below. Only skilful flying prevented Dave being dragged into a lava flow. Gingerly Jan elevated the bucking chopper, rewarded with a glimpse of someone clinging to the sling. A red incandescent cascade of lava surged by below carrying dark slabs of detached crust. Weight and power changes told her that Dave hung suspended beneath the chopper.

  Another blast of hot wind cleared the slope long enough for her to glimpse Dave safely in the harness and waving feebly. She gently applied more power and lifted up vertically through the swirling mist of volcanic smoke, before flying directly to a nearby knoll free of lava.

  After lowering Dave safely, she retracted the sling and landed. Dave struggled weakly onto the landing skid and clambered into the cockpit.

  ‘You the one who called a taxi?’ she smirked, but on the brink of emotional collapse.

  Though Jan looked drawn and exhausted, Dave had never seen a more beautiful sight in all his life. Jan trembled as they touched hands and tears ran down her cheeks. Dave leaned over and embraced her; his rough stubble of beard caught her by surprise.

  Jan revelled briefly in their caress; she was both tired and exhausted. She lifted off and turned the helicopter steeply down the northern face, then headed west.

  Dave reached for the water bottle to relieve the parched burning in his throat. ‘What happened in the path of the lava spill?’ he panted with a hoarse whisper.

  ‘They escaped in time. Only the upper village suffered a little damage. Luckily the volcano wasn’t in full eruption. The flow petered out well up the slope.’

  Neither of them spoke for a while, both deep in thought.

  ‘Did you see what happened to Ted?’ said Dave.

  Jan nodded silently as the horror of the moment flashed before her. ‘It was terrible, yet the bravest thing I’ve ever seen. Despite his grudge against the Japanese, he still overcame his hatred and fear of fire to save Seiji and Jake.’

  Dave nodded, still upset about Ted’s sacrifice. ‘It was like a death wish. As if fate demanded the pit should finally get him after fifty years. He didn’t care, just as long as he took the chief with him, and he very nearly did.’

  ‘What happened to the chief?’

  ‘After Ted stabbed him, I chased him up the mountain, he was gettin’ weaker all the time. I had him trapped at the rim of the volcano. He literally burst into flames and then jumped.’ Dave changed the subject suddenly. ‘Where’s Kless and the gold?’

  ‘He took Tiana and the gold dust and was last seen speeding toward Kaviak airstrip in Joe’s wagon. Fang called on the radio from the Thunderbox. He’s trying to stop him reaching his plane. If he doesn’t make it before Kless takes off, you can bet we’ll never see the bastard again.’

  Dave glanced at the fuel gauges through irritated eyes. ‘How much fuel’s left?’

  ‘Only enough to reach the mainland near Madang, not enough to give chase if he heads to Lae or the highlands.’

  ‘Give it a go and head for Madang via Kaviak airstrip. If we don’t see him, at least we can refuel for a longer search. Leave the radio on. He’s gotta make a call sooner or later.’

  Bruno Kless made good time. The well-graded coronus road from his plantation led through an avenue of coconut palms. The slender palms swayed overhead, their trunks emerging from a verdant carpet of shaggy grass. He swore as he approached a long flood-damaged slope. Hundreds of football-sized stones had displaced a muddy bog. A practical road repair for a tall four-wheel drive, but the bumpy obstacle course delayed the old Ford.

  Tiana travelled in silence and did not respond to any of Kless’s small talk. She schemed continually, searching for a way to escape without jeopardising Lani’s safety.

  After reaching the airstrip safely and parking next to his Skymaster, Kless felt elation. Everything looked set for a millionaire lifestyle with Tiana and other exotic women as he desired. ‘Tiana, help me get the gold into the plane.’

  Tiana tossed the heavy bags onto the cabin floor. ‘Money, that’s really all you care about.’

  ‘Money does buy everything,’ he chuckled arrogantly and rechecked that his other precious cargo remained safely stowed in the secret tail compartments.

  Tiana fidgeted as she strapped herself into the co-pilot’s seat. She hated this deranged pimp though complied with his every demand knowing he could still radio Rimbula.

  The Skymaster’s turbocharged engines started with lusty roars. ‘If anyone’s in the way, too bad, I ain’t stopping,’ said Kless. He released the brakes and opened the throttles, bumping over the sparse tussock grass. He checked his engines as he taxied onto the end of the tar runway and took a last look around.

  Tiana noticed a vast boiling plume in the sky, drifting to the east. ‘This could be dangerous—the volcano is erupting.’

  Kless had heard the thunderous roar earlier. ‘Don’t worry, baby. The volcano’s blowing the other way. We’re leaving all this behind.’

  A kilometre away, the snorkel exhaust and sealed ignition system of Fang’s Thunderbox allowed him to force his way up the riverbank. Fang put his foot down and powered back onto the coast road. ‘I can hear aircraft engines!’ he shouted. The brawny V8 of his Thunderbox bellowed at full power.

  Seiji took a firmer grip of the panic handle and rechecked his seat belt. ‘Don’t do anything stupid. My father has been found. This gold is not worth dying for!’

  Fang ignored Seiji. He could see Kless’s pla
ne now, almost ready for take off. He made a snap decision to jump the ditch. It was the only way to stop the plane. ‘We’ll never make it if we follow the road to the bridge at the end of the ‘strip!’

  Without warning Seiji, Fang swung his Thunderbox off the road. It screeched through a flimsy wire fence heading for a high spot on the closer bank. A set of copra drying platforms gave little resistance to the steel bullbars. The Thunderbox burst through in a spray of broken timber, fronds and coconut husks.

  Fang gunned the accelerator. ‘Hang on! I’m gonna jump the ditch,’ he yelled, psyching himself up.

  The positive gravity of the contoured rise forced them into their seats. Seiji’s eyes stretched wide as the Thunderbox launched skyward, the engine roaring. ‘What are you doing? You’ll kill us!’

  They cleared the ditch with ease, but landed awkwardly on rough ground and almost rolled over.

  Fang continued like a man possessed and did not let up for a second. At full power, he blindly cut a swath through a banana palm patch, causing an eruption of greenery as they broke free and bounced onto the airstrip verge.

  Unaware of the charging vehicle, Kless smiled and opened the throttles. ‘Let’s go, baby.’ The Skymaster shuddered and began to move. An expanding orange object swept into his peripheral vision. He turned too late. A wrenching impact threw the plane sideways. The impetus tore the control wheel from Kless’s hands.

  Tiana screamed, terrified. ‘Let me out!’

  The sudden jolt whiplashed Kless painfully against the doorframe and left his temple bleeding. ‘What the hell was that?’

  The bullbar of the Landcruiser tore the twin tailbooms off the cumbersome Skymaster in a cloud of white dust. The plane’s rear propeller crumpled Fang’s door, then swung to a stop, wedging him to his seat and injuring his arm.