No, the problem lies in unseen quarters here at home. Strange things happening all over Navidad of late. Who are these people posting their strange handbills even at village crossroads? Sheets with printed slogans on them—it’s not just two or three people doing this. There has to be a whole group bound by some sense of mission. Which doesn’t sound like the Navidad he knows. Can there really be an underground cell like that here in this country? Somebody had to stick up those bills and topple the torii at the old shrine. A Japanese flag did go up in flames at the airport. And now a bus carrying Japanese vets is five days missing. Must he admit the existence of a single movement behind all these ominous events? And if so, are they closing in, slowly tightening the noose around him?
Another thing occupies his thoughts, that new girl at Angelina’s. Why was he so bewitched by that face of hers? He’s never been one to obsess over women, so why did his eyes follow her around? Do her Melchor origins have some special significance for him? Beguiling women from that island are no rarity here, that alone shouldn’t mean anything. No, even Angelina must have noticed something odd. Does her clairvoyance bode other foes as well?
Matías has lost none of his self-confidence. The banners are all still a long way off, and the means to combat them are all in his hands. Whatever happens, he’s still president. Navidad’s ground plan is right here in his head. Despite the domestic situation, when it comes to those all-important dealings with other larger countries, he’s the only one around with negotiating savvy. Who knows? Woman or not, the new arrival might even prove a useful ally. He has drawn on the strengths of women any number of times before. Maybe this mystery girl has powers he can use to his advantage. A leader taps the potential of all those under him and shares out the spoils in return. What’s the difference between men who advance by their abilities and women who wile their way in on their charms? So treat her like any other woman up to now. Just stand strong and nothing can go wrong.
Having thought that far, he pauses as he sorts through his papers—a letter. The envelope is cut open, like all the others, but why has his secretary flagged this one with a little note?
Another FI letter, Sir. Did not break the inner seal as per enclosed instructions. Do not believe size or weight indicate explosives. If in doubt, will open for you.
Inside is a single sheet of stationery and a very thick envelope with no return address, only the words “A Friend of the Islands” on the back flap. How many of these “inside communiqués” has he received these past few years? This “Friend of the Islands” in who-knows-what government bureau in Japan always surfaces to deliver some important piece of top-secret Navidad-related information, always just in the nick of time. Lately the letters had stopped, so there’s something almost nostalgic about receiving one, even if the tidings they bring are not, in most cases, good news. Navidad has pursued a path of goodwill toward Japan, and the better part of that policy, Matías likes to think, is of his own making. Yet all too often Japan chooses unscrupulous methods to undermine Navidad’s position. Learning beforehand about Japanese treacheries is potentially helpful; what’s difficult is not letting on that he has advance information. Opening these letters is always touch and go.
Underneath the address on the front is a bold red CONFIDENTIAL, but the secretary cut it open anyway following standard protocol. The inner envelope, however, remains intact. Marked TO HIS EXCELLENCY MATÍAS GUILI PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF NAVIDAD along with yet another CONFIDENTIAL, it bears an overblown warning:
Proceed no further. To be opened solely by the President himself. Contains no hazardous or noxious materials. A good official knows his place.
Phrased the same as ever, though he has to admit, it does the trick. He picks up a pair of scissors and carefully slits open the inner envelope. Inside are several sheets of official stationery written in masterful Japanese calligraphy. As on other occasions, the paper is stamped in the lower left-hand corner with a small seal—that of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which doesn’t necessarily place the sender in that ministry. Most of the information supplied up to now has come from other government sources: the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, financial circles. He lays out the pages and reads.
To His Excellency Matías Guili:
Please excuse the lack of communications. While it no doubt speaks auspiciously of relations between our two countries that there has been nothing to report for so long, an incident has arisen and we can no longer afford to be so complacent. Let me convey what information I have obtained.
I am aware that His Excellency has been engaged in discussions with secret emissary Kanroku Suzuki concerning the projected construction of an oil-stockpiling base at Brun Reef. In all likelihood, his presentation consisted of first outlining the plan, then detailing how the project would benefit you personally.
There is a hidden agenda to the plan. No doubt they intend to tell you at some later stage, probably once the ten tankers are lined up in place, along with a Marine Island Security patrol boat and newly built Island Security armory equipped with the latest weapons. To not inform His Excellency of the truth until all this is a fait accompli, however, is tantamount to blackmail. Considering the hidden realities, I believe it would be most inadvisable to base relations on such maneuvers.
Their present plan does not call for all ten tankers to store petroleum. At least one of these will be a Japanese Marine Self-Defense Force warship disguised as commercial transport. From the outside it will appear identical to the other tankers, but inside it will secretly house considerable firepower, repair and maintenance supplies, and dry dock facilities, as well as a complete medical clinic with surgical capabilities. None of which, if the truth be told, has any place in an oil-stockpiling depot. If fuel storage were the real objective, inland on the main islands would be far more realistic. What they want is a military base, a foothold; all this talk of oil is mere subterfuge.
The Japanese government is set on assuming a more active political role in the Asia-Pacific region, fully implementing a Self-Defense Force presence throughout Southeast Asia. To do this, Japan must secure sea lanes by readying at least three tactical bases. Hot spots such as Cambodia and the Spratlys are seen as threats to the stability of the region. Beyond the immediate countries, Japan now unilaterally counts herself as a concerned party. Naturally Japan cannot come out and assert territorial rights. According to my sources, rather than embark on a policy of direct intervention, Japan intends to co-opt participation by backing lesser nations in the vicinity. Hence, positioning a Self-Defense Force base on an outlying reef close to international waters would carry great significance in the wider strategic scheme. That is the general picture.
Nonetheless, considering domestic public opinion and the reactions of other nations, it would prove difficult to openly pursue such a plan. Before all else, again according to my sources, they must start constructing clandestinely in the Navidads, then watch and wait before gradually expanding the project. Part of the scheme apparently includes staging the rescue of a merchant cargo ship, using a Marine Self-Defense Force cruiser to drive off a pirate vessel in international waters in the South China Sea. The aim is to heighten the image of Japan’s Self-Defense Force as a maritime power comparable to the American 7th Fleet.
As His Excellency will have gathered by now, I am an insider to this policy-making process. I am neither pro nor con; my only thoughts on the matter are that, given the times, this is what we can expect. As always, His Excellency is at complete liberty to choose how to use this information. One might affect ignorance, or lay one’s cards on the table in order to steer negotiations in a more beneficial direction, or break off negotiations altogether, a slap in the face to Japanese duplicity. Whichever the path taken, your judgment will decide the future of the Republic of Navidad, and I will be glad if this letter has been of help toward that decision.
Unfortunately, now is neither
the time nor place to reveal documentary evidence of the Self-Defense Force’s camouflaged warship plan. His Excellency will just have to be satisfied that I happen to be in a position to write this letter. I look forward, however, to that happy day when I know my sincere efforts have in some small way favorably influenced the fortunes of your country.
Respectfully,
A Friend of the Islands
Matías ponders the psychology behind this inside indiscretion: the idea of belonging to an organization, while secretly upholding different principles; obeying a double set of directives, invoking one or the other according to the circumstances; following the organization to the letter on minor points, yet disavowing it on major issues to stand upon higher moral ground.
But is this really an inside informant’s letter? Even assuming a secret plan actually exists, a warning could only serve to steer him in a certain direction, a ploy to get things moving at the appropriate moment. Come to think of it, hadn’t most of the tip-offs he’s received from this Friend of the Islands ultimately played into Japanese hands? All information easily conceals background disinformation. On the one hand, we have Suzuki’s smokescreen negotiations; on the other, ostensibly from different channels, these contrary signals. No, let’s trust our Friend and his offering of intelligence. Japan is trying to pull a fast one. Building a military base in another country without its consent—isn’t that outright invasion?
Why do they have to do things in such a half-assed way? It makes him furious. He’s the president here, no one else. Why can’t they just come to him straight out? Instead of sneaking around, why not ask to build a Marine Self-Defense Force base right up front? All they have to do is come up with sufficient compensation. This Suzuki doesn’t have to spell out the difficulties that lie ahead for a tiny country, as if Matías can’t read the grim realities himself. In actual fact, Navidad can only prosper by strengthening her ties with Japan. That much he can do himself. And not as a stooge, but as the father of an independent national policy, able to justify his relations with Japan to any and all nations in East Asia. And yet, perversely, they choose to jerk him around? How is he supposed to deal with them? The foundations of his political life are starting to shake. A time of change is drawing near.
BUS REPORT 3
As the afternoon Southwest Airlines charter departed with 113 passengers on board, including ninety-nine returning tourists from the previous week’s charter, a bus was sighted taking off directly behind their Boeing 737. The bus moved down the runway at the same speed as the plane, nosed up at exactly the exact angle, and rose skyward in similar style. It was like a child playing airport.
For some reason, no one in the control tower saw this development as dangerous. It wasn’t until both the bus and the 737 had disappeared into the clouds that it occurred to anyone that even by sheer determination a bus without wings should not be able to get airborne. The traffic control crew contacted Regional Airspace Authority in Guam, though of course they balked at reporting a flying bus. Instead they reported a near miss between a Boeing jetliner and a small craft. The radar in Guam, however, picked up only the passenger plane, which was flying on course; their reading was that there had been no accident. The Southwest Airlines jet itself likewise called in “no sign of any aircraft in the area.” The small craft had submitted no flight plan and by now was probably off in some other quadrant.
One week later, when the next Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 arrived with another 122 tourists, the off-chance hope that the bus might also return failed to materialize.
“I’m thinking of calling that girl over here,” says Matías.
“Indeed,” thrums Lee Bo, waiting on his flesh-and-blood counterpart.
“I want to have her nearby to see how psychic she really is.”
“And have you no int’rest in her as a woman?” taunts the ghost.
“Not in the least. If you mean wanting to see her naked, or sleep with her, then no, I don’t particularly need to stake a claim. I just want to ask her things.”
“If that be so, ’twould serve as well she stay at Angelina’s, and foolhardy to try to possess her. E’en now, she belongs to no one. As quoth Angelina, that one is not for sale.”
“I told you, I’ve got no sexual motives. But I would like to know how she came to work there. And no one’s going to convince me she’s an ordinary maid. Clairvoyance—as a politician, that’s something I’d like to keep on tap.”
“Verily,” says Lee Bo without a trace of irony. His words hide no duplicity, and Matías likes that. “Tho what would Angelina think?”
“She’ll be all right with it. I’ll explain. All I want is a few predictions. She’s not the sort of woman to get jealous over something like that.”
“Nay? In times past, you took your wenches to bed at Angelina’s, but always wi’ her say-so. ’Tis only her forbearance about a man’s philanderings that things ne’er got serious.”
“And I’m not serious now. I’m not interested in her as a woman. It’s her psychic powers, dammit, which Angelina herself told me about in the first place. I just want a closer look.”
“Whate’er, your manner is strange. ’Tis doubtful you’ll be able to convince Angelina.”
“Well, maybe this once I won’t explain.”
“These past four nights after she told you of the maid’s premonitions, you’ve hardly look’d Angelina in the face. Ye ha’nt been yerself. Not touch’d any hemp, nor spent the night there. She knows something’s amiss. If now you call the maid to the manor, your Angelina will not be pleas’d.”
“You don’t really believe she could possibly be jealous? She knows me too well. If occasionally I take a fancy to one of her girls, Angelina doesn’t say a thing. But that’s still nothing to do with my reasons for asking that girl over here.”
“Aye, but how strong the grip of lust upon the adult male. When I dwelt on my isles, I did my share of wenching. Alas, ’twas child’s play. I ne’er knew adult license ere I cross’d o’er … Nay, not to counsel ’gainst the maid, but the risk may be higher than you think.”
“So you hinted the other night. That’s why I want to keep the girl here beside me. Lately, there’re signs of change all around. Powers shifting. Everything’s buzzing, closing in. I need to go on the offensive, and summoning the girl may just do the trick. If ever there was a time I needed to read the future, it’s now.”
“Aye, I grant you that. She has the look of a sorceress about her.”
“So she is a medium? I want to hear what she says about the Japanese delegation disappearing, ask her about Suzuki’s plan and that anonymous letter this afternoon.”
“Perchance, if medium be the word, she can predict the future, but how she means to use those powers of hers is another question. As I say’d, she may foresee, yet not foretell. I can see things ye can’t, but e’en so, I am not privy to the future nor can I read minds. My eyes see only the powers at play a little clearer than ye do.”
“Okay. So what you’re saying is, whatever benefit I may gain by having a psychic on call, I risk bringing unknown forces into this house.”
“Uncharted and unharnessed.”
“But as you yourself know very well, there comes a time when one needs to take risks. I have a feeling now’s such a time. It’s not about my tastes in women.”
“As I say’d, lust can bewitch as much as any wine, tho not in the same way. And if the girl hath powers twice o’er, I see trouble ahead.”
“Sexual witchery? Yes, I suppose some men do get hooked by it.”
“Verily.”
“Did I ever tell you about that time with Heinrich, my driver? The weirdest thing—really surprised me. Showed me I didn’t know jack about sex.”
“How so?”
“Once, just on a whim, I had him fuck someone with me present. Just wanted to see what it felt like to
be a voyeur. Sex movies, stage shows, that sort of thing I’d seen in Japan. Probably even have a few videos stashed away here at the mansion, if I felt like digging them out. But all that’s phony. Playacting. No, I wanted to see what a normal man would do, given the chance. So we drove to Angelina’s, and I told Heinrich to come in with me. He didn’t seem to know what I was saying at first, but when he caught on, he balked.”
“What did you expect? Startled the poor man, and for what craven purpose?”
“Well, I set him clear on that. Told him I was happy with his work, so I was giving him a bonus. Anyway, I had him go upstairs to the corner room. It’s set up so you can peek in from the next room. Then we sent in Magda.”
“Magda? Can’t say as I know her.”
“She’s long gone. A lady of leisure somewhere up in Manila now, married with kids. Or so her letters say. Angelina reads them to all the girls as an object lesson: work hard, get yourself a good john, one day you’ll be on easy street. One smart cookie, Magda was.”
“As is your Angelina. Hardworking too, yet ne’er cold and calculating.”
How well did Lee Bo know his Angelina—and how? Did the ghost watch the two of them get it on? Could he be seeing her on his own? Matías has no idea how much the phantom gets around. “You’d expect a woman of her profession to be cold?”
“Nay, I’m the bloodless one, remember? On wi’ your story. About Heinrich?”
“Well, he was unbelievable! A completely different man. Normally so reserved, so cautious. But once inside that room with Magda, he went insane.”
“Oh?”
The Navidad Incident Page 10