by R T Green
The room was darker than usual. My watch said it was nine, but little light seemed to be coming through the thin drapes. The rainy season in Tobago had begun.
The dark clouds outside seemed to epitomise the dark mood inside me. The dread was back, this time with a weird kind of guilt mixed in. I’m so sorry, Zana. Last night I cheated on you, succumbed to a physical desire that belongs only to you.
I’m so sorry.
I buried my face back in the pillow, felt the tears trying to come. Is that how it is now, for the rest of my days? Loyal only to someone who can never be a part of my life again?
I couldn’t answer my own question. There was nothing to go on. I’d never loved anyone before Zana, not in that way. Thirty-six years convincing myself to believe love was a fool’s game, and then discovering I was just that kind of fool... it wasn’t exactly a great life experience to help me understand how I was feeling in the here-and-now.
Maybe you were too soon, Lisa. I’m sorry for you... what I did. Once, in another life, Zana did that to me... snatched me away from the brink of perfect ecstasy and threw me out. She had good reason, and I knew what it was a few days later. But at the time it hurt. Hurt bad.
Even though back then, I couldn’t understand why it did.
Oh Lisa... what must you be feeling?
The bedroom door opened slightly, Tami’s face peeping around it and smiling to me. ‘You’re awake. You want tea?’
I forced a smile. ‘Think maybe a dose of Tami’s special brew might be a better idea.’
Her eyes narrowed, a frown creasing her brow. ‘Bad night?’
‘No... not in that way. Something different this time.’
‘Ok.’
She was back a few minutes later, the steaming potion placed in my hands. I pulled the little girl face. ‘Does it have to taste so disgusting?’
‘Yes,’ she grinned. ‘That way you know it must be good for you.’
‘Guess there’s a weird kind of logic there.’
She walked to the window, pulled back the drapes. ‘It is not so good today. But I think perhaps the dark clouds are not just outside?’
It was a leading question. And pre-Zana I would have said something unpleasant and told her to keep her nose out of it... now, I just wanted to pour my heart out to her.
‘I met someone last night.’
She frowned. ‘I see.’
‘You see?’
She sat down on the bed next to me, took my hand. ‘It is only just over a month since... since it happened. I think maybe a little too soon?’
‘Yeah. Maybe. No experience to go on, Tami. But it doesn’t matter, I won’t be seeing her again.’
‘Why?’
‘Made a fool of myself.’
‘But you weren’t drunk.’
‘Nowhere near.’ I could see the question in her eyes. I wanted her to have the answers. ‘We chatted at the bar for a while, discovered we were kindred spirits. She lost some members of her family, recently. We walked on the beach, I could see she was upset. We hugged, and... one thing led to another...’
‘So soon?’
‘Yeah I know. Don’t ask me why. No one was around, we were getting... intimate. Then I freaked out.’
‘Why?’
‘She said something, exactly the same words Zana used once. I ran away, came back here.’
‘You felt guilty, like you were cheating.’
‘Do you know everything?’
She smiled. ‘For those of us who have loved and lost, it is an understandable feeling.’
‘Don’t think Lisa would see it that way.’
She stood up, walked to the door. ‘In time, the guilt will lessen. But I fear it will take a while, Madeline. A month is no time at all, when such traumatic events have taken place. You must speak with Lisa, make her understand how you feel, and why you ran away.’
‘I’ve no idea where she lives.’
‘If she has a caring heart she will be worried about you, and want answers to her confusion. I think she may visit Joe’s again, hoping you are there. But only you can decide what is best for you to do.’
She was gone. I downed the foul-tasting brew, lay on my back staring at the ceiling and listening to the rain beating onto the roof. I felt a rueful smile creep over my face. Tami and her magic potion sure had a way of forcing me to think about my actions. Thoughts that were nearly always harder to swallow than her ancient brew.
A few months ago I wouldn’t have given a second thought to last night’s events. Now, all I wanted to do was find Lisa, tell her how sorry I was, and try to help her understand why I was such a bitch.
Chapter 76
Zana cruised around Tobago at low level for several hours, familiarising herself with its layout. On the screen built into the console in front of her, a detailed map of the island wasn’t doing much to help her mood.
It might be a small country, but its twenty-five mile length and seven mile width offered someone plenty of places to live. It wasn’t going to be easy finding Madeline.
There was nothing to go on. My father lives in Tobago, she’d said. His name would be the same, deWinter. Maybe that would help, but only if she could move around freely to ask people. And in her alien form, that was impossible.
On the trip across the Atlantic she’d tried again, several times, to change into human form. Her body wasn’t having any of that; appearing human seemed to be a thing of the past.
The eastern tip of Tobago was the most populated. The only decent sized town on the island, Scarborough, was located there, together with several other smaller residential and business areas, the airport and lots of beachside hotels and bars. Clearly, most Tobagans lived in this area.
It didn’t mean Madeline did though.
But there had to be a starting point. And flying around two hundred feet in the air wasn’t going to be much use. She had to find somewhere to stash the ship, and adopt a disguise of some sort so she could move around the place without the locals freaking out.
The tears tried to come again. Right then, both of those things seemed out of reach.
She turned the ship in a steep bank, leaving the lights of the airport at Crown Point behind her. As she flew over Scarborough, the sun dropped below the sea. It would soon be dark. The rainforest further east was ten miles away, but for tonight it would have to do. She had to find a remote landing place and grab a night’s sleep, without an unfortunate soul walking headlong into something very hard and very invisible.
Still suffering from her trek to reach the ship, she needed more recovery time before facing another long walk.
As the moon rose into the darkening sky, she set down delicately in a small clearing in the rainforest, just big enough for the ship. Tonight she would sleep, and in the daylight hours rejuvenate herself from the tasteless but energy-filled ship’s rations, while she studied every detail of the island, and planned the daunting task of finding the woman she loved.
And when the sun set again, once more she would walk through the night, however far and however long it would take to be reunited with Madeline.
Nothing else mattered.
Chapter 77
‘Bloody hell, Coop.’
Ryland Cooper grinned to his partner, knowing what was coming. ‘Anything wrong, Miles?’
‘How the devil do people cope with this ridiculous heat?’
‘Most of them don’t walk around in a suit and tie.’
Miles pulled out a handkerchief, wiped his brow. ‘We’re representatives of the British government. Have to command respect from the locals if we’re going to get anywhere.’
Coop shook his head. ‘Oh my.’
‘What?’
‘You think you’ll get respect from Tobagans dressed like that?’
‘Um, yes… why not?’
‘Oh my.’
The two DIAL agents stood outside the arrivals building at Robinson International Airport, Ryland in cream trousers and a loose-fitting short-sleeved shir
t, Miles in a dark blue suit, tailored shirt and matching tie.
Over a week had passed since Zana walked away from DIAL HQ. They had watched her slow progress to Harlow, then a faster trip to Manningtree when she’d clearly found herself some transport. Coop had smiled to himself as he’d charted her route out to the mudflats of the Stour estuary, realising the cloaked ship had been in plain view all the time, if only it hadn’t been invisible.
Then he’d grown worried. For a day she didn’t move, but just as he was about to grab Miles and head to East Anglia to find her, the tracker burst into life again. And this time there was no doubt where she was heading.
Their Virgin Atlantic flight had landed in Tobago less than an hour ago, their MI6 badges ensuring a fast-track through customs... and then Coop had deliberately paused in the late afternoon Caribbean sun outside the airport, waiting for the comments from his partner he knew would come.
Still grinning, he grabbed his bag and a grumbling Miles, and flagged a taxi to take them to the hotel.
The trip lasted just three minutes, and then they stood looking up at the yellow-painted frontage of the Tropikist Resort hotel.
‘Are you sure its December here?’ groaned Miles as he wiped his brow yet again.
‘Almost the season to be jolly, bud,’ said Coop deliberately.
‘For Christ’s sake,’ said Miles as they headed to reception. ‘Bloody Christmas in summer...’
The room was smart, the walls painted in dark red and cream, two single beds with white and green covers standing on a light-grey tiled floor. A balcony overlooked the intricately-shaped tropical pool, with a small table and two chairs standing on it.
Coop was just about to point out to Miles there was air conditioning in the room, but his partner was already at the controls, turning it to full. So instead he said, ‘You want me to freeze?’
‘Funny guy.’
Two seconds later his partner was stretched out on the bed, his tie coming off another two seconds after that.
Coop plugged his watch into the notepad again. Zana hadn’t moved for twelve hours, it looked like she’d found somewhere to hide her ship, and was maybe getting a little sleep before her search for Madeline began.
He shook his head but couldn’t help a grin, about to shatter his partner’s air-conditioned peace.
‘Don’t get too comfortable, Miles. Looks like we’re heading into the rainforest tomorrow.’
The look on the Englishman’s face left him in no doubt what he thought about that.
Chapter 78
‘You cannot be serious!’
Coop grinned again as he took the keys the car hire guy handed to him. ‘You whining again, Miles?’
‘Sure I am. You really expect me to venture into the jungle in that?’
‘Rainforest, Miles. Rainforest.’
‘Same bloody thing.’
Coop shook his head. His partner had a point, the car wasn’t exactly the latest model. It was the Christmas season in Tobago, the island full of American and European tourists escaping the cold of winter. All the good vehicles had been booked up weeks ago.
He opened the passenger door, bowed the disgruntled Englishman into the car like an obedient chauffeur, and then dropped into the driver’s seat beside him. But despite his amusement at Miles’s discomfort, there was a slightly worried frown on his brow.
‘Keep your eye on that notepad, partner. Hopefully she’ll make a move soon.’
It was early afternoon. The two agents had spent the morning monitoring Zana’s lack of movement, but as lunchtime approached Coop began to grow uneasy. She’d not moved for close on twenty-four hours, and while he tried to convince himself she was resting up before her search for Madeline began, he couldn’t be sure.
Deep in the rainforest, God-only-knows what might have happened to her. He needed to make sure she was ok, without her seeing them. And in the hotel, on the most westerly point of the island, they were much too far away for comfort.
On the flight to Tobago, they’d decided the best strategy was to track Zana at close quarters, hoping she would eventually lead them to Madeline, and then…
Then what?
Coop groaned to himself, forcing the smile to stay on his face for the sake of his partner. When, and if, he was reunited with his two favourite girls, he didn’t have a clue what his next move would be.
He turned the key in the ignition, and the old diesel engine coughed itself to life.
Zana headed to the shuttle’s engine bay, annoyed with herself for sleeping so long. She’d deliberately not set an alarm, wanting her body to rest as long as it needed.
But fourteen hours?
She’d woken at noon, shocked herself into action when she’d seen the time. The morning was lost, nothing she could do about that. But now it was time to take action.
She ran a diagnostic check on the ship’s systems, and backed that up with a manual examination using the disc, relieved to see everything was working as it should. The fuel cell was over half full, plenty to power the core for some time to come.
Back on the bridge, she started to research every detail of the island and its people. Such knowledge was essential if she was to somehow blend in, find Madeline without being apprehended. But as she became more familiar with Tobago and its inhabitants, the feeling of dread was back.
Walking around this tropical paradise with a red cape pulled tight around her head and some kind of scarf to cover her face… that would attract just as much attention as standing there naked.
Increasingly-frantic fingers flew around the built-in keypad on the console, desperately seeking inspiration. Somehow she had to disguise herself, but in a way the locals could relate to.
For two hours the task seemed insurmountable. Nobody seemed to wear many clothes on the island, understandably. But then a smile creased her face. She’d just come across a building in the Plantations district, and it had given her hope. Not everyone was free to allow their skin soak up the Caribbean sun.
The Muslim faith was alive and well in Tobago. And now she knew how to move around freely on the island.
‘Oh dear Lord.’
‘He ain’t gonna help you, Miles,’ Coop retorted as his head hit the roof of the old Nissan, not for the first time.
‘Don’t these bloody people believe in tarmac?’
That wasn’t entirely fair. They’d left the comfort of the hotel grounds and headed east, taking the Claude Noel highway to Scarborough. The route up to then had been pretty urban, the asphalt road relatively wide and smooth, if you avoided the potholes.
They’d turned north, taken a narrower and bumpier road through Providence to Mason Hall, the buildings and homes dwindling the further they went, replaced by an ever-increasing mass of trees and vegetation.
Heading north-east they’d left the village, and civilization, behind. Now Zana’s location was directly east, and they’d run out of road.
At least, anything covered with Miles’s beloved asphalt.
A wide track branched off in the direction of the signal. According to the map it led to the Tobago Cocoa Estate, and then a little further into the rainforest. After that was anybody’s guess.
Coop glanced at the clock on the dashboard, already it was mid-afternoon. In three hours it would be dark. They couldn’t hang around.
Much to Miles’s dismay, he was left with no choice but to assume the role of co-driver, barking out the direction of Zana’s tracker as they took on the twisting, tortuous rainforest stage of the Rally of Tobago.
At least, that’s what it felt like.
Racing through the Cocoa Estate buildings, the track grew increasingly narrow, the forest creeping ever closer to the edge of the road. And just as Miles gasped out, ‘eight hundred metres’, they could go no further.
Coop brought the car to a stop. ‘On foot from here on in, bud,’ he said.
‘What?’
‘You deaf now as well?’
‘You do know I’m English?’
‘You ain’t let me forget since we’ve been here.’
‘And I have a tree phobia.’
‘A what?’
‘I’m allergic to trees.’
‘Stop pulling my chain, you pale-faced wimp.’ Coop reached for the door handle, and was halfway out of the car when Miles cried out, ‘Wait!’
‘Now what, chalky?’
‘She’s on the move.’
‘Shit.’
He leapt out of the car, peering vainly into the tiny patch of sky he could actually see between the trees. And then he heard it. In the silence of the forest, the faintest of hums from the power core of Zana’s shuttle as it flew directly over the car, fifty feet above him.
Chapter 79
Zana settled back into the pilot’s seat, plotted a course for the Plantations area of western Tobago. She wasn’t sure how to go about finding a niqab, but the mosque was the obvious first port of call.
She’d been forced to change her plans. Intending leaving the ship hidden in the depths of the forest and trekking on foot, the ordeal of her journey from London to the Stour estuary had put paid to that. Her feet were messed up; even walking short distances in shoes would be excruciating.
Resting up for a few days would make them better, but there wasn’t time for luxuries like that.
She’d tried to calm the desperation to find Madeline that did its best to overwhelm her. Locating her wasn’t going to happen overnight, that she knew. Steaming in without a sensible plan would only end one way. So she’d forced herself to take a step back, ignoring the burning need in her soul for them to be reunited. And thinking logically, the only way to make it happen was one step at a time.
First she had to obtain a niqab, so she could move around freely. That might not happen overnight either. Then she must keep the ship close, so there was somewhere safe to rest up when darkness fell. Each day’s search on foot would inevitably be exhausting.