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are beaches and jungles just like home.
They could see the coast now, extending into the distance to the
314 / Christopher Moore
north and south, the rainforest running from beaches to mountains. This
island much bigger than Alualu.
It s not an island. Tuck realized that Malink had never walked more
than a mile without having to turn. Your people will be fine.
Are there sharks here?
A lot of sharks, Tuck said.
Malink nodded My people will be fine. He was quiet for a minute,
then said, Will you come with us?
I don t think so, Chief. I m going to be in a lot of trouble when we land.
But didn t Vincent tell you to do this?
Sort of. Why?
Malink sat back with a self-satisfied smile. You ll be fine.
An alarm went off in the cockpit and Tuck scanned the instruments to
see what had gone wrong. The red air collision warning lights were flashing.
Tuck scanned the sky for another plane, then, seeing nothing, put on the
headset to see if the Palmar tower could tell him what was going on.
Before he could key the mike someone said, Darlin , I ll be whitewashed
if stink don t follow you like a manure wagon in summer. A familiar,
melodic Texas drawl, probably the sweetest sound he had ever heard.
Mary Jean, Tuck said. Where are you?
Out your window at eleven o clock.
Tuck looked up and saw a brand-new pink Gulfstream running parallel
to them.
If you d a been wearing your headset, you would have known I was
here fifteen minutes ago.
What are you doing here?
Jake called me from Hawaii and told me what you was doing. We
cooked up a little plan. I m gonna get your tail out of the fire one last time,
Tucker Case, but you owe me.
Boy, have I heard that before.
Do you remember the corporate address in Houston? The number?
Sure.
Well, you dial that up as a frequency and I ll give you the skinny. It s
unladylike to broadcast your personal matters over the same frequency
the tower s using.
Island of the Sequined Love Nun / 315
They were lying in the jungle near the runway when the Learjet landed.
Sebastian left Beth sleeping under some banana leaves and crawled to
where he could see. The jet taxied to the gate and stopped with the engines
still running. The guards came out of different buildings and converged
on the plane. They d stacked duffel bags near the gate.
What s going on? Beth crawled up behind him. The effects of the
Valium were obviously wearing off.
I think they re leaving.
Not without us, they re not. I am the Sky Priestess and I won t allow
it. She started to get up and Sebastian pulled her back down.
They were coming to kill us, Beth. You were out.
Right. If you ever drug me again
You re insane, he said.
She reared back to slap him and he caught her hand. Keep it up, Beth.
I m telling you that if they find us, they ll kill us. Do you understand that?
They re grunts. I won t&
Suddenly there was a huge explosion from across the runway and they
turned to see a mushroom of fire rising from where the clinic used to be.
The guards had loaded onto the jet and Nomura was taxiing to the end
of the runway.
The guards quarters went off next, then the hangar, the barrels of jet
fuel throwing a column of flame five hundred feet in the air.
Where did they get explosives? Beth said. Did you know they had
explosives?
They re destroying the evidence, Sebastian said. Orders from Japan,
I m sure.
The Learjet started its run for takeoff as Sebastian s bungalow went off
like a fragmentation grenade, followed by Tuck s old quarters and Beth s
bungalow. Fire rained down across the island.
My shoes! All of my shoes were in there. You bastards. Beth pulled
away from Sebastian and ran out on the runway just as the Learjet passed.
You rotten bastards!
The Sky Priestess stood in the middle of the runway and screamed herself
mute as the Lear disappeared into the clouds.
66
If They d Only Had Her at the Alamo
Mary Jean brought the pink Gulfstream in right on the tail of the 747. Tuck
kept the speed over eighty in the taxi, turning it away from the terminal,
where police jeeps and a hundred men in riot gear waited. He also noticed
a half-dozen TV news trucks there as well.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Costa Rica, the new home of the
Shark People. The temperature outside is 85 degrees and it s clear that
things are going to get ugly. I hope everybody s ready.
The police jeeps were speeding across the tarmac toward the two jets.
Mary Jean turned the Gulfstream so that it was facing back toward the
runway.
Tuck turned to Malink. Where s Roberto?
Malink pointed up. Roberto hung from the handle of the emergency
hatch. There was a spring-loaded spool of steel cable attached to the ceiling
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