Nirvana Effect (41 page)

A bullet nicked the
hood
.  “Dammit!” yelled James.

“I think you’re entirely too emotionally attached to this vehicle,” Edward deadpanned.  He stood up from his seat and leveled his gun at the jeep.  He emptied the clip
into its gas tank
. 
The J
eep exploded.  They sped past.  James
watched in the rear view mirror as the surviving Onge pulled their dead and injured from the wreckage.

“My God,” said Seacrest, eyes back on the road.

“Watch it,” said Edward.

“I think you’re entirely too emotionally attached to this God of yours,” deadpanned James. 

Edward glared at him, slamming the remaining clip in noisily.  “
I meant watch the road. 
This is a used clip.  It only has four bullets in it.”

“How do you know?”  James asked.  Edward didn’t answer.  James looked over to see why the
American
didn’t reply.

“They’re firing,” said Edward matter-of-factly, pointing to the road. 
They’d gotten
in range of the second jeep.  “We’ll need to go closer.  I can’t miss a single one of them.  We’re about
a
kilometer away from the end of the road and we’ll need the jeep by then.  The last jeep we’ll need to track down off-road.  Cali must be in it.”

James swerved around a truck parked out in the lane.  Edward stayed down.  The shots were getting more accurate.  James yelled, “How do you know how many bullets are in the clip?”

“It’s simple.  Each clip has thirty bullets,” said Edward.  James just shook his head. 
This priest
didn’t make any bloody sense. 

“How much closer do you need to get?”
asked James.

“Now is fine.”  They were still sixty meters away, quite a shot.  Edward stood up and squeezed the trigger.  Four bullets came out, just like he said.  Three of the four men dropped.  The jeep swerved.  The fourth Onge in the passenger seat grabbed the wheel and got the vehicle under control.  “Missed one.  Pull up next to him.”

Jesus Christ! 
James did not believe his eyes.  It was only the demand of the road that kept him from trying to work out what the hell was going on.

“Come at him fast,” said Edward.  James brought the car around the jeep.  He had no problem outpacing it. 

James caught glimpse of the last jeep as he maneuvered.  It was about half a kilometer ahead and had reached the curve that turned the road back into town.  The jeep ignored it and ramped off-road.

How does this guy know all this?
 
It was just as Edward had said.

When the front of the Corvette was even with the back of the Jeep, Edward launched himself with a sort of running leap from the car door
. 
He flew
through the open frame of the J
eep and jammed the Onge’s head into the steering wheel with all his momentum.  The jeep swerved dangerously in the Corvette’s direction, but James had
anticipated and
already peeled off.  Edward pulled the unconscious Onge off the steering wheel and took control.  He waved at James.  They both stopped their vehicles and the doctor
embarked
.

“They’re getting away,” said James.  Edward started driving.
 

Cali’s captors were
just a dust cloud a kilometer away. 
James and Edward transitioned from pavement to dirt
at full speed. 
The jeep lurched dangerously but stayed on course. 
The dust cloud wasn’t getting any closer.

“Put him in the back of the Jeep,” said Edward
, indicating the Onge
.  “We’ll need answers from him.”

drove
for half an hour
with his foot to the floorboard.  Callista’s captors
must have been doing the same over the rough terrain.  The dirt gave way to grassland.  Still, they followed.  Finally, the cloud he was chasing disappeared.  He jammed his hand on the steering wheel.

“Just keep going in that direction,” said James.  “Look at all the tracks they’re leaving. 
We’ll be able to find them.  They must have just hit some wet ground.”

It wasn’t long before the tracks disappeared.
  “We lost them,” Edward said. 

“Pretty good chance they’re just going straight ahead
,” said James.
 
“
The coast is probably just about twenty kilometers away.”

“Which way would we go to be closest to Sri Lanka?” asked Edward.

“Well, I don’t have a map in my head, but I would guess we’d bear left a bit.” 

Edward dodged the Jeep around a couple trees.  The jostling stirred the Onge in the back.  His head was bleeding.
  He moaned.

“Take
over
,” said Edward.  “Bear left a bit.” 
As soon as James touched the wheel, Edward
abruptly
left
the driver’s seat and climbed into the back with the Onge.  The Onge had almost come to his senses and
was gripping the
front seat, weakly trying to pull himself up.  Edward pointed his empty gun at the native.

Callista heard the crackle of the radio.  The Onge kept speaking in their
strange
tongue.  She couldn’t see Edward
’s jeep
anymore.  He’d gotten so close.  She had no idea what sort of training the Jesuits had put him through to be able to do
what h
e did, but she was glad.  The Onge had
been beating her and he
’d
saved her.

Her head spun.  A while back, just before Edward had come, she’d felt warmth on her temple.  She was glad to feel it dry up. 

The Onge
chatter
ed
nervously.  The two in the back seat, one on either side of her, kept their guns pointed erectly behind them from the
J
eep, as though
Edward
might swoop out of the sky at any moment. 

Her arms were bound behind her,
which
made it hard to stay in her seat during the bumpy ride.  The ropes weren’t fi
tted very well around her.  She’d been re-tied hastily in the jeep
.  She worked busily at loosening them further.  At present, it wouldn’t do her a bit of good with
a
hulking Onge on either side of her, but she never knew what circumstances would present themselves.

There was a part of her that could not
remain
as cool as her outward appearance.  That part was screaming at Edward, screaming
for
Edward, grieving and resentful.  That part wanted
h
er to throw herself out of the J
eep.  It was the part that kept telling herself,
You’re going to die. 
They’ll keep beating you. 
They’re going to sacrifice you.  They’re going to rape you.  You’re going to die.
  It was the part of her mind she couldn’t rest.

She contained
it, though
, and occupied herself with the rope.  She watched the Onge.  She was encouraged by their edginess.  Even though she didn’t know a word they were saying, she could tell they were racing toward a finish line, that they were running from her Edward.

She prayed that Edward c
ould win.

Edward recognized the Onge.  It was Lee’tep, Nockwe’s cousin. 
Edward liked Lee’tep; he wished he hadn’t slammed him so hard.
For now, though, Lee’tep was an enemy.  The Onge
would kill Edward if he had the chance, if only out of fear.  Edward would not give him that chance.

“Lee’tep,” Edward said down the barrel of his unloaded gun.  The native’s head was bleeding quite a bit.  Edward ripped off a piece of his own shirt with his left hand and handed it to
the Onge
.  If Lee’tep so much as tensed a muscle, Edward would
kick him off the jeep
.  He would take no risks.  “Put this on your head.  You’re bleeding.”

Lee’tep did so, impressed by the gun so close to his face.

“Where is the tribe?” asked Edward.

“At the village,” said Lee’tep.  Edward could see he was lying.

“Lee’tep,” said Edward, as though scolding a child.  Edward chose the traditional Onge
tongue to address Lee’
tep.  He had to startle the man, to trick him into giving him the confirmation he needed.  “As your master sees your lies, so do I.
  I am the d
evil to your g
od.  For every fortune he might see
k
, I can create demise.  For every blow he may strike, I may strike back.  We are in a deadly dance, he and I, and I cry to see the tribe in the middle.  For the tribe there should be mercy…”  Edward paused, then changed the pace by slamming home a question.  “How far north is the tribe off the coast?!”

“I’m not telling you!” yelled Lee’tep. 
He’s on the coast.

“Y
ou shall!  You are a cowardly ho
g!” It was quite a curse in traditional Onge.  Edward saw Lee’tep restrain himself from jumping a
t him.  “I am sure that Manassa
has not the might he brags of.  My only prayer is that the tribe be not armed
for war
.  I fear
an army could
tip the balances in Manassa
’s favor.”

“Well, prepare to meet your dea
th, Devil, for Manassa
has at his command one hundred and fifty men armed with the lightness and the bang-bows.”
  Lee-tep spit at him
 

Edward spoke in English.  “James, turn the car to the right a bit.”  He then resumed in Onge: “I turn to the north, to catch your Manassah by surprise from his rear.”

Lee’tep examined the scenery outside the jeep and got his bearings.  Edward could tell the man almost said something, but then decided better.  “My Lord will give you death no matter your surprises.”

Certainly, we’re headed straight for them, now.

“Stop the Jeep, James,” said Edward.  He pitched Lee’
tep out of the vehicle.  The Onge
watched
them drive away
.  “Now drive.  And watch out.  We’re about to go straight into hell and I don’t have any bullets in this damn gun.”

“There aren’t any guns in here?” asked James as he drove.

Edward looked around more closely to humor
him
.  He’d seen the guns drop of out
the lim
p bodies’ hands onto the road.
 
Only a few clips remained on the floorboards, for guns they’d left in
Lisbaad
.

It was
a couple hours before
dawn
when
Edward and Seacrest finally reached the sea.  Edward’s
trance had long since worn off
and his body ached fierce
ly
. 
He
had many more t-pills but decided to wait for action. 

At first they didn’t realize they’d found the tribe.  The rocky coast was unpopulated.  Edward suspected they might be too far north.  Half a mile to the south along the shore was a ridge which hid the rest of the coast from view.  He never doubted that the tribe would be somewhere near.  He was certain.

They ditched the jeep and trekked to the ridge.  Just past the high point, the sea cut deeply into the island.  Edward spied a dozen skiffs
free floating
in the harbor. 
He strained his eyes to catch the tribe.  They would be somewhere on the coast.

At the bottom of the harbor’s “U” shape, a single torch appeared.  Then more.  Edward could make out the shapes.  They were marching to the sea.  Edward and James had beaten them there.

The skiffs responded to the light, interrupting the silent night with the abrupt roar of their engines.  Edward was taken by surprise at the sound.  He’d expected the Onge to have oars, not motors.

“What the hell is going on?”
Seacrest asked.

“They’re moving.  They’re going mainland.”

“The whole tribe?”

“The whole tribe.  I don’t think anyone
in Sri Lanka
will know, though.  It’ll look like the whole
tribe deserted their village and
disappeared.”

“What do you mean?  They’re a bunch of primitives.  Where will they go?”

Edward left Seacrest’s question unanswered.

I rushed Manassa
. 
I forced his hand. 
He would have waited fo
r them all to be schooled.  It
would have taken another two weeks or more.
  It was a small victory for Edward, but he knew Ma
nassa
was adapting
to his threat
. 
Manassa
would not let such a bump in the road
as Edward
stop him. 
Manassa’s reaction, thou
gh, told Edward that the god took him seriously.