The Pirates of Shan Part 2

"Circ.u.mstances," Rick corrected automatically. "Why didn't you wire? We thought JANIG hadn't been able to get our message to you."

"I was in Singapore with my boss, Carl Bradley," Chahda explained. "When your message comes, he says go now, Chahda. By the time a message back catches them, so will you. You know, he right? I get here before you, already two days now."

"Two days!" Scotty exclaimed. "What have you been doing?"

Chahda bowed. "Scotty, please to be speckfull. You now speak to Raman Sunda, salesman of cloths."

"I'll show proper speck," Scotty said with a grin. "Do you mean clothes?"

"Not clothes. Cloths. Tax-tills."

"Textiles," Zircon boomed. "Chahda, what on earth does a Hindu textile salesman have to do with finding Briotti and Shannon?"

"Plenty do with, Professor. In this country is plenty Hindus like me.

Many sell tax-tills. So I travel, and listen. Yes?"

Rick still didn't get it. "But why, Chahda?"

"We face fact you like so much, Rick. Okay? This is country of brown-skinned people, like me. People talk to me when they not talk to you. So I go alone to Davao, on island of Mindanao. Is big city, says in 'Alm-in-ack.' Has 111,263 peoples. Some maybe know something, so my friends here, they send me to friend in Davao. He helps me meet people who can maybe help some more. Okay?"

"I should have known," Rick said with admiration. "Leave it to you to dig up an angle."

Chahda winked. "Among Hindus is always ideas. Now, I go Davao tonight.

You coming too? Okay. You stay at Apo View Hotel. Is very good. I stay there, too. We not knowing each other for little while, I think. That is why I come into your room with special key my boss gives me to open many doors. Better I work alone for now."

Scotty asked, "How much do you know about our friends' disappearance, Chahda?"

The Hindu boy launched into a concise and rapid summary. Rick wasn't surprised to find that Chahda knew everything they had found out.

"You never fail to amaze me," Zircon boomed.

Rick went to his suitcase and drew out the unit of the Megabuck network he had made for Barby. He explained its operation to Chahda, who promptly slid it under his turban where no one could see it.

"Sahib Brant plenty smart to make this," Chahda intoned. "Poor native boy salutes mighty scientist!" He ducked Rick's return swing.

Dr. Zircon had gone to his own suitcase. He returned with his pocket-size wire recorder and handed it to Chahda. "I brought this to record conversations in other languages. I think you might stimulate more interesting talk than we could, Chahda. It will record for an hour on a single spool."

Chahda took the gadget and checked its operation. Rick was amused to see that the "poor native boy" figured it out in something less than a minute, and put it casually in his coat pocket.

"We meet in Davao," Chahda said. He shook hands all around, then paused at the door. "Please, you good friends. I see you worry plenty. We find Tony and Dr. Shannon. You see." He opened the door and was gone.

Rick breathed a sigh of relief. "I feel better," he stated. "Just seeing him again makes me feel good."

"I agree," Zircon said, "and so does Scotty. Now, we will do a little sight-seeing. I haven't been in downtown Manila for twenty years. We'll only worry and fret if we stay in this hotel room, so let's go."

The three taxied through the old walled city, then across the Pasig River and into Manila proper. They inspected the Escolta, princ.i.p.al street in the shopping area, then headed for Quiapo Square to see the great cathedral and the shops. Traffic was heavy, so they paid the taxi driver and got out and walked.

As they crossed a pedestrian overpa.s.s by the cathedral, Scotty said quietly, "In case you were feeling neglected, you can stop. We're being tailed." Rick and Zircon were too experienced to pause or show interest.

Scotty added, "There's quite a mob on the sidewalk once we get down from this bridge. Push right into it. I'll drop out and intercept him. If we're being tailed, we want to know why."

The plan was executed smoothly. Rick was never sure when Scotty melted into a convenient doorway. After a moment he stopped and looked around.

He was in time to see Scotty step from the doorway and confront a small, poorly dressed man who wore a red fez.

Rick and Zircon were at Scotty's side in an instant.

The man in the red fez reached for a pocket, and Rick tensed to swing if necessary. But the man only drew out a cardboard pillbox. "Plenty bargain for Americans," he announced. "Me Moro from Sulu. My cousin best pearl diver in Jolo. He get real pearl, I sell. You look."

He opened the pillbox. Rick saw a half dozen pearls of a.s.sorted sizes.

"We're not interested," Zircon said flatly. "Sorry. Come on, boys."

They walked away, leaving the Moro staring after them.

Zircon chuckled. "A common thing, as I recall it. I also seem to remember that most of the pearl-selling Moros in Manila are not genuine.

They're Visayans from Cebu trying to sell phony pearls to tourists."

"But he was trailing us," Scotty insisted.

"I don't doubt it in the least," Zircon replied. "He was probably sizing us up to see if we're tourists or local Americans. Is he trailing us now?"

Scotty took advantage of a plate-gla.s.s window to survey the street behind them. "Not that I can see," he admitted.

"All right. Let's not be jumpy, boys. Of course we want to know if, or why, anyone is shadowing us, but I think we have the answer in this case. Let's let it go at that."

CHAPTER III

Bagobo Country

By ten o'clock on the following morning Rick and his friends were jouncing along a twisting, b.u.mpy road into the foothills of Mindanao.

They had risen with the dawn and taken Philippines Airlines, PAL for short, to Davao. On arrival they had checked in at the Apo View Hotel and had lost no time in finding local constabulary headquarters.

Major Paulo Lacson, in charge of the detachment, had instantly ordered a pair of command cars. Before the Spindrifters quite realized it, they were whisked out of town, en route to the point where Briotti and Shannon had vanished. Colonel Rojas' letter of introduction had really worked magic.

Rick stared out at the tropical landscape, and toward the peak of Mount Apo, an active volcano over nine thousand feet high, but he didn't really notice details. In a short while they would be at what he considered the real start of their search.

The major drove the lead car, with Zircon in front beside him. Rick and Scotty occupied the rear seat. In the second car were four armed, enlisted men. As the small convoy roared toward the town of Calinan, Major Lacson told them all he knew of the case. It was the same information the three had already received, naturally enough, since their information had been based on the officer's reports.

Rick shook his head worriedly. If Lacson, obviously an intelligent and efficient officer, could find out no more, how could three strangers?

The command car whisked by an abaca plantation, with mile after mile of lush green bana.n.a.like abaca plants extending into the foothills.

"Look." Scotty pointed at drying racks on which Manila hemp fiber, product of the abaca, was drying. The fiber was a honey blond shade.

"It's just the color of Barby's hair," Rick exclaimed.