Randy White - Hunter's moon

So why the sudden regret? Weird.

Or was it?

It wasn’t a time for reflection, so I told myself to drop the subject -Concentrate, Ford. Focus!- and continued along the ridge. But my mind kept drifting back to the question, inspecting the paradox consciously, then subconsciously.

Unusual. I seldom waste time reviewing the past or fretting over future consequences, yet the interplay continued. It produced a slow clarity.

Kal Wilson, I realized, didn’t have as much leverage over me as he believed. I cared more about securing a pardon for Tomlinson. Unlike me, the poor guy wrestles with moral shadings of guilt. He believes in the concept of sin and redemption.

There are so-called hipsters who use the persona to cloak their laziness and arrogance. Tomlinson, though, is without device. He is one of those rare, transcendent souls who lives ravenously, celebrating life in equal portions of bliss and despair. Tomlinson can be a pious pain in the ass, but he is also a man, and a good one. There aren’t many and the good ones are worth saving.

But nobody reacts favorably to blackmail. So I’d balked at the president’s offer. On a subconscious level, though, I’d been curious about how the trip would go. Maybe even looked forward to it. As a biologist, it was an unusual opportunity: Kal Wilson had occupied the loftiest tier of this planet’s social hierarchy. For a time, he’d been the most powerful man on earth. How was he different? How would he handle himself now that his end was near…?

I stopped for a moment, my concentration intense as I checked my perimeter. All clear. Then I paused to stare at the moon. Wilson had one lunar cycle left to live. If his doctors were right, this moon would wane, then wax full again, before cancer dragged him down. Twenty-eight days-a unit of time as fundamental as sunrise, menses, ocean tides.

What was the appeal of spending those last days with a man of his accomplishments?

The allure was complicated. I continued walking, senses alert. My brain continued to probe, but subconsciously.

Concentrate, Ford. Focus!

Focused or not, I was disappointed. But I felt worse for the former president. He would not spend his last days traveling as a free man. Four or more assassins had come to end his life. In a way, they’d succeeded, even though they’d botched the job.

At least, I hoped they’d botched the job…

I would find out sooner than expected.

At the top of the ridge, I stopped when I perceived movement within a grove of gumbo-limbo trees. I squatted… waited… watched long enough to confirm the movement wasn’t wind shadow. No.. . something was there. Man-sized, twenty yards away.

I touched fingers to the knife and drew it. With my left hand, I felt around on the ground until I found a conch shell-Indians had used big conchs to build this ridge. It was the size of a glove, pointed at both ends. I slipped my hand into the shell.

The silhouette of a man became visible. He turned and walked in my direction. A second man appeared. He followed.

The fifth terrorist and an accomplice?

I crouched lower, trying to time it right as the men neared. I hoped they would walk past, give me a chance to get a look at them. Instead, the two silhouettes stopped within a few yards. I relaxed a little when I heard a familiar voice say, “Why the hell are you kneeling? Do you really think a man your size can hide when the moon’s this bright?”

As I stood, I dropped the conch shell and tried to slip the knife into my belt without them noticing. I felt like a stupid kid.

“I hope you don’t make a habit of being late, Dr. Ford. Forty minutes? My God! Mr. Vue and I were about to give up.”

Even though he whispered, the president’s tone told me Don’t ever be late again.

We were already walking toward the canoe, both men in a hurry. When I tried to speak, the president’s bodyguard touched a finger to his lips, clapped his hand on my shoulder, and urged me toward the water.

“Later, later. Not much time.”

“But what about the-”

“We go now. ”

Mr. Vue moved his hand to the small of my back and began to push. He was about five-nine, weighed over two-fifty. When I tried to resist, my feet skidded over the shell path like a car being towed.

“ Wait. I have information your people need. I intercepted a hit team. Four men, heavily armed, Middle Eastern, I think-”

“ Hit team? You’ve got to be kidding.” Wilson kept walking-he didn’t want to believe it.

How could he not know?

“There’s a helicopter and a patrol boat on them right now. An assault team with automatic weapons and ski masks. You weren’t told?”

Finally, he paused. His bodyguard allowed me to jolt to a stop.

“You saw them?”

“Up close.”

He looked at Vue. “Security said we might have a problem. But I think Ford’s wrong. I think he saw some of our guys.” His tone was hopeful. “But check.”

The bodyguard touched a finger to the transceiver in his ear and said, “Shadow One to Moonraker. Need weather update.” He leaned to listen, head down. After several seconds, he said, “Thanks. We waiting to hear disposition.” Vue spoke the articulate English of an immigrant from Indochina, unnecessary articles dropped, rs blurred.

He removed the finger from his ear and said to Wilson, “The boat spotted on radar? It has aboard four men, as Dr. Ford said.”

Wilson made a sound of frustration.

“But they are not yet sure if they bandits or friendlies. That was Apache we heard from MacDill-a boat crew from SEAL Team Four happened to be standing by. So the situation is copacetic, no worries. We just waiting to find out if they good guys or bad. Coast Guard will get back.”

“Did they say they were armed?”

As Vue said, “They haven’t seen weapons so far,” I said, “Trust me, they’re loaded for bear. Four men with assault rifles or submachine guns, and there could be a fifth or sixth guy already on the island. Someone planted those charges.”

Wilson said, “You mean the three gunshot-sounding bangs?”

They didn’t sound like gunshots to me but I nodded.

He looked to his bodyguard, using silence to delegate. Vue took over. “That’s what got security guys excited. They have scanner that transmits on random frequencies. Preemptive. It detonates covert ordnance. When we hear bang-bang-bang, they call in cavalry. Then radar picked up a small boat-”

Wilson interrupted, “But, Vue, it sounded like firecrackers. Halloween night, I figured. I thought the guys were overreacting. Secret Service always overreacts. Hell, at first they tried to make me get on a boat and leave for Tampa. But Ford’s telling me-”

I said, “Judging from the accents, four men of Middle Eastern, maybe Indonesian, descent-I’m not sure; there’re hundreds of dialects. But Muslim regions. They’re wearing tactical gear and armed. They came to collect the bounty on your head. It’s possible they got spooked when their ordnance detonated early.”

“ Damn it. Why’d they have to choose tonight of all nights?” He sounded unconcerned about the assassination attempt but furious about the timing.

Vue pulled at his lip, thinking. “What do you mean ‘intercepted them’?”

I started to summarize. Got as far as taking the bearded man’s knife and futzing the outboard when Vue held up a finger-“Hold moment”-then touched the same finger to his ear and bowed his head to listen. He punctuated long silences, saying, “I copy… Copy that. .. Are you sure?… Heard and understood.”

Then he said, “Uh-huh, Moonraker will contact Smallville, run background checks. We maintain level-four alert. Hunter, yes… he on station. Eyeball not necessary.” Vue turned to look at the former president. “But, no way, not going to interrupt man in his cabin unless bandits verified. No… FIGMO to that, Moonraker. You heard Hunter’s briefing. I’m clear…”