Christopher Buckley - Wet Work

" The unhappy monarch asked if this were really so, and, on its being confirmed by Pizarro, he consented to abjure his own religion, and receive baptism. "

" Atahuallpa expressed a desire that his remains might be transported to Quito, the place of his birth, to be preserved with those of his maternal ancestors. Then turning to Pizarro, as a last request, he implored him to take compassion on his young children, and receive them under his protection. Was there no other one in that dark company who stood grimly around him, to whom he could look for the protection of his offspring? Perhaps he thought there was no other so competent to afford it, and that the wishes so solemnly expressed in that hour might meet with respect even from his Conqueror. Then, recovering his stoical bearing, which for a moment had been shaken, he submitted himself calmly to his fate,-while the Spaniards, gathering around, muttered their credos for the salvation of his soul! Thus by the death of a vile malefactor perished the last of the Incas! "

Next to the bottom of the paragraph, Mr. Becker had written "Disgraceful!"

Diatri heard a sound. He crept forward along the dark passageway, gun drawn, toward the source of the noise. At the head of the passageway he found the wine cellar. The bottles were gone. He shone his light down. The native looked up at him and smiled. He was smashed. A giant bottle of wine, the kind they name after Abyssinian kings was lying across his chest. It was the biggest bottle of wine Diatri had ever seen. The native sang:

He carried him, still singing, out onto the deck. The JUNC leader began to interrogate him in Spanish. "Where are the gringos?"

Diatri said in Spanish, "You're not going to get anything out of him."

The JUNC leader shook him. "Where are the gringos?"

"Hey," said Diatri. "Easy. He doesn't know anything."

"Stay out of this, Diatri," the JUNC leader shot back. The native stopped singing. He looked confused. They were all wearing Peruvian military uniforms. Why were they speaking English?

Diatri said, "I said, let him alone."

"Fuck off, Diatri. This isn't your business."

"You touch him again I'll make it your business."

"Stand down, both of you!" The commander.

Diatri stormed off forward. He went to the bridge.

There was rubble all over, shot-out windows, splinters of wood, pieces of metal, chunks of fiberglass. Everything useful had been stripped by the natives.

He saw a piece of chart sticking out from underneath-it looked like a stone slab. He saw the brackets on the rear bulkhead-it had come off the wall. He tried to lift it. Too heavy. One of the SEALs was standing watch on the bow. Diatri shouted. "Give me a hand with this, would you?"

The SEAL lifted it easily and leaned it against the remains of the cabinet. These SEALs, they were in extremely good shape.

It was an old stone of some kind, with figures engraved into it in a way that made them seem raised. A giant with one eye was hurling large rocks at some people in a sort of rowboat. The rocks were landing near them, lifting the boat up on the waves they created. Diatri stared more closely. Something was wrong with the giant's eye. It was like he was crying. The guy who seemed to be in charge of the rowboat was gesturing at the giant with a kind of Va fangool!

Diatri examined the chart that had been underneath. There were other things: a V-shaped stick of plastique, it looked like a box of computer chips, and a small black box with switches and a red button. The SEAL left. The SOLIC commander appeared in the doorway a few moments later, while Diatri was spreading the chart out on the deck.

It was a Defense Hydrographic Agency navigational chart. He saw "Yenan" written in red felt-tip ink over a spot west of the river. The commander peered over his shoulder.

"Yenan?" said Diatri.

"It's a town in China," said the commander. "Shaanxi province. It's where Mao and Zhou Enlai ended the Long March. It's a holy place, like Concord or Lexington. It was their headquarters from '36 to '47. They launched the final phase of the revolution from there."

"So this guy is into Chinese?"

The commander said, "The only real Maoists left are in Peru."

"Sendero."

The commander nodded. He saw the V-shaped stick. "Don't move," he said. He picked it up carefully, then the box of chips and the black box. He examined the stick and said, "It's not armed."

"What is that?"

"HMX. These are nitro-chip primers. Thirty grains of nitroglycerin in silicon. The computer chip inside is coded not to accept any radio signals except one coming from this"-he held out the detonator box.

"This is powerful?"

"Yes," said the commander. "Very powerful. Four million psi."

A shot. They ran out onto the deck. The native was lying dead from a bullet hole in his forehead. The JUNC leader was bolstering his sidearm.

"What the fuck happened? What the fuck happened? "

"He figured out who we were, thanks to you, Diatri. You spoke English in front of him and he figured out who we were."

Diatri lunged. The SEALs pulled him off.

"You fucking asshole, you killed him!"

"My orders are to leave the area undetected. You killed him, Diatri, not me."

"You fuck!"

"Diatri!" The commander took him by the shoulder and walked him forward. He was a strong man, the commander. He took him back to the bridge.

Diatri hit the chart table with his fist.

"It shouldn't have happened," said the commander.

"Oh, great."

"But it did happen. So what are you going to do about it? You're going to do nothing. When we get back, I will report this… crime . Be assured of that. Now you get yourself organized, mister. Is that understood?" The commander left.

Diatri stayed on the bridge, watching the river run past the ship. Her bow was pointed into the current. It seemed as if she were still moving upriver. He stood there watching the river. I hear you're going to Congressional Relations… Congratulations. Should have known. They were just keeping him happy until this was over.

"We've been ordered back." It was the commander.

"You told them?"

"The mission is scrubbed."

"We didn't find any bodies. They could be at this, this Maotown, alive, for all we know."

"The mission is over, Frank. Get moving."

"Wait a minute. These are-these are citizens. You're going to leave them?"

" Orders , Diatri. Do you understand?"

"No. I don't."

"Let's go, Frank."

"Fuck it. You go."

The commander said, "If necessary, I will have you carried back."

Diatri looked at him. "I would not advise you to try that, Commander."

They stared at each other. The commander took a step forward, Diatri put his hand on his pistol. The commander pushed past him and picked up the stick of HMX.

"All right, listen up. You take the primer, you insert the primer in the explosive. The explosive is malleable. These are the safeties, there are six. They must all be switched off or it will not detonate. This is the selector switch. The positions match the numbers on the nitro-chip primers. This is the test light here; if that's lit, you have power. This is the det button."

Diatri nodded. "Okay."

"This is a twelve-hundred-grain stick. The blast radius would be about a hundred meters. Do not be inside it."

"Okay."

"There's an inflatable life raft on deck."

"Yeah, I saw."

The commander started to leave. He said, "You are going to die, you understand that?"