April 6: And What Goes Around (24 page)

"Do it," they both agreed.

* * *

Tonga was really
flat. Islands on coral reefs sure looked different than volcanic islands. Gunny
had been to Tonga before, but he came in on a boat and he hadn't gotten a good
look when they took a shuttle out. This time they were coming in on an aerobraking
shuttle and he had a left hand seat so he saw the island pass on the left out
his port. They were subsonic already so he had plenty of time to get a good
look from above although it was  a good twenty kilometers out. Then they had to
make a wide slow turn to the north west, almost doubling back to line up with
the runway.

Gunny looked at
Christian Mackay next to him after they turned and the island was lost from
sight ahead of them. He had his head back against the seat with his eyes
closed. Gunny wondered if he'd been to Tonga before or he just wasn't curious?
Chen chose not to sit with them. He hadn't explained why but he indicated he'd
meet them at the hotel, so it wasn't a permanent thing. Maybe he felt there
would be watchers at the port. He was a known agent, but the Chinese influence
on Tonga had waned years ago and their relationship with Japan was more
important now.

There was a solid
clunk of landing gear going down and the surface of the ocean looked really
close now. You could see the waves. The beach was there suddenly on their left
and stretching off to the left and ahead of them. The palm trees and buildings
were close enough to see in detail. The nose pitched up a little and the pilot
was a real hot dog. He put on the air brakes and threw them forward against the
harness just
before
the tires touched down. Once the front wheel was
down he stood on those brakes too.

Maybe he knew what
he was doing though. When they turned off to the right there was only one more
taxiway between them and the end of the runway. The sign beyond their turn said
twenty five hundred meters. He'd used up an awful lot of runway. Certainly two
kilometers before he coasted a bit and then engaged the electric wheel motors
to turn off and taxi back to the terminal. They passed a couple of carrier
aircraft, or motherships, one with a shuttle hanging under it, wheels
retracted, and a shuttle sitting alone with mechanics working on it.

There was a site
that let vertical lift shuttles depart but it was on a small island away from
the capital city and main island. They didn't need the noise and vertical lift
shuttles didn't fail very often now, but when they did it was always a lot more
exciting than a carrier aircraft that could often turn back on one engine or
even glide home. Vertical lifters had
no
glide capacity in a failure and
below about six or seven thousand meters separating the shuttle and getting it
into a controlled glide was a very iffy proposition even if the lift vehicle
didn't go *BOOM* spectacularly.

The shuttle didn't
attach to the building like it would in North America. Instead a bus rolled up
and docked to take them to a separate customs building. The connector had a
shield that protruded into the airlock to keep them from touching the edge of
the hull which would still be hot.

The main terminal
building had a sign saying it was Fua'amotu International but they drove right
past that. When they reached the smaller customs building they were greeted by
an officer with a filter mask and a full face eye shield. The man was wearing a
disposable paper jump suit over his uniform and sheer gloves. He held a no
contact thermometer and checked their temperature at throat and ear.

"We are aware
there is a flu pandemic," Gunny told the man. "We've kept Home
isolated. In fact we do a scan for viral DNA at our entry, so it hasn't got
loose on Home."

"That's
excellent sir. I'm still required to do this for
all
people making
entry. We haven't got a hot case yet from off world, but we're still directed
to check. Nothing personal," he added politely.

"Have you had
to isolate anybody coming in by conventional aircraft?" Mackay asked.

"Oh
certainly! It's out there alright, and we have had a couple planes that we
refueled and turned the whole plane away. If it had somebody running a fever we
sent for a DNA scanner like your friend here described. If they had the flu we
don't have the facilities to isolate the whole plane that has been exposed. We
just turn them away."

Gunny didn't say
anything more. They were making an effort, or at least a show, but it was
futile. Somebody would come in not showing any symptoms because they were in
the incubation period. You could
ask
them to keep checking their
temperature and report if they got sick, but history showed that self
quarantine just didn't work. People were selfish. It would get in here in time,
but at least it wasn't prevalent yet. That was good. They still had a little
time to do their job.

The cab was
electric and old. It had seats reupholstered with what looked like cloth for an
awning, coarse and heavy. The tropical sun had won the battle with the paint
years ago and the roof was painted bright white instead of the pale green still
visible on the sides. Mackay negotiated them a set price to go north and around
the lagoon to the capital. He just said "Little Italy" as a
destination. Gunny didn't know if that was the whole district or their specific
destination. Mackay booked the flight and made their other reservations,
assuring Gunny they didn't want a car, they would have a car and driver if they
needed one. Gentleman and people of substance apparently didn't drive
themselves. Gunny, entering, made the vehicle drop a couple centimeters.

The traffic was
light compared to what Gunny was used to in North America. Lighter vehicles
too, electric scooters and mini-trucks that looked like little more than a golf
cart with a box on the back. They passed one full sized truck and a police car
that was still only a compact sized car with bright lime green accents down the
sides for visibility. The road was paved but much patched and the side roads
were just graded dirt.

The driver seemed
unfriendly at the port and he continued to look in his mirror at them with an
odd expression. Gunny couldn't decide if he was angry or frightened. He typed
on his pad. "The driver seems twitchy. You think he might rob us or divert
us somewhere?"

Mackay took the
pad from him and typed. "He has a hack license so I doubt it. See it up on
the visor? That's his face on it so he didn't steal the cab from someone. Ask
him what's wrong if you want."

Gunny took the pad
back and erased it. Maybe he was too sensitive. But then the cabbie looked at
them again still frowning. He decided to try to bring it out in the open.

"You seem
unhappy to be driving us. I assure you, we are a good fare and we're not going
to cause any problems or try to stiff you as long as you take us to our
destination. Is there some other problem?"

"On the radio
they accuse spacers of making the bad flu. I don't want to get sick from you.
If my boss hears I turned down a fare he might take my cab and rent it to
somebody else. I can't take a chance, but I wish I had one of those
masks," he said, making a gesture over his mouth.

Gunny laughed so
loud the driver jerked, not expecting it. "Don't believe half of what you
hear on the radio," Gunny advised him. "So far we don't have this flu
on Home, and we're working hard to keep it that way. I'll tell you the straight
stuff. What little we know for sure. This started in Italy around Rome. It's in
North America and we know it's in China although we don't know how bad there for
sure.

"In another
two weeks to a month it will be
everywhere
. They took our temperature at
the port. If we'd been sick they'd have turned the whole shuttle back without
letting us off. But it takes time to show symptoms. You can get it from
somebody and it's maybe four to six days before you
feel
sick. So that's
not going to stop it for long. Somebody will have caught it and not know.
They'll feel sick
after
coming to Tonga."

"So you think
another week or two and it
will
be in Tonga?" the driver asked,
worried.

"That's my
opinion, yes. I'm not a doctor, but what I said is what people who should know
have told me. The Tongan officials would probably kick us out for telling you
that, so I'd appreciate it if you don't name us if you repeat it."

The driver nodded
solemnly. "I will not do you harm for sharing truth. You speak like
someone who believes what they say. Do you have any idea what I should do when
it is here?"

"We still
don't know how much it is like other flu. It may be related to the mouse flu
that came out of Africa a few years ago. A mask may help. But better not to be
closed in a car or room with a sick person. And don't touch your nose or your
eyes when you have been out until you wash your hands with soap," he
suggested.

The driver sighed.
"I can't just stop driving. I have nothing else right now and it feeds us.
But I'll try to do as you say when I can. Thank you."

Gunny thought
about it a bit as they drove along further and reached over the seat.
"When you hear a lot of people are sick take this and sell it to carry you
awhile. There probably won't be many people hiring a cab by then anyway. If you
tell your boss you are too sick to drive when he knows lots of others are sick
he won't question it." He offered the man one of the gold rings held
between thumb and finger. He didn't have to ask what it was, but he seemed
hesitant to take it.

"If you
happen to hear anything useful to us we'd appreciate a word at our hotel,"
Gunny added.

That apparently
made him willing to take it. He scared Gunny by how long he turned his head and
ignored the road to accept it, but eventually he turned back to driving.
"What are you doing here that's worth the risk of
you
getting the
flu? I ask so I'll know what you might want to hear."

"We just want
to make sure the things we've bought get lifted to our home. If a lot of people
are sick they may not be too worried about unloading the ships and planes and
putting the stuff on a shuttle. We don't grow anything up there. We have to buy
food and clothing and parts for machines," Gunny said.

"Tonga has to
buy food too," the driver told them, "that's another thing to worry
about."

"Sell the
ring early if you need to," Gunny said. "It's yours now so you decide
when is best."

"I believe I
shall," he decided. "I suspect it will buy a lot more rice now than
in a month."

When they pulled
off the road in town at a white three story building Gunny pointed to his
license. It stated he was Ata Liava'a and it had his address on it. "May
we come find you if we have need of a driver or other work?"

"Yes, but I'm down near Uaini off the Taufa'ahau road. It would be
far easier for me to come to you. You can call me." He fiddled with a
compact phone and made it display his number to them. Mackay wrote it down on a
little notebook instead of entering it in his pad. When he tried to pay for the
ride the man waved it away and wouldn't take anything more than the ring.

* * *

The building Ata
dropped them off at was an older white three story with porches running the
full length of the building. The railings  reminded Gunny a little of the
buildings in the French Quarter when he'd vacationed in New Orleans. A young
fellow in all white hurried out with a luggage cart. Gunny's face must have
shown his doubts, because Mackay reassured him even though he hadn't said a
word.

"It's older
but don't worry, they gutted it and rebuilt it practically from scratch about
ten years ago. It's considered a historic treasure and landmark. They have very
decent food too."

"That's fine.
If the plumbing works, and it doesn't have vermin, it won't be anywhere near
the bottom on the list of places I've stayed." He let Mackay check them in
and wandered about looking at the lobby and into the restaurant. There didn't
appear to be any rooms on the ground floor. It did seem nice and hadn't been
ruined by trying to make it ultra-modern. It was traditional Italian right down
to the red and white checked table cloths and bright murals on the walls. When
they had to take the stairs to the third floor he was surprised. He'd lived in
North America so long he'd become accustomed to the idea no business could
remodel without installing an elevator and all the other things like special
doors and bathroom fixtures for the disabled.

The room had
another hand drawn mural the length of the room and a young fellow standing
with his bags patiently waiting for him to show up. He declined the fellow's offer
to put his things away and  to take things to be cleaned or ironed and tipped
him for delivering the bags. Mackay showed up at the door between their rooms
and leaned on the jam.

"You have an
Italian room. Mine is all done in tropical decor."

"I'll switch
if you prefer this one," Gunny offered.

"Nah, they're
both neat. I like that it isn't uniform corporate beige.

"Where is
Chen staying? Or did he make his own arrangements?"

"He's on the
other side of me. He'll show up I'm sure when he's finished his business."

Mackay signaled in
signs to search for bugs. They would set their own and cache some things if it
was clear. Gunny nodded and started but kept up a chatter.

"I'm ready to
go try the restaurant if you are game," Gunny suggested.

"Let's do it.
I haven't had a decent pizza in months. Not since I was on ISSII."

Gunny thought of telling him the Fox and Hare made a good pizza, but
hesitated to say it. He wasn't sure Mackay could afford the membership fee or
the prices there. The rooms were electronically clean. They didn't have
anything to more do this evening. They were free until they met the Mitsubishi
people tomorrow. They could relax and have dinner.