“You have to be sure of yourself when you are attempting great things. He who hesitates is lost. You know that as well as I.”
Amanda sensed him standing behind her and felt his fingertips resting on her shoulders. “That’s why I didn’t hesitate with my plans for you. When I saw you stepping down from your royal barge at my headquarters, I knew that here was a great thing to be done, a great challenge to meet.”
Amanda felt the brush of his lips along her shoulder blade, and the inescapable frisson he could trigger ran through her once more. She forced a hint of scorn into her voice. “Well, you succeeded in bagging me, I’ll give you that. What do I have to look forward to? Are you going to have me stuffed and mounted, or are you content with hanging my head over the fireplace?”
His palms flowed over the curve of her shoulders. “Amanda, I know you are unhappy with this situation. I can’t blame you. But in the face of all things, be just with me. You know why I brought you here. You can feel it, as I can. Be honest with yourself as I am being honest with you.”
She took a shuddering breath. “Makara Harconan, I am a prisoner here, held against my will. There is no justice and no honesty in that.”
His sigh brushed lightly against her bare skin. “Then strive for some honesty within yourself.” His fingers closed over her shoulders more firmly. “Are you really any more of a prisoner now than you have been for the past twenty years of your life?”
“What do you mean?” she asked cautiously.
“How many times have I told you that I have studied you, Amanda?” He spun her around to face him, those gray penetrating eyes drilling into hers at point-blank range. “All of your life you have played by the rules made by someone else. You have worn your uniform and the chains that went along with it, at the beck and call of an ungrateful government and populace.
“I know about the United States, Amanda. In your nation, they pay sports figures who play children’s games in front of television cameras millions; yet, they begrudge you and the other warriors who defend them the pittance you are paid.”
“I was never in it for the money, Makara!”
“Of course you weren’t. But what about respect? What about a degree of honor? Even a simple thank-you for risking of your life? They don’t openly throw dog excrement at you in the streets anymore or scream ‘Baby killer!’ into your face quite so often, but still your media and your citizenry look upon you as either a brass-hatted buffoon or a cold-blooded murderer in a uniform. Where is the justice in that? What do you owe them?”
“I never did it for a thank-you, either.”
“I know you didn’t, Amanda.” His hands slid down her arms and his grip firmed. “You were the bright warrior, the guardian. You wanted to right the wrongs, to protect the helpless. But how many times have you been kept from doing just that? How many times have you seen an evil that needed to be destroyed, that was within your power to destroy, and yet your lords and masters held you back? And why? Because of some popularity poll or the fear of what some political pundit would say or because their particular party hacks disapproved.”
“Too often.” she whispered.
“See?” He released his hold on her and stepped back. “Damn it, Amanda. Don’t you see that I’m not trying to hold you prisoner? I’m trying to set you free! I want you to consider alternatives! I’m not in this for self-aggrandizement or for money, either. If I were, I could sit back in the sun at Pabu Piri, spending my millions on myself. Instead, I’m willing to risk all that I have on a chance to make things right in these islands: not their way with their politicking and corruption and compromise, but my way with one bright, clean slash of the sword!”
The emotion within him was too great for him to keep still. He paced, but his eyes stayed locked with hers. “Amanda, you felt the fire leap between us the first moment we saw each other. That’s why, even as enemies, we can’t help but lie in each other’s arms and build that flame higher. As allies, there is nothing we couldn’t dare, Amanda. As the raja dan ratu samudra, leading the Bugis people not as pirates but as a navy, there is an empire we could build here.”
Amanda found a very honest tear trickling down her cheek. “The king and queen of the sea…. I wish I could say yes. I truly wish l could say yes.”
Harconan stopped his pacing. Turning to face her, he peered into Amanda’s eyes. “Why can’t you? What do I have to change… to do?”
“There’s nothing you can change, Makara, it’s just not the sixteenth century any more. There are no problems left that can be solved with one bright, clean slash of a sword… dammit.”
The taipan tilted his head back toward the overhead, looking both very young and hurt and very old and tired at the same time. Then he turned away for the door of their quarters. “Then I will find a way to turn back time. The guard will bring you down to the main cabin when you are ready.”
The breakfast party at the cabin table consisted of the Flores’s Captain Onderdank, his equally taciturn first officer, Professor Sonoo, Amanda and Harconan. She, the taipan, and the Indian scientist kept to a lighter rice-and-fruit menu while the two Hollanders plowed through their more solid platters of sausage and eggs.
Few words were spoken, save by Sonoo, and his were driven more from nerves than a desire for genuine communication. Amanda kept her own peace and listened to the flow, awaiting developments. They were not long in coming.
“As you have ordered, Mr. Harconan, we have prepared the satellite for transport. This is indicative we will be leaving shortly, to meet with our people?” Sonoo put a hopeful lift in his voice.
“Very soon,” Harconan agreed, spearing a slice of jackfruit on the tines of his fork. “In fact, you may commence loading after breakfast.” He glanced at Onderdank. “We’ll be sailing tonight, after full dark.”
“Aye, we will make ready. No problems. Our destination?”
Harconan’s eyes cut in Amanda’s direction. “We’ll speak of that later, after we’re under way. Needless to say, Professor, your firm and their cohorts in this project have agreed to pay my price for full access to the INDASAT. They have also agreed on a mutually acceptable facility where you will be permitted to continue your research. We will be taking you and the satellite on to a rendezvous with another ship. That vessel will deliver you to the site.”
Sonoo’s head bobbed. “Thank you. You will be most efficient in these matters, I’m sure. But the American military… There will be no… incidents?”
Harconan chewed and swallowed the jackfruit before replying. “None at all. The United States government has agreed to pull their naval forces from this area in return for a guarantee of safety for Captain Garrett. They are withdrawing now. By tonight they will be well clear of our coast. There will be no possibility of their interference.”
Amanda froze her features even as her heart leaped in her chest. That simply could not be right. Not under the Childress administration and not on Eddie Mac Maclntyre’s watch. Either Harconan was lying or he was operating under erroneous information. Which was the more likely?
“They’ll be back just as soon as they realize I haven’t been released,” she said coolly.
Harconan gave a shrug. “No doubt, Amanda. But they have no way of knowing about this base, and the Flores will be on her way. All trace of this operation will have vanished. Even for you, their presence will not matter.”
The muscles in Amanda’s face ached, suppressing the urge to smile and frown both. You believe it, don’t you, Makara? Somebody was selling a package and you bought it.