Page 29 of Ham

“It’s going to storm again soon,” said Temuk. “We should find shelter quickly.”

“Can we make it back to the village?” asked Ham.

“I don’t think so,” said Temuk, pointing toward the fast, incoming storm. The sky was black with sheets of rain swinging toward them like laundry in the wind. Lightning illuminated the sky, and they dashed toward the temple of the dead.

“This is where you put us?” smirked Ham.

“Well, it has survived for centuries,” smiled Temuk. “My people are all part of the greater vast culture of Polynesia. We have always lived by the water and survived the storms. We traveled from one island to the next in search of food, shelter, and sustainable living.

“Until this man came to our island, our reefs brought tourists from faraway places to dive and see our spectacular images. Now, it will be a hundred years before they are recovered, if they can recover at all.”

“Temuk, we’ve asked one of our friends back home to help us understand what may have happened here. If the coral was exposed to the blue asbestos, perhaps there is something we can do to revive it. Lindsay is a wildlife and fisheries expert. Although she is not an expert with coral, she has many colleagues who are.”

“We will take all the help we can get,” said Temuk. “Seeing the color gone from our underwater gardens was heartbreaking. It was as if the life in my body was withering away.”

“We’ll find them, my friend,” said Ham. “I promise.”

As the torrential rains let loose on its victims below, the group attempted to stay dry beneath the stone temple. They spoke with Temuk and Altem about their wives and children, their hopes for the future of their people. The team was impressed with their dedication to the island and its culture.

“What about you?” asked Altem. “Do you have customs that you strive to protect in your home?” Chief smiled at the two men, nodding.

“Yes, we have many. Our team is our family. Some of us are related by blood, some are not.”

“But it is still family, yes?” smiled Altem.

“Yes.”

“The same here,” he grinned. “We are all one tribe, one people. That’s difficult for many to understand, but I knew that somehow you would.”

“We absolutely do,” said Ham. “Many of us were in the military together. For some, it was a long time ago. For others, it was just recently. But that bond, that brotherhood, keeps us all close and respectful of one another. We have many women who were in the military as well, and even those that were not have important jobs.”

“We are not so different,” said Temuk quietly. “We respect and love one another. We admire our women who work hard to ensure our cultures and way of life stays relevant. We treasure our family, blood and non-blood. We fight for what is right. We are not so different.”

“No,” grinned Sam. “We are not.”

As the rain began to pass over their island, they made the way back to the hotel to change into dry clothes. Fortunately, the hotel offered one-day laundry service. Otherwise, they would have been wearing wet clothes for the entire duration of their stay.

When they heard that Bron and Fitch had returned, they made a plan to meet for dinner and discuss how they would go after Myer and his team. Using a satellite system, they were able to connect to the team back home.

“How’s everything going?” asked Luke.

“So far, so good,” smiled Ham. “Kat and Georgie finished with all the legal paperwork and left this morning. The rest of us are trying to figure out where someone would put an idol weighing several tons.”

“We’ve got some information about Myer and who we believe are his team,” said Cam. “We knew that he had been in the Army, but he wasn’t exactly a golden boy. He was honorably discharged, but the Army wasn’t asking him to stay by any means. I’m not sure how he got hired with the U.N., but the five gentlemen we believe are with him are all mercenaries.”

“He must have met them during his time in different countries,” frowned Sadie.

“Most likely. None of them are Americans, which might be a good thing for us. They may be less trusting of him.”

“But what’s his game?” asked May. “I mean, the items he took were random. They weren’t all from one country. They weren’t all from one period of time. Other than the crown, they didn’t have gold or jewels attached to them. Most were just historical artifacts that wouldn’t matter to anyone other than the countries they were stolen from.”

“Then, why?” frowned Sadie. “If we look at the map of the islands of Micronesia, there are hundreds. Some are so tiny they’re actually referred to as villages. Most don’t even have runways for large planes.”

“No,” said Ham, shaking his head, “but they do have one key thing in common. They are the stepping stones for the U.S. to get to the South Pacific in times of conflict. We secured many of these islands during World War II for that very reason. Wake, Solomon, Guam, all of them had Americans on them to build runways and allow our planes to get to Japan.”

“But we’re not at war with Japan,” said Sadie. “Why would he want to have control over these islands?”

“I think I know,” said Thomas, leaning against the wall in the background. “Geothermal fuel resources.” Chief shook his head, frowning at Thomas.

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