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Murph cleared his throat. “Actually, we might.”
“I like your timing,” Juan said, glad to get some good news.
“I was able to extract the GPS logs from the Magellan Sun and create a map of her shipping courses over the last month. We’re looking for an islet, right?”
Juan nodded. “Dr. Ocampo told us Locsin had a dig going on somewhere in the Philippines, but he didn’t know the exact location, just that it was a small island. There are thousands in the country that could fit that description.”
“Well, most of the Magellan Sun’s stops were either in Chinese or Filipino ports. Or right here, of course, when she was off-loading her illicit cargo. But there was one small island where she made multiple visits.”
“Put it up on the screen so we can see where we have to go,” Juan said.
“No need,” Murph said. “We saw the island just yesterday when we sailed out of Manila Bay. Locsin’s dig is on Corregidor.”
40
MANILA BAY
The morning sun lit up the forested island of Corregidor like a glittering emerald set against the brilliant sapphire expanse of the Pacific behind it. Salvador Locsin sat in the bow of a pump boat, a large outrigger canoe fitted with an automobile engine at the back, a vessel common in the Philippines. He watched the tail end of the tadpole-shaped island pass by their port side, but he couldn’t see the abandoned dirt airfield that was hidden by the trees. A mile behind them to the north was the Bataan Peninsula, infamous for the merciless Death March that the Japanese forced the surrendering Americans and Filipinos to endure in 1942.
Corregidor, the former fortress and current historic monument, sat at the entrance to the bay thirty miles from the city of Manila. The tiny pump boat was the most inconspicuous way for Locsin and his seven communist soldiers to get to the island, which would be teeming with curious, photo-happy tourists.
For the past three weeks, Locsin’s men had been digging on the island under the pretense of a restoration project to excavate one of the tunnels that the Japanese had collapsed during the American invasion in 1945. The cache of Typhoon pills that his men had discovered also contained information that indicated the main research lab had been housed in one particular tunnel on Corregidor and gave its exact location. Locsin’s best hope for maintaining his supply was to dig out this tunnel and find either more Typhoon pills or the formula itself.
Their progress had been slower than Locsin wanted because they could only dig during the day, otherwise they would draw unwanted attention to the project. His diggers told him that they were close to breaking through, so he’d come out himself today to oversee the final push.
Locsin’s phone beeped with the call he’d been waiting for.
“Are you back at the cavern?” he asked Tagaan.
“Yes, comrade,” Tagaan replied. Even though their headquarters on Negros Island was situated far from any cell phone towers, he was able to call through the cavern’s Wi-Fi and illicit satellite Internet connection.
“Has Beth Anders arrived?”
“Yes, comrade. She’s currently unconscious, but we’ve already begun the experiment on her.”
“Good,” Locsin said. “Let me know when you have any results. The information could prove useful to future operations. And if she recovers enough to work, have her examine the paintings and give us an appraisal. With our meth shipment now in the custody of the police, we’ll need another source of revenue soon. How did the Kuyogs perform?”
In a brief conversation earlier, Tagaan had told him only the bare minimum about the sinking of the Magellan Sun and the attack on the truck convoy.
There was a moment of silence from the other end of the phone. “The Kuyogs performed as intended” was Tagaan’s terse reply.
“Then how did the attackers get away?”
“I designed them to attack surface targets, not submarines. Our goal is to destroy the Philippine Navy, which has no subs.”
Locsin fumed. “Are you making excuses?”
“No, comrade. Just explaining the situation.”
Locsin felt himself going ballistic, so he paused until he was able to calm himself. “How many Kuyogs do you have ready now?”
“We have forty-five operational, and another ninety-five in various stages of production.”
“Would they be effective against the ship that sank the Magellan Sun?”
No hesitation this time. “Absolutely. But the ship does seem to have some defensive capabilities.”
“I don’t care. If we have a chance to sink her, I would use every one of the Kuyogs we have now to put her at the bottom of the ocean. This Juan Cabrillo has caused extensive damage to our cause. He needs to pay.”
