The Pirates of Shan Part 9

"Gone out. He had a call from the hotel desk."

Rick got into the shower for a quick wake-up bath. By the time he was dressed Zircon had returned, a yellow sheet of paper in his hands.

Chahda arrived a moment later.

"All here," Chahda said. "Good. Now I tell. You know who got our friends? Pirates!"

Rick stared at him in awe. "How did you find that out?"

"Word you said, one that scared Bagobos. I said it too, in few places at Davao. I try different ways to say, and I must have said it good one time. Filipino snapped at me to shut up, because word no good. But did Chahda shut up?"

"Never," Scotty said emphatically.

"Is true. Anyway, Filipino whispers to me about Pirates of Shan. He knows little. Only that they kill quick, and no one knows who is a pirate and who is not. Not many have heard of them."

"Some have," Zircon interjected. He waved the paper. "Okola replied by return wire. Listen."

The big physicist read: "'Pirates of Shan date back to seventeenth century. Originally Chinese Moslems, later joined by Filipino Moslems and some Malays. Most active around 1800. Shan is from Chinese word for mountain, but no one knows what mountain. Some believe Shan located near Borneo coast. Some mention pirates in action against j.a.panese during World War Two. No record since. Regret no more available.'"

"Okola certainly knows his history," Scotty stated. "Well, at least we have a tag to hang on the enemy. The kidnapers were pirates."

Zircon agreed. "Being trailed by one certainly seems to tie up with Tony and Howard's disappearance. And speaking of kidnapers, that Filipino boy, Elpidio Torres was kidnaped. His folks now have a ransom demand."

He held out a recent newspaper.

Rick scanned the front-page story. "Think there might be a connection?"

"Possible, I suppose, but consider the distance. According to the story, a ransom of one million pesos is to be left on the Batangas coast, south of Manila."

Scotty whistled. "Half a million bucks! That would make piracy worth while!"

"Yes, but Manila isn't the Sulu Sea," Zircon pointed out. "Also, there has been no ransom demand for Tony and Howard. They weren't taken until some time after the Torres boy vanished."

"What we do now?" Chahda asked.

"We eat, with the local constabulary chief," Rick replied. "Think it's safe to join us?"

Chahda grinned. "Safe or no, I go. I hungry."

Rick and Scotty were hungry, too. The Spanish-Filipino custom of dining late did not appeal to them. But as it developed, dinner was worth waiting for. Captain Lim was apparently a gourmet. He had ordered soup made of smoked oysters from Palawan Island, a second course of delicate b.u.t.terfly fish fillets in a marvelous sauce of fresh coconut, a main course of b.r.e.a.s.t.s of chicken boiled in coconut milk, a salad of hearts of palm, a Spanish dessert called _lecheflan_, which was a kind of custard swimming in caramel sauce, and thick, aromatic Batangas coffee.

Rick and Scotty ate until they could hold no more, and Chahda groaned, "Once I read words 'stuffed like Christmas goose.' This now fits me."

Zircon lighted a Manila cigar and sat back in his chair, a look of pure contentment on his face. "A wonderful meal, Captain. Thank you, for all of us. I haven't dined so well in months."

Captain Lim beamed his pleasure. "Then you may forgive me for failing with the Moro. He would say nothing. I have no legal grounds on which to hold him for long, either."

Zircon nodded his understanding. "We expected nothing, but we had to try. Chahda, tell Captain Lim what you found out in Davao, and I'll give him Okola's message."

The exchange of information completed, Zircon changed the subject. The scientist knew they were in need of something to take their minds off the search for a while, and he encouraged Captain Lim to tell them about Zamboanga and its long and sometimes b.l.o.o.d.y history.

The officer turned out to be an entertaining story-teller. He kept them laughing, or on the edges of their chairs until after midnight. Then he began teaching them the famous song that goes:

_The monkeys have no tails in Zamboanga!

The monkeys have no tails in Zamboanga!

The monkeys have no tails; They were bitten off by whales!

Oh, the monkeys have no tails in Zamboanga!_

The Spindrifters had just gotten into the swing of the rollicking melody when a sergeant came in with a message for the captain. Lim tore the envelope open and read rapidly. Then he slapped his hand on the table.

"Good! This is from Major Lacson. A boat answering the description of the _Sampaguita_ was seen about four days after the kidnaping, heading south of the island of Bulan. A fisherman saw it."

Rick's heart leaped with sudden hope and excitement. "Where is Bulan?"

"Across the Strait from here is Basilan. Bulan is a small island south of it."

Scotty said with relief, "At least we know now which way they're heading."

"And we know what to do next," Zircon added.

"We go after it!" Chahda concluded grimly.

CHAPTER VIII

The "Swift Arrow"

Jose Santos' boatyard was not large, but to Rick it seemed as though the Filipino boatman had a sample of every kind of craft from a rowboat to a Chinese junk.

"We want a boat," Zircon stated. "Not a sailboat. That would be too slow. We want something reasonably fast, and with enough room for comfort. We may have to live aboard for some time."

Santos nodded. "You no care how big?"

"There are four of us to handle it."

"Plenty," Santos said. "No more help needed for my _Swift Arrow_. See over there?"

Rick's quick eyes caught the lines of the craft first. He exclaimed, "Well, I'll be a galloping grampus! It's a torpedo boat!"

"Yes," Santos confirmed, beaming. "Motor torpedo boat. I convert her myself. Come see."

Chahda asked, "Rick, what is torpedo boat?"

"It's a very fast, light boat, designed to launch torpedoes at bigger s.h.i.+ps. It depends on speed for safety. This one must be left over from World War Two."

"Plenty old," Chahda said doubtfully.

Scotty chuckled. "Age doesn't mean anything to a boat if it's well built and well taken care of. The MTB's were light, but very well built.