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son Pardee. There were a couple of IVs hanging above the patient. Probably
painkillers after such major surgery, Tuck thought.
He moved closer and ventured a whisper. Pst, Pardee.
The lump under the covers moved and moaned in a distinctly unmascu-
line voice. Pardee, it s Tucker Case. Remember?
The sheet was thrown back and Tuck saw a thin male face in the green
glow. Kimi?
Hi, Tucker. Kimi looked down at the other person under the covers.
You remember Tucker? He all better now.
The pretty island girl said, I take care of you when you sick. You stink
very much.
Tuck backed off a step. Kimi, what are you doing here?
Well, she like pretty thing, and I like pretty thing. She tired of having
many means and so am I. We have a lot in common.
He the best, Sepie added with an adoring smile at Kimi.
Kimi handed the smile off to Tuck. Once you be a woman, you know
how to make a woman happy.
Tuck was getting over the initial surprise and began to smell the smoke
of his beautiful island girl fantasy as it caught fire and burned to ash. He
hadn t realized how much time he d spent thinking about
212 / Christopher Moore
this girl. She, after all, was the one who had revived his manhood. Sort of.
You right, Kimi said. Women are better. I am lesbian now.
You shouldn t be doing this. This girl just had major surgery.
Oh, we not doing nothing but kissing. She very hurt. But this make it
better. Kimi held his arm up, displaying an IV line. You want to try? Put
in you arm and push button. It make you feel very very nice.
That s for her, Kimi. You shouldn t be using it.
We share, Sepie said.
Yes, we share, Kimi said.
I m very happy for you. How in the hell did you get in here?
Like you get out. I swim around mimes and come here to see Sepie. No
problem.
You don t want to let them catch you. You ve got to go. Now.
One more push. Sepie held the button, ready to administer another
dose of morphine to Kimi.
Tuck grabbed it from her hand. No. Go now. How did you know about
the mines?
I have other friend. Sarapul. I teach him how to be a navigator. He know
a lot of things too. He a cannibal.
You re a cannibal lesbian?
Just learning. How come you have rubber suit? You kinky?
Sneaky. Look, Kimi, have you seen a fat white guy, an American?
No, but Sarapul see him. He see the guards take him from the beach.
He not here?
No. I found his notebook. I met him on Truk.
Sarapul say he see the guards bring him to the Sorcerer. He say it very
funny, the white man wear pigs with wings.
Tuck felt his face go numb. All that was left of Pardee was a pelvic bone
wedged in the reef, stripped of flesh and wrapped in flying piggy shorts.
Oh, there might be the odd kidney left alive in someone in Japan, a kidney
that he had delivered. Had the fat man died on the operating table during
the operation, the surgery too much for his heart? Or was he put under
and never meant to wake up?
Tuck suddenly felt that getting into the doctor s computer was more
important than ever. He grabbed Kimi s arm and pulled the IV needle out
of his vein. The navigator didn t resist, and he didn t seem to feel it.
Island of the Sequined Love Nun / 213
Kimi, see if you can get that back in Sepie s arm and come with me.
Okay boss.
Tuck looked down at the girl, who had evidently picked up on the panic
in his voice. Her eyes were wide, despite the morphine glaze. Don t buzz
the doctor until after we re gone. This button will let you have only so
much morphine, and Kimi s used some of yours. But if it hurts, you still
have to wait, okay?
She nodded. Kimi crawled out of the bed and nearly fell. Tuck caught
him by the arm and steadied him.
I am chosen, Sepie said. When Vincent comes, he will give me many
pretty things.
Tuck brushed back her hair with his fingers. Yes, he will. You sleep
now. And thank you for taking care of me when I was sick.
Kimi kissed the girl and after a minute Tuck pulled him away and led
him through the operating room to the office section of the clinic. In the
glow of the computer screen, Tuck said, Kimi, the doctor and his wife are
killing people.
No, they not. They sent by Vincent. Sepie say Vincent come from
Heaven to bring people many good things. They very poor.
No, Kimi, they are bad people. Like Malcolme. They are taking advant-
age of Sepie s people. They are just pretending to be working for a god.
How you know? You no believe in God.
Tuck took the boy by the shoulders. He was no longer angry or even ir-
ritated, he was afraid, and for the first time ever, not just for himself. Kimi,
can you swim back around the mines?
I think.
You ve got to go to the other side of the island and you can t come back.
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