Death Trance by Graham Masterton

Author:Graham Masterton
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2011-01-08T10:07:25.732000+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Djakarta

I made Wartawa sucked on his cigarette and then carefully propped it back on the edge of his Leica ashtray. He snorted noisily, cleared his throat and stood up and looked out the window, peering at the traffic on Jalan M.H. Thamrin as if he had never seen it before, as if it were the sudden and unexpected arrival of an alien spaceship fleet against which all of Djakarta would be powerless.

He was an ugly man, with horn-rimmed glasses, greased-back hair and a white short-sleeved shirt that had obviously been pressed by a commercial laundry. There was very little in his office but grey steel filing cabinets, dust and airline posters.

'You are talking about something that is totally forbidden,’ he said with a strong Javanese accent. 'Of course I cannot help you.’

Dr Ambara said, 'You were recommended very highly.’

I.M. Wartawa shrugged as if indifferent to recommendations.

Randolph looked across at Dr Ambara interrogatively but the doctor gave him a secretive little wave of his hand to indicate that there was still plenty of room for negotiations.

T was told that you were the only man in Java who knew where to find a death-trance adept. At least the only reliable man. We know there are many tricksters and thieves.’

I.M. Wartawa came away from the window and retrieved his cigarette. He drew on it deeply, his face taut with concentration, and then he said, 'In the old days there were many adepts. But times have changed. We have television now, and videos. The young men are no longer interested in becoming priests and exploring the limits of the Hindu faith. You may complain, you Americans, but you have only yourselves to blame. Your benevolent materialism has destroyed our culture far more thoroughly than the Japanese could ever have done with their guns and their swords.’

Randolph said, 'If you were to help us, our materialism could be exceedingly benevolent indeed.’

'You mean you would pay me very well? Of course. I would expect it for conspiring with you to break the law and also for arranging a supernatural feat unattainable anywhere else in the world.’

He sat down and stared at Randolph through the thick magnifying lenses of his glasses. 'There was a time when I would do almost anything for money. I was one of the greatest entrepreneurs in Djakarta, especially in the early days of Suharto. I could acquire anything that anybody wanted, whether it was narcotic, alcoholic, sexual or spiritual. But I am a little older now. I am not as interested in money as I used to be. Most of my friends are dead or vanished, and I suppose that I have learned to be more careful. I have a shadow on my lung. I want to live out the rest of my life in comparative peace.’

Dr Ambara said, 'In exchange for your assistance, I could arrange to have you flown to America and treated by a specialist.’

'America? Why should I want to go to America? No, my friend, there is nothing you can tempt me with.

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