Free Bomb (9780547537641) by Theodore Taylor Page B

blank as the governor and his staff hurried back to their rafts.
    ***
    Sorry sat side by side with Abram in the sand and watched as the blue Catalina built up speed and lifted off the lagoon, heading west again. His mother and Lokileni sat a few feet away, near Tara, Jonjen, and Yolo. No one was speaking. Sorry was proud that he'd voted against the white men and their bomb.
    The other villagers watched in silence, too, standing in little family groups as the seaplane disappeared. As the afternoon went by, Sorry thought he sensed remorse setting in, and a sudden sadness. Slowly, slowly, all the fine words about them being the children of Israel led to the Promised Land, and how the bomb drop would result in kindness and benefit to all mankind, sank in. Some of the people now realized they'd voted to leave their place of birth, to have their dwellings torn down, to have the island destroyed, to go live on another island, which they'd probably never seen and probably knew nothing about.
    Tara said, "The Americans didn't say where we'd be sent."
    At last, Abram sighed. "You know, our people agreed to this just because the white men asked them to. They don't know it yet but they'll leave behind the most important thing of all—home."
    He seemed worn down as well as sad. Lifeless.
Was
he ill?
    "Do you know what happened here? We see the Americans as so great and powerful that we can't say no to them, and the governor used our belief in God against us. I cry for our people, Sorry. They think they'll be back in a few years and everything will be the same. It won't, Sorry. It won't ever be the same. Once that bomb is dropped it will never be the same here. They lied to Juda and to all of us."
    Sorry said thoughtfully, "Uncle Abram, why is it that the Americans want to test bombs when the war is over? Isn't the outside world at peace now?"
    "I don't think it's quite that simple. America still has enemies."
    "Why can't everyone live in peace, the way we used to have it here?"
    "Sorry, if I could answer that question, I'd be the most important man on earth."
    Ruta Rinamu nodded in agreement.
    "Well, how can we stop the test? What can we do?" Sorry asked.
    "Yes," Tara said. "What can we do?" Jonjen echoed her.
    Abram thought awhile. "I'm not sure. Something, perhaps. When I was a seaman, I learned about strikes. Do you know what a strike is?"
    Sorry shook his head.
    "A strike is when workers fight back against bad treatment, low wages. They refuse to work; they protest."
    "Can we do that?"
    "I don't think it would do any good to strike. But we can protest. That means 'fight against.' In the other world, there are many newspapers and magazines and radio stations. If we can get to them in time, maybe we can force the navy to make another choice, find another atoll without people on it."
    "What are the chances, Uncle Abram?"
    Abram took a long time to answer.
    "Not very good."
    Then silence fell upon them again.
    Â 
Vice Admiral William H. P. Blandy, commander of Operation Crossroads, told the international press that the Bikinians could be returned to their island in a matter of months.

3
    Heart thudding, Sorry sat strapped in, life jacketed, along with Chief Juda, Abram, Jeton Kejibuki, and Manoj Ijjirik, who held tightly to the seat piping, eyes closed. The engine noise mounted to a fury, and the seaplane began its takeoff run across the lagoon, slamming into low waves until it rose into the air.
    All the other members of the council had refused to go, frightened by the white man's flying machine. The navy had offered to fly Juda and the council in search of a suitable island to temporarily replace Bikini as home. A four-engine aircraft, larger than the usual Catalmas, was being used.
    Once they were in the air, Sorry began to breathe easier. His heartbeat slowed. Never in his life had he thought he'd be sitting in a roaring, vibrating airplane.
    Soon the sailor in the cabin told him he could remove his seat belt and look out one of