Free West from Singapore (Ss) (1987) by Louis L'amour Page B

and to destroy shipping, things had gone along smoothly. It was so obvious a tactic to attack the far-flung British Empire at many points, and as Holland was supported by the British navy in the Indies, that included the Netherlands Indies.
    Ponga Jim let one hand slip up to the gun butt in the shoulder holster. War couldn't come to the Indies without becoming a personal problem.
    Romberg was a wily customer. Had the plot to kill him in the Parakeet Nest succeeded, he would have been safely out of the way, and still the cargo would have gone on to Banggai Bay, and whatever else remained of the plot would have proceeded without further delay.
    Sparks walked out on the bridge. "Message for you, Cap," he yawned sleepily. "Just came in."
    "Suppose you turn in, Sparks. You may get another long shift tonight. I'll listen in occasionally."
    McVey turned and left the bridge. The message was brief and to the point. It said:
    NO CARGO EXPECTED BANGGAI. ROMBERG, KESSLER, BRAUNIG UNKNOWN. HAVE YOU GOT YOUR NECK
    OUT!
    WILLIAM.
    Ponga Jim frowned thoughtfully. He had suspected that it was some point near Banggai, but that they intended to transship there. He paced the bridge, his mind weighing the possibilities. When Gunner Millan came up to relieve him at four o'clock, he was still far from a solution.
    The hours slipped by. The sun came up and the day warmed. The crew was under a strain.
    The men were jumpy. Several times Jim saw his three passengers gathered in serious conversations, but he ignored them until late in the afternoon. Braunig, his face battered and swollen, had just returned from feeding the orangutan, and the three were standing amidships. Jim came out of the passageway and strolled up to them.
    "Suppose you guys let your hair down," he said slowly, "and tell me just where you think you're going? I know it isn't Banggai. "
    Romberg's lips tightened, and he glanced at Kessler. "Unfortunately, Captain Mayo, our plans have gone somewhat awry. However, it is true we don't have any great desire to land at Banggai. We intended to see the cargo was taken to Tembau."
    "My deal says Banggai," Ponga Jim said sharply. "And to Banggai we go."
    Romberg cleared his throat. "Captain Mayo, I know something of shipping conditions in these waters now and how difficult it is to keep busy. Suppose I offered you a bonus to carry us to Tembau."
    Jim shrugged. "You know my terms: cash first. It'll cost you five thousand. If I don't get it, you go to Banggai and you can deal with the native rajah there." He grinned. "However, he has no love for Germans and is very pro-British."
    Romberg hesitated, but Ponga Jim had seen triumph leap into his eyes.
    "All right, Captain Mayo," Romberg said. "I'll see you in the salon at dinner. It will take all my available funds and those of my friends. But we'll manage."
    On the impulse of the moment, Jim stepped into the radio room when he went forward.
    Picking up a pencil, he wrote rapidly.
    "Tear that up after you send it, Sparks," he ordered. "And stand by."
    It read:
    WILLIAM GIRARD, HOTEL KONINGSPLEIN, MAKASSAR, CELEBES, N. E. I.
    DESTINATION TEMBAU. OUT OF THE FRYING PAN INTO THE FIRE.
    MAYO.
    The Semiramis pushed her bows into the seas, rolling easily on a changed course. Tembau lay on the edge of the Greyhound Strait. There was one anchorage, Ponga Jim Mayo was remembering.
    It was one he had never seen, but it had become almost a legend in the islands. Tukoh Bay wasn't a nice place, for it had become a resort for all the renegades in the islands. But if it was Tukoh Bay they wanted, to Tukoh Bay they would go.
    Tupa was in the crow's nest when the Semiramis slipped through the outlying reefs to Tembau. The island lifted itself high out of the water, and from the sea there was no evidence of the village at Tukoh Bay. Slug Brophy came up to the bridge. He had two guns strapped on. Gunner Millan was standing by on the poop deck with several of the crew.
    Slowly the old tramp wallowed into Tukoh Bay, and