The Golden Skull: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story Page 3

  CHAPTER III

  The Gods of Banaue

  Scotty reached out for the Hindu boy, but Chahda stepped nimbly aside."Not time for horseplay now," he said. "Or talk either. Houseboy willhear. It important I stay under cover. You go up and eat. Later, if Ican, I will come to Manila Hotel. If I cannot, I will meet you inBaguio."

  The boys knew better than to argue. They each punched Chahdaaffectionately as they passed him, then Rick knocked on the door, whichwas instantly opened by a Filipino houseboy.

  The houseboy led them up a steep flight of stairs into a huge livingroom, sparsely furnished after the tropical fashion, but with exquisiteand expensive Chinese furniture of rosewood and teak. Tony Briotti cameto meet them, then introduced them to Dr. Remedios Okola and theHonorable Irineo Lazada.

  Dr. Okola, obviously, had a great deal of Spanish blood in his ancestry.He was tall and lean, with a deeply lined face and a magnificenthawklike nose. His hair was iron gray. He wore black dress trousers andan open-neck slipover shirt of a very fine, almost transparent, fabricheavily embroidered down the front. The shirt hung outside his trousersin traditional style. This was the _barong_ Tagalog, the native Filipinocostume.

  Where the Filipino archaeologist showed his Spanish blood, the HonorableIrineo Lazada's face betrayed his Chinese ancestry. He was round offace, and his eyes had the typical Mongoloid fold. He was dressed in anexpensive white sharkskin suit with a white American-style shirt and ablack tie. The tie was held in place by the biggest diamond Rick hadever seen. He assumed it was real; no one would wear a phony one thatbig.

  Lazada had a huge Manila cigar in one hand and a fan in the other. Bysome feat of legerdemain he managed to shake hands with the boys withoutletting go of either.

  "Come in, come in," he said genially. "Welcome to the Philippines. Youwill have some refreshment? How about a coke?"

  That suited the boys fine. Lazada waved a pudgy hand and a slipperedhouseboy appeared like a genie, carrying two iced glasses of coke. Rickwas not in the least surprised. He had had his favorite Americanbeverage in more unexpected places than this.

  Tony Briotti explained, "Dr. Okola and I just got here. We had a mostinteresting day at the university. I was beginning to go into thedetails of our expedition with Mr. Lazada."

  "Please continue," Lazada said expansively.

  Rick, who was sensitive to voices, had the impression that Mr. Lazada'svoice passed through a bath of highly refined oil before it emerged fromhis thick lips. It wasn't exactly oily--just sort of overlubricated.

  Lazada alternately smoked and fanned. "You were telling me of SpindriftIsland. Am I to gather that you are the only Spindrift scientist on thisexpedition? And that these young men just came for the voyage?"

  "By no means." Tony set Lazada straight. "Rick is our pilot andelectronics technician. Scotty is mechanic and camp manager."

  "Pilot?" Lazada looked surprise.

  Dr. Okola hastened to explain. "I neglected to tell Mr. Lazada that youare bringing your own plane. Of course, sir, permission was obtained inadvance from the Philippine Aeronautics Authority."

  "A helicopter, of course," Lazada said. "Nothing else would be of valuein Mountain Province. The only air-field is at Baguio."

  "It's a four-place Sky Wagon," Rick said. "We hoped there might be somesuitable landing places."

  Lazada shrugged. "Perhaps there are, but they are not regular airports.Planes do not fly in that country. Both the mountains and the weatherare dangerous."

  "Might it not be possible for them to land on the roadway at Bontoc andthen go over the mountains to Banaue by truck?" Dr. Okola asked.

  "Perhaps." Lazada didn't seem too optimistic. "Exactly where do youexpect to find this golden skull?" He added, "I can tell you more aboutthe transportation you will need when I know that."

  "We only know that it should be somewhere among the rice terraces," TonyBriotti said. "I realize that they cover entire mountainsides. That iswhy we came prepared to stay for some time if need be. There is so muchterritory to cover with our equipment!"

  "Many square miles," Lazada agreed. "What is the expression? A needle ina haystack? Surely you must have some kind of clue."

  "Just one," Dr. Okola said. "A dragon. Isn't that so, Dr. Briotti?"

  Tony nodded. "That's what the translation of the Kwangara Islandartifacts said. The dragon is supposed to be guarding a cache ofreligious objects, including the golden skull and other gold objects."

  "You mean a gilt skull, of course," Lazada said.

  "No, the description was quite clear. A skull of metallic gold."

  "A miniature, probably."

  "No, sir. The skull is actually larger than life size."

  Lazada stopped slouching in his chair. "Incredible!"

  Dr. Okola spoke up. "After all, Mr. Secretary, gold is mined right herein the Philippines. In Mountain Province, in fact. And it is found inmany other parts of Asia."

  Rick had a strange feeling as he watched Lazada's face. The AssistantSecretary seemed to be licking his lips, although he wasn't actuallydoing so. It was almost as though Lazada was doing sums in his head....Gold is heavy.... It would take a lot of gold to make a life-size skull,even a hollow one.... Gold is worth thirty-five dollars an ounce,legally. If smuggled into China, it would bring twice that....

  "Tell me more of this dragon," Lazada invited.

  Tony was glad to oblige. Next to actually working at his profession heenjoyed talking about it. "The dragon is of the greatest importancethroughout the culture of the East. We followed its trail from the greattemple of Ankor Vat in Cambodia all the way to the sunken temple of AltaYuan."

  Rick remembered vividly. He had been at the controls of the Submobile, ahundred fathoms under the waters of the Pacific, when the first AltaYuan dragon came to light.

  "The dragon was the incarnation of the chief god of the Alta Yuanpeople. When an earthquake sank the temple, the people of the islandlost their gods. When we hauled the dragon back up and gave it to them,nothing was too good for us." He paused. "By 'we' I mean the Spindriftscientists. I was not among the lucky ones, since I had not yet joinedthe Spindrift group."

  Okola shared Tony's excitement over the Alta Yuan find. "I, too, wasvery much interested in that expedition. And when I heard that theartifacts brought from the bottom of the sea provided a possibleconnection between the Philippines and that ancient culture, you canimagine my excitement."

  Rick could see that Lazada could not possibly imagine so much excitementover an archaeological find, but was too courteous to say so.

  "Then finding a similar dragon among the rice terraces would show a linkbetween our country and the ruins of Ankor Vat?" Lazada asked.

  "Exactly," Tony replied.

  Lazada rose. "Dinner is ready. Let us continue our discussion at thetable."

  They went out to a balcony which overlooked a garden at the rear of thehouse. A table set with the finest Chinese linen and delicate Siamesesilverware was waiting for them. Houseboys waited to serve them. Over adinner of broiled giant prawns, meat-stuffed rolls called _lumpia_, andwhole barbecued suckling pig called _lechon_, they continued their talkof the expedition.

  "What is the significance of the golden skull?" Lazada asked.

  "I did not know until today," Tony answered. "I found out from myesteemed colleague here. He has been doing some very hard work on it.Will you answer, Dr. Okola?"

  The Filipino archaeologist looked pleased, but he hastened to say, "Thecredit is not mine alone. I had the invaluable assistance of one of mygraduate students, who is himself an Ifugao. A brilliant young man. Nextweek I am attending a celebration at his home, in honor of his becomingan assistant professor at the university."

  "I'm sorry I didn't meet him," Tony Briotti said. "Did you mention hisname?"

  "Nangolat. However, Mr. Lazada asked about the significance of thegolden skull. We were able to uncover a story about it among the manyIfugao myths, a story of which I had not been aware until Dr. Briotti'sletters put me on
the track. You realize that the Ifugao religion isrich in myths. It is a very complicated religion with over a thousandgods."

  Scotty whistled. "They must have a god for nearly everything they say ordo."

  "Just about," Dr. Okola agreed. "Even their universe is divided intofive regions. There is the known earth, _pugao_; the sky world,_kabunian_; the region downriver, _lagod_; the region upriver, _daiya_;and the underworld, _dalun_."

  "What river?" Rick asked.

  "Any river on which they happen to live," Okola answered. "No one knowsexactly what the original river of the Ifugaos might have been. You see,they are immigrants. They came from the Chinese mainland, but we don'tknow exactly when, or whether their original home was China. Perhaps wewill find out that it was Cambodia. We do know that their miraculousrice terraces were started at least two thousand years ago."

  "That makes them almost as old as the pyramids!" Scotty exclaimed.

  "Quite right. The whole culture is quite astonishing. We think of themas primitive people, but their history is more complex than our own.However, we are speaking of heads. Heads have always been of thegreatest religious importance to the Ifugaos. They have beenhead-hunters for religious and economic reasons for centuries. FirstAmerica, and then the Republic of the Philippines tried to stamp out thecustom. In general, we have succeeded. There is little or nohead-hunting now--so far as we know."

  Lazada grunted. "The mountains are difficult to police. I doubt that weknow all that goes on. I wouldn't be surprised if a head wasn't takennow and then. After all, the Ifugaos got the heads of two Americanprofessors only a few years ago."

  "The murders were for religious reasons," Okola explained. "Sacrificeswere needed for the rice crop. The unfortunate professors were on ahiking trip, and they happened along at just the wrong moment."

  Rick remembered newspaper reports of the incident. It had attractedworld-wide attention. The Ifugao natives responsible had been capturedby the Philippine constabulary, tried, and punished.

  Okola continued, "We have traced back a thread through the complicatedmaze of Ifugao myths. The thread leads to a legendary hero--theleader-god who led the Ifugaos to the Philippines. The golden skull wasoriginally his own, turned to gold by the very power of the hero'smagic. After his death, of course. At first it was an ordinary skull,then it turned to gold."

  "Then the skull has something to do with head-hunting?" Rick asked.

  "Indeed it does. It is apparently the chief object to which heads aresacrificed--or was, before it was lost. The golden skull is _almaduan_,the very soul stuff of the Ifugaos."

  "How was it lost?" Scotty inquired.

  "In a war," Okola said, quite seriously, "between the _kabunian_, thegods of the sky world, and the _dalun_, the gods of the underworld. The_dalun_ won. They took the head and disappeared into the groundsomewhere in Banaue. Behind them, they left a great taboo. If an Ifugaotries to follow them into the underworld to reclaim the skull, greatmisfortune will come. An earthquake will destroy the terraces. Thepeople will starve. They will be haunted by the _dodingerot_--ghouls whodwell in tombs and bite the faces of intruders."

  "Then the Ifugaos will take a dim view of our hunting their goldenskull," Rick guessed.

  "They might if they knew about it," Dr. Okola said. "Actually, what Ihave just told you is almost forgotten lore. I doubt that the Ifugao manin the street--or, properly, man in the rice terraces--has ever heard ofit. A few old priests may remember."

  Irineo Lazada clapped his hands and rose. "Coffee in the living room,gentlemen. You know, I begin to have some hope for this golden skull. Ihad not really taken your expedition seriously until Dr. Okola'srecital."

  Tony Briotti picked him up quickly. "Then that is why you have failed toissue our permit?"

  Rick stopped in his tracks. Was there trouble about their permit? He hadwondered about the reason for this dinner with the Assistant Secretaryof the Interior. Perhaps it was to persuade him.

  Lazada smiled. "The government doesn't want to stir up trouble among themountain tribes. We do not have enough constabulary for police duty inthe mountains. A small detachment at Baguio is the best we can do."

  "I assure you that we will not stir up trouble," Tony Briotti said.

  "Of course not. And so I will issue your permit."

  "Thank you, Mr. Secretary," Dr. Okola said. "This will mean a great dealto the Philippines. Dr. Briotti assures me that Spindrift will not askfor anything to be removed from the islands. The golden skull, if it isfound, will remain right here, perhaps at the university's museum."

  "Such a treasure would need to be well guarded," Lazada chuckled. "We dohave thieves in the Philippines, as does every other country." Again heseemed to be licking his lips without actually doing so.

  Over a second cup of coffee they laid their plans. Lazada would instructthe district road commissioner at Bontoc to co-operate with them inevery way, since that official came under his jurisdiction. Through thedistrict commissioner they could hire any laborers they might need. Thecommissioner also would arrange for Rick's plane to land on the highwayat Bontoc when necessary. Since there was little traffic, landing wouldpresent no real problems. They could use the district office at Bontoc,and make it their headquarters.

  Dr. Okola sighed, "I can't tell you how sorry I am that you come in themidst of a school seminar. If you are still searching at the end of nextweek, I will join you. But until then, it will be impossible."

  "But you will send us a good guide who knows the area," Tony remindedhim.

  "Yes. He will be at your hotel in the morning. His name is AngelManotok, and you can trust him with no hesitation. He speaks Igorot andIfugao, as well as the Filipino dialects of this region. He can drive atruck, and he can cook reasonably well." Okola pronounced the man's namein the Spanish way, "Ahng-hel."

  "Sounds like a handy guy to have around," Scotty remarked.

  "Yes," Rick agreed. "Besides, it's nice to have an angel in the party."

  The hour was late. The boys and Tony Briotti bade good night to Lazadaand Okola, refused the offer of another coke but accepted a ride back tothe hotel in Lazada's car. As they left the house the boys looked forChahda. There was a Sikh at the gate, but he was a big man. Chahda wasnot in sight.

  Lazada's car turned out to be a brand-new Cadillac with a special maroonpaint job and a monogram about four inches square on every door.Evidently the Assistant Secretary believed in personal advertising.

  They were tired. The ride back to the Manila Hotel was made in silence,except for a brief report to Tony that all was in readiness for the tripto Baguio on the first leg of their journey.

  At the hotel desk they picked up their room keys. The boys had one room,Tony another. The rooms were on the second floor, so they walkedupstairs instead of bothering with the slow elevators.

  "Good night, boys," Tony said wearily. He inserted his key and swung thedoor open, then stiffened as a crash sounded in the room. Rick andScotty snapped out of their weary haziness and leaped into the roombehind Tony in time to see a figure dive headlong from the window.

  Rick yelled in horror. They rushed to the window, expecting to see theman dead on the ground below. Instead, they saw him swing lightly fromthe branch of a flame tree and drop to the ground. He ran across DeweyBoulevard and was lost in the darkness under the walls of Intramuros.