East and West -- Fiction; Giants -- Fiction; Science fiction
I awoke with a throbbing headache to find the steel room motionless, and
warm sunshine streaming into my face. Looking around, I saw that my
three companions were all up and apparently in good shape. Baker was the
first to notice that I was awake, and he came over immediately.
"Feel better?" he inquired cheerfully.
He helped me up and I staggered to the window. The room was perched, as
usual, on a hilltop, but the vegetation around was not tropical jungle.
I turned to the others, noting as I did that the room was cleaned up.
"Where--" I started, with a gesture outside. Baker stopped me and led me
to an improvised canvas hammock.
"You really got a nasty one," he said. "You've been out two days."
"Two days!" I tried to rise, but the effort so increased the headache
that I gave up and collapsed into the hammock.
"Just lie quiet and I'll bring you up to date." Baker drew up an empty
film box for a seat. "I was knocked about a bit myself, you know, and by
the time I came around, our friend had trotted the whole length of the
Malay Peninsula and was halfway across Burma."
"But the people at Singapore," I began, "Don't those fools know yet--"
"Things have changed," said Baker. "The biggest change has been in
Buddha's mind. He took our advice and almost got killed for his pains.
Now he's on his own."
I tried to look through the open door. Baker shook his head.
"He's not here. No--" this in answer to my startled look, "just off for
a stroll, towards China this time, I think. Yesterday he visited Lhasa.
Said it's quite a place. Talked to the Lamas in Tibetan, and they
understood him. He calls it playing Buddha."
Baker got up and searched among the maps, finally finding one of
southeast Asia. He spread it out before me, and placed a finger rather
vaguely on the great Yunnan Plateau between Burma and China.
"We're here, somewhere. Buddha doesn't know exactly, himself. He made it
to Lhasa by following the Himalayas, and watching for the Potala. I hope
he'll find his way back this time--be a bit awkward for us if he
doesn't."
He stepped outside and brought in some cold cooked rice and meat.
"Kazu brought us a handful of cows yesterday. They were practically
mashed into hamburger. I guess you'd call this pounded steak."
I ate some of the meat and settled back to rest again. Presently I dozed
off.
When I awakened it was dark and Kazu was back. Martin had started a big
campfire outside, evidently with Kazu's aid, for it was stoked with
several logs fully eight feet in diameter and was sending flames fifty
feet into the sky. Kazu himself was squatting directly over it, staring
down at us. When I came to the door, he spoke.
"Ah, little brother Bill. I am so sorry that you were hurt. I am afraid
I forgot to be gentle, and that is not forgiveable in Buddha."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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