Gargantua by K. Robert Andreassi Read Free Book Online Page A

cried.
    A fist of ice closed over Kulani’s heart as Dak finally did lose his balance and fell into the water.
    “Dak!”
    As he fell, his head hit one of the skis with a sickening thud.
    “Dak!”
    With that cry, Kulani lost her balance and fell into the water. She thrashed about for a minute before getting her bearings and breaking through to the surface. She swam over to one of Dak’s skis and found purchase on it.
    “Dak! Dak!”
    Then she saw the blood.
    “Nooooooo!”
    More blood, so much that the water turned the color of red wine. So much that Kulani thought she’d drown in it.
    She screamed.
    She screamed until her throat went raw.
    Finally, she stopped screaming and started to cry.
    Then Dak’s body floated up to the surface, and the screaming started again.

THREE
    U ntil arriving on Malau, Jack Ellway had never met a head of state. Since arriving, he’d not only met one, but eaten at his restaurant, and now was having dinner with him. He found he was rather enjoying the experience. The fact that said head of state had asked to join him, his son, and Ralph Hale in a humble manner uncharacteristic of most politicians helped, as did the fact that the president’s chosen topic of conversation was Jack’s work.
    Toward the end of the meal, Manny said, “Fascinating. If it is not too impertinent, who is paying for all of this?”
    Jack swallowed a bite of his delicious boiled mud crab before answering. “Well, I’m working on a partial grant from UCSD. Sorry, that’s the University of—”
    “California at San Diego, yes, I know. I received a Master’s in English Literature from their Revelle College,” Manny said.
    “Uh, right.” That, like so many things about the Malauan president, surprised Jack. The image he had formed of Manny Moki kept being thrown for a loop with each new revelation.
    “So you live in La Jolla?” Manny asked, referring to the San Diego suburb where UCSD’s campus was located.
    “No, we’re in San Diego proper, though we haven’t gotten back there much the last few months.”
    “Interesting. I must thank you, Mr. Ellway, for indulging an old man’s tedious questions.”
    “Oh, not at all,” Jack said, taking a final bite of his mud crab.
    “Dad loves talking about work,” Brandon said with a roll of his eyes.
    Hale laughed. “Occupational hazard, I’m afraid.”
    Manny looked down at Jack’s now-empty plate. “I see you enjoyed the mud crabs.”
    “Enjoyed is too mild a word. I’ve never had anything like this. They’re delicious.”
    Brandon asked, “Did Derek catch these, too?”
    Manny smiled politely. “It isn’t necessary to send out large fishing boats to catch mud crabs—you may grab them freely from the surf. In fact—”
    The president cut himself off at the sound of sirens.
    At first, Jack thought very little of the noise. Born in New York City and raised there and in Chicago before settling in San Diego after college, sirens had always been part of the background noise for him growing up, so he barely registered their presence anymore.
    Manny, however, seemed to think it was a big deal, as did Hale, who put down his fried tuna and stood up.
    A couple of people went outside, then someone ran back in and said breathlessly, “It’s Kulani with the chief—and there’s a body in the back—I think it’s Dak!”
    That started a commotion.
    “What?”
    “It can’t be!”
    “I just saw Dak at practice.”
    “Did she kill him?”
    “Oh, my God.”
    A tide of humanity swept toward the door, and Jack, Brandon, Hale, and Manny went with it.
    The siren belonged to a jeep, of all things, with the word POLICE stencilled on the side. Given how little of this island is paved, that’s probably the most practical vehicle to use for emergencies, Jack mused. A man in his thirties drove the jeep—presumably Police Chief Joe Movita—and a woman sat on the passenger side, wrapped in a blanket. They came to a halt in front of the clinic.
    “Dak and