If only I could scream!

WPIX-TV

dead air

MAUI

Night was falling.

Jack stood in the great room and stared again at Moki's giant sculpture. The closer darkness came, the more repellent he found the piece. The stench of rotting fish from outside only made it worse. Its foulness urged him to smash it back into its component fragments.

He turned at a sound behind him and saw Kolabati emerging from the bedroom. Alone. Finally. Her dark eyes flashed with excitement as she strolled toward Jack. And as she passed she pressed something into his hand—warm, heavy, metal. He glanced down.

The necklace.

"Moki?" he said.

She motioned him to follow her to the lanai.

"He's wearing your fake," she whispered when they'd stopped at the railing.

"And he's still…?"

Bitter anguish dulled the animation in her eyes as she nodded. "Still the same."

"I'm sorry."

"Put it on," she whispered, touching the hand that held the necklace.

Jack thrust it into his pocket. "Better not. He'll notice."

"Put it on. You'll need it. Trust me."

Jack shook his head. "I'll be okay."

He looked out over the darkening valley. In the ocean beyond it he saw the white water of the whirlpool fading to gray. The maelstrom was slowing. Soon the geyser would begin and the air once again would be full of dying fish and hungry bugs.

But there was still time to make it to Kahului and take to the air.

He turned back to Kolabati. "What about the rest of it? What about you? Are you coming back to New York with me?"

"Do you trust me, Jack?" she said. Her gaze drilled into him. The answer seemed very important to her.

"Yes," he said, not completely sure of the truth here, but saying it anyway.

He sensed the new, improved Kolabati could be trusted further than the old, but how much further he couldn't say. He wasn't quite ready to stake his life on it yet.

"Good. Then I'll return to New York."

Jack couldn't resist wrapping his arms around Kolabati and hugging her. She truly had changed.

"Thank you, Bati. You don't know what this means to me, to everyone."

"Don't get the wrong idea, Jack," she said levelly. "It's good to have your arms around me again, but I'm not giving up my necklace. I have no intention of doing that. I'm going back to New York just to talk to this ancient man you've told me about. That and nothing more."

"That's fine. That's all I ask. I'll leave the rest up to Glaeken. I know he can work something out with you. But let's get moving. We haven't got much time."

"Not so fast. There's still tonight's ceremony."

Jack pushed her to arm's length but Kolabati clutched his forearms, refusing to let him go.

"Ceremony? You're going to let him kill another—?"

And then Jack remembered how last night Moki had let the Niihauan stab him first. Was that what she wanted? To see Moki die? Did she hate him that much for going crazy on her? He looked into her eyes and couldn't read them.

He would never understand this woman. Fine. But could he trust her? Her allegiances seemed as mercurial as her moods.

"That's my condition. After the ceremony, I'll return to New York. You have my word.

"Bati?" a voice called from inside.

And then Moki stepped out onto the lanai. His eyes flared when he saw the two of them touching. He took Kolabati by the arm and pulled her away.

"Come. We'll start the ceremony early tonight." He glared at Jack. "I'm especially looking forward to this one."

As Kolabati followed him into the house, she looked back at Jack and mouthed three words: Wear…the…necklace.

When they debarked from the Isuzu, Moki turned to Jack and jabbed his index finger at his chest.

"We came early because it will be you who faces Maui tonight."

Jack smiled. "I don't think so."

"If you can defeat me in the ceremony, you may have her. Otherwise she stays with me and you return to America."

Jack noticed how Moki had said "America" instead of "the mainland." Apparently Maui had seceded from the union, at least in Moki's mind.

Jack looked at Kolabati. She returned his stare coolly.

"So…this is what you meant by 'after the ceremony.' Swell."

She nodded. That was all.

"Come," Moki said, gesturing to the crater's edge. "It's time."

Jack hesitated. This was happening too fast. None of it was in his plan. He didn't like surprises, and this was a particularly ugly one. Kolabati had known about it before when they were whispering on the lanai. Had she cooked it up with Moki, or was this all his idea?

At least Jack had one of the necklaces…

Or did he?

What was that around Moki's neck? Jack's fake, or the real thing? He cursed himself for not checking the one Kolabati had given him more closely. It didn't feel any different, and if he remembered correctly from years ago, the necklace had caused an unpleasant tingle the first time he'd touched it. But that sensation had dissipated after he'd worn it for a while. Was that why he felt nothing when he touched it now? Or was there nothing to feel because it was the fake?

"What's the matter?" Moki said, his grin broadening. "Afraid?"

"I will go," Ba said, stepping forward.

Jack held up a hand. He couldn't allow that. After all, he'd promised Sylvia Nash he'd get Ba back safely.

"It's okay, Ba. I'm going. But thanks for offering."

"Remove your shirt and follow me," Moki said, then turned and started up to the crater's edge.

Jack followed, removing his shirt as he went. The cold air raised and then flattened gooseflesh on his skin. He tossed his shirt to Kolabati as he passed. Her dark, almond eyes widened when she saw no necklace around his neck.

What had she wanted to do? Rattle Moki by letting him see that Jack wore a necklace exactly like his? Uh-uh. Jack wasn't playing her games.

Jack welcomed the heat from Haleakala's fires when they reached the ridge. Moki stopped and faced him. He looked like a grinning demon in the orange light as he produced two knives with slim, six-inch blades. The flames from below glinted off their polished surfaces. He handed one to Jack, wooden handle first. As Jack gripped it, a chorus of shouting erupted from below. He turned and saw the Niihauans approaching, angrily waving their arms.

"I was afraid of this," Moki said, sighing like an indulgent father watching his unruly children. "That's why I brought you up here early tonight. They want one of their own to defeat me, not some malihini. I'll have to tell them not to worry. They'll get their turn."

But he didn't have to. Ba had stepped between the Niihauans and the crater rim. He spread his arms wide and spoke to them. Jack couldn't hear what he said over the roar of the inferno below, but they were looking up at him in awe. Finally they stepped back and waited.

"Good!" Moki said. "Your friend has bought us some time. Let's get on with it." He put his hands on his hips and puffed up his chest. "You strike first."

"Take the necklace off first," Jack said.

"Stop stalling," Moki said. "Is this the brave Repairman Jack Bati told me about? I think you're a coward."

"You won't take it off?"

"My necklace is not a subject for discussion. It is part of me. It will remain with me until I die. Which shall be never."

"Okay," Jack said slowly, "since we're on the subject of courage, let's give ourselves a real test: Each of us will pierce his own heart."

Moki stared at him with wide eyes. "You mean…I will plunge my knife into my chest and you will do the same into yours?"

"You got it. Simultaneously. It's one thing to stab somebody else, but it takes a god to stab himself."