Long, tiring minutes passed. There was no violence for the moment, but the quiet didn't help at all. It only made them feel more paranoiac, more besieged.
Down in the loading docks, groups of rebels clustered around their walkie-talkies. The radios were mass-produced kid's toys, Third World export, costing a few cents. Who the hell needed walkie-talkies when you could carry a telephone on your wrist? But the A-L.P. didn't think like that... .
"I don't think the cops can handle this," Laura said.
"They'll have to call in the Army."
Mr. Suvendra and Bima returned at last, with wadded bed sheets and a few packs of junk food overlooked by the looters. The rebels hadn't bothered them; they had scarcely, seemed to notice.
The crew spread a sheet out on the roof. Kneeling, Suvendra broke open a fibertip pen and smeared a thick black SOS
across the fabric. They tore up another sheet for a white flag and white armbands.
"Crude, but efficient," Suvendra said, rising.
"Now we flag up chopper, la...."
The kid monitoring the television yelled. "The Army is in
Johore!"
They dropped everything and rushed to the TV.
The, Johore announcers were stunned. Singapore's Army had blitzkrieged across the causeway into Johore Bahru. An armored column was racing through the city, meeting no resistance-not that Maphilindonesia could put up much, at the moment. Singapore described it as a "police action."
"Oh, God," Laura said, "how could they be so fucking stupid?"
"They are seizing the reservoirs," said Mr. Suvendra.
"What?"
"Main Singapore water supply on the mainland. Can't defending Singapore with no water."
"They did it before once, during Konfrontation," said
Mrs. Suvendra. "Malaysia government very angered at
Singapore try to shut off their water supply."'
"What happened then?" Laura said.
"They storm through Johore and head for Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysia capital... . Malaysia army runs away, stupid
Malaysia government falls ... next thing we know, is new
Maphilindonesia Federation. New federal government was very nice to Singapore, till they agree to go back in their borders,
"They learn not to bite the `Poisonous Shrimp,' " said Mr.
Suvendra. "Very hard-working Army in Singapore."
"Singapore Chinese work too hard," said Derveet. "Causing all these troubles, la."
"Now we are enemy aliens, too," said Bima unhappily.
"What to do."
They waited for a police chopper. Finding one wasn't difficult. By now a dozen lurked over the waterfront, silent, swaying, dodging the columns of smoke.
The Rizome crew waved their white flag enthusiastically as one cruised nearby, with insolent ease.
The chopper hovered above them, its invisible blades hiss- ing. A cop stuck his helmeted head from the bay, flipping up his face plate.
Confused yelling followed. "Not to worry, Rizome!" shouted the cop at last. "We rescue you, no problem!"
"How many of us?" Suvendra yelled, clamping her sun hat to the top of her head.
"Everyone! Whole thing!"
"In one chopper?" Suvendra shouted, confused. The little police craft might have held three passengers at most.
The chopper made no attempt to land. In a few seconds it rose again, heading north in a smooth, determined arc.
"They could hurry," said Suvendra, glancing at the mon- soon front. "Weather turning nasty soon, definitely!"
They wadded up their SOS. bed sheet, in case the rebels decided to come up and check on them. Negotiating with the
A-L.P. was a possibility, but in council session Rizome had decided not to press them. The rebels had already seized the
Rizome godown; they might just as easily seize the Rizome personnel. They'd already kidnapped two cops and a Member of Parliament.-The situation's hostage potential was obvious.
Another boring and horrible twenty minutes passed, a tense and morbid silence that fooled nobody. The sun topped the monsoon front, and tropical midmorning blazed over the silent city. So eerie, Laura thought-a blackout of people ...
Another chopper, larger this time and twin-rotored, buzzed the waterfront. It spun on its axis and hovered momentarily over a comer of the godown. Three black-clad men leapt from the bay doors onto the rooftop. The chopper rose again immediately.
The three men paused a moment, patting gear, then stalked toward them. They wore black fatigues, black combat boots, black webbing belts hung with brass-snapped holsters and utility pouches and ammo kits. They carried short-muzzled, arcane-looking submachine guns.
"Good morning, all!" said their leader cheerfully. He was a big, ruddy-faced Englishman with close-cropped white hair, a veiny nose, and a permanent tropical sunburn. He looked about sixty, but ominously well preserved, for his age. Blood fractionation? Laura thought.
"Morning..." someone said dazedly.
"Hotchkiss is the name. Colonel Hotchkiss, Special Weap- ons and Tactics. This is Officer Lu and Officer Aw. We're here for your safety, ladies and gentlemen. So not to worry, okay?" Hotchkiss showed them a rack of white teeth.
Hotchkiss was huge. Six and a half feet tall, well over two hundred pounds. Arms like tree trunks. She'd almost forgot- ten how big Caucasians could be. With his thick black boots and heavy, elaborate gear, he was like something from an- other planet. Hotchkiss nodded at Laura, surprised. "I've seen you on telly, dear."
"The hearings?"
"Yeah. I've---
There was a sudden bang as the sheet-metal door to the rooftop burst open. A shouting. gang of rebels scrambled forward, clutching bamboo clubs.
Hotchkiss spun from the hip and opened up on the doorway with his submachine gun. There was a nerve-shattering racket.
Two rebels sprawled, punched backward by impact. The others fled screaming, and suddenly everyone was down, gripping the pebbled surface of the roof in terror.
Lu and Aw kicked the door shut and fired a tangle-round against the jamb, sealing it. They pulled thin loops of plastic from their belts and handcuffed the two fallen, gasping rebels.
They sat them up.
"Okay, okay," Hotchkiss told the rest of them, waving his beefy hand. "Only jelly-rounds. See? No problem, la."
The Rizome group rose slowly. As the truth dawned on them, there were nervous, embarrassed titters. The two reb- els, teenagers, had been strafed across their chests, tearing gaping holes in their paper shirts. Beneath it, their skins showed fist-sized blotches of indelible purple dye.
Hotchkiss chivalrously helped Laura to her feet. "Jelly bullets don't kill," he announced. "Still pack plenty of sting, however. "
"You shot us with a machine gun!" said one of the rebels sullenly.
"Shut up, son," Hotchkiss offered kindly. "Lu, Aw, these two are too small. Throw 'em back, eh?"
"Door is secured, sir," Lu pointed out.
"Use your head, Lu. You have your ropes."
"Yes, sir," Lu said, grinning. He and Officer Aw frog- marched the two boys toward the front of the roof. They began snapping their first captive into a set of chromed rappelling gear. From the loading docks three stories below, furious, bloodthirsty yells rose from the roused A-L.P.
"Well," Hotchkiss said casually. "Seems the rioters have made an operations nexus out of your HQ." Lu kicked one captive over the edge of the roof and paid out rappelling line as the boy hissed helplessly downward.
"But not to worry," Hotchkiss said. "We can break them wherever they stand."Suvendra winced. "We saw them demolition your squad car....
"Sending that car in was the politicals' idea," Hotchkiss sniffed. "But now it's our business."
Laura noticed the SWAT leader's complex military watch- phone. "What can you tell us, Colonel? We're starved for news up here. Is the Army really in Johore?"