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Chapter 10 His Arrival in Manila
Eight hours wearily drifted by. Soon JC would see land. Then the announcement, for which he had dreaded, came about unexpectedly from the P.A. system. There was a crackle and the pilot’s voice rose above the din. “May I have your attention, please?.. I'm sorry to announce that we are behind schedule. Unexpectedly the tower told us to hold on . . . and that we will be landing soon. This is due to some unavoidable circumstance . . . The temperature outside is 32º centigrade. Don't hesitate to ask the stewardesses for anything. Please make yourself comfortable. Thank you.”
No reason was announced by the pilot but the plane hovered above the vast sky interminably, waiting for approval from the tower to land. Everybody inside was beginning to be anxious, it seemed the passenger cabin became smaller as time dragged on and on. It reeked of anticipation and anxiety.
The cabin burst with relief when the plane finally got the go signal to lan
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BUNGLED Chapter 11 His report to New York
After her short conversation with JC, Kate passed the line to the boss's office. There was a click, and then Mr. McMillan came through. “Hello, John Carlos.” His voice was calm but had traces of the pressures of everyday work. He was already expecting his call."Good evening, sir. Do you already know?”“What is it that I should never know? News is you, John Carlos. If there´s something that comes out aside from us, then we are not the first. Haven´t I told you we should be the first? Tell me. That's why I sent you."“Well, I am just presuming some other newspapers got it first, sir. If there's no news, there's no news yet, wherever you are. I said that because Tommy, our man here said there's a news blackout over here.”“Okay. What happened?”“The worst of what we had expected came today, sir. The senator was assassinated.”“What?
BUNGLED Chapter 12 Who was responsible?
After breakfast, JC went to the bank and had his dollar changed. Tommy waited outside. After counting his money, he went to look for him. He was there alright sitting in his car.“I want to interview the head of that military operation, Tom. Will that be possible today?” he asked him.“I'll call Louisa to arrange that for us.”“Then we should go see members of the opposition.”“We can do that in the afternoon, JC"All over the land assumptions ran high. People not only speculate, but they were also suspicious of the government-created media and pointed an accusatory finger at a high-level conspiracy. Somebody was responsible up there. After years of authoritarian rule, people’s judgment was set on no one but the monsters. Putting aside due process they found them guilty by popular consensus. Public clamor for an explanation or a denial was broiling from north to south. It was expected to come out soon
BUNGLED Chapter 13 The Time´s Bureau office
The Time's bureau was situated in a recently constructed modern building in the heart of the city along Ayala Avenue. They took the elevator up to the third floor then strode along a narrow long hallway. JC counted three doors before they reached the office. Without knocking Tommy led the way. When they entered JC was relieved to see it was indeed spacious for a staff of five. He heard the humming of the air conditioner on the wall which was recently painted white and saw it was bare. He had the impression that the office was recently set up. All of them were busy with their reports for the day, some to be sent to the main office. There were five desks and one was newly installed for the newcomer. JC was pleased to see that there was enough legroom for a tall person like him if he was working in it for most of his time. Then Tommy introduced him to everybody. “Mr. Martin, this is Louisa and Carlo. She's my assistant and Carlo is our cameraman,” Tommy said, in
BUNGLED Chapter 14 At the wake
Her thoughts lingered with compassion. It was abruptly interrupted when she heard a familiar voice at the end of the line. She was sure she knew the voice. “Excuse me, is this the last on the line?” This was what she heard. “Yes, sir,” a woman with a little child answered politely. Tessa traced the voice to see no other than . . . “Tommy!” she called. She was delighted to see his cousin's familiar face. Tommy turned around in the direction of the voice. “I never thought I'd find you here,” he said in return. “Nobody can prevent me, but hush, be quiet,” she said in a low voice. “If somebody from work sees you here, you would be out in the streets in seconds,” Tommy whispered accusingly. “I don't mind anymore, Tom. With what's happening to the country, I don't give a damn about my work or about myself anymore.” “And you? Why are you here?” She asked. “The same reason as yours
BUNGLED Chapter 15 The girl with the tape
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BUNGLED Chapter 16 The evidence
The television was on but General Ver's mind was far away, divided between the news and the storm he was facing, with him at the center. He saw Guion Bluford who became the first African-American in space aboard Space Shuttle Challenger on the STS-8 mission. General Ver thought it was a waste of money to send people to space. It was drowned out by the news of the assassination, however, by the footage of the Japanese tape which was aired over and over. A burst of anger was contained in that little office, which was filled with smoke. The General was pacing to and fro, snorting heavily. He knocked the chair down and his anger rose to the roof. Why did it go wrong? He picked up a book and launched it sideways. It thumped on the wall and crashed on the floor. Why did it go wrong? General Ver's mind kept repeating the phrase. "Why did his plan go wrong? He faced his subordinates and launched his verbal attack, “What kind of an operation was that, you nit head?”
BUNGLED Chapter 17 The Revelation
The airport security office was small on the first floor of the main building. This was where images of lesser or greater import were seen first. More than twenty blinking close circuit screens, covering practically all corners of the airport was in front of three personnel in uniforms who were manning them. Smoke floated in the air. On their desk, the ashtrays were full of butts, for all of them were heavy smokers. Years of working, in the same way, made surveillance routinely ordinary, even important ones seemed insignificant. Colonel Follows and his men entered the building. They crossed the large area where passengers formed ten queues to the check-in counters. Ignoring the passengers, they took the escalator and landed on the first floor. He was a proud lot but today his pride had left him. Now, was his time to redeem what he had lost. He must erase all evidence that could be found at the airport. The storm was raging, his mind was in turmoil, and he was more concerned
BUNGLED Chapter 18 General Ver
General Ver was the right-hand man. He was the executioner, the one who follows every order to the letter. He also planned the bombings around the country, to make it sound that it was under rebellion and sedition. He made this chaos in order for the president to declare a state of emergency.After the fiasco at the airport, the General was holed up in his office thinking of ways to get away from the blame. His mind was traveling far away, although the television was on, divided between the news and the storm he was facing, with him at the center. He saw Guion Bluford who became the first African-American in space aboard Space Shuttle Challenger on the STS-8 mission. He thought it was a waste of money to send people to space. The space venture was drowned out by the news of the assassination. More particularly, by the footage of the Japanese tape which was aired over and over. The General had never been wrong. He rose up to that level becaus
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- BUNGLED EPILOGUE
- BUNGLED Chapter 59 His last visit to the Raj Guru
- BUNGLED Chapter 58 The wedding
- BUNGLED Chapter 57 Tessa´s visit to the States
- BUNGLED Chapter 56 Their next date
- BUNGLED Chapter 55 Celia and Jeanie
- BUNGLED Chapter 54 Tessa´s invitation
- BUNGLED Chapter 53 Love´s first enounter
- BUNGLED Chapter 52 JC´s return
