Early the following morning Stu’s phone alarm woke him up. He got out of bed and looked at his watch; 07:30 ‘blimey’ he thought ‘I never get up this early on holiday’, and then he remembered. ‘Fishing’.
He went to shower and shave and looked in the mirror.
‘Where did that come from?’ he said aloud as he saw bruise around his eye and marks on his neck. There then came a thump on the door.
“You awake matey? Don’t forget we’re fishing this morning, have you got the gear in your room?” said Spock through the door
Stu shouted back, “Hang on,” and went to the door to let Spock in.
He opened the door and a smiling Spock looked at Stu’s shiner.
“Blimey” exclaimed Spock “who gave you that?”
“No idea” replied Stu “I woke up with it.”
“It must have been that bloody happy herb Pizza, we must have got into a fight, although I don’t remember anything except for coming back here and deciding to go fishing” stated Stu.
“ I remember speaking to Strat and both of us coming back in a tuk-tuk, but nothing else, so it must have been that bloody pizza, I felt sure that I put the fishing gear in my room, but it’s not there now, and neither is my hat” said a puzzled Spock.
Both confused, they decided to go ask the reception if they could shed some light on this quandary.
They went to the reception. Pon, already there, had a few red marks around his cheek and appeared just as confused as Stu and Spock. Pon told them he was about to go off earlier, but the security guard stopped him and gave him a package and his bag. Pon reached into his bag and produced an open bubble wrap envelope .and took he out the contents, which he showed to Spock and Stu.
“Where did that bloody thing come from?” asked a bemused Spock, now staring at the holy box
“I don’t know,” said Pon “or why he had my bag or your car keys” and he gave Spock the keys to Lees range rover.
The three looked bewildered, and then Stu spoke.
“It couldn’t have been the Pizza, Pon never ate any.”
To add to the confusion the manager of the hotel came to speak to them and informed them their friend Nick had returned yesterday afternoon, picked up his valuables and had gone to Sihanoukville.
“What? We only got here last night and we saw him” said a still confused Stu.
The manager replied,
“You’ve been here two nights, sir”
They decided that it was becoming too baffling for them to think about any longer and, since somebody had obviously stolen their fishing gear, and Spock’s hat and, as they now had the relic, they decided to return to Thailand via Sihanoukville and Koh Kong.
Pon confirmed that the relic was genuine and the guard from the night shift could describe the individual who had brought the items, just a Cambodian man of average build, who he didn’t leave a name.
Pon telephoned Lee and told him he had the relic and asked whether he had heard anything. The phone went silent and the lads eavesdropped as Pon, who looking even more confused, said to Lee “I have never been to Tighe’s house; I intended to go there this morning.”
Pon finished his conversation and turned to the lads and said,
“We have a problem. They know I am here, we have to meet Brigadier Lee in Phnom Penh this evening, and he will give us further instructions” and continued
“But what really has me confused is that Lee told me that he had already informed me of this yesterday, while I was at Tighe house. . . . But I haven’t been to his house”
Spock, Stu and Pon, now back in his wig, left the hotel mumbling about how confused they were, and about the hotel charging them for two nights. Pon returned his rented motorcycle and the lads got into the Range Rover .and drove out of Siem Reap and onto the highway to Phnom Penh.
****
The citadel had been in disarray and mourning since the previous evening. There was a lot to plan and even more to do. They had search parties out from first light but no sign of the replicant. The search was called off at 10am, because the temple ruins opened to the public and tourists would be arriving. They held a meeting in the pastures. Norman, Boran along with Norman Junior and Tu and other leading members of the community had spent long hours the previous night discussing their situation and the decision they had to make.
They witnessed the three intruders leave as planned and, while searching for the replicant they came across Lees Range rover and keys. One technician had followed the three back to their hotel and called another resident to bring the car, holy relic and Pons bag, back to the hotel in the early hours of the morning,
Now all the inhabitants of Let-cum-baan gathered on the pasture. Rumble discussed his idea and they all agreed to Norman’s plan, which would be carried out within the next 24 hours. The meeting finished and Norm Junior spoke to his father
“Do you think our formula worked on those three?”
The old man replied,
“I hope so son, but that’s why we have to take any future action now, just in case it didn’t, and they tell the world about us. This way, by the time anyone investigates, we will no longer exist.”
The builders and engineers commenced with the first phase later that day after the tourists had departed.
Another attempt was made to find the replicant, who now everyone thought had run deep into the jungle, and they all prayed for his safety and well being.
They filled underneath the temple elevator with concrete, removed all cameras and machinery and filled any spaces with rock and cement.
That route in now sealed meant that nobody could ever gain entry or exit from that route again.
Explosive charges were then set in the main cave with enough semtex C4 to collapse the cave roof and walls.
The following day some people silently exited the cave, went into the ravine and climbed up the rope ladder into the jungle clearing to a fleet of four wheel drive vehicles that waited at the designated area. Several members of the citadels community stood on the ridge of the jungle precipice and stared in tears down at their old homes main entrance. Norman Junior stood with a remote control in hand and, with tears streaming down his face, pressed the button and detonated the explosives. The ground rumbled and a loud thunderous explosion echoed as rocks tumbled down and completely blocked the caves entrance. They stood and watched as the dust settled and realised that it signalled the end of their lives in Let-cum-baan and would be a new beginning for them, but an eternity of perpetual seclusion for the twenty-two people who had remained inside.
Norman, Boran and Roth stood in the pasture along with the other 19 people who decided to stay, which consisted of a few older technicians and their families.
They heard a thunderous explosion and saw clouds of dust billow out from the cave opening and into their new world.
“Have we made the right decision old friend?” Norm asked Boran.
“We have made the only decision we could have” reassured Boran.
They patted old Jake the cow on his head and returned to their living domes to reflect on their past and plan their future.