John Frum The Reluctant Messiah

Special Delivery

Suddenly the portal behind the beast closed. It closed with such force that the shock wave knocked everyone down. Everyone except Goliath. John quickly got himself back up and continued his walk towards the giant.

"No new players!" John said in a soft, sing-songy way like he did as a ten-year-old stick ball player. "Ok...now we know how many are on the team. No substitutes. Time to play ball," he muttered.

 As he made his way forward, he reached out and from behind a large rock grabbed a lacrosse stick that was leaning against it. He had fashioned it weeks ago out of a tree limb during his first recuperative visit. In fact, he'd made it from the same limb that Sam had stripped its branches from and gave him his lesson in believing and how for him, Kava was unnecessary. John had taken up lacrosse in school and he was about to find out if he was still any good at it. It would be the goal shot of a lifetime and he would either be carried out on the shoulders of his victorious teammates or in a coffin on his way to his own funeral.

He reached into his satchel and pulled out a perfectly round piece of volcanic rock. It was about the size of a softball and unlike pumice, was very heavy. It was the dense solid rock formed when Mt. Yasur spewed its ancient molten metal directly into the sea causing it to bead up into perfectly round balls. He placed it into the vine netting noting how much heavier it was than the small, unripened coconut he had used to teach the villagers the game. The giant stood and watched him, mostly out of sheer curiosity. Why wasn't this puny human running away?

"Three-time Olympic gold medalist John Ferrum steps up for the shot... and the crowd goes wild!" he narrated to himself in his best announcer's voice.

He took a deep breath and exhaled as he spooled up the stick and its payload. Then with all his might, he released, sending the volcanic ball hurtling into the air. It was headed directly for the giant's forehead, a picture-perfect pass. Within seconds the projectile would lodge itself in his cranium, directly between his eyes, just above the bridge of his enormous nose and he would fall, dead before his gigantic body even hit the ground. 

That's the way it was supposed to be. It was the way John saw it unfold in his mind. Instead, the giant anticipated the trajectory and caught it a mere twelve inches from his face. He took the time to look at it and then, using both hands, he grimaced and popped it like a watermelon in a shop vice. It crumbled into pieces and they fell to the ground. A large portion of the fearless warriors turned and high-tailed it back to the safety of the forest's edge. But Professor Wharton, Em and now Kwanteef and his party had stayed. 

Surprisingly, Sam slowly turned, his perpetual smile gone and slowly made his way back towards the airfield. John couldn't be mad at him for leaving. He was old and frankly, would probably just be somebody they'd end up having to rescue had he decided to stay and fight. There were now only a little more than twenty out of the three hundred warriors left.

"OK," John said with a sigh, "Plan B."

"What's the set up? -Over." crackled the two-way. John pulled the radio from his belt, pressed the button, and responded, "Just like monkeys- perfect circle with King Kong dead center- over."

"ETA in 1 point 5- Over."

"You know what to do Aiden."

"You should hear us now mate- comin' in hot!!"

The sound of a large prop plane drew all eyes skyward. It came directly over the top of Mt Yasur and immediately dove down the side of it, banking hard and to the left. When it reached the open field, it was nearly skimming the treetops. Jay and Max were belted in but not in the way one would think. This was no comfortable passenger airliner with plush seats and overhead compartments. This plane was all business. And that business was hauling freight. It was a scuffed up, seatless aluminum shell with two powerful engines on its wings and nothing more. Without seats, the only belts they wore were safety belts that hooked them and their harness to a static line that ran down the entire length of the fuselage.

They carved out a spot by the window and sat on one of the nearly thousand cases of powdered baby formula that had been spoiled in the excessive heat waiting for the various government agency approvals. What could have been an incredible life sustaining gift was now a problematic waste product looking for a willing landfill. Wasted because of bureaucrats and their miles of inane red tape. Not the first time and surely not the last but they were about to be put to good use. The guys would see to that.

"You know this stuff can be dangerous," Max shouted into his headset above the engine noise. "Have you ever seen that Cremora bomb video on YouTube?"

"Yes, I have," Aiden shouted back through the headset, finishing off mike, "and when this baby hits eighty-eight miles an hour? Your gonna see some serious shit!"

Jay came on the com, "Hey is the glass in these windows distorted or somethin'?"

"No, why?" said Aiden.

"Cause these guys look...I dunno, bigger or somethin'. Like a lot bigger." Ethan, seated in the co-pilot's seat raised his eyebrows and shot Aiden a knowing look. 

He unlatched his seat belt and said, "Time for me to head back and lend a hand."

"Be sure to hook up- don't want to drop you into that mess," Aiden smiled. He tapped the headset to broadcast to the guys in the cargo hold.

"Alright lads... showtime! Head to the back and open the hatch- you're gonna have to use the manual override. See that big red handle?"

"This is gonna be soooo funny!" Jay shouted at Max. 

"We should be filming this!" he shouted back. Max reached into his back pocket and set his phone to video to document the beginning of their elaborate 'prank'.

"Do you see the red handle!" shouted Aiden.

"Yeah! Yes! we got it" Max shouted.

"Ok. Unfold it towards the back and then pull it straight down."Aiden instructed. The door abruptly flew open. Jay cautiously approached the edge and looked down over the drop zone.

"Holy shit! Dude they really are-"

"Go! Go! Go! Go! Drop! Drop!" Aiden shouted into the com. His bark was just the mind-clearing jolt the guys needed. They began to push pallet loads of the powdered formula out the door. 

"Faster!!" Aiden shouted. 

Aiden grabbed the controls and banked the plane into its tightest turning radius possible. At only two hundred feet off the ground, every nut and bolt rattled and groaned in protest. Jay, Max, and Ethan fought inertia and struggled to unload the boxes. Max missed with one of the boxes and hit the support pillar to the door. It burst open and instantly  covered all of them in the beige powder. 

"Dude! You're missing them! Tighter! Tighter circle!" Jay screamed. 

"Don't get your knickers in a wad Nancy! It's spot on, right where we want 'em'" Aiden shouted. "Keep pushing 'em out! Faster!"