“Oh, sorry. My wife.” Sam waved to Remi and motioned for her to come over. She stepped down from the vehicle and approached.
Rubo’s vision seemed to improve and his eyes stayed locked on Remi as she neared before looking away at the last second.
“Remi? This is Rubo. He was just telling me about a legend. A king who built temples in a bay that the sea then reclaimed. Angry gods.”
“Nice to meet you,” Remi said, beaming a smile at the old man. He stood unsteadily and took her proffered hand and shook it. Sam didn’t say anything. Apparently, there were exceptions to every rule.
/> “Sit,” Rubo invited, and she offered him another smile. She took a seat next to Sam and waited expectantly. Sam cleared his throat.
“Sounds like our ruins, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. It’s amazing that Rubo knows the story.”
The corners of Rubo’s lips tugged upward. “I know many. Stories.”
“I’m sure you do. And your English is very good. How did you learn to speak so well?”
“Big war. I help Uncle Sam.”
“Did you really? Those must have been rough days,” Remi said.
Rubo nodded. “Bad days. Many die. Hate Japanese.”
“They were bad to the islanders?”
“Some. One very bad. Colonel.”
“What did he do?” Sam asked.
“Bad things. Kill many of us. And do tests. Secret.”
Remi edged closer. “What? What kind of tests?”
Rubo looked away. “Med.”
“Med? You mean ‘medical’?”
He nodded. “Yes. With white man. But not American.”
Sam stared at Remi. “Japanese experimenting on locals with white men. Want to take two guesses what nationality they were?”
They turned their attention back to Rubo. “Why haven’t we heard anything about this before?”
He shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe nobody care?”
“Japanese engaging in war crimes here? I can’t believe that would be swept under the rug.”
Rubo gave her a blank look. “Rug?”
“Sorry. An expression.”
“Back to the king and his temples. Can you tell us the whole story?” encouraged Sam.
Rubo shrugged. “Old. Not much to tell. King build temples and palace. Gods angry, destroy it. Place cursed. Everyone forget about him.”
“That’s it?”
“Pretty much.”