"True," Chahda agreed. "Better we get it. What you thinking about this
deal with Lazada? Why does Nangolat trust him? And what does he want?"

"You told us the answers in Baguio," Rick reminded him. "Lazada told
Nangolat he couldn't refuse a permit--which we never got, by the
way--but that he would hinder us in other ways. Nangolat thinks Lazada
is his friend, all right. Lazada must have told him that our real plans
were to carry off the golden skull, probably to America. And why?"

"Because Lazada wants Ifugaos to massacre us after we have located
skull," Chahda said. "That way, no witness. Dead men not telling stories
on witness stand. Then Lazada and Nast shoot poor Nangolat and take
stuff. Or something like that."

"Nice people," Rick commented.

The Sky Wagon was crossing the ridge. Soon they would be back on the
scene. Chahda got into the rear seat, ready to throw the message and
bags out through the access hatch.

"Wait until I signal," Rick reminded him, and put the Sky Wagon into a
dive. He followed the road for a distance, then saw the truck and used
that for a landmark. As he flashed past the Spindrift refuge he saw that
the Ifugao warriors were in a semicircle around the edge of the meadow.
Apparently the siege was still on. Now to drop the message. He gauged
his distance and altitude. He wanted to be sure the message landed
within reach.

"Get ready," he called, and circled until he was headed directly at the
recess. When a crash into the terrace wall seemed imminent he yelled,
"Now," and zoomed up into a screaming wing over. When he circled again,
Tony and Scotty were reading the message.

The second time around, Chahda dropped the bags. Then there was a wait
while Scotty and Angel set up the pickup poles.

The Ifugaos were obviously curious, nor were they the only ones. Rick
saw Lazada, Nast, and the rest of their party emerge from the village
and walk to a place on the terrace just beyond the meadow. They could
not be seen by anyone within the recess, but they could watch what was
going on in the meadow.

Scotty knew that Rick could not make pickups while flying toward the
recess, so he was setting up the poles in such a way that Rick could fly
parallel to the terrace wall in which the recess was located.

The pickup was very simple. Each bag was attached to a circle of cable
about eight feet in diameter. When ready for pickup, the bag was put on
the ground between the two poles and its cable