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"This has to be quite a change from Newport, Rhode Island," C said before the interview began.

"It is," Kalai said with a small smile. The baby boy in the hut was crawling quite quickly, and most of the time toward the former John Edward Hayes IV. "Technology has improved life, but I've grown to learn it's also taken our humanity."

"You sound a little like the Unabomber," D replied.

This story is dedicated to my friend Terry Turley. Also, thank you to Steve Zink for his editing and help with the story.
⁞

"I don't see anything but jungle," C said, looking out the Cessna's window. The agent had been repeating these words every minute or so since he and D had taken off from Lae, a town of about 10,000 people in Northwestern New Guinea. "Is she sure we're in the right place?"

D at the moment was staring out the other side of the plane. On his side all he saw was the Pacific Ocean, or in these parts what was sometimes called the Bismark Sea. The senior agent was thinking of the sea battle fought here in World War Two and its interesting aftermath.

The plane's pilot was a woman named Rita who was about forty years of age. Rita was busy concentrating on piloting the craft and the headset she was wearing probably kept the woman from overhearing what C and D were talking about. Considering all of C's whining and complaining, D thought it may be good that Rita wasn't eavesdropping on what the two
agents were discussing.  

"Rita says her partner was hired to fly Hayes up here along with a local girl," D retold C for what had to be the tenth time. "The dates jive with the man's disappearance. It's the only lead we have."

"Sometimes I just don't understand P. We don't even know if this is a black box case. Why did she have to send us on this wild goose chase?"

D was growing weary of his partner's whining. The senior agent had much more sympathy for his boss and former partner. There was no doubt in D's mind that someone in DC had leaned on P to conduct this missing persons search.

The person C and D were looking for was Jonathan Edward Hayes IV. The oldest son of a wealthy and influential Newport Rhode Island family had taken a trip to Southern and Southeast Asia in between years of medical school. While on that trip, Jonathan Edward Hayes IV had gone missing.

Within a week of his disappearance, a massive and well publicized search for JEH IV had been conducted. But no trace was ever found, all leads becoming dead ends. Still the Hayes family didn't give up hope, and those hopes were revived when JEH IV was sighted in New Guinea's capitol two months earlier. Was the young man alive somewhere on the island?

It was only ten days earlier that C and D were given their unusual assignment by P. The only clue the two agents had was a sighting of their quarry in Port Moresby, New Guinea's Capitol. While C and D had been able to ascertain two people sighting the missing heir, no one who knew where John Hayes was now.

That's when C and D did some detective work. With credit card receipts given to P by the Hayes family, the agents were able to trace the young man's last known location from two years earlier to Lae. That's where the trail ended, except for the story of the bush pilot that is. Rita's partner, another Aussie named Rachel, had flown John Hayes up to this remote part of New Guinea in the same seaplane in which C and D were now flying.

Hayes hadn't been seen since, other than that one sighting. How did the young man get out of this place then? There were no roads or trails into this remote place. D had asked Rita just that. The pilot said she wasn't the only pilot who flew out of Lae, many of these charters were fly by night organizations. Here one day, gone another. It was also possible that John Hayes had left by boat. There were other small towns up and down the coast that could have had boats that traveled along the coast.

In all, D agreed with C that it was a wild goose chase. But the men had an assignment to do, one they got paid for. D always took his work seriously, he and C wouldn't leave New Guinea till all possible leads had been checked out.

"C, we've got a job to do. So let's do it. I thought you'd be happy to just be out of what you called that rat hole in Lae."

That rat hole D was referring to, was the agent's accommodations for the previous two evenings. Lae's best hotel had a serious insect problem, not just confined to mosquitos, which was probably New Guinea's national bird. The cleanliness of the hotel brought back to D a memory of something John LeCarre had once written. The hotel's 'special' service
was confined to supplying fresh sheets only.

All of this was interrupted by Rita finally speaking up. "There it is."

"That's it?" C said, looking out the plane's left window. All he saw was a small pier.

"The village is about a mile trip inland," Rita explained. "Someone should be here to meet you. They'll hear the plane and come to investigate."

The Cessna seaplane circled past the pier before coming in for a landing. The small pier was both old and very rickety, and both agents stepped carefully on it after deplaning from the aircraft.

As Rita had said, a welcoming committee came to meet the two travelers. Two dark skinned islander boys who appeared to be maybe or a year or two apart in age, both barely clothed. The only area of their bodies being covered being their genitals. Their appearance wasn't surprising to D at all, life was bound to be rather backward up here. There was one oddity, however, both boys were using Walkmans.    

"Hi, Tommy, Mikey," Rita said, taking two small boxes out of her aircraft. "Look what I brought you."

Both boys smiled broadly at the gifts brought to them by Rita. C then spoke up. "Tommy and Mikey?"

"Just names I gave them," Rita replied.

"Oh."

D was observing both boys carefully. They kept staring at the men when Rita didn't have their attention. The senior agent concluded the boys probably did this because they rarely saw westerners, but there could be a second reason.

"Look what I brought for you," Rita repeated, taking two cassette tapes out of the boxes. "You'll really like these. Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley."

Both boys said thanks, and then greedily snapped up the tapes for their Walkmans. While this was going on, Rita gave them some instructions in a language neither agent understood.

"Mikey and Tommy will show you to the village," Rita told the two agents as she got back in her seaplane and started the engine. "Call me by 4 p.m. at the latest if you want to be picked up tonight. I can't guarantee pickup if you call later than that."

D looked at his watch. It was barely 9 a.m. Barring some unforeseen discovery, the agent was sure they'd be calling for a pickup by noon. "Will do."

The boy named Tommy now was grabbing C's hand. The only word the boy was saying was, "Come."

"Do they understand English?" C asked.

"Not really. Just a few words," Rita answered as she began to pull closed the plane's passenger side door. "Good luck, and if I were you I wouldn't get too friendly with these people."

The twenty minute walk was uneventful except for two things. First, the mosquitos were incredible. In spite of wearing long sleeves and having sprayed themselves with large amounts of Off, both C and D spent much of the walk trying to swat away the annoying insects.

Secondly, the path to the village was small, and almost invisible. If not for Mikey and Tommy, C and D would have never found their way. The path also seemed built for someone much shorter than both the agents. Maybe people no taller than 5'5 or 5'6. Even that may have been a reach, considering how much C and D found themselves ducking and
weaving.

Finally C and D had arrived at the village. To call it primitive or even stone age was kind. Modern civilization with only a few exceptions had never seen this part of New Guinea.

The first thing the agents noticed were the women and the lack of men present. Women here they noted were almost exceedingly short, most no more than five feet and many quite a few inches less that that; they also apparently had no modesty, clothing being less than Tommy or Mikey's, or even none at all. Not that C minded, he found the villager's younger women or girls beautiful to say the least. Dark brown skin combined with Pacific Islander features or looks and lithe figures made these women just irresistible. One girl who looked to be barely fifteen drew C's immediate attention, and the girl seemed fixated on the agent also, staring back at him with envious brown eyes.

"Whoa, boy," D chuckled into C's ear. "I thought you still had a thing for Trisha."

"I do...I do..." C stammered. "She's just beautiful and...and...I doubt P is ever going to open an office in Burns Junction, Oregon."

As D chuckled, the agent began to notice something. With the exception of C's crush, almost all the villagers were backing away. As if they feared the two agents, and this was causing the hairs on the back of D's neck to rise.

Almost as suddenly as this was happening, a clapping sound followed by some shouted words were heard from one of the village's huts. Then a woman stepped out. She was a sight like almost all the other women present, but in a different way. First, she was wearing sandals, the only woman present to be shod in footwear. Secondly, her stomach was large
and distended. The woman was obviously in the late stages of pregnancy.

Most of the villagers went back to their tasks as the pregnant woman approached C and D. "Welcome," the woman said in perfect but accented English. "Come with me."

C and D followed the woman as she led them to the same hut she had just come out of. Before stepping inside, D stopped to say something. "Ma'am, we're here looking for a man. We were wondering..."

The woman smiled as she waved D inside. "I know. My name was John Edward Hayes IV. My name now is Kalai."

Both C and D now realized their trip hadn't been a waste of time. What happened to John Edward Hayes IV had to be another black box case.

The interior of the former John Hayes' hut made the rat hole in Lae look luxurious. A dirt floor with a few mats scattered around. There was one small table in the room with two chairs. C and D offered the woman a seat there, but she said the floor would be just fine. Not feeling comfortable talking to Kalai with them seated and her on the floor, C and D sat down cross legged on a floor mat across from the woman.

Before the interview started, Kalai offered fruit and drink to C and D. "I assure you the fruit is delicious and water is clean. There is a spring nearby from which we get this water." On hearing these assurances, both men helped themselves. The nameless fruit was delicious and the water helped to hydrate C and D that day. Both men were sweating profusely in temperatures that had to be in the low one hundreds.

In addition to Kalai and C and D, three others were in the hut. One was C's crush from earlier. She was tending to a barely clothed boy of about one year of age. Another woman sat in the corner of the room, apparently mending some clothes.

"This has to be quite a change from Newport, Rhode Island," C said before the interview began.

"It is," Kalai said with a small smile. The baby boy in the hut was crawling quite quickly, and most of the time toward the former John Edward Hayes IV. "Technology has improved life, but I've grown to learn it's also taken our humanity."

"You sound a little like the Unabomber," D replied.

Kalai laughed slightly before taking the baby boy in her arms, putting him seated in front of her. This seemed to make the child happiest. "I wouldn't go that far. Pardon Joned, he seems to want my attention today."

"Is he your son?" D asked. He had already noted the boy's name. Joned. John Edward. "He's a handsome boy."

"Thank you, and yes, Joned is my son," Kalai said proudly.

"How old is Joned?" D asked.

"A year old, maybe. When is it now? It must be some time in 2004 by now," Kalai replied.

"June 3rd, 2004, to be precise. Almost two years since your disappearance," D answered. John Hayes had last been reported seen on July 25th, 2002.

Kalai nodded her head. "Time doesn't have much meaning here. I tried to keep track in the beginning, but it became too difficult."

C swallowed a piece of the fruit. It was delicious, but the agent would have preferred something a little meatier at the moment. "You must be pretty close to having your second right now."

"Yes, not too much longer," Kalai said as she hugged her son. "If you were about to ask, the men in the village are all out hunting. They'll be back by nightfall."

D nodded his head. "I was about to ask that."

"It would be wise if you leave before then." Then Kalai clapped her hands. "You must still be hungry, Kana will bring you more fruit and water."

Kana was the fifteen-year-old, or C's crush. The girl left the hut and was back a moment later with more fruit. C took one from the girl's hand but not without smiling first. "Thank
you."

D decided it was time to get the interview on track. "We were asked to investigate your disappearance. Can you tell us now what happened?"

Kalai's monologue or retelling of how John Hayes, a white male from New England, had changed into a woman in one of the earth's most backward civilizations, took nearly an hour. The main reason was Joned. The boy was a continuing distraction for both the agents and mother and a few tries at getting Kana to control the infant ended with Joned refusing to be anywhere but in the care of his mother.  

It had all began when John Hayes finished his second year of medical school at Johns Hopkins. The young man wanted to see the world. Not just the cultured places in Europe his family took him as a youth, but the real world and some of the more off the beaten track places that held their own interest. So in early June, 2002, he set off on a trip through Asia. Spending time in Vietnam, Laos, Thailand but mostly outside of Bangkok and Cambodia. Having finished seeing these places, the young medical student set off to New Guinea.

New Guinea may truly be Earth's last frontier. Outside of a few cities, the little population the island had was scattered in villages among the mountains and forests that covered the large island. Wanting to see the real New Guinea, John Hayes traveled to the island's northwest coast.

"That's where I met the real Kalai. She is from Kahae, but had left here. I think I know why she did that now."

"That's why you came to Kahae?" D asked.

"Yes, Kalai invited me. But before going, I bought small gifts for the villagers. This got me in their favor when I arrived, and they allowed me to live among them," Kalai said as she brushed her hair and Joned's with a comb. The woman's black hair reached beneath her buttocks.

D nodded in agreement, remembering Mikey and Tommy and their Walkmans. What Kalai said made perfect sense from his observations. "But you only planned to stay here for a short time."

Kalai laughed slightly, and when that was over a smile formed on her well defined and beautiful face. "Yes, I was only supposed to stay here a week. It's become a lifetime."

"So, what happened?" D asked.

Now Kalai related how she and the real Kalai found one of the boxes. It had happened on the third day John Hayes had spent visiting the village. The first two days had been spent mostly inside the village observing and photographing its daily tasks and activities.

"The people here were friendly to me, Kalai worked as my interpreter. No one but I speaks English here. It's become so rusty, hasn't it?"

"No, not at all," D replied truthfully.

"When Kalai changed me into her with the box, she must have given me her language skills, too. Those boxes are truly incredible."

C and D nodded their heads. D couldn't help but notice C being distracted by Kana, so he made sure to keep his own set of notes and not rely on his partner. "Yes, they are. Where did you find the box?"

"Up on the hill near the spring, I literally stumbled on it the fourth day I was here," Kalai explained, giving a description of the machine in its stowed condition. "Neither Kalai nor I knew what it was, but we brought it back with us. The people here are a tad superstitious, so we kept it outside the village."

"So when did you use it or open it?" D asked.

"The next night, me and Kalai went to try and see if we could learn what it was. That's when it became that crazy phone booth. We didn't use it right away, because even I was a little scared of it."

"You're beautiful," C told Kana very slowly. The girl was kneeling down in front of the agent, trying to speak to him in some kind of body language that really didn't need a lot of interpreting.

"Yes, she is," Kalai observed. "Kana will make a good wife for someone someday. Just like I've become."

"You're married?" C asked. D turned and looked back at his partner. He was surprised to find C actually paying attention.

"Yes, my mate is Lalon. He is-" Kalai began saying till D interrupted.

"We'll get to that, but first, when did you use the box?"

"The morning after we found it," Kalai explained. "I was eating breakfast with Kalai when we talked about the machine and decided to check it out again. Can I ask both of you something first?"

"Of course," D replied.

"Were you sent here by my family?"

"Yes, kind of," D explained. "We were sent here by our boss."

"You investigate these boxes, too, I guess."

D nodded. "Yes, we do, but we didn't know about this box till we came here."

"Just good luck then?" Kalai said with a slight grin as she gave Joned some fruit to eat. "How are my parents?"

"Well, but concerned about what happened to you."

"I'm sure they are. Do you know what happened to Kalai?"

"She or you was observed in Port Moresby a few months back. That's what caused this sudden interest again."

Kalai released Joned from her grip so as to allow the infant to crawl again. The boy instantly made a beeline toward C and Kana. "I hope Kalai is as happy as me. In the beginning I was upset, even angry, but no more. This is the life I want, and for my children."

D decided to get the interview back on track. "So, the day you found out what the machine does, you became Kalai?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask why?"

"It was Kalai's suggestion," the former John Hayes related. "She thought if I wanted to truly observe life here, what way would be better than to become her and in the process become a true villager."

"And she became you."

"Yes, there couldn't be two Kalais. It was the only way we could do it. Then the men came back to the village," Kalai explained.

"They had gone hunting?" C asked in a brief moment of paying attention. “What's that I smell?"

"Some food that's being cooked outside."

"Smells interesting. Maybe I can have some later?"

"I don't think you'll like it," Kalai said.

D interrupted C's sudden sign of appetite and got back to business. "The men came back from where?"

"Back then the village was at war with another nearby village. They were our enemy, but they are very few of them left now. Just the other day a few tried to steal some of our crop. We dealt with these thieves the Kahae way."

"The village defeated this other village in battle two years ago?" D asked.

"Yes, the men led by Lalon did that. On the day I became Kalai this was their biggest victory. Lalon was the hero of it, and he was a great warrior in the eyes of the people here. The whole village planned a celebration."

"That's when you got married?"

"Yes, it wasn't the plan I had in mind. When Lalon came back from the victory he announced his intention to marry me. Seems he and Kalai were arranged to marry by their parents."

D nodded his head. "But why didn't you change back?"

"There was no time. As soon as Lalon made his announcement, the preparation began. I couldn't get away even for a few minutes. The wedding was set for the very next day, the day I was supposed to leave originally."

"What happened with Kalai?"

"She or he said John Hayes wouldn't be welcome at the wedding. They are very superstitious here, so it would be best if he left. He said he'd be back in a week."

"And you went along with the wedding?" C asked.

"What choice did I have? There was no chance to change right at that moment," Kalai said, explaining herself. "It was naive, I admit it. It wasn't what I wanted, and I reckon now Kalai didn't want to marry Lalon, either. This gave her the opportunity to escape here. She took my money, except for some I had hidden underneath some rocks outside the village."

D nodded his head. He still remembered the two Walkmans, the brush. There were a few, very few tastes of western civilization in Kahae and apparently Kalai had used those hidden funds to pay for them.

"She also took my passport, clothes, everything. So I got married here. Two days later I went back to the box to change back. I was going to wait out Kalai or maybe use a row boat the village has and just get out of here. Except the box wasn't the booth any more. It had changed back. Never been able to open it since then. Even if I left here, who was going to believe my story? I was stuck in more than one way."

D had listened quietly throughout Kalai's explanation. The woman's experience had been more innocent and accidental than many of the users he had come about while investigating the boxes. "The real Kalai never came back?"

"No, she did not. I'm not angry at her anymore. I'm like this permanently, aren't I?"

"Yes, I am afraid so," D replied. Kalai showed no response to D's answer. The woman had accepted her fate long ago.

"It must have been a shock to your system living like this compared to back home," C observed.

"In the beginning it was, but not anymore. This is my life now."

"Your parents are very concerned for you. We can help explain this to them," D added.

"No, this is my life, I'm happy here. I'd rather they not know what happened to me. They would never understand in the first place."

"Why do you say that?"

"Do you know anything about my parents?" Kalai asked. D said very little. "They are typical New England millionaires or Brahmans. They may talk about Civil Rights and Affirmative Action and how they support it, but in reality my family is mostly a bunch of snobs."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Nothing to be sorry about," Kalai said as Joned crawled back to his mother. At the same time C was still fixated on Kana. "I learned it the hard way a few years ago. While at Boston University I met another pre-med student. Her name was Linda Chang, very nice and sweet. I really liked her. My parents went ape-shit when they learned I was dating her."

D quietly listened as Kalai vented on the subject of her parent's bigotry. It did help to explain the former John Hayes IV's current thinking.

Then C interrupted. "I'm really hungry. Could Kana go and get some of that food that is cooking outside for me?"

"You wouldn't like it."

"Trust me, I'll eat just about anything."

D chuckled before remarking. "Trust me, he would."

Kalai issued some instructions to Kana. The girl left the hut for a minute and was back. With more fruit, this did not go over well with C.

Kalai ignored this and got back to discussing her life in Kahae. "Here I have more of a life than I'd ever have at home. In the beginning there were some aspects of my life I had difficulty with. Not now, I love and accept life here in all aspects. Our customs, our people, our food, there is nothing I don't like. This is my life and I'm happy with what I have now. It's more meaningful than anything I could have done in America."

"What do mean more meaningful?"

"Lalon is like a warrior chief or village leader. He is greatly respected by everyone here."

"You must be respected too, then?" D asked.

Kalai nodded her head. "Yes, I am, there was an almost caste like system to the village, but I don't adhere to it at all. I love all the people here, I consider them all my friends. Women come to see me for advise or help and I enjoy trying to help them, whether it is advise on raising a child, advising on crops, or anything. I couldn't do anything as rewarding back home."

"We could arrange for you to go back to the States. Finish your college and..."

Kalai shook her head. "No, I don't want to, Lalon would never go or even allow it. I've learned enough at college to help here. I'm even the village midwife."

"Really?"

"Yes, really," Kalai replied. "There is truly no job like being a mother and bringing life into the world. I have my Joned, I'm pregnant again. I've never even had a period ever."

"You got pregnant right away I guess?"

"Yes, and after Joned was born I breast fed my son. My stomach began to grow again, I don't know how long it was since we have no way of tracking it. I was with child again. Lalon loves me, I have grown to love him. I have a family. What else do I need?"

D nodded his head. Very little was the answer to Kalai's question. "Joned is a handsome
boy."

"Thank you."

"Joned is supposed to be John Edward, right?"

Kalai smiled. "I just don't think Joned was the grandson my parents would expect."

D didn't say a word.

The interview only lasted another forty or so minutes. A few times while talking Kalai observed that it would be best for C and D to leave before the village's men returned. D said that wasn't a problem.

As the interview wrapped up, D was already planning his report to P. Kalai was quite adamant she didn't want her parents or any of the Hayes family to know her real fate. D assured the woman that it would be so. P and the agency were very good at coming up with cover stories.

A few minutes before finishing, D called up the charter plane company. Rita was already back in Lae and said she could pick the agents up in ninety minutes.

By the time C and D emerged from the hut, it was just past midday in New Guinea. While the agents were happy not to be sitting on the floor anymore, both now felt overwhelmed by the heat, humidity and mosquitos that so dominated the island. Both men would be happy to return to civilization.

Or maybe not. C still could not stop from fixating on Kana. The agent kept telling her she was beautiful, and even saying I love you.

"I thought you wanted Trisha?" D asked with a grin.

"Kana is nice, maybe I can get her a visa."

"So she can be your wife or maid?"

C took the joke in stride. "Maybe a little of both."

Kalai showed the two men around the village a little. The people seemed so friendly, toward C and D. That's if their staring meant friendship to the agents.

Just before leaving the village, C came upon the source of the smell he had been sniffing most of the time he had been in Kahae. A large black pot full of what looked like soup with meat in it, was slowly cooking over a small fire.

Kalai took a moment to check the food. Taking a small spoon a nearby cook used to stir it, the former John Hayes took a small taste. After this was done Kalai spoke a few words to the cook.

"How is it?" D asked.

"It's our local delicacy, and I find it quite delicious."

By now C and his friend had gone to check the pot. Kana took out the small spoon and showed it to the agent. "What is this?" C asked.

Kalai warned C, "Something I said you won't like."

C wasn't listening. With Kana's help, he had a tiny taste of the food. "This is delicious. What is it?"

"You won't like it."

As D checked the pot, two things clicked in his head. The first was something Kalai had said. The second was what had happened to the Japanese sailors after the Bismark Sea battle who didn't get eaten by the sharks or didn't go down with their ships. "Ma'am, you said before Kahae captured two men who were trying to steal some crops."

"Yes, we did. We had them over for dinner as is our custom," Kalai said with a sly smile that showed not the slightest shame at what Kahae called their 'custom'.

C was slow to catch on, but when he did the man began to heave violently in some nearby bushes. D also knew what the meat was seen floating in the pot, it was a human tongue.

Kalai began speaking again, "In Kahae our custom for thieves or captured war prisoners is the same. We eat them."

 
The End  

Addendum - They don't know where Kalai, now John Hayes, went to. He was in Port Moresby for a few days, then disappeared again.
Author's Note- The idea for this story comes from real life mystery surrounding Michael Rockefeller.