Cargo Fever — Will Buckingham

"May both God and the ancestors protect us, for here comes another one."

On faraway Kenukecil, Ibu Nilasera is alarmed to see a red-haired "short man" praying in the front pew of the church. In Jakarta, Sam Rivers is all set to marry his Indonesian love, Fon, until life takes an unexpected turn when -- against her advice -- he goes into business with native Pak Suryono to smuggle a semi-human creature from the archipelago to Australia. Madness? Yes -- but typical of a white man. His peculiar behavior on Kenukecil is no surprise to its people, nor are his companions -- including disgraced returnee Pak Wim and the flame-haired, husband-seeking Dr. Aletheia Groeber, bestselling author of anthropology tome Fuck the Savages. While Sam succumbs to malarial fevers -- which only Ibu Lana's deft fingers can heal -- his strange cargo escapes to rampage among the local young women. Provoked by the spectacle of their smiling, wanton daughters and the ineptitude of the local priests, the men of the island are soon demanding blood. Can Sam find the short man before it wreaks yet further havoc?