Galapagos

Adolf is attractive, personable, and wealthy, though he knows nothing about running the ship beyond entertaining the famous guests. As he prepares for the cruise to depart, he intends to rely on Cruz to manage the potentially dispirited crew. His first concern is the safety of the celebrities on the ship. Ironically, Adolf’s lack of knowledge about his ship saves humanity because Cruz “would never have run the ship aground on Santa Rosalia” (83). Cruz drives back to his family after stealing luxurious food from the cruise ship. Soon, the narrative reveals, Peru will declare war on Ecuador to seize control of the Galapagos Islands. The narrator thinks about how, a million years in the future, humans lose the ability to make advanced weapons to kill one another.

Selena hears her father walking outside with Zenji. She remains in the hotel room. The narrative reveals that her blindness is “caused by a defective gene inherited on the female side” (85). Outside, the Ecuadorian Army guards the hotel against the increasingly restless and hungry crowds. Private Geraldo Delgado is with the Army but is a paranoid schizophrenic. Under the mistaken impression that he is, among other outlandish claims, “the greatest dancer in the world” (86), Delgado burgles a small, defunct souvenir shop.