With nothing more from Gudrun, we then extended our stay with a hike in the Tiger Leaping Gorge, where the mighty Yangtze river, in muddy and lethal cataracts, plunges off the Tibetan plateau on its way to the sea. This was an area perched on the final fragments of the Himalayas, therefore high enough to provide good exercise for lungs as well as muscles.
Although Alexei and I had been together, on and off, for the best part of a year, what with her in London and me flitting around for the Supreme organisation, this had been more ‘off’ than ‘on’. Our Lijiang interlude was therefore a welcome opportunity to get to know each other better. An unofficial honeymoon in advance.
We had been away for five days when Gudrun resumed contact. Announced she would be arriving in Dali in three days, staying at the Hilton. By this time Freddie would be nearing the end of his allotted tour, so would we please check up: see if there was any more talk of extending his stay.
Any request from Stockmann was an order, so we rang the Academy and invited Freddie and Su to meet us that evening for dinner - effectively an order from us. We then caught the next bus back to Dali.
When the cab from the Academy arrived at the Landscape hotel at 7.30, out of it emerged not only Freddie and Su, but also Panda. We had not seen our Chinese impersonation of Gestapo chief, Himmler since the day of our arrival, so I had almost forgotten him. My first reaction was irritation that he should invite himself and probably spoil our little gathering, but on reflection I realised his presence might be a good thing. Although we had no clue about Panda’s position at the Academy, he was our official link to the place and should therefore be able to give us the authorised version of any plans they might have for Freddie. I was further mollified when he offered to pay for the evening.
We made our way to Su’s favourite restaurant, where she again got into a huddle with the waiter. When food and drink had been settled, the conversation started harmlessly enough with an account of our trip to Lijiang. Freddie and Su were now very touchy-touchy; if not already a couple physically it was a dead cert they soon would be.
When we had exhausted the topic of Lijiang, I could contain myself no longer.
“Well, Freddie, thought any more about the Academy?”
Panda replied for him. “Mr Ricketts will be staying on.”
Furious at the way my query had hijacked, I continued as calmly as I could, “Is that also your decision, Freddie?”
“Yea. Sure.” He smiled at me innocently. No obvious pressure on him to stay, quite the reverse.
“Freddie’s very happy here,” added Su, patting his hand. Nothing maternal about her gesture now.
“Staying on how long?” I asked.
Panda shrugged. “How long he wishes.”
“He has flights booked to go home.”
“Cancelled,” said Panda bluntly.
“Cancelled!” I hadn’t meant to shout, but it came out that way.
“We’ve promised Freddie’s mother we’ll look after him,” said Alexei with admirable calmness. “And bring him home.”
“He’s no longer a child,” said Panda. “Can do what he likes. Which is to spend more time with us. Isn’t that so, Freddie?”
There was a new determination in Freddie’s eye as he said, “This is really what I want, Max. The stuff they have here is brilliant. Much better than anything I could get at home. And Su is, well...”
‘What Su was’ was perfectly clear.
“Freddie has become a valuable member of our team,” said Su, adding with a giggle, “we call him our English Guru.”
I nodded. There was little I could say. We may have been treating Freddie as a child, but legally he was an adult. And I could understand his new-found enthusiasm. A lonely young man beavering away in a suburban garret with limited equipment suddenly finds himself with a bunch of like-minded experts, able to afford latest gear. Add a pretty young girl who dotes on him and Streatham versus Dali was no contest.
Searching for some crumb of comfort, I said, “Our visas expire after thirty days, so you’ll have to re-book his flights before that.”
“Extend visas, no problem,” said Panda, off-hand.
“You mean Freddie might stay longer than a month?”
“Stay as long as he wishes. I fix visas.”
“Freddie is so good we hope he will become one of our teachers,” said Su. “I start to teach him Mandarin. Very good accent.”
“Chinese is an interesting language,” said Freddie. “A challenge. I’d like a new challenge.”
I glanced across at Alexei. A resigned shrug of the eyebrow. It didn’t need telepathy to see we were of like mind. We’d have to report the failure of our mission. Freddie Ricketts would be staying in China. There was nothing we could do to stop him.
33
Three days later we received the summons from Gudrun. Meet her in the lobby of the Hilton at 6.30. No phone chat, we just caught a cab and did as ordered.
China has a population of 1.3 billion and I reckon most of them could have found a bed in Dali’s Hilton Spa hotel. It was enormous. When you think China has run out of surprises it hits you with yet another. This version of Hilton was on the edge of town, in the foothills of the Gangsheng mountains, with views over Dali city and Lake Erhai beyond. When I had suggested Gudrun might stay at our little hotel she had turned it down flat, saying she wanted somewhere bland and impersonal where she could lose herself in the crowd. This Hilton was sleekly modern rather than bland, but for losing oneself in a crowd the choice could hardly have been better. With hundreds of rooms, gym, swimming pool, conference centre, several restaurants, it was a city in its own right.
As we entered the lobby I spotted Gudrun, standing by the far window admiring the lights coming on as dusk fell over Dali. We crept up behind her and I was preparing a surprise introduction when she turned round, hand outstretched.
She smiled and said, “Sorry to spoil your fun. Saw your reflections in the window.”
As befitted an ex ambassador’s widow, her outfit was unostentatious but classy: light coloured slacks with a touch of silver in them, the usual short boyish hair, face that had obviously seen yet more sun since our tempestuous meeting in Val Fornet.
Cool as ever, she said, “We need some privacy. Let’s try the Brew Bar.”
Which turned out to be done up in startling yellow, almost golden, with enough small tables to let us huddle down and discuss our bad news. In need of extra strength I loaded up with a double scotch and ginger and awaited Gudrun’s verdict. We were about to lose Freddie. We had failed.
First Gudrun requested a situation recap. As our account petered out, she asked, “So you don’t think Freddie’s gay?”
“Can’t be,” answered Alexei. “Last time we met he didn’t mention Cobber once.”
“Cobber?”
“His cat,” I replied. Then, realising the logic of this might have escaped Gudrun, added, “If Cobber has been demoted in Freddie’s affections it must be genuine love. Girl love.”
“And this Su?” asked Gudrun. “What’s she like?”
“Similar age. Clever. Very street-wise. A nice kid, far as we can judge. Should be ideal for settling Freddie into his new environment.”
“Except we can’t let that happen,” said Gudrun.
Alexei and I exchanged glances.
I spoke for both of us: “How can we stop it?”
“That’s what I’m here to work out.”
“I really don’t see... if Freddie is set on staying... we’re helpless.”
“We’ll have to neutralise Mr Cho,” said Gudrun, as though she had not heard me.
“Mister who?”
“Cho. You know him as Panda. The Academy’s Director.”
“Panda’s the boss?” I shook my head in disbelief. “He came all the way to Kunming to fetch us. I thought he was just a driver.”
“Shows how important Freddie is to him.”
“If there’s one person you won’t be able to turn it’ll be Panda
- Mr Cho,” I said. “Strikes me as a tough guy.”
“You’re probably right,” said Gudrun. “So let’s see what we can do with Su.”
“Su’s only an employee. Has to jump when Panda cracks the whip.”
“At the moment, yes. But what if Cho is removed?”
“How do you propose to do that? You can’t sack the Academy’s Director. Or promote him away to another job.”
“Just answer me how you think Su might react, if left to her own devices?” asked Gudrun, irritated.
“Impossible to say,” replied Alexei. “We’ve only met her a couple of times. Says she’s from Shanghai, so a city girl. Well qualified. From a standing start has already got Freddie where she wants him. Beyond that... well, orientals are famously inscrutable and we haven’t yet had a chance to do much scrutinising.”
“Then I suggest you start,” said Gudrun. “Invite the two of them to dinner. Every night, if you have to.”
“Won’t that look strange?”
“Stockmann is paying you well to make it look un-strange. Say Freddie’s’ mother is becoming anxious. Any excuse will do. But I want Su sorted.”
It was the first time I’d seen Gudrun lose her cool. Almost rattled. If the Norwegian iceberg was worried, there was every reason for us to be too.
In an effort to make light of it, I said, “Anyway, why’s Freddie so important? Must be hundreds of clever computer kids around. Can’t we let China have one of them?”
“Ever heard of Bletchley Park?” asked Gudrun.
Alexei, brighter than me, replied, “Some wartime spy thing?”
“Bletchley Park was one reason the allies and not the Nazis won the war. There they could de-cipher German orders even before the battlefield commanders received them. This needed some seriously smart people. Chap called Alan Turing was a genius. Wars are not only won by muscle, you also need brainpower. Which is why we can’t let Freddie Ricketts fall into enemy hands.”
“You’re again talking as if we’re at war with China.”
“We are. It may be a commercial war, not a hot one, all the same it needs to be won.”
“And you think Freddie is important enough for us to be making all this fuss?” asked Alexei.
“People who know about such things tell me he is. Panda being so desperate to snare him, confirms it.”
“Freddie’s such an oddball, he seems an unlikely genius,” said Alexei.
“Alan Turing, of Bletchley Park fame, was very far from normal. But he managed the impossible and cracked the German codes.”
“So how long have we got?” I asked. “To persuade them to let us have Freddie back?”
“Your visas expire in about two weeks. After that things become more difficult. We must try for a result before then.”
We nodded. Gudrun smiled and seemed to relax. Finished her drink, got up and said,
“Let’s eat. The Hilton’s Italian restaurant has been recommended.”
34
Our attempts to change Freddie’s resolve started the next day with another invitation to dinner. Gudrun had told us she would stay in the background. ‘The enemy’, as she now called them, must not be aware of her presence. She gave no hint of how she would occupy her time, but I doubted whether it would be languishing in Hilton’s spa. All we needed to know was that our task was to try and ensure Freddie returned to his homeland.
Alexei made the morning phone call to the Academy and was immediately aware of changing vibes. Freddie thanked her for the dinner invite, but... he was busy. All sorts of excuses. The fact of the matter - although he didn’t go as far as to spell it out - was that he no longer wanted to spend a boring evening with us. He now had other interests. Other commitments.
Alexei had to speak to him quite sharply. Remind him what we had promised his mother. That Panda had also said we could meet as often as he wished. This last point seemed to be the clincher, but at all events Freddie finally agreed to come.
“Bring Su as well,” added Alexei. “But please, no Panda, unless he insists.”
After this unpromising start, it came as a pleasant surprise when the two of them turned up in what appeared to be good humour. And without Panda. As usual, Su fixed the menu and we sat down with our beers in quite a jolly mood, Freddie having cast off his morning sulk.
As we embarked on our preliminary chit-chat, the reason for this dawned on me. Su and Freddie were both being attracted to pastures new. For Freddie this meant China and everything the Academy had to offer. For Su it was us; representatives of the big, wide, glorious Western World. Freddie might be fed up with his minders, but Su would be happy spending the whole day chatting to us in English. And if Su, the dominant character, was happy, so was Freddie.
A thought struck me. What if we could persuade Su to come to Britain?
Freddie would inevitably follow in her wake, thus solving all our problems. I immediately realised this was a crazy idea: Panda would never permit such an arrangement. We were not in a normal democracy, but an authoritarian state, which controlled the lives of all its citizens. Even so... millions of Chinese did travel abroad each year.
To test the waters, I asked, “Would you like to come to England, Su? Like an exchange with what Freddie’s doing here?”
At once, with a big grin, “Of course. I love to travel.”
Then, realising the implications, her face clouded. “Next year, maybe. First we must make Freddie feel at home in China.”
I nodded. The expected response. Gudrun would give a hollow laugh at the prospect of ‘next year’. She wanted Freddie back pronto. Before he became embedded in the ‘enemy’ system and could do any damage.
Alexei tried another approach. “You could return with us now, Su, see what England is like. Then, if Freddie still wanted to, he could come back here.”
Su considered this for a moment, but soon saw the flaw and replied, “Freddie needs time to get used to our way of working. Mr Cho would not like it if he left again so soon.”
‘Not like it’ was probably an understatement. Panda would blow a gasket if the two of them tried to defect, if only temporarily.
Alexei gave it one more try. “I don’t know what your mother will say, Freddie; if you decide to leave her.”
“She’d be pleased. Never stops telling me I should be getting out more.”
Fair point. Last throw of the dice, I said, “Think about Cobber, then. He’ll be devastated if he never sees you again.”
Freddie eyed me pityingly. “Cobber’s only a cat. He’ll get over it.”
I knew then we were beaten. If Cobber, the light of his life, had been relegated to ‘only a cat’, our last shred of influence over the boy genius had gone. Su was changing Freddie from an inward looking weirdo to something approaching a normal human being.
I gave a little shrug and glanced at Alexei. She smiled. We had done our best, but that best had not been good enough. So be it. To hell with Gudrun, Stockmann and all their geo-political nonsense. We would see out our final few days in China, then fly home to normality. Okay, we would be jobless, but Alexei had a healthy bank balance and we were young and fancy free. We would survive.
With the burden of responsibility lifted, the four of us had a memorable evening. Su blossomed. Even Freddie managed some amusing comments. We all drank too much.
35
Next morning, in the cold light of day, we came down to earth. Time to tell Gudrun about the failure of our mission. Yet again. After round one we had been persuaded to go back and have another try, but this had merely confirmed the impasse. Freddie was determined to stay. His new lady love was there to lock him into place. Above all loomed the sinister figure of Panda - Mr Cho, all the paraphernalia of a police state at his disposal, making sure we did not step out of line. Gudrun stood no chance. Freddie would remain in China until he decided to leave - and Mr Cho allowed him to do so. We were stymied.
Even though this was perfectly obvious, I was still dreading our next encounter with Gudru
n. Knew she would not accept the inevitable. But what could she do? I phoned her with the bad news and was told to report forthwith to the Hilton. Alexei and I made our way, like naughty children, to the other end of town.
We were welcomed, if not warmly, at least civilly. Calmly. Suspiciously calmly. It was another fine morning, so Gudrun suggested a drink on the patio: something cooling before lunch. I needed strength, so chose a Tsingtao beer. The ladies went for orange juice. In the distance, the waters of Lake Erhai glittered in the sun. Dali, the city of Eternal Spring, at its best.
Gudrun continued friendly. No reproaches. I couldn’t believe it; was waiting for the inevitable explosion. But she seemed to accept we had done our best. No hard feelings. No mention of cutting off our Stockmann funding.
After continuing in this emollient way for a while she expressed a desire to meet Mr Cho. To thank him for hosting our computer genius. And to wish them all well.
Having until now stressed that she must at all costs not cross Panda’s path, Gudrun now wanted to meet ‘the enemy’. Was this merely a truce or the white flag of surrender? Or what? The Tsingtao was sliding down nicely; the sun was shining; and life was beginning to look less stressful. Although still bemused by Gudrun’s volte-face, I began to relax.
I heard her say, “While you two have been doing your best with Freddie and Su, I’ve been exploring. Visited a couple of small temples. Hiked in the hills. Drove round the lake. Have you noticed the local system of fishing?”
Alexei and I shook our heads. We had been too busy with Freddie and Su to do any angling. Anyway, what connection did fishing have with our current predicament?
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