by Ian Andrew
The room he was shown into had a double bed, a single bedside cabinet with a lamp and, like downstairs, no ornaments nor pictures. It did have a window that was shuttered on the inside and secured with a padlock in the same manner as the room in Paris had been.
“The bathroom is shared, I am afraid, but please, feel free to use it first. Lim and I shall prepare some food. Do you care for pizza?”
Again Jacob’s surprise must have been evident in his expression. Gerard gave a discrete, polite laugh, “You thought maybe I would offer you some noodles, or rice, or fish head curry?”
“I... well, I…”
“Come, come now Jacob. I am not offended, but I find that our western guests need carbohydrates and familiarity after they have endured the rigours of a long-haul flight. We have Dominos, just like in the UK, so what would you like, Hawaiian, chicken, peperoni?”
“Umm, peperoni would be great,” Jacob said, still struggling with the weirdly amusing prospect of being in a tropical Asian paradise and getting a fast-food pizza delivered like he would in Essex.
“And to drink?”
“A Sprite?”
“Very good. I will make the arrangements. Now, before we eat you must shower, change and relax. Get out of those heavy jeans and put on something cooler, but first, I need you to give me your wallet and passport, if you would be so kind.”
Jacob didn’t hesitate. He reached both over and Gerard put the passport and the contents of the wallet, except for the picture of the woman, into his own jacket pocket. From the drawer of the bedside cabinet he took an envelope and handed it and the wallet to Jacob. “This is your new identity. There are also some Singaporean dollars. Just enough to look like you have been here for a while. Lastly, the backstory that you will need to know. I’d like you to read it and be familiar with it please. Now wash, change and rest. I will call you once we are ready to eat.” Gerard turned and ushered Lim out of the room.
Jacob opened the envelope to find a similar collection of items to the ones he had been handed in Paris, but with enough differences to lose Jacob London for ever and introduce Jacob Poole.
His passport was Canadian. His driving license, still from the UK, but the address had shifted to Clacton-on-Sea and Maple Road had morphed into Maple Close. His date of birth was the same, but now he had a Boots Advantage Card, an Air Canada loyalty card called ‘Aeroplan’, one credit card and three other bank cards. The last item was a single sheet of paper that transformed Shu Ying Tan, his girlfriend of one year, into Audrey Huang, his fiancée of two years. She was English and he had met her when she worked in London for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank. Now, she was temporarily working in Hong Kong and he had come out to visit her in a block of apartments on Tai Man Street in somewhere called the Chai Wan district. Jacob had less clue about Hong Kong than he had about Singapore, but at least he knew where he was headed next. Not that the information was of any use to him. He had resigned himself to the fact that he might well be screwed. Even if he could find a way to get a message back home once he found out his final destination, the chances of Tien and Kara being able to get there before he did were next to none.
Filling his wallet with the new cards and putting his passport away, he listened at the door to make sure both Gerard and Lim were downstairs. Recovering his washbag from his suitcase he quietly eased the bedroom door open and stepped cautiously into the landing. Any thought that the other rooms might have held secrets was dispelled immediately. There were two other bedrooms in the house and a bathroom with a toilet. All their doors were wide open. The other bedrooms were furnished and shuttered like his. The bathroom, stocked with fresh towels, shower gels, soaps and a new pack of disposable razors, also boasted a shuttered window. ‘Nothing to search if there’s nothing to hide,’ he thought, shutting the bathroom door and starting the shower.
ɸ
The Nissan pulled back out of the driveway and Jacob, once more hooded in the back seat, was happy in his own abilities as he managed to reverse plot the turns they had taken earlier in the day. As the car came down a sweeping left-hander, that he presumed would lead them off the major highway and back to the airport, Gerard told him he could sit up and remove the hood.
He checked his watch. Twenty two minutes this time. He figured the traffic, at what was now approaching ten at night, was less congested. In the almost six hours since he had left the airport, he had showered, changed, eaten pizza, fell asleep for a couple of hours, then showered again. In all that time Lim had said nothing directly to him and only a few sentences in Chinese to Gerard. Conversely, Gerard had been the politest host he could have wished for. He struggled to remind himself that this man was in every way as culpable as Rik, or the small man or Thierry. He and, the mostly silent, Lim, were paid to smuggle evil men out to a freedom they didn’t deserve. Yet the middle-aged man in the tailored suit, with the accent of an Eton school boy and the manners to match, neatly presented with trimmed black hair, conservatively cut, cleanly shaven and with no jewellery, could have passed for… Jacob wondered at just what Gerard could have passed for. He physically shuddered as clarity dawned on him. This man could have passed for almost anything. He was the trusted neighbour, friend, teacher, role-model that you wanted your children to be like. He was the man you’d let look after your kids when you were late home from work. Jacob understood that of all the men he had met so far, Gerard could well have been the most dangerous, because of his normality. He was shaken out of the darkening thoughts by a sudden realisation Gerard had been talking to him.
“I’m sorry, Gerard, what did you say?”
“I said, we will be checking in using the self-service kiosks. I have all the paper work. You just need to stay with me. We will drop off the bags and proceed to passport control. No need to worry, it will all go smoothly. Follow me throughout if you would be so kind, Jacob.”
ɸ
Gerard led them through the terminal as Lim, with not even a word of farewell to Gerard, drove off. Jacob knew this flight was likely to follow the example of the last when he was handed a boarding pass showing seat ‘17A Business’. His only real surprise was at departure passport control. There were many less lanes in comparison to the arrival area, but as Gerard lined up, Jacob was intrigued to see the same female immigration officer up ahead. He leant forward and asked quietly, “How can she be on here?”
“These passport officials work a twelve-hour day. She works half on arrivals and half on departures. We choose these flights for a reason my dear chap,” Gerard explained.
“But how can you be sure she’ll be working?”
“We have a few, shall I say, spare pieces on the board of play?”
“So she knows me and what I look like?” Jacob asked, putting what he hoped was a sufficient amount of alarm into his voice.
“Gosh no,” Gerard said quietly over his shoulder. Even after six hours, Jacob was still bemused at the Englishness of the man’s speech. “Our dear lady knows what our French friend looks like and what I look like. She knows whomsoever comes after us will be someone for her to pay less attention to. Simple really.”
“Do you have the same in place at all the airports?”
“Where we can. Sometimes the logistics makes it impossible. But we try our best,” Gerard said and Jacob noticed the same pride in the operation that the small man in Paris had shown.
Once through all the preliminaries, Gerard led them to the Cathay Pacific Skyview Lounge. After checking in with reception, he ushered Jacob through an open plan arrangement of chairs, tables and self-service counters, past a table with six unattended PCs, the screen savers of which said, in English, ‘Free Internet for your Use’, and headed upstairs to an even smaller lounge. Once more, Jacob knew the exclusivity came with increased security.
“Please sit, my dear Jacob. Relax. Help yourself to food and drink. Although please remember what I daresay our French friend will have impressed upon you; do not get drunk and do not go where I cannot see.”
&nb
sp; Jacob sagged into a half-circle tub-chair opposite Gerard and sighed.
“What is the matter?” Gerard asked.
“All through this it seems I’m not trusted. From when I first started on the Flight Path, I’ve been watched and monitored. I feel like a prisoner yet I’m paying good money. It just saddens me.”
“True, very true,” Gerard agreed, nodding slowly. “But of course Jacob, there is a chance that you are not who you say you are. There is a chance you might be police or some other form of agent.” He held his hand up to stop Jacob’s attempt at protesting. “I know. I know. It is most unlikely and given our security we have never had one successful breach. Not in all our years, but we have had attempts. These measures we use, protected us then and protect us now. We’ll only relax when you get to the end of the Path and…” he trailed off.
“And what?” Jacob asked.
Gerard leant forward, “And you prove you are one of us.”
“Can you explain further?”
“When you get to wherever you are going, the men who are there will manage your life into your new identity. They will help and assist you. At some point they will be able to tell if you are who you say you are. That’s all, really,” Gerard said and gave a wry smile.
Jacob was aware that, for the first time since he had met Gerard, the man was being coy with his answers. He tried to get him to clarify, but Gerard said only, “All in good time Jacob. All in good time. But, rest assured, once that is done you will be given complete autonomy. Until then, we must watch over you closely. It is the Flight Path way. We are cautious. You have lived with this caution all your life, so you must see the sense in it, no matter how frustrating. Does that explain why we do what we do?”
Jacob said nothing for a long time. He thought about Gerard’s last sentence. Nothing would make him comprehend what or why these men did what they did. It sickened him to think how any adult could betray the trust of an innocent. Images of last Christmas, spent in the company of his brother and sister-in-law, his two nieces and his nephew flooded his mind. He saw the two older kids with their beaming faces, reflecting their happiness and their excitement. He heard their squeals of laughter as they put up their stockings and then their soft breathing as they slept peacefully, waiting for Santa and the surprise of the morning. He saw the tiny bundle that had been his youngest niece, oblivious to the season and totally dependent on the adults around her to provide protection. He knew he had to follow this Path to its end, but he also knew that just being in the company of these animals was wearing him down.
“Jacob, do you understand?”
“Yes. Of course. I see. I’m sorry to have asked.”
“Oh no my dear chap. It’s alright. Perfectly fine. Now why don’t I go and get us both a nice cup of tea?”
Jacob managed to nod. As Gerard stood, he found his voice, “Gerard, you said wherever I am going. Do you not know?”
“Oh no. Absolutely not. For all I know you could end up in Timbuktu and I would have no clue.”
ɸ
They departed ninety minutes late, at ten to three in the morning. Jacob guessed Gerard would be as watchful and controlling as Thierry had been, so he tried to sleep for a part of the almost four hour flight, but the sharp ache he felt when he considered the normality of Gerard and others like him, kept him wide awake.
Forced into a holding pattern they finally touched down at 06:50, but at least there was no time zone change. Jacob followed Gerard once more, but other than noting Flight Path had at least one Hong Kong immigration official on their books, evidenced by the scant examination he gave the forged Canadian passport, Jacob wandered through the arrival’s process in a semi-daze. He knew it was a combination of tiredness and the fear he felt at the casual way Gerard, so refined and respectful, could probably walk into any child’s life and destroy it. The same man would then offer friends a cup of tea, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
He shook his head in an attempt to clear the fog and watched large glass doors slide apart to reveal a broad concourse thronged with meeters and greeters, welcoming relatives and business associates. A young girl, of no more than six, broke free of what Jacob presumed was her mother’s hand and ran to hug, what Jacob also presumed, was her father. The man swept her up and twirled her around in a moment that made Jacob’s heart lighten.
“Jacob,” Gerard called.
He looked away from the family, “Yes?”
“This way,” Gerard said and began to follow a much younger man, dressed in black trousers, white shirt and black tie.
They followed him through a series of moving walkways and tunnels before entering an immense space of shops, cinemas and food courts. Lavish Christmas decorations, even bigger and more prevalent than the Singaporean ones, gave Jacob more pause for thought on the universal nature of the festival. He was so distracted by the displays that he was halfway through the complex’s upper level before he realised it was almost empty. Other than the staff in the retail outlets, he could see only a handful of other people. He remembered the noise inside a Heathrow terminal and compared it to the relative silence here. A silence that was broken only by piped music, currently playing ‘Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree with Mel and Kim’. The Christmas song stopped him. He looked up at the phenomenally complex ceiling architecture, adorned with golden chandeliers and brightly illuminated stars. Looking down, through the glass-sided walkway, he could see the ground floor stretching away in wide concourses, vast and mostly empty. The building, that could have comfortably accommodated thousands of travellers, seemed to be hosting less than a hundred.
He felt a hand on his arm, “Come along Jacob, Keep up. We have a change of plan,” Gerard said, moving off again.
On the far side of the building they took an escalator down to ground level and out into a huge carpark. The humidity again made Jacob feel like he was walking through a fine mist, but he was relieved that the temperature of a Hong Kong morning was at least ten degrees cooler than a Singaporean night had been. He was also relieved not to have jeans on anymore. Cooler or not, he was still drenched in sweat by the time the three of them had traversed rows of cars to finally stop next to a white Toyota Camry.
The younger man and Gerard talked rapidly in Chinese while Jacob stood apart, put his case on the ground and looked up to the peaks of high mountains off to his left. He knew, from the small map display that he had studied on the in-seat entertainment, that he was looking south-east to Lantau Island. He had been surprised, and disappointed, to find out from the travel guide that played in the plane during their time circling around in the holding pattern, that Hong Kong Airport could be an hour’s drive away, depending on traffic, from the main Hong Kong harbour and skyline that he had seen on television. Although he did think it probably didn’t matter as another hooded journey through unknown streets was hardly going to give him an opportunity to sightsee. As he looked at the mountains, Gerard came over to him.
“It appears that we have a small problem.”
“Which is?”
“Your escort for the next leg of your journey has been, umm, delayed.”
“Umm delayed? I don’t like the umm, if I’m honest.”
“Yes, rather. It turns out she has-”
“She!”
“Yes, a woman. We do have women who share… Well, let’s not talk about that here. She has been delayed because the documents she was collecting were not ready. This has been a lot more of a rush than normal. Because of the events in Paris.”
“Yes, I was told that things are different,”
“Quite. Well, she is waiting for them to be finished. The thing is, by the time you drive into Hong Kong, to where you were meant to be meeting her and then back out here, it all gets tight for time. So, I am afraid you will have to wait here.”
“Here, as in the airport?” Jacob asked.
“Here as in the car. I do apologise Jacob, but it is the same as we spoke of before. Security and confidence.”
>
Jacob knew not to object again, “That’s fine Gerard. All is fine. But…”
“Yes?”
“What happens if she doesn’t show up?”
“Oh she will. She may have to change some travel plans, but she will show up.”
“Fair enough.”
“Then, if that is settled, this is where I shall bid you farewell. I doubt our paths will ever cross again, but if they do, I shall certainly enjoy your company,” Gerard said and held his hand out.
Jacob automatically reached out. He felt the clamminess and willed himself not to break the man’s fingers. Instead he mustered a smile and said, “Thank you for getting me this far. I do hope we meet again.” The last half of his sentence, truly meant.
Gerard walked off, back in the direction of the terminal building and Jacob looked to the young man who stood next to the car. “Can we get in?”
The doors unlocked at the press of a key fob and Jacob put his bags in the back before getting into the passenger seat. The young man got into the driver’s side and turned the ignition on, not to start the engine, but to allow a gentle breeze of air conditioning to flow through the car.
“Okay, what’s your name?” Jacob asked.
“We no speak now,” the man said in heavily accented English.
“At all?”
The man shook his head. Jacob turned and stared out the window to the far off peaks.
ɸ
At 09:20, a black Audi A5 came roaring up the line of cars one over from the Camry. The noise of its engine woke the dozing Jacob and he sat up straighter in his seat. The Audi braked to a halt and a woman, western looking, medium height, slim, with a blonde bob-haircut and wearing low heels, silver-grey slacks and a fitted green blouse, stepped from the passenger’s side of the car. She moved with a sense of urgency, recovered a single suitcase from the boot, then leant back into the passenger footwell and brought out a leather handbag, slinging the strap over her shoulder. She slammed the car door shut and the Audi pulled away, rapidly.
