by Adam Hall
'Hear you, I hear you, I was just going-'
'Listen, this is for London. He's come out of it now. They didn't have enough time to do a proper job I think he could go in front of the cameras. I know it's probably academic, but London ought to know, you agree?'
Static. I watched the soldiers below, and the flood of light across the rocks. We'd have to get out of here now, whatever Pepperidge said, whatever London said, have to save our skins if we could.
'London must indeed know. This changes everything.' Static again and I didn't know if I'd missed anything. '… Case… going… signal you. London has been in direct contact with Colonel Zhou in flight, and so have I. His ETA Gonggar is twenty-one-oh-five hours, in thirty-two minutes from now.'
Xingyu had got onto his feet for the first time since we'd reached the cave, stood stretching his legs, and I motioned him to keep back in the shadows. I said to Pepperidge: 'Thirty-two minutes is nothing like good enough. Gonggar's sixty kilometres away and he'd have to get right through the town and God knows how many roadblocks.'
I could see their guns now, the searchlight sweeping across them, the whole scene silvered, the stark shadows of the boulders angling over the scree as a beam of light swung across them, and Pepperidge came in again.
'Colonel Zhou has raised the military garrison at Gonggar from his plane and ordered an M19 helicopter to stand by for him with a pilot and navigator by the time he lands. The maximum speed of the M19 is two-fifty kph, so allowing for changing planes and lift-off he estimates he can arrive your area by twenty-two hundred hours, in fifty-five minutes from now.'
Xingyu was standing there watching me. I didn't know if he could hear Pepperidge's voice clearly enough, but he could hear mine.
'It's still not good enough.'
Heard myself saying it, having to say it.
'Then you must work something out.'
Yes indeed, those were the only instructions my director in the field could give me — they were as close as that.
'I can hear their voices now, and you're talking about fifty-five minutes.'
'You must work something out. I expect you to work something out, and so does London Control.'
He'd caught my tone, the colour of my speech, and heard I was tired, close to exhaustion, been a thick night, two nights, the mission had been running four days now and the pressure hadn't let up, listen, if I'd been fresh I'd have got Xingyu out of here and higher into the hills, on my back if I'd had to, but I wasn't fresh and Pepperidge knew that and all he could do was to try putting some energy into me, enough faith and energy to work the magic.
No magic left.
'I'm going to take him north with me," I told him, 'all I can do, it's all I can work out. We won't get very far, so if that colonel can find the cave he'll have to look for us north of there, maybe a few hundred yards due north, tell him that.'
In a moment: 'If that is your decision.'
'We can't stay here. They're too close now.' Too close and oh Jesus look down there. 'They've also moved a helicopter in, and it's putting a light beam across the ground. We're getting out, you understand, all we can do now.'
Xingyu Baibing watched me from the cave, his eyes large and alert, concentrating on what I was saying. I believed he would give me no trouble, lend what strength he'd got left, push himself up that bloody hill if I helped him.
Pepperidge came in again. 'I will tell Colonel Zhou where to look for you. Now these are your instructions: he will fly both of you to Gonggar and put the subject into the fighter-bomber and take him to Beijing. You will be placed in the hands of two dissident PLA captains, ostensibly under arrest. They will take you by military plane to Chengdu, and will personally see you aboard a civilian flight to Hong Kong. Do I need to repeat any of those instructions?'
Said no.
Running things much too close for the colonel to do anything, that bloody chopper down there, tracing a line of light from east to west, turning and moving closer toward the caves, west to east, the sound of its rotor slapping at the night, but perhaps it was the fatigue, perhaps I didn't have the nervous energy to believe there was a chance now, one in a thousand.
Put faith in him then, faith in Pepperidge, believe in the thousandth chance.
'Please stay open to receive,' his voice came through the static.
'Will do.' Then on an impulse, perhaps just to hear myself say it, give it substance, 'Maybe he can make it in time.'
'Say again?'
'This colonel. Maybe he can get here in time.'
'But of course he will.'
I put the radio down and went back inside the cave to talk to Xingyu, the acid glow from the searchlight spreading brighter now across the roof and then suddenly the huge black shadow rearing above us and I spun around as he came for us, Trotter.
Chapter 27: ETA
The voices of the soldiers had been reaching as far as the cave on the soft night wind, but I couldn't hear them anymore because the search helicopter was flooding the ground with light much closer now to the foothills and the beat of its rotor covered all other sounds.
The whole terrain out there must be awash with light now that the helicopter had arrived. It would help Colonel Zhou, when he came, if he came, if there was going to be anything left here for him to come for; he would see the lights from a long way off.
I am very tired, my friend.
The roof of the cave changed as the light changed, darkening and brightening as the helicopter made its run from east to west, from west to east, and the shadow of the stalactites stood like bristles across the rockface, slanting and straightening and slanting again as the helicopter flew past. Some of the stalactites had broken away, over the centuries, and were lying on the ground.
Reek of kerosene on the air, a sickening smell. When you are tired, very tired, heavy odours are unwelcome, aren't they, get on your stomach, make one irritable.
I feel irritable, my good friend.
Beat of the rotor blades, drumming in the mouth of the cave, throbbing against the ears.
Xingyu was over there, on the ground, Dr Xingyu Baibing, lying on the ground.
He moved again and I tightened the lock on his throat but oh my God he was strong and rolled half over and I had to bring my knee up in another strike for the spine but it didn't have enough force because this man had drained most of the strength out of me since he'd come in here and gone for Xingyu first because he was the priority target and I'd managed a hook-kick to throw him before he could make his kill and it had started from that point and there was blood on the floor of the cave, his and mine, and all I could do now was keep the hold I'd got on his throat and see how long he could go without the oxygen he needed: his breath was a low sawing close beside me.
Moved again and I almost lost it, the sweat running on him and making the lock slippery and that was dangerous, and could be lethal. I was appalled at the degree of strength still left in the man: he must have caught a shot down there before he'd started crawling after us across the rocks — there'd already been blood on his face when he'd reared above us in the cave-mouth. But it hadn't weakened him.
Beat of the rotor, the light brightening, lowering, the stink of exhaust gas.
I thought Xingyu was coming to, trying to raise his head. I would have to tell him not to come any closer, he must keep out of this man's reach because the last of the strength I still possessed was diminishing over the seconds, draining away.
Kept moving my other hand, my free hand, over the floor of the cave; they made a faint metallic ringing, the broken stalactites, as I groped among them and at last found one that felt good enough, long enough.
Pepperidge was signalling me: I'd left the radio switched to receive as he'd instructed. But I couldn't hear what he was saying because of the noise, the helicopter.
He moved again, Trotter, feeling the point of the stalactite against his skin. He moved with appalling strength, and I received it, received his strength, and was in awe of it, and made it my
own, drawing it into my arm and forcing the lock tighter, letting my mind float to bring the tension down, concentrating on his enormous strength as I let it flow into me and through my arm until the lock was tight enough to keep him still and I drove the stalactite in, I was wondering if you'd give me absolution, my dear fellow, drove it deeper through the running of the blood, there is nothing personal, you understand, in this, drove it to the hilt of my clenched hand until the sawing of his breath became liquid and it frightened him and he found the last degree of strength that we can only find when survival itself demands it, and broke my armlock and threw me off him and I rolled away across the metallic-sounding shards, rolled away as he came after me, huge, a huge man, his blood shining in the light from the helicopter as it flowed from him and he came forward again, hanging on his hands and knees like a monstrous quadruped, his black eyes wide and watching me, came forward again and then stopped, hanging on all fours again with no further will to move, or that was my impression, his eyes watching me in a blank stare, I am for the dark am I not, my dear fellow, I am for the dark now, I believe, watching me until his black eyes dulled and he dropped like a dead bull.
I am tired, my good friend, very tired… sleep now, sleep…
They were like little bells, the shards, the stalactites, a delicate tintinnabulation in my ears as boots moved over them, blood congealing on my bare hand, 'Can you hear me,' my face against the rough floor of the cave, 'Can you hear me,' Xingyu looking down at me saying, 'It is the radio.'
Tried to get up and he helped me, his eyes staring, perhaps he'd thought I was dead too, been sleeping, that was all, I had been sleeping, oh sweet Jesus for how long, for how long?
'Can you hear me?'
Swaying on my feet, the light sweeping across the cave mouth, a wave of exhaust gas blowing in, and when the sound of the rotor died away I could hear their voices, the soldiers calling to one another, and I picked up the radio.
'Hear you, I hear you.'
'Colonel Zhou's ETA should-'
'Look, it's too late, we can't leave the cave. They're too close now, they'd see us.'
Beat of the rotor, the chopper coming back.
Static, then- 'Colonel Zhou's ETA should bring him directly over your location at this moment. I will repeat…'
Beat of the rotor, its downdraft picking up a vortex of grit from the rocks and whirling it into the mouth of the cave and I shouted for Xingyu to keep back but there was no light flooding down, this was a different machine, a bigger machine, the landing skids putting down on the loose shale and tilting and straightening again as a door swung, open and a man dropped onto the ground and came jogging toward the cave and I went to meet him.
'I am Colonel Zhou. We must hurry, please.'
I turned and beckoned to Xingyu, but he went on standing there, seemed uncertain, or the damage that Trotter had done to him had left him groggy, so I went and got an arm around his shoulders and shielded his face from the flying grit and brought him to the helicopter.
I watched from the windows of the military shed at Gonggar, two PLA captains with me, one an each side, as the fighter-bomber lifted from the runway and left a storm of sound booming among the buildings.
He had looked grubby and dog-tired, Xingyu, his face drawn and his eyes nervy as they'd helped him into his flying gear, but he would catch some sleep on the flight and they'd clean him up hi Beijing and he'd look all right on the screen, that was what mattered.
'Take.'
'What?'
One of the captains was holding out a packet of cigarettes, the end torn open. 'Take.'
I pulled one out and he struck a match for me and we stood together with its light on our faces.
'You help China people.'
'Well, hope so,' took a quick puff as a gesture.
The End
Notes
FB2 document info
Document ID: fbd-d61a42-4928-964b-91a3-f89e-7ac9-f038ff
Document version: 1
Document creation date: 23.09.2007
Created using: Fiction Book Designer, Fiction Book Investigator, FB Writer v2.2, FB Editor v2.2 software
Document authors :
Paco
About
This file was generated by Lord KiRon's FB2EPUB converter version 1.1.5.0.
(This book might contain copyrighted material, author of the converter bears no responsibility for it's usage)
Этот файл создан при помощи конвертера FB2EPUB версии 1.1.5.0 написанного Lord KiRon.
(Эта книга может содержать материал который защищен авторским правом, автор конвертера не несет ответственности за его использование)
http://www.fb2epub.net
https://code.google.com/p/fb2epub/
