Peking & The Tulip Affair

by Nick Carter

  He found the small park in the square and sat down on a metal bench. It was quiet there, with just a few people taking the sun. He lit a cigarette and looked like any other white tourist. He knew he hadn't been followed from his hotel. He had been careful He hoped Lotus had also been careful.

  He was lighting his third cigarette when she showed up.

  "How did it go?" he asked.

  She smiled, showing her tiny white teeth. "It is arranged. He will come tonight."

  "I don't want to rush things, but…"

  "I understand," she said, not letting him finish. "His name is Maximilian Able. He is a captain like Stryker, but not close to the man with the frozen face."

  "You must keep him occupied…"

  She nodded her head. "Yes. You told me."

  "It will be over with quickly," he promised.

  "It does not matter," she said firmly. "I have been with him before. Do not make an angel out of me, Nick. We both know what I am."

  Nick wanted to tell her that she was a sweet kid, but he thought it would sound lame. Instead, he patted her knee. "I'll be there early." He offered her a cigarette, and she accepted. He realized he was running low on cigarettes and asked her if she knew where she could get some American or Canadian cigarettes.

  "I know what it is," she sighed. "The cigarettes the tobacco shops sell here axe awful. But I know someone."

  "You're an amazing creature."

  "I live by my wits. I could work in a factory or a farm, but that isn't for me. I don't even have a philosophy, and that's bad. I only know I'm not happy with the way things are being run here. It's a feeling. There will never be any changes. Not drastic changes anyway. That's the way I feel about it That's no good, Nick. But I can't help the way I feel, can I?"

  He didn't know what to say so he didn't say anything.

  Soon it was time for them to part. She got up and walked away and he watched her trim hips under her very slim waist. Some young men entering the park turned to stare at her tight buttocks.

  Nick stood up, dropped his cigarette butt, heeled it against the ground, and started to leave the park.

  Two Chinese police were entering the park. They were walking toward Nick. He casually kept going till one of them spoke to him in perfect English. He was tall, looked graceful as a ballet dancer, and wore a thin mustache. "Just a moment, please. May I see your passport?"

  Nick stopped. He grinned easily at the man. "Sure. Why not?" He showed the man his passport. "Anything wrong?"

  Still polite, the policeman said, "Just routine, sir." He examined the passport. "Where are you staying?"

  Nick told him.

  "That is odd," the man said. "I thought all the correspondents stayed at the Lenin Hotel."

  "You know how it is," Nick said easily. "All the boys want to do is talk shop. Then they try to get you drunk and steal your story if you have one."

  The policeman handed back Nick's passport. His lips pulled back in a waiter's surface smile. "Sorry for the slight inconvenience. Just routine. We hope your stay here is a happy one."

  "I'm having a ball," Nick confided.

  The two men continued on their way.

  Nick left the park and crossed the square. He didn't believe that nonsense about it being just routine. Probably stemmed from his activity of last night. He wondered if they would check his hotel room. That policeman who had looked at his passport was no dummy. He looked plenty shrewd.

  Well, to hell with them. Nick was out of the square and walking slowly and easily, like a man who didn't have a care in the world. Let them check his hotel room. The pistol he had taken from the Chinese assassin was in Lotus's room, and so was the costume she had made for him. If they searched his room they would come up with a big fat nothing…

  It was two hours before he got back to his hotel room. The hotel clerk tried to avoid looking at him. Nick went through everything and knew his stuff had been gone through with a fine-tooth comb. As far as he was concerned he was safe.

  They couldn't have found anything that would have given him away. And if they had they would have been waiting for him. So he was safe, for the time being, anyway.

  He took a bath, changed into a blue linen suit, and went out. He had a light dinner in a small restaurant, then hopped onto a bus and went part way. He walked a few blocks, retraced his steps to make sure he wasn't being followed, then continued on his way to Lotus's flat.

  She was wearing red silk pajamas that clung to her. "I found American cigarettes. Three packs." She kissed him. "And I have two bottles of rice wine."

  "You've been very busy, I see " He opened a pack of cigarettes and they lit up. "I came up the back way," he told her. "Force of habit, I guess."

  "It is safer for you."

  They drank some wine, and he stood by the window, watching the far distant moon edging upwards. The sky was clear and there were a thousand stars to keep the moon company.

  "He is coming," she said, her arm around his waist.

  He saw the tall figure crossing the street. The man didn't seem too steady on his feet.

  Nick stepped away from the window, and Lotus went to get the Spanish pistol. He stuck the gun in his belt and she made room for him in the bedroom closet by removing dresses and stuffing them into a bureau drawer. He got into the closet and closed the door, but not completely. Just a narrow crack so he could see into the room.

  There was a loud knock, and Lotus went to answer.

  He heard the front door open and close. It was stifling in the closet, and he started to sweat. The man's voice came to him, loud and guttural. A slur on words due to whisky, too much whisky. There was some laughter, forced laughter on Lotus's part. Then, finally, they came into the bedroom, and Nick had a clear view of the man.

  Tall, with wide shoulders. Handsome. Dark brown hair. Maximilian Able. A captain in Bormann's secret army. He started to take off his plain uniform. "A night made for love, my Chinese beauty. That couple was downstairs again. You should rent them your room. Make some money on the side. Five marks an hour." He laughed and removed his shirt. There was a scar above his left hip.

  Lotus took off her pajamas and, naked, she crawled into bed. The man stared at her greedily. He took off his shorts and followed her into bed.

  Nick took the pen from his jacket breast pocket. He watched the man fumble, paw, kiss, and prepare for the invasion of the girl's body.

  Nick selected the right moment — when the man was too engrossed in what he was doing to be on his guard — to step out of the closet and approach the bed. He jabbed at the man's neck and clicked the cap once. It was all over, and Lotus disengaged herself. She ran into the bathroom and Nick turned the man over. If he didn't know better he would have sworn the man was dead. Lotus came back and put on her pajamas.

  Nick stripped and put on the man s uniform.

  "What are you doing?" she wanted to know.

  "When he doesn't return they'll be looking for him. That couple downstairs saw him come up. And he may have told some of his buddies that he was coming here"

  Lotus nodded her head wisely. "So you are going to leave here, pretending to be him. If the couple downstairs are questioned they will say they saw him leave."

  "Right. I'll double back and come up the back way. Then well work on our friend here." Nick patted the man's belly. "I'll bet hell have a lot to say."

  Nick went down and walked out the front door. The couple were close together, whispering. He bumped into them, keeping his face down, mumbled something in German, and kept on going, pretending he was drunk. When he was two blocks away, he made a wide circle, hoping he wouldn't get lost in doubling back. The streets were narrow, and he threaded his way carefully till he was in back of the apartment house. He went up the back way and Lotus kissed him as if he had returned from a long journey.

  He stripped off the uniform and dressed the man and then put on his own clothes. "You'd better wait in the other room," he advised her. Without a word, Lotus went away.


  Nick found some cord and bound the man's wrists and ankles to the bed. He put the gun on the night table and then used the pen again, this time injecting the man with the antidote.

  The German started to breathe again. He opened his eyes in wonder and then anger.

  Nick picked up the gun and showed it to the officer. "I'll blow your brains out if there's an outcry. Do you understand me?"

  The man's eyes narrowed with hate.

  "I have some questions to ask you, and you're going to answer them. Do you understand?"

  Stubbornly, the man shook his head.

  Nick grinned wolfishly. He put the gun aside and then went to work on the German with his hands. The man gasped and blacked out.

  Nick went to the bathroom, filled a glass with water, went back to the bedroom and tossed the water in the man's face. The eyes opened slowly and stared up at Nick.

  "All you got was a sample," Nick said. "I'll teach you what pain really is." His hands got busy again. Once the man started to scream and Nick dug two fingers in his windpipe.

  Nick worked up a good sweat before the stubbornness left the German. The officer finally nodded his head and answered freely as Nick threw questions at him.

  Nick used the pen once again and the man went under. Nick went into the front room and sank into a chair. Lotus brought him a glass of rice wine. "I heard him groaning. It chilled my blood."

  Nick drained the glass. "Don't ask me to apologize for my actions. I do what I have to."

  Lotus touched his shoulder. "I understand"

  Chapter 9

  Nick had what he wanted. The laboratory was located near the village of Tsin Then. He learned from Lotus that the village was less than a hundred miles from Peking. Nick told Lotus everything the German had told him, leaving nothing out. There was a new Nazi movement in Germany, and Bormann was more than just a small part of it Bormann had promised to help the movement with the most powerful weapon ever invented and that, to Nick, meant giving Agent Z to the movement. The German in Lotus's bedroom hadn't mentioned Agent Z, which hadn't surprised Nick. Bormann had gathered around him men who followed blindly, never asking questions. So Bormann had kept Agent Z a secret except to a small handful of his closest confederates. The German knew that Captain Stryker had information about this mysterious weapon. There were a couple of others but he, himself, had been told nothing.

  "I thought the man with the frozen face was working for the Chinese?" Lotus wondered out loud.

  "The old doublecross," Nick said. "He's using the ChiComs to get what he wants. Equipment, technical help, and time. He has no intention of handing Agent Z over to the Chinese. He needs it to push his way to the top. That kraut in there…" Nick jerked his thumb toward the bedroom door"…knew about the laboratory but not what was going on. He'd been there to help supervise the delivery of laboratory animals and equipment. Lotus, I'm going to Tsin Then."

  "You're going now?"

  "Yes."

  "I'm going with you,"

  He started to shake his head but saw the determination in her eyes. "It's too damn dangerous," he said weakly.

  "I know a family in Tsin Then. They will give me food. You can't enter the village. The villagers would be suspicious. No whites ever go there."

  "I'll dump our friend in the closet Hell keep for a week. I'll take along that black costume you made. It may come in handy."

  While Nick lugged the German to the closet, Lotus wrapped the costume and some food in packages and then changed into a black pajamalike outfit They went out the back way.

  On Chow Din Avenue they came across an old Packard. Nick worked quickly. He lifted the hood, crossed some wires, and soon they were driving away. In the dashboard compartment Lotus found identification papers that belonged to the owner. He was a factory foreman.

  "An ordinary worker usually can't afford a car," Lotus explained to Nick.

  They left the city without being stopped, and Nick breathed a sigh of relief. They stopped to eat and then continued.

  It was two in the morning when they came within sight of the village. Nick left the dirt road, drove through some foliage, and stopped near a tree. He didn't want to leave the car in open country. He cut the motor and got out.

  "This family you mentioned — you re sure you can trust them?" he asked her.

  She made a wry smile. "You can't trust anyone these days, not even your own family. I'll give them a story about taking a drive out here with some man. I'll ask them for some food and then I'll start talking about the laboratory. Maybe they'll tell me what we want to know."

  "You're taking a chance," Nick told her. "You'll be playing it by ear, and that's no good."

  "They may get suspicious," Lotus conceded. "Give me all your money."

  Nick handed over all the yuan notes in his pockets.

  "I'll pay them for the food. Even if they get suspicious they won't say anything. Not with all this money to keep them happy."

  Nick watched her run off toward the village, then he stripped and put on the black costume. It was an hour before she returned.

  She had chicken pies and rice wine, which they finished off first. Then she told Nick what she had learned. The laboratory was patrolled by Chinese guards. It was a three-house compound. The white-painted house was the laboratory and the other houses, drab in appearance, housed the guards and the technicians. The villagers didn't know what was going on. They always saw white-coated men but never the guards, enter the white house. That was how Lotus knew the white house was the laboratory. Some of the villagers worked in the compound cleaning and washing, but they weren't allowed in the house painted white.

  "Listen, Lotus, you're sticking right here. And no use arguing with me." He gave her the pen and told her how it worked. "In case I'm caught, I don't want this to fall into their hands."

  Lotus took the pen, put it away, and watched him walk away. He headed to the left of the village where the laboratory was located.

  Lotus had no intention of staying in a safe place while Nick went out alone against a formidable enemy. She waited five minutes and then went out after him.

  When Nick caught a glimpse of the compound he dropped to his hands and knees and then slowly flattened out and started crawling, snakelike, toward the three houses. There were no wire fences but there were tall plaster posts, which meant electric-eye beams.

  He was in an open field and there wasn't much moonlight There were five guards circling the compound. They had rifles and hand guns. They walked in pairs except for one guard. They were within the circle of posts.

  Nick had no way of killing the electric beams. He was stumped. Even if he had grenades, there wasn't much he could do with them. If he lobbed a few into the laboratory, he would do just so much damage. He had to blow the place sky-high. That meant explosives.

  He started to move crablike to his left. He would circle the entire compound that way. Maybe an idea would hit him. Maybe the posts with the electric eyes didn't entirely circle the compound. It was something to do.

  His foot brushed something, and it gave. He cursed silently and reached through the short grass. A wire.

  There was a shout from within the compound. Then a guard ran out of one of the drab buildings, gesturing, shouting, running to the now-confused guards.

  Nick could hear a ringing from the compound. A jeep lumbered from around a building, loaded with guards. A beam of light streaked from the top of a building and played about the open field.

  Nick had the Astra Firecat in his hand. He took careful aim, and the bullet shattered the searchlight.

  The guards started firing wildly, aiming at the direction the shot had come from. The jeep had left the compound, its wheels digging in the dirt. Nick aimed at the driver and squeezed the trigger. There was a yelp, and the guard folded. The jeep overturned, pinning two guards under its weight The other guards flattened themselves out against the ground, their rifles barking.

  Bullets kicked up dirt near Nick's head. He retreated wisely. An
other beam of light tunneled through the night and played along the field a few yards in back of him. There was firing from his left.

  The guards from the compound had outflanked him while he had been shooting it out with the guards in the jeep.

  He looked to his right. Two guards were coming toward him. He kept moving back, hoping the beam of light wouldn't find him.

  A guard was running toward him, a rifle at his shoulder. Nick shot him dead.

  Suddenly the air was filled with crisp Chinese words. Someone in the compound was using a bullhorn. The guards were being ordered to capture the invader alive.

  All rifle fire stopped.

  Nick shifted his body so that he was facing to his left He saw two guards rising from their prone position. They started running toward him. Nick emptied what was left in the chamber, and both guards died on their feet.

  He was reloading the clip when the light caught him. He cursed and dived into darkness. He heard feet hitting the ground, and a rifle butt caught him at the side of his head. He turned over, started to rise, and felt another blow at the back of his neck. He went down. A dark pool opened up and he dived into it. He was falling, falling… down a bottomless pit….

  In the distance, hidden in the shadows, Lotus watched breathlessly as the guards carried Nick away. The beam of light caught the guards and Nick and followed the contingent to the compound.

  Lotus moved in the dark on hands and knees and came across the body of one of the dead guards. He had been shot in the head. She quickly took off her outer clothes and put on the dead man's uniform. She hid the pen Nick had given her in the breast pocket of the jacket and picked up the dead man's rifle.

  Her hair was hidden under the peaked cap. She prayed silently as she walked to the compound. There were soldiers milling about She blended with the crowd and listened to the chatter. She learned that the foreign devil had been taken to the white building.