The Defector

by Nick Carter

  They panted for awhile until they could breathe normally. “This should be far enough down,” Nick said. “Now don’t go for it until I tell you.”

  They could hear a dim clacking sound steadily growing louder. Then they heard the lumbering noise of a fast-moving train. Nick had his right arm around Kathy, his left around Mike. Kathy’s cheek was on his chest. Mike had the Tommy gun in his left hand. The noise grew louder; then they could see the huge black engine passing in front of them. In a second it was past them, and the boxcars blurred by. Slow down, Nick thought. Easy.

  There was a loud screech that grew louder as the cars became easier to see. Nick noticed one out of four had the doors open. The screeching kept on, slowing the huge snake of connected cars. There was a loud thud that Nick guessed was the engine hitting the pile of shrubs. Then the screeching stopped. The cars were moving by slowly now. Then they began to pick up speed.

  “They aren’t going to stop,” Nick said. “Come on. It’s now or never.”

  He ran ahead of Kathy and Mike. The cars were picking up speed quickly. He put all his strength in his tired legs, and ran alongside the open doorway of a boxcar. With his hand on the floor of the car, he jumped and twisted, landing in a sitting position on the doorway. Kathy was right behind him. He reached down for her but she started falling back. Her breath was giving out, she was slowing. Nick got to his knees. Holding the door-post for support, he leaned out, wrapped his left arm around her tiny waist, and swept her off her feet and into the car behind him. Then he reached down for Mike. But Mike was quick on his feet. He grabbed Nick’s hand and swung himself into the car. The Tommy gun clanged beside him. They lay back, breathing hard, feeling the side-to-side sway of the car, listening to the clackety-clack of the wheels on the tracks. The car smelled of stale straw and old cow dung, but Nick couldn’t keep from smiling. They were on their way at about sixty miles an hour.

  The train ride lasted for a little more than half an hour. Kathy and Mike were sleeping. Even Nick was dozing. He had dried all the shells in Wilhelmina and the Tommy gun, and swayed back and forth with the car, his head nodding. The first thing he noticed was a longer space between the clackety-clack of the wheels. When he opened his eyes, he saw the scenery was passing by much more slowly. He quickly got to his feet and moved to the open doorway. The train was entering a village. Ahead of the engine, the tracks were blocked by more than fifteen soldiers. It was dusk; the sun had almost set. Nick counted ten cars between his and the engine. The engine hissed and squeaked as it slowed to a stop.

  “Mike,” Nick called.

  Mike woke immediately. He sat up rubbing his eyes. “What is it?”

  “Soldiers. They’ve stopped the train. Get your mother up. We’re going to have to leave.”

  Mike shook Kathy’s shoulder. Her shift was split almost to her waist from running to the train. She sat up without a word, then both she and Mike got to their feet.

  Nick said, “I think there’s a highway close by leading to a border town called Shench’ Uan. We’re going to have to steal some kind of vehicle.”

  “How far is it to this town?” Kathy asked.

  “Probably twenty to thirty miles. We still might make it if we can get a car.”

  “Look,” Mike said. “The soldiers are around the engine.”

  Nick said, “They’ll start searching the boxcars next. The shadows are on this side. I think we can make it to that shack over there. I’ll go first. I’ll keep an eye on the soldiers, then motion for you to follow one at a time.”

  Nick took the Tommy gun. He dropped from the car, then waited in a crouch watching the front of the train. The soldiers were talking with the engineer. Keeping low, he ran a distance of about fifteen feet to an old way-station shack. He rounded the corner, then stopped. Watching the soldiers closely, he motioned for Mike and Kathy. Kathy dropped down first, and as she ran across the clearing, Mike left the car. Kathy reached Nick with Mike right behind her.

  They moved behind buildings toward the front of the train. When they were far enough ahead of the soldiers, they crossed the tracks.

  It was dark by the time Nick found the highway. He stood on the edge of it with Kathy and Mike behind him.

  To his left was the village they had just come from, to his right was the way to Shench’ Uan.

  “Do we hitchhike?” Kathy asked.

  Nick rubbed his heavily bearded chin. “Too many soldiers move along this highway. We sure as hell don’t want to stop a truckload of them. The border guards probably spend some evenings and leaves in that village. It’s for sure no soldier is going to stop for me.”

  “They would for me” Kathy said. “Soldiers are the same everywhere. They like girls. And let’s face it, that’s what I am.”

  Nick said, “You don’t have to sell me.” He turned to look at the gully running along the highway, then back at her. “Sure you can handle it?”

  She smiled and struck that fetching pose again. “What do you think?”

  Nick returned the smile. “All right. Here’s how we’ll work it. Mike, stretch out along the highway here.” He pointed to Kathy. “Your story is your car ran into the gully. Your boy is hurt. You need help. It’s a lame story, but the best I can do on such short notice.”

  Kathy was still smiling. “If they’re soldiers, I don’t think they’ll be too interested in any story I tell them.”

  Nick pointed a warning finger at her. “You just be careful.”

  She hung her head. “Yes, sir.”

  “Let’s get in the gully until we see a likely prospect.”

  As they jumped down into the gully, a pair of headlights appeared coming from the village.

  Nick said, “Too high for a car. Looks like a truck. Stay put.”

  It was a troop truck. The soldiers were singing as it passed. It went by and on down the highway. Then a second pair of headlights appeared.

  “This is a car,” Nick said. “Get out there, Mike.”

  Mike jumped out of the gully and stretched out. Kathy was right behind him. She smoothed her shift and patted her hair. Then she struck that pose again. As the car approached, she began waving her arms, making sure she held that pose. Tires squealed on the pavement as the car shuddered to a halt Still it passed Kathy about seven feet before it completely stopped.

  There were three soldiers in it. They were drunk. Two got out immediately and started back to Kathy. The driver got out, staggered to the rear of the car and stopped, watching the other two. They were laughing. Kathy started to tell her story, but she had been right. All they wanted was her. One took her arm and mentioned something about how she looked. The other started patting her breast, making noises of approval. Nick moved quickly along the gully to the front of the car. When he was ahead of it, he climbed out of the gully and started for the driver. Hugo was in his right hand. He moved along the side of the car and came up behind the soldier. His left hand went over the mouth, and with one swift movement he sliced Hugo across the man’s throat. He felt warm blood on his hand as the soldier sank to the ground.

  Kathy was pleading with the other two. They had hep shift above her waist, and while one pawed and rubbed her, the other was pulling her toward the car. Nick went for the one pulling her. He came up behind him, grabbed a handful of hair, yanked the soldier’s head back, and sliced Hugo across his throat. The last soldier saw him. He shoved Kathy aside, and pulled out a wicked-looking dagger. Nick had no time for a prolonged knife fight. The soldier’s beady eyes were dull with drink. Nick tock four steps back, switched Hugo to his left hand, pulled Wilhelmina from his waistband and shot the man’s face from his head. Kathy screamed. She doubled over, holding her stomach, and staggered to the car. Mike had jumped to his feet. He stood stiff, staring at the scene. Nick hadn’t wanted either of them to see anything like this, but he knew it had to happen. They were in his world, not theirs, and although Nick did not care for this part of his job, he accepted it. He hoped they would. Without hesitating, Nick rolled the t
hree dead bodies into the gully.

  “Get in the car, Mike,” he ordered.

  Mike didn’t move. He stared at the ground, his eyes wide.

  Nick went to him, slapped him twice across the face, and pushed him to the car. Mike went reluctantly at first, then he seemed to snap out of it and climbed into the back seat. Kathy was still bent over, holding onto the car for support. Nick put his arm around her shoulder and helped her into the front seat. He ran around the front of the car and got behind the wheel. He fired up the engine and started driving down the highway.

  The car was a banged-up, tired, 1950 Austin. The gauge showed half a tank of gas. The silence in the car was almost deafening. He could feel Kathy’s eyes boring into the side of his face. The car smelled of stale wine. Nick wished he had one of his cigarettes. . Finally Kathy spoke. “This is just a job to you, isn’t it? You don’t care anything about me or Mike. Just get us to Hong Kong before midnight, no matter what. And kill whoever gets in your way.”

  “Mother,” Mike said. “He’s doing it for Dad, too.” He put his hand on Nick’s shoulder. “I understand now.”

  Kathy looked down at her fingers twisted together in her lap. “I’m sorry, Nick,” she said.

  Nick kept his eyes on the road. “It’s been rough on all of us. You’ve both been fine so far. Don’t come apart on me now. We’ve still got to get across that border.”

  She touched his hand on the steering wheel. “Your crew won’t mutiny,” she said.

  Suddenly Nick heard the roar of an airplane engine. It sounded soft at first, then steadily grew louder. It came from behind them. All at once the highway around the Austin was being chewed up by gunfire. Nick turned the wheel first to the right then to the left, zigzagging the car. There was a whoosh as the plane passed overhead, then it turned to the left, climbing for another pass. Nick had been moving at fifty miles an hour. Up ahead he could faintly make out the taillights of a troop truck.

  “How did they know so soon?” Kathy asked.

  Nick said, “Another truck must have found the bodies and radioed in. Since it sounds like an old prop plane, they probably grabbed whatever was flyable. I’m going to try something. I’ve got a hunch that pilot is going strictly by headlights.”

  The plane hadn’t completed its pass yet. Nick switched off the lights of the Austin, then pulled off the highway and stopped. He could hear Mike’s heavy breathing from the back seat. There were no trees or anything he could park under. If he was wrong, they would be sitting ducks. Then he faintly heard the airplane engine. The engine noise grew louder. Nick felt himself beginning to sweat. The plane was low. It zoomed over them and kept dropping. Then Nick saw fire spitting from the front of its wings. From that distance he couldn’t see the truck. But he saw the orange ball of flame roll into the air and he heard the deep thunder of explosion. The plane climbed to make another pass.

  “We’d better sit tight for awhile,” Nick said.

  Kathy had buried her face in her hands. They could all see the truck burning just over the horizon.

  The plane was higher as it made its final pass. It flew past the Austin, then the burning truck, and kept going. Nick moved the Austin slowly forward. He stayed to the side of the highway, driving at under thirty. He kept the lights off. They moved painfully slowly until they approached the burning truck. Bodies were scattered all over the highway and along the sides. Some had already burned black, others were still burning. Kathy kept her face in her hands so she couldn’t see. Mike leaned on the front seat, looking with Nick through the windshield. Nick crisscrossed the Austin back and forth across the highway, trying to get through the area without running over any of the bodies. He made it through, then picked up speed, keeping the headlights off. Up ahead he could see the blinking lights of Shench’ Uan.

  As they drove closer to the city, Nick tried to visualize what the border would be like. It would be senseless to try to bluff their way through. Every soldier in China was probably looking for them. They would have to crash through. If he remembered right, this border was merely a large gate in the fence. There would be a barrier, of course, but on the other side of the gate there would be nothing, at least not until they got to Fan Ling on the Hong Kong side. That would be six or seven miles from the gate.

  They were approaching Shench’ Uan now. It contained one main street, and at the end of it Nick could see a guard rail across it. He pulled over to the side and stopped. There were about ten soldiers milling around the gate, their rifles hung on their shoulders. A machine gun was set up in front of the guard hut. Because of the late hour, the street through town was dark and deserted, but the area around the gate was well lighted.

  Nick rubbed his tired eyes. “This is it,” he said. “We don’t have much in the way of weapons.”

  “Nick.” It was Mike. “There are three rifles on the back seat here.”

  Nick turned in his seat. “Good boy, Mike. They will help.” He looked at Kathy. She was still watching the guard rail. “Are you all right?” he asked.

  She turned to him. Her lower lip was between her teeth, her eyes started to fill with tears. Moving her head from side to side, she said, “Nick, I . . . I don’t think I can go through with it.”

  Killmaster took her hand. “Listen, Kathy, this is the end of it. Once we get through that gate it will be over. You’ll be with John again. You can go home.”

  She closed her eyes and nodded.

  “Can you drive?” he asked.

  She nodded again.

  Nick climbed over to the back seat. He checked the three rifles. They were ancient Russian-made but looked in good condition. He turned to Mike. “Roll down the windows on the left side there.” Mike did it. Meanwhile Kathy slid behind the wheel. Nick said, “I want you to sit on the floor, Mike, with your back against the door.” Mike did as he was told. “Keep your head under that window.” Killmaster untied the shirt-sack from around his waist. He set the four grenades side-by-side between Mike’s legs. “Here’s what you do, Mike,” he said. “When I give you the word, you pull the pin on the first grenade, count to five, then toss it over your shoulder and out the window, count to ten, pick up the second one, and do it again until they’re ah gone. Have you got that straight?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Killmaster turned to Kathy. He put a hand gently on her shoulder. “You see,” he said, “It’s a straight line from here to the gate. I want you to start off in low, then shift to second. When the car is heading straight for the gate, I’ll give you the word. Then I want you to hold the steering wheel steady at the bottom, push the gas pedal to the floor and lay your head on the seat. Remember, both of you, keep down!”

  Kathy nodded.

  Nick stationed himself at the window opposite Mike with the Tommy gun. He made sure the three rifles were within easy reach. “Everybody ready?” he asked.

  He got nods from both of them.

  “All right, then, let’s go!”

  Kathy jerked slightly starting off. She pulled into the middle of the street and started for the gate. Then she shifted into second.

  “You look good,” Nick said. “Now hit it!”

  The Austin seemed to lurch as Kathy pushed down the gas pedal, then it quickly started picking up speed. Kathy’s head went down out of sight.

  The guards at the gate watched, curious, as the car approached them. Nick didn’t want to open fire quite yet. As the guards saw the Austin was picking up speed, they knew what was being tried. The rifles came off their shoulders. Two of them ran quickly for the machine gun. One fired with his rifle, the bullet plinking a star pattern in the windshield. Nick leaned out the window and with a short spray from the Tommy gun cut down one of the guards at the machine gun. More rifle shots came, shattering the windshield. Nick gave two more short sprays, the bullets finding their marks. Then the Tommy gun was out of ammunition. “Now, Mike!” he shouted.

  Mike fumbled with the grenades for a few seconds, then got down to business. They were within ya
rds of the cross-bar. The first grenade exploded, killing one guard. The machine gun started chattering, its bullets thudding like hailstones into the car. A front side window was cut in half and fell out. Nick had Wilhelmina out. He fired, missed, and fired again, dropping one guard. The second grenade exploded, close to the machine gun, but not close enough to hurt those operating it. It chattered away, chewing the car apart. The windshield became fragments, then opened as the last of the glass was shot away. Nick kept firing, sometimes hitting, sometimes missing, until finally all he got was a click when he pulled the trigger. The third grenade exploded near the guard shack, leveling it to the ground. One of the machine-gun operators was hit by something and fell. A tire exploded as the chattering machine gun chewed away at it. The Austin started veering to the left. “Pull the wheel to the right!” Nick shouted to Kathy. She pulled, the car straightened, smashed through the guard rail, shuddered, kept moving. The fourth grenade wiped out a large section of fence. Nick was firing with one of the Russian rifles. Its accuracy left much to be desired. The guards closed in behind the car. The rifles were to their shoulders; they fired at the back of the car. The back window was plinked and starred, with their bullets. They kept on firing even after their bullets could no longer hit the car.

  “Are we through?” Kathy asked.

  Killmaster threw the Russian rifle out the window. “You can sit up, but keep that gas pedal to the floor.”

  Kathy sat up. The Austin started to misfire, then cough. Finally the engine just quit running, the car slowed to a stop.

  Mike had a green tinge to his face. “Let me out,” he cried. “I think I’m going to be sick!” He crawled out of the car and disappeared into the bushes lining the road.

  Glass was everywhere. Nick crawled over to the front seat. Kathy was staring through a window that didn’t exist. Her shoulders started to shake; then she began to cry. She didn’t try to hide the tears, she let them come from somewhere deep inside her. They rolled down her cheeks and dropped from her chin. Her whole body shook. Nick put his arm around her and pulled her close to him.