China Star

by Maurice Medland

  She feebly shook her head. “You did what anyone would do. No one would believe it.”

  “You’re not going to let me off that easy. I didn’t want to believe it. I was in it for the money, just like you said. All I wanted to do was take you home and pick up a check.”

  She worked at a smile, still shaking.

  “You take me home, and I’ll see that you get it.”

  “If we get out of here, this one’s on the house.”

  Who was he kidding? There was no way out of this. Charlie Shen lay unconscious on the deck a few feet away. Bing and his friend had been particularly brutal to a Chinese they saw as a traitor, even though he’d been born in the U.S. He looked at the bulkhead that separated the two compartments. Sam was in with them now. Matt had heard all the Chinese epithets for black people. He could only imagine what they’d do to a black man, someone they thought of as not quite human. He hadn’t heard a sound coming through the bulkhead and didn’t expect to. Sam was the strongest man he’d ever known, but he hoped he wouldn’t try to be a hero. They’d all agreed they’d take just enough to make spilling their guts convincing.

  He rubbed his face. There was no way out, but at least he had reason to hope there’d now be a naval escort of the command and control ship on its way to the launch site. Hopefully, someone would see it. The only thing he could do now was reinforce what they’d all said.

  “Sorry it’s turned out this way,” he said in a normal voice.

  “I still think the U.S. Navy will rescue us,” Beth said, picking up on it.

  “Nice thought,” Matt said, “but they think we’re dead. The truth is we’ve had it. This mission’s been a total failure. I’m ashamed to admit, I cracked. I told them everything.”

  “Me too,” Beth said. “I sang like a bird. I just couldn’t take it.”

  “Poor Charlie,” Matt said. “I wonder if he did any better.”

  “I doubt it,” Beth said. “Not from the looks of him, anyway.”

  “Sam’s a strong guy,” Matt said. “He’ll never give in.”

  After a few minutes, the grating sound of a chain rattled through the latch. The door opened, and Sam came careening over the coaming. Wrists bound, he slammed against the opposite bulkhead, fell back, and collapsed on the deck. The door clanged shut behind him. He lay still, not moving. Matt hurried over to him.

  “Sam. Sam! Are you okay?”

  Sam’s eyes opened. He winked at Matt.

  “Sorry, Skipper. The little bastards were too much for me. I spilled my guts.”

  Matt let out the breath he’d been holding. “Don’t worry about it, Sam. The rest of us didn’t do any better.”

  A soft moan rose from Charlie. Matt and Sam went over to him.

  Charlie’s eyes fluttered, then opened. He started, not sure where he was. He looked at Matt, then at Sam.

  “Anyone get the number of that truck?”

  “It was in Chinese,” Sam said.

  “How do you feel?” Matt said.

  “Rough.” Charlie stuck out his swollen tongue and moved it around as if to see if it still worked. “Any water in here? I think they boiled it all out of me.”

  “No,” Matt said. “I tried to get some for Beth when they brought her back.”

  Charlie swallowed and tried to moisten his cracked lips.

  “What time is it?”

  “I don’t know,” Matt said. “They took my watch when they put on the electrodes. I think it’s close to dawn.”

  “What do we do now?” Charlie said.

  Matt hesitated. Now that Captain Chen had the information he wanted, that question answered itself. As soon as their monitors heard enough to be convinced of their confession, it would be the agreed upon bullet in the back of the head and a short trip off the fantail of the destroyer. He could see their weighted bodies drifting down into the depths of the South China Sea, bubbles billowing out of their mouths, hair shimmering until all light was gone. It was the same picture he’d had of the man they’d picked up off the raft, the one who’d tried to kill him. He couldn’t get it out of his mind.

  “I don’t know. Everybody just get some rest, try to restore yourselves. Sleep if you can.”

  He maneuvered his way back to where Beth lay. He wasn’t sure why; he just wanted to be near her. There wasn’t much time left. After a while, he heard the sound of Charlie’s heavy breathing and Sam’s snoring.

  “I don’t get it,” Beth said in a whisper, staring up at the overhead.

  “Get what?” Matt whispered back.

  “Where my cousin is, where my uncles are.”

  “I got a briefing on your family from the CIA. Your cousin heads up the largest tech company in China. One uncle’s a billionaire in Hong Kong, another’s a top general-”

  “Not just a general. The general. He’s vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, the top-ranked military officer in the country. He reports directly to the president of China. One word from him and this ship we’re on would be doing somersaults to get us back.”

  “Why do you think he’s been so quiet?”

  “I don’t know, but there’ll be hell to pay when he finds out what these goons have done. Sinking your ship, killing everyone, torturing us.”

  “How can he not know? Did it ever occur to you that your relatives may be in on it?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “Think about it. Your cousin’s neck is on the line to get that thing launched. If they’re going to use it to win a war, the general has to have it. I don’t know what connection the money uncle could have, but there may be one. They can’t have you blowing the whistle. Maybe it was your cousin who planted those documents.”

  “That’s absurd. My family worships the ground I walk on, especially my cousin. He’d never allow me to be thrown in jail and tortured.”

  “The stakes are pretty high. You may be expendable.”

  Beth’s trembling resumed. She rolled away from him. “That’s a terrible thing to say.”

  Matt placed his hand on her thin upper arm. It was the only comfort he could offer. Gradually, her shaking subsided. She fell into a fitful sleep, breathing softly, trembling intermittently. He told himself to get some rest and try to pull himself together. He had no idea what he’d do when they came for them, but he’d have to think of something. He closed his eyes and drifted off into a tortured sleep.

  The rattle of a chain through the door woke him. He had no idea how long he’d been asleep. The door swung open, and Sergeant Li stepped over the coaming.

  “Up. Everyone up,” he said, motioning with his assault rifle.

  Matt helped Beth to her feet. She couldn’t have slept long, but she looked better. Sam helped Charlie up. Corporal Wu took up station behind them, and Sergeant Li led the way out. Matt heard the faint whine of helicopter turboshafts warming up in the distance. They climbed the ladder to the main deck and blinked into the early morning light. The sun was just coming up, a thin red line on the horizon. A helicopter sat idling on the fantail of the destroyer, side door open, rotors spinning. It was another Z-8, identical to the one he’d shot down with the Stinger. Sergeant Li motioned them toward it.

  So. Captain Chen had reneged on his promise not to torture Beth and the others, and now it looked like he was going to renege on the bullet in the back of the head they’d agreed on. They were going to fly them out over the horizon, and once they were out of sight of the destroyer, they’d push them out the door. If their captors were in a generous mood, they’d be shot first.

  Matt elbowed Sam. “When I give you the nod, create a diversion, anything.”

  The four pulled themselves into the helicopter as best they could with their wrists bound and took seats on the bench, facing forward. Corporal Wu got in and sat facing them on the opposite bench, rifle cradled in his arms. Sergeant Li closed the door and waved the pilot off.

  The helicopter lifted off and flew straight ahead, on the same course as the ship. Matt looked behind h
im. Zhuhai was slicing through green water at what appeared to be flank speed, white waves peeling out from the bow. He moved his hands closer to his belt. Once the helicopter was out of sight of the ship, Sam would create a diversion and Matt would retrieve the pistol. With Corporal Wu subdued and Matt’s pistol to the head of the pilot, they might at least have a chance. It was a long shot. The pilot was talking into his helmet. He could alert the ship instantly, and Zhuhai could blow them out of the sky with a missile. But it was the only chance they had.

  Within minutes, the ship was out of sight and the helicopter was flying over open water. Matt braced himself, his muscles as tense as a steel spring waiting to recoil. Corporal Wu sat looking past them, blinking into the bright light, playing with a mole on his cheek. What was he waiting for? It made no sense to do something this risky until Wu made a move. Matt looked at Sam and shook his head almost imperceptibly. Wait.

  What seemed like an hour went by with not so much as a glance from Corporal Wu. Where were they taking them? Based on the position of the sun they were flying toward the coast of China, in the direction of Macau or Guangzhou.

  Matt shifted in his seat. More time passed, he couldn’t tell how much. The helicopter began to slow. He tensed. This was it. The pilot would go into a hovering position while Corporal Wu did his work. He wasn’t sure why they’d waited this long, but it was probably good. Any helicopter that flew over water would have a life raft. By now they’d be out of range of Zhuhai, and they were that much closer to land.

  Not taking his eyes off Corporal Wu, Matt inched his fingers under his belt. Beth pressed her elbow into his ribs and nodded downward. He followed her gaze. The white wake of a large ship spread out across the sea. The curved wakes of smaller ships flowed out around it. From the air, it appeared to be a battle group. The little armada was on a southerly course, steaming directly toward them.

  Matt motioned for Sam to look down. The helicopter began its descent toward the larger ship. Closer now, the vessel looked like a container ship. It had to be the CCS Beth had told him about. As they descended, the ships surrounding it came into focus. Two PLA Navy frigates and a destroyer, riding shotgun. Closer now, the hull number of the ship on the port side came into view. Five-forty-one. The ship on the starboard side bore the hull number 540. He knew them. Huaibei and Huainan, both Jiang Wei-class frigates.

  The destroyer bringing up the rear looked familiar too. The bow came out of the water, and he saw the number 112. She was the Harbin, a Luhu-class destroyer. He knew her, too. He’d played hide and seek with them all, just as he had Zhuhai. Based on the course Zhuhai was on, she was probably on her way to take up the forward position, completing the screen. With the destroyer traveling at flank speed, the two should intercept shortly.

  His bluff had worked about the naval escort, but he had no idea why they were being taken to the command and control ship. It made no sense, but he was grateful for the reprieve.

  “I told you,” Beth said. “It’s my cousin, James. I knew he’d come through.”

  Matt stared down, transfixed. There was no more beautiful sight than a formation of ships at sea. The sky was a bright, incandescent blue. Low-flying cumulus clouds billowed out like cauliflower against the sky. The morning sun cast a path of diamonds across a clear blue ocean. A band of seagulls floated behind the armada, sunshine glistening off white wings. The stunning sight, combined with the realization that they weren’t going to die, choked him up.

  The pilot circled around the armada, approached from the rear, and began his descent over the command and control ship. Matt stared down, awed by the size of it. The ship had to be 700 feet long with a displacement of 40,000 tons or more, the size of an Iowa-class battleship. The name painted on the fantail came into view. Zenith, just as Beth had said. The Z-8 lowered itself over the white circle painted on the after deck and settled down with a sigh. The engine throttled down, and the door slid open. Corporal Wu motioned them out with his rifle.

  Matt came out first. He ducked his head and caught a glimpse of a feather, the slight wake of a periscope, trailing Huaibei on the port side. A diesel-electric boat. The Chinese had a few nuclear-powered subs, but a nuke would be running deeper than that. There was probably another sub trailing Huainan on the starboard side. Good. The more the better. It would be hard for the U.S. Navy to miss that much activity.

  A middle-aged Chinese man wearing a business suit met them at the helipad. A security badge dangled from a chain around his neck.

  “I’m Wong, aide-de-camp to Senior Colonel Lao Jintao.”

  Beth almost mobbed the man. “Jimmy? I mean James? James Lao of CAT? He’s here?”

  Wong didn’t appear to approve of Beth Anglicizing his boss’s name. He dipped his head in a curt nod.

  “Thank God,” Beth said. “Now we’ll get some things straightened out.”

  Wong motioned for them to follow as if he wanted to get them out of sight quickly. He led the way down a narrow passageway between rows of deck containers, toward the superstructure of the ship. The containers were phony, made of plywood and painted gray to look like steel, just as Beth had said. Corporal Wu brought up the rear, rifle at the ready. A handful of crewmen on deck stopped what they were doing and stared at the group of prisoners, then quickly looked away.

  Wong stepped into the superstructure and motioned for them to stop. A young Chinese security guard gave them a hurried pat-down with a disgusted look on his face, then motioned for them to walk through the frame of a metal detector. Matt let the others go through first. This would be the first test of just how undetectable the pistol hidden in his briefs was. The alarm beeped. Before the security guard could reach him, Matt pointed to his belt buckle. Grimacing from the pain of his bindings, he awkwardly pulled the belt off. He walked through the second time without incident. The guard stepped back, looking relieved that he wouldn’t have to touch him. He snorted and waved his hand.

  “They stink, but they’re clean,” he said in Mandarin.

  Wong didn’t smile. “Please follow me. I must ask you to speak to no one.”

  With Corporal Wu bringing up the rear, Wong led them up two levels into the superstructure of the ship, then down a passageway with offices on both sides. He herded them through a wooden door into a small room and left them alone with Corporal Wu.

  “Allow them to speak to no one,” Wong said in Mandarin. He pulled the door closed behind him.

  Matt glanced around, trying to get his bearings. They were on the second deck of the superstructure, on the starboard side of the ship. The room they were in appeared to be a small anteroom adjacent to an office. Through the porthole, he could see the frigate Huainan cutting through the water alongside the ship, throwing up spray. Beth seemed nervous and excited. The door to the adjacent office was open a crack.

  He backed up a step and opened it another inch with the heel of his boot. Leaning back, he caught a glimpse of a tall, slender Chinese man in a business suit standing behind a dark wooden desk. He looked to be in his early thirties or so and had the bearing of someone used to being in charge. He was engaged in an animated discussion in English with someone Matt could hear but couldn’t see. From the man’s accent and tone of authority, it might be the Russian captain Beth had mentioned. While she fidgeted and Corporal Wu stared at the Huainan racing alongside the ship, Matt inched backward, closer to the door.

  “. . . and now here’s another one,” the man with the Russian accent was saying. “First you, not an hour ago, and now these people. I don’t like unscheduled helicopter landings on my ship.”

  “That’s not your concern, Captain.”

  “The bloody hell it’s not. With the rocket fuel we’re carrying and a deck load of wooden containers, all it takes is one mishap.”

  “You forget your place, Captain. I’m in charge here.”

  “No, Senior Colonel, you’re not. You’re only in charge of the launch. I’m responsible for the safe operation of the ship. Which brings me to another point. Wh
y the sudden naval escort? We’re supposed to be launching a simple communications satellite, not going to war.”

  “Normal precautions. The area we’re sailing through around Singapore is well known for pirates.”

  “Pirates? You can’t be serious. A ship this size has nothing to fear from a handful of pirates in an inflatable boat. And even if we did, don’t you think two frigates, two destroyers, and two submarines are a bit much?”

  “Again, that’s not your concern, Captain.”

  “It is my concern. If the ship’s in any danger, I have a right to know.”

  “The ship’s in no danger, I assure you.”

  There was a pause.

  “All right. You can have your naval escort if it makes you happy, but I don’t like the way these people are being treated. Herded off the helicopter like convicts. Who are they?”

  “They’re my guests.”

  “With their hands tied, and a gun at their back? From what I saw, they don’t appear to be enjoying your hospitality.”

  “As you said, your concern is with the operation of the ship.”

  “The safe operation of the ship. I won’t have people being herded around at gunpoint on a ship loaded with kerosene and liquid oxygen. One stray bullet and the whole thing could go up.”

  “You’ve made your point, Captain.”

  “You can easily restrict them from sensitive areas, that’s up to you. Without the proper security badges and uniform, they can’t go anywhere, but they’re to be untied and given food and water and a decent place to sleep. There are no prisoners on my ship unless I say so.”

  “Very well, Captain. But there’s one thing I want to make absolutely clear. No one other than myself and my aide is to speak to them. Under any circumstances. That includes you.”

  Matt’s brain went into overdrive. This was the third time he’d heard that in the five minutes he’d been aboard. Why so adamant about keeping them quiet? There could only be one reason. Lao was the only one outside of Captain Chen who knew what they’d “confessed” to and didn’t want anyone else to know. Beth was in for a big letdown. Her cousin hadn’t brought them there to save them. He’d brought them there to verify for himself who Matt had told and to keep them from talking to anyone else until the launch was over. Once it was, he’d have them killed.