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“Here, take this map. I have another. Use it to work out what you need to do,” the woman stated.
McCarter folded the map and tucked it under his belt. “Okay. Let’s talk about your people. How many? Where are they and can we get to them without ending up with the local militia coming down on us?”
“The latest report we had said they’re on the run from the military. They located the downed missile before a search party from Guang Lor could get there. They extracted the circuit board and took photographic evidence. But they were spotted and the military pursued them. From what I managed to pick up, there had been a running fight. Hung and his surviving team took refuge in the foothills. Something about a deserted village. It was shelled by the army during one of the strikes against the Uygur. Planes razed it to the ground, the people relocated. In real terms it means many of them were killed and buried in a mass grave.”
“Do they know we’re coming in?”
Anna nodded. “We managed to get a short message through to Loy Hung. He’s our team leader in the area. He understands we have people coming in to help and to collect the evidence because he’s been prevented from delivering it to Hong Kong.”
“The board and the photographs?” McCarter queried.
She nodded and pulled a group of photographs from one of her pockets, handing them to McCarter.
“Loy Hung, Dar Tan and Sammy Cho. They are all that is left of the team. The others died during the escape into the hills.”
“And what about this Major Kang character?”
“He is head of security at the Guang Lor site and for the region. A very ruthless man. He will not have taken this incident well. It will reflect on him personally, so he will be doing everything in his power to regain possession of the board.”
“Okay.” McCarter paused as a thought intruded. He realized it had been niggling away at the back of his mind, kept at bay by more pressing matters, but it was suddenly demanding his full attention. “Anna, the information that came out from Guang Lor said the only reason the U.S. board was used for the trial was that the copies weren’t completed yet?”
“Yes. Why?”
“If we get the original back, that isn’t going to stop Lin Cheung’s development people from finishing what they started. They’ll go right ahead and complete their counterfeit boards, and still have what they want.”
“In other words, they’ll still be on a par with the U.S.”
“Not much use the President waving the genuine board and shouting, ‘We got it back, Beijing.’ All they’ll do is smile and rattle their newly equipped missiles at him and yell, ‘So what?’ They’ll do their best to stop the news leaking out about what they’ve been up to, but in the end they aren’t going to pack up developing their missile system, using technology they stole. And they probably still have other hardware they’ve bought under the counter.”
McCarter leaned back against the bulkhead. He could feel the power of the aircraft vibrating through the metal skin of the fuselage. He focused on the information Anna had given him and the implications of his own thought process and what it meant. Whichever way he turned it around, it looked as though Phoenix Force’s incursion into China was about to have its stay extended and its mission upgraded. Whatever lay ahead, it wouldn’t be a walk in the park. Phoenix Force was going to drop in on a potential minefield of problems just waiting to jump up and bite them.
He paused in his thoughts. There were never any guarantees of an easy time. Stony Man didn’t exist to take on peaceful missions or easy tasks. It was here to handle situations that required on-the-spot-down-and-dirty solutions to ugly scenarios. When in doubt, send out Phoenix Force or Able Team. It was what they did best, and they were the best at what they did. He smiled at his own clichés.
He felt Anna’s eyes on him. She had a wistful smile on her lips, head slightly to one side as she observed him.
“What?” the Briton asked.
“I was just imagining what I’d like to be doing right now if we were back in London. Maybe breakfast in that café near the flat,” Anna told him.
“You just fold those thoughts up and store them away, love. Keep them safe until we get back.”
“Okay. I have something else for you. Loy Hung has a man inside Guang Lor. He’s been established for some months. It’s why we got the information on the circuit board and the downed missile. Hung’s man has also passed him detailed information on the security setup and locations within the site. Could be helpful.”
“Will we be able to depend on this man if we hit the site?”
Anna shrugged. “We can’t say. The last time they spoke, Hung’s man said he was concerned Major Kang might be on to him.”
“Let’s hope he’s okay.”
Anna glanced at her watch.
“David, I’m going to get some sleep. It feels like I’ve been in the air for the last week.”
“You do that. And I’d better go have a chat with the lads. Tell them what a pleasant spot we’re going to drop into.”
He pushed to his feet and made his way along the aircraft to where Manning, James and Encizo were checking equipment.
“Briefing session over?” Manning asked.
McCarter joined them. “Oh, yes. You want the good news or the bad news?”
“What’s the bad news?” Encizo queried.
McCarter couldn’t resist a wide grin. “The bad news is, there’s no good news.”
“I hate it when he gets that smug attitude,” James said.
“He likes to think he has comic timing,” Encizo said.
“I do,” McCarter announced.
“Miss-timing more like,” Manning said.
“I just talked to Anna,” McCarter said. “Her people are on the ground and hiding out, waiting for us to make contact, haul them out of trouble and take this circuit board off their hands.”
He passed the photographs Anna had provided so the team would know Hung and his men.
“These are the people we have to locate and lift out,” the Phoenix Force leader said.
“But?” James asked, waiting for McCarter to drop the bombshell he was keeping to himself.
“Collecting one board isn’t going to make the problem go away. And the problem is that the Chinese will still have the copied version of whatever they stole from the U.S.”
“I feel something’s coming that I’m not going to really want to hear,” Manning said.
“Along the lines of we have to neutralize the missile center,” Encizo guessed.
“And make sure all the stolen technology is destroyed,” James added.
McCarter didn’t respond until he felt three pairs of eyes on him.
“Well, yes, something like that.”
“Let’s take a stroll in the park suddenly turned into a rumble in the jungle,” James said.
“We have to be flexible, chums. This was part of the mission brief so we had to expect it.”
McCarter produced the map Anna had given him. He spread it out, and his teammates leaned in closer as he pointed out the various locations.
“So we concentrate on Anna’s group first?” Encizo asked. “Get them clear before we go take a look at this missile base?”
“That’s the way we run it. Once we have them sorted, we can decide if going on to Guang Lor is feasible.”
“Does Anna have a figure on the kind of resistance we might face if we do try for the base?” Manning asked, tracing routes across the map with his finger.
“We won’t get that information until later,” McCarter admitted. “But Anna’s group has a man on the inside. He’s already passed on some information about the place, so hopefully we’ll have some data.”
“Oh, that will be helpful,” Manning said.
“I do understand the sarcasm,” McCarter stated. “And I wish we had better intel. If we can’t pin it down to numbers, we’re not going to walk in like a bunch of amateurs.”
“Can we have that in writing?”
The question was posed by James and Manning in the same breath.
McCarter glanced at Encizo, who simply shrugged.
Kai Chek Village, Guang Lor, Xinjiang, one day earlier
L OY H UNG CAUGHT the man’s sleeve and pulled him inside, closing the door.
“What is so urgent?”
The man’s face blanked. His gaze wandered the room, in itself an admission he was nervous.
“Kam Lee?”
Lee hung his head, hands nervously toying with the wide straw hat he held.
“Kang…”
“I know about Kang. You have had to deal with him all these months.”
“I think he may have suspicions about me.”
“After all this time? Why?”
Kam Lee shook his head. “A feeling. Loy, I think my time at Guang Lor may be finished.”
“Then we will have to bring you out,” Hung said.
Lee seemed relieved. “I will complete this assignment, then we will do it.”
“So what is you need to tell me?”
“The missile test went wrong,” Lee said. “Something to do with the stabilizing system. It sent the missile off course and it crashed close to the border.”
“My people will have been tracking it,” Hung said. “I haven’t spoken to them during the last couple of days.”
“There is one more thing,” Lee said. “I was nearby when Controller Kwok was talking to Kang. One of the circuit boards on the missile was a stolen one. It came from America.”
“Truly?” Hung asked.
“Yes.”
Hung smiled. “Just what we need to prove what Beijing has been up to.”
“And because of that, Kang will be working hard to get it back,” Lee stated.
“Have they sent out a search party yet?”
“It’s being organized now.”
“Then we don’t have much time,” Hung said. “You are certain about this stolen board?”
“Yes. Orders came from Beijing for the test of the new missile to go ahead immediately. No excuses. The technicians were still working on the copies of the board, and they knew they wouldn’t get them ready in time. Mau Sung fitted one of the stolen boards so there would be no delay. If the test had gone as planned, the board would have been destroyed when the missile hit its target and detonated.”
“We have to get our hands on that board. This is better than we expected,” Hung told him.
“I should return. If I stay longer, someone might notice,” Lee said.
Hung nodded. “You go. I’ll make contact with our team to locate the missile and retrieve the board. If we can clear the area before the search team arrives, we have a chance.”
“Hung, be careful. Major Kang will be leading the search team personally. If he learns of your involvement…”
“Don’t worry. I know all about Kang. His reputation doesn’t alarm me,” Hung replied.
“Be careful,” Lee advised.
Hung waited until Lee was well away from the house. He closed up and made his way out to the rear of the building where a battered panel truck was parked against the wall. He climbed in, started up the vehicle and drove out of the settlement, picking up the dusty road heading north. Once he was clear he took a cell phone from inside his tunic and switched it on. The cell was Tri-Band and worked through a satellite signal. Hung tapped in a number and waited until his call was picked up.
“I’ve just learned about the missile crash. Have you found it?” Hung asked.
“Yes. We know it landed miles off track. We have it on our monitor.”
Hung explained about the stolen circuit board and the need to get their hands on it.
“I’m on my way,” he said. “Get the team moving. If they are close they should be able to reach the missile well before the team from Guang Lor can assemble and take off. If we locate this board, it has to be moved out of the area quickly before Major Kang can pin us down. Make sure that everyone is armed in case Kang does show up.”
T HREE HOURS LATER Hung met up with the group. There were five of them, all armed and ready to move. He parked his truck alongside their vehicle.
“Have you located the missile?” he asked.
Dar Tan, heading the group, nodded. He led Hung across to the team’s 4x4. The rear door was open and one of the team sat over an electronic tracking system.
“Show Hung where the missile is, Sammy.”
Sammy Cho, a thin, young man wearing a faded denims and a baseball cap, indicated the readout screen on his tracking station.
