Noah Wolf Box Set 2

by David Archer

  Chung looked at her for a moment, then began to chuckle. He turned back to Noah. “Can you arrange asylum?” he asked. “I hold the rank of Captain in the Ministry of State Security.”

  Noah looked into his eyes for another few seconds, then said, “Come with me.” He half-carried Sarah up the stairs, and was starting toward the front door when Davidson entered.

  “Everything under control in here?” the soldier asked.

  “Yes,” Noah said. He turned and pointed at Chung. “This man is a captain with State Security. He wishes to defect. You guys know how to handle that?”

  Davidson looked at Chung and his eyes went wide in recognition. He laughed. “Captain Chung Ho-seng? Hell, yeah, I know how to handle it,” he said. “We’ll just dump his ass at the embassy. Trust me, they are going to be thrilled to get their hands on him.”

  “Good, I’ll leave it to you,” Noah said. He started forward again, but Davidson stopped him.

  “You want me to send somebody to get McDermott and the truck to come up here? Doesn’t look like this girl can walk very far.”

  “I can do better than that,” Noah said. He handed his gun to Davidson and turned his back to Sarah, crouching down. She looked at him in confusion for a moment, but then she realized what he was doing and put her arms around his neck. He reached back and hooked his hands around her legs, and lifted her up so she was on him piggyback, his long shirt hanging just low enough to cover her.

  They moved quickly across the estate and through the trees, and reached McDermott after about twenty minutes. Noah let Sarah slide off him into the truck, then climbed in beside her. The rest of the men piled in, and Neil, who had brought up the rear, squeezed in on the other side of Sarah.

  “Hey, little brother,” Sarah said to him, her voice rough and hoarse. “You came too?”

  Neil rolled his eyes at her. “Do you think I would’ve let him come without me? We’re Team Camelot, remember? We don’t leave anybody behind.”

  McDermott drove directly to the US Embassy, and both he and Noah escorted Chung inside to ask for asylum. The embassy’s intelligence officer, a lieutenant named Darnell, got one look at him and nearly fainted. It seemed that Captain Chung had long been on the list of Chinese officers the CIA wanted to get their hands on.

  McDermott shook Noah’s hand, then, and drove away from the embassy quickly. It wasn’t uncommon for American businessmen to visit the embassy from time to time, and McDermott even had a security contract on the building, but he didn’t really want Chinese Intelligence noticing that he had visited it less than an hour after the Tung Li Estate was raided. Thankfully, the overcast sky was getting even darker, so it wasn’t likely too many people were paying attention to the traffic in the streets at that moment.

  The embassy had a small medical clinic, and Sarah was taken into it to be examined and treated. She was shocked when it turned out that she had no burns. When she told the doctor what Xiao had done with the little candles, he explained that the sensation of burning pain was simply her subconscious expectation, magnifying the heat she was actually feeling into something agonizing.

  The needle punctures and the beatings on her feet, however, were very real. Since there was no way to know if the needles had been sterile, the doctor gave her a shot of powerful antibiotics, but her feet would simply need time to recover.

  Between McDermott and Darnell, hasty arrangements were made for a passport and other documents for Sarah. They were printed up in a little room in the basement of the embassy, and one of the secretaries found some clothes that would fit her. They came from a suitcase that had been accidentally left behind by a tourist and never been claimed, and it was given to Sarah as well so that she would have luggage. Even with a private plane, there was little doubt that someone would be watching when they boarded; seeing a young woman climb onto the plane with no luggage might set off alarm bells, especially after the massacre at the Tung Li Estate was discovered.

  An embassy car drove them back to the resort, where Marco and Neil went up to the room to collect their things. Noah used the time to call the pilot of the plane and tell him to file a flight plan for the Kirtland airfield in Colorado. The flight would require a fueling stop in San Francisco, the pilot told him, but they’d be back home within fourteen hours after taking off.

  And then Noah called Allison. The night operator took the message asking for Mrs. Peabody to call him at her earliest convenience, and his phone rang less than two minutes later.

  “Camelot,” Noah said as he answered the encrypted line. “I’ve got her.”

  “About damn time,” Allison replied. “Do me a favor, will you? Don’t let that girl out of your sight anymore. Give her a hug for me and tell her I’ll see her as soon as you guys get home. I’m going back to sleep.”

  Noah put the phone back into his pocket and looked at Sarah, then turned her face toward his and kissed her gently on the lips. She smiled at him.

  “I knew you’d come,” she said softly. “I knew you’d find me.”

  “Yes,” he said. “My world isn’t right if you’re not in it.” He reached down and took her hand into his, then glanced at it. It was her left hand, where he had recently put an engagement ring, but she had left it behind when they had departed for the mission in Thailand. “I almost forgot,” he said. “I’ve got something for you.” He reached into his pants pocket and fumbled for a moment, then pulled his hand out. He held onto hers as he did so, and then slid the ring onto her finger.

  Sarah looked down at it, and tears began to flow down her cheeks. She looked up at him, blinking.

  “Allison was keeping it for you, remember? She caught me before I left to come look for you, and told me to put it back on your finger as soon as I could.”

  Sarah looked back at the ring, then leaned close to Noah and held onto him. The tears that fell needed no words to explain them.

  Neil and Marco came back with their bags, and the driver took off for the airport. They had only gone a few blocks when it suddenly became apparent that something was going on. Several intersections were blocked by police and soldiers, and it was only the diplomatic license plates and markings on the car that allowed them to pass through.

  The driver called in to the embassy and explained what he was seeing. A moment later, the partition between the driver’s compartment and the passenger section slid downward.

  “Mr. Duncan?”

  “Yes,” Noah said.

  “I was just informed, Sir, that an army barricade has been erected around your airplane. It seems the Army is looking for some foreign agents, and they are blocking all private aircraft from being boarded. It’s been suggested that I bring you back to the embassy immediately.”

  Noah looked out the window for a moment, staring at one of the roadblocks as they passed it. “If we go back to the embassy,” he said, “what avenues are there for getting us out of the country?”

  “Not many, I’m afraid,” the driver said. “Unfortunately, our embassy doesn’t get many large packages. Trying to smuggle all of you out would be just about impossible.”

  “Then going back to the embassy would be a very bad idea. Just drive around the city for a bit, while I try to figure out what to do.”

  Sarah was looking up at him, and Noah could see the fear she was holding back. To have gone through all of this only to be trapped in China? Even if they tried to remain in the embassy, sooner or later Chinese sharpshooters would be assigned to try to take them out.

  Noah took out his phone and called McDermott. It took a moment for him to come to the phone, and Noah could hear the concern in his voice when he answered.

  “Duncan? Bit of a mess, isn’t it? I hear tell they’ve got your plane surrounded. What are you going to do?”

  “That’s what I’m working on,” Noah said. “Listen, I noticed on your logo that you have a helicopter and an airplane on it. Do you actually use aircraft?”

  “Well, yeah,” McDermott said, “but mostly just for aerial
surveillance. Construction sites, stuff like that, we fly over periodically just to make sure nobody’s messing with anything. I don’t have anything like your Gulfstream.”

  “What do you have? I’m speaking of an airplane, not a helicopter.”

  “Not much. I’ve got a Piper Cub and an old Cessna 195. Ain’t neither one of them much good. What have you got in mind?”

  “Stealing your Cessna. Where do you keep it?”

  “Shek Kong airfield,” McDermott said. “It’s fueled up and ready to fly, but you may have trouble getting there. You in the embassy car still?”

  “Yes, at the moment. Any suggestions?”

  “Hell, yeah! Tell the driver to take you toward the airfield, but to be sure to go through the Tai Lam Tunnel. When he gets into the tunnel, keep his speed down to around eighty KPH, then keep your eyes peeled for my truck. I’ll see you there.”

  The phone went dead, and Noah relayed the instructions to the driver.

  TWENTY-THREE

  The embassy driver hadn’t even made it off Hong Kong Island before the roadblocks began to appear, so it was going to take a little while to make it to the tunnel. Twice, police officers at roadblocks had pretended not to see the diplomatic markings on the car, but the driver was no fool. Whenever they tried to reach for the door handle, he simply stepped on the gas and shot the car forward. No one was going to fire any shots at the car, he knew, because it would create an international incident. The Chinese were great ones for avoiding international incidents.

  “Boss,” Neil said after a couple of minutes, “any chance you’re going to let us in on what you got in mind?”

  “I have in mind getting us the hell out of China,” Noah said. “They’ve got us blocked from getting to our regular plane, so we need to find another way out of the country. If we can get into McDermott’s Cessna, I’m willing to bet I can fly it under the radar all the way into Vietnam. I’m going to have the Gulfstream take off without us, then divert to Hanoi. The Cessna should have enough range to get us there, and then we can fly on home.”

  Neil and Marco looked at each other, and Marco shrugged. Neil turned back to Noah. “Boss? Can you fly a plane?”

  Noah nodded his head. “Yep,” he said. “My grandfather taught me when I was a kid.”

  Neil’s eyes went wide, but he only nodded. “Oh. Good. That settles that, then.”

  “Relax, Neil,” Noah said. “It’s like driving a car, it isn’t something you forget. And considering the alternative is being stuck in China for the rest of our lives, which wouldn’t be very long, I think it’s the best chance we’ve got.” He had his phone in his hand, and held up a finger to tell Neil to wait while he dialed a number. The call was to the pilot of the Gulfstream, and was very short.

  “This is Ross Duncan,” Noah said. “Under the circumstances, it looks like I’m going to be finding another way home. I think you should go ahead and take off on your flight plan, but if you happen to stop by Hanoi, you might run into some old friends.”

  “I’ve always wanted to visit Hanoi,” the pilot said. “I suppose it would be okay if I made a short stop over there?”

  “That would be absolutely fine,” Noah said. “Have a nice flight.”

  He ended the call and put the phone back into his pocket. “Okay, that part is all set. Now, if McDermott can get us to the plane…”

  Marco, who was sitting beside Neil in the rear-facing middle seat, suddenly grinned. “You mean that McDermott?” He pointed out the back window, and Noah turned in his seat to look.

  Sure enough, McDermott’s truck was right behind the embassy limo. He gave a short wave when he saw Noah looking out the back, then pointed ahead. Noah turned and looked forward, and saw that they were about to enter the two-and-a-half mile long tunnel.

  As soon as they were inside the tunnel, McDermott gave the truck its throttle and whipped out to the right, pulling alongside the limo. As soon as it was beside the rear passenger door, a sliding door in the box of the truck opened and Davidson stood there motioning for them to transfer.

  “Here we go,” Noah said. He opened the passenger door and swung it wide, and Davidson leaned out of the truck and grabbed hold of it to keep the wind from blowing it shut. He looked at Noah, who was climbing out and holding onto the door.

  “Fancy meeting you here,” he yelled over the echoing sound of vehicles in the tunnel. “This is as close as we can get. Send one of the men over first, to help the girl.”

  Noah nodded and pointed at Marco, who immediately got to his feet and started climbing out the door. He managed to keep one foot on the doorsill of the limousine while stretching the other leg out to the truck, then grabbed the side of the truck and pulled himself in. As soon as he had done so, he turned and leaned out again.

  Noah motioned for Sarah, and she nervously stood and held onto him while reaching out for the hand Marco was extending. She let out a squeal when Noah lifted her free of the car, passing her bodily to Marco, who wrapped an arm around her waist and hauled her inside. He set her on the floor, then leaned back out and yelled for Neil.

  Neil, whose legs were the longest part of his body, simply stepped from one vehicle to the other. It took very little assistance from Marco to get him into the truck, and then it was only Noah still on the car. He reached out and grabbed Marco’s arm with both hands and kicked off at the same time, leaping from the car into the truck. Davidson slammed the passenger door shut on the car, then closed the door on the truck.

  “That’s what we do for fun around here,” he said with a grin. “Mac says things might get a little lively at the airfield, so we brought you some toys to play with.” He pointed at a box on the floor of the truck, and Noah saw three of the little silenced submachine guns.

  “Weapons?” Noah asked. “Are we likely to need them?”

  “It’s possible,” Davidson replied. “Shek Kong is used as a military airfield during the week, and not too many people have permission to fly out of it other than on weekends. Because of our security work, we can get away with it, but if their security or any of the soldiers were to see you, things are going to get pretty nasty in a hurry. We operate on the philosophy that it’s better to have a gun and not need it than to need it and not have it.”

  “Yeah,” Marco said, “I operate on the same philosophy. Gimme one of those!”

  Neil had grabbed the box, and passed one to Marco, then started to hand one to Noah, but he shook his head. “Give it to Sarah,” he said. “I’ve got to get into the plane and get it started, or we’ll stand a snowball’s chance of getting out of here alive. Speaking of which, do you have the key to the plane?”

  Davidson chuckled. “You’re talking about an airplane that belongs to a security company, parked at an airport maintained by the Chinese military and patrolled by Hong Kong police. The key is in the ignition switch. Trust me, nobody would bother trying to steal that airplane.”

  Noah looked at him. “That’s exactly what I’m about to do,” he said. “How close can you get us?”

  “We planned this out,” Davidson said. “I’m gonna climb up in the cab with Mac, and when we get to the airfield, he’ll pull right up to the plane. We’ll get out and move the wheel chocks and unstrap it like we always do, and then Mac will actually start it up. Once you hear the engine running, you wait two minutes and then come out fast. We’ll try to have the truck blocking anybody’s view, so hopefully you can get into the plane without being seen, but be ready just in case. While you’re getting into the plane, Mac will hide in the truck. If the three of you keep your heads down, you look enough like Mac from a distance that nobody will pay much attention as you taxi toward the runway. The tower speaks English, so you shouldn’t have any trouble there, just remember to identify the plane as niner-niner-Charlie-Zulu. As soon as you are in the air, I’ll climb back in the truck like I always do and drive away. Sometime tomorrow, we’ll notice that somebody stole our plane and make a report.”

  Noah nodded his head again. “
That sounds like an excellent plan,” he said. “How long before we get there?”

  “About five more minutes,” Davidson said. “The road into the airport is rough, by the way, so you might want to sit down. I’m going up front now.”

  He opened a small sliding door and squeeze through into the cab of the truck, then closed it behind him. A couple of minutes later, the ride did indeed become very rough. It lasted another minute or so, and then the truck came to a stop.

  It was almost 15 minutes later when they heard the Cessna engine, a seven-cylinder radial, thunder into life. It sputtered and backfired for nearly 30 seconds before it finally settled into a smooth idle. Noah was counting seconds in his head, and when he hit 120, he snatched open the side door and bounded out of the truck.

  McDermott smiled as they passed one another, and Noah held the aircraft door open while Sarah, Neil and Marco hurried inside, then climbed in himself and took the right front seat. A headset with microphone was hanging on the control yoke and he put it on. A moment later, Davidson banged on the side of the airplane and waved, then sauntered over to the truck and climbed in behind the wheel.

  Noah keyed the microphone. “Tower, this is Cessna niner-niner-Charlie-Zulu, requesting permission for takeoff.”

  There was a moment of staticky silence, and then a voice came through the headphones. “Niner-niner-Charlie-Zulu, permission granted. You are number three for takeoff, you may taxi to position.”

  “Niner-niner-Charlie-Zulu, Roger,” Noah said. He grasped the throttle and eased it forward slowly, and the airplane began to roll. Using the tail wheel that was connected to the rudder, he steered the airplane across the tarmac and lined it up behind an army airplane and one that belonged to the Hong Kong Aviation Club. The military plane suddenly powered up and started rolling forward, and the club aircraft moved into the next takeoff position.

  As soon as the military plane was in the air, the club plane powered up. Noah gave the Cessna throttle again, and swung the plane around to face into the wind on the runway.