by Tim Blagge
I followed Yam to the next room and it was exactly like Stella’s; same size, same closet and exactly the same furniture.
“Your decorator lacks a little imagination.” I said but the comment seemed to go over Yam’s head. I looked through some drawers, inspected my new wardrobe, tested the extra firm mattress and stood up. “May I go back and talk to Dr. Morton now, Dr. Yam?”
Yam nodded his approval and we went back to the adjoining room where Stella was laying on the bed and it looked like she was fast asleep.
“Dr. Yam, judging from what I see, may we postpone our visit to our work area until tomorrow. It’s been a long trip and we are both exhausted,” I whispered.
Yam nodded his approval and said. “Our evening meal is at 6 PM which is about four hours from now. I’ll return then and escort you there.” With that he walked away.
When I exited Stella’s room, I saw that two guards had been placed outside our rooms; one for Stella and one for me.
-37-
It was Saturday about 9 AM when Jerry’s phone rang. “Jerry, this is Brenda. I’ve been calling Bill’s phone for the last two days and he doesn’t answer. Where is he Jerry, I’m worried.”
“Brenda, meet me at Bill’s house at noon. There’s something I’ve got to tell his grandparents and Joanna. You might as well be there too.” Jerry answered.
At noon Brenda arrived at Bill’s house and Jerry was already inside. Brenda came in, sat down and joined everyone staring at Jerry anxiously waiting for information about Bill.
“First, Bill is OK.” Jerry said. “Second he is in China with Stella. They have been abducted by our own government and to put it bluntly, have been sold into servitude”
“What?!” screamed Brenda.
“Yeah, Bill told me this might happen.” Pops said.
“Start from the beginning Jerry Smith,” Brenda demanded. “I don’t know why I know so little about my boy friend but damn it, you’d better clue me in right now!”
Jerry took the next half hour giving Brenda a concise yet complete analysis of the current situation including the probability of an armed rescue inside China.
Brenda sat there in stunned silence and then in an instant came back to life. “Jerry I want to help. What do you need me to do?”
“Brenda, this is a dangerous mission. Some of us may not come back.” Jerry explained.
“I don’t care.” Brenda declared as she stood up and became very animated. “I love Bill. I have to try to help save him. Jerry, don’t forget I took three years of Chinese in high school and minored in it in college so I am fluent in the language; that’s got to be an asset. Also I ran on the BYU women’s cross country team so I am in good shape. Unless we are leaving tomorrow, you can teach me to handle a gun and give me some hand to hand fighting lessons. And being a smart, attractive, sexy young woman might come in handy along the way too. So it’s settled then. I’m too valuable to leave behind. I’m going!”
“We are having our first planning meeting tomorrow at a place to be determined,” Jerry said. We are looking for a location to meet away from everyone’s office since our little endeavor is technically ‘off the books’.”
“Let’s meet at Chantry Flat. I know a secluded place up there where we can talk in private. Call me with the time and place,” Brenda ordered.
“I’ll relay your suggestion to my people Brenda. I’m very familiar with Chantry Flat too but your participation is strictly up to the guys in the group.
If it works out, I’ll call you with the time and pick you up Brenda,” Jerry said.
The next day was Sunday. Jerry had received permission from Rolf allowing Brenda to join the first planning meeting. They arrived at the Chantry Flat rendezvous point sharply at 10 AM. Within fifteen minutes Rolf, Alvarez and Vaughn were all standing around a picnic table at the far end of the area. After introductions, Brenda signaled to the men to follow her down a narrow path that wound down the mountain to a small stream.
“This is the place. Bill and I spent a lot of time right here in high school.” Brenda said in a melancholy way. “So men, what’s the plan to save Bill.”
“I’m a little confused,” said Vaughn, “Why is she here; because she’s the girl friend? This is just ‘off the charts’ stupid!”
“Agent Vaughn, before you pass judgment on me,” Brenda jumped in. “I am fluent in Chinese, I could outrun you and Alvarez and I’m a woman. By the time we leave, I’ll be proficient with a handgun and be able to hold my own in a fight. If you’d loan me one of your female training agents to give me a crash course in how to be a spy, I promise I will be an asset.”
“OK Brenda, this is your first test,” said Vaughn. “I want you to seduce Agent Alvarez here and I want you to speak Chinese when you do it. By the way, Alvarez is fluent in Chinese as well.”
With that challenge, Brenda rose and sat on the right, next to Alvarez. She whispered something in Chinese into his ear and continued to speak sweetly. She grasped his arm tenderly just above his right elbow and pressed her left breast into his upper arm. She was still speaking softly as she looked lustfully into his eyes. She reached her right hand up to his chin, pulled his head toward her and kissed him passionately.
When the kiss was over, Alvarez looked over at Vaughn and declared, “She passed the first test with flying colors, Agent Vaughn!”
Everyone roared their approval. “OK young lady, you appear to be somewhat skilled and highly motivated,” Vaughn said. “We are scheduled to leave in three weeks. The only people who can stop you now are your parents. Jerry, it’s your job to talk to her parents and tell them how dangerous this mission is. Don’t tell them anything they don’t need to know but make sure they understand that this is a life and death situation.”
Vaughn actually believed that including Brenda on the mission was too risky, so he included the parental approval stipulation thinking that no parents in their right mind would let her go on an operation this dangerous.
Rolf took over and began to inform the group. “We got lucky. From the intel I am getting, Stella and Bill are being held in a scientific compound in a town called Nantong. Nantong is located on the Chang River about a hundred clicks Northwest of Shanghai so it is near the coast. As I see it now, we will need three teams to approach the compound from different directions. Get as many Chinese looking and speaking men as you have available and are willing to participate in this mission.”
“Felix, I hope you have men in the area that can help. We will need transportation to and from the local area. I was thinking some kind of fishing vessel could get us dropped off near Nantong and pick us up. We will need some other kind of transport to take us from Southern Japan to a rendezvous point with the fishing vessel; and some way to get us back to Japan. Plus we’ll need some inflatable rafts and other basic equipment. Can you arrange all that?”
Alvarez and Vaughn looked at each other and almost in unison said “No problem.”
“OK, we have much more logistical planning and information to gather if we are going to make our mission successful,” Rolf added. “I will let you all know the location of the next meeting. We will go over the final strategy and each of us will begin training for our specific part of the plan. Brenda, as soon as you get permission from your parents; your training will begin and I promise you it will be the most intense experience of your life.”
“Rolf, I’m twenty two, I make my own decisions, I’m committed and I promise I won’t let you down!” Brenda said with the tough determination of a highly motivated, if not naïve participant.
With that the group started walking back up the trail with Alvarez and Vaughn walking together. “Marvin I told my boss that I was heading up this operation,” Alvarez said.
“Felix, I told my boss that I was heading up the operation too.” Vaughn said. “But it appears to me we have the best man for job in charge. I’m not sure who Rolf is, but his thought processes and skill set are just what we need. I’m starting to think we might act
ually pull this off.”
Rolf heard Vaughn’s and Alvarez’s conversation and said “Men, we are going to be bringing Bill and Stella home!” He said it in Chinese.
The next day Rolf made a phone call. Stella had given him Forest Buckholder’s direct line in case he needed it.
Buckholder came immediately on the line. “Mr. Buckholder, I am Rolf Morton, Dr. Stella Morton’s brother. She gave me your direct number. I am not sure if you know yet but our government has traded Bill Burton and Stella to the Chinese for a reduction in the debt we owe them.”
“Rolf, I didn’t know. How did the government justify that?”
“It was some sort of Presidential Executive Order, Privilege or Mandate signed by the President himself so he is the one calling the shots.” Rolf answered.
“Nothing surprises me anymore Rolf. How can I help?”
“I hope we can trust you Mr. Buckholder.” Rolf said.
“Rolf you can, absolutely.
“We are planning a rescue operation. Here’s how I think you can help.” Rolf began. The two men discussed the upcoming operation and worked out ways in which Forest Buckholder could be of assistance.
“Thanks Forest, I’ll be in touch when we get closer to the time of the rescue.” Rolf hung up.
Jerry went to Brenda’s house to meet with her parents and he felt an uneasy anguish. “Hi, Jerry,” Brenda said as she opened the door, “Come on in, my parents are waiting to talk to you.”
When Jerry walked in, Brenda’s parents looked at him like he was the Grim Reaper. Everybody exchanged pleasantries. Brenda’s mom spoke first.
“Brenda has told us about your plan to rescue Bill. It sounds incredibly dangerous. What chance of success do you think you have?”
“We have assembled the best, most experienced team possible, Mrs. Harris,” Jerry answered as convincingly as possible. “Our mission chief is Rolf Morton, Bill’s associate Stella’s brother. I worked with him during the kidnapping of Joanna and as our mission went on, he proved to me to be the best field commander I’ve ever served under. He’s got a good handle on our goal, got a great plan and is preparing all of us to accomplish our mission with a minimum of casualties.”
“So you expect casualties, Jerry?” Brenda’s father asked.
“Mr. Harris, I am sorry but I cannot guarantee any outcome and casualties are a very real possibility.” Jerry explained. “If we fail and are captured, we will all spend the rest of our lives in a Chinese prison camp. Being killed might be a preferable outcome. But let me give you my honest assessment of our mission; we will not fail!”
“My people have said that without your permission, Brenda will not be part of our team,” Jerry continued, “so the decision is yours to make.”
Brenda’s parents left the room to talk.
“Damn it Jerry, why did you have to make it sound so dangerous,” Brenda asked.
“Brenda, because it is!”
About ten minutes later Mr. and Mrs. Harris came back into the room, sat down and gave us their decision.
“Brenda, if your father and I had our way; you’d be married to that good Mormon boy back in Utah. But we realize you are your own person. You are an independent, intelligent young woman. We also realize we can’t protect you from everything that may come at you in this world we live in. So if this is something you feel you have to do, you have our blessing.”
Brenda jumped up and screamed thank you and hugged her parents. “Don’t worry Mom. Don’t worry Dad. When I come back, we will all celebrate, including you, Bill, Jerry and the whole neighborhood.” Brenda looked at Jerry and said. “Let’s hit it dude, we’ve got years of training to cram into this head in three weeks!”
-38-
Stella and I sat by ourselves in a corner of the large cafeteria and were having our evening meal. We usually arrived late so most of the other people working at the facility were already done and gone. We felt this reduced our chance of any of our conversation being overheard.
Our guards always accompanied us to the dining room but stayed near the entrance about one hundred feet from the table we usually occupied.
“Stella, it’s been only two weeks that we’ve been here and I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’m getting sick of Chinese food,” I whispered
“Me too,” Stella answered, “and these designer clothes they gave us to wear everyday aren’t the most flattering attire I’ve ever worn either. But I’m hoping we don’t have to stay here much longer.”
“This place is impregnable and we are in China,” I said. “They won’t even tell us what part of China. Stella our only hope is to design the anti-gravity device and hold them to the President’s promise that we’ll get out and be rich.”
“He also said we’d be treated like kings.” Stella said. “Look around, is this how a king would live? He was willing to tell us anything to have us go along with his plan.”
“Do you really believe they will release us Bill?” Stella added, “The Chinese will have two trillion dollars invested in us. In the end they will want to squeeze every nickel out of us they can. Unless we get rescued, we’re here for life.”
“That’s what Pops said too” I added. “Right now though, I’m worried about the little guy we are working with. It only took him a week to suspect that we were working on Toaster instead of Atlas. How long do you think we can work here before they figure out we are leading them down the wrong path?”
“Not long; a month or two, maybe,” Stella answered.
“Stella, to be honest, sometimes I wonder about what waits for us back home; just more people trying to capture us and steal our secrets. Maybe being held here is the lesser of a bunch of evils.”
“Don’t think that way Bill. Your device will be completed, and under our direction. We will make sure the technology gets distributed in the fairest way and benefits the most people. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Stella I wish I had your optimism.”
“Bill, I have a feeling that Rolf is coming for us. I don’t know when but it will be soon and he won’t come alone.”
Come on women’s intuition; don’t fail me now, I thought.
-39-
For twenty consecutive days, Brenda trained and studied twelve hours a day. Each day she spent three hours with a female CIA agent learning covert spy tactics, two hours with Jerry learning close-quarter combat and two hours at the shooting range learning to shoot and understand different weapons. She finished her day with Agent Alvarez where they both practiced their Chinese. On her way home she stopped at the same cross country track she ran on in high school and jogged at least five miles.
Near the end of her twenty-first day Brenda’s phone rang. It was Rolf.
“Brenda, I understand your training is going great. All your trainers are saying that you are the most motivated student they have ever worked with. Let’s hope you are ready because the training is over. It’s time to take action!”
The entire team met at the CIA building in Los Angeles on Thursday morning with the gear they were instructed to bring.
“OK people,” Rolf announced. “We are leaving in ten minutes. Get into the vans. We will be traveling to LAX where we will board a military transport for a six hour flight to Hilo, Hawaii. After refueling, we will fly another nine hours to Nagasaki, Japan on the Island of Kyushu. From there we will board a Japanese container ship for our 400 mile trip across the East China Sea toward Shanghai. This leg will take about 11 hours. I hope none of you gets seasick because I understand that the East China Sea is a little choppy. I will give you more information in route. Let’s move out!”
Most of the team slept on the first leg of the trip. Brenda went to sleep as soon as she sat down. Three weeks of intense physical and mental training had taken its toll.
The team leaders, Rolf, Jerry, Vaughn and Felix Alvarez stayed awake and reviewed the plan over and over. Vaughn spoke to the team leaders. “Just before we left, I heard some scuttlebutt. Rumor has it that
the Chinese are dragging their feet on forgiving the first trillion dollars of the debt and the President is furious. He is sending the Secretary of State to Beijing to find out what’s going on.”
“I heard the same thing,” Alvarez said. “I hope the President gets paid before we complete our mission. It could be a little difficult for him to collect after that.”
When the team got to Hilo, everyone went into the terminal to eat.
“You’d better enjoy the meal here people. It may be the last decent food you’ll get for a while,” Rolf said as we walked into the restaurant.
After everyone ate and the plane refueled, it was time to complete the second leg of the journey.
This time Jerry announced. “Get some rest and let that meal digest a little. In exactly four hours we review everyone’s assignment and what you can expect on our mission.”
Four hours later, the instruction began. Each of the three teams was briefed separately.
Agent Alvarez gathered his team around him. “OK, men and Brenda; This is the last review session of our team’s role in the rescue so pay close attention and ask questions if there is anything you don’t understand.”
“In about four hours we will land in Nagasaki.” Alvarez continued. “From there we will board a Japanese container ship bound for Shanghai. The container ship will rendezvous with a fishing boat we have secured and we will all board. About one in the morning, this vessel will drop the other two teams near their destinations outside of Nantong. Those teams will go ashore using an inflatable raft. Our team will stay with the fishing boat and it will be moored it at a dock which is near the central city of Nantong. After we secure the boat we will exit and start walking.”
“Our weapons will be stored in old suitcases that we will carry,” Alvarez continued. “This way we will look like normal people getting home from a commercial fishing trip carrying our dirty laundry. The briefing continued through the end of the mission and when it was finished, it was repeated again and again.