But as he listened, Rolfe felt a surge of hope, the tune being hummed was familiar, and even the slow, slouching steps could not be a piece of his imagination.
He trembled with suppressed excitement. Major Ling, he breathed, it had to be! And that meant that here in the village at least, all was well.
Opposite to where he crouched in the doorway was a high white wall, and as the other man crossed in front of it, Rolfe saw the familiar stooped shoulders, the long legs and the strange, shambling gait. It was like a dim shadow, immediately swallowed up by the darkness as soon as it had passed the white wall. The shape moved carelessly and with a confidence born of familiarity with this very street.
Rolfe stepped out into the road. “Ling? Major Ling? Is that you?”
The humming stopped and he heard the scrape of feet as the man turned round with a sharp intake of breath.
For one terrible moment Rolfe thought he had made a mistake, and half-expected the crash of shots, and the searing shock of bullets hitting his body, but instead, a soft voice called out, “Captain! Well this is a surprise! Where did you come from?”
Rolfe groped his way towards him, impatient to be going to the hospital. “Just swam ashore,” he answered, aware of the incredulous sound of his explanation. “I came back here at once!”
“But your ship, Captain! Where is it?” The teeth gleamed eerily.
“Gone! Out to sea!” He shook aside the questions and grabbed Ling’s arm impatiently. “The hospital, are they all safe there? I’d like to go there right away, if I can!”
Ling laughed softly. “Certainly, Captain, they are quite safe, and I am on my way there myself. I shall now have the additional pleasure of your company!” He touched Rolfe’s arm. “But do not talk. I must be sure to hear my sentries if they call out. I do not wish to be shot by my own men!”
They turned into an even darker alley, which was quite unknown to Rolfe, but as he was about to question Ling’s judgement, a sharp challenge rapped out of the darkness. Ling called back some unintelligible words, and taking Rolfe’s arm, he guided him between the upended shapes of two wagons, from behind which he could see several prone riflemen. He forgot them at once, as the corrugated iron roof of the hospital rose above him. No wonder he didn’t recognize the route, this was the back entrance. Along the bottom edge of the ill-fitting door he saw the hard light of the pressure lamp, and at that moment it was the most welcome sight in the world.
Ling stood back to allow him to enter, and with something like shy excitement, Rolfe opened the door and stepped, half-blinded, into the little room.
His words of welcome died on his lips, and an ice-cold shock stabbed at his heart, until he reeled dazedly on his feet. Facing him across the table was a short, brutal Chinese soldier, his automatic rifle trained on Rolfe’s stomach, and his tiny, slitted eyes unwavering in terrible concentration. As he spun round to face Ling, he knew then how miserable was his failure.
Like the little soldier, Major Ling was dressed in the plain brown uniform, with its red stars of Communist China.
Ling eyed him impassively, his shoulder resting against the door, in an attitude of bored detachment. There was nothing slack about the pistol in his fist, or the two soldiers at his back.
He smiled sympathetically. “So sorry you fell into the trap, Captain!”
Rolfe swallowed hard, fighting back the feeling of shame and defeat. “Trap?” he repeated wearily, “what trap?”
“The trap of the night! As you say in your country, ‘All cats, look alike in the dark’.” He glanced down at his uniform. “And I suggest that if you had seen my change of appearance you would not have hailed me with such a welcome in your voice!” He snapped a brief order, and then smiled apologetically. “A mere formality, Captain. My men are going to search you!”
Rolfe stood helplessly while the two soldiers ran over his clothing, their rough hands jerking at his pockets, as if he were already dead. I might just as well be, he cursed, as he watched the soldiers lay his compass down on the table. What a fool I’ve been! I’ve thrown my life away for nothing!
“A compass?” Ling smiled blandly. “A little unusual? But then, you say you swam ashore?” He waited for an explanation, his dark eyes watchful.
Rolfe’s brain began to whirl. If he told them about the Wagtail’s rendezvous, it was as good as signing a death warrant for the ship and everyone in her. “I was in action with two of your landing craft,” he said slowly, his hatred for this man helping to overcome his feeling of defeat. “I was blown overboard by an explosion, and,” he shrugged, “the ship carried on without me. She had no alternative under the circumstances!” It sounded a stupid story, but he stared defiantly at the impassive face, waiting for the challenge.
Ling nodded thoughtfully. “Then you swam ashore? Most interesting, Captain, and very unfortunate for you. However,” he continued briskly, “it is a fortune of war, and at the moment, a most helpful solution to one of my problems!”
“You said that the Feltons were safe! What have you done to them?”
As if reading the menace in his eyes, the soldiers moved closer to him, and he became aware of their sickening stench and coarse, brutal features. They were not like the islanders or the Chinese he had seen in Hong Kong. They were the raw material from the mainland, swept up from the vast reserves of the peasant masses for service in the army. Their blank, unintelligent faces showed no interest or feeling, and their hard eyes merely mirrored an almost animal instinct.
“They cannot understand what you are saying, Captain.” Ling followed his gaze. “But they make good soldiers. Cheap to run and easy to replace!” He laughed mockingly. “And as for your two friends, I was not lying. They are uncomfortable, perhaps, but quite safe!”
Rolfe clenched his fists. “If you’ve harmed that girl I’ll see that you’re paid back, if it’s the last thing I ever do!”
Ling slipped his gun into the holster and patted it. “It would be! Now follow me. We have much to do!”
He pushed open the door of the surgery and with a gun at the base of his spine, Rolfe followed him.
Judith Felton and her brother were sitting on the bench at the far side. Their hands were behind them, and even as he stared, Rolfe saw the ends of the rope which pinned them against the supports to the roof. Felton leaned back against the wall, his eyes closed, the distorted side of his face clashing horribly with the other half, which remained still and pale.
Judith sat unmoving on the edge of the bench, her head low, and the mass of gleaming hair falling down across her shoulders. She was still wearing the patched dress, and Rolfe felt his throat tighten, as he saw the stains on the cloth and the bruise on her brown arm. She looked so small and alone that he felt a wave of fury sweeping over him. I’ll get her out of this somehow, he swore.
“Visitor for you!” Ling snapped sharply, and Rolfe stepped forward, ignoring the soldiers and turning his back on Ling’s amused stare.
Judith hadn’t moved, and very gently he put his hand under her chin to tilt her face. “Judith,” he whispered, “are you all right?”
For a second her lithe body twisted with a sudden violence to get away from his hand, and then as she looked up at him, her terror-filled eyes widened with amazement and hope, which like a brief flame died away, as she looked over his shoulder at the others. Her dry lips moved, “Justin, you’ve come back! You came back, just as you promised!” A tear passed down her cheek and she bit her lip cruelly. “Thank you for trying, Justin!”
Felton was watching them without expression or emotion. “So they got you too, eh?” He laughed harshly. “These are my friends! And Ling there has turned out to be one of the people I’ve been looking up to all these years!”
Ling sat on the edge of the operating table, his head glossy under the swinging lamp.
“That will do! I’ve a lot to do before the morning, and it will be much easier if you all co-operate!” He eyed each one of them separately. “I am sorry it has to be like
this, but I am afraid that we are too busy to be concerned with small, individual problems!”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Rolfe’s voice was trembling with fury. “Stop talking in riddles and come to the point!”
Felton strained forward, the rope pulling at his wrists. “He wants me to confess!” His good eye gleamed wildly. “Confess to being a spy for the Western powers!” He lowered his head, suddenly weary. “Me, a spy! After all I’ve done to help the spread of Communism amongst these people in Santu. Now I’m a spy for the imperialists!” Something like a sob broke from his lips. “The man I’ve loathed the sight of all these years, suddenly turns out to be the representative of the new China! What a ruddy laugh!” His head jerked back, as without apparently moving from the table Ling reached out and struck him across the mouth.
At that moment Rolfe lunged forward, his hand closing on Ling’s wrist while he groped wildly for the pistol in his belt. As they toppled over on to the floor, Rolfe gasped aloud with pain, as a rifle butt struck him savagely in the back. As he twisted round to face his new attacker, the other soldier jumped across his shoulders, forcing him to the floor, with the others on top of him.
For a moment they rolled in a tangled mass of gasping bodies, but as he felt a man’s throat between his fingers, another rifle butt crashed down into the pit of his unprotected stomach. A thousand lights exploded in his eyes, and he heard himself cry out in agony. He was still writhing, as they wrenched his hands behind him, and pulled a noose of thin wire over his wrists. Vaguely through the mist of pain he felt them drag him to the opposite wall and secure the wire to a rafter, so that he was forced to stand on tip-toe to prevent his arms from being wrenched from their sockets.
Ling watched him balefully. “Very stupid again, Captain!” Then he turned back to the others, his black eyes noting Judith’s expression of horror and pity as she stared across at Rolfe’s taut body.
“Now, we can go on.” He sounded calm and unruffled again. “It was unfortunate that Mr. Laker and his friends were able to make good their escape. It would have been fitting evidence for the world to see, if we had caught them with their ill-gotten spoils! However, we have the next best thing!” He smiled coldly. “We find that we have the Western collaborator and spy who has made their escape possible right in our midst! Not only that, but the Captain of the imperialist gunboat is also found with him, without his uniform, and hiding in our territory!”
Rolfe ground his jaws together in an effort to still the pain. “No one will believe such tripe!” he gasped.
Ling spun round, his lips curled in a thin smile. “Everyone will believe it! Especially when we produce the written confessions and publish photographs! Oh, yes, Captain, we Chinese are not still in the Green Dragon era!”
“You can’t make us sign anything!” Rolfe glared at him, his grey eyes glinting. “That idea failed in Korea, and it’s useless to try it here!”
Ling stood up lazily, consulting his watch. “I must go to my office and prepare the statement for signature. That will be something to go on with!”
Felton struggled vainly with his bonds. “I won’t sign! My whole life, all my hopes,” his words were a meaningless garble, and Rolfe could see he was suffering from a form of shock. “I’ll tell the whole world what a filthy impostor you are and what a lying, ruthless government you represent!”
Ling opened the door, smiling without humour. “When I come back you will sign. That, I promise you!” The door closed behind him.
Two of the soldiers followed him out, but the small man with the automatic rifle watched them unblinkingly from his seat in the corner.
“Sorry about this,” began Rolfe softly, “I’ve made a complete muck-up of the whole business!”
The girl eyed him, her face resigned. “I knew that Major Ling was bad! When the soldiers burst in here today and started to attack the injured people in their beds, I knew then that all Brian’s hopes were finished!” She shuddered, as the memories came flooding back to her. “It was terrible, I thought I was going mad!” Her voice shook, and Rolfe wanted to get to her, but the wire biting into his wrists reminded of his helplessness.
“Did they touch you?” He kept his gaze steady. “Was there an officer in charge of them?”
She nodded wearily. “They had their orders about us. Now we know why!” Her eyes filled with tears. “Poor little Chu, they took him away and shot him in the road! Right up to the last he thought they were just playing with him. Like all the other villagers, he believed what Brian had told him about the Communists!”
Felton didn’t respond to her bitterness, but slumped heavily against the wall, his eyes tightly closed again.
Rolfe could imagine the turmoil in the man’s mind, but he avoided looking at him, he had eyes only for the girl. It made his heart ache to see her tired, frightened face, and the unsteady movement of her breathing.
“We will get away from here! We must remember that all the time!” He put all the firmness into his voice that he could find. “Don’t forget I’ve promised to take care of you!”
She raised her face, her mouth quivering. “You did, didn’t you? Don’t worry, I’ll try not to let you down!”
Major Ling entered the room, his face unsmiling and businesslike.
“You’ve been quick, Major,” Rolfe remarked softly, “so it’s only to be a short confession!”
Ling muttered under his breath, “It is enough.”
Felton laughed. “Of course, you wouldn’t by any chance have had them already made out in advance?” There was a sneer in his voice.
Ling was unmoved. “Yours, yes! The Captain’s, no! But now they are done! So let us not waste any more time. Who will sign first?”
“What happens to us afterwards?” Rolfe watched the man’s eyes for some small sign.
“Afterwards? Who knows? But it is not my concern! My Government will decide that!”
“Well, I’ll not do a thing until you find out what’s in store for us!” Rolfe began sharply, praying for time and searching for a plan.
“You will, Captain!” Ling snapped an order and the soldier laid down his rifle carefully and shambled obediently to Ling’s side.
Here it comes, thought Rolfe coldly, the torture about which he had heard so much in Korea.
It was all like a nightmare, without beginning or end, and even the people about him seemed shadowy and unreal.
He chilled with horror as the soldier stepped jerkily forward, his yellow face intent and hard. He didn’t even glance at Rolfe, but walked straight to the girl, and before he had time to realize what was about to happen, he jerked one of her feet off the ground, and as he crouched like a small, deformed animal on the floor he flung her sandal across the room and gripped the small bare foot in his two rough hands. Judith stared at the soldier, her eyes wide with terror, her body shrinking back away from him.
Ling smiled sadly. “You see, Captain, there is no chance for you! I understand that certain parts of the female body are quite tender and susceptible to pain!” As Rolfe strained madly at the wire he continued dreamily, as if repeating a lesson. “In a second or two, this soldier will cut open the sole of her foot!” He nodded sharply, and the crouching figure produced a short, wide-bladed trench knife and laid it against the soft brown skin.
She struggled wildly, but in that grip she was helpless. She turned her eyes desperately to Rolfe. “Don’t sign anything! Don’t give in!” Her voice was strangled.
Felton watched them, his face contorted with fury. “Don’t touch her, you swine! She has had nothing to do with any of this! She’s done more for these people than any of you!”
Ling eyed him thoughtfully. “Are you ready to carry out my orders?”
“Yes, yes! Only tell that beast to leave her alone!”
Ling spoke a brief order and the soldier dropped the foot reluctantly, his thick fingers stroking at her ankle. When he stood up, there was something else in his narrow eyes, and his mouth was slack with lu
st. He shuffled across to Felton and untied the rope, and watched blankly as Felton rubbed weakly at his bruised wrists. Shakily he moved to the table, his eyes unseeing, as Ling, his pistol again in his hand, indicated the long sheet of paper and the pen.
Felton snatched the pen and scrawled his signature across the bottom.
“Aren’t you even going to read it?” Ling’s voice was silky. “It explains how you have connived with the Captain to remove the bourgeois criminals from our hands, and how you have been a very active agent during your stay in Santu! The other paper which, unless I am very much mistaken, the Captain will willingly sign, explains his part in the conspiracy!” He waited until the soldier had re-tied Felton’s hands and had released Rolfe. “I think that whatever happened out at sea, Captain, your ship will certainly not be far away. I suspect that it will be nosing around soon to look for you!” He watched Rolfe sign the paper and laughed shortly. “To think that you crack so easily! And all because of this woman!”
Rolfe writhed inwardly as the soldier slipped the wire over his numb hands. He had brought nothing but disaster and failure with him. Even the ship was in danger now! The ship—he had hardly given her a thought since he left her. It was strange how he had altered.
Ling glanced at the papers, apparently satisfied. “Good! I shall have to leave you for a little while, I’m afraid. I have to find our signals unit.” He fixed his hard eyes on Rolfe. “I must inform my superiors that your ship is inside our new territorial waters, Captain! They will no doubt send a suitable vessel to deal with it! That should be fairly easy, as your incompetent government have nothing available, apparently, but that ancient ruin which you have the honour to command!” He crossed to the door, speaking softly to the soldier. “I shall be back! And maybe you will be allowed to watch the final assault on the fort and the destruction of the General’s remaining forces!” He slammed the door behind him.
Judith trembled violently, “You shouldn’t have done it,” she sobbed. “You’ve thrown everything away for me!”
Send a Gunboat (1960) Page 20