Echo Six: Black Ops 7 - Tibetan Fury (21 page)

They waited as he came nearer. When he was less than a hundred meters away, Jesse fired a single shot that drilled another hole in the center of his ski mask, and he went down. Rovere and Buchmann ran out immediately and dragged the body out of sight behind the wheel of a fighter aircraft.

They climbed back to their feet and continued searching the airfield for what they needed. About a kilometer away, he made out the shapes of two transport aircraft.

"They're Xian Y-7s right enough," Guy murmured, "No question, a copy of the Antonov AN-26, with a rear cargo ramp, like our C-130 Hercules."

"I doubt we'll be making a high-altitude jump, but who knows? It may come in useful if we need to bail out," Talley commented.

"Remember, nuns don't use parachutes," Brooks growled, "Besides, we have to reach the aircraft first, and getting the nuns aboard will be interesting. There's no way they'll make it that far without being spotted."

Talley tested the wind and looked up and down the airfield.

"The wind is blowing this way. We'll have to start the take off roll from this end. If the passengers wait here, we can taxi to this end of the airfield. They just climb aboard and we take off."

Brooks stared at him. "The Chinese won't be happy that we're stealing their aircraft and loading a bunch of nuns aboard. The moment we start engines, it'll make enough noise to wake up the entire airfield. And when they realize it's an unauthorized take off without runway lights, they'll hit us with everything they have."

Grace came up to them. "I overheard what you just said, and you're right. As soon as they hear us start up, they'll put the air base on maximum alert, and we'll be surrounded by troops. But there may be another way." They waited, as she seemed to gather her thoughts, "If they won't like an unauthorized take off, why don't we make it authorized?"

"What do you suggest, we walk across to the tower and fill in a form?" Guy asked.

She winced at the sarcastic comment, but she went on, "Nothing like that. Remember, we have General Chang. He'll give them the necessary orders if we persuade him. He wants to live as much as we do, and he won't want his people shooting at us. I'd guess his word carries a lot of weight around here."

They stared at her for a moment. "General Chang," Brooks exclaimed. He looked at Talley, "It has to be worth a try."

He nodded. "Agreed, but he'll need to give the tower a damn good reason for State Security troops being here."

"How about something that'll make them want to get that aircraft away from their airfield as fast as possible. If Tibetan terrorists had planted enough explosives inside the fuselage to destroy the entire place, they'd do everything possible to get us away from here."

Brooks grinned. "That could work." He looked at Talley, the man in charge, "What do you think?"

"I think it's all we have. I suggest we drive one of the trucks over to the aircraft, look as if we belong here. We'll get Chang to contact the tower. There has to be some kind of communications system around here. Wait, that sentry, surely he'd have carried a radio." He waited as Rovere strolled back from hiding the body, "Dom, go back and check out the body. See if he had a radio."

The Italian grinned and brought his hand into view. It held a bulky, crude looking walkie-talkie.

"Something like this? I had a feeling it may come in useful."

Talley nodded his thanks. "Get General Chang out here. We need him with us. Grace, you come, too. We'll need you to tell us what he says. Vince, I'm leaving Rovere here with eight men to guard the civilians and the trucks. You never know, we may need them to make a quick getaway if things go awry. I want you to stay here and scour the airfield for any signs of enemy activity. You know what to do. I'll take Jesse with us. We may need him if we run into any trouble.

* * *

It took them a whole hour to crawl the single kilometer to reach the nearest of the Y-7H transports. When they reached the aircraft, he positioned eight men around the outside, as if they were guarding it. They were two kilometers from the control tower, so it would be impossible for the men in the control tower to pick out the white camouflaged guards as anything other than Chinese soldiers.

Jesse hunkered down behind the nosewheel, looking in the direction of the tower for any hostile activity. Guy was already climbing the short ladder to enter the fuselage just aft of the cockpit. Brooks scrambled up after him, and Talley followed, pushing General Chang ahead of him.

He used his NV goggles to look around the interior of the aircraft. To the right, he could see the long, empty fuselage, lined either side with hard plastic seats and rudimentary belts for the passengers. Cargo would be carried in the center, like in the Globemaster. Except this turboprop aircraft was much smaller than the C-17. The cargo area was divided from the cockpit and entryway with a small gate, something like a cattle gate.

Maybe they carry cattle as well, or carry their troops like cattle.

It was certainly basic and stank of oil, aviation fuel, rubber, and old stale paintwork. There was another odor, an undefined stench like rotting meat or vegetables. He decided not to speculate further on what they'd carried on this particular Yian.

Guy was already in the cockpit, checking out the controls, flicking on switches to establish the aircraft's readiness to fly. He looked up as Talley joined him, pulling General Chang to squat on the floor next to him.

"The tanks are half full, and the electrical systems are fully charged, so at least we'll be able to start engines. There was a card clipped to the left hand control column. I haven't got a clue what it means."

He passed it across to Talley, who glanced at the incomprehensible Chinese text.

"I'll take a look," Grace said, as she entered the cockpit.

Her brow furrowed when she glanced at the text, and then she looked up.

"Apparently, they grounded her. The crew found some evidence of structural failure in the starboard wing root. I guess that's the bit where the wing joins the main fuselage."

Talley nodded and she went on, "I've no way of knowing how serious it is. It just says the plane is awaiting checks. There's nothing specific. It may be nothing, or we may get into the air, and the starboard wing could drop off."

He nodded. "I got it."

He looked out the windshield at the second Yian-7, but it was another half-kilometer away and closer to the control tower. They could make a try for it; they'd got as far as this particular aircraft without any serious problems. He decided not to push their luck any further.

"We'll have to chance it. Get everything ready, run a quick pre-flight check, and crank the engines. The moment we start up, the tower will demand to know what's going on. They'll put all eyes on us, and that's when we'll need Chang here to do his stuff. You know what to do, General?"

The short Chinese nodded. "You wish me to inform them there are explosives aboard this aircraft, enough to cause enormous destruction. That State Security has taken a decision to get it away from this air base and land at a remote location to disarm the explosives."

"Correct. I'll hand you the radio when it's time to make the call."

"And what do I get in return?"

Talley stared at him. "You get to live. What did you expect?"

"What kind of life would that be, a criminal in my own country? I'd be treated as a traitor. At best, I'd spend the rest of my life in a work camp. At worst…"

"Yeah, we know about the 'worst' in Communist China. What do you want?"

"I need asylum, preferably in America."

"We can't do that. We're not an American unit. We're NATO."

The General looked surprised. "NATO! And yet you came here to rescue an American."

"That's right, General. It's nothing strange. America is a NATO member country."

"I see. What is it about this man that makes him special, that America could not come to his rescue?"

"It's just the way it panned out," Talley lied.

The General gave him a thin smile. "I don't believe you, but it makes no difference. Very well, asylum in any NATO country."

Talley could see Brooks standing just outside the cockpit, listening. He glanced at him.

"Admiral, what can we do?"

He sighed. "I guess we have to have his cooperation. Tell him he'll get asylum, on my authority as a NATO General officer. In a NATO member country, in return for helping us get out of here." He looked at Chang. "Satisfied?"

He nodded. "Yes. I will make certain they believe what I say."

Talley relaxed and watched as Guy finished the last of the pre-flight checks. There was no way they could check the control surfaces outside, stuff like the movement of flaps and ailerons; it could be noticed from the tower. They had to start engines and roll before anyone had time to wonder. Once the engines were running, and the alarm went off, there was only one place they wanted to be, out of Tibet.

Finally, Guy looked at Talley. "That's it, as far as I can tell we're ready to go. It's game on, Boss."

"Roger that. Start engines."

The Brit flicked the switches and pressed the buttons to bring the four Dongan WJ5A Turboprops bursting into life. The silence was shattered as each engine fired up, building up to a massive roar that echoed around the airfield. The third engine was just coming to life when the lights in the control tower went on, and the cockpit speaker came to life with a torrent of Chinese. Grace translated.

"He wants to know who authorized the pilot of this aircraft to start engines."

"I guess we won't need the walkie-talkie we took off the guard." He fixed Chang with a hard gaze. "This is it, General. Remember, the lady speaks Chinese perfectly. Any sign you're trying to double-cross us, and we'll drop you when we reach the first thousand meters. I suggest you don't make any mistakes."

Chang inclined his head. "I will not make any mistakes."

Talley nodded. "Give him the microphone."

Guy handed it to him, and Chang began to speak. His voice was harsh, commanding, the voice of a Ministry of State Security General, and whose word was law, at least in this remote part of the Chinese Empire. The man in the control tower answered, sounding puzzled, then anxious, then downright frightened. For a time he held out, stubbornly refusing to accept what he was hearing. An obvious argument developed, and for a time it looked grim. But finally, he backed down. Chang looked at Talley.

"It is done. We have clearance to leave."

Grace confirmed everything. "It's exactly as he says. The man in the control tower more or less told us to get this aircraft away as fast as possible."

"Good enough." He keyed his mic, "This is Echo One. The men on guard outside the aircraft get aboard. Lieutenant Rovere, we're coming to pick you up, right now, stand by."

"Roger that."

He turned to Guy. "As soon as they're aboard, taxi to the end of the runway and pick them up. Then it's goodbye Tibet."

"Maybe," the Brit muttered, "We're not off the ground yet."

Grace smiled. "They've given us clearance, what could possibly go wrong?"

Talley and his number two looked at each other. That was the question they'd been asking each other, albeit from a different perspective. What could go wrong? It had been too easy, much too easy. There had to be something they hadn't reckoned with.

"They're all loaded," Admiral Brooks shouted through the cockpit door, "They're closing the door. We're ready to taxi."

"Roger that."

Guy pushed the throttles forward and released the brakes. The engines screamed, and the big aircraft began lumbering across the snow-covered taxiway. They bumped and lurched over ruts, some of them caused by the snow, some by the parlous state of repair of the tarmac runway. Every moment, they expected another call from the control tower. The order to halt, floodlights blazing into life, illuminating the entire area, troops rushing out, loading their weapons and pulling on helmets and equipment; machine gun fire, tracers reaching out to turn them into shattered ruin. But they reached the concrete revetments for the fighter aircraft without any sign the enemy was having second thoughts.

Before they came to a halt, the men in back had worked out how to operate the ramp, and the motors whined as it started to lower. Guy positioned the aircraft so that the rear faced away from the control tower, and the rest of their party could board without being seen. It only took a few minutes, and they were all loaded, with the ramp starting to rise. Brooks watched the loading down the length of the fuselage. Then he came through to the cockpit.

"That's it. Everyone's aboard."

Talley nodded to Guy. "You take her. I'll stay in the right hand seat."

"Roger that. On the way."

He opened up the throttles again, and the engines screamed as he brought the power up to maximum. He released the brakes, and the aircraft bounded forward, just as a loud torrent of Chinese came through the cockpit speaker.

"They're ordering us to stop," Chang told them, "Something has changed their minds. They obviously suspect something is wrong. If we take off, they're threatening to shoot us down."