Vicious Circle (54 page)

*

Hector and Jo awoke early the next morning in each other’s arms. It had been a busy night and they were both in buoyant mood.

‘Do you mind if I invite Catherine Cayla to join us?’ Hector asked.

‘Oh, what fun! That’s a brilliant idea,’ Jo enthused and, very soon after his brief intercom call to Bonnie in the nursery, there was a discreet knock at the door.

‘Who is it?’ Hector demanded.

‘It’s just us,’ Bonnie’s voice sang back.

‘Door is open. Put the smaller part of us through it, please, Bonnie.’

The door opened a crack and Catherine was deposited on the threshold. She was dressed in an immaculate pink romper suit and there was a matching ribbon in her hair. She sat four-square and looked about the room with an expression of mystification.

‘This way, Cathy baby!’ Hector called to her, and it took her a moment to focus on the two heads in the rumpled bed. Then it registered and she emitted a joyous cry of ‘Baba’ and came to her feet. She tottered halfway across the wide floor before she also recognized Jo. She chortled with glee. ‘Man!’ she greeted her distinctly. ‘Good man!’

‘Oh my God!’ Jo exclaimed. ‘Is good a new word?’

‘And she used it for you, not me,’ Hector grumbled. ‘I am jealous.’

In her haste to reach the bed Catherine abandoned her upright gait and reverted to hands and knees. She completed the last few feet at a canter. Hector reached down and swept her up in his arms. She was warm and bouncy and she emitted a powerful aroma of baby talcum. They took turns to cuddle her as they talked.

‘Can you two girls be serious for a moment, Jo?’ Hector cut in at last.

‘Of course we can, what do you want to be serious about?’

‘Seeing as how I have made the decision that you are to be a member of the Kazundu strike team…’ he began, but Jo blew him a raspberry. Cathy thought that was very funny. She laughed delightedly, and imitated Jo, splattering both of them with a fine cloud of baby spittle.

‘Now that you two ladies have had your say, I shall continue,’ Hector resumed. ‘Jo, you and Emma Purdom will have to set up these communications you were boasting about pretty darn quickly. We may be in action in as soon as six or seven days’ time.’

‘You are absolutely right, my darling. I spoke to Emma as soon as I decided that I had to go with you. She knew exactly what we needed. She works on contract for the US Navy and she has developed for them a clever little gizmo that fits the bill exactly. It’s classified, of course, but nevertheless yesterday evening she despatched one of these to me by courier. It should arrive here today, or tomorrow at the latest.’

The promised gadget was delivered by DHL to Seascape Mansions early that same afternoon. In size and appearance it resembled a Hermès Birkin handbag. This had given Emma the inspiration to name it the Birkin. It weighed a shade over eight pounds.

Hector and Jo drove out into the desert with the Birkin and parked the Range Rover off the main highway, well concealed behind a rugged ridge of black ironstone.

As Jo switched on the power she explained, ‘The rechargeable battery has a life of seventy-two hours’ continuous operation. The antenna is built in. Here we go, it is acquiring satellite contact.’ She paused for a few seconds, and then she continued, ‘Bingo! Now it will automatically contact Emma’s station as its first option.’

Suddenly a young sweet girl’s voice spoke out clearly. ‘Echo Papa Seven Niner standing by.’

‘Those are Emma’s initials and her year of birth, but never tell her that I told you that. She will kill me,’ Jo explained before she pressed the transmit button. ‘This is Juliet Sierra. Hi there, Emma. This is just a radio check to let you know I have received your gift and I am online.’

‘Good to hear your voice, Jo sweetie.’

‘Are you still covering Little Boy and Big Boy?’ Hector gathered that they were referring to Carl and Johnny Congo.

‘Affirmative to that, Jo.’

‘We will be going operational probably within the next six days. I will give you a heads-up as soon as it happens. In the meantime, keep it warm. Over and out.’

‘I’ll keep it warm, if you help him to keep it hard. Give him my love,’ said Emma and she broke the contact.

‘She knows about you,’ Jo explained apologetically. ‘And she can be very rude.’

‘I gathered that.’ Hector smiled. ‘Now tell me what is so special about this Birkin. It looks very much run-of-the-mill stuff to me.’

‘First of all there is its size and weight; and its incredible range and reception in the most adverse conditions.’

‘Yes, you have just demonstrated those qualities, but still I am not sure what all the fuss is about.’

‘It will support up to ten additional listening posts. That means as long as you are within ten miles you and your team leaders can follow simultaneously all Emma’s transmissions to me on your in-ear headphones. This will leave your hands free to pick your noses or whatever else takes your fancy.’

‘That’s good,’ Hector agreed. ‘What else makes it unique?’

‘It is completely secure. Nobody can possibly hack in on our transmissions,’ she said, and Hector looked dubious.

‘How is that again?’

‘Did you notice the faint click every five seconds while Emma and I were transmitting?’ she asked.

‘Yes, now that you mention it. But I thought that was only static interference.’

‘You’ll hear no static on this set. It is modulated to be as clean as my mother’s kitchen.’ Hector smiled at the comparison, and she continued. ‘What you heard was actually Emma’s radio changing its frequency. Every five seconds it makes a random change, and my set follows suit and makes the change to exactly the same frequency at precisely the same instant. There are nearly five thousand AM frequencies for our sets to choose from. No other unlinked set can keep pace with us.’

‘Now you have seriously impressed me, but what else, if anything, is so special about it?’

‘At ranges up to ten miles there is virtually nothing that can interfere with transmissions from our Birkin to your headphones. Do you have any idea how thick the walls of Kazundu Castle are?’

‘I don’t know exactly, but I’m guessing they are plenty thick,’ Hector said.

‘In places, especially down in the dungeons, they are as much as fifteen or twenty feet thick; and that is solid rock!’

‘Impressive,’ Hector agreed. ‘But go on and impress me a little more.’

‘Okay, if you were down in the palace dungeons hunting for Carl and Johnny, Emma in Houston would be able to watch them on her planted cameras; however, she would not be able to report the information to you. Because of the thickness of the castle walls the two of you would not have comms.’

‘That sucks,’ Hector agreed. ‘But I think I see where you are coming from.’

‘Let’s hear it from the lad. It’s your turn to impress me with how smart you are.’

‘I am in the Kazundu dungeon and I can’t speak to Emma, but I can speak to you because you are on the airfield at the foot of the hill, or maybe you are even up on the battlements of the fort. Emma sees what our two beauties, Carl and Johnny, are up to, so she tells you and you relay it on to me.’

‘You are just as smart as I hoped you were,’ Jo admitted. ‘So you see why this means that I have to come to Kazundu with you. You can’t leave me behind to sit on my hands here in Abu Zara.’

‘You are a scheming vixen, Jo Stanley!’ Hector told her sternly, and then he went on, ‘We will need in-ear headphones for each of our team leaders. We must be hands-free to use our weapons, if needs be.’

‘Emma has sent me ten sets of headphones in the same package as the Birkin.’ Jo opened the package and displayed them to him.

‘She certainly is a switched-on young lady,’ Hector conceded. ‘And I like the sound of her voice. She sounds rather cute.’

‘Just you forget it, buster,’ Jo told him sternly. ‘Emma is as ugly as an organ grinder’s monkey. Besides, any time you feel the urge, this little Birkin right here beside you will be delighted to oblige.’

*

Nastiya and Nella Vosloo made the journey to Bangkok on separate airlines. Nastiya was the first to arrive and Nella followed eight hours later on a flight from Nairobi in Kenya. They met in Nastiya’s suite in the Authors’ Wing of the Mandarin Oriental hotel overlooking the Chao Phraya river. They had both changed into their best cocktail gowns, and after they had embraced they stepped apart still holding hands and examined each other with affectionate interest.

‘You are looking so good, Nella. It seems like yesterday I last saw you,’ Nastiya told her.

‘And so are you! I love that dress. The colour suits you so well. Is it Prada?’

‘Yes, it’s Prada.’ Nastiya hugged her again. ‘Shall we have a nice-to-see-you drink? I found a bottle of good vodka in the minibar.’ She poured two measures, filled them with ice cubes and they saluted each other with the frosted glasses, then Nastiya took Nella’s arm and led her out onto the balcony.

‘I have checked the room.’ Nastiya dropped her voice. ‘I think that it’s clean. But it’s best we take no chances, and we talk out here. Do you know what we have to do?’

‘Yes, Hector has told me everything. He said you would have photographs of these other people we are taking over from.’ Nella worded it diplomatically.

Nastiya left her for a moment to fetch her bag from the sitting room and she closed the door behind her as she returned. They studied the photographs together.

‘This one is the captain,’ Nastiya explained. ‘His name is Yuri Volkov. In Russian Volkov means wolf. With a name like that his ancestors must have been aristocrats, before the revolution. When he was younger he flew MiG-29 Fulcrums for the USSR.’

‘That’s their top fighter. Only the hot-shot Russian pilots get to fly them.’

‘Da,’
Nastiya agreed. ‘But now age and liquor have caught up with him, and he is no longer hot shot. His co-pilot is Roman Spartak. He also is old, but not as old as Yuri.’

Nella decided not to ask Nastiya for her definition of old. She had an uneasy suspicion that she might fall into that category. Instead she said, ‘When are we going to meet them?’

‘They checked into the hotel this morning. I spoke on the telephone to Yuri Volkov this afternoon just after you checked in. He has received the briefing that he believes was sent to him by Carl Bannock, and he is expecting our arrival. He and his second pilot are staying here in the hotel. I arranged with Yuri that we should meet them for a drink in the Bamboo Bar at seven thirty. That means we have an hour to go over our plans, to make certain we don’t make any mistakes,’ Nastiya told her.

At the arranged time the two women took the lift down to the Bamboo Bar.

‘Remember that we mustn’t recognize them,’ Nastiya warned Nella as they walked into the room that throbbed with the rhythm of a Thai jazz band. The two Russians were sitting on the imitation tiger-skin high stools at the long bar and both of them were watching the door. They reacted immediately as the pair appeared in the entrance to the bar.

‘They have spotted us.’ Nastiya spoke without moving her lips. ‘Emma Purdom sent them copies of our passports when she hacked into their comms. Here comes Yuri. He must have been a real hottie when he was younger.’

‘I am Yuri Volkov.’ The Russian bowed to the two women, then his eyes returned to Nastiya’s face. ‘You must be the one named Nastiya O’Brien,’ he greeted her in English. ‘That is a strange first name for an Irish girl.’ He held out his hand and Nastiya took it.

‘I was once Nastiya Voronova,’ she replied in Russian. ‘But I went and married an Irishman.’

‘Ah so! It is good to meet such a lovely lady from home!’ Yuri switched into their mother tongue.

‘You can call me Nastiya,’ she said, and then she reverted to English for the benefit of Nella. ‘This is my friend Nella Vosloo. She is a South African business lady.’

Yuri turned to Nella and shook her hand. ‘I hope you will forgive my English very bad.’

‘Your English is very good,’ Nella replied as she examined his once-handsome but now drink-raddled features.

‘Thank you, but is not true.’ Yuri turned back to Nastiya. ‘I have instructions from my owner to fly you to Kazundu to meet him.’

‘That is correct. We have special business with His Majesty King John,’ Nastiya agreed.

‘With your permission I present to you my colleague and co-pilot, Roman Spartak.’

Yuri introduced them and ordered vodka all round. They toasted each other and Yuri asked apologetically if he might be allowed to view the women’s documents so that he could compare them to the copies he had been sent by his employer. After he had matched their passports to the scans Yuri relaxed further and ordered more vodka. An hour later Nastiya asked the men to excuse them and she took Nella to the ladies’ room. As they repaired their make-up in the big mirror she asked tactfully, ‘Do you have any personal interest in either of our new friends, Nella?’

‘No thank you. Yuri is quite sweet. But I am happily married to a good man. I gave up playing those side games long ago.’

‘The same goes with me. Besides which we have a busy day tomorrow.’

They said goodnight to the pilots and they agreed to meet them again in the hotel lobby after breakfast the following morning.

When they came down to the lobby, Yuri had two of the hotel courtesy cars waiting at the entrance and they drove out to the Don Muang private jet terminal in convoy. There were fourteen other passengers waiting in the private lounge to board the Condor. They were all startlingly good-looking Thai girls. They were in high spirits, chattering and giggling, excited to be embarking on this adventure to Africa.

‘I don’t think they are all girls.’ Nastiya gave her opinion. ‘Carl must be giving full run to his peculiar tastes. But keep your voice down, and try to wipe that frown off your face.’

Yuri gathered up all his passengers and shepherded them through immigration and airport security, after which they were allowed to board the minibus that took them all out to the gigantic four-engined Antonov aircraft waiting on the hardstanding. They boarded her through the ramp at the rear of the fuselage.

A single African air hostess met them and led all the passengers forward through the empty cargo hold to the pressurized passenger compartment behind the galley and the flight deck. When all the passengers were seated in the cavernous compartment and strapped in, the hostess locked the airtight doors and demonstrated the emergency procedures. Meanwhile the pilots started the main engines and began to taxi to the head of the runway.