Battlefield 4: Countdown to War Page 18

  The first line had made him eager for more. He looked at her and when she shook her head, shrugged and bent forward again. She watched closely as he positioned the tube at one end of the second line, bent down and inserted the other end in his left nostril, with the tip of his forefinger pressed against his right. Stay calm, she told herself: wait for the right moment. She would only get one chance and she had to get it right. Her only advantage would be surprise.

  She reached out, grasped the crown of his head as if it were a basketball, and with all the strength she could find, slammed her hands downwards, pushing and pushing with everything she had. It was as if all the months of humiliation and ridicule had been fuelled into one powerful, devastating gesture of vengeance. There was a gluey tearing, crunching sound as the silver pipe drove up the nostril and buried itself deep in his head. She let go. He staggered back, half rising; eyes swivelled, then focused on her, his mouth a distorted outline of dismay. Then he fell back and slumped to the floor, his limbs twitching as blood bubbled out of the silver tube.

  She looked at him with cold unblinking eyes, then started towards the door. But then she stopped. If she didn’t put on a show the guards would suspect her. She put her hands up to her face and screamed as loudly as she could manage.

  They rushed into the room. She stood frozen in her place clutching her mouth as if she was about to throw up.

  ‘One moment he was fine and then – oh my God, I think he’s had a brain haemorrhage.’

  One of them put his arm round her and steered her out of the room.

  ‘I need to go home—’

  He held her a little too tightly. Jesus, she thought: they’re all the same.

  ‘I think I can manage now, thank you.’

  Once they were out of the room she shrugged him off , bowed her head slightly and started down the stairs.

  ‘You need to contact Internal Aff airs, not the police. They will handle this, appropriately.’

  The second guard frowned.

  ‘As a witness you need to stay—’

  But she was already moving past him.

  ‘Hey, stop—!’

  She ran out through the doors, down the front steps and on to the drive. There were two more guards standing by the car, smoking. Where the hell had they come from?

  ‘Quick! The Director’s had a stroke!’

  They hesitated. She whirled round, spotted the Audi’s keys still in the ignition.

  ‘Go now! You may be able to save him!’

  She dived into the front seat, turned the key, rammed the stick into Drive. She headed straight for the gates. They looked very solid but there wasn’t much choice. She closed her eyes and floored the gas.

  37

  Huangshan Mountains

  It was almost dawn. Kovic arched backwards, training the binoculars almost vertically in the direction of the peak. On Qi’s screen it had looked forbidding; now he was standing at its foot it was like no mountain he had ever seen, a vast column of volcanic granite. Its sheer sides were flecked with vegetation and pockmarked with holes preserved from the time it was forced upwards by the subterranean power deep in the Earth’s core, glowing a fiery orange. The top was shrouded in cloud. He felt an unfamiliar stab of concern for what he was about to subject his crew to. Any other time common sense would have prevailed. But he was all out of that particular commodity.

  ‘How’s it look?’

  Qi, laying out the ropes and clips, was making an extra eff ort to be positive.

  ‘No idea. Thanks to the cloud I can see zip.’

  Even though it was only just light, it was already stickily humid. They had left at 5 a.m. and driven deep into the forest to a makeshift dam where they were to meet the guide Mrs Chen had arranged. Zhou had stripped off and was swimming. Wu sat on the edge of the logs, dangling his feet in the cool, clear mountain water. Among the trees surrounding the dam was a tiered patchwork of tiny fields of tea, ginseng and other crops. Wu looked uncharacteristically charmed by this unexpected Eden.

  ‘Still sure you want to go to America?’

  Kovic hoped he was changing his mind, since the chances of his making that happen for him were slipping away by the day.

  Wu nodded at the base of the mountain.

  ‘Ask me again after this.’

  Qi was sorting through the equipment: a harness each, soft rubber soled shoes, chalk to increase hand grip, Kernmantle nylon rope, the most expensive he could find, carabiners to hold the rope in place, nuts to drive into the rock to secure the rope, descenders and belay plates to run the rope through.

  He gestured at their surroundings.

  ‘Incredible to think that a hundred million years ago this was under the sea.’

  ‘Yeah? Well it’s still not dried out.’ The humidity was already getting to him.

  The first thousand metres was thick vegetation, mostly pines, some of them growing straight out of deep fissures in the rock. Above the treeline, where the vast granite plug emerged, it bristled with small shrubs and ferns that clung stubbornly to its vertical surfaces. Stone steps carved by the monks who were the first to inhabit the peak over a thousand years ago were still visible in places, but notably absent in others. And for the last ten years it had been a no-go area. Finding the way up would be impossible without help.

  Qi moved on to his laptop, which he had connected to a small antenna attached to a tripod beside him. Kovic peered over his shoulder. ‘This is a map of the electrical system, which gives a pretty good idea of the layout. Combined with what I got via the spectral imaging from the weather satellite I can confirm that the perimeter wall has a high voltage line round it that acts as both a deterrent and an alarm.’

  ‘Work on how you can disable it. Any indication of ways in or out through the wall?’

  ‘Seems as if the only conventional way in is via the helipad.’

  Almost right on cue the sound of a big twin rotor helicopter pounded the air, unseen above the low cloud collaring the mountain. Qi looked at Kovic.

  ‘We could do with one of those.’

  ‘Maybe we’ll borrow one to get out. Look out!’

  A tiny man came trotting briskly towards them over the dam, grinning and waving, wearing the hat and clothes of a country peasant. Slung over his shoulder was a small canvas knapsack, out of which stuck the head of an ice axe. His agility and his face, a network of deep creases, did not match.

  ‘My God,’ said Kovic. ‘It’s the goblin of the rock.’

  ‘Welcome to our country!’ He saluted Kovic and then wrapped a claw-like hand around his. ‘My name is Heng. I hope you are taking pleasure in the many wonders of our land.’

  They all stopped what they were doing and looked at him. Seriously – this was their guide?

  ‘Absolutely: I am a great admirer of your country,’ said Kovic. What had Mrs Chen told him? That they were harmless hikers hoping to take in a spot of bird watching and guerrilla warfare?

  ‘He’s older than my grandfather,’ whispered Wu.

  The man looked at least eighty, and Kovic felt a twinge of responsibility. They were prepared for danger, but this guy looked as though he might expire before they’d even fired a shot.

  ‘Mrs Chen has given me strict instructions not to ask you about the purpose of your trip, nor to repeat any words I hear exchanged between you. On this you have my word. There is no time to waste. We need to be above the treeline by sundown.’

  ‘How long to the top?’

  He looked at them like a new teacher discovering he’d been stuck with the duds.

  ‘I have done it in a day. You, maybe two – if you make an eff ort and don’t waste time. Don’t worry, I will wait for you!’

  At this he let out a weird, staccato sound as if imitating machine gun fire: he was laughing.

  ‘Let me see your equipment.’

  Qi showed him the pieces he had laid out. The old man examined each item and frowned, then shook his head and wagged his finger at each one.

  �
��This – no, this – no, these – no.’

  Qi looked aghast. He had spent hours researching the best equipment for such a climb. Heng kicked the high tensile ropes dismissively.

  ‘No point in these. There are plenty of ledges to grip with your fingers.’

  This supposed reassurance fell like a dead weight between them. Wu looked particularly sick.

  ‘Adds bulk – loses you balance . . . ’

  Kovic looked afresh at the old man’s claw-like hands with new respect – the perfect implements for clinging to a rock face in a gale.

  ‘What about those nice old ancient steps?’ asked Zhou.

  Another burst of machine gun fire.

  ‘They are long gone. The current inhabitant had them destroyed.’

  He resumed his critique of their kit.

  ‘Much too much. You will have enough trouble just hauling your own body weight up the sheer face. Only the most essential items must come with you. Open your backpacks and throw out anything you can live without. Look.’

  He opened his own frayed canvas bag.

  ‘Water, food and blanket. That’s all. And the axe, for putting the injured out of their misery.’ More gunfire.

  Kovic wondered how much Mrs Chen had actually told him. He nodded, curtly hoping he wouldn’t say anything else that exacerbated the mood of despondency.

  None of them had moved so Heng snatched up one of the bags and started rummaging through it. As well as the climbing kit there were the weapons, one gun each, ammunition, explosive packs for detonating doors. At the sight of the arsenal, Heng’s expression changed. He admired the guns, nodding gravely. He’d got the message all right. Mrs Chen had insisted they could trust him. Let’s hope she’s right, Kovic thought.

  ‘Okay, maybe we take the ropes to help you with all this.’

  There was a collective sigh of relief. Heng examined the ancient watch on his wrist, its face almost opaque with years of cracks and scratches, like his own.

  ‘Well, let’s not stand around scratching our arses, eh!’

  38

  Kovic inched forward. Above him, the wall of rock disappeared into cloud; below, between his feet, perched on a ledge no more than a foot wide, the sheer face dropped into the world they had left. To his left a few yards behind was Zhou, ashen. Wu and Qi stayed close behind him, their faces against the rock, tears glinting on Qi’s anxious face.

  He looked away to the right at Heng who gave him a broad grin. When he had first seen the old man skipping across the log dam he had instantly dismissed him as a joke. Now he was in awe.

  They had been climbing for six hours. At first it was relatively easy. Some of the ancient steps carved centuries ago by monks were still there. But after a few hundred feet they petered out. Kovic wondered if it had been Tsu’s deliberate joke to leave the first few steps intact.

  ‘Just close your mind to what is below,’ Heng said, cheerily. ‘Focus on each step, grip and think: I am going forward. You will feel very alive at these moments, more so perhaps than ever in your life before.’

  Heng had been a mountain guide for twenty years, he had told Kovic. Before that he had spent twenty-five in a work camp, mining asbestos.

  ‘All I have to do is remember those days, deep underground: the dust, the coughing, rats swimming in the great vats of rice soup they fed us. People dying all around me. This is the life!’

  The old man’s eyes sparkled as he spoke.

  39

  ‘Here is good.’

  Heng swung round and put down his pack. The ledge they were moving along had narrowed, and the darkness that had settled around them was almost a blessing as it shrouded the ever-increasing drop below.

  ‘We can have a few hours’ rest and be fresh for the dawn.’

  Kovic looked at the others. None of them returned his gaze. Their eyes were fixed either on the rock face to their left or the ledge immediately under their feet.

  ‘I told you you’d get into the swing of it,’ Heng added cheerfully. He unrolled his thin mat and lay down gratefully, as if on a king-size four-poster at the Hyatt.

  It was 2 a.m. They had been on the move without stopping for five hours. Kovic lay down and the others followed suit. Qi fell straight to sleep without even removing his pack.

  ‘Sleep well, gentlemen,’ said Heng. A few moments later he was snoring loudly, his tiny frame vibrating, his mouth wide open to the elements.

  ‘I hope a large insect flies in and chokes him,’ said Zhou.

  ‘He is an insect,’ said Wu. ‘He’s The Fly.’

  ‘He’s not normal. Have you noticed he never has to piss?’

  ‘Hey, cut it out. Do like he says. Get some rest.’

  Kovic felt his phone buzz in his pocket and twisted himself round to try and pull it out without plummeting to his death. It was certainly one way to put you off checking it too often. It was a text from Hannah. We need to speak. URGENT. His time was up. She was back on his tail. He turned it off and concentrated on trying to get to sleep without falling. He found a rock about the size of a melon to put in the narrow space between him and oblivion, to discourage his tendency to roll over in his sleep. Then he closed his eyes and dreamed of Louise.

  40

  The bright beam of light prised Kovic out of his slumber. His dream had shifted location. He was back in the Sea Hawk – but not over North Korea, he was peering out of the door looking down on Tsu’s hideout. He opened his eyes and found he was looking straight down the thousand-foot drop. All that had prevented him from going over was the rock he had used to wedge himself in. He recoiled, twisting on to his back, and realised the helicopter was no dream. A big twin-rotor Chinook was overhead, commencing its descent on to the mountaintop.

  They were all awake now, and in diff erent states of alarm. Heng turned and greeted them, water bottle in one hand, a date bar in the other, legs crossed casually.

  ‘Good morning, gentlemen. A fine day for the last leg of your journey.’

  The temperature had dropped dramatically in the night. The others looked grey and underslept.

  ‘How far now?’ Qi asked in a small voice.

  ‘Well, that was the easy bit—’ Heng announced. He was enjoying his role as team sadist. ‘Today the ledge disappears. There is also a fissure.’

  None of them felt like asking him to elaborate.

  ‘Come, I’ll show you. It’s just around the corner.’

  They all edged forward. Heng crouched down so they could see past him. The rock face was split open in a vertical crevice about ten metres deep.

  ‘We used to sling a rope and winch across. The alternative is to go straight up. Since you have been quite slow I suggest the latter. Also there is a weather system coming in which means high winds.’

  He delivered this news like it was another twist in an exciting game he had arranged for them.

  ‘I don’t think I can do this,’ said Qi. The other two looked at Kovic. Wu cleared his throat.

  ‘The fact is – we had a discussion in the night, while you were asleep—’

  ‘We came to a decision.’

  Zhou chipped in.

  ‘Even if we made it over the wall, what then?’

  ‘Why say this now?’

  ‘It’s one thing to look at it on a laptop—’ He gestured at the vertical face of the mountain.

  Kovic looked from one to the other. Any sense of adventure or challenge had drained from them. He couldn’t blame them. It was his project. They didn’t have the same investment in it. He had exploited their loyalty, their disinclination to refuse a mission due to their own pride. But somewhere on the punishing climb this had ebbed away.

  ‘You’re right. It’s madness.’

  Kovic got to his feet. Relief swept across their faces.

  ‘I’ll go on alone – with Heng. It’s probably for the best. You guys head back. I’m sorry to have brought you this far.’

  Kovic could see the unfamiliar expression of pure hatred on Wu’s face. Going back
without Heng would be suicide. Kovic knew it. They all knew it.

  Zhou spoke up again – the first time he had sounded negative.

  ‘Even if you get in, how will you get out?’

  ‘If I ever asked myself that question, I wouldn’t have gotten into this game.’

  Up ahead they could hear a low humming sound.

  ‘What’s that?’

  Heng beckoned. ‘Look past the crevice – you’ll see.’

  At first it looked like a giant birdcage slung from a cable that reached the summit, inching its way up.

  ‘It’s a new addition.’

  Qi spat. ‘Now you tell us.’

  ‘It can only be operated from the mountaintop end. The station at the bottom is unmanned and remotely locked.’

  Kovic raised his binoculars and examined it.

  ‘There’s someone on board.’

  Inside the cage they could see three people. Two were in uniforms similar to the checkpoint guards, and kneeling between them there was a third person, shackled and hooded.

  He turned back to Heng. For the first time on their journey Heng’s face failed to radiate any joy.

  ‘The transports are becoming more frequent.’

  ‘How come?’

  ‘It is known that Tsu has an appetite for pain – other people’s. I’ve heard it said that he makes them fight each other for their lives while he watches.’ Heng shrugged. ‘Anyway, what’s it to be?’

  41

  Heng secured the rope, and Kovic went first. There were points where the face leaned outwards and he was clinging on only with the edge of his fingers. And, as Heng had warned, a wind was getting up. He had promised the others that he would get them out either by the cable car or by commandeering a chopper. But he knew that it was the thought of trying to get back without Heng that had swung it. What none of them knew was Kovic had not thought beyond his encounter with Tsu.