HONG KONG – Tonight’s sortie was an old-fashioned stakeout, Buck had said. If
Yvonne had ever been on one, she would have understood his
sentiment, but instead she was anxious, feeling exposed to dangers
she never experienced working in her labs behind the protection of
computer screens and miles, sometimes thousands of them, between
her and her adversaries.
?The way it ought to be,? he said, ?No fancy
technology, just hardware and guts.? The team had removed their
molar implants to keep from being tracked by Shi?s men. They would
operate tonight in true secret, using nothing that emitted a signal,
nothing that could be monitored or traced. All movements would be
synchronized. Communication would be by sight alone. The others
on Buck?s team were wary. They were used to their devices.
?Trust me,? Buck said. ?This is the way we used to do it. It?ll be
more fun than any job you?ve ever been on.?
Yvonne wasn?t so sure. For the first time in her cyber career she
was hacking in person?infiltrating an operation like a human
version of the viruses she unleashed on bad guys, dressed in a gray
Cathay Computer Works jumpsuit instead of one of her thousand dollar
outfits, and wearing a simple pair of tennis shoes?no stilettos
tonight. She was crouched behind a beam on a catwalk, waiting for
a signal from Woody that the way was clear and she could advance
a few more feet towards the rogue servers stored below on the
warehouse floor.
She remembered what she?d said to Stokes about his being a desk
jockey. Despite the wars she fought in cyber space, she had to admit
she?d been one too. The driving and flying she did at the threshold
of danger, the hang gliding and base jumping?all those risks were
mitigated by the right equipment and dozens of safety procedures.
They were exhilarating, yes, but nothing like facing real, live people,
who might, by the way, try to kill her.
Stokes had worked for years in the field before he settled into a
plush leather chair. And he didn?t flinch when the team asked him to
run the diversion that would keep the Chinese security forces off their
backs for the duration of this mission? they hoped. Right now he
was touring Hong Kong with Pansy?s limo driver, dropping the molar
implants at sensitive locations?Cathay Computer Works corporate
headquarters, Hong Kong Telecom, Hang Seng, a branch of the
Bank of China, even the precinct security building near their hotel.
He would turn the receivers on before planting them outside each
office, and occasionally voice instructions over the set frequency. With
luck the Chinese would think an operation was under way, and would
dedicate their forces at these locations, instead of the airport. Yvonne
was glad she?d never told Shi about her enhanced hearing during
their affair. If it hadn?t been for that, she?d never have figured out
how his men had found her.
The plan was for she and Woody to swing by the hotel once
they?d completed their part of the mission and pick up Stokes. The
trio would then rendezvous with the rest of the team in time to repo
the Boeing. But that was only theory. As they slipped around one
corner after another trying to find the servers, she knew they were
falling behind schedule. Too late and they?d have to head straight for
the hangar where Buck and the boys were working to circumvent the
jumbo owner?s own security men and free the plane for return to
Sydney.
Stokes might be stranded in Hong Kong. And if they left him
behind he?d eventually be at the mercy of Shi, who would be furious
over the break-in here and the theft of the aircraft. Yet he took the
risk. ?If anyone gets caught,? he?d said, ?it?s best if it?s me.
Washington won?t let me stew in a Chinese prison for too long.
They?d negotiate a trade for a Chinese spy. Any of you, they might
let you rot for months.?
It sounded right, but as Yvonne worked it over, she realized
Stokes?s value to the Chinese had other implications. His stay in a
cell might be brief, but it would be horrific. Whatever time Shi had
with Stokes would be spent trying to break him, get him to spill what
he knew about U.S. intelligence. She regretted the whole idea now.
She could have asked Colin or Silk to drop off the implants and kept
Stokes in the background, where he belonged. But when she
proposed the idea, he jumped at it. She thought it had something to
do with his never-ending efforts to impress her enough to restart their
affair, but she realized now that he was doing it to ensure the success
of the team.
Woody gave her the signal to move forward. He made no noise
as he moved along the catwalks. His SEAL training allowed him to
become a specter at will.
Around the next corner they found the servers. They looked
down at what was essentially an assembly line of espionage. A series
of Network Systems servers lay in a row on a long metal table. Some
were in crates, others had their covers removed and sat exposed
under the fluorescent lighting. Still others waited their turn for techno
surgery.
At each of the open boxes a technician in a CCW jumpsuit
leaned in to scan the labels, and remove the foam lining and other
packaging. She watched as one of them removed the server?s cover to
get at the motherboard. The man donned surgeon?s loupes and
carefully soldered in an extra microchip. He replaced the board and
hooked the server up to a laptop to check its operation. When he was
satisfied with the performance of the chip, he replaced the packaging
and applied new labels and tamper-proof seals to the box, and
handed the unit off to be stored in an aluminum shipping bin.
The whole process took less than twenty minutes. At that rate the
Chinese could manufacture enough bogus servers to give them access
to control systems throughout the U.S., as well as Europe.
When she crept alongside Woody, he whispered. ?Time to do
your thing. Just remember, if anything goes wrong, I?ll be right behind
you.?
He pulled the end of a black fiber line from a case on his belt and
held a stirrup open. Yvonne slipped her foot into it. She felt like a
child?s toy as Woody picked her up and eased her over the railing.
Then he let her go into a silent, controlled descent to the warehouse
floor. She stepped out of the line, gave a tug and let it recoil back
into the case.
He had dropped her behind a girder. She would step out and
walk towards the techs as though she had come through the front
door.
Yvonne reminded herself that the key was to act as though she
belonged there. It?s all attitude, Nigel had said. ?Back during the
Falklands War, I convinced an Argentine guard that I?d gone to
university in Buenos Aires. He let me pass into a top secret base so I
could get a look at their fighter capabilities.?
She hadn?t used her Chinese in a while. The others had laughed
as she practiced phrases on the drive to the airport, asking herself
questions and providing answers. But it was necessary. There?d be no
opportunity to correct herself if she said something wrong.
She walked smartly to the man who appeared to be in charge, a
rather dull looking fellow with heavy glasses and a mop of greasy
hair. His CCW logo was circled in red to indicate his authority. She
introduced herself as ? P�ng,? from the Beijing office. He would never
get the joke. She said she was there because several servers delivered
to companies in the U.S. had failed to yield full access to systems, and
she had been assigned to observe procedures.
The supervisor looked her over. He checked the photo she?d
stitched above the CCW logo on her jumpsuit, then smiled. ?Why
don?t we go to my office,? he said. ?I have complete records of every
machine that has passed through here.?
?No, no,? she said. ?I must observe the operations as they occur.?
?Are you sure? Also I have some very nice brandy. Imported from
France.?
This jerk was hitting on her? She supposed it was better to have
this than his suspicions about her identity. But she?d have to keep him
interested in her and not her mission. ?Delightful,? she said. ?Let me
first observe for a few minutes and I will be happy to join you.?
The man clapped his hands together. He pointed to a room with
a window that overlooked the proceedings. ?I will be waiting for you
there. Don?t take too long!?
Really. He was planning on doing her right in front of the other
employees? He was a jerk. She considered calling inWoody to break
him in half. But the mission came first.
She watched the techs work, strolling from station to station,
looking over their shoulders. After a few moments she stopped behind
a woman. ?You see?? she shouted. ?Look at this shoddy work! This
chip will never function correctly.?
The tech turned to face her. ?There is nothing wrong. What are
you talking about??
?You have attached the chip in the wrong place. This is the work
of an amateur,? Yvonne said.
The woman looked at her coworkers. ?I have made no mistakes,?
she said. As she turned, Yvonne unclipped the ground wire that
connected the woman?s wrist to the table.
?And you are not properly grounded,? Yvonne said. ?The
procedure calls for you to be tethered at all times.?
She called to the supervisor. ?Wang! Come here!?
He was the last thing Yvonne needed. She had to work fast or
she?d be forced to call in Woody, and things would get pretty messy.
She grabbed the motherboard off the workstation. ?Give that to
me. I must file a full report,? she said. She slipped the board into the
pants pocket of her suit.
Wang walked back from his office, the bottle of brandy dangling
from his hand. ?What is the problem?? he asked the tech. ?This is an
important representative of the parent company. How dare you
argue with her. If she says the work is incompetent then it must be.?
He must be desperate for a woman. He didn?t ask to see the work,
just took her word for it. ?Come,? he said. ?Let us talk about it in my
office.?
If she went in there she?d be trapped. But if she ran now they
would catch her. Yvonne walked towards Wang?s office, desperate for
an option.
A loud metal crash echoed from the far side of the warehouse.
Wang and the workers all looked in that direction. Then another,
sounding like a bulldozer had run into the steel racks where
equipment was stored. ?Someone is there!? Wang shouted.
No kidding, Yvonne thought.
Two of the workers already had machine guns.Wang took one of
the weapons and led the charge. ?Quickly! Whoever it is must not
escape.? The noises continued as most of the techs pursued this
phantom trespasser.
Then, something rattled on the cement floor at her feet. A lug
nut. Did someone throw it?
She looked up. Of course! Woody was leaning over the catwalk
railing, unfurling the fiber line and waving her over. Yvonne ran to the
spot while the remaining techs watched, slipped her foot into the
stirrup and let Woody pull her up. She waved goodbye to their openmouthed
stares.
?It was you back there making that racket,? she said as he lifted
her over the rail.
?The supervisor didn?t look like your type.?
?Yes. He should have known I prefer vodka.?
By the time the techs realized what was happening and called for
Wang and his men to return, Yvonne and Woody were back outside.
They raced to the CCW van. Yvonne drove, and sped towards the
Boeing?s hangar to join up with Buck and the others.
?Wait a minute,? Woody said. ?I thought we were supposed to
pick up Stokes.?
?I know, I know. But there?s not enough time. We spent over an
hour at the warehouse. Buck?s probably ready to leave by now. If we
go back for Rohan that puts four men in jeopardy.?
?You?d just leave him??
She hated making this decision. ?He knew the risks,? she said.
Woody looked in the side view mirror. ?Um, Yvonne??
?Yes??
?I was just going to tell you to slow down so we don?t attract
attention??
?Right,? she said. ?Good idea.?
?But it?s too late now.We?ve got a security cop on our tail. Better
speed up instead.?
She floored the accelerator and got the van up to ninety, but
couldn?t shake the cop, who hit his lights and siren. As they came
within sight of the hangar, Woody signaled her to stop, and she
slammed on the brakes until the van skidded close to the side of a
small brick building. Yvonne got out to meet the cop, who pulled his
service revolver.
Yvonne flashed her best smile while Woody circled around the
far side of the panel truck. A few minutes ago she didn?t want to seem
sexy, now she was counting on it. The guard lowered his gun.
?Emergency repair job,? she said in Chinese. ?There?s a flight
waiting to take off and I have to repair the Flight Control System
computer.?
?No flights scheduled to leave at this hour,? the guard said. ?First
flight six a.m.? He brought his gun back up.
Yvonne switched back to English. ?That?s what you think,? she
said, just as Woody whipped a fist into the man?s temple, knocking
him out.
?He probably called that in,? he said. ?We?ve got to get that
jumbo off the ground now!?
They got back in and drove the last few hundred yards to the
hangar. Yvonne could see Nigel in the pilot?s seat, with Colin as copilot.
Looked like they?d been ready to go for some time. They ran up
the steps and dove inside. Buck and Silk toasted them with a shout of
?well done!? They?d even had time to raid the bar. But as soon as
they saw it was just the two of them, they asked about Stokes.
?We all agreed to the plan,? Yvonne said. ?Stokes did too.?
?The man has guts,? Buck said, lifting his glass again. ?I hope
he?ll be all right.? But there was no time to lament the decision. He
signaled the others to get the plane under way.
Woody heaved the entire stair assembly away from the fuselage
and slammed the door shut, but the top of the steps was still higher
than the wing.
?What are we going to do about that?? Yvonne asked.
?Only one thing to do,? Nigel called from the cockpit. He started
the turbines. ?I?ll have to nudge it as we clear the hangar. If I?m
careful I can push it out of the way without damaging us.?
The engines roared to life. A few more checks on the gauges and
Nigel was ready to push off.
?Wait!? Colin yelled. ?There?s a car pulling up in front of the
plane.?
?Damn,? Woody said. ?We didn?t want to tell you. We ran into a
cop on the way. He must have called it in before we could take care
of him.?
?That?s no cop,? Nigel said.
The team pushed into the cockpit to look out the front windows.
A red vehicle idled near the nose gear.
?What is that?? Colin said.
Buck leaned over the throttles to get a better look. ?It?s a ? a
taxi??
The rear door to the car swung open and a man started to get
out, then leaned back in to give the driver a tip and pick up a
briefcase. He waved the driver off and turned to face the aircraft.
Stokes.
?What the?? Colin said.
?Well, open the damn door,? Yvonne said.
Stokes ran up the steps but stopped at the top. Woody had pushed
them a good six feet from the plane?s doorway.
?Wait,? Stokes said. ?I?ll run back down and push them closer.?
?We don?t have time for that,? Woody said. ?Besides, I don?t think
you can do it. They?re a little heavy.?
?Then what should I do??
The sound of more sirens was just audible over the whine of the
engines. More security was on the way. ?You?ve only got one choice
now,? Woody said.
?What if I don?t make it??
?That?s why they bring me on these trips,? Woody said. ?I won?t
let you miss.?
Stokes tossed his case to Woody, then bent at the knees and swung
his arms to practice. He straightened and swung his right leg as
though preparing to use it to fling himself across the gap. He tried the
bent knee pose again.
?Will you make up your mind and come on?? Woody shouted.
?The cops are getting closer!?
But it wasn?t cops. In the distance they could see several vehicles
approaching. Even in the dark they could tell the military had been
alerted.
Buck yelled at Nigel, ?Move this bucket! Now!?
The engines revved and the plane began to move.
?It?s now or never, Stokes,? Woody said. ?You didn?t come all this
way to be left at the station.?
Stokes bent low. From behind Woody, Yvonne could see he?d
closed his eyes. He pushed off, throwing his arms into a swan dive.
She could see his jump was short. He was going to crash to the
concrete thirty feet below.?had it not been for Woody, that is. The giant reached out and caught Stokes by the wrists, and pulled him into the cabin with a
biceps curl.
?Wow!? Stokes said. ?You ever want to join a trapeze act, I?ll be
your reference.?
The jumbo eased into the Hong Kong night. As Nigel had
predicted, the stairs rolled with the plane?s motion until they were
outside the hangar. Then he turned to knock them over, out of the
path of the wing landing gear. As soon as they fell away he went to
quarter throttle towards the runway. But the military was gaining on
them. Woody grabbed an Uzi from one of the bags and headed for
the still open door.
?Better idea,? Silk said. ?Use this.?
He held open a bag with some bulbous-looking metal balls. ?M67
grenade,? he said. Blow some holes in tarmac and chase is over.?
?Right,? Woody said. ?Let?s link up!?
Silk took two grenades from the bag and stood in the doorway.
The plane was moving sixty or seventy miles an hour now, and the
wind was almost louder than the engines. Woody took hold of Silk?s
waistband, and with his other hand braced against the doorframe.
He leaned out and held onto Silk as the smaller man braced his foot
against Woody?s thigh, extending himself a good six feet past the
door, where he could get a clear look at the pursuers.
?Excellent view,? Silk shouted. He ripped the pin from the first
grenade and flung it over the wing. As he threw the second, the first
exploded. Yvonne caught on to the idea. She began tossing grenades
to Silk, who pulled the pins and let them fly past the fuselage. ?Good
thing Pansy suggested these,? Yvonne said.
The explosions sounded like thunder behind the jet. But no one
could see the damage except Silk.
?Are they doing the job? Did they stop the trucks?? Yvonne had
to know.
Silk signaled Woody it was okay to pull him in. When he was back
inside, he closed the door and walked to his seat, picked up his drink
like nothing had happened. He crossed his legs in front of him and
took a swallow.
?They won?t be using this taxiway for quite a while,? he said.
Nigel steered the jet towards the main runway. ?Watch this, lad,?
he said to Colin. ?Just in case the Chinese get a whim to follow us.?
Four Chinese J-10 jet fighters sat on the tarmac under harsh
white lights. Nigel eased the Boeing to the edge of the concrete, until
the plane?s wing extended well out, far enough so that Colin could see
the winglet at the end would hit the fighters.
?Are you sure about this?? he said.
?I?ve been wanting to try it for a long time,? Nigel said. ?I may
never have this chance again.?
Nigel gave the jumbo a touch more throttle. The wings began to
lift. Workers near the fighters scrambled for cover. The Boeing?s
winglet caught the canopy of the first plane, smashing the
polycarbonate into millions of granules. Colin abandoned his copilot
seat to press against the side window for a better view. Nigel
kept the Boeing steady and wielded the winglet like a sword, slicing
through the canopies of the remaining three jets.
?There,? he said.
?Four wickets without a break. They call that a double hat-trick
where I come from.?
?No more time to waste, Nige,? Buck called.
Nigel turned the nose onto the runway and went full throttle. The
Boeing was in the air in thirty seconds, and out over the South China
Sea in minutes. The team could finally relax.
Yvonne sat next to Stokes. ?Rohan, what happened?? she said. ?I
mean, how did you know not to wait for us??
?When the limo dropped me back at the hotel and you weren?t
there to meet me, I knew you?d run out of time,? he said. ?I kind of
figured that would happen. So I had a backup plan.?
?Pretty smart,? she said. ?Glad you made it. I wasn?t relishing the
idea of leaving you to wait for Shi.?
?He might have been a little rough once he found out who I was.?
He grabbed the briefcase he?d brought and opened it. ?I had a
chance to do some shopping before I made my rounds. I thought
you?d like to have this. It is Christmas, if you remember.? He handed
Yvonne a new MacBook. ?Sorry I didn?t have a chance to wrap it.?
?Rohan, you darling,? she said. ?Well, since it?s Christmas, I have
something for you, too.? She reached into the pocket of her jumpsuit
and gave him the motherboard from the CCW warehouse. ?We
make the connection between CCW and the Chinese government,
this could prove that the chip that hacked the NetSys server was
installed with their knowledge.?
?Ah, just what I always wanted,? he said. ?Thank you, Yvonne.?
End Chapter Eight
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