Quiller Bamboo

'Yes, I see.'

He was, then, to have been released in such a way that I would 'discover' him and take him somewhere to safety and finally to Beijing, the same man but not with the same mission.

And then I'd mucked everything up for Mr Trotter by deciding to get in his way and find Xingyu for myself.

I do hope you understand, my dear fellow.

Actually yes.

'Were you given posthypnotic instructions, Baibing?'

I don't know what he would have said because the radio crackled and Pepperidge came on and I acknowledged and began listening.

Chapter 26: Shadow

'What is your situation?'

'They're closer,' I told him.

I watched the ragged line of light in the valley below.

'By how much?'

'Half a mile, a mile, it's difficult to tell.'

'Are they looking for you, or Xingyu Baibing? Or both?'

I thought about that. 'The military were alerted by two things, the fire in the temple and someone shooting at us from a Beijing jeep behind us. I think Trotter could have been hi the jeep, alone or with one of his hit men. Or it could have been just a hit man, or two of them. I think Trotter was probably injured by the bombs, could be dead by now.'

The line of light seemed to be breaking up in one or two places. Either one or two of the soldiers were moving up faster than the rest because of easier ground, or the officer in command had ordered probes to move directly into the hills to search the caves.

I didn't report this. I wasn't certain yet.

'What might have happened,' I said into the radio, 'is that the military caught whoever was firing at me from the jeep, and put him straight under interrogation.'

'And he told them you were somewhere in the area?'

'Yes, with Xingyu. They wouldn't have mounted a search on this scale for me alone. The police and the PSB agents are looking for me, but not the army.'

I waited.

My position was not good; it was probably lethal; but I preferred it to what Pepperidge was going through. He'd been pleased to take this one on, had been courteous enough to say he'd be honoured to direct me in the field, and we'd done well together, got the Chinese Communist government's most dangerous political opponent through the trap in Hong Kong and the trap in Chengdu and got him into hiding. Then Trotter and his private cell had moved in and the objective for Bamboo had changed totally. It wasn't that we could no longer hope to fly Xingyu into the Chinese capitaclass="underline" we no longer wanted to. It was the last thing we must do. All that was left of the mission was a static rearguard action outnumbered by something like ISO to one, and my final instructions from London would simply be to save this man's life if I could.

I did not envy my director in the field. He was talking to, me from this lonely room in that shabby hotel, the link between London Control and his beleaguered executive trapped in a mountain cave in Tibet, with no further objective except to survive.

His voice, of course, was perfectly steady, and that helped.

'They haven't brought helicopters in?'

'God forbid.'

'Quite so. But if they do, please report at once.'

'Understood.'

'Have you explored the cave?'

'Yes. There's no hiding place.'

'Will you decide to leave there, do you think, since the search is closing on you?'

'Yes, unless there's something you can do.'

Better to be overtaken in the open and on the run than raked out of a hole like a couple of bloody badgers.

In a moment: 'I signalled you to tell you that London has been very active indeed since I reported our predicament. Through the embassy in Beijing and our courier line they have contacted General Yang.'

'Yang?'

'He is the commander who would have supported Xingyu Baibing's television appearance with a tank corps in Tiananmen Square. He was told of Dr Xingyu's critical situation and agreed to send one of his colonels immediately to Gonggar airport to see if anything can be done.' There was a crackle of static suddenly and then his voice came in again. 'Was… course… originally hoped that he might be able to help us get the subject to Beijing, until you reported that he has been compromised.' Read brainwashed. 'If the colonel can do anything now — his name his Zhou — it will be to attempt to rescue both of you from the cave. London reports that he has already left Beijing in a MiG 23 fighter-bomber and should arrive Gonggar in a little less than two hours. I have no information on what he will do then, but I assume he'll use his rank and try to halt the search that is now in progress. But that is conjecture.'

I didn't answer immediately. It would be pleasant to catch some gleam of hope in what London had set in motion, but it would also be indefensible. If there was going to be any chance Of getting this man out alive it could only be taken by a strictly cool appraisal of the facts, and I didn't believe that a tactical fighter-bomber now airborne over central China could have any real connection with the line of soldiers less than two miles from where I was crouched at the cave mouth.

Pressed to transmit. 'I wish the colonel a pleasant journey.'

Regretted it immediately but of course too late.

'We must not despair, my friend. We must not despair.'

'Noted.'

Static again and I looked down into the valley, but there was no helicopter in sight. I think another military vehicle had moved in, a big one, and it could be that.

'How is the subject bearing up?'

'He's all right physically, but not totally all there, doesn't really know what's going on. I think he was still under drugs when I got him out of the temple.'

'Structions… Lond… as possible…'

'There's some static. I didn't get — oh, Christ.'

Bright flood of light fanning suddenly across the scree down there from the vehicle that had just moved in.

'Information?'

'They've brought in a mobile searchlight.'

'Will that affect your position?'

'Not directly, it's down there by the road. There's a lot of terrain to cover and they obviously don't think anyone could have got as far as the caves. But it means they're dead set on finding us, throwing everything in but the kitchen sink. Did you say something about instructions?'

The huge light beam swung slowly across and across the landscape, the soldiers moving in like insects, hundreds of them, hundreds, silver-green because of the light on their uniforms and throwing long black shadows. They'd make better headway now, could see where they were going.

'Yes. Your instructions from Control are to protect the subject as far as humanly possible. That is your final objective.'

Poor little bugger, sitting there dreaming about his bloody windmills, a fine man, he'd been a fine man before that black-bearded bloody maniac had gone to work on him.

Said I understood.

'I'm in constant signals with Control, of course,' the tone cheerful, rallying.

'Good-o.' But they couldn't do anything now, they could do nothing. 'Look, I'm going to take him higher into the hills, all right?' The snow had given over and the sky was clearing and I'd be able to get a fix on Polaris when we went into the open. 'I'm going to head due north, so if that colonel wants to know where to find us we'll be somewhere along that line.' He'd already got a bearing on the cave.

In a moment, 'Can you wait another thirty minutes before you leave cover?'