“I own Lady of Leisure,” McIntyre said calmly. “What can I do for you… gentlemen?”
Something dangerous shone in Wang’s eyes. “We have learned that this boat is being used to transport opium. The People’s Republic of China does not tolerate drug activity of any kind.”
“Commendable,” McIntyre said. “But I thought drug smuggling control fell under local police jurisdiction.”
Wang stiffened. There was a pistol in a holster at his side; he rested one hand on the butt. “Not in a vessel known to travel internationally. Opium is the curse of Hong Kong. It gave the British an excuse to enslave our ancestors and rob them of their heritage, and it continues to do the same today.”
“Possibly so, Captain Wang. However, Lady of Leisure does not carry opium, internationally or locally. And I’m an American, by the way — not British.”
“I know that,” Wang said sharply. “I am not stupid. But the Americans are the worst of all; you think you are exempt from any law, including Chinese.”
McIntyre smiled. “You’re referring to Hong Kong common law, I’m sure.”
“China is China. Now, you will move all these people into the main cabin. When we have completed our search of the vessel, you — ”
“Oh, bugger this!” The shout came, unmistakably, from Myron Carstairs. The burly Englishman shoved forward, planting himself in front of Wang. The back of his neck was the color of a pomegranate. “Look here, you bloody sod, I’m not about to moon around in some bloody saloon like a bloody sheep while you perform an illegal search, you understand? And neither is anybody else. This is Hong Kong, not Tibet, you wanker. You people can’t — ”
Wang’s hand rose smoothly from his side. The sound of his pistol was startling, not much louder than a New Year’s firecracker. As Lee watched, the back of Carstair’s head opened like a flower — red and white; a bahinia blossom. A thick, warm spray hit Lee’s face, and something like a fragment of ivory ticked off his forehead and bounced across the deck.
Carstairs dropped straight down and lay still. The Scotch glass was somehow still clutched in his hand, extended forward.
Lee heard screams, very loud in his ears….
Then came one blur leading into another. Wang marched toward the bow, shouting orders. The guests were herded briskly into the main saloon and forced to sit on the floor. Lady of Leisure eased into motion, slowly at first, then faster until her diesels thrummed. Soon Lee felt the earnest rocking motion of the open sea beneath the yacht.
Some time later, Wang reappeared and said they were free to move about the upper decks, so long as they remained quiet and orderly. As people rushed out of the saloon, McIntyre touched Lee’s shoulder. “I’m going to have a word with our host,” he said. “Wait for me at the stern rail. Wait for me right there, you understand? No matter what.”
So Lee planted himself at the stern rail of the upper deck and stared aft to where the lights of Hong Kong receded in the distance. They looked very far away. The city burned white-hot against mainland China’s black hulk.
Down on the fantail stood a guard, his stance relaxed, his rifle held across his chest like a lover. His gaze never left the upper deck.
“So, Mr. Lee,” a voice said, “where do you think they’re taking us?”
Lee glanced over and saw that Pablo Cheung had joined him. The rest of the guests — more than a hundred of them — clustered near the darkened windows of the main cabin, murmuring nervously amongst themselves. Cheung alone seemed perfectly relaxed. Of course, he was from Macau, and it was rumored that all successful Macau businessmen were members of Chinese triads. Perhaps Cheung was used to having another man’s brains splattered all over his tuxedo.
Lee made an effort to concentrate on Cheung’s question. “I haven’t seen another boat since they let us back on deck. We’ve left the regular shipping lanes.”
Cheung lit a cigarette. “Perhaps they intend to motor all the way to Hawaii. Perhaps they’re defecting.”
Lee barely heard him. He kept thinking about his wife, Lila, too pregnant to come along on this year’s company harbor cruise. She’d been so sad to miss it….
Cheung was looking at him. “Relax, Mr. Lee. Whatever this is about, your boss will fix it. Phillip McIntyre fixes everything, isn’t that right?”
Lee was silent. Two hours ago he would have said, yes, of course, without hesitation. But now…
Where was Mr. McIntyre?
At that exact moment, a distinct sound came out of the main cabin: slightly muffled, but unquestionably the same sound as the one that had burst Myron Carstair’s head. Lee spun, but there was no movement, no light behind the curtains.
The crowd murmured uncertainly.
There was sudden, complete silence as Lady of Leisure’s engines cut off. Then the patrol boat reappeared from somewhere ahead of the yacht, cutting a wide circle aft, then moving up on the stern again.
Uniformed men began appearing down on the fantail, gathering in a silent group. Lee searched for the gleam of silver hair, but was not rewarded. All he saw were the CDF uniforms, dark hair, gleaming rifles. His stomach tightened. Where was Mr. McIntyre?
“Look,” Cheung said. Far to stern, a searchlight beam winked on. It was too high off the water, and moving much too fast, to come from a boat. Then Lee heard the beating rhythm of helicopter blades.
“This could be interesting,” Cheung said, and lit another cigarette.
Guests surged to the rail, staring hopefully toward the light.
Below, the patrol boat banged into Lady of Leisure again. The PLA sailors swarmed back across the rail, and the instant the last one was clear, the patrol boat heeled away and roared off across the South China Sea, all lights off.
A cheer rose from Lady of Leisure. Clearly, no one cared that the helicopter didn’t seem to notice the departing patrol boat. It descended toward the yacht, its rotor noise escalating into a painful thunder, its searchlight beam snapping back and forth. The guests at the rail waved, jewelry and sequins flashing. The helicopter slowed, moved to the starboard side of the boat, then hovered at a distance of fifty or sixty feet. Its rotor wash flattened the sea. Through the glare of its spotlight, Lee glimpsed a sleek silhouette not unlike that of the French-built helicopter Mr. McIntyre used for business trips. He looked closer. This helicopter was painted in irregular gray stripes, with a red star on the side.
And mounted in its open rear hatch was a machine gun with a man behind it. As Lee watched, the barrel pivoted.
Cheung said something sharp in Cantonese, but his words were eradicated by a sudden, pounding roar. Flames leaped from the helicopter, and a column of water exploded up from the sea and marched toward Lady of Leisure.
The guests stood staring silently.
Then the screaming began.
“Oh give me a home… where the buffalo roam…” Lieutenant Commander Chris Hanson, call sign “Lobo,” held each note as long as she could, until she heard her Radar Intercept Officer’s groan through the Internal Communication System: “Please, God, make it stop.”
Lobo grinned, even though she knew Handyman couldn’t see her face from the backseat, least of all at night. “Honey,” she said, “before you start praying, remember that there’s only one God up here… and that’s me.” She yanked back on the yoke and slammed the throttles forward to full afterburner. As raw jet fuel spewed into the twin exhausts of the General Electric F-100 turbofans, the F-14D stood on its tail and shot up as if yanked by the Milky Way. Lobo felt her weight double, then triple, trying to shove her backward through her seat. She breathed in harsh grunts, tightening the muscles of her torso to force the blood to back into her head and extremities. Nothing better than flying an F-14 to keep the old abs in shape. Even so, gray haze crept in at the edges of her vision. She loved that. It never ceased to amaze her: A Tomcat was so powerful it could leave consciousness itself behind….