The powerful SX-5 Starburst searchlight suddenly illuminated the top of the roof in a surreal scene of blinding white light.
"Is your gear down?" Scott asked, unable to see anything beyond the tremendous glare of light.
"Down and locked." She concentrated on edging forward. "I can barely see the roof — I can't see forward."
"You're doing great." Scott saw the ladder slowly extending above the height of the building. He pulled the pin on the grenade and lobbed it at the fire truck. The explosion injured three people and sent everyone scurrying for cover except the heavily armored sniper climbing the ladder.
Jackie sensed the Agusta was beginning to drift to the left. Fight the vertigo — don't let it get to you.
"As soon as you touch down, kill the light!"
"Copy".
Using the AK-47, Scott opened fire at the people on the other building as Jackie eased the Agusta closer to the roof. She was about to touch down when a round penetrated the left cabin door and ripped one of the medical technician's seats to shreds. A second later, she felt the helicopter make solid contact with the roof. She instantly snapped the searchlight off and stared into the blinding rain.
Running toward the Agusta, Scott tossed his second grenade high in the air above the sniper. Dalton dived through the open door just as the grenade exploded eight feet above the soldier, blowing him off the ladder.
"Go," Scott shouted. A round penetrated the small window next to him, showering debris across his chest. "Go — go — go!"
Jackie reacted so aggressively that the Agusta lifted off as if it had been shot out of a cannon.
Scott grabbed one of the two compact submachine guns and began firing at the guards on the other roof.
She raised the landing gear and worked at flying the damaged helicopter as smoothly as possible.
Dalton continued to fire the submachine gun on full automatic at eight hundred rounds per minute. The Agusta quickly disappeared in the heavy rain and Scott secured his weapon. Forcing himself to breath slowly, he removed his helmet and the body armor. He stuffed the hard drives into one of the oversized pockets on his fatigues and made his way to the cockpit. Feeling the effects of the adrenaline rush, he collapsed on the floor.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She never took her eyes off the dimly lighted instrument panel. "So far. How about you?"
"I'm a helluva lot better now."
"You mentioned a surprise visitor?"
"None other than Zheng Yen-Tsung."
Shocked, she darted a look at Scott. "How did he know you were there?"
"He said they had been tracking us since we left the States, but I think he was bluffing."
"Why?"
"He was trying to impress us with his supposed surveillance capabilities. By the time we left California on the COD, with all the changes in locations we've made, there is no way he could have tracked us. He figured we would probably make a play for Dr. Cheung if we found out where he was located. All Zheng had to do was wait."
"I'm not so sure about that."
"If he'd known where we were — Hong Kong and Chengdu — he would never have allowed us to get close to Mianyang."
"What if you're wrong, and they're waiting for us in Chengdu?"
"Well, we'll soon find out."
"Did he kill Dr. Cheung?"
"No." He filled her in on the details of what had happened to Dr. Cheung.
"You said you had the info we need?"
"We have the hard drives — the whole ball of wax on their laser weapons program."
"You have to be kidding."
"Nope — Cheung had access to the entire program. He was the mastermind behind the project, and the hard drives are in my pocket."
"I'll be damned," Jackie said, leveling off at four hundred feet in turbulence and rain. "What a gold mine."
"The bad news is the Chinese are going to find out the hard drives are missing, if they haven't already. They're going to come after us with everything they have."
She tuned the radio to the primary frequency for Shuangliu approach control and heard a multitude of voices.
Scott sensed they had a very small window to transfer to the Learjet and get airborne. "We're going to have to maintain radio silence and go into the airport without lights."
"And we don't have much time," Jackie said, monitoring Shuangliu approach and tower frequencies. "We've stirred up a hornet's nest. Everyone is trying to sort out the situation — but one thing is clear."
"I'll bet."
"From what I'm hearing — some of it in English — all hands are looking for a helicopter with American spies from Mianyang."
"Great — that's exactly what we need."
He momentarily thought about diverting to Chongqing, refueling the Agusta, and then heading for Hong Kong. Better stick with the jet and get out of the country as quickly as possible.
He looked at Jackie. "We're going to have to land next to the Lear, get the engines fired up, and take off on the nearest runway or taxiway we can get to — we can't afford to be caught on the ground."
The rain was subsiding and Jackie could see lights below. She began a gradual descent to three hundred feet above the ground. "We could continue in the helicopter, not even take the chance of landing."
"I think we're better off with the Lear — we'll be in Hong Kong before they get organized in Chengdu."
"Hope you're right."
Scott noticed how the visibility was improving. It was still raining hard but he could see a multitude of anticollision and strobe lights flashing in the dark sky. "It looks like we have several other helicopters up here."
"And most of them are probably looking for us," Jackie said in a tight voice. She altered course to fly along the ridge and approach the Shuangliu Airport from the south.
"I'm going to get our gear together," Scott said. He gathered their weapons and equipment while Jackie began a low, sweeping approach to the airport. The rain was still coming down in sheets, but the visibility was reasonable.
As she neared the parking ramp there was a large knot of fear in her heart. She began bleeding off airspeed and aimed for a spot on the left side of the Learjet. As she began her flare, Jackie noticed a fuel truck approaching their plane.
"Scott, we may have a problem."
Dalton hurried to the cockpit in time to see the truck park directly in front of the Lear. "What the hell is he doing?"
"I don't know, but I don't see any cops or soldiers with him." Scott saw the driver get out. "Go ahead and land."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'll have him move the truck." He placed his weapons on a passenger seat.
Jackie made a smooth transition to a hover. "I don't like this."
"We don't have much choice."
They touched down behind and to the left of the Learjet. Still covered with camouflage and mostly-dried mud, Scott immediately jumped out and looked at the driver.
The DF-31 transporters pulled into the remote launching site and the soldiers began making preparations to plunge into action. The missile crews worked rapidly to stabilize their big rigs and then raised the ICBMs into the launch position.
Within minutes, targeting coordinates were received in code and verified by the commanding officer of the missile detachment. The information was carefully programmed into the East Wind ballistic missiles, and the crews anxiously waited for the launch order.
Chapter 30
Dalton approached the fuel truck driver. "Hey, we need to move your truck out of the way."
The short driver with the hooded rain jacket slowly looked up and tossed the hood back.
Scott was in total denial for a few seconds when he saw the 9mm handgun pointed at him. His heart skipped a beat and he stopped dead in his tracks. I have to move fast — do something.