Quiller Bamboo

'He is to be mistrusted. He will only bring suffering.'

Sweat on his temples, I didn't know why, bright on his temples.

'You help to put that man in power, Baibing, and what will he do?'

'He will perpetuate Communism in China-'

'And you'll have blood back in the streets, blood back in the streets.'

'Yes, it must not happen, it-'

'If we can get you in front of the cameras, Baibing, what will you tell the people?'

'That they must establish a democracy, a true democracy-'

'As the only way, the only way?'

'Yes of course, as the only way-'

'Democracy as the only way-'

'But yes, of course, it is what I have been saying to them in Beijing for so long-'

'Then you can say it again if we can get you there, and not just on the campus, Baibing, butright across China.'

'Right across China, yes. It seems to me,' he said, and he lifted a hand to stop me interrupting again, 'it seems to me that I have come very close, dreadfully close, to being turned into a traitor to my own people. Dreadfully close,' the sweat trickling on his face and now I knew why.

'But that's over now.'

Felt tired suddenly, should have been the other way, shouting glory hallelujah, so forth, but didn't, just felt very tired.

'Yes, over now,' he said, and lifted a hand again, this time in a kind of appeal, or that was my impression. 'Do you think I am fully recovered, Mr Locke?'

I made an effort, got to my feet, picked up the radio. 'Probably. But if we can get you onto a plane there'll be enough time to put you through it again, make sure we know what you're going to say when you get to Beijing. Don't think about it, just take it easy, I'd say you're back in your own mind now.'

Pressed to transmit.

'DIF, DIF, DIF.'

'Hear you, I hear you, I was just going-'

'Listen, this is for London. He's come out of it now. They didn't have enough time to do a proper job I think he could go in front of the cameras. I know it's probably academic, but London ought to know, you agree?'

Static. I watched the soldiers below, and the flood of light across the rocks. We'd have to get out of here now, whatever Pepperidge said, whatever London said, have to save our skins if we could.

'London must indeed know. This changes everything.' Static again and I didn't know if I'd missed anything. '… Case… going… signal you. London has been in direct contact with Colonel Zhou in flight, and so have I. His ETA Gonggar is twenty-one-oh-five hours, in thirty-two minutes from now.'

Xingyu had got onto his feet for the first time since we'd reached the cave, stood stretching his legs, and I motioned him to keep back in the shadows. I said to Pepperidge: 'Thirty-two minutes is nothing like good enough. Gonggar's sixty kilometres away and he'd have to get right through the town and God knows how many roadblocks.'

I could see their guns now, the searchlight sweeping across them, the whole scene silvered, the stark shadows of the boulders angling over the scree as a beam of light swung across them, and Pepperidge came in again.

'Colonel Zhou has raised the military garrison at Gonggar from his plane and ordered an M19 helicopter to stand by for him with a pilot and navigator by the time he lands. The maximum speed of the M19 is two-fifty kph, so allowing for changing planes and lift-off he estimates he can arrive your area by twenty-two hundred hours, in fifty-five minutes from now.'

Xingyu was standing there watching me. I didn't know if he could hear Pepperidge's voice clearly enough, but he could hear mine.

'It's still not good enough.'

Heard myself saying it, having to say it.

'Then you must work something out.'

Yes indeed, those were the only instructions my director in the field could give me — they were as close as that.

'I can hear their voices now, and you're talking about fifty-five minutes.'

'You must work something out. I expect you to work something out, and so does London Control.'

He'd caught my tone, the colour of my speech, and heard I was tired, close to exhaustion, been a thick night, two nights, the mission had been running four days now and the pressure hadn't let up, listen, if I'd been fresh I'd have got Xingyu out of here and higher into the hills, on my back if I'd had to, but I wasn't fresh and Pepperidge knew that and all he could do was to try putting some energy into me, enough faith and energy to work the magic.

No magic left.

'I'm going to take him north with me," I told him, 'all I can do, it's all I can work out. We won't get very far, so if that colonel can find the cave he'll have to look for us north of there, maybe a few hundred yards due north, tell him that.'

In a moment: 'If that is your decision.'

'We can't stay here. They're too close now.' Too close and oh Jesus look down there. 'They've also moved a helicopter in, and it's putting a light beam across the ground. We're getting out, you understand, all we can do now.'

Xingyu Baibing watched me from the cave, his eyes large and alert, concentrating on what I was saying. I believed he would give me no trouble, lend what strength he'd got left, push himself up that bloody hill if I helped him.

Pepperidge came in again. 'I will tell Colonel Zhou where to look for you. Now these are your instructions: he will fly both of you to Gonggar and put the subject into the fighter-bomber and take him to Beijing. You will be placed in the hands of two dissident PLA captains, ostensibly under arrest. They will take you by military plane to Chengdu, and will personally see you aboard a civilian flight to Hong Kong. Do I need to repeat any of those instructions?'

Said no.

Running things much too close for the colonel to do anything, that bloody chopper down there, tracing a line of light from east to west, turning and moving closer toward the caves, west to east, the sound of its rotor slapping at the night, but perhaps it was the fatigue, perhaps I didn't have the nervous energy to believe there was a chance now, one in a thousand.

Put faith in him then, faith in Pepperidge, believe in the thousandth chance.

'Please stay open to receive,' his voice came through the static.

'Will do.' Then on an impulse, perhaps just to hear myself say it, give it substance, 'Maybe he can make it in time.'

'Say again?'

'This colonel. Maybe he can get here in time.'

'But of course he will.'

I put the radio down and went back inside the cave to talk to Xingyu, the acid glow from the searchlight spreading brighter now across the roof and then suddenly the huge black shadow rearing above us and I spun around as he came for us, Trotter.

Chapter 27: ETA

The voices of the soldiers had been reaching as far as the cave on the soft night wind, but I couldn't hear them anymore because the search helicopter was flooding the ground with light much closer now to the foothills and the beat of its rotor covered all other sounds.

The whole terrain out there must be awash with light now that the helicopter had arrived. It would help Colonel Zhou, when he came, if he came, if there was going to be anything left here for him to come for; he would see the lights from a long way off.

I am very tired, my friend.

The roof of the cave changed as the light changed, darkening and brightening as the helicopter made its run from east to west, from west to east, and the shadow of the stalactites stood like bristles across the rockface, slanting and straightening and slanting again as the helicopter flew past. Some of the stalactites had broken away, over the centuries, and were lying on the ground.