''Pull me aboard, old man," Tang sputtered. "I am hurt."
"I heardheard gunshots." The man's voice quavered.
"They thought I was a poacher. There are deer in the compound."
Straining, the old man pulled Tang aboard and down into the bow of the boat. When he saw the nature of Tang's injury, he recoiled. A small bone protruded through the skin and he was bleeding profusely.
As the moon disappeared behind the clouds, Tang reached into the oilskin bag containing his dry clothes and pulled out a snub-nosed .22 Barkai. "Keep close to the shore," he ordered, "and don't use that motor. Just keep rowing until I tell you to stop. Understand?"
"Youyou need aa doctor," the man stammered.
"I need to get out of here. Nowold manstart rowing."
Tang had lost a great deal of blood. From time to time he nearly lost consciousness, but each time he managed to shake himself back. In the distance he could hear the police boats out of Huangliu. So far they were focusing their search south of the inlet where a fleet of fishermen were working through the night. Even though he had not anticipated trouble, the decision to use one of the smaller dorylike fishing boats had been a wise one; it enabled him to stay close to shore and utilize the shallows where the bigger boats refused to venture.
Now, despite his pain, he managed a small smile at the thought of the harbor police searching each of the fishing boats, looking for the man who had killed Han Ki Po.
Some two hundred yards offshore from the small village of Mianyang, Tang instructed the old man to move in closer to the beach. Moments later, in water no more than four feet deep, Tang struggled overboard. As he did, he grabbed the oilskin bag and wrapped a rag around the Barkai. The two shots he fired were point-blankboth to the head. The old man's body recoiled and toppled back against the gunwale.
Then Tang, with the small automatic tucked under his wounded left arm, pulled the fisherman's body overboard. With what little strength he had left, he managed to tip the shallow-keeled craft until the water began rushing in over the side. Within a matter of minutes, the boat that had carried him to safety slipped beneath the surface.
Tang Ro Ji knew that eventually it would be found, as would the body of the old fishermanbut by that time Tang Ro Ji would be a long, long way from Mianyang.
Chapter Nine
There was a single incandescent light in the tiny room, and the windows, although small and usually left open on warm October nights, were shuttered and further darkened by layers of black tar paper.
After two hours of planning, it was obvious Le Win Fo was willing to leave nothing to chance. By Bogner's standards, he was exercising near-military precaution every step of the way.
"Quan's men," he explained, "frequently patrol the roads outside the perimeter of Danjia at night looking for poachers and thieves. They are not oblivious to the fact that their compound is an inviting target."
"As well as they've got the damn thing guarded," Driver said, "it's a wonder anything gets in or out of there."
Le Win Fo laughed. "When you possess a patrolled security fence and a mined area inside of the perimeter road, there is a tendency to be somewhat complacent, Colonel."
Bogner shook his head. "The way I see it, we've got two problems just getting to Schubatis. One, we've got to get past the security barrier, and two, we've got to find a way for Harry to clear that area between the cell block and the hangar."
"You are rightyour friend must cover at least five hundred yards of very open space," Le confirmed. "But there is a way."
Both Driver and Bogner studied the layout of the buildings. "All right," Driver said, "let's go over it one more time."
"Originally," Le began, "I believed the best way to enter the compound was to swim ashore from one of the fishing boats, but that would not seem so now." He stepped past the two Americans and opened a door at the far end of the room. He pushed a small panel aside and revealed a door to what at first appeared to be a small storage area. The room was full of radio gear.
"At times," Le Win Fo continued, "we have learned a great deal by simply monitoring activity in the compound."
Driver stepped past Le Win Fo into a room where one of Hua's charges, a mere youth with a headset, sat monitoring a receiver.
"Then you do know what the hell is going on."
"Precisely," Le Win Fo admitted, "and earlier this evening, something very strange happened. Our friend Colonel Quan gave orders to activate several squads of his security detail. I learned of this when I returned from our earlier meeting in Haikou."
Bogner frowned. "What's going on?"
"Only that they are looking for a man named Tang Ro Ji. Quan has dispatched patrols to villages down the coast south of the Danjia installation."
"Tang Ro Ji," Driver muttered, looking at Le Win Fo. "The name mean anything to you?"
"I have to think it's something big if it's Tang Ro Ji," Bogner said. "He's the mouthpiece for the Fifth Academy. Tang is the one who called in after the explosion at Tuxpano in Mexico and after the bomb went off at the Royal Opera House."
"The name is familiar," Le said. "Here on the island we know little about the manexcept that he is reputed to be one of Quan's agents."
Bogner looked at Le. "You said we were changing our plans. If Quan has put his people on alert, how can"
Le held up his hand. "There has been a great deal of activity in the last few hours. There were, at last count, six J1H Komisko helicopters on Danjia. Quan obtained them from the North Vietnamese. He uses them primarily for patrols and reconnaissance. In the last two hours, all of them have been dispatched. They have been coming and going since then."
"I get it. Nobody even bothers to look up when a chopper goes over," Driver observed. He was smiling.
"So we slip in the back door," Bogner said with a grin, "and no one pays any attention. Is that it?"
"It is a long shot." Le sighed. "But as my people have long believed, in chaos there is order."
"Let's hear it," Driver said.
Le unfolded the map of the Danjia installation. "We have been monitoring the flights of the patrol. One group of the Komiskos appears to be concentrating their search in the hill country south of the installation. The other group is working the coastline. We must assume they are looking for this man Tang Ro Ji. We must also assume that they have not yet located him. Each group has returned to base once. They were refueled immediately and rejoined the search. We have been able to monitor some of the transmissions between patrol units. As recently as one hour ago, Quan dispatched additional ground patrols to the search area south of Danjia."
"What you're saying is there aren't as many troops on Danjia now that Quan has them all out beating the bushes for this Tang," Driver said.
"If the Komiskos repeat the earlier refueling pattern, they should return sometime in the next hour," Le speculated. Then he glanced at his watch. "That gives us just enough time to prepare. I have already asked my young colleagues to move the Defender into the clearing. When the Komiskos are refueled and return to the search, we will go in. I can put you down on the roof of the cell block."
Le Win Fo paused.
"You will have a short amount of time to get Dr. Schubatis to a rendezvous point."
"Where do we take him?" Bogner asked.
"It will be too risky to chance more than one landing. I am afraid that once I put you down at Danjia, there will be no turning back. The entire plan is predicated on the word if. If Bogner is able to get Schubatis out of the cell block. If Driver can get to the airplane. If you can escape with the airplane…"