Garrett tensed. Was the whole deal going to fall through after all?
"However, Hong Kong is still in charge of her own internal affairs," Xian went on. "She takes orders from Beijing, relies on Beijing to handle all matters of self-defense and treaties. But in most ways we continue as we always have."
"I understand that, Lieutenant."
"Many of us involved in the civic administration of Hong Kong do not appreciate the… the interference of other groups in our affairs. Or the fact that such groups would use us to their own ends. There are some people flying here from Beijing now to interview your men. I recommend that you and your ship be gone by the time they get here." He tied the manila envelope closed again. "You did not hear this from me, however." He cracked a sudden, unexpected grin. "My English… not so good, no?"
Garrett extended his arm and shook Xian's hand. "Thank you, sir. Good luck to you."
"And to you, Commander."
Garrett marched the fourteen former prisoners out of the police station and into the dazzle of Kowloon's midday sun. Three large, Chinese flatbed trucks were parked outside, with a dozen of Seawolf's men posted on and around them. Garrett assumed the trucks had come from the city docks — requisitioned or hijacked, he didn't know.
Captain Lawless was there in uniform, arms crossed and a fierce look on his thin face. Incongruously, there was a beefy-looking man in a Russian naval officer's uniform standing next to him, and several Russian sailors in their striped T-shirts mingled with the American sailors.
Garrett didn't salute Lawless — he was not in uniform himself — but he walked over to the captain and came to attention. "Our people are secure, sir," he said. "But I recommend we get back to the boat as quickly as we can and make all preparations for getting under way. We may be sitting on a hornet's nest here."
"So I gathered." Lawless nodded toward the Russian officer. "This is Captain First Rank Yuri Shtyrov, formerly of the Russian attack submarine Nevolin."
"Pleased to meet you, sir," Garrett said, bowing slightly.
"And you, Commander," the Russian said. "You have freed my men as well?"
"Yes, sir. The seven who came in with our people, at least."
"Thank you, Commander. Sometimes, after a long cruise, the men get… restive. They are eager to enjoy the accommodations of a foreign port and sometimes celebrate too hard."
"From the sound of it, a hostess club was trying to rip them off. That led to the fight."
"' Rip…them off'?"
"Take advantage of them. Take their money."
"Ah."
"You said formerly of the Nevolin, sir?"
"Da." He hesitated, as though measuring the two American officers. "I should perhaps warn you both. We — my crew and I — brought Nevolin here to turn him over to the Chinese. He is a new submarine, very fast, very powerful."
"What we call the Sierra class," Lawless said. "We knew she was in Canton. We didn't know her, uh… his status." Russians always referred to their vessels as masculine.
"As of several days ago he was officially part of the PLA Navy," Shtyrov said. "We bring him to Guangzhou, turn him over to Chinese Navy. We will return on board our electronic listening vessel in Victoria Harbor. I… should not tell you more."
"We appreciate the word, Captain Shtyrov," Lawless said. "I suggest that right now we get the hell out of here."
"Da. There is a lot of hell here to get out."
"Have your men get aboard the trucks, Captain. We'll take you to your ship."
"Thank you, Captain."
Garrett clambered into the back of one of the flatbeds, along with the men he'd retrieved from the station and several of the shore party. Dougherty handed him a Sam Browne belt with a holstered Beretta and three loaded magazines. "Just in case, sir," he said.
But the drive back to Victoria Harbor was uneventful. The little convoy picked up Hong Chong Road and followed it through the Cross-Harbor Tunnel, emerging on Hong Kong Island at Causeway Bay next to the former Royal Yacht Club. They followed Gloucester Road west then, in light traffic, reaching the naval piers at just before 1330 hours.
As the Russians climbed off the truck, Garrett and Lawless joined Shtyrov for a final good-bye. "Take care of yourselves, gentlemen," the Russian said. "I recommend that you get clear of the harbor before the Nevolin comes down the Pearl River. He is a good boat, with excellent ears… and… let us say he has been working closely of late with our GKS."
"Thank you, Yuri," Lawless said. "We won't forget this."
"It is we who thank you, Captain. This… incident would have had unfortunate repercussions, both in Moscow and in Washington."
"Until next time, then."
"Da. Dasvidanya."
"Let's get back to the Seawolf, Mr. Garrett," Lawless said. "It's time, as they say, to get out of Dodge."
"Aye aye, sir."
"And… "
"Sir?"
"Good work getting our people out of there. I was getting nowhere through the consulate."
"Seemed best to cut through the red tape, sir."
"Red in more ways than one. I was told Beijing had an interest in our people."
"It may have been an MMI sting, sir. I can't be sure… but I was able to use the possibility to scare the local cops. They don't like Military Intelligence screwing around in their affairs any more than we do."
"Most folks just want to be left alone, Commander. Most folks just want to be left alone."
"That, sir, is a universal given."
The trio of requisitioned trucks hurried them back to the Seawolf.
16
"Jesus H. Fucking Christ!" Toynbee exploded as he, Queensly, Grossman, and Juarez filed into the sonar room and took their seats. "You guys should have seen Commander Garrett in action! The guy was fucking incredible!"
"Queenie here was already telling us," Juarez said. "He was hot to trot, huh?"
"He put those local cops through the hoops, let me tell ya! I ain't seen the like since I was a third class on the old Grayback!"
"I thought he was going to eat us for breakfast," Queensly put in. "Having us stand at attention like that? Chewing us out like a Marine D.I.?"
"That, my boy, was pure theater," Toynbee said, "and brilliantly done, too, I might add! He was doing it to let that Hong Kong police lieutenant know we would get our just desserts back on the boat and also to give the guy a way to save face."
"Are you guys gonna get any fallout?" Grossman wanted to know.
"Ah, we might get some shit details. Mr. Garrett hasn't confided in me. But I'll tell you what. Right now, I would follow Commander Garrett any damned place on Earth or off of it, just on his say-so. That man is okay in my book!"
"You guys said you were going to show me an interesting time," Queensly said, flicking on the switches on his sonar board and adjusting his headphones. "You weren't kidding, though I had kind of a different idea of what to expect."
The waterfall came to life on his screen, a glowing cascade of yellows and greens. The harbor was noisy with small craft engines, the throb of diesels, the clatter of submarine metal, chains, lines, creaking hulls, and all the rest, making it the acoustical equivalent of opaque.
"Yeah. The ol' Fuk Wai has changed management or something," Toynbee said. "Didn't use to be a rip-off joint. That's really pretty disappointing. Now, when we get back to San Diego, we'll have to take you to this place we know on the main drag in from the waterfront. Man, I tell you, the girls there are so—"