“Wait here, please.” She went into her own quarters, leaving him outside. She dug around in the trunk under her bed. Beneath a false floor was a hidden compartment. She opened it and removed a satellite phone that worked through an encrypted connection, routing calls through a special network of Chinese military communications satellites. Lena powered up the phone and dialed a number from memory.
The operator on the island picked up within seconds.
After providing her passphrase, Lena was transferred to the duty officer. Their conversation lasted five minutes, as Lena received her instructions, interrupting only twice to clarify the information. When the call ended, she stared at the phone. Then she shook off the feeling of surprise and placed the phone in her bag. She dug around in the trunk and retrieved other items as well — clothing, a silenced pistol, cash, and false IDs. Passports for both her and Natesh.
She walked back outside and handed him his passport. “Is your travel bag ready?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go to your quarters and retrieve it. Quickly. I want to be gone in the next few minutes.”
Natesh nodded and they both walked over to his trailer. He was in and out in a matter of seconds. They walked over to the fenced area that stored the military vehicles. The guard saw Lena and nodded to her. Everyone knew and feared her. There would be no questions. Not until the team arrived from Beijing.
Lena had toyed with the idea of having the Leishen Commandos on the base take the military police prisoner, but she didn’t want to test their loyalty. Besides, now she had a new set of orders.
She threw her bag into the back of a jeep. “Put your stuff in here.”
Natesh did as commanded. “Where are we going?”
“We’re going to Portoviejo. It is a city about an hour from here. Now get in.”
She started up the jeep and drove them out of base. The guards nodded at her as she left. Lena could have had the private jet pick them up from Manta, but there would be too much risk that it would be tracked by the Americans or Chinese parties not loyal to Jinshan.
Green jungle trees arched over the dirt road, providing shade from the hot sun.
Lena glanced at Natesh. “You are worried.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t be. We’ve planned for this.”
“For what?”
“For the possibility of Jinshan being taken into custody. For the possibility of… things not going well.”
“Lena, four Chinese navy ships were defeated by the Americans. A Chinese submarine was sunk. Now the Chinese government is coming to Manta to apprehend you.” He looked exasperated. “If Jinshan has been taken into custody, that means that the American government has exposed him. The Chinese president must know about the Red Cell now…”
“Yes?” She looked over at him while driving. “What of it?”
He sighed, looking into the dark rainforests that whipped by.
“Have faith, Natesh.”
“Lena, you need to think about your own well-being. We need to think about—”
“Stop it. Listen to what I said. We have planned for this.”
Natesh shook his head. “We need to figure out a plan to hide. Maybe we should consider reconstructive surgery. I have cash. At a bank in Barbados. It’s an untraceable account. I’ve been putting some away ever since Jinshan told me about—”
“Natesh, please. Nothing has changed.”
She reached over and grabbed his shoulder with one hand, making sure to hold his eye for just the right amount of time. Then she placed her hands back on the wheel.
“How can you say that? So much has gone wrong.”
She decided to change tactics. “Is this really about Jinshan being captured?”
He bristled. “What else would it be about?”
“I know that you have been uncomfortable with things.”
He pouted, not responding immediately. “Well, this was supposed to be a war of deception.”
“It is. It will be.”
Natesh scoffed. “Jinshan had promised me that there would be minimal casualties. In the past few days, I watched you execute an Ecuadorian military commander in front of thousands, and you just stabbed a Chinese officer to death.”
Her grip on the wheel tightened. “I understand your frustration.”
He was still staring at her as she drove. “Things are out of control.”
“I’m sorry that you feel that way. But you knew that this wouldn’t be easy. Great achievement requires great sacrifice.”
They didn’t speak for the rest of the trip.
An hour later they drove through a small town. Most of the homes were shacks. She parked her jeep outside the airport and they both hopped out.
“This airport doesn’t look open,” Natesh said. Bits of grass were growing up through segments of the runway pavement. The hangars and parking lot were empty, and the central terminal looked abandoned.
“It’s not.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s not open.”
She walked over and stood in front of him, taking his hands. He was frowning, still angry.
“I’m sorry, Natesh. You are right. Things have gotten out of hand. This isn’t what Mr. Jinshan or I intended to happen. But you must keep trusting him. He is a visionary. And I suspect that you joined him for many of the same reasons that I did. His grand idea of what the world could become, if we can win.”
“I appreciate you admitting that.”
Lena nodded, doing her best to show empathy. “Part of the allure of our great task… for people like you and me, Natesh, is the challenge of sculpting the world into greatness.”
Natesh folded his arms.
Lena continued, “I know that you have now seen me do some horrible things. Truth be told, I am not proud of everything that I have done. But I won’t lie to you and tell you that it is going to stop. Many more will die. It has to happen. The world has become entrenched in political systems and power castes that won’t relinquish control without a fight. You must have known this when you accepted Jinshan’s offer to join us.”
Natesh took a deep breath and nodded. “I was optimistic. Maybe naïve.”
“Natesh, when I take someone’s life, I do it for a reason. That Ecuadorian general — he was a barrier to our progress. And his death, however gruesome, served as an example for the others. They will be better soldiers now that they understand the seriousness of their job. Now that they understand the realness of this war.”
“And the Chinese officer?” Natesh looked skeptical. “Why did he need to die?”
“I told you, I was worried that he might turn us in. We had history, and—”
“Lena, you didn’t have to kill him.”
Her face darkened. “Listen. That Chinese military captain that I just…” She looked away for a moment. “If you knew what he did to me when I was a girl… Natesh, I was but a teenager. Trust me, if you knew what he did to me, you would be fine with his death.”
Natesh’s expression changed. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
She nodded. “There is a lot that you don’t know, Natesh. Cheng Jinshan is a good man. He wants to bring about a better world. We are his instruments. You need to trust that in the end, it will all be worth it.”
Their eyes met, and Natesh nodded.
A propeller plane buzzed low overhead, circling the runway.
“There they are. Right on time.”
Natesh said, “That sign says the airport is closed. And I can see some tents and containers on the far half of the runway. Where is the plane going to land?”
“I spoke with them before we left. They assured me that they would be alright.”