7
Tran “Train” Khai went to the fence and looked at the locks and the electrical connection.
“No big problem, Commander. We still have that roll of commo wire?”
“Yeah, in back somewhere,” Jaybird said.
“We cut off the locks, then do a splice on one end of the electrical and tie it in on the other end with the twenty feet of commo wire. The circuit won’t be broken when we cut the present wiring, open the gate, and drive through holding the commo wire high overhead of the vans.”
“Do it,” Murdock said. “We’ll take along two EARs this time. I want the two snipers to use them. Leave your regular weapon in the truck.”
Horse Ronson brought up the long-handled bolt cutters, and took out the two padlocks in two quick snips. Train had the ends of forty feet of commo wire tied in with the ends of the electric cord. Then he cut the short electrical circuit and they pushed the gates open. The vans slipped under the commo wire, and they moved ahead down the lane.
Lam had come back from a quick recon.
“Cap, there are lights about a mile ahead. Looks like we’re in the middle of a huge pineapple plantation. There are one hell of a lot of lights. Outside security, it looks like.”
The vans had been driving with lights out. They kept moving until they could see the mansion’s lights around a corner. Murdock called a halt and checked the area through his field glasses.
“It’s a mansion, all right. Looks like they have put in a lot of security recently. A new chain-link fence for sure.”
DeWitt came up from the second van. “Surprised they don’t have a guard post out here on the road,” DeWitt said.
“Let’s dismount and form up,” Murdock said to the mike. “Alpha Squad move out of the van.” Murdock looked at the driver. “Can you handle a firearm?”
“Yes, sir.”
Murdock gave him an automatic pistol. “Don’t let anyone surprise you, and protect this rig and the gear inside. We’ll be back.”
“When?” the driver asked.
“Depends. A few hours, a few days. Take care.”
They moved toward the lights in patrol formation. It was the same formation they had used since BUD/S training in Coronado, a large diamond for quick deployment and total security all the way around.
Three hundred yards from the wire, Lam stopped and gave the down signal, and they all went to ground. Lam came back to Murdock and shook his head.
“Looks damn secure, Cap. There is one gate in this side section of the chain link. Can’t tell from here, but the fence looks like it could be electrified.”
“What are they doing in there?” DeWitt asked. He had come up beside the other two.
“Waiting for their money and guarantees,” Murdock said. “I can’t see how this was part of the overall invasion plans. This one had lots of preplanning and cooperation with the owner of the mansion.”
“So how do we get into this place?” Lam asked.
“Get Jaybird and Dobler up here,” Murdock told Lam. “This one is going to take some planning work.”
Inside the mansion at the pineapple plantation, Sing paced the elaborate living room. It was filled with hand-carved koa wood furniture, had silk prints on the walls, and fine carpets covering hardwood floors.
Sing wore the dress-blue uniform of a Chinese Naval commander. His lower jaw now slanted out as he stared at the monitors set up on one wall across from the large fireplace.
“Where is the night-vision camera? We are blind here without it. An enemy could now be slipping up on us and we would never know it until they killed us.”
An older Chinese man dressed in a simple robe of pure silk sat in a recliner, puffing contentedly on a marijuana cigarette.
“Young man. Did I tell you that these marijuana joints, as you call them, do little for me? There is a pleasant feeling, but that’s all. There is not the jolt of joy and wonder that the waterpipe can bring.” He was in his seventies. He frowned and stared at his wife’s second cousin from Beijing.
“You were asking about night vision. You have out your security guards. Surely that will be enough. There is little chance that the authorities will know you are on Maui, let alone find this retreat.”
“Honored Grandfather. I have not stayed alive this long in the Chinese Navy by working on a ‘little chance’ basis. I deal in absolutes. I won this assignment over a dozen other highly qualified candidates. If all else fails in this invasion attempt, this part of the plan must succeed. It is vital to the prestige and face of China.”
“From what you’ve told me, grandson, this is a fool’s errand carried out by idiots. What were your commanders thinking? Strike at the center of power of the U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor? Come with one aircraft carrier and only thirty planes and poorly trained pilots to compete with the U.S. Navy’s crack carrier pilots? Someone is truly out of his head. Already I hear reports of one invasion force pasted against the mountains near Kaneohe on Oahu. What a stupid place to invade.”
Sing surged across the space between himself and the older man and lifted his hand to slap his grandfather, but at the last moment stopped.
A siren went off. Sing turned and ran out of the room to a smaller one where more electronics and controls were set up. The old Chinese man walked over and looked into the room.
“Couldn’t find us, could they?” said the lieutenant. “My sensors show a force of at least sixteen men is now approaching the north side of the plantation working through a pineapple field. Traitor! How did you tell the Navy where we were? How did you do it, old man? You have twenty seconds to tell me before I shoot you in the head.”
Jiang Peng smiled. He had long ago confronted death and it held no terror for him. The young countryman was not a danger.
“Young man, I do not fear death. I am not afraid of you. The Americans are close, so now you have much work to do to move your captives to the secret places you have prepared. Don’t worry about me. I did not notify the authorities. Why should I?
“Now, what defenses do you have and how much time to get done what you need to do?”
Sing hesitated. He shrugged and pushed the pistol back in his belt. Then he nodded.
“Yes, the men I have in front can handle a lot of problems. At best they have traced our radio signals. I thought I had the best technology. Somehow they defeated it. So I go from there.
“First the secret place. Yes.” He turned and hurried through the room to a long attachment that had once been a part of an early pineapple operation. He kept going to another shed, then into a hidden door that led to an underground area. It had been constructed some years back for a special mushroom-growing operation that never proved out. Now Sing had turned it into a hiding place for the captives.
He checked with the three guards on the walled-off section. The gate was strong and triple-locked. The guards had submachine guns and plenty of magazines. He nodded at them and hurried back to the previous section. Now he pushed a switch on the wall, and a jagged section lifted from the side and pushed in front of the walled-off section. It had dirt and litter and broken equipment in front of it.
Yes. The deception was complete. No one could suspect there was any structure beyond this point. He hurried back to the house and checked with the guards by radio. He had guards posted fifty yards from the mansion on all sides. Eight men lay in wait for any possible attack.
He had left the destroyer with fifty men in three small boats. He’d lost three of the men in the surf landing in the night. Now there were four men lost at the main radio transmitter.