The Call of the Thunder Dragon (3 page)

Falstaff sat steering
the little boat towards the curve of the river, his eye staring
ahead while he imagined the worst. Zam in the hands of the
Japanese. The spiteful, vengeful, unregulated Japanese military;
unrestrained, subjugating Asia with their own violent, forceful
means, taking bestial pleasure from their domination. ccxlviii

Die with honour
558

Zam hadn’t been moved,
she had lay still trying to calm herself. She could hear the
Colonel’s quiet, rasping breath behind her and the noisy erratic
snorts from the soldiers sniggering and no doubt pointing at her,
she imagined. ccl

Daimyo, General
Japanese, feudal leader subordinate only to Shogun, term used
equivalent to medieval era 9th to 19th century Japan. 558

Falstaff found the
back stairs guarded. The taxi was gone, but he figured if there was
something worth guarding, it was worth checking out. ccli

Colonel Haga-Jin lay
on the floor of the bathroom, the filthy toilet, no more than a
pipe into the drains, the cracked sink dripping on his head.
ccliv

Ludwig was running
hard, heading for the fisherman’s bar. ccliv

‘coup dans le mille’ a
direct hit 558

Chapter
Seven – The one about The Pilot, The Baptist and The Spy? cclix

After a three days
laid up Falstaff was impatient to get back to the Caproni, he’d be
pleased to see it in one piece. Having been told that Ludwig had
flown it off the river onto the airstrip. He fretted as he heard
conflicting reports on the repairs from Ludwig or Alistair. His
stitches had finally done their job, his scar no longer bled and
his ribs only hurt so long as he did not overstretch himself.
cclix

Doctor Harold K.
Robbins sat back in the creaking chair as his wife poured the tea.
Over sixty, he was a big barrel-chested, balding American Baptist
from Boston. When standing he dwarfed the layman and converts
around him. cclxi

PHD theology Harvard
Divinity school Baptist Missionary Association 558

Non-rhoticity,
inability to pronounce (or difficulty in pronouncing) r typical of
Boston accent. 558

Ooozie – Elephant
Handler, Burmese Mahout (Assam & India) 558

Judsons - Adoniram
Judson is often called America's first foreign missionary. The
Burmese king in fact assumed Judson was an English spy & in
1824 when the first Anglo-Burmese War broke out, Judson and other
English men were imprisoned for a year. It was 1826 when the
dictionary was completed. 558

Minami Masuyo the name
adopted by Colonel Suzuki whilst undercover before 1941. 558

Yomiuri Shimbun a
Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, founded in 1874 one of five
national newspapers. 558

Rangoon University:
was the centre of the anti-colonial movement. 3 nationwide strikes
against the British colonial government (1920, 1936 and 1938) began
there, which also produced a number of future senior Burmese
politicians, including ‘Aung San’ (leader of the 30 comrades; under
IJA Colonel Suzuki aka Minami Masuyo) and ‘Ba Maw’. 559

559

Falstaff, Shakespeare
Henry IV. 559

Viceroy Linlithgow
Viceroy of India 1936-1943, the longest serving viceroy right
through a period of civil disobedience and growing nationalism.
559

U Chit Maung refused
to bend to the censorship of his editor he was fired from The New
Light of Burma paper. 559

John 14:12 559

Harbin’s population
was bled dry by Jap.; who blackmailed, kidnapped & evicted
businessmen; forcibly procured businesses & resources,
everything from materials to hotels. Raped, doped and enslaved
women; imprisoned & beat men. Every Japanese Organisation
competed for profit or to meet their own running costs; even
running brothels or Opium dens in competition with each other.
559

Falstaff had been much
more tired than he realised it was gone ten o’clock before he woke
enough and got up next morning. He had been over eating and resting
in too much he decided, but the local doctor had advised on bed
rest to prevent the possibility of pneumonia if he over did it too
soon. cclxxxvii

Minami Masuyo or by
his real name Colonel Suzuki Keiji held an earpiece to his ear as
his hand hovered over the off switch on the radio. He was seething.
He had the reports detailing the dead paratroopers, his local
contacts had acquired copies. He had just finished discussing the
matter with Colonel Haga-Jin’s superiors. Colonel Haga-Jin was
nothing more than an opportunistic linguist. A soldier with an
inflexible military mind and the notion he could speak like a
Chinese. Colonel Haga-Jin’s mission was to discover, oversee and
when ordered hamper Nationalist Chinese movement in Yunnan, China.
So why was Haga-Jin chasing British pilots across the border,
blundering into his operation? cclxxxvii

Their last evening in
Myitkyina had been restful and quiet. That was until they had got
to bed. Falstaff looked down at Zam’s rounded rump. She’d rolled
over and fallen asleep a while ago. Falstaff reached for a drink
from beside the bed, having swiped the bottle of German liquor on
medical grounds earlier that evening. ccxc

Tiger Rag a jazz
standard, originally recorded and copyrighted by the Original
Dixieland Jazz Band in 1917. 559

Falstaff had to admire
the work done in less than a week. The tinsmith’s patches were neat
and smooth, despite the hammering he’d given the tanks. Refuelled
to brim, the patches showed no sign of leaking. The other tank was
left half empty, having run out of gasoline. The fuel stolen from
Alistair’s stock by the Japanese had yet to be replaced. They were
waiting to hear if a few more cans could be found somewhere in the
town. The rear engine had been overhauled and leaking oil and
radiator fixed. ccxci

Falstaff started
carrying out the bedding, coats, the stove and all the covers; then
all the tea and other goods Zam had previously bought. He returned
to the shack for the smaller bags, his tools and map case. Beside
which he found two small sacks, tied up with rope. He lifted them
and was surprised at the weight. In his head, he went through the
things he’d packed or seen previously, the rice wine, the tea,
nothing heavy and solid came to mind. ccxcii

The winters were
generally mild in Burma; except in the mountains. The final cans of
scrounged gasoline arrived late that afternoon, so they slept the
night in the Caproni. They had left Myitkyina the next morning. At
sun up the airstrip was covered with a layer of frost from the
strong icy winds blowing down from the north from the mighty
Himalayas. Ahead lay four hundred miles in the icy chill wind over
the mountains bearing north west all the way. ccxcv

Chapter
Eight - The Gods of the Monkey men ccxcix

The Caproni’s engines
had continued running smooth without a hitch or sign of a leak
since take off. As they crested another ridge, Falstaff throttled
down. Dropping down to cruising speed on the far side. The wind had
been coming from South or South east for most of the journey.
However, around the ridges wind tended to cause unexpected squalls,
temperamental gusts that could take inexperienced pilots by
surprise. ccxcix

Thanks for the Memory
- Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra 1936. 559

Less than an hour
later, the engine was fixed. Falstaff had stripped down and pulled
off his boots and walked out tentatively onto the fabric and wood
wing. The engine was easily accessible after removing the few
pieces of doped canvas stretched around the frame. He’d inspected
the engine and found the ignition lead to the plug with damaged
socket was missing. Checking the plug itself, he found it to be
loose. It was the work of a few moments to tighten it again and
reattach the loose wire. Falstaff fussed over the errant plug
checking it over and over. Firing the engine up, it started
perfectly. After checking it three times over and coming up with no
way to secure the plug or lock it in place, he shrugged and
accepted that the fix was good enough. cccix

Falstaff lay warm in
the furs under the tight canopy over the nacelle. He checked his
watch it was two thirty. cccxvi

Chapter Nine
– Flight into the Unknown cccxviii

Ten minutes later they
left the water, roaring once more westward. cccxviii

Since leaving China,
they had now past the great high mountain ranges coming down from
the Himalayas. They had crossed the four great rivers: Chindwin,
Sittang, Salween and Irrawaddy. These rivers, like four long
fingers, extended down from the eastern tip of the Himalayas,
spreading out dividing the land. Now Falstaff had flown across them
all. Few people would know what that meant, even fewer could claim
to have seen them or flown over them. cccxix

Captain Akira had
flown the Dolphin as instructed; he took orders from whichever
intelligence task force he was working for, in this case, the that
meant Colonel Haga-Jin. They were moored on the wide Bhogdoi River
as they had been for several days, Jorhat was a short walk away.
They were refuelled and ready to go. cccxxiv

Colonel Suzuki better
known among the Burmese by his nom de guerre Bo Mogyo (Commander
Thunderbolt) trainer of the ‘Thirty Comrades’ who fought the
British, individuals also led independent Burma after the war.
559

Abe watched the
Dolphin watched it fly away, lifting off the smooth surface of the
slow running river. With him remained, the paratrooper from
Hokkaido, Goemon and Ono Itchi the silent dragon. cccxxvii

Abe and Ono entered
the Clubhouse, now smartly dressed in western clothes, posing as
Chinese Horse merchants come to see the racing and play golf.
Initially, the Club itself was out of bounds for Indians and other
non-Europeans, but eventually in 1929, Indian membership was
finally passed by a vote of 29 for and 14 against. The clubhouse
now hosted many events and for a decade had stood as a living
testimony to the rich culture and history of its members and of
Assam as a whole. cccxxxi

Falstaff cheered as
the natural features of the landscape and the man-made shapes on
the ground started to match his scant map. The rivers coming
together, the railway, the manicured club grounds, the historic tea
research station and a football pitch. cccxxxi

The clubhouse was more
than a haven of colonialistic idealism. White, clean, painted with
fine, thin lines of yellow and gold. Decorated with hunting
trophies, and pictures of hunters standing over dead tigers. Then
there were the sporting headlines framed, with photos of the races;
mounted golf clubs and balls rusting and fading from disuse; next
to polished plaques declaring the winners accomplishments. Even if
most locals could never afford membership; among the neatness, the
green potted plants and club’s lists of presidents and pictures,
were acknowledgements of Indians, Sikhs and even Assumes, winning a
fair share of races, golf trophies and cricket games. cccxxxvii

Abe and Ono watched
Falstaff and his woman from their table across the room.
cccxlii

Gibbs drove the saloon
rather predictably straight to the Thengal Manor House next to
Jorhat railway station. The best and longest established hotel in
Jorhat. cccxliii

Falstaff and Zam found
the Manor House as promising as to be expected from a place of such
high reputation. Starting off as a hostel for British tea planters
coming out to oversee the escalation of tea production. The Manor
soon found itself catering to the wealthy plantation owners
themselves, who expected finer dining. Then came more of the
plantation managers they employed and the rich sultans and princess
keenly sharing the rising tea profits. The Manor catered to them
all. cccxliv

Next morning Falstaff
rose early. He brushed the worst of the dust from his trousers and
pulled them on, along with a clean shirt and leather slippers and
went for a walk around the hotel He quickly found the lounge.
cccxlix

Chapter Ten
– Breakfast in Pyjamas ccclvi

Zam awoke to find her
‘John-di-di’ gone. She had slept deeply and was refreshed. Still
drowsy he lay still waiting, her eyes closed, expecting for
Falstaff’s warm embrace, the squeeze of his strong arms. She opened
her eyes and turned to find him absent. ccclvi

Once back in their
room Zam sat, dejected on the chaise longue. “You could have woken
me!” ccclviii

Goemon carried on
raking leaves, patiently waiting. After the narrow escape of the
day before when he had almost caused the plane to crash by
accident, he had been thinking about consequences. ccclx

Maka received a note
later that morning. It was from Ono Itchi, they were not expecting
a show from Falstaff until the afternoon. Maka should do his best
to arrange that Gibbons and, if possible, the mechanics were kept
away from the aircraft. Whatever happened it must not be refuelled?
ccclxi

Abe was at a loose
end, with nothing to do his fears were growing. Ono Itchi had told
him directly to wait where he was. The assassin apparently didn’t
want him involved. After sitting for most of the morning in their
hotel room, he decided to try to find Goemon, the last member of
the paratroopers with whom he’d arrived. ccclxii

Tendai, derived from
Sanron Sect one of six Nara sects imported from China and Asia.
Sanron having presence Assam and Thailand. 559

Kempeitai (Military
Police Corps, of the IJA) it was in fact the Tokubetsu Koto
Keisatsu, or Tokkō when shorted; a police force est. 1911 Japan to
control political groups & ideologies deemed to be a threat to
public order. A civilian counterpart to the military's Kempeitai
and Tokkeitai (Corps of Special Police, the Naval Secret Police).
559

Zam and Falstaff
planned to spend the rest of the morning exploring Jorhat city, one
of the most important cities of Assam. They asked the porter to
find a cab or rickshaw. Falstaff reassured Zam that his shopping
list was entirely due to their urgent need for decent clothing and
some equipment essential to their journey. ccclxvi