Two Peasants and a President (27 page)

“We will move at night when most patients are asleep and only nursing and emergency staff are present.  Our friend, the police officer, will meet the doctor in the hospital.  With his help and that of the ambulance driver, the patients will be put in wheelchairs and moved to the dock area where amb
u
lances drop off patients.  Then they will be loaded into the ambulance.”

“The ambulance will bring them to a warehouse in the port area, where we will make a video in which they will describe how they were taken and for what purpose.  Copies will be made and placed in safe locations.   Then we will put them on the fishing boat that belongs to Zhou and his family
,
and they will defect to South Korea.  The boat will carry extra fuel in the fish hold.  Aside from the doctor, ambulance driver and the police officer, who will have become identified with the crime, the rest of us will remain here to continue the struggle.”

“How long have you been planning this?” asked the captain.

“For a very long time.  At first our plan was to take Chinese patients who were going to be sacrificed.  But when our friend, the cleaning lady, told us that there are two Westerners there, we knew they would be much more valuable to us.  You see, many of those who have been sacrificed were prisoners convicted of some crime.  The authorities convinced many people that since they would be executed anyway, why not harvest their organs.  But then when they needed someone with a certain blood type and they didn’t have one, they would simply convict the one they needed of some crime he didn’t commit and then sacrifice him.  There are some in this city who have grown very rich from this.”

“We had to do something, but we were afraid that if we exposed what’s going on, the authorities would simply deny that they had used anyone who is
innocent.  Then the people might not believe us.  But they cannot just tell everyone that the Americans are convicted criminals; no one would believe it.  The whole world will know the crimes that have been committed here.  Captain, we are all prepared to sacrifice ourselves if it is necessary to stop this horrible crime.”

The captain was silent for several moments as he contemplated both the courage of these young people and the plan.  Finally he looked around the table and said: 

“Your plan is very bold and courageous, but once you leave the ho
s
pital, I would not stop for anything.  You can make your video later.” 

Zhou said something in Chinese which Jun translated:

“How do we know that once your family is free that you will make the video and not just leave us?”

“Two reasons.  First, as soon as the alarm is sounded, the police and military will close this city down.  Train stations, highways, the port, ev
e
rything will be closed.  We would have little chance of leaving then or making a video that would ever see the light of day.  Second, I know that Holly and Raymond would not want this to ever happen to anyone else.  Their anger at what has been done to them and what was being contemplated will make them sworn enemies of the Chinese authorities.  They will want to make the video even more than you do.”

“Allow me to return to your plan.  The ambulance is perfect for lea
v
ing the hospital.  From there on it attracts the attention of all who see it.  The maps I have studied indicate that the port is a long way from the hospital.  Once the alarm has been raised, everyone will be looking for an ambulance.  I would suggest that a place be found to transfer to private cars or taxis or perhaps a small van, something that will not attract attention.  It is
imperative that no one witness
the changeover.”

“Finally, assuming you make it safely to the port and onboard, you still have roughly seven hundred miles to go before you are in South Korea.  Given the aggressive behavior of Chinese warships recently, you would likely not be safe until you are actually in a South Korean port.  Even if the a
u
thorities are completely unaware that we have escaped by sea, and that’s a big if, we still have to hope that no patrol craft decide to board us.” Jun translated and then relayed Zhou’s response.

“My family has built a secret compartment into our fishing boat.  We can hide as many as three people there.  The extra fuel bladders will be hidden in the fish hold.  Only if someone does a very thorough search will they notice them.  The problem is that we will have several Chinese aboard who are not fishermen, the doctor, the ambulance driver, the cleaning lady and
the policeman.  These people can never live in China again.  The policeman has helped us forge papers for them to make it appear they are fishermen, but if they are questioned, they will not be able to talk like fishermen and their hands will not look like those of fishermen.  Captain, we understand that our plan is not perfect, but it is the best we have been able to come up with.”

“How much time before we move?” asked the captain. 

“Tomorrow night,” said Jun.  “The police officer will be on duty and available.”

“How will we communicate between now and then?”

“Captain,” said Jun, “we cannot trust our phones in a way that would allow us to communicate freely; the authorities employ technology and large numbers of people to listen to what its citizens are talking about.  I suggest that tomorrow morning I pick you up in my cab at 7:00 and take you to a busy restaurant for breakfast.  We can talk there.” 

46

As she cleaned each room on her list, Ping tried to appear calm, stru
g
gling not to show the excitement that was growing within her.  She knew that although her mission was nearing its
culmination, danger was everywhere
.  She hoped to be able to deliver her new message, and that once again the l
e
thargic guard would just sit in his chair looking at his hands. 

Her mind kept drifting back to her son, who
is the sole reason she drags
herself fro
m bed each morning and soldiers
on, desperately working to make this succeed.  She tried to force herself to think only of what she must do.  But as she and the guard once again approached the door to the room of the young American, she felt her heart beating faster.  The guard inserted his key and swung the door open, motioning for her to enter.

She shuffled into the room pushing her mop and bucket and looked up.  Suddenly she felt a tightness in her chest and everything began to swirl around her.
Unconsciously she reached for the arm of the guard to steady herself. 

The room was empty. 

He asked her if she was sick.  For a moment she said nothing as her mind reeled.  Then, as she regained her balance, she let go of his arm, e
x
cusing herself. 

“I’m a little under the weather.  What happened to the patient?” she asked, trying to sound casual, as though only curious. 

“Probably upstairs,” he replied disinterestedly.  “They said to clean the room just the same.”

Ping was scarcely aware that she was mopping the floor.  Upstairs could mean two places, either the operating rooms on the 11
th
or 12
th
floors or the patient rooms on the 4
th
and 7
th
.   S
he had learned that the transplants usually took place in the middle of the night when fewer peop
le were about, so the young lady
was probably on the 4
th
or 7
th
being prepped. 

She finished the room and the next two and then was taken to the other side to clean.  This was where the young American man was being held.  She had not communicated with him at all, fearing that his youth and testo
s
terone might tempt him to try to escape on his own, which would certainly result in his capture and death.  But now she knew what she must do.  As she had with the woman, she slipped the tightly rolled message into one of the small holes in the sink drain.  Then she glanced over at the American and
tilted her head toward the sink
–
twice. 

When they were walking down the hall she turned to the guard and told him she needed to use the restroom.  There she pulled out the cell phone that they had given her to use if something went wrong.  She had to wait in a stall until the restroom was empty.  Then she dialed, finally hearing a voice on the other end.

“Hello.”

“She is not in the room.  They have taken her out.  The male is still in his room.”

“Where have they taken her?” the voice on the other end asked.

“I am not certain, perhaps 4 or
7, I have no way of knowing,”
she answered.  The line clicked dead.  Someone entered the rest room then and Ping emerged from the stall and washed her hands.  It would be another six hours before her shift was done.  Then she would go home and wait, wait to find out if she and the Americans would on that night leave their nightmare behind or if a far worse nightmare had begun. 

“We have a problem,” Jun said.  The captain’s heart skipped a beat.  They were having their planned breakfast in a crowed restaurant where they could talk more. 

“They moved your granddaughter.” 

“Where?” asked the captain.

“The cleaning lady says maybe to the fourth or seventh floor, she doesn’t know for sure.  I think that’s where they prep patients for surgery and where
the patients
recuperate afterward, but I’m not certain.” 

“Then we need to move now!” said the captain. “If I have to, I’ll go in there alone and find them myself.  I’ll raise so much hell they won’t be able to go through with it.”

“One man?” Jun
hrumphed
.  “They will knock you down and stick a needle in your neck,” he said. “Then you will become just another unwilling donor.  You are in China, captain, they do what they want here and to hell with everyone.  No one would ever hear from you or your family again.  Do not act stupidly.  Listen carefully, they only do the operations in the middle of the night to make it easier to keep them secret, so we still have a little time.  Let’s go back to the place where we met yesterday and try to reach the others.  Then we will make a new plan.”

47

The Thai food tasted much better without all the
drama.  Clifford had driven most of the
night and had agreed to meet Baines and Molly for lunch. 

“Cliff, I am so very sorry.  I had no idea I was putting you in so much danger,” said Baines. 

“
Virg
, I’ve had folks come after me before; it goes with the territory.  I just didn’t expect to get rolled in broad daylight in an upscale neighborhood.”

“What happened?” asked Baines. 

“Well, I gave the sleaze ball the bug and told him all he had to do was drop it in Brewer’s jacket pocket.  Since he’d already told me that Brewer always hangs his suit jacket on a hook in the outer office, and the secretary is gone at that hour, it seemed like a cinch.  And it was.  Brewer was on the phone when the dirt bag came in and he just dropped the bug in the jacket pocket on the way into the inner office, slick as snot. 
Rawles
told Brewer that the camera malfunctioned and he didn’t get anything.  But he said that Molly had gotten close to you and they could try again.  Then Bre
wer started giving
Rawles
shit ‘
cause he screwed up and the thug blew up and stormed out.”

“So the bug’s in Brewer’s jacket pocket at this point?” asked Baines.

“Broadcasting like a loudspeaker.  I got every word.  So then Brewer leaves to go explain things to
Shumer
.  I’m sitting downstairs by the window of a restaurant listening to everything being said on the third floor office, which is also next to a window.  I would have preferred that it had been a bit more explicit, but the conversation left no doubt that they were blackmailing you.”

“So what you recorded was unmistakable in terms of what it was they were trying to do,” said Baines. 

“Let me put it this way,
Virg
, a slick Washington law firm could probably keep Brewer and
Shumer
out of jail, but everyone would be crystal clear about what they were trying to do.” 

“So then somebody hit you over the head and took the recording,” said Baines. 

“Well, sort of.  You see, while I was sitting in the bar listening to everything, I noticed someone in the third floor window of the building right across the street, the office across from
Shumer’s
.  The guy’s looking down
at me, and I’m wondering why someone up there would be
lookin
’ at me, but I figured maybe he’s just taking a break and
lookin
’ out the window.  So, anyway, a little later I happened to look up and the guy’s back in the window with someone standing next to him.  One of ‘em’s pointing his finger right at me, you know, like the first guy saw something interesting and called the other guy over to show him.”