Two Peasants and a President (62 page)

The entire plan hinged on preventing the untimely arri
val of police and fire fighters.  A
ccordingly, routes from nearby police and fire stations had been heavily salted with caltrops, and dissidents waited in key locations to further impede the authorities if necessary.  It was hoped that those placing charges and clearing personnel and patients out of the hospital would have sufficient time to melt into the crowds of students protesting at the nearby
Nankai
University or leave via private cars.  The alternative would be most unpleasant.

69

It had been decided to avoid the Beijing-Tianjin Expressway even though considerable time might be saved, this for the simple reason that there were too few exits in the event a roadblock was sighted ahead.  Jun began what was likely the most circuitous route ever devised to get from Hospi
tal #77
in Tianjin to the American Embassy in Beijing, but what it lacked in d
i
rectness it more than made up for in possible alternates and the opportunity to avoid likely places for a roadblock
, not to mention caltrops
.  The delivery van followed, driven by the soldiers and keeping an interval of at least two blocks.  In the event that Jun saw trouble ahead, the van would take the first turnoff and circle in the area until he directed them to an alternate route, all this assuming the cellular net was not taken down and the two vehicles could communicate easily. 

Skirting the
Huayuan
Industrial Area and the enormous fish farms, Jun led them northeast toward their first waypoint,
Wuqing
, a city predating the ancient Han Dynasty.  Old highway 103, normally still a busy thoroughfare, was now virtually deserted, both a blessing and a bane as those traveling upon it noticed their fellow travelers and were themselves noticed.   At least there were no roadblocks. 

Several miles outside of
Wuqing
, Jun turned onto a rural road that skirts the city, rather than follow the highway through the downtown area.  Here the countryside appeared much as it had before boom times brought sk
y
scrapers, high-speed rail and expressways to the cities, a time when farmers traveled in homemade carts pulled by two wheel tractors resembling what
are
know
n in the West
as
roto
-tillers and most of China still rode bicycles. 

Brett took the opportunity to fill his lungs with fresh air laden with pungent fragrances from the surrounding marshlands and swamps.  The land upon which sits present day Tianj
in and the surrounding area was
created in ancient times by the sedimentation of various rivers, including the Yellow River, as they emptied into Bohai Gulf.  In 1404, the city was renamed Tianjin, meaning ‘the Heavenly Ford’ due to the fact that the emperor (Son of Heaven) had forded the river nearby.  

Though now a hunted man, Brett was no longer a prisoner languishing in a basement cell awaiting a hideous end.  Thanks to his former guards he was armed with a 9mm double action automatic carrying 15 rounds and two spare magazines.  If they intended to capture him this time, they would first
pay in blood.  And he was no longer alone.  Four ex-US Navy Seals, one of whom was his brother-in-law, had turned the old delivery van into a form
i
dable weapon.  With two uniformed soldiers carrying Kalashnikovs as their ace in the hole, they had options.  Regardless of what awaited them on the road ahead, these men would not disgrace their Seal brethren.

Every head in the van abruptly turned toward the buzzing satellite phone.

“Yeah,” answered Jim. 

“Norwood here,” said the CIA station chief.  “Beijing has been i
n
formed of the escape.  You are now being actively hunted, though it sounds like they don’t have a description of your vehicle.”

“Game on,” replied Jim.  “Now we’re gonna show ’
em
what US Navy Seals are all about.   What about the hospital?” 

“Looks like they brought part of the building down, how much we don’t know at this point.  It appears your friends managed to at least get out of the immediate area.  How long they can remain free is questionable.  I expect to see a strengthening of the cordon around the embassy soon; I’ll let you know when that happens.  How are you doing?”

“OK so far, but this is just the easy part,” replied Jim.

“I don’t think the ambassador has been informed of the break out as yet.  He’s been preoccupied with the action on the South China Sea and the stonewalling of the Chinese government.”

“What action?” asked Jim, taken by surprise. 

“Two Chinese Navy frigates attempted to sink a couple of Vietnamese warships that were escorting an American owned container ship.  The Vie
t
namese sank both.”

“
W
hoa
! 
Who’da
believed they could do that?”

“There were two Chinese destroyers involved at first, but they peeled off to challenge the 7
th
Fleet.  If they hadn’t, the Vietnamese and the co
n
tainer ship would be history.”

“Sounds like we may have a war on our hands?”

“No one is sure yet, but we’ll know in the next
couple of hours, if not sooner.
  Good luck and God speed.”  Jim set the sat phone next to him and opened the cell phone.

“Jun, they know were out here now, so heads up!”

“Did we destroy the hospital?”

“They brought down at least part of it.” 

******

Aboard the USS George Washington, satellite feed indicated that the Chinese were marshalling two squadrons of JH-7 fighter-bombers, a serious concern to the fleet since each is capable of carrying four anti-ship missiles.
M
eanwhile, the Vietnamese appeared ready to commit eight of their total of twelve SU-27 advanced fighters to protect their frigates.  With both the Chinese destroyers and the Song-class submarines nearing missile range, the United States had not been so close to war with another super-power since the Cuban missile crisis.  But unlike that instance, when the president had all
o
cated a massive naval presence, the 7
th
Fleet found itself alone in hostile w
a
ters. 

“I don’t think they’ve picked up the Oklahoma City or the Buffalo yet, but they know the fleet always has attack submarines escorting it,” Captain Johnson said to his XO.  “But they don’t know they’re in the Hawaii’s sights and they won’t until it’s too late.  Unless they’ve got some diesel-electric subs sitting on the bottom, I think we can handle their naval assets; it’s their air assets that worry me.  If they blanket us with missiles from shore as well from the destroyers and aircraft, and they will, it’s gonna get real busy around here.”

“Have we heard anything yet from the Philippines?” asked the XO.

“They’ve given us landing rights if the carrier is too damaged to r
e
cover planes.  That’ll provide our pilots with a little extra peace of mind.  I’m still having trouble with the idea that the Chinese are planning to start a war.  I’d like to think they just intend to teach Vietnam a lesson and are bringing p
lenty of backup, but that doesn’
t square with the actions of Pres
i
dent Li.  Everything he’
s done so far points to a madman.”

“Evidently no one’s leaked the fact that we’ve been ordered not to d
e
fend the container ship,” said the XO.

“If we can get it under our wing, then anything they throw at it I intend to interpret as an attack on the fleet.  But it looks like we’ll intersect with those destroyers and subs first.  If I were standing on the bridge of either one, I’d be getting ready to kiss my ass goodbye, ’cause there’s no way either of ‘
em
is gonna survive this.  I’m going to throw so much at ’
em
they won’t even see daylight between the missiles.  We may not have backup, but we’ve got balls and the Chinese are about to find out just how big they are.”

******

“Admiral, tell me that your plan has been implemented and one American carrier battle group will soon be eliminated,” President Li said,
challenging Chen Lei.

“Our destroyers are closing and soon I will order the launch of our fighter-bombers.  We will darken the sky with more missiles than any d
e
fens
ive system can possibly defeat.”

“You are evading my question, Admiral,” said Li, growing annoyed.  “Will their carrier battle group be destroyed?”

“Given what was available on short notice, I cannot guarantee that, Mr. President.”

“Damn it!” the president yelled, slamming his fist down on the table.  “You were ordered to plan for their destruction, not a slap in the face.  I would advise you to move heaven and Earth to ensure their demise or prepare for your own!  Dismissed!”

Admiral Lei passed one of the president’s aides in the hall, the grim set of his lips testament to the message he bore.   Hearing the door close, Li looked up, not speaking at first as he gauged the look on his aide’s face.  Finally he said:

“Yes.  What is it?”

Wishing he had a way to couch the news but having none and not wishing to annoy the president further, the aide simply blurted:

“The American has escaped.”

Slowly President Li stood, as if preparing to strike the aide down with a sword.  Then abruptly he turned away, staring at the wall for several m
o
ments bef
ore turning again to look at the
aide, his face a mask of rage.

“Tell those responsible that if he is not found by morning, they will be the next to go under the knife in Tianjin.”

Li’s message reached police and military units still bedeviled by a r
i
diculous medieval weapon that had brought many of them to a virtual stan
d
still.  Tanks had only just begun to take up positions at key choke points, and it would be several hours at the very least before he could once again assert any degree of control on the streets of the capitol.  

******

The hair on the back of
Jun’s
neck alerted his brain to the two enormous silhouettes approaching the intersection ahead from the left.  The fugitives had been following a winding rural road northwest toward Beijing when they reached the point where it crossed old Highway 103 at the town of
Hexiwu
. 

“Tanks,” barely made it past the lump in his throat when he heard an a
n
swering voice in his cell phone.  “Too late to turn around; we’ll have to stop
and let them cross in front of us,” he told the voice on the other end.  As two pavement-shaking T-99 main battle tanks lumbered by, preceded by a BJ-212, the Chinese version of a jeep, a hasty conference took place in the van, still more than a block behind the taxi. 

Jun stopped just shy of the intersection and stared straight ahead, hoping the tanks were in a hurry and would not bother to investigate vehicles they passed along the way to wherever it was they were going.  The heads of the two soldiers in the jeep rotated sideways, looking over at the taxi and the van pulling up behind it.  When the jeep’s tail lights suddenly brightened and one of the soldiers spoke into his radio, Jun realized he had never been more scared in his life.  His heart felt like it was throwing itself against his ribs.  The tanks rolled to the side of the highway about fifty yards ahead and to the right of the taxi and stopped.  

The jeep made an agonizingly slow U-turn and circled back to the taxi.  The passenger door opened and a highly polished
boot appeared beneath it.  The
officer stepped out, haughty gaze firmly fixed on Jun as he walked around the front of the jeep.  Raising his portable radio to his lips, he spoke som
e
thing inaudible into it without taking his eyes off Jun.  In obvious response to his words, the hatch on the turret of one of the tanks opened and a crewman’s head and torso appeared.  The tank’s heavy machinegun was quickly swung around and trained on the taxi. 

“Papers!” the officer said coldly
.

Jun handed his credentials to the officer, willing his hands to stop shaking. 

“Where are you going?” the officer asked.

“To visit my sister in Beijing,” Jun lied.

“What is your connection to the van behind you?”

“None, they were just traveling behind me,” Jun replied.  The officer looked into his eyes for what seemed like minutes, attempting to detect deceit or nervousness. 
As the seconds
dragged on,
Jun’s
heart continued to thrash inside his chest, surely announcing his guilt.  Finally the officer handed the documents back to him dismissively and with a curt wave of his arm said: