ADAM HALL - The Mandarin Cypher

My eyes were still watering and he looked blurred. I couldn't see what he was thinking and I didn't really care because I was going to tell him what to think and if he didn't like it I was going to lob this bloody lollipop right in his face, getting fed up with holding -

Come on, get a grip.

Drifting away again.

'Colonel.' He was like a statue. 'I'm ready to die for my beliefs. You have five seconds.'

If I could only stay on my feet another five seconds.

One.

He didn't move.

I'd spoken in English: he was an educated man and more likely to know English than Cantonese.

Two.

I thought my hand was bleeding. My left hand. Must take great care of it, little Chih-chi had said. Fat lot of chance.

The interrogator was standing next to the colonel, a step to the rear. He was watching the mine, fascinated. Conceivably he was thinking in terms of a flying leap, catch it before it hit the deck. I'd stop that lark.

Three.

Thing of course was that nobody could really do anything without this man getting killed, and if they let that happen Pekin would have their balls off.

Four.

Possibly he was wondering if he could talk me out of it but I'd pre-empted that one: tell these people you're ready to die for your beliefs and they won't question it, terribly keen on ideology, there's a species of ant that fights fires, they throw themselves bodily on to the flames till the sheer weight of numbers puts them out, I suppose it takes all sorts.

Five .

He was still watching me and I got the thing above my head and lurched forward with it and an enormous hiss went up from the crowd of men and T'ang threw his hands out but I managed to keep my balance in time when he just said:

'No!'

After that it was okay.

I told him to go first down the iron ladders and I followed him and the seaman fell in behind. He was going to pilot the launch.

'Hello,' I said when we got there. 'Coming along?'

He was standing by the launch, his thick-lensed glasses catching the light. I'd told him to wait for us here at 01.10 hours if he was interested. I'd expected he would be: he didn't like the bit about Tai Tam Bay.

I began thinking she wasn't there.

The break-off rendezvous was for 01.29 hours, Heng-kang Chou Island, rotating sectors beginning with the north coast. So she ought to be standing off by now and I'd been using the signalling lamp on our way in.

Mandarin. Mandarin. Mandarin.

No acknowledgement but I changed it to instructions.

Surface. Surface. Surface.

Felt rotten, all this trouble and they couldn't even get here in time to -

There she was.

The sea broke ahead of us in a long dark wave and the water streamed off her hull as she came up, black and shining under the moon.

Swordfish.

The launch slowed and I had to grip the rail as the weight of the mine started swinging me round. I'd got it in the crook of my left arm and Tewson made a move to steady it but I warned him off because I didn't know how sensitive these detonators were. He was watching me, obviously worried: I suppose I looked a bit far gone because the blood had soaked into the tunic below my ribs and my back was in a mess and my eyes wouldn't quite focus, kept blurring, use some sleep that was all, but he was waiting for me to keel over and blast the whole lot of us into Kingdom Come.

Colonel T'ang stood erect in the stern, hadn't looked at us once since we'd left the rig. Shocking loss of face and all that, well, I couldn't help it, got my job to do.

We pulled alongside and started wallowing in the waves the sub had put out when she'd surfaced, our fenders squawking against her plates as a seaman swung a boathook across. Lot of people in the conning-tower: Ferris and Ackroyd, couple of officers, all with drawn revolvers as if they were expecting some sort of trouble. I told Tewson to go aboard first.

'These two men are going back to the rig,' I told Ackroyd.

'All right.'

'Can someone take this thing for me? But go easy.'

'Oh my oath,' one of the officers said, and reached down.

'Christ sake don't drop it.'

I could hardly lift it now, but we managed. Most of them looked as if they'd stopped breathing for a bit. Then they helped me aboard and I nearly fell over and someone had to put out a hand, bloody embarrassing. Braced myself against the rail.

'Ferris,' I said, 'this is Tewson.'

The objective.