Chapter 4

After a restless night, Edwin Mc Cullough woke up as dawn was creeping into the sky. He looked across at the other bed and could see Su Ling's black hair sprayed out over the pillow. Desire stirred in his loins, but he didn't move. Deliberately, he switched his mind from the girl lying so invitingly naked, the sheets having .slid down her round buttocks and wrapped around her knees, but the young Lieutenant forced himself to think of the Hong Kong mission.

It was fairly simple. He and Su Ling were to get on friendly terms with a certain Mister Chen who ran a sleazy cabaret in one of the worst districts of Kowloon. The man was suspected by the British authorities to be a Red Chinese, and art of a very successful spy ring which operated in Southeast Asia.

Mister Chen occupied a little apartment above The Sinful Den, which was the name of the club which he operated. Somehow, he and Su Ling had to penetrate the place when its occupant wasn't present to discover what secrets-if any-it held. Mister Chen was supposed to be a very clever and dangerous fellow, very cruel with his victims and merciless with whom ever dared put his noise into his affairs. He also had strong ties with the Hong Kong police....

Brian arrived at the hotel while they were having breakfast in the dining room. They saw him getting out of a taxi outside the hotel. He was laughing and talking to the driver, a young, slender Chinese boy. Brian was wearing a light flannel suit which flattered his slim build, and he gave the impression of being in high spirits. At least ac far as Edwin and Su Ling could see through the dining room windows.

"Lover-boy looks well," Su Ling whispered mischievously. "Let's hope he stays that way!"

Edwin smiled across at her, but didn't answer. They didn't see Brian again until later that evening when they prepared to go out to pay a "friendly" little visit to "The Sinful Den" and Mister Chen. Since they were not supposed to openly be acquainted with Brian, they simply passed him by, noticing that he was getting loaoed at the bar.

As they drove down the busy, picturesque streets of the city, Edwin felt reassured by the feel of his gun in its armpit holster, and the knife strapped on the inside pocket of his suit jacket. He didn't need to ask if Su Ling was carrying a gun, he knew she never moved without it. He had already ascertained that the girl had been on an extensive espionage course in Saigon, and that in case of an emergency, she would be more of a help than a hindrance.

He looked sideways at her as the taxi rolled slowly along the streets, jostling its way in the endless stream of colorful humanity. She was wearing a tight fitting black Chinese dress, made of a shiny material which clung to her shapely figure with delightful nonchalance. Her golden thigh showed almost to her panties through the slit at the side of her garment. Her black shiny hair rippled over her shoulders and her face looked lovely and serene. He decided, not for the first time that she was quite something.

The emaciated little old man dressed in traditional Chinese costume was Mister Chen himself. His beady eyes examined suspiciously the attractive young couple, and the look he gave Su Ling made Edwin's blood freeze in his veins at the heinous contempt it conveyed. However, he smiled politely and led them to a table quite close to the floor, and told them that he hoped they would enjoy the show.

The place was crammed with a mixed crowd, some middle-aged businessman who had come looking for easy thrills, quite a few sailors and the usual bar girls you expected to find in such a place. One girl in particular arrested Edwin's attention as soon as he saw her. She moved around slowly, sensuously, like a cat, letting the men admire the sleekness of her firm, young body clad in a tight-fitting Chinese dress. Her breasts appeared to be quite full and they jiggled slightly as she moved, revealing the fact that she was not wearing a brassiere.

As she passed by their table, she was laughing at something her partner had said a very Scandinavian-looking middle aged man her face was vitally alive, and her slanting dark eyes were full of mischief. Edwin guessed that she must be very young, probably in her teens.

Mister Chen, who was still standing by their table, noticed Edwin's interest in the girl.

"That's my daughter, I think you're looking at," he said in a strangely hollow voice. "It's her birthday and I'm allowing her to entertain some of our guests before she goes to England to complete her studies She's very popular with most of our regular customers already, although she has to be in bed by midnight. She's only seventeen and my most precious possession."

"She's a beautiful girl!" Edwin murmured. "What's her name?"

"May ... She looks very much like her late mother. Now I must leave you ... Enjoy yourselves!"

He walked away and his place was taken by a smiling Chinese girl who took their order of drinks. Edwin and Su Ling were laughing and talking like all the people around, but their conversation would have surprised the other customers of "The Sinful Den" if they had overheard.

"Now. have you got it straight?" Edwin was asking Su Ling.

She nodded her head, smiling. "When the show starts, you will disappear. If anyone asks where you are, I shall say you have gone out to get some fresh air because you were feeling ill. If you haven't returned by midnight, I am to get out of this place the best way I can and contact Brian at the hotel, telling him something has gone wrong. Right?"

Edwin leaned over the table and kissed her on the lips. "Perfect. But don't forget the time. If I am not back on or before the stroke of midnight, you are to get out. As you know from the diagrams we were shown, Mister Chen's apartment is not very large. It shouldn't take me more than fifteen minutes to make a thorough search. Mister Chen will be most busy at the time of the show ... It's a pity about the daughter, May, though, obviously Saigon hadn't been told of her existence. But in the event, it shouldn't make any difference."

Su Ling looked at Edwin's serious blue eyes. "Don't worry," she said. "I'll watch the time."

She was thinking to herself that she would be sorry if Edwin was proved to be a traitor. She found it very difficult to believe, and so far she hadn't detected anything about him to suggest he was in love with Communist Intelligence. Perhaps Alex had made a mistake ... She sure hoped so....

Edwin Mc Cullough rapidly made his way to the back of the club as the lights dimmed and the floor show started. He knew there was a door covered by a curtain with led to the private apartment of Mister Chen. Everyone's attention had been diverted by the beginning of the show, and in semi-darkness, he reached the curtained wall without being questioned, unaware of the slitted hateful eyes of Mister Chen following him in his move.

He felt behind the heavy brocade and located the door handle. It was open and he slipped through, quietly closing it behind him. He found himself at the foot of a dimly lit narrow flight of stairs, and he ran up them, his rubber-soled shoes hardly making a sound. Remembering the plan which he had memorized, he turned right at the top and stopped outside a wooden door. Taking a bunch of skeleton keys from his pocket, he bent down towards the lock. As he did so, he felt a presence behind him, but it was too late. Something crashed down on the back of his head, and he slumped to the floor half unconscious.

Whoever had hit him opened the door and dragged him inside the room. His head spinning, but he hadn't completely lost consciousness, and was aware that a rope was being tied to one of his wrists, and someone was searching his pockets. Then he heard the door click again and he was alone in the darkness.

But Lieutenant Mc Cullough was no weakling. The blow, which would have knocked out a lot of men for some time, hadn't had the same effect on him. Although he felt dizzy his brain already clearing, and in spite of the throbbing pain in his head he forced himself to think.

There was something wrong; he could have sworn that no one had seen him coming up those stairs. He had seen Mister Chen talking to someone behind the club bar before he had slipped through the door behind the curtain. Certainly, none of the busy waiters had noticed him. There could be only one answer, he had been expected!

He felt through his pockets. His gun had been removed, but the small knife still nestled in its sheath strapped to his inside pocket. In the darkness, he felt the rope on his wrist and discovered that he was tied to a heavy piece of furniture. It was obvious by the hurried way he had been searched and tied by only one hand, that it wasn't intended he be left alone for very long. He would have to move fast.

He cut through the rope and stood up, swaying in the darkness. Then he moved towards the faint crack of light showing underneath the door. It was locked and they had taken away his keys.

Quickly he got to work with his knife, and it didn't take him long to undo the lock. He stepped into the passageway, shook his head like a dog, and off towards the stairs. He had only taken a few paces when Mister Chen appeared round the corner. He simply hadn't heard him for the old Chinese wore light slippers, but the surprise was mutual for Mister Chen hadn't been aware of his presence in the narrow passageway either.

The old man was quick as his hand flashed towards the inside of his robe, reaching for his gun. Edwin still had the throwing knife, and he knew how to use it. His hand went back over his shoulder and in one swift movement, he hurled the shining blade at the man. But Mister Chen was too quick, and flattened himself against the wall. The knife should have shot harmlessly into the air, but it didn't.

At that precise moment, Mister Chen's daughter, May, turned the corner and the wicked steel caught her throat, burying itself deep into her slender neck.

For a split second, the scene represented a horrible tableau. Mister Chen and Edwin gazed in horror at the young girl who stood with her delicate hands around the handle of the knife in her throat, her eyes wide with terror, blood pouring from the fatal wound and splashing onto her white Chinese dress. Then, with a gurgling cry, she fell forward, her grief-stricken catching her before she hit the ground.

After that, things moved quickly. The old Chinese let go of his daughter's dead body and pointed his gun at Edwin, but his face had gone deathly pale and his wrinkled hand was shaking so much that the first shot from the silencer missed its target Edwin hurled himself at the man, and swung his hand in a deadly karate chop on the side of his head. Mister Chen fell stunned to the ground, toppling on his daughter's body. Blood poured from the girl's fatal wound, covering both father and daughter. They formed a macabre tableau and Edwin winced as he sped past them and down the stairs. He hadn't a moment to lose.

He emerged on the other side of the curtain, and for a moment stood breathing heavily. The music was playing loud and people were dancing again. He could see Su Ling looking at her watch, still sitting at their table. Then, with a quick determined movement she got up and made for the door. He walked rapidly around the edge of the table and caught up with her as she was pushing the swinging doors open. Catching hold of her arm, he propelled her swiftly into the street and into a taxi, telling the driver to take them to the Merlin Hotel.

"My God, Edwin," Su Ling whispered. "What happened? I waited until ten past twelve. I just couldn't bear to think something had gone wrong. But you look terrible!"

Edwin didn't reply, but he looked meaningfully at the driver. As soon as they arrived at the hotel, they made straight for their room. There was a light shining under the door, and Edwin held Su Ling's arm as she was about to insert the key.

"I don't remember us leaving the light on," he whispered. Then he took the key from her hand and gently inserted it into the lock. As he thought, it was already unlocked. He pushed Su Ling to one side of the door, and then stood back on the other side, his back to the wall. Reaching out he turned the door handle and pushed it open. Thanks God, the corridor was empty so they shouldn't arouse anybody's curiosity.

For a moment, there was complete silence, and then they heard Brian's voice. "Is there anyone there?" he called uncertainly.

Both Edwin and Su Ling grinned at one another across the space of the open door, and then they walked inside, greatly relieved ... Brian Slattery was sitting in an arm chair, and he was pointing a gun directly at them.

Edwin closed the door and walked towards him. "You can put that away, Brian, it's only us. But what on earth are you doing in our room? I thought we weren't supposed to make direct contact!"

Brian was wearing the same suit in which he had arrived. His legs were crossed elegantly, but his face looked grim.

"Stay right where you are, Lieutenant." he snapped in a cool tone. "Su Ling stand to one side, you might get hurt my dear."

Su Ling went quietly over to her bed and sat on the edge. So, this was it, she thought. Edwin

Mc Cullough had betrayed himself. But if he was, in fact, a spy, he was also a very good actor. She was looking at his face which expressed sheer blank surprise.

"Brian, what the hell ... " For a moment, Edwin was lost for words, and then for no apparent reason, his mind flashed to the combat school. He saw once again the instructor, a smile on his face as he balanced the grenade in his hand preparing to throw it at him. Then the flash and the bang, and the thought, as he was hurled to the ground, that the man had intended to kill him. Then, there had been this warm reception at Mister Chen's. It all fitted in. Someone was trying to get rid of him. But who could it be? And then, like a thunder bolt, the truth hit him with a forceful impact.

It was that Li Xieng business! It couldn't be anything else! He distinctly remembered Alex Knight's evasiveness on the subject, and his reluctance to discuss the incident. At the time, he had imagined it was security that was keeping Knight quiet, but it wasn't that. The V.I.S. chief had been simply embarrassed by his arrival from Laos as a bona fide candidate for his staff. "They had been determined to get rid of him ever since he joined V.I.S. in Saigon!

Brian saw the different expressions flashing in Edwin's face, and knew that the man was guessing the truth. He had to get him out of the way before Su Ling noticed anything strange.

"There is a car waiting for us outside the hotel, Lieutenant," he said in an icy, controlled voice. "We will walk out arm in arm, two Americans being friendly in a foreign land. I shall have a gun pointed at you and at the slightest sign of resistance, you will be shot dead. Now turn around."

Edwin looked appealingly across at Su Ling and was about to speak when Brian interrupted. "Don't talk. Just do as I say."

He shrugged, and turned to face the door as he had been instructed. But his mind was racing. He had got the whole picture now. Knight, Brian Slattery, and God knows who else must be communist agents. It was such an incredible thought that the head of an Intelligence Service should be a spy that his brain reeled in an attempt to grasp all the implications. As he walked out of the hotel room, Brian's arm through his, he caught sight of Su Ling's eyes fixed sadly on him. He felt sure that she wasn't aware of the true circumstances, and they had probably told her that he was in the pay of a foreign power. It was all very clever....

They emerged on the hotel steps and a car immediately moved off from further up the street and stopped in front of them. The door opened and Edwin was propelled inside. There was another man in the back of the car. As far as he could see, he was fairly young, and Chinese. There was only the driver in the front of the vehicle, and he hadn't had time to see him. Anyway, all those yellow-faced Orientals looked alike! The Chinese in the back also had a gun in hand. They weren't taking any chances, he thought bitterly.

The car sped through Hong's tortuous streets in an unknown direction. Edwin was convinced that if he didn't do something, and fast, this would be his last ride. He turned to Brian Slattery.

"There's not a hope of your getting away with this, Brian. Someone in Saigon or even in Washington will want to know what's happened to me."

"My dear fellow," the homosexual smirked. "In this business no one asks too many questions. They are too afraid of the answers. Now shut up and keep still."

Edwin tensed. He knew Slattery was perfectly right. Any story could be concocted about his disappearance, and there would be few questions asked. It may be regarded in some quarters as a pity, but nothing more.

The car veered off the main road, and trees began to appear and a scenery of fields and villages, ringed by the Nine Dragon mountain range, reminiscent of mainland China. And then the car came to an abrupt stop and Edwin was hustled forward with two guns pointing at his back.

There was not a friendly soul soon they were following a series of winding paths that Edwin knew led to cliff tops. There was the sound of waterfalls, but they could not be seen in the dark. As they climbed higher, the noise of splashing water faded. The young Chinese was breathing heavily, but Brian Slattery was climbing with ease. Before they got to the top, Edwin had worked out what they intended to do with him.

They were very high now and nearing the summit of the cliffs. Just above him on his right, Edwin could make out stone steeps leading up to a wooden building perched on top of a cliff. This he remembered was a kind of ski lift which took tourists for a ride across some lovely parts of the Nine Dragon mountain.

Edwin paused, as if to regain breath, and immediately Slattery prodded him from the rear with his gun.

"Just a little further, my friend. Don't stop now," he said. His voice was perfectly measured which indicated that in spite of his heavy drinking, he kept himself fit. The young Chinese on the other hand was panting loudly. He wiped the perspiration off his brow with the back of the hand holding the gun. It was the opportunity Edwin had been waiting for. He swung a backhander into the man's face, his knuckles crashing into the bridge of the Chinese's nose with a sickening crack, and at the same time chopped downwards with his other hand onto Slattery's gun arm.

With a cry, the young Chinese toppled backwards down the steep path which they had just climbed, and Slattery cursed as the gun he was holding spun out of his hand, his arm going numb from the blow. Edwin leapt for the stone steps and raced to the top. As he ducked behind the wooden building, there was a cough from below and a bullet thudded into the woodwork. Slattery picked up his gun and was shooting with his left hand.

Desperately, Edwin hurled himself at the door of the hut that housed the ski lift machinery. It gave way with a splintering crash and he was inside. It was very dark, but he didn't dare try and find the light switch. Slattery couldn't be far away, and he couldn't make of himself a sit in target. And then he found what he was looking for. It was a large, shiny metal lever. He pulled in downwards and was rewarded with an instant rumble of machinery. The ski lift was in action.

He looked through the window and saw that one of the chair lifts was already taking off. It swung over the edge of the cliff and into the darkness. The next one would rescind onto the cliff edge at any minute. Rapidly, he swung window open and waited. As the chair came down from the blackness above, he balanced himself on the window sill, and when he had judged the right moment, he hurled himself at the moving chair. He missed his aim, and instead of landing somewhere on top of it, he found himself grasping the iron ledge intended as foot rest. Then he was being dragged along the rocky ground and soon was hanging in space hundreds of feet above the Kowloon valley.

After the clank of machinery, and the whine of Slattery's silence, it was very quiet. His arms were already aching, but he reckoned he could hold on until he reached the other side. There was nothing but darkness below. The chair was tilted dangerously forward by the weight of his body hanging onto the foot rest, but it traveled smoothly enough. He would have to watch out for the landing stage, he realized, and then it happened.

The lift stopped, and he was left dangling in mid-air. Brian must have found the lever that switched off the machinery. In spite of his aching limbs, Edwin frantically began to swing his body backwards and forwards in an attempt to get his feet up on the chair lift, so that he could get into it properly. The strain was probing too much, and he knew that if he continued hanging in mid-air for much longer, he would be forced to let go and plunge into the depths below.

Panting laboriously, he hauled himself upwards, and succeeded in getting onto the chair. His cracking muscles ached terribly, but he felt greatly relieved. As his breathing quieted to normal, the sound of machinery again broke the deathly silence of the night. Almost immediately, the lift jerked into life, traveling back the way he had come. The bastards! He thought desperately trying to find an escape route.

He looked upwards and saw the chairs above moving in the opposite direction following the rotary system of the ski lift. He didn't ponder for long. As the next dark shape came into view, he balanced precariously on the seat of the chair lift. If he missed, he would fall to a certain death. With a strength born of desperation, he leapt upwards. For a moment, he thought he had hopelessly misjudged, and then his fingers were grasping the cold steel of the foot rest. Once again, Lieutenant Mc Cullough was in the same position he was in when he first launched himself over the cliff edge. But this time, there wasn't much to travel. And in a matter of seconds, he was dragged clear of the dark void that had nearly claimed him.

He grinned in the dark at the thought of Slattery's reaction when the chair lift would arrive empty. He hoped they would think he had fallen off, and they would go back after all. He knew his situation was still desperate. When no mutilated body turned up next morning, they would be after him again.

But Edwin had quickly learned to live for the moment, and looking at the faraway lights of Hong Kong, a city of hope and despair, he felt with childish wonder his pulse beating with amazing vitality....