Golden Buddha

37

THE Antonov was less than a hundred miles from Da Nang, heading due west. At its current speed, the plane would touch down in about forty minutes, or just around 4:30 P.M. local time. The biplane, although slow, had performed flawlessly. Gunderson balanced the yoke with his knees and reached into the air and stretched.

“This baby’s a peach,” he said to Cabrillo.

“After this mission is completed, you can check into buying one for the company, if you think we’ll use it enough,” Cabrillo said.

“Take the wings off and we could probably fit it into a forty-foot shipping container,” Gunderson said. “If we had Murphy mount a fire cannon out the door, we’d have a hell of a gunship.”

For the last hour Cabrillo had been checking arrangements with the Oregon over his secure telephone. The last call from Hanley had placed the Gulfstream G550 on final approach to Da Nang airfield. Cabrillo was nodding at Gunderson’s comment when his telephone buzzed again.

“The Gulfstream’s on the ground and refueled,” Hanley told him. “The pilot is setting the course now. I contacted General Siphondon in Laos and received permission for you to cross through their airspace.”

“How is the general?” Cabrillo asked.

“His usual self,” Hanley said. “Dropping hints about a classic car he’d like.”

“At least he’s upfront about his wants,” Cabrillo said. “And an old-car fetish I can understand. What is it he’s after?”

“Hemi Roadrunner convertible,” Hanley said. “Apparently some Air America pilot had one shipped over to use during the war. The general was only a kid then, but it stuck in his mind.”

“Any around?”

“I’ve got Keith Lowden in Colorado checking out the market,” Hanley said. “He’ll get back to us when he knows what’s available.”

“Excellent,” Cabrillo said. “Now what about Thailand and Myanmar?”

“All cleared,” Hanley said, “so it’ll be a straight shot to India.”

“C-130?”

“She’s due to leave Bhutan and touch down in Da Nang just after eight P.M.”

“Do you have the team ready?” Cabrillo asked.

“They’ll be ready by the time the Oregon reaches port,” Hanley said.

“This is a tight timetable,” Cabrillo said, “and we only have one shot at this.”

“No do-overs,” Hanley said quietly.

“No do-overs,” Cabrillo agreed.

IN northern India at Little Lhasa, the oracle was deep in a trance. The Dalai Lama sat to one side as the man spun and danced. From time to time the oracle would race over to a sheet of rice paper and scribble notes furiously, then return to his ritualistic motions. A strange animal-like sound seeped from his vocal cords and drops of sweat flew through the air.

At last he collapsed in a heap on the floor and his helpers removed the headpiece and robes.

The Dalai Lama picked up a wooden bowl filled with water, dampened a sheep’s skin, then stepped over, bent down, and began to wash the sweat from the aging man.

“You did well,” he said in a soothing voice. “There is much information written on the sheets.”

The oracle allowed the Dalai Lama to drip some water into his mouth. He swished it around and spit it to the side. “I saw bloodshed and fighting,” he said quietly. “Much bloodshed.”

“Let us pray not,” the Dalai Lama said.

“But there was a second way,” the oracle said. “I think that is what I wrote.”

“Bring some tea and tsampa,” the Dalai Lama ordered an aide, who rushed out of the room.

Twelve minutes later, the oracle and the Dalai Lama were sitting around a table in the great room. The Tibetan tea, flavored with salt and butter, as well as the tsampa, roasted barley flour usually mixed with milk or yogurt, had brought the color back to the oracle’s cheeks. Where only moments before he had seemed aged and weak, he now appeared animated and in control.

“Your Holiness,” he said eagerly, “shall we see what I received?”

“Please,” the Dalai Lama said.

The oracle stared at the sheets of rice paper. The letters were in an ancient script only he and a few others could read. He read them through twice, then smiled at the Dalai Lama.

“Is someone from the west coming to see you?” the oracle asked.

“Yes,” the Dalai Lama said, “later this evening.”

“Here is what you tell him,” the oracle said.

Thirty minutes later, the Dalai Lama nodded and smiled at the oracle.

“I will have my aides prepare notes to buttress our argument,” he said, “and thank you.”

Rising from the chair, the oracle walked unsteadily from the room.

LANGSTON Overholt was using a borrowed office in a far corner of the compound at Little Lhasa. He was speaking on a secure line to the director of Central Intelligence in hushed tones.

“I didn’t order that,” he said. “I simply don’t have the apparatus in China to pull it off.”

“The estimates from our people on the ground place the number at five hundred and growing,” the DCI noted.

“I’ll ask the contractor,” Overholt said, “but it may just be a lucky break.”

“Whatever the case,” the DCI said, “reports say the Chinese are paying close attention to the protests.”

“What about the Mongolians?” Overholt asked.

“I had a secret meeting with their ambassador,” the DCI said. “They’ll play it either way.”

“What did that cost?” Overholt asked.

“Don’t ask,” the DCI said, “but suffice it to say the United States’ strategic reserves of tungsten and molybdenum won’t need replenishing for some time.”

“That gives us choices for the contractor to offer to the Russians,” Overholt said.

“As soon as he meets with them, I need to know what they have decided,” the DCI told him.

“No matter what the time,” Overholt said.

“Day or night,” the DCI said before disconnecting.

GUNDERSON could not believe the lift the pair of wings gave the Antonov. Though he and the others had been flying the plane for nearly eight hours, this was the first time he had needed to land. Lining up to land, he floated the Antonov down to the runway like a feather fluttering to the floor. Halfway down the length of the runway, Gunderson realized he’d need to force the plane to the ground. Moving the yoke forward, he felt the wheels finally touch.

“Sorry about that, boss,” he said, pointing out the window at the Gulfstream on the far end of the runway. “She floats like a butterfly. I’ll taxi us back over to the Gulfstream.”

Cabrillo nodded and unsnapped the seat belt. Walking into the cargo area, he began to collect his things. Lifting the stack of bearer bonds, he placed them all in his bag, then thought better of that. He turned his head toward the cockpit.

“Do you have to take the plane back south again?” he asked Gunderson.

“No, sir,” Gunderson said, slowing as he approached the Gulfstream. “Gannon worked it out—the company will pick it up here. The ladies are boarding the Oregon, and I’m flying north on the C-130 as soon as it arrives.”

Cabrillo began to count the pile. When he finished, he spoke again.

“I’m leaving you a pile,” he said to everyone. “Give them to Hanley when he arrives. Tell him I took the rest north—I may need them to grease some wheels.”

Gunderson stopped the Antonov, then reached for the checklist for postflight. “Okay, boss,” he said as he started through the steps to shut down the engine. Michaels was unlatching the door while Pilston stood off to the side.

“You have some time to kill until the Oregon arrives,” Cabrillo said. “You’ll have guards from the Vietnamese air force, but I’d stay close. Hanley will make payment to their general when he arrives, so you shouldn’t have to deal with much.”

“Will they take us to a bathroom?” Michaels asked.

“I’m sure they will,” Cabrillo said as he walked for the door, “but one at a time, please. And whatever you do, don’t let anyone know you have that stack of bonds.”

“You got it, boss,” Gunderson said.

Cabrillo stopped at the door for a second. “Ladies, Tiny,” he said, smiling, “I’ll see you soon.”

Then he stepped off the Antonov and began walking to the Gulfstream. The pilot and copilot were standing next to the open door. The pilot smiled at Cabrillo and motioned for the step.

“We’re ready for you, sir,” he said. “Welcome aboard.”

“There’s a box on the biplane,” Cabrillo said. “Get some help and haul it aboard.”

Cabrillo walked up the ramp, made his way to a seat, and then waited while the pilots got the crate loaded inside, shut the door, and started the engines. Two minutes later, they were airborne. The Gulfstream was still climbing to cruising altitude when they crossed over the mountains of Laos.

IN Novosibirsk, Russia, General Alexander Kernetsikov was staring at a large chalkboard inside a hangar at the airport. Troops and material continued to pour into the area at a rate of deployment seldom seen in times of peace. There were thousands of details to attend to, but there was one that bothered Kernetsikov the most.

“Have we received an answer yet?” he said to his aide. “If this is a go, I need to know which fork to take at Barnaul. We either violate Kazakhstan and enter China near Tacheng, or we need to move the troops into Mongolia, take the road toward Altaj and cross over the mountains there, then sweep quickly across the plains and pass Lop Nur.”

The aide stared at the general. Lop Nur was the home of the Chinese nuclear test base and he imagined it would be heavily defended. The other route featured mountains that were still covered in snow. It was like choosing between a root canal and ripping off a toenail.

“There’s been no communication, General,” the aide said, “including whether this is not merely an exercise in fast deployment and war planning.”

“It’s just a feeling,” the general said quietly, “but I think that before this is over, we’ll be crossing the mountains like Hannibal.”

The aide nodded. Every good officer under whom he had served had a strong sense of history. He just hoped the general was wrong—facing off with the Chinese, even with the firepower they had amassed, was not a welcome thought.

IN Beijing, General Tudeng Quing was offering President Jintao a possible solution.

“If we pull all but two thousand troops out of Tibet, concentrating those left only in Lhasa, we could divert the rest to U¨ rümqi in the Xinjiang Province. They could be in place starting tomorrow.”

“How many?” Jintao asked.

“Say a thousand by plane in the next few hours,” Quing said. “The tanks and armored carriers have a nine-hundred-mile journey. Running them full out at forty miles an hour with refueling and such, they could be in place tomorrow this time.”

“We don’t have any troops closer?” Jintao asked.

“Airborne, we can bring them in from anywhere,” Quing noted. “It’s the armor we need—other than Tibet, the closest armored division we require is almost twice that distance away, and the trip is over rougher terrain. My aides have calculated three or four days minimum.”

Jintao sat back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. Then he turned to Legchog Raidi Zhuren, the chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, who had so far remained quiet.

“Will two thousand troops give you a sufficient level of security until we can replace your armor in four or five days?” Jintao asked.

“Mr. President,” Zhuren said. “Tibet has been quiet for years—I don’t see that changing any time soon. Now, if I may be excused, I should be leaving for my return to Tibet.”

Jintao turned to General Quing. “Order it done.”

Next, Jintao turned to the Chinese ambassador to Russia.

“You,” he said loudly, “figure out what the Russians have planned. If they are planning to annex Mongolia, let them know we won’t stand for that. The Mongols conquered us once—I’m not going to give them a chance to try it again.”

Within two hours of the meeting, the first Chinese transport planes began to land at Lhasa Airport and began ferrying troops north to Xinjiang Province. In the haste to counter the Russian threat, the organization of the Chinese army in Tibet would suffer. Junior officers would be placed in charge of partially staffed battalions. Weapons and ammunition would be depleted. The mission and purpose would be compromised.

CABRILLO was napping in the rear of the Gulfstream when his secure telephone buzzed.

“Go ahead,” he said, instantly awake.

“It’s me,” Overholt said, “with good news. The NSA just called the DCI, who called me. The Russian bluff is working. Transport planes are leaving the airport in Lhasa and hauling troops north. In addition, a column of tanks has just left the city and they’re traveling at breakneck speed. Everyone said it’s looking up so far.”

Cabrillo glanced at his watch. “I’ll be there in about an hour or so. Are we all set up for the meeting?”

“It’s all taken care of,” Overholt said.

“Good,” Cabrillo said. “If we reach an agreement there, I’ll continue north.”

“You really think you can sell everybody on this idea?” Overholt asked.

“This mission’s like an onion,” Cabrillo said. “Every time I peel back a layer, there’s a layer underneath.”

“That’s not the half of it,” Overholt said. “The Dalai Lama has a new plan.”

“I can’t wait,” Cabrillo said.

“I think you’re going to like it,” Overholt told him.