The Beijing conspiracy

CHAPTER 50

C urtis caught the movement again and he rested his M4 carbine against the trunk of a larch and scanned the forest ahead through the crosshairs of the specially fitted telescopic sights. As a large yak came into view, Curtis expelled the air from his lungs and eased his finger from the trigger. He paused long enough to appreciate the magnificent mountain animal, then returned to the vehicle to check his position on a small GPS receiver the size of a mobile phone.

‘50°’ 41", 85°’ 32". Less than 100 kilometres to go,’ Curtis said, folding up one of the CIA’s Russian 1:100,000 maps of the area. The maps were surprisingly reliable, but the GPS system was accurate to within a metre, and two hours later, as they reached the edge of the small clearing at the top of the ridge that the special forces pilots had chosen as the designated landing zone, Curtis nodded with satisfaction. At the bottom of the valley below them he could see a lake, exactly where he’d calculated it would be, one of thousands nestled in among the majestic mountain chain. With his position verified, Curtis backed the four-wheel drive into the forest and pulled out his satellite radio.

‘Mountain Goat, this is Antelope, over.’

The special forces pilot responded immediately. ‘Antelope, this is Mountain Goat, we have you strength five, over.’

‘Antelope is in position, over.’

‘Mountain Goat, we’re about fifteen minutes out but we’ve had some radar traffic to your north, over.’

Curtis scanned the horizon and then he saw it. A black dot coming up the valley, moving fast.

‘Antelope, wait out.’

As Curtis focused his binoculars, the ‘black dot’ materialised into a Russian military helicopter – an Mi-8T or ‘Hip’. The Mi-8T approaching up the valley toward Curtis’ position was the same variant as the CIA was bringing in to extract him and Dolinsky. The rocket and anti-tank grenade launcher pods on the side were only too clear now. Although he couldn’t see how many men were onboard, Curtis knew the Hip was capable of carrying twenty-four fully equipped Russian soldiers.

‘Russian soldiers, Eduard, and my guess is they’re not too pleased at being called out on a Sunday, but this will even up the odds a bit,’ Curtis said, handing Dolinsky the 9mm Browning and three spare magazines.

Eduard Dolinsky shook his head. ‘I don’t use guns,’ he said.

‘You do now, sunshine,’ Curtis replied, shoving the weapon into the scientist’s hand. ‘I’m sorry if the casualty rate is going to be a bit below the millions you aim for in your profession, but do your best to make each one count,’ Curtis added, reaching for the radio.

‘Mountain Goat, this is Antelope, we’ve got company down here.’ Curtis had counted sixteen soldiers scrambling out of the big Hip that had landed in a clearing near the lake, about 300 metres below Curtis’ position. ‘Hip Mi-8T, grid 853504 beside the lake. So far there’s only sixteen of them, over.’

‘This is Mountain Goat, I’ll deal with the Hip first, then we’ll see about you and Einstein, out.’

Curtis smiled grimly. Einstein was their codeword for the Russian scientist. By the look of consternation on his face, Dolinsky was not going to lower the odds against the soldiers moving up the hill toward them by much.

Thirty seconds later the CIA Hip roared over the top of Curtis’ position. The Russian pilots had made the mistake of staying on the ground and their big transport helicopter exploded in a ball of flame and flying pieces of rotor as two high-powered rockets found their mark.

Amazing what you could buy in the second-hand arms bazaars these days, Curtis thought, but any feeling that he might still get out in one piece was cut short as a withering burst of fire cut through the trees. One of the Russian soldiers had spotted the Toyota.

Curtis got away three quick bursts to make the Russians think twice about storming his position, but as he watched the Russian soldiers spreading out below him, another machine gun started firing from a ridge to his right.

‘Shit!’ Curtis’ first thought was that the Russians had somehow managed to get a gun group into position above him, but then he realised they would have needed a second helicopter to do it so quickly. Another burst of fire from the machine gun echoed around the high mountain peaks and to his surprise, Curtis discovered that whoever was above him was firing at the Russians. A short while later he could see the Russian soldiers withdrawing back down the mountain, carrying several casualties. Through his binoculars Curtis picked out three men, high on the ridge above him, black scarves around their faces and bandoliers of ammunition over their shoulders.

As the CIA’s big Hip flared on to the landing zone, Curtis and Dolinsky broke cover, Curtis glancing back towards the ridgeline as he doubled over to get underneath the chopper blades. The pilot hauled on the collective, and as they cleared the snow-covered pines Curtis could see three men moving back along the track towards the border with Xinjiang. He felt a chill run down his spine, wondering if the operation had been compromised and again pondering the possibility that Dolinsky might be a double agent.

As word filtered back along the border that Dolinsky had been safely extracted, many more similar groups started to return to where they came from. Kadeer had no way of knowing which part of the border Curtis would use, but he knew that with over sixty small groups watching there had been a reasonable chance they would be ready to assist him.

‘I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Curtis,’ Tom McNamara said, speaking to Curtis by satellite phone from Washington to the big US air base in Kyrgyzstan.

‘Kate’s in the intensive care isolation ward at CDC. A Gulf Five will arrive shortly to bring Einstein and yourself back to Washington and I’ll have a plane on standby for you to fly to Atlanta if you want.’

‘Thanks, Tom, I’d appreciate that.’ To lose a scientist at the start of this operation would raise some very awkward questions, but as Curtis struggled with the devastating news, he realised that the awkward questions were only part of it. He suddenly felt very alone, realising that maybe, just maybe, there was something really special about Kate that he didn’t want to lose just yet.