The Hunt for Shambhala

13

Damn-stupid, ignorant, greedy, good-for-nuthin’- trouble-makin’ assholes! What were they thinking? Decker shook his head as for the second time in one week he was forced to take evasive action and stop a bunch of goons shooting up the Avalon.

He increased power to make the turn but this took him further away from Selena, Riley and Charlie down in the boat. He craned his neck to look through the co-pilot’s window and just caught another glimpse of the action before everyone slipped out of sight of the enormous float plane.

I told them: stay away from Kuan. He’s a heroin trafficker with links to the Chinese triads… But did they listen? Like hell they did!

Three thousand feet now and skimming along the top of the clouds. From up here the moonlight bounced off the tops and made it look like he was flying around a world made of whipped ice cream. He’d heard the shooting and seen the explosions from nearly a mile away while he was doing his pre-flight checks back on the waters off Lamai Beach and knew it could mean only one thing: Professor Selena Moore was in trouble. Again.

He’d taken off with the rear hatch open. Dangerous, but part of the crackpot scheme to save their lives that he’d cooked up in the sixty seconds he’d had to come up with a plan.

He reduced the power and turned to port, hoping to come full-circle and make another run-up on the sea battle below. He had a plan, but it was crazy as hell and he was starting to think he was just as stupid as the people he was trying to rescue.

The Avalon slipped down through the clouds again and left ice cream-land behind as he powered the aircraft down toward the ocean and aimed in the general direction of the gunfight. I must be out of my god-damned mind, he thought. Oh no, Mr Decker… I can handle anything that comes my way.

Jesus.

The Albatross started to rumble as he ploughed through a pocket of warmer air and then the fight was visible again down below on the sea’s black surface. The engines whined as he reduced power on the overhead throttles and then it was crunch time.

A hundred feet above and another reduction of power. As the revs dropped the whole aircraft began to rattle and buzz. Decker watched as Kuan’s men closed in on them — three motorboats full of armed men versus Selena, Riley and Charlie as they desperately tried to get back to the larger island before they were caught.

There was no chance of that, Decker knew. Kuan and his men would be all over them like a cheap suit. No, this was the only way and now it was Showtime.

Thundering over the top of Kuan and his men now, their response was predictable. They fired dozens of rounds into the air in the hope of hitting the aircraft but it was going too fast to track with any degree of accuracy. He was also staying high — too high for what he was about to do, but it was the only way.

Over the top of Kuan’s boats he saw Selena and the others dead ahead. Their little boat was bobbing about in the black water and Charlie saw him first. His mouth dropped as he alerted the others to the enormous float plane thundering toward them in a move straight out of Kamikaze 101.

Decker reduced power again and brought the Avalon thundering down on the warm Gulf water. Holy merciful crap! He had come in too fast and bounced right back up out of the sea again. The drag from the surface of the water had slowed the plane and with another power reduction he tried it once more — but it was his last chance.

If he missed the target touchdown zone he would tear past Selena and the others and Kuan would be on them.

He lowered the flaps and took a deep breath. I hope this works… The engines growled and roared as he put her down once again, and this time she stayed down. He pulled the throttles further aft and generated more reverse thrust. The plane shuddered and grumbled and for a second it looked like he was going to go right over the top of them.

He steered to starboard and placed them on his left-hand side.

He prayed they knew what he was trying to do.

Charlie got it at once, and steered the boat to the left a few hundred yards ahead of the Albatross. They were lined up now, but slowing down enough for the manoeuvre had allowed Kuan to close in on them again, and in the background they heard the chatter of submachine gun fire.

Decker wiped the sweat from his brow and pulled open the cockpit window. “Get in!”

Selena yelled something in response but he couldn’t understand. He saw Riley firing on the men in the boats that were racing up behind them, but Charlie’s face was a study of focus and steely determination to stay alive as he swung the boat over and pulled in close to the Avalon.

Decker saw they were slipping back and he slowed the aircraft once more, always aware of the pleasure Kuan would take in destroying his precious plane if he got his grubby hands on it.

Charlie was closer now, steering into the side of the aircraft, but the wake of the enormous plane spilled out and forced the boat away again. The former RMP fought hard against it and swung the wheel to the right while Riley Carr continued to fire on Kuan and his men in controlled bursts.

Decker leaned out of the window and saw only Riley and Charlie in the boat. “Holy shit!” he yelled. “They got her!”

“They most certainly did not.”

He spun around and banged his head on the window frame. “Crap!”

Selena placed her hands on her hips and scowled at the bad language. “I thought you’d be more pleased to see me.”

“I just banged my head, is all.”

“Ah.”

Another glance outside was just in time to see Riley diving inside the Avalon, but now Kuan was almost drawing level with the aircraft. He was still firing on Charlie and the boat, but now Decker saw him point at the plane and a second later his men turned their guns on the Avalon.

“We’ve gotta get out of here!”

“What about Charlie?” Selena yelled.

Riley’s panting face appeared in the cockpit door, his chest heaving up and down with the effort of survival and a soaking wet SIG in his hand. “He’s on board!”

Decker didn’t need to hear it twice. He jammed the overhead throttles forward as hard as he could and changed the flaps for takeoff. The engines howled a deep guttural roar as she picked up power and left Kuan’s men behind in her wake.

Selena moved to climb into the co-pilot seat as Decker pulled back on the yoke and she tumbled over into his lap. “I’m so sorry…”

“Don’t be,” he said with a crooked smile. “I’m just glad you’re alive.”

“Me fuckin’ too, mate,” said a familiar voice from behind him.

The American turned to see Riley Carr’s broad smile and tanned face, dripping wet but grinning in the pale moonlight. After a few seconds to get his breath back, he said, “I don’t think those bastards like me very much.”

“You think?” Decker said.

“Not at all — but that’s okay because I’m going to take a slash on them out of your door.”

“No, you are not,” Decker said. “Use the head like everyone else.”

“Sure thing, Captain.”

“And don’t call me that.”

“Righto.”

“And it’s a hatch,” Decker said. “Avalon’s a sea bird. You piss out the hatch, not the door.”

But Riley had already gone.

“Mr Decker, firstly, thank you so much for coming to collect us like this, but I wonder if I could ask a very small favor of you. Infinitesimally small, really.”

Decker sighed and rubbed his brow.

“It’s a quantum-sized favor, honest,” Charlie said.

“What?”

“We need to get to Goa,” Selena said.

Decker turned to her. “And what’s in Goa? You have the damned journal!”

“Ah yes,” she said. “But we can’t read it.”

“Oh God… don’t tell me.”

“In Goa is a very good friend of mine.”

“Who can read your journal?”

“Exactly!”

He looked out the window and listened to the hum of the rotary engines. Selena and Charlie looked at each other in silence, and waited for the former US Marine’s response. “Well, we’re not going there tonight,” he said bluntly. He tapped one of the gauges on the instrument panel. “Not enough fuel.”

“But there’s an airport on Ko Samui.”

“And Kuan’s men are going to be crawling all over it. No, if you need to get to Goa then we have to fly west, so our next stop is Phuket. We can fill up at the airport there.”

“So you’ll take us to Goa?” she said excitedly.

Decker sighed. “To Goa — but no farther.”

“Anyone say Phuket?”

They turned to see a smiling Riley Carr stepping into the cockpit and zipping up his pants.

“Yes, why?” Decker said.

“I know a woman there.”

“Of course you do,” Selena said.

When they landed at Phuket and filled up the tanks, Decker checked the plane and realized Kuan’s men had been better shots than he thought.

“Crap.”

“What?” Selena asked.

“Both the vertical and horizontal stabilizers have taken damage, and look here — the port trim tab is shredded to pieces… no wonder the landing was rough.”

“I thought that was just you,” she said raising her head and fixing her eyes on his.

“Are you trying to be funny?”

“I might be.”

“Looks like you’re going to have to try harder, in that case.”

After a drawn-out conversation with officials at the airport they decided to spend the night in Phuket while essential repairs were made to the Avalon and after agreeing on a price they took a cab out to a restaurant on the coast that Riley knew and they all had dinner together.

They ate spiced crab rolls with red chilli and mango salsa, followed by Yellow fin tuna with a sesame crust and a good helping of Thai asparagus. Most of it was washed down with ice-cold Singha beers too numerous to count, and then after their meal they took their beers, stepped out of the restaurant and walked along the street.

After eating, Riley took a cab to find the woman he had mentioned and Charlie staggered back to his hotel room a little worse for wear. That left just Selena and Decker. She turned to him and smiled. “I need to make a call to an old friend.”

“Sure.”

She made the call as they strolled in the night. “Hello, Diana — how are you? Great… listen, I need you to translate something for me… yes, I have it at last!”

Decker listened to Selena’s half of the conversation and stared up at the stars.

“It is, yes…” she continued. “I know you don’t believe me, but if I’m right, it could change the course of history. This is going to hit Indian culture like a comet from outer space.”

Decker raised an eyebrow and doubted this very much, but he liked watching the way she got so excited about a stupid book. When she cut the call, they decided to take their walk along the beach in the moonlight.

“I’m glad you decided to fly me out of Hong Kong,” Selena said.

“Sure.”

“And you’re supposed to say something like and I’m glad you asked me.”

“Sure.”

“You are an impossible man!”

“Thanks.”

“It was no compliment.”

“I saved your ass in Hong Kong.”

“I suppose I’ll have to hear about that until my dying day.”

“Not unless you plan on dying before you hand me the cash you owe me for flying you to Goa, and then we’re history.”

“Nothing would bring me greater pleasure.”

Decker looked at her in the pale light of the creamy tropical moon which hung above them. It was so large and low it seemed almost close enough to reach out and touch. For a moment, it was as if they were the only two people on Earth. The only sounds were the lapping of the waves on the beach and the sea breeze rippling the palms along the backshore.

“All right, I’m glad you asked me, kinda.”

“Really?”

“Sure, why not? I’m not getting any more business out of Peter Ying and you can take that to the bank…” he stopped, and looked a little embarrassed. “And without that pay check I’m in trouble. Truth is Avalon Cargo isn’t the amazing business opportunity you probably think it is.”

“Er… yes, of course,” she said hesitatingly.

Decker sipped his beer and looked up at the moon. “All I ever wanted was to be an astronaut, but I guess I never made it.”

“You have the Avalon.”

He gave a low laugh and looked down at his boots in the sand. “Sure… but she can’t quite muster the escape velocity I’d need to get into orbit.”

“It doesn’t seem like a bad life, though.”

“I guess. What about you? You always wanted to be a museum curator?”

“Sort of.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ve never told anyone else this before, but when I was a little girl what I really wanted to be was a treasure hunter. Silly really.”

“A treasure hunter? Impressive. I guess you almost got there, what with working in a museum and whatnot.”

“Being a museum curator probably has the same sort of relationship to treasure hunter as being a cargo pilot has to landing on the moon.”

Decker laughed. Maybe it was the beer, but he was starting not to hate Little Miss Fussy Pants. “You never told anyone that, really?”

“Well…I told Riley once, but that doesn’t really count because it’s sort of like when you tell your dog secrets.”

Another laugh, and then the beers were over so they began to walk back up the beach and over the road to their hotel rooms. As they approached the car park, Selena turned to the American, hesitated and then said, “Tell me, Mr Decker — is there anyone waiting for you at home?”

Decker hesitation was even longer. “There was once, but not any more.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. What happened?”

“Things didn’t work out… you know how it is, right?”

“I suppose so.”

“What about you?”

“There was Riley once, but now only my work.”

Decker couldn’t think of anything to say, and the truth was conversations like this made him feel awkward and uncomfortable. He took her as far as the door to her room and passed a hand over his tired face.

“Goodnight then,” he said.

“Oh, yes. Goodnight, Mr Decker.”

He walked away and stopped and turned. “Will you stop calling me that?”

“I’m sorry, Mitch.”

He’d had a good night, but as he walked back to his room he was pretty uneasy about what she had told him over dinner. This Kuan character sounded like bad news, and it was obvious he was working for someone even shadier, and that just had to mean even more trouble.

All I want is a modest cargo company, he said. Just me and the Avalon, and no trouble.

This was a telephone call Lee Kuan did not want to make, and his fears were confirmed when he heard the icy voice of Rakesh Madan on the other end of the line.

“We were raided,” Kuan said. “They have the journal.”

“Tell me this is more of your infamous humor,” said Madan.

“Sadly, no… they stormed the place with Special Forces,” Kuan lied easily. “And dived off the cliffs to a waiting boat. Then an aircraft swooped down and took them away. It was very well-planned and executed.”

“Be careful with that word, Lee,” the Indian said coolly.

“What do you want me to do?”

“I will pull your strings when I need you to move, Lee. In the meantime I can track them down easily enough. You forget — I control the skies in this part of the world, and soon every part of the world.”

“You seem very certain,” Kuan said.

“The problem with you, Mr Kuan, is that you have no faith.”

“Is that my problem?” the Triad boss said.

“Don’t try and intimidate me, Lee,” Madan said firmly. “I am not one of your drug pushers or pimps.”

Madan ended the call abruptly and Kuan swallowed hard. He would make Madan pay for treating him like this. The only question was: how?