Peking & The Tulip Affair (7 page)

"All you got was a sample," Nick said. "I'll teach you what pain really is." His hands got busy again. Once the man started to scream and Nick dug two fingers in his windpipe.

Nick worked up a good sweat before the stubbornness left the German. The officer finally nodded his head and answered freely as Nick threw questions at him.

Nick used the pen once again and the man went under. Nick went into the front room and sank into a chair. Lotus brought him a glass of rice wine. "I heard him groaning. It chilled my blood."

Nick drained the glass. "Don't ask me to apologize for my actions. I do what I have to."

Lotus touched his shoulder. "I understand"

Nick had what he wanted. The laboratory was located near the village of Tsin Then. He learned from Lotus that the village was less than a hundred miles from Peking. Nick told Lotus everything the German had told him, leaving nothing out. There was a new Nazi movement in Germany, and Bormann was more than just a small part of it Bormann had promised to help the movement with the most powerful weapon ever invented and that, to Nick, meant giving Agent Z to the movement. The German in Lotus's bedroom hadn't mentioned Agent Z, which hadn't surprised Nick. Bormann had gathered around him men who followed blindly, never asking questions. So Bormann had kept Agent Z a secret except to a small handful of his closest confederates. The German knew that Captain Stryker had information about this mysterious weapon. There were a couple of others but he, himself, had been told nothing.

"I thought the man with the frozen face was working for the Chinese?" Lotus wondered out loud.

"The old doublecross," Nick said. "He's using the ChiComs to get what he wants. Equipment, technical help, and time. He has no intention of handing Agent Z over to the Chinese. He needs it to push his way to the top. That kraut in there…" Nick jerked his thumb toward the bedroom door"…knew about the laboratory but not what was going on. He'd been there to help supervise the delivery of laboratory animals and equipment. Lotus, I'm going to Tsin Then."

"You're going now?"

"Yes."

"I'm going with you,"

He started to shake his head but saw the determination in her eyes. "It's too damn dangerous," he said weakly.

"I know a family in Tsin Then. They will give me food.
You
can't enter the village. The villagers would be suspicious. No whites ever go there."

"I'll dump our friend in the closet Hell keep for a week. I'll take along that black costume you made. It may come in handy."

While Nick lugged the German to the closet, Lotus wrapped the costume and some food in packages and then changed into a black pajamalike outfit They went out the back way.

On Chow Din Avenue they came across an old Packard. Nick worked quickly. He lifted the hood, crossed some wires, and soon they were driving away. In the dashboard compartment Lotus found identification papers that belonged to the owner. He was a factory foreman.

"An ordinary worker usually can't afford a car," Lotus explained to Nick.

They left the city without being stopped, and Nick breathed a sigh of relief. They stopped to eat and then continued.

It was two in the morning when they came within sight of the village. Nick left the dirt road, drove through some foliage, and stopped near a tree. He didn't want to leave the car in open country. He cut the motor and got out.

"This family you mentioned — you re sure you can trust them?" he asked her.

She made a wry smile. "You can't trust anyone these days, not even your own family. I'll give them a story about taking a drive out here with some man. I'll ask them for some food and then I'll start talking about the laboratory. Maybe they'll tell me what we want to know."

"You're taking a chance," Nick told her. "You'll be playing it by ear, and that's no good."

"They may get suspicious," Lotus conceded. "Give me all your money."

Nick handed over all the yuan notes in his pockets.

"I'll pay them for the food. Even if they get suspicious they won't say anything. Not with all this money to keep them happy."

Nick watched her run off toward the village, then he stripped and put on the black costume. It was an hour before she returned.

She had chicken pies and rice wine, which they finished off first. Then she told Nick what she had learned. The laboratory was patrolled by Chinese guards. It was a three-house compound. The white-painted house was the laboratory and the other houses, drab in appearance, housed the guards and the technicians. The villagers didn't know what was going on. They always saw white-coated men but never the guards, enter the white house. That was how Lotus knew the white house was the laboratory. Some of the villagers worked in the compound cleaning and washing, but they weren't allowed in the house painted white.

"Listen, Lotus, you're sticking right here. And no use arguing with me." He gave her the pen and told her how it worked. "In case I'm caught, I don't want this to fall into their hands."

Lotus took the pen, put it away, and watched him walk away. He headed to the left of the village where the laboratory was located.

Lotus had no intention of staying in a safe place while Nick went out alone against a formidable enemy. She waited five minutes and then went out after him.

When Nick caught a glimpse of the compound he dropped to his hands and knees and then slowly flattened out and started crawling, snakelike, toward the three houses. There were no wire fences but there were tall plaster posts, which meant electric-eye beams.

He was in an open field and there wasn't much moonlight There were five guards circling the compound. They had rifles and hand guns. They walked in pairs except for one guard. They were within the circle of posts.

Nick had no way of killing the electric beams. He was stumped. Even if he had grenades, there wasn't much he could do with them. If he lobbed a few into the laboratory, he would do just so much damage. He had to blow the place sky-high. That meant explosives.

He started to move crablike to his left. He would circle the entire compound that way. Maybe an idea would hit him. Maybe the posts with the electric eyes didn't entirely circle the compound. It was something to do.

His foot brushed something, and it gave. He cursed silently and reached through the short grass. A wire.

There was a shout from within the compound. Then a guard ran out of one of the drab buildings, gesturing, shouting, running to the now-confused guards.

Nick could hear a ringing from the compound. A jeep lumbered from around a building, loaded with guards. A beam of light streaked from the top of a building and played about the open field.

Nick had the Astra Firecat in his hand. He took careful aim, and the bullet shattered the searchlight.

The guards started firing wildly, aiming at the direction the shot had come from. The jeep had left the compound, its wheels digging in the dirt. Nick aimed at the driver and squeezed the trigger. There was a yelp, and the guard folded. The jeep overturned, pinning two guards under its weight The other guards flattened themselves out against the ground, their rifles barking.

Bullets kicked up dirt near Nick's head. He retreated wisely. Another beam of light tunneled through the night and played along the field a few yards in back of him. There was firing from his left.

The guards from the compound had outflanked him while he had been shooting it out with the guards in the jeep.

He looked to his right. Two guards were coming toward him. He kept moving back, hoping the beam of light wouldn't find him.

A guard was running toward him, a rifle at his shoulder. Nick shot him dead.

Suddenly the air was filled with crisp Chinese words. Someone in the compound was using a bullhorn. The guards were being ordered to capture the invader alive.

All rifle fire stopped.

Nick shifted his body so that he was facing to his left He saw two guards rising from their prone position. They started running toward him. Nick emptied what was left in the chamber, and both guards died on their feet.

He was reloading the clip when the light caught him. He cursed and dived into darkness. He heard feet hitting the ground, and a rifle butt caught him at the side of his head. He turned over, started to rise, and felt another blow at the back of his neck. He went down. A dark pool opened up and he dived into it. He was falling, falling… down a bottomless pit….

In the distance, hidden in the shadows, Lotus watched breathlessly as the guards carried Nick away. The beam of light caught the guards and Nick and followed the contingent to the compound.

Lotus moved in the dark on hands and knees and came across the body of one of the dead guards. He had been shot in the head. She quickly took off her outer clothes and put on the dead man's uniform. She hid the pen Nick had given her in the breast pocket of the jacket and picked up the dead man's rifle.

Her hair was hidden under the peaked cap. She prayed silently as she walked to the compound. There were soldiers milling about She blended with the crowd and listened to the chatter. She learned that the foreign devil had been taken to the white building.

Walther Kerner was fifty-one; he was a stocky man with a full crop of dark brown hair. His eyes were slate gray, and his nose was thick over bulbous lips. He had on an undershirt and a pair of pants. His feet were encased in bedroom slippers. He was tired, grumpy, and annoyed. He wanted to go back to sleep, but there were important matters to settle.

He was standing in a small, bare room, and on either side of him was a Chinese guard. In the center of the room, sitting on the only chair, was Nick Carter. He had on a pair of shorts and nothing else. His costume had been taken from him and a pail of water had been used to bring him to. Then he had been taken to this room to await Walther Kerner.

Kerner and Nick stared at each other, measuring each other like two fighters before the first round.

"Are you English?" Kerner finally asked.

"Does it matter?" Nick asked softly.

Kerner cocked his head. "An American. Well, well. Don't you know Americans aren't allowed in Red China? You've broken the law, Mr…uh…"

"Smith."

"Oh, yes? Smith, did you say? A very unusual name." Kerner advanced toward Nick and then suddenly shot his fist out, catching Nick on the side of his face. Nick toppled off the chair, hit the hard floor. He pushed the floor away from him and got to his feet.

"You may sit down again," Kerner said generously. "You've killed six of my men. You've come from nowhere to spy on me. And to make matters worse, you've interrupted my sleep."

"I'm sorry about the last."

"I try to keep my humor but it is hard. You will please tell me who you are and why you're here."

"What would you say if I told you I'm Peter Pan and I'm looking for never-never land?" Nick asked glibly.

"You realize, of course, that I have no choice but to kill you," Kerner said, all levity gone from his voice. "How you die depends upon you. It can be quick with but a minimum of pain or…" Kerner shrugged his shoulders. "You understand my meaning?"

"I get the general picture»

"Are you CIA?"

"Look," Nick said, "what's the difference? I lost out It can't matter to you…"

Kerner used his fist again, and Nick found himself on the floor. It was an unexpected blow. He hadn't seen it coming and hadn't rolled with the punch. He hoped he hadn't lost a tooth.

"You will please get up," Kerner said, almost gently.

"What for?" Nick said. "You'll only knock me down again. Besides, I'm quite comfortable down here."

Kerner motioned to one of the guards, who started to kick Nick viciously in the shins. Nick scrambled to his feet.

"Sit down," Kerner said.

Nick said, his voice thick with emotion, "You'd better kill me now. You won't get a damn thing out of me." He sat down on the cold metal chair.

"I could always torture you," Kerner said grimly. "But time is running short." He pretended to yawn. "And I do need my sleep. Yes, Mr. Smith, if that's your name, you will die immediately."

The door behind Kerner opened and a beautiful Chinese girl in a quilted robe walked in. She was tall for a Chinese girl. Her hair was raven-black and her face was hauntingly beautiful.

Kerner turned and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. "I'm almost finished with this man, my dear. I'll join you presently."

But the girl was not to be put off. "Did you find out who he is?"

"No." Kerner frowned. "And it doesn't matter. I'm going to have him shot right now."

The girl surveyed Nick's half-naked body. "It would be a waste."

"Now, Sim Chan, let me handle this " Kerner put an arm around her waist and tried to lead her out of the room.

"I'm not a child," Sim Chan said, refusing to budge. She removed Kerner's arm from about her waist.

"This doesn't concern you," Kerner said angrily.

"This man killed six of my people," Sim Chan said hotly. "And you want to give him a quick death!"

Kerner glanced at Nick. "You want him tortured?"

"Better than that," Sim Chan said. "Let us use Agent Z on him."

Nick stiffened. A cold shiver shot up his spine.

The idea seemed to delight Walther Kerner. The scientist beamed. "Yes, why not? I'm sure the drug is perfected. And we need a human being to experiment on."

Nick jumped to his feet "You'll never use that drug on me." He rushed Kerner. One of the guards slammed his rifle against Nick's chest.

Sim Chan watched the American fold and fall heavily to the floor.

"Let us get everything ready," Kerner said, and they left the room, leaving Nick alone. One of the guards locked the door and stood with his back to it as Kerner and Sim Chan walked down the corridor to the laboratory. The second guard said he was going to get some tea and took off.