— Chapter Four —
The room fell silent as the distorted face on the TV. Monitor started to give out information. A few military officials, the police chief, Pon, Taksin, Spock and Stu watched bewildered as photographs and newspaper clippings that they’d already obtained from the envelope were repeated on the screen, this time with commentary and a lot more information.
They all glared with interest as the blurred faded out face and the digitally transformed voice that sounded like a Darlek continued to speak.
“We have in our possession, Mrs. Kim Meesilli. For the time being, she is safe. She will remain unharmed, so long as you follow these instructions” then an enlarged picture of the jewelled box showed on the screen.
“This is what we require for the exchange of our hostage” Pon’s skin crawled when they mentioned the word hostage.
“We want possession of this relic and”, the voice continued as the picture on the screen changed.
“These three men brought to justice”
A newspaper clipping was now on the screen, which showed Spock, Stu and Pon receiving thanks from Taksin and palace officials for recovering the relic for the first time.
The screen changed again and the voice continued.
“For the brutal, cold blooded murder of Mr. Abdul Bhunto and subsequent murder and unknown deposal of the body of Mr. Andrew Towhee. The screen showed a photograph of a smiling Abdul, and a separate photo of Towhee.
“We understand,” continued the voice “our other people involved” The screen then showed a still picture of Dam and Miguel taken from the web cam in the dolphin hotel. “Are possibly dead and had been double crossed.” The voice went on.
“The item we require had already been paid for and now must be handed over to its rightful owners”
The voice then went on to give instructions about where and when the exchange would occur, along with whom should deliver it and their instructions. This carried on in detail for another 30 minutes and finished with a chilling warning.
“You have offended a son of Islam, and any infidel life we take in this quest to achieve our goal is of no consequence to us, however, we will be honourable if our requests are fully carried out.”
The screen then showed the violent scenes taken from the webcam many years ago, which showed Abdul, with the voices of Miguel and Dam calmly doing business with the relic, and then cut to the part with shouting, screaming and ended with Abduls scalp being cut off, although unseen who the killer had been as the action had taken place behind the laptop. Gunshots were heard and the last piece of footage showed Abdul leant back in a chair, dead, with blood splatters on the camera and somebody’s hand grabbing the relic off the desk in front of him. The screen then showed again, the pictures of Towhee and Abdul, along with Arabic music and chants of Allah is great, which then faded, leaving an uneasy silence in the room.
Two confused Englishmen looked over towards Pon, who acknowledged the look and said,
“I will explain later my friends, but their information is incorrect. They must have assumed that it was us three who had stolen the relic all those years ago. I am baffled, why now, and how had they found their information, especially about Kim?”
Spock just shrugged and thought.
‘Who were these people and what has Pon been keeping secret for all these years?’
He wasn’t angry, after all he and Stu had also been keeping a little secret from them all.
Stu just cursed “that f**king box” under his breath.
Pon went and stood by a window, confused and desperate he pondered,
“Do I give up my faith and position to hand over the most treasured symbol of my faith, King and country, and can I put my best friend’s lives in jeopardy to save the single most important thing in my, and my son’s life. Or just refuse their demands and let fate decide the outcome?”
He thought there must be an alternative. Even though the recording had been very specific on the instructions, he felt sure that with Taksin’s help they could come up with a plan and change the game to their favour. The recording gave a time period of two days hence along with the location of the exchange. However Pon knew that they needed to gain more time to attempt a rescue. He realised listening to the recording that if they played to their rules, both he, Spock and Stu would be murdered. He assumed that had been the, ‘brought to justice’ that the recording intimated. Pon’s thoughts turned to Kim and what she must be going through, he knew she wouldn’t want him to throw his life away, but how could he look Samnan in the face later in life and tell him his mother had been killed, but maybe he could’ve prevented it.
Taksin interrupted Pons thoughts
“What are your instructions Prime Master?”
Pon turned to face Taksin and said
“I don’t know my friend, there appears no way to contact them, we need more time to think and plan. I think all we can do is pray and ask Buddha for help and advice.”
Buddha must have been listening as Pon’s mobile rang, it was Thran.
The room again went silent as Pon spoke to Thran.
The conversation lasted for fifteen minutes however, over the last few minutes of their dialogue, Pon had a wry smile. He finished the conversation and addressed everyone, who stood agog awaiting the news.
“Firstly” said Pon, “My wife is safe and unharmed, they let Thran speak to her via their sat phone.”
Pon then went on to say they had demanded complete compliance and would send one of their men to Thran’s home to ensure this. Although. Thran would be their connection; this man would be their liaison and monitor the situation. The kidnappers had informed Thran the system they had put in place to monitor this had been scrupulously planned, and any deviation from the instructions would result in Kim being killed.”
Thran informed Pon that the kidnapper’s agent would arrive at his house later that day, so all investigations would have to be carried out from Thailand, which Thran would hurry to authorise. He told Pon that any relevant information he would transmit to the Thai operations centre.
Pon then told those gathered of the good news relayed by Thran. The Sat phone they had used to communicate with was a new piece of secret hard-wear developed by the U.S. It was untraceable, according to the U.S military and it is impossible to triangulate a fix. However, the Chinese already have the technology and they stated that although it was difficult to trace, it was possible. Thran got both superpowers on a race to prove their claims. The Chinese had to move a few satellites into low earth orbit, but were eager to help and confident they would be able to assist. Thran arranged for the Chinese to contact Thailand if they succeeded.
Thran told Pon that he’d investigated the Englishman who had contacted him and, whose voice he’d recognised, but there were no files on any FBI or Interpol database to discover his identity from the name the man had previously used to Thran. This had baffled one FBI computer programmer, who stated he’d found ghost files with the name but nothing else, so it appeared as if the files had been deleted.
Pon repeated the last part of the conversation with Thran, who warned that they dealt with a tenacious, dangerous and motivated group, who appeared to be well funded and possessed all the latest high tech equipment.
After Pon had related the information gleaned from Thran, everyone in the room started to formulate plans. Stu and Spock, who had not quite grasped the severity of the situation, planned their beer stops along the way.
Pon spoke to Taksin.
“We need more time and more information,” Pon knew that any workable plan would come from Taksin’s analytical mind.
“I know Pon, but they seemed to have planned this extremely well”
Taksin thought for a moment, and suddenly had a ‘House’ moment.
In the T.V series when Dr House gets a flash diagnosis five minutes before the show finishes, having spent most of the episode faffing [messing] around discussing Lisa Cuddy’s menstrual cycle, then abruptly announces that it’s not an infection and administers the patient drugs that miraculously cures them and they bugger off home.
Taksin told Pon,
“I think I can buy us more time” and continued “If I’m successful then we just need to plan how to get you, Spock and Stu to their arranged point before their appointed time and attempt a rescue. That way if things go wrong, you will be already at the location and carry out their instructions. The kidnappers need be none the wiser”
Pon thought and said
“We don’t have the information of the whereabouts of Kim, only where we have to meet their agent placed with Thran’s”
“I agree,” said Taksin “but I hope we have that information soon.”
“This is a dangerous situation. I don’t want to put my friends into a harmful situation, they are innocent and oblivious to what happened before,” said a concerned Pon
Taksin spelt out his options. If they were to make the exchange, then he, Stu and Spock would almost certainly be killed. If they did nothing, Kim would be murdered. It appeared they had only one alternative, attempt a rescue.
“You have done it twice before, Prime Master,” Taksin reminded him
Pon looked over at Spock and Stu who were trying to chat up two women customs officers in the corner of the room, who had just brought them in some bottle’s of Singha beer.
The sight of his two English friends being their normal selves, gave Pon a feeling of well-being, he could think of nobody better to have by his side again, and no one he would protect more.
“Let’s formulate a plan and decide,” said Pon
“Ok” said Taksin, now noticing a gleam in Pons eyes, a look he hadn’t seen for a long time, the look of the Tinju warrior.
Taksin, Pon, Stu and Spock sat in the limo and headed back to the palace and Taksin’s operation centre. They had maps and information about Vietnam, which had been transferred to the computers situated in the operations centre at the airport by Thran. Taksin and Pon sifted through the paperwork, examining documents and maps. They spoke in Thai, as it was easier for them at this stage, they didn’t need Spock and Stu to be fully aware about what was happening.
“What’s up buggerlugs, you’re quiet?” enquired Spock as he noticed Stu looking a bit sullen.
“I’ve been trying to call Dao all day but her phone has been off, and she only turned off her phone when she goes to see her son, because she told me there was no signal in her village. . . . She never mentioned that she was going”
Spock, seeing his mate confused and unhappy, phoned Moo
“Hello goyt-head,”
Stu heard Moo mumble.
“Where’s Dao?” enquired Spock
Another mumble
“Why don’t you know?” asked Spock
The conversation went on for about five minutes then Spock hung up.
Spock relayed the message from Moo. Dao had gone out, but she didn’t know where” Spock reassured Stu.
“Maybe she’s got a problem with her phone matey”
“That’s strange, those two are usually joined at the hip,” said Stu
“I wouldn’t worry mate, it is probably nothing” said Spock, but the way Moo sounded, Spock knew that she hid something.
“Yeah, you’re right, let’s do some more research for our adventure” said Stu and picked two small books from the pile, Vietnamese pub guides, and started to study them.
Pon and Taksin scrutinised the maps.
“How long had it been before Thran set up his initial road blocks?” asked Taksin,
“It would have been roughly three hours after I called him to inform him that Kim didn’t board the flight, about 3:30.” answered Pon
“So they’d had around three hours to make a getaway, so assuming they could have done around 150-200 kilometres in that time, that was a fairly wide area to cover,” said Taksin as he circled a section on the map to denote the area. He thought for a moment about how intelligent and organised their adversaries had been so far. He looked further down the map, and then back to his markings. He pointed to an area on the map that he noticed with interest and showed Pon.
Just outside Hai Phon town Taksin pointed to a small marked, Airstrip, and said to Pon
“They would want to be in Vietnam as inconspicuous and untraceable as possible and, with the money and resources at their disposal, they probably flew into Vietnam at this airfield, less than 100km away from Hanoi airport”
Taksin dialled a number and gave instructions to one of his staff to obtain any information relevant available on his theory .He and Pon started to formulate a plan.
Stu and Spock noticed the pair no longer studied the maps. Stu leaned over and asked Pon about the men on the photograph and what did they all have to do with it.
For the next fifteen minutes, until they arrived back at Taksin’s operation centre, Pon gave them some of the details. Spock and Stu found some of it unbelievable, they had known Pon for many years and knew about him being a monk and bodyguard, but not an assassin, and although a little shocked, this revelation put them surprisingly at ease, as they knew this was going to be dangerous and could cost them less time in a bar.
Pons mobile rang, just as they pulled up at the operations centre, it was from Thran’s number. Pon was about to answer when Taksin stopped him, Taksin took the phone and answered. An unfamiliar voice said.
“Are you Pon?”
“I am,” said Taksin “and who are you?”
The voice ignored the question and told Taksin that he was monitoring everything so make sure they follow the instructions. Taksin told the voice, that they were now at the palace for an audience with the King to get permission to take the relic.
The voice then hung up after giving Taksin several more warnings and insults.
“That’s one good start at least. He now believes that I am you, so we have a window of opportunity, but only a day and a half to fill it. I need to buy us more time,” said Taksin.
“Not much time for bar-crawling matey” muttered Spock to Stu, who was again trying to call Dao. The four went inside Taksin’s building.
Taksin’s office, now the main control centre was alive with activity as people spoke on phones. Large maps of Cambodia and Vietnam were plastered on the walls. Satellite photos, information on people, places and equipment were strewn about.
A man approached Taksin and handed him several copies of transcripts between a man at Air traffic control in Hanoi and a supervisor at the small airstrip. Taksin showed the information to Pon who nodded. He phoned a number that Thran had sent him.
The room went silent as Pon relayed some new information to the gathered team.
He spoke in Thai, so Stu and Spock decided to hunt out the canteen and source some beer stocks. Pon could fill them in with the details later.
Taksin started to reveal the findings and went over to the enlarged map of Vietnam hung on the wall and spoke.
“A helicopter took off from this airstrip,” he pointed to the airstrip on the map. “A small 6 seat Bell 206L-1 aircraft call sign Wl342B at 3:27pm.This is well within the correct time frame to Drive from Hanoi airport to this point. The aircraft had registered a flight plan to Tan Son Nhat international airport Ho Chi Mihn city. The flight log registered 2 persons on board, but the airport supervisor reported seeing at least five people inside the chopper”.
Taksin continued
“The helicopter pilot then reported smelling smoke at 4:45 and stated he’d found a clearing for an emergency landing, here” Taksin again pointed to the map, marked the area with a felt pen and went on to inform them
“The aircraft landed for twenty minutes then took off again, reporting a false alarm and it landed at Ho chi mihn airport at 6:05pm, where two people, the pilot and Co-pilot, logged in.
The ground authorities at Ho Chi Minh investigated the helicopter which they found out, had never been registered It was apparently an import, which according to the phoney paperwork they’d received, it had been undergoing trials. The pilots must have also had false papers, they quickly disappeared. Now the police departments are investigating the helicopter to see if any evidence can be found that the abductors and Kim were on board”.
He paused and then announced
“We will concentrate our search in this area” again pointing at the map and the area Taksin had circled.
“That appears to be the side of dense rain-forest” shouted one of aids
“We are aware of that” said Taksin “and the nearest township is miles away and heavily policed, so here would be a perfect place to hide” He tapped his finger on a landmark within the area and continued.
“If we’re correct we have a 75 square mile area to search”
A man went up to Taksin and handed him a copy of a satellite image of the area from three months prior. Taksin studied the image against the up to date image and continued, “The rain-forest appears to have grown overnight, so I think that this is the correct position, but unfortunately that will still only give us a day to get there.” Taksin rubbed his forehead with frustration and thought. It was too far, there was too vast an area to cover, and Pon, Stu and Spock had fly to Hanoi to meet with their man at Hanoi airport as instructed with the relic the following day, therefore without more time it would be impossible for Pon to attempt any rescue.’
It would be difficult mobilise the Vietnamese military as the movements had to be directed through Thran as commanded by the kidnappers who would be monitoring their movements. They couldn’t send in the Thai army, again too indiscreet and the abductors would find out.
Disheartened, Taksin looked at Pon; suddenly he had an idea and a glimmer of hope.
“You can be in two places at once now they believe I’m you, but for you to attempt any rescue we will need a lot more time.”
Taksin ordered silence in the room, took Pon’s phone and said
“It’s a long shot, so here goes nothing”
He dialled Thran’s number and placed the phone on speaker phone
The voice answered
“Have you kept to your schedule?”
“No” said Taksin and continued, “The royals refused the request as the relic is not theirs to decide, it belongs to the people”
“You’re wife will be dead within the hour” said the cold uncaring voice
“No wait!” yelled Taksin “I can get the relic for you, but I will have to steal it and you know I am in the best position to do this, but I will need more time to set things up”
The voice paused for a few seconds and then said
“How much more time?”
“At least another five days” said Taksin “I will have to plan the robbery, escape from the palace and Thailand, and then get to Vietnam. It will take a lot of favours and involve a few close friends but I need at least five days,” pleaded Taksin who fakes remorse “I can never return, so if I do this terrible thing you will have destroyed my life,” There was a momentary pause.
“Wait!” ordered the voice and hung up
“He’ll be contacting his boss, I think,” speculated Taksin
The room was silent with anticipation for the next twenty minutes and then the phone rang
“Hello” said Taksin
“Be in Hanoi as directed on the sixth, same time, same place and I will be contacting you every day. . . . And remember, we can always trace you,” said the voice, who abruptly hung up
A sigh of relief echoed around the room. Now they had five days in total to plan and complete a mission, which they still felt would not be a lot of time but they could to try and Taksin could keep in contact with the kidnappers and everything could be monitored and any problems overcome. This had been the break that they needed. Taksin looked at Pon.
“Now my friend, we can instigate a rescue.”
They would require the help of another friend and family member. Pon called Brigadier Lee Tangh, Kim’s uncle in Cambodia who had already been made aware of Kim’s abduction and desperately wanted to help.
Taksin and his aides continued to formulate plans. Pon had a discussion on the telephone with Lee.
Stu and Spock where chilling out in the canteen enjoying some cold beer and snacks They filled some bags with Singha cans for the journey ahead.
A young woman came into the centre and handed Taksin a sheet of paper. Taksin looked, smiled, and asked for everyone’s attention:
“This is from The China National Space Administration [CNSA]” said Taksin “they have just picked up a trace from the Untraceable. American sat phone by using a satellite they pushed down into earth’s lowest orbit, which gave a triangulated position for here, which confirmed our suspicions”
He pointed to the area on the map.
“We now have a search area of 2kms. . . I bet the Americans are really pissed off,” he continued
“That’s the location confirmed, so now let’s use the time to plan well”
“But it will take days, just to cover that jungle terrain” remarked an old Thai colonel”
“Not necessarily” said Taksin and produced a large laminated sheet of paper. A tourist guide.
It had been a long day, Stu and Spock snoozed in the conference suite. Pon came in and told them they would all be departing soon, so they should pack.
The first part of the plan needed to be launched from Lee’s estate in Cambodia where they were to meet up with five of his elite commandos, who were highly trained in jungle warfare, and would assist them once they’d entered Vietnam.
Stu, Pon and Spock met up in Taksin’s office. Pon and Taksin waited on a delivery. Stu was still unsuccessfully trying to call Dao, and Spock was picking his nose and watching a military Bell 412 helicopter land in the courtyard outside.
A woman entered with two armed guards stood either side of her. She bowed and handed Pon a small parcel, bowed again and left the room. Pon put the parcel in his old cloth bag along with the other items he would be using.
“The last resort” said Pon smiling at everyone as he puts the small parcel into his bag.
Ten minutes later one depressed looking Englishman, One stupid looking, large Englishman, holding a hat firmly on his head to avoid the rotor wash, and one small Thai, Elvis impersonator holding onto his mullet, boarded the helicopter.
The chopper took off in a Southerly direction, and entering Cambodia, flew towards Sihanoukville for their rendezvous with Lee.
The lads had fun in the helicopter and, because it flew low the entire way, they could see the lights of towns and cities. The lads thought it looked like different coloured land-stars glittering beneath the night sky. They noticed people going about their lives like ant colonies it was fun and amazing for Spock and Stu to witness. As they flew closer to their destination, the aircrew member let them sit in the open section at the side.
The helicopter came in for circuit and a final approach towards Lee’s estate, Spock and Stu were sat in the doorway having a whale of a time with the aircrew and dangled their legs over the side whilst happily singing away about drunken English sailor song, while they sploshed their cans of beer around. They felt on top of the world.
The pilot issued an order to the aircrew, who assumed the two passengers spoke Thai, and passed on the instructions.
“What did he say?” said Spock
The aircraft banked sharply to the right, jolted the two lads who had to grasp for a handhold.
“That was close,” said Stu as a crewmember grabbed him and pulled him fully inside.
“I dropped my beer” grumbled Spock as he pulled himself inside, hung on and peered over the side edge of the helicopter.
“There are some houses below. I hope I never hit anyone.” He said
The helicopter landed on Lees large halogen lit lawn, and the passengers disembarked, ducked under the slowing rotors and went over to be greeted by a serious looking Lee and five even more serious looking Special Forces, Airborne 911 Cambodian commandos wearing black uniform, with QBZ-95 Bullpup assault rifles slung on their shoulders.
****
Nick had been having a great few years. His life had taken on a blissfulness he had only ever dreamed about. He now spent almost all his time in Sihanoukville, and only returned to the U.K. when he had a few weeks of guaranteed work lined up to make some big bucks. He lived cheaply in Cambodia with his wife Shanti. They had married the year before and every day to Nick seemed like a honeymoon. He occasionally worked in the Kangaroo Kitchen restaurant/bar and did some odd jobs around town to fill his time and subsidise his income. Shanti still worked at the Snake house and they had rented a cheap house, close to the beach.
He had not had a calamity for many years, which was proof in his mind that Spock and Stu were his nemeses.
.He sat on his roof terrace and looked out to sea at the small lights of the fishing fleet in the distance. ‘Life was great’ he thought as he reflected on his happy existence.
This was Nick’s favourite spot, especially at night. He spent hour’s just sitting, thinking and drinking beer until Shanti arrived home from work around 10pm.
For some unexplained reason he felt as if that night seemed different. Nick noticed a bright light on the horizon, which appeared to be heading towards him at great speed, and then he heard the sound of rotors.
‘That’s weird’ he thought, ‘you don’t get many helicopters flying over here and I’ve never seen one at night before”
Nick smiled as the helicopter came closer becoming lower, and banked as it started to descend. Nick watched as the chopper flew low overhead.
He looked up and a half-empty can of Singha beer struck him on his head knocking him unconscious and a nasty gash on the side of his head.
****
The party went inside Lee’s large study where plans and computers showing terrain had been laid out on a large table .Pon, Lee and the commando’s went over to study information. Spock and Stu squeezed their way in.
The conversation took place in Cambodian so Stu and Spock didn’t have a clue what was going on. Lee noticed the two lads looking bored. Lee had met several times before and spoke to Pon, who nodded and said to the lads
“We are planning our way to the destination, therefore it’s not important for you to be here, and I will give you the details later. Lee has put his driver and S.U.V at your disposal”
Pon pointed through the window at an oncoming car heading down the large driveway towards them and said
“Why don’t you go out?”
Pon then went back to studying the maps.
“Oh, and don’t be late, we...”
He looked up and discovered he now spoke to thin air, as the lads had already legged it out of the study and running towards the vehicle.
“....have early starts” Pon finished his sentence
“Spock moves fast for a big lad,” chuckled Lee.
Laughter flushed through the room, which broke the tension and gave them all a glimmer of hope.