Nighthawk (NUMA Files 14)

She gave him a bottle of Voss.

“Urco must trust you a great deal to send you alone for millions of dollars in diamonds. What will you do with them? And by that I mean what will he do with them since, obviously, you’ll deliver the package to him without keeping any for yourself?”

The questions flowed from a combination of boredom and training. It was part of her instinct to divide slaves from their masters.

He stood and glared at her.

She stared back, unflinching, and he decided to take a walk down the carpeted aisle. He stopped and looked out through one window, then went to the other side of the plane and looked out another.

Daiyu didn’t need to look; he would see nothing but darkness out there.

“How far have we gone?” he asked.

“More than halfway. You should sleep. It will pass the time faster.”

“No,” he grunted.

“Suit yourself.”

The intercom buzzed. “Daiyu, please come to the cockpit. General Zhang wishes to speak with you.”

She walked forward, passing Vargas and ignoring his stare.

She entered the cockpit and noticed they were continuing to turn, veering to a more northerly course still. She took a headset from Lieutenant Wu.

“Daiyu,” General Zhang said. “I must congratulate you for the progress of your mission. You’ve made me proud.”

He sounded very dour for a man offering congratulations. “Thank you, General, but as you know it is not necessary,” she said. “I do as I’m ordered for the nation. It is my mother and father, as you taught me.”

“Yes,” Zhang said. “And through no fault of yours, it is now in danger.”

He went on to explain what he had learned from the Americans. Twice she asked him if he was certain. Twice he admitted he could not be sure the Americans were telling the truth, but he saw no reason for them to lie.

“Our engineers have studied the problem,” he added. “They’ve found no way to use the aircraft’s electrical system to keep the containment unit safely powered. The voltage and current do not match. You’ll have to remove the explosives from the fuel cell without damaging it.”

“And then?”

“Eject them from the aircraft.”

That was easier said than done, but if they depressurized the cabin, it could be accomplished.

“There may be a problem,” she admitted. “Urco’s courier. It’s possible he knows of the plan. He seems very grim. Perhaps contemplating what lies ahead.”

“Martyrs usually are,” Zhang said. “Dispose of him first. We cannot risk any interference.”

“It will be taken care of,” she said.

Zhang signed off. Lieutenant Wu took the headset back and offered her his sidearm.

She shook her head. “Give me your knife.”

With the knife hidden in her sleeve, Daiyu opened the door. Vargas was standing right there.

He lunged first, grabbing her with both hands, lifting her off the floor and throwing her down the aisle.

She landed, sprang back to her feet and rushed back to the cockpit.

Vargas had already plowed forward into the cramped space. He was throwing punches and slamming heads against the wall. With a downward swing of his huge right arm, he clubbed Lieutenant Wu to the ground and then broke his back with a stomp of an oversized foot.