The China Doll (KM 002) by Nick Carter

Author:Nick Carter [Carter, Nick]
Format: epub
Published: 2011-09-16T17:47:41+00:00

It took a week to get ready for the move toward the Forbidden City. Transportation, disguises and supplies had to be prepared. Nick performed a small cosmetic operation on himself and managed to cover the axe symbol so successfully that only the most prying eyes could possibly discover it. Detailed reports were on their way to Washington via the Tokyo drop. Julie Baron, in Peking, would soon be getting a message describing the location of the Forbidden City and the nature of the operation. Brief radio reports had already been given to Hawk. Then the radio had been safely stored away.

Once again the MG made a night-time trip through downtown Tokyo. Stopping two blocks from the waterfront edge, Comrade turned the car over to a man in the worn clothes of a dock laborer. The two agents walked the rest of the way to a barnacle-limned pier with dripping, green-encrusted legs revealed by the low tide of evening.

The waterfront area was clogged. Moorings were literally choked with junks, sampans, fishing smacks and streamlined motor vessels. Nick and Comrade headed for a tiny motorboat moored in the very heart of the clutter. Bland-faced Japanese boatmen eyed them casually.

Nick stepped lightly onto the boat. Comrade followed with the air of a man who knows little about boats and cares less. But this roundabout method of travel had been carefully planned and agreed upon.

The motorboat had a forward covering that housed the steering wheel. Nick started the engine while Comrade cast off the line. Nick throttled. A strong backwash chugged powerfully at the stern.

Nick eased from the pier and cut around sharply to find an opening in the clog of water traffic. Comrade was peering into a wooden chest in the stern.

“Everything there?” Nick’s tall form stood like a statue at the helm.

“Yes, everything,” Comrade’s voice came back.

“Fine.”

Nick eased the motorboat through a scattering of sampans and picked up speed.

Shanghai first. Pick up supplies from a cache arranged by Comrade. Then over the mainland to Peking—with nothing to help them but luck and their own built-in cunning. Good thing they didn’t have to make the entire thousand-mile sea voyage in this put-putter. It was speedy for its size, but inadequate for long, hazardous journeys.

The shore faded behind them and the modern outline of Tokyo was lost in a mist that sifted down over the towers of the city. For some time, neither Nick nor Comrade spoke. At last, when the coastline was a disant sprinkling of pinhead lights, Nick glanced at the radium dial of his watch and cut the motor sharply.

“Okay, Comrade. Time for us to disappear.”

Comrade nodded and opened the hinged lid of the wooden chest. With an expression of some distaste, he lifted out the contents.

“Regrettably, they are somewhat old and smelly, friend. But I had a hard time getting them, so I suppose we cannot complain.”

“As long as they’re authentic,” said Nick, steadying the wheel. “You’re positive they are?”

“As sure as any man can be. Their … uh … personality vouches for them, I should say.

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