Lethal Circuit by Guignard Lars

Author:Guignard, Lars [Guignard, Lars]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Science, spy, Travel, Asia, China, Technothriller, Technology, Energy, (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
Publisher: Fantastic Press
Published: 2011-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

28

A QUICK GLANCE at Michael’s wrist-top GPS revealed Yangkok to be a remote village about fifteen miles into the mountains. There was little detail of the area on the LCD map underscoring the fact that Yangkok was known more for its complete lack of interest to the outside world than anything else. It was of interest now however, that much was certain. First things first. Both Michael and Kate agreed that the encoding machine was too valuable to leave on the rooftop. Fortunately, it fit nicely in Michael’s daypack. After reassembling the capsule and returning it to its hiding place, the next order of business was to contact Ted. Kate was indifferent to the idea, but at Michael’s insistence they stopped by the Yangshuo Hotel to find him. Ted, however, was nowhere to be found. Agreeing to put Ted aside for the moment, they concentrated on getting to Yangkok.

A survey of the local buses confirmed that there was no road connecting Yangshuo with the isolated village. That meant they’d have to walk, or potentially take a bicycle, but both those options would be slow. Still, if the paths they had traveled the day before were any indication of terrain, there wasn’t much room for anything else. Michael looked up and down the block where West Street met the main road. The teashops and auto repair shanties alongside the highway were just coming to life and Michael noticed something he’d missed a moment earlier — a row of men lined up further down the hill.

What caught Michael’s interest wasn’t the men per se, but what they held in their hands. Helmets. Michael quickened his pace down the grade to see that each of the men was seated on a mid-sized motorcycle, a yellow placard embossed with a number sticking up from their front fenders. The placards gave it away. These men were motorcycle cabbies awaiting their fares. And as with any cabbie, all that was left was the negotiation.

Michael’s proposal was simple. Instead of a ride about town, he wanted to rent one of their motorcycles for the day. If Michael was to be honest, he had to admit that the idea was crazy. Go to Manhattan and try to rent a yellow cab for the day. But Michael knew they needed the extra flexibility that their own transportation would provide. So, with Kate’s help translating, he tried his luck. As it was, after the predictable laughter followed by stunned silence, there was a motorcycle cabbie who looked like he might just need the money enough to be convinced. It was in this way that after a circuitous driving test, followed by several hundred yuan notes and a thousand assurances that they would be back before sunset, Michael and Kate found themselves the proud lessees of a beat up 250cc motorcycle.

The morning had progressed and leaving Yangshuo turned out to be busier than Michael anticipated. They were forced to share the road with diesel belching trucks and tractors, but once they turned onto a secondary road a few miles from town, things quieted down dramatically.

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