CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER
THE NEXT MORNING THEY WERE summoned to a room where Steers stood in front of a laptop with a projection screen hanging on the wall behind it. She motioned them to chairs.
“I am now going to explain the logistics of the mission to you.”
She picked up a remote and clicked a button. An image appeared on the screen: It was video of a prison complex seen from an overhead shot.
“This is the facility where my mother is being held. It is roughly halfway between the towns of Katha and Bhamo, the latter of which is only forty miles from the Chinese border. Katha is in the Sagaing Region, while Bhamo is located in the Kachin State. Both towns lie along the Irrawaddy River.”
“Who operates the prison?” asked Nash, his eyes on the double security fences, concrete block walls, armed sentries, and guard dogs set against a flattened landscape with absolutely no cover.
“I told you before that that is irrelevant,” Steers said severely.
“Okay, how do we get there?” asked Nash.
“As is obvious, you must first get into the country. Once inside, travel for foreigners is. . .difficult, as I mentioned before.”
Steers hit the remote and another screen appeared; she pointed to a spot on it.
“Myanmar is bordered on the northeast by China, but it shares a border on the northwest with India and Bangladesh.” She glanced at Temple.
“Which answers your confusion about only China being to the north of Myanmar. There are two official border crossings through India that are open and do not require permits for foreign travelers.” She tapped two spots on the screen.
“Tamu and Moreh there, and Rikhawdar and Zokhawthar to the south, there. Moreh is considered the gateway to Southeast Asia and is the main point of exporting goods from India to Myanmar. You would traverse the Friendship Bridge at that point.”
“But we don’t want to enter at an official border crossing, do we?” asked Nash.
She glanced at him again, her expression unreadable. “No. Besides other problems, you receive only a day pass and must return by four thirty. Thus, neither Moreh nor the other location will work.”
She clicked the remote and another picture came up.
“Now, 120 kilometers inside the Myanmar border from India is a place called Shingbwiyang. During the Second World War it was located within the China Burma India Theater, and consequently an airbase and runway were built here.” She placed her finger on this spot.
“It is lightly populated. You will fly from here to India to a location near the border with Myanmar.
And then you will travel from India to Shingbwiyang, where the runway, with my secret funding, has been recently upgraded to accept a small private jet.
The junta allows me to fly into this airspace for my ‘business.’ However, this time they will not know what my business is.
“You will be met there by two men whom you will stay with overnight. They will then drive you to a second location, where you will be met by three people. Their names are Thura, Zeya, and Amrita. Your initial destination is Myitkyina. Roads and trains are not really viable at the current time, too many checkpoints and other issues. And there are no flights available that will work.”
“So how do we do it?” asked Nash.
She turned back to the screen and indicated a route with a laser pointer.
“You will go overland across very rugged terrain along this path. Your guides are experienced with the lay of the land and will deal with the people that you may encounter. This part will take several days via dirt bikes, horseback, and walking.”
“Horseback?” exclaimed Nash.
“You do not ride?” she said, a touch of amusement in her expression.
“No, I never have.”
“The guides will give you all the help you require.” She looked at Temple. “And you?”
“I can ride.” He looked at Nash. “I was on the polo team at the country club college my old man got me into.”
“Of course you were,” said Nash dryly.
Steers said, “The guides will get you to Myitkyina, where you will hold meetings with local businessmen who are interested in exporting their goods to America. You will be fully briefed on this before leaving Hong Kong.”
“Look, do we really have to waste time playing this businessman subterfuge?” said Temple. “It’ll just allow mistakes to be made.”
“On the contrary, it will allow you and Mr. Hope to avoid death.
Two Americans traveling straight through to a highly restricted prison complex?
You will be dead before you have any chance at all.
The groundwork must be laid, gentlemen. The area you will be in is fraught with peril.
The junta is not in control of the Kachin State, where both Myitkyina, the capital, and the prison are located.
The KIA, the Kachin Independence Army, commenced its operations against the junta a few years ago.
As a result KIA has taken back great swaths of land in the region, and also gained control of military bases and most of the police stations.
“The junta’s Border Guard Force is now in tatters after this offensive.
Of course the junta did not take this lightly, and they conducted bombing raids among some of the villages there.
But the KIA and its allies pressed on, and they have largely driven the junta out of the region.
But the junta’s army, the Tatmadaw, is still a formidable force. ”
“So the KIA controls the prison?” asked Nash.
“I did not say that, did I?”
“Well, do they or don’t they?” said Temple irritably.
“It is not a yes-or-no question,” she replied smoothly before moving on.
“The KIA are not fools, and even though you will enter the country in secret, do not think that your presence will remain unknown for long. But if we give you roles that could actually help the Kachin State economy, which they desperately need? Your odds of success are enhanced and there will be no suspicion about you traveling in the direction of the prison complex. Now, after your meetings in Myitkyina, you will fly to Bhamo. It is a short trip on Myanmar National Airlines, which still operates in the region because the KIA allows it.”
“Won’t traveling by plane raise uncomfortable questions?” said Temple.
“Not after your positioning as an American businessman has been established. Now, once in Bhamo you will be met at the airport by more of my operatives, and driven to the vicinity of the prison. There all of you will be met by another group of my associates.”
“And then what do we do?” asked Temple, looking incredulous. “Jump the fence, fight off the guards and dogs, punch through concrete, snatch your mother, and, what, fly away like birds?”
“All in good time, Mr. Temple. I am giving you the big picture only at this point. After you secure my mother, you will travel south to Lashio, which is the largest town in the northern region of the Shan State, and which sits on a low mountain spur overlooking the Yaw River Valley. The population there is roughly 130,000, which will allow you to more easily blend in. Those seeking you for liberating my mother will almost certainly believe that you will attempt to take a river ferry from Bhamo to Mandalay, which is the most obvious initial escape route out of the country, but it takes a great deal of time.”
“Are there no roads that we could take via car?” asked Nash.
“All surface roads in that part of the region are in deplorable condition, but the ferries are available, both slow and fast. But, as I just said, they will know this, and thus will commence their search on all boat traffic. But you will be transported from Lashio to Mandalay far more quickly than a ferry ride would provide. Mandalay is a city of over one million persons with an international-grade airport. Thus, while they are still looking for you on the water, you will be on a private plane and heading back here.”
“Who will be looking for us?” asked Nash. “If the prison is in the Kachin State, will it be the KIA? But will they be able to pursue us into junta-controlled regions?”
She once more studied him with. . .fascination, thought Nash.
“It matters little who will be after you, Mr. Hope. Their goal will be to kill you and retake my mother. You will have the necessary monies, human support, and logistical wherewithal to be successful, I am confident.”
“The only thing you haven’t mentioned is how do we get in and out of the prison with your mother,” said Nash. “And that’s the most important part of the plan.”
The next screen she brought up held the image of a heavyset man in a drab uniform.
“He is the principal guard of my mother. And this,” she said in a reverent tone, “is Masuyo-san.”
She clicked the remote and a picture of a woman in a gray sackcloth dress appeared. Masuyo Steers looked beaten down and exhausted to Nash, but when he focused on the woman’s penetrating eyes, even as depicted in lusterless pixels, she appeared far more formidable.
“Is this guard your inside man?” asked Nash.
She nodded. “He is doing it simply for the money. That is the extent of his loyalty, but since it represents a treasure for both him and his family, we can count on him doing everything to make the situation successful.”
“And the extraction plan?” prompted Nash.
“It is known there that my mother is not in good health. She will suffer a serious condition that cannot be dealt with by simply taking her to the medical unit at the prison. An ambulance will be ordered to take her to a nearby hospital. The ambulance will never reach that hospital with Masuyo-san inside. It will be overtaken and my mother will be transferred to another mode of transportation.”
“And where do we come in?” asked Temple.