Part 5 (2/2)
Annja woke up as the first rays of sunlight needled their way through the c.o.c.kpit window of the de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft and roused her from the foggy drug-induced sleep. She looked around, realized where she was and then nudged Mike, who sat in the pilot's seat.
He groaned and then reached up to stretch his hands, b.u.mping them instead on the roof of the c.o.c.kpit.
”Careful,” Annja said. ”It's cramped in here.”
Mike's eyes fluttered open. ”What the h.e.l.l?”
Annja grinned. ”Apparently, Tsing wants to make sure we get started finding Shangri-La right away.”
”I guess.” Mike looked around. ”The plane's a little large for what we need, but I guess it'll do.”
”Can you fly this thing?” Annja asked.
Mike nodded. ”Got my pilot's license about five years back. When I knew I'd be spending more time in this part of the world, it seemed like a good idea to have it. The more you can be self-reliant over here, the better off you are.”
”Would have been better if you were financially self-reliant, too,” Annja said.
Mike blanched. ”Yeah, all right, I know I deserved that one. I'm sorry, Annja, all right? Really I am. I had no idea that Tsing was pulling my strings like this. As far as I knew, it was a simple loan.”
”That has now turned into something else entirely.”
”Apparently so.”
Annja looked him over. She could see that Mike was not happy about having to work with Tsing. At the same time, she could see his sense of adventure exerting itself across his face. Mike's eyes ran over the instrument panel and he switched on the two turboprop engines. Instantly, the propeller blades started to turn.
”We're really going?” Annja asked.
Mike nodded. ”We've got no choice in the matter. Tsing made it perfectly clear what would happen if we refused. And for my part, I may as well see whether this map is legitimate or not. After all of the trouble it's managed to get me into, I owe it to myself-and you-to see it through.”
Annja looked around. Behind her, she could see several bags. ”Looks like they gave us a bunch of supplies.”
Mike grunted. ”It's the least they could do.” He smacked his lips. ”But I could do with a bottle of water. Any chance they packed a cooler back there?”
Annja felt around and found one. She pulled out a cold bottle of water for herself and one for Mike. ”Cheers.”
Mike polished off the water quickly. ”All right, let's get this thing airborne and see what we can find out there.”
”What about the map?” she asked.
Mike eyed her. ”What about it?”
”You have it with you?”
Mike tapped the side of his head. ”Everything I need is stored safely inside the old cranium.”
”You're joking,” Annja said.
Mike laughed. ”Actually, I am. I had the map on me the entire time.”
”What if they'd taken it from you?”
Mike shrugged. ”You heard Tsing. He can't go out in the daylight with that skin condition of his. Maybe he's a vampire or something.”
”Stop it,” Annja said, laughing.
Mike reached into a pocket of his cargo pants and pulled out a folded-up piece of paper. He handed it to Annja. ”Check it out.”
Annja unfolded the map and frowned. ”Most of the explorers who searched for Shangri-La thought it was either close to Bhutan or over near the western border.”
”They were wrong,” Mike said. ”According to the map, the real location lies smack-dab in the middle of the country, closer to the Tibetan border.”
”You're sure about this, huh?”
”As much as I can be.” Mike opened up the throttle some and the plane began to move. ”Now I'd better make sure we have clearance to take off or else we'll never make it out of here.”
Annja pulled her headset on and listened as he keyed his microphone and spoke to the air traffic control tower. In a short time, they had clearance and Mike urged the plane down the runway and then into the skies over Katmandu.
Annja looked out of her window as Mike took the plane into a steep climb to gain alt.i.tude and then settled on a course heading northwest.
”We'll vector around and then head for Jomsom. That's the closest airfield in the part of the country we're looking for.”
”And from there? It looks like we're going to Mustang,” Annja said, looking at the map.
Mike nodded. ”The map says that Shangri-La lies somewhere in that area. It's probably nestled in between some of the mountains up there. Once we're beyond Pokhara, we'll be flying into the canyon of the Kali Gandaki River. It's an amazing sight. The Annapurna range flanks us on one side and Dhaulagiri sits on the other. The mountains effectively sandwich the area, making it difficult to gain entrance to most of the upper reaches of that part of Nepal.”
”Are you sure buzzing that region with this plane is such a good idea?” Annja asked.
Mike glanced at her. ”What do you mean?”
”It's Mustang. I don't think I have to give you a refresher course in history, do I? The CIA used to use the region as a staging ground for Tibetan Khampa guerrillas who used to cross over the border and hara.s.s the Chinese soldiers stationed in Tibet.”
”Yeah, but that was back in the sixties and seventies. That's all in the past.”
”We also happen to be flying the kind of plane that is used for parachute infiltration of special-operations troops. The Chinese might get a little nervous about us buzzing the joint.”
Mike sighed. ”We're sort of limited in terms of our options here, Annja. From Jomsom, most people continue either on foot or horseback to reach the area we want to fly to. But for us, that would take too long. And we would have the perspective we need from the air to see down and into the mountain valleys. We have to be airborne or else we may as well be searching for the proverbial needle in the haystack.”
Annja frowned. Something didn't feel right about using the plane to search, but Mike was correct. Without their eyes in the sky, they'd have no chance of spotting anything.
”I understand that you're concerned about our safety. I am, too. And we've also got the weather to contend with up here. Annapurna throws up some ferocious winds and Dhaulagiri is no slouch, either. We take an updraft or wind shear the wrong way and we're toast.”
Annja looked at him. ”You're not doing much to instill me with confidence in your flying abilities, pal.”
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