The Mercenaries Read Online Free PDF Page B

impressed even if not entirely convinced, and Lao went on quickly. ‘Unfortunately,’ he said, ‘the warlord who opposes him to the south, General Kwei, has an aerial balloon which makes all attempts to move dangerous.’
    ‘Because it can see everything that’s going on?’
    ‘Exactly. And he talks now of acquiring aeroplanes. But General Tsu is very air-minded, too, and he is trying to organise a fine up-to-date air force himself.’
    A doubtful look crossed Ira’s face. Flying in someone else’s war wasn’t quite the same as flying in your own. In Russia he’d never been able to find much enthusiasm for the work.
    There will be no shooting,’ Lao assured him, as though he’d guessed his thoughts. ‘We are not asking you to fight--only to organise and train our men. That is all.’
    Ira nodded again. ‘Go on,’ he said. ‘I’m interested.’
    Lao smiled and gestured towards Sammy who was listening carefully by the door. ‘I have heard you are an experienced instructor and engineer,’ he went on, ‘and that you were a leader of distinction in the war in Europe. I think you are the man we want.’ He paused. ‘Especially as I have heard you are no longer anxious to run your airline.’
    ‘Capable’ would have been a better word, Ira thought.
    ‘What about pay?’ he asked.
    “General Tsu is a wealthy man,’ Lao pointed out. ‘He will agree to anything reasonable. Shall we say four hundred dollars a month--plus expenses?’
    Ira controlled his gasp with difficulty. Four hundred dollars a month seemed like a fortune when you’d been keeping a whole airline running on very much the same amount, scratching for coppers, hopefully paying for petrol on the never-never, hardly ever catching up with debts, and scrimping and saving even on the safety margins to keep the aircraft flying. Four hundred dollars represented untold wealth. ‘All right so far,’ he said cautiously and he saw Sammy grin. ‘But what about aircraft? And spares, vehicles, ground organisation--that sort of thing.’
    ‘We have several fine new aircraft. Modern ones with guns.’
    ‘What sort?’
    ‘I’m not an expert.’
    Ira gestured. ‘Want another?’ he asked.
    Lao nodded towards the door and rose. The machine out there?’
    ‘The very one.’
    Outside, Lao kicked the tyres and the skid of the Avro and stared into the cockpit. ‘Did this machine carry a gun?’ he asked.
    ‘It was a trainer. The best.’
    The Chinese studied the rear cockpit thoughtfully. Tell me about it,’ he suggested.
    Ira drew a deep breath. He’d been listening half his life, it seemed, to the slow clonkety-clonk of rotary engine cylinders as they sucked in petrol, and had sniffed the burnt castor oil they threw out for so long he’d more than once suffered from bowel disorders.
    He settled for simple sales talk. ‘So easy to fly,’ he said, ‘pilots killed themselves when they went on to more advanced machines. Dual controls. Gnome Mono engine. They keep on going even when parts drop off. One of them once took off itself and flew forty miles chased by the pilot in a car. When he found it, it had landed safely in a field.’
    It was a story he’d heard many times and, though it may have been apocryphal, it was still worth re-telling.
    The Chinese seemed impressed. ‘Very well,’ he said. ‘We will ship it to China. Will you go with it?’
    Ira was on the point of blurting out a joyous ‘Yes!‘ when he felt rather than saw Sammy’s eyes on him. They seemed to be boring a hole in the back of his head and he turned to see the desperate appeal in them.
    He gestured. ‘I have a pilot under contract to consider,’ he said. ‘Perhaps he’d come, too.’
    ‘Is he a good instructor?’
    ‘I trained him myself.’
    ‘Very well. We can accept one more, though we already have two other instructors waiting in Shanghai.’
    ‘I see.’ Ira decided to push his luck a little further. Then that raises another point: Who’s going to run the