Page 111 - Brokenclaw - John Gardner

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Lee personally before long.’

During the twenty minutes or so that followed, they sat, seat belts fastened
and the seats themselves locked into the upright position.
At last, Bond heard the whine and thump of the gear coming down and the
James Bond OO7 - printing disabled voice – strangely English – told them they should evacuate the James Bond OO7 - printing disabled
captain’s
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aircraft from the rear door as soon as they came to a standstill.
They roared into a brilliantly lit small airfield and Bond fleetingly saw the
name Salinas painted in black along the small clutch of buildings below the
tower.

Things happened very quickly after that. Within seconds they were out of the
plane – there was a lot of heavy black smoke surrounding the starboard engine
– and Ding was urging them on, running towards the left of the buildings.
Bond saw that the crew members and the stewardess were leaving the
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airplane via the emergency hatch towards the nose, but, strangely, Fox had
lagged behind as fire and emergency vehicles hee-hawed their way towards
the Gulfstream.
Behind the small airport’s limited buildings a black stretch limo had

switched on its lights, moving slowly as though to intercept them.
‘In!’ Ding ordered. ‘In quickly. Back of the limo! Now.’
Bond stood back allowing Chi-Chi to climb in and he followed, pushed
from behind by Ding. ‘Is okay,’ the Chinese said to the uniformed driver

through the sliding glass partition. ‘Foxy coming with baggage. Only take three
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– four minutes.’
It seemed longer, but Fox appeared on a small electric baggage cart and the
driver climbed down to help load the baggage into the trunk. Then with no

further delay they were driven away, Fox joining the chauffeur up front, riding
shotgun.
Once away from the immediate vicinity of the airport it became very dark
and impossible for Bond to get any bearings.

‘Long ride now. One-two hour.’ Ding’s voice came to them in the darkness.
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Something else accompanied the voice, making Bond’s nose twitch. The
massive Chinese had a bad case of body odour.
Blackness closed in and soon they were driving on winding narrow roads,

climbing upwards through mountain country, Bond thought. Chi-Chi, he was
pleased to note, had gone to sleep and shortly he felt her head fall softly
against his shoulder.

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