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Then he stepped off the Antonov and began walking to the Gulfstrea next to the open door The pilot smiled at Cabrillo and motioned for the step
“We’re ready for you, sir,” he said “Welcome aboard”
“There’s a box on the biplane,” Cabrillo said “Get some help and haul it aboard”
Cabrillo walked up the raot the crate loaded inside, shut the door, and started the engines Two minutes later, they were airborne The Gulfstrea altitude when they crossed over the mountains of Laos
IN Novosibirsk, Russia, General Alexander Kernetsikov was staring at a large chalkboard inside a hangar at the airport Troops and material continued to pour into the area at a rate of deployment seldom seen in times of peace There were thousands of details to attend to, but there was one that bothered Kernetsikov the most
“Have we received an answer yet?” he said to his aide “If this is a go, I need to knohich fork to take at Barnaul We either violate Kazakhstan and enter China near Tacheng, or we need to olia, take the road toward Altaj and cross over the mountains there, then sweep quickly across the plains and pass Lop Nur”
The aide stared at the general Lop Nur was the hoined it would be heavily defended The other route featured mountains that we
re still covered in snow It was like choosing between a root canal and ripping off a toenail
“There’s been no co whether this is not ”
“It’s just a feeling,” the general said quietly, “but I think that before this is over, we’ll be crossing the mountains like Hannibal”
The aide nodded Every good officer under who sense of history He just hoped the general rong—facing off with the Chinese, even with the firepower they had aht
IN Beijing, General Tudeng Quing was offering President Jintao a possible solution
“If we pull all but two thousand troops out of Tibet, concentrating those left only in Lhasa, we could divert the rest to U¨ rü tomorrow”
“How many?” Jintao asked
“Say a thousand by plane in the next few hours,” Quing said “The tanks and ar the and such, they could be in place tomorrow this time”