Golden Buddha Read online

  GOLDEN

  BUDDHA

  CLIVE

  CUSSLER

  AND CRAIG DIRGO

  BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK

  Dear Readers,

  A few years ago, while I was writing Flood Tide, I realized that Dirk Pitt needed some help on a particular assignment, and so I dreamed up Juan Cabrillo.

  Cabrillo ran a ship called the Oregon, on the outside completely nondescript, but on the inside packed with state-of-the-art intelligence-gathering equipment. It was a completely private enterprise, available for any government agency that could afford it. It went where no warship could go, transported secret cargo without suspicion, plucked data out of the air—it was the perfect complement to NUMA.

  In fact, I had so much fun writing about the Oregon and its rakish, one-legged chief that I was sorry to see it sail off when its task was done. I promised myself I’d find a way to bring them back some day—and here, I am pleased to say, they are. Golden Buddha is the first in a new series about Juan Cabrillo’s merry men (and women!), and I hope you get as much of a kick reading about them as I did creating them.

  And who knows, maybe some time they’ll cross paths with Dirk Pitt again….

  Clive Cussler

  “A NEW CLIVE CUSSLER NOVEL IS LIKE A VISIT FROM YOUR BEST FRIEND.”

  —Tom Clancy

  The New York Post called him “just about the best storyteller in the business.” Now, Clive Cussler, creator of the bestselling NUMA ® and Dirk Pitt® series, presents his latest and most-intriguing high-seas action hero: the enigmatic captain of the Oregon, Juan Cabrillo.

  Only Cabrillo could convert the interior of a nondescript lumber hauler into a state-of-the-art spy ship—and only he could take the helm on the dangerous covert missions it carries out for whichever U.S. agency pays the price.

  In this first feature-length adventure, Cabrillo and his crew of expert intelligence and naval men must put Tibet back in the hands of the Dalai Lama by striking a deal with the Russians and the Chinese. His gambling chip is a Golden Buddha containing records of vast oil reserves in the disputed land.

  But first, he’ll have to locate—and steal—the all-important artifact. And there are certain people who would do anything in their power to see him fail….

  “Readers will burn up the pages following the blazing action and daring exploits of these men and women and their amazing machines.”—Publishers Weekly

  PRAISE FOR

  CLIVE CUSSLER

  “Just about the best storyteller in the business.”

  —New York Post

  “Nobody does it better than Clive Cussler. NOBODY.”

  —Stephen Coonts

  “PURE ENTERTAINMENT…as reliable as Pitt’s trusty Colt .45.”

  —People

  “PURE CUSSLER, PURE FUN. The action just keeps accelerating.”

  —The San Francisco Examiner

  PRAISE FOR

  CLIVE CUSSLER’S NUMA ® SERIES

  “MARVELOUS…simply terrific fun.”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  “YOU CAN’T GET MUCH MORE SATISFYING.”

  —The Cleveland Plain Dealer

  “Cussler and Kemprecos weave A GREAT STORY.”

  —Tulsa World

  “Audacious and WILDLY ENTERTAINING.”

  —New York Daily News

  PRAISE FOR

  CLIVE CUSSLER’S

  DIRK PITT ® SERIES

  “[A] NONSTOP THRILLER…CUSSLER SPEEDS AND TWISTS through the complex plot and hairbreadth escapes [with] the intensity and suspense of a NASCAR race.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “CLIVE CUSSLER…IS AT TOP FORM HERE.”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  “A DELIGHTFUL PAGE-TURNER that is almost impossible to put down.”

  —The San Francisco Examiner

  “THE FUNNEST DIRK PITT ADVENTURE SINCE RAISE THE TITANIC! ”

  —Rocky Mountain News

  DIRK PITT® ADVENTURES BY CLIVE CUSSLER

  Trojan Odyssey

  Valhalla Rising

  Atlantis Found

  Flood Tide

  Shock Wave

  Inca Gold

  Sahara

  Dragon

  Treasure

  Cyclops

  Deep Six

  Pacific Vortex

  Night Probe

  Vixen 03

  Raise the Titanic!

  Iceberg

  The Mediterranean Caper

  FICTION BY CLIVE CUSSLER WITH PAUL KEMPRECOS

  White Death

  Fire Ice

  Blue Gold

  Serpent

  FICTION BY CLIVE CUSSLER AND CRAIG DIRGO

  Sacred Stone

  Golden Buddha

  NONFICTION BY CLIVE CUSSLER AND CRAIG DIRGO

  The Sea Hunters II

  The Sea Hunters

  Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  GOLDEN BUDDHA

  A Berkley Book / published by arrangement with

  Sandecker, RLLLP

  PRINTING HISTORY

  Berkley trade paperback edition / October 2003

  Berkley international edition / October 2004

  Copyright © 2003 by Sandecker, RLLLP.

  “Foreword” by Clive Cussler copyright © 2003 by Clive Cussler.

  Cover art by Edwin Herder.

  Cover design by Rich Hasselberger.

  Interior text design by Julie Rogers.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  For information address: The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  ISBN: 1-4295-2768-4

  BERKLEY ®

  Berkley Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  BERKLEY and the “B” design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  For my brothers

  Larry, Steve, Cliff and John,

  and my sister, Dawn,

  who never let a busy day

  get in the way of a good nap.

  CONTENTS

  FOREWORD

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  PRELUDE

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 31

  CHAPTER 32

  CHAPTER 33

  CHAPTER 34

  CHAPTER 35

  CHAPTER 36

  CHAPT
ER 37

  CHAPTER 38

  CHAPTER 39

  CHAPTER 40

  CHAPTER 41

  CHAPTER 42

  CHAPTER 43

  CHAPTER 44

  CHAPTER 45

  CHAPTER 46

  EPILOGUE

  FOREWORD

  Just so you know, this is not a Dirk Pitt adventure, nor a NUMA Files–Kurt Austin story. This book is based on the old tramp cargo ship Oregon that I described in the Pitt tale titled Flood Tide.

  Beneath her derelict superstructure and rusty hull, Oregon is a mechanical marvel of technology and scientific genius. She is crewed by a group of highly educated and intelligent mercenaries who function under the myriad umbrellas of a far-flung corporate conglomerate. They contract with governments, corporations and private interests around the world to fight corruption and challenge the sinister threats of rogue villains in the exotic ports of the seven seas.

  Craig Dirgo and I worked together to create an entirely new series of adventures with a cast of characters unlike any ever seen before.

  I sincerely hope you will find it an enjoyable departure as well as a fun read.

  Clive Cussler

  GOLDEN

  BUDDHA

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  THE CORPORATION TEAM

  JUAN CABRILLO: Chairman of the Corporation

  MAX HANLEY:President of the Corporation

  RICHARD TRUITT: Vice President of Operations for the Corporation

  THE CREW

  (in alphabetic order)

  GEORGE ADAMS: Helicopter Pilot/Operative

  RICK BARRETT: Assistant Chef/Operative

  MONICA CRABTREE: Supply and Logistics Coordinator/Operative

  CARL GANNON: General Operations/Operative

  CHUCK “TINY” GUNDERSON: Chief Pilot/Operative

  MICHAEL HALPERT: Finance and Accounting/Operative

  CLIFF HORNSBY: General Operations/Operative

  JULIA HUXLEY: Medical Officer/Operative

  PETE JONES: General Operations/Operative

  HALI KASIM: Communications Expert/Operative

  LARRY KING: Sniper/Operative

  FRANKLIN LINCOLN: General Operations/Operative

  BOB MEADOWS: General Operations/Operative

  MARK MURPHY: Weapons Specialist/Operative

  KEVIN NIXON: Magic Shop Specialist/Operative

  SAM PRYOR: Propulsion Engineer/Operative

  GUNTHER REINHOLT: Propulsion Engineer/Operative

  TOM REYES: General Operations/Operative

  LINDA ROSS: Security and Surveillance/Operative

  EDDIE SENG: Director of Shore Operations/Operative

  ERIC STONE: Control Room Operations/Operative

  THE OTHERS

  THE DALAI LAMA: Spiritual Leader of Tibet

  HU JINTAO: President of China

  LANGSTON OVERHOLT IV: CIA Officer who hires the Corporation to free Tibet

  LEGCHOG ZHUREN: Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region

  SUNG RHEE: Chief Inspector of the Macau Police

  LING PO: Detective with the Macau Police

  STANLEY HO: Macau billionaire and buyer of the Golden Buddha

  MARCUS FRIDAY: U.S. software billionaire who agrees to buy stolen Buddha

  WINSTON SPENSER: Crooked art dealer who attempts to steal the Golden Buddha

  MICHAEL TALBOT: San Francisco art dealer who works for Friday

  PRELUDE

  MARCH 31, 1959

  THE flowers surrounding the summer palace of Norbulingka were closed but ready to bloom. The parklike setting of the complex was beautiful. High stone walls surrounded it, within the walls were trees and lush gardens, and in the center was a smaller yellow wall, through which only the Dalai Lama, his advisors and a few select monks passed. Here were tranquil pools, the home of the Dalai Lama and a temple for prayer.

  It was a sea of order and substance centered in a country in chaos.

  Not far away, perched on the side of a hill, was the imposing winter palace of Potala. The massive structure seemed to step down the hillside. Potala contained over one thousand rooms, was populated by hundreds of monks and dated from centuries before. There was an imposing orderliness to the building. Stone steps led from the mid levels of the seven-story palace in an orderly zigzag downward and then stopped at a gigantic block stone wall that formed the base of the behemoth. The precisely laid stones rose nearly eighty feet into the air.

  At the base was a flat stretch of land where tens of thousands of Tibetans were assembled. The people, as well as another large group at Norbulingka, had come to protect their spiritual leader. Unlike the hated Chinese who occupied their country, the peasants carried not rifles but knives and bows. Instead of artillery, they had only flesh, bone and spirit. They were outgunned, but to protect their leader they would have gladly laid down their lives.

  Their sacrifice would require but one word from the Dalai Lama.

  INSIDE the yellow wall, the Dalai Lama was praying at the shrine to Mahakala, his personal protector. The Chinese had offered to take him to their headquarters for his protection, but he knew that was not their true motive. It was the Chinese from whom he needed protection, and the letter the Dalai Lama had just received from Ngabo Ngawang Jigme, the governor of Chamdo, held a truer picture. After a discussion with General Tan, the Chinese military officer in command of the region, Jigme was certain the Chinese were planning to begin shelling the crowds to disperse them.

  Once that happened, the loss of life would be horrific.

  Raising from his knees, the Dalai Lama walked over to a table and rang a bell. Almost instantly the door opened and the head of the Kusun Depon, the Dalai Lama’s personal bodyguards, appeared. Through the open door he could see several Sing Gha warriors. The monastic policemen lent a terrifying presence. Each was over six feet tall, wore a fearsome mustache, and was dressed in a black padded suit that made them appear even larger and more invincible.

  Several Dogkhyi, the fierce Tibetan mastiff guard dogs, stood on their haunches at attention.

  “Please summon the oracle,” the Dalai Lama said quietly.

  FROM his house in Lhasa, Langston Overholt III was monitoring the deteriorating conditions. He stood alongside the radio operator as the man adjusted the dial.

  “Situation critical, over.”

  The radio operator turned the dial to reduce the static.

  “Believe red rooster will enter the henhouse, over.”

  The operator watched the gauges carefully.

  “Need immediate positive support, over.”

  Again a lag as the operator adjusted the dial.

  “I recommend eagles and camels, over.”

  The man stood mute as the radio warbled and the green gauges returned to a series of wavelike motions. The words were out in the ether now; the rest was out of their control. Overholt wanted airplanes—and he wanted them now.

  THE oracle, Dorje Drakden, was deep in a trance. The setting sun came through the small window high on the wall of the temple and cast a path of light that ended at an incense holder. The wisps of smoke danced on the beam of light and a strange, almost cinnamon smell filled the air. The Dalai Lama sat cross-legged on a pillow against a wall a few feet from Drakden, who was hunched over, knees down, with his forehead on the wood floor. Suddenly, in a deep voice, the oracle spoke.

  “Leave tonight! Go.”

  Then, still with his eyes closed, still in a trance, he rose, walked over to a table and stopped exactly one foot away. Then he reached down, picked up a quill pen, dipped it in ink and drew a detailed map on a sheet of paper before collapsing to the ground.

  The Dalai Lama rushed to the oracle’s side, lifted his head and patted his cheek. Slowly, the man began to awaken. After sliding a pillow under his head, the Dalai Lama rose and poured a cup of water from an earthenware pitcher. Carrying the cup back to the oracle, he placed it under his lips.

  “Sip, Dorje,” he said quietly.

  Slowly, the older
man recovered and pulled himself to a seated position. As soon as the Dalai Lama was sure the oracle was on the mend, he walked over to the table and stared at the ink drawing.

  It was a detailed map showing his escape route from Lhasa to the Indian border.

  OVERHOLT had been born into his career. At least one Overholt had served in every war the United States had fought since the Revolutionary War. His grandfather had been a spy in the Civil War, his father during World War I, and Langston the third had served in the OSS in World War II before switching to the CIA when it’d been formed in 1947. Overholt was now thirty-three, with a fifteen-year history of espionage.

  In all that time, Overholt had never seen a situation quite this ominous. This was not a king or a queen in peril, not a pontiff or dictator. This was the head of a religion. A man who was a God-king, a deity, a leader that traced his lineage back to A.D. 1351. If something did not happen quickly, the communist scourge would soon be taking him prisoner. Then the human chess match would be over.

  IN Mandalay, Burma, Overholt’s message was received and forwarded to Saigon where it was transferred to Manila, then over a secure underwater cable to Long Beach, California, then on to Washington, D.C.

  As the situation in Tibet continued to deteriorate, the CIA started to assemble a force in Burma. The group was not large enough to defeat the Chinese, just large enough to slow them down until more heavily armed ground troops could be brought to bear.

  Disguised as a front company named Himalayan Air Services, the armada consisted of fourteen C-47s: ten that could drop supplies and four that had just been converted to first-generation gunships. This force was augmented with six F-86 fighters and a lone, fresh-off-the-assembly-line Boeing B-52 heavy bomber.

  ALAN Dulles sat in the Oval Office, puffing on his pipe and pointing out the situation to President Eisenhower. Then the CIA director sat back and let the president think for a moment. Several minutes passed in silence.