In her vague state of consciousness, it seemed as though some gigantic machine was drilling into or sawing through the block of ice that held her.
Finally, she was certain that the source of the noise was neither heaven nor hell, and she remained in the land of the living.
Now the numbness had disappeared and the pain reasserted itself: Her head and the joints of her limbs ached, and the breath coming out of her mouth felt scalding hot. Her throat hurt so much that swallowing spittle felt like it was a piece of burning coal.
Rolling clouds slowly drifted by, reflecting the dazzling sunlight.
From another porthole she could see flickering shadows cast by the rotors. She was indeed on a helicopter.
Yang hesitated and finally revealed his real concern: “It’s easy to make ideological mistakes in theory.”
A strong gust of wind almost blew her over. The still-gyrating rotors sliced through the wind, making a loud whistling noise. The scent of the woods on the wind was familiar to her, and she was familiar to the wind. It was the wind of the Greater Khingan Mountains.
Only now, when she was so close to it, did she finally feel its immensity.
Ye noticed that the top of Radar Peak was spacious. A cluster of white buildings, like delicate toy blocks, nestled under the giant antenna.
“Ye Wenjie, the evidence of your counter-revolutionary crime is incontrovertible, and the court would have punished you as you deserve. But now you have an opportunity to redeem yourself through hard work. You can accept it or refuse it.” He pointed at the antenna. “This is a defense research facility. The research conducted here needs your specialized scientific knowledge. Chief Engineer Yang can give you the details, which you should consider carefully.”
He paused, as though wanting to let the bass howl of the antenna add to the weight of his words. “—you’ll never leave for the rest of your life.”
Other than the undiscovered country beyond death from which no one has ever returned, the place she wanted to be the most was this peak, separated from the rest of the world. Here, she felt a sense of security that had long eluded her.
His face suddenly looked uncomfortable as he realized another layer of meaning to his words: You can never leave here again.
As she surveyed the night sky, she did not see any target that she thought might be serial number BN20197F. Beyond the wisps of clouds, all she could see were the stars of a cold night in 1969.
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