The Tiger's Fangs

The breeze from the open window brushed against Captain Sphinx’s face as he groaned and settled into the rickety chair at their makeshift headquarters. His head was still pounding from the aftereffects of Mai's potent concoction. Webster paced anxiously while Tex leaned against the wall, arms crossed.

 "We need to be careful," Webster said. "This Tiger woman is playing games with us. How do we know she won't just feed us to the wolves once we've outlived our usefulness?" 

Sphinx rubbed his temples. "We don't. But she's our best lead on Yao. We just need to play along a little longer." 

Tex snorted. "’Play along’? Cap, you look like you went ten rounds with a gorilla. This ain't playin' no more." 

"I can handle it," Sphinx insisted, though his split lip and bruised cheek told a different story. 

Webster stopped pacing and fixed Sphinx with a hard stare. 

“I understand your reasoning: Mai is the best link to Yao, but the longer we maintain our cover the more likely she is to ask us to do something truly detestable.” 

“We’ve been lucky so far,” Sphinx admitted. “Simply running guns, and bombing river pirates.”  

"Lucky?" Tex scoffed. "We nearly got shot down in the middle of a battle!" 

"I know, I know," Sphinx sighed. "But we're close. I can feel it. Mai let slip that Yao used to live in Shanghai before he became the Dragon. We just need to push a little further. She does supply Yao. We just need to find out when and where the next shipment is going out." 

Tex pushed off from the wall. "And how do you reckon we do that? Ask her nicely?" 

"No," Sphinx said, a plan forming in his mind. "We earn her trust. Take on a few more jobs, work our way deeper into her organization. Then, when the time is right, we make our move." 

Webster shook his head. "It's a dangerous game you're playing, old chap. One misstep and we could all end up at the bottom of the Huangpu River." 

“What’s the alternative?” Sphinx asked. “Fly around and hope we catch Yao in the act? Hope we got enough firepower and surprise advantage to take him down when we find him? We can’t beat him by being reactive, that’s how he’s thrived. We beat him by being proactive.”

The game had been going on for some time now. Captain Sphinx and his Misfit Squadron had traveled to Shanghai on the hunt for the fearsome sky pirate known as “Yao the Dragon,” but finding the man was proving difficult. He could be anywhere in China and their best lead was “The Tiger”: Shanghai’s smuggling queen, who they knew as Mai. They had convinced the crime lady they were mercenary pilots looking for work, and she had set them out on several tasks already. 

When the latest had gone awry, Sphinx had confronted her in an opium den. The end result was the dashing aviator looking worse for wear, his head spinning from secondhand smoke and strange drinks.

Just as Sphinx was going over the notes of their adventure up to that point, there was a knock at the door. All three all turned their heads towards it. 

“Who is it?” Sphinx called. 

“Message for Captain Sphinx,” a reedy voice on the other side of the door stated. 

Sphinx started to rise but Tex held up a hand as he approached the door, his large Colt revolver out of the holster, the big man opened the door carefully, keeping the gun hidden. On the other side was an unassuming man, letter in hand. Tex took the paper from him and thumbed him a coin, before shutting the door. 

“It’s for you, Captain. Seems your new lady friend is already wanting you to go back to work.”   

Sphinx groaned as he took the letter. 

“My dearest pilot. You have asked for more transparency in the jobs I give. So be it. There is a certain inspector Han who has been meddling in my affairs, and refusing the generous gestures I’ve offered him. I want him eliminated. A simple shooting just won’t do. I need to send a clear message that it’s not healthy to stick your nose in my business, and that it’s not healthy to be around such a person. He has a small house within Shanghai, do be a dear and bomb it for me.”

Sphinx whistled. “This is nuts. That woman is full of wrath.” 

Webster clamped his jaw tight on the unlit pipe in his mouth. “Dear lord, man! We’re not seriously going through with this are we?” 

Sphinx shook his head. “Of course not, but we can’t refuse outright either.”

Neither Tex or Webster spoke as they saw their leader rubbing his temples, as though urging his mind to conjure a plan. 

“What if, something happens that keeps my mission from being a success? We just need one plane for this. That leaves the rest of you free.”

Tex nodded. “So what, we get him out of the house?” 

“Mai has eyes and ears everywhere,” Webster pointed out. 

Sphinx nodded. “Let’s scope this inspector’s place out. Might give us some ideas.” 

The inspectors’ current residence was barely more than a shack, complete with weathered wood, peeling paint, and a sagging roof that had seen better days. It sat in a tightly packed alley, surrounded by similar dwellings, each one teeming with families, children playing in the narrow dirt paths, old men smoking pipes on their stoops, and women hanging laundry from second-story balconies. The idea of leveling this place with a bomb made Sphinx’s stomach churn.

“This is madness,” Webster muttered, surveying the scene. “A bomb here would take out half the block.”

Tex shook his head. “Got to hand it to her, she wants to make sure someone is dead, she makes sure they’re dead.” 

Sphinx exhaled slowly, eyes scanning the area. “We can’t just grab him and run. Mai will expect a crater where this house used to be.”

“Not like we can just run in and shout ‘fire’,” Webster grunted. 

Sphinx’s eyes lit up. “Webster, you're a genius!” 

Webster frowned. “Well, I certainly know that, but what are you on about?”

Sphinx grinned, “We grease some palms and have a rumor spread that there’s a gas leak nearby or something. Get everyone to clear out.” 

Tex frowned. “Is there even a gasline through here?”

Sphinx shrugged. “I don’t know but most probably don’t know that either. Panic and uncertainty will get the people to leave.” 

“You’d still have to drop the bomb though. That means these people will be without a home,” Webster pointed out.

“Homes can be replaced, lives cannot: We’re in a difficult spot here.” Sphinx admitted. 

“There is the risk some won’t leave, or will move too slow,” Tex pointed out. 

Sphinx sighed. “We will do all we can.”

“Roger that,” Tex grunted. “You just worry about making a bomb run.”

“Think you can handle that, old boy?” Webster asked. 

Sphinx scoffed. “Like riding a bike, with an explosive strapped to it.” 

The day of the bombing came sooner than anyone liked, Webster and Tex had set out with the intent of spreading the news of the fatal gas leak, Sphinx had taken a bit longer then normal with his preflight check, fussing over things he normally didn’t as he settled into the cockpit of the F2B that Webster normally flew. He didn’t bother taking Tomas along as the rear gunner. 

Mai’s goons were probably getting annoyed by the time he finally hit the ignition. The prop sputtered and then roared to life as Sphinx taxied out to the runway and gunned the throttle, climbing high into the sky. 

The pilot gazed down through the haze. Thankfully it wasn’t so hazy that Sphinx couldn’t make out the targets below. He flew along at a steady cruising speed as the wind whistled past his face, it was an almost leisurely flight before he sighted his target down below. 

Sphinx gained altitude wanting as little visibility as possible to those below, he was confident he’d hit the target. He just hoped their scheme worked. That he wasn’t about to blow up some poor sap. 

“Please have worked,” Sphinx begged to the air. “Please don’t make me regret this.”

Counting the seconds down and levelling out Sphinx shut his eyes and pressed the bomb release and the aircraft suddenly lurched up as a weight dropped. Sphinx let out his breath and finally looked below. ...A flash of fire and a plume of smoke, followed a short time later and the report of the explosion reached him and he banked away. 

Sphinx felt his stomach churn, as he weighed what he had done, how far his toes were dangling on a moral abyss. The feeling stayed with him even when he landed. After landing, Sphinx was expecting someone there to accuse him, or someone from Mai’s gang to congratulate him... But there was no one but the usual airfield workers.

Sphinx kept his hand close to his M1911 as he wandered the streets, there was already news of an explosion. Sphinx sighed as he took the route to the Phoenix Club. One of Mai’s establishments. It was closed to customers till the evening but no one opposed him as he wandered in. 

“She’s waiting for you,” Jun - one of Mai’s associates - informed Sphinx. 

The pilot made his way to the back office where Mai sat imperiously behind a desk. Her luscious dark hair was pinned back with a gold hairpin, and she was dressed in a red silk cheongsam  

“Captain Sphinx,” she greeted, her tone neutral. 

“Mai… so did I get him?” Sphinx asked. 

The woman fixed him with a stare. “Your bomb hit the target. But strangely, everyone seems to think it was caused by a gasleak. In fact, inspector Han had fled before your bomb hit. Curious luck that man has.” 

She was watching him, seeing if there was anything in his posture or face she didn’t like. Sphinx had played poker before though. 

“We’ll get him next time I’m sure,” Sphinx said. 

“Hmm.” Mai cooed. “I think my plan was perhaps a bit too grandiose. Is that the word? Yes, that's it. I’ll keep it simple next time: A knifeman waiting behind a corner for him, perhaps.”   

Sphinx nodded, “I’ll understand if you don’t wish to pay me for that job.” 

She beamed. “Oh, and here I thought I’d at least give you half. You did carry out my order, after all. But I will accept your gracious offer. Perhaps next time.”

“Anything else?” Sphinx asked. 

“That will be all darling.” He turned to leave. “Oh,” she said. “One more thing: It is a pity that one elder did not leave his home in time.” Sphinx resisted the urge to clench a fist. 

“Guess he wasn’t so lucky,” Sphinx muttered. 

“Luck has a way of running out doesn’t it? We’re all subject to fate. Look at me, from the bottom rungs to the top. Look at you, the daring pilot living on the edge of a knife blade.” 

Sphinx nodded. “Would you like to discuss philosophy sometime?” 

“I think I’d like that very much.” 

“With some normal tea this time, maybe?”

Mai smirked. “What fun is that?” The two regarded one another before she waved him off. “I shall send for you. Do not disappoint me.” 

Sphinx sighed, he kept his guard up though as he half expected a knifeman to be waiting around a corner for him. He had to reunite with Tex and Webster. This infiltration was hot already, now it was boiling like a tea kettle. He still had nothing solid to tie her to Yao, and he needed something before his luck ran out.