Excited puffing. “Then something else is going on. They don’t want the manifest to fall into our hands, that’s obvious. But they had plenty of time to make certain no one would ever get it. Yet they still tried to kill you, and they did it on their own. Without the police.”
Jon’s pulse accelerated. He saw what Klein was getting at. “They don’t want Chinese government security to know there was a manifest, and that an American agent was looking for it. Public Security already knew I was there and was more than I appeared to be, but they couldn’t figure out what I was doing. Whoever forced Yu Yongfu to commit suicide doesn’t want them to know.” He thought rapidly. “Do you think it’s some kind of internal power struggle in Beijing?”
“Or maybe the shady deal of some big Shanghai tycoon.”
“Isn’t that the same thing in New China?”
On the other end of the line, the pipe puffing stopped. The dead air was like a vacuum. Klein said in an awed voice: “The Chinese government doesn’t know what The Dowager Empress is carrying. That’s got to be it!”
“How is that possible? In China? Everything’s done by committee, by arrangement. Hell, they probably don’t even take a leak alone.”
“It’s the only logical answer, Colonel. Someone, almost certainly very high up, is trying to cause trouble between our nations. It is a power struggle, but on an international scale.”
Jon swore. “China’s got heavy-duty nuclear armaments. A lot heavier than the world knows.”
The silence at the far end of the connection was ominous. “Jon, this makes the situation far more dangerous than we’d thought. If we’re right, the president must have the proof of the Dowager’s cargo before he orders any kind of move. I’ll have the navy fly you to Taipei right away. You can catch the first flight out to Hong Kong from there.”
“What do I use as a legend?”
“We’ve researched this Donk & Lapierre company. They’re a conglomerate with interests in international shipping and electronics. What’s perfect for you is they also work in biotechnology.”
“I can’t go as myself anymore.”
“No, you can’t. But I’ve arranged for you to impersonate one of your colleagues at USAMRIID: Major Kenneth St. Germain.”
“We look something alike, but what if they check and find he’s still there, working?”
“They won’t. He’s taken an offer to go mountaineering in Chile.”
Jon nodded. “An offer Ken would never refuse. Nice work. Now ask your new permanent staff to arrange a meeting between me — or Ken St. Germain — and the head of Donk & Lapierre’s Hong Kong office to discuss their work with viruses.”
“Consider it done.”
“Have you learned anything about the killer I told you about — Feng Dun?”
“Not yet. We’re still checking. You get to Taipei, and I’ll bring the president up-to-date here. He’s not going to be happy.”
“You should let him know the latest about the old prisoner who says he’s David Thayer, too.”
“You have new information?”
Jon repeated what Asgar Mahmout had told him. “The prison farm’s outside the city of Dazu, about seventy miles northeast of Chongqing. It’s apparently low security, at least by Chinese standards.”
“Good. That gives me something to work with, in case we do have to go in for him. A simple fence won’t stop us, and neither will ordinary prison guards. It’s helpful that he’s got privileges and only one cell mate. If we bring some of the political prisoners out, too, that’ll give cover to both Thayer and the mission. I don’t like the farm’s location — it’s a heavily populated area. And I don’t like that they move him around. It’s possible he could be gone before we get there.” “From what Asgar said, he’s been at Dazu awhile. It didn’t sound as if there was any hint he was going to be relocated.”
Jon heard the slow puffs that indicated Klein was thinking. “Okay, and where the farm is could be worse. At least it’s close to the borders of Burma and India.”
“Not that close.”
“So we’ll have to work a little harder. We all have to do that anyway. I want that manifest, Colonel.”
In the communications-and-control center of the USS John Crowe, It.
Commander Bienas leaned over the shoulder of the radar man, his gaze fixed on the screen. “How many times has her captain changed course?”
“Counting this time, three, sir.” The radar man looked up.
“Describe the changes.”
“First he turned forty-five degrees south, then he?”
“For how long? How far did he go?”
“About an hour, maybe twenty miles.”
“Okay, go on.”
“He went back to his original heading for close to another hour, then went north for maybe another hour, and back to his original course again.”
“So he’s back where he started?”
“Yessir. Just about.”
“And we changed course every time?”
“Sure. I reported the new headings.”
“Okay, Billy, good work.”
The radar man grinned. “Anytime, sir.”
The lieutenant commander did not return the grin. He left the control center and slid down the gangways until he reached the captain’s quarters. He knocked.
“Come.”
Commander Chervenko looked up from where he sat at his desk doing his paperwork. He immediately saw the concern on Bienas’s face. “What’s happened, Frank?”
“I think they’ve spotted us, sir.” Bienas reported everything the radar man had told him.
“We changed helm each time?”
” ‘ so. Canfield had the bridge. He’s too damned new.”
Chervenko nodded. “Later would’ve been better, but we knew they’d spot us eventually. Any increase in radio—?”
His ship intercom squawked: “Communications, sir. I’m picking up a big increase of radio activity in Chinese.”
“Speak of the devil,” Commander Chervenko muttered. Then into the intercom: “Get Ensign Wao up there now.”
“Aye-aye, sir.”
Chervenko remained bent to his communications console. “Chief, crank her up. I need top speed.” Then he stood up. “Let’s hit the bridge.”
By the time the commander and Bienas reached it, Ensign Wao was already there. “They’ve figured out we’re back here, sir, and they’re on the horn in a panic to Beijing and Hong Kong.”
“A panic?” Chervenko frowned.
“Yessir. That’s the funny thing. They know who we are. I mean, they know we’re a U.S. Navy frigate.”
“They must have a military radar expert on board,” Bienas decided, astounded.
Commander Chervenko nodded unhappily. “Tell the chief to give me all he has. No point hiding now. Let’s see what they’re doing on board.” He focused his binoculars on the horizon. It was a clear, sunny day, a calm sea, and visibility was nearly unlimited. Surging forward at twenty-eight knots, the Crowe soon raised the Empress dead ahead and closed to viewing distance.
It. Commander Bienas joined the captain with his binoculars.
“You see what I see, Frank?”
Bienas nodded. The decks of the cargo ship were packed with crew members, everyone pointing astern and waving their arms. An officer stood on the cabin housing, yelling down to them, but the crew members continued to mill around.
