“Titus,” Cockburn began, “you have my word...”
“You word is worthless at Milburn and you know it. No-one’s word is worth a pinch of shit except the Director General’s – and then only in writing. The world, Hugh, is full of ambitious men, and you are as expedient as I am. That’s the deal. Get it and get it soon. What I have won’t wait for ever.”
“And then?”
“And then I get Holly back and we take these people down.”
Cockburn got wearily to his feet. “Titus,” he said, “I’ll get it now.”
He was away for twenty minutes. While he was gone, Kirov called room service for more coffee and Kurt stood in silence, watching from the window. No-one spoke. Chloe, who found the silence unsettling, got up and started to pace.
At long last, Cockburn returned.
“He doesn’t like it,” he said, “but it will be here tomorrow.”
Quayle stood up and gave a dry laugh. “So will I.”
They watched him leave in silence, and only after the door had closed behind him did Cockburn shake his head quizzically.
“What?” Chloe asked.
“I don’t think he has any intention of helping us take them down. The moment Holly is safe...”
“Then why did he come at all?” she argued. “He needs us.”
“No,” said Cockburn. “He can use us, and it’s easier to have us in sight than blundering around his penetration. But he doesn’t need us. Gentlemen,” he said, looking around the room, “we’re playing this game according to Titus Quayle’s rules now.”
Quayle returned at ten the following morning, rested and clean-shaven, and gave Chloe half a smile as she opened the door to him. Eicheman and Cockburn were already here waiting, but Alexi Kirov had been gone for hours, settling in his reaction team who had arrived at dawn.
“Do you have the letter?” Quayle asked Cockburn.
Cockburn held up a buff envelope. “It’s got your name on it. I guess this is it.”
Quayle took it, slit it open and pulled a single closely typed page from the envelope. Reading it, he smiled bleakly.
“Well?” Cockburn asked.
Quayle nodded.
“So we can start?”
“We can,” Quayle said. Walking to the table, he lifted the coffee pot. “Munchen Dag AG are a company registered in Munich, but they have a Bonn office and a farm outside Frankfurt. They’re in the thick of this scene somewhere.” He threw another envelope on the table. “This is my investigator’s report on them. You’ll also find a report on a Bonn law firm who have had a stringer doing work for this outfit.” He paused. “We need to push the investigation from within. Kurt will be able to find us some BND computer time after hours and an operator. Let’s see what shit we can dredge up.” He began to pour coffee into a cup that someone had already used. “Then we want a safe house and a tame shrink. Someone with experience and access to interrogative drugs.”
“Why?” Cockburn asked.
“I’m going to snatch two men tonight. Wring them dry and deliver them back none the wiser. We’ll need a linguist as well. Someone who speaks Cantonese.”
“Not the Chinese,” Cockburn said. “That’s all we need.”
“No, it’s not just them. Its the other side too.”
“Taiwan?”
“Hong Kong. The billionaires, the triads, maybe both. They’re the third piece of the puzzle. Destabilise perestroika. Create suspicion. I think they’re funding the bulk of it…”
“For what?” Kurt asked.
“My guess is for an extension of the lease on the island and territory.”
“Say again?” Cockburn said softly.
“I think they’ve done a deal with Beijing. If they put a halt to the reform process in Europe, they get another lease period on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the new Territories.”
“Jesus Christ. That’s incredible!”
“And profitable for everyone. This is a meeting of some great financial minds and some huge resources.” He sipped his coffee. “If I’m right, then it’s also the single largest conspiracy in history.”
“But why would they want to give up Hong Kong?” Chloe asked
“They never had it in the first place,” Cockburn cut in, immediately understanding Quayle’s theory. “Secondly, when they get it, they wouldn’t know what to do with it – turn it back into China proper under the regime? Allow it free port status? How to reconcile that with the new clamp down? All they really know is that they have a powerful bargaining chip with the right quarters.”
“Why not offer it back to Britain?” she asked
“The Brits don’t want it. They’ve been shaking off the colonies for years, and still suffering the effects. The last thing they want is to extend one of them. Boat people, nationalism, the passport issue. They can all be addressed now, once and for all. If they extended the lease, they’d extend the problems and give them time to magnify later… No,” Cockburn went on, “the Foreign office is adamant about this one. Get rid of the bloody place and make it someone else’s problem.”
“Then why not allow it independence?” she countered.
“Under Brit control the Chinese have been content that the subversive elements are at least kept in check. They just wouldn’t grant independence to a section of their powerbase anymore than to Canton or any other place. No, I’m quite certain Ti is right. They’ll hand over to a select few, with certain guarantees. The big business interests, the powerful families. But not for nothing. They want the world’s interest away from Tiananmen. They don’t want to be the last bastion of a system they believe works. They’re Communists remember, in the only place it ever worked.”
Chloe looked at Quayle, who nodded and swilled around the contents of his cup.
“How are they going to do this?” Kurt asked him.
“Perestroika has its internal enemies, men ready to revert to the old ways, to take the seats of power.
