War of Eagles

“A summary,” McCaskey said. “The FBI has a listening device at the NPC. Chou read excerpts pertaining to intelligence issues pertinent to folding a British colony into China.”

“The success of that merging, which relies on a handsoff policy, would obviously not sit well with him,” Carrie said.

“To say the least,” McCaskey agreed. “He would watch it closely, and he would also watch for other signs of erosion. He would use the system to provide funds for his own purposes, as in South Africa, but he would not want to see that free enterprise concept expand.”

“Especially among the people who are sworn to uphold the old ways,” Carrie added.

“We can be pretty sure his concerns about the slave trade have nothing to do with humanity,” Herbert observed. “Not with the way he has been blowing people up.”

“Which leaves us, still, with no idea what the endgame is,” Carrie said.

“I wouldn’t say ‘no idea,’ ” McCaskey said. “Getting back to the Mob analogy, if skimming off one society works, what is the next step?”

“Take another, as long as you think no one can or will stop you,” Carrie said. It was not so much an answer as the general thinking aloud. “Take another” was not just the approach of Mafiosi but of greedy heads of state. It was the way Saddam Hussein had taken when invading Kuwait. All the research G2 had conducted suggested that if it came to building or saving face — either because they were challenged or because they wanted something — China would not hesitate to stand up to the United States. The U.S. military could blockade the Chinese coast and enforce no-fly zones for a time, but what would we do if two or three million men suddenly moved into Burma or Laos? Fight another Vietnam War?

“The region is full of tempting targets,” McCaskey went on. “South Korea, Taiwan, Japan. Even Vietnam is coming back, thanks to us.”

“But taking them over would further pollute the system, at least in Chou’s eyes,” Herbert said. “He would never stand for it. Presumably, he has allies in the Communist Party.”

“There might even be enough support that he might attack the interests of someone who was promoting the idea of territorial expansion,” McCaskey said.

“Support or arrogance,” Herbert said. “The Chinese Reds don’t lack for that.”

“Darrell, I assume you’re referring to the interests of Tam Li,” Carrie said.

McCaskey nodded.

“What I don’t get is, where does the rocket tie in to all this?” Herbert asked. “Assuming it does.”

“I don’t know,” McCaskey said. “That’s got me puzzled.”

“The satellite will serve a military function,” Carrie said. “It also represents a foreign foothold in China. Chou would want to undermine both of those.”

“Do you really think he would compromise Chinese security to make a point?” McCaskey asked.

“Not security. Prestige,” Carrie said. “And socialists don’t really care about that. Look, Chou has the same intel we do. He knows that China will not be attacked militarily. What he fears is the end of China as a philosophy. He would risk a great deal to preserve that.”

“But Chou has to see that Communism is a losing battle,” McCaskey said. “If he keeps a market economy from the mainstream, it will flourish underground.”

“Maybe not, if Tam Li loses,” Herbert said. “It will be nickel-and-dime trading at most. People will go back to selling cigarettes and DVDs from trucks instead of slaves from boats.”

“Besides, no extremist ever sees a battle as lost,” Carrie said. “And this struggle is far from over. The Chinese Communist Party still controls the apparatus of government and, as far as we know, most of the military. A decisive defeat of Tam Li would enhance Chou’s standing.”

“I still say there’s a lot of guessing going on,” McCaskey said.

“Hopefully, Paul can find out more,” Herbert said. The intelligence chief regarded Carrie again. “Of course, all of this would go counter to what we were saying about a struggle between the intelligence and military factions.”

“It would,” Carrie replied.

“Maybe there’s a new world coming, one with new alliances, new rivalries, and new rules.”

“It’s possible,” the general agreed. “Is this going anywhere?”

“Just thinking out loud,” Herbert replied.

“The military frowns on too much thinking,” she said. “I guess that’s something I’ll have to get used to.”

“Unless the rules change,” Herbert said.

Carrie was not entirely sure what he was getting at, and she was too tired to deal with it in any case. “I’m going home,” she said. “Call if you have anything solid before the morning.”

Both men said they would.

Carrie left, wondering if she had just gotten a taste of her own little Chou-like rebellion.

Maybe it’s just the man’s exhaustion and the regime change talking, she thought.

General Carrie hoped that was the case.

Bob Herbert would be a difficult man to replace.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Washington, D.C. Wednesday, 2:16 A.M.

“What the hell was that all about?” McCaskey asked when General Carrie had left the floor.

“What do you mean?”

“Please, Bob. This is me you’re talking to—”

“We were just having a discussion,” Herbert insisted.

“You were baiting her.”

Herbert said nothing for a long moment. Why bother? Herbert did not see challenging the general as a bad thing. This was not the military. He had a right to question his superior. But he did not want to debate that with McCaskey. Not at this hour with all they had to do.

“Shouldn’t we be more concerned about the other general?” Herbert asked.

“Yeah. We should.”

“If Tam Li has got some kind of expansionistic ideas in his head, we need to gather intel on him. We should also figure out who to support in this showdown.” Herbert snickered. “Some choice. An aggressive general or a backward-looking Commie.”

“You know, we could use a little military-style discipline here,” McCaskey went on.

The former G-man was obviously not ready to talk about Tam Li.

“What makes you say that?” Herbert asked. “Not just my big mouth—”

“Someone slipped us an e-bomb a couple of months back,” McCaskey said. “Maybe that would not have happened if we had been sharper.”

“That was done by a CIA-connected son of a bitch,” Herbert said. “He had the resources and credentials to put that baby wherever he wanted.”

“He put it here.”

“Do you think General Carrie or anyone could have prevented that?” Herbert asked.

“I don’t know,” McCaskey said. “Since yesterday I’ve been thinking about what Op-Center would be like under the military.”

“Blindly aggressive,” Herbert said.

“Bullshit,” McCaskey said.

“You think so? I’m not a big Paul Hood fan right now. I don’t like what he did to Mike, and I did not appreciate a lot of the crap he brought to his relationships with Liz, Martha, and Ann. Hell, he didn’t get along with women in general. But apart from the e-bomb, the roughest times we’ve ever had involved operations that were under the command of Mike Rodgers, Charlie Squires, and Brett August. All military personnel.”