War of Eagles

Chou’s jet, not on it. That could be a singular incident. Or it could be the start of something larger.” He looked at Anita. “A purge of government leaders, perhaps. More than a few are here now.”

The translator’s slightly angry expression suddenly grew more concerned. She finished translating and looked at her father. His own features were still neutral. He was, above all, a good politician.

“The guards are drawn from different branches of the military and rotated every six months,” Le said. “I will find out who may have come from the Zhuhai command.”

“Thank you,” Hood said.

Le excused himself and went back to his car. Anita and Hood remained behind.

“Your concern is for the rocket,” she said.

“And our lives,” Hood told her.

“Why don’t you leave the complex? We can search for the general’s personnel, if there are any.”

“I don’t like the idea of running,” Hood said.

“So you are staying to be manly?” she asked. “Like James Bond?”

He could not tell if she were kidding or not. “I am doing my job,” he replied.

She smiled. “That is a very responsible answer. It is also very Chinese.”

So, apparently, is megalomania and murder, Hood wanted to tell her. He refrained. The woman had her own definition of the Chinese character. It was about industry and honor, very much a reflection of how she saw her father. He would let her have that. He suspected that only events would rewrite her definitions.

Le returned. His expression bore a touch of gravity it had not possessed before.

“A unit was recently rotated in from Zhuhai,” Le said. “I have asked that those individuals be brought to the Command and Control Center. I am going to meet them there now.”

“Where were they stationed?” Hood asked.

“Originally, they were checking passes at the front gate.”

“Originally?” Hood asked.

“Three weeks ago they were relocated at the request of the general himself,” Le said. “He said this rocket was important to his base. He wanted to make sure the boosters were being watched by people he had trained and whom he trusted.”

“I would like to go with you,” Hood said.

“No. I will let you know what I find out. You can wait in the Technical Center if you wish. I will contact you there.”

“Sir, we have less than ninety minutes to launch—”

“All the more reason for me to get to the command center,” the prime minister said as he turned and left.

Hood started after him. “Anita, please ask him to wait.”

“My father has told you what he plans to do,” Anita said.

“Yes, but I have experience in this area—”

“Not here,” she replied. “You don’t even speak the language.”

“I can read expressions, body language.” Hood stopped. He looked back at the woman as Le got in the car. “Dammit, everything—anything—might help.”

“If my father wants help, he will ask for it.”

“When?” Hood asked. “After the rocket is destroyed?”

“My father knows what he is doing,” Anita said. “He is an able man.”

“But not infallible,” Hood snapped. “He let the entire situation with the general and Chou Shin get away from him—”

“Mr. Hood, we are quite finished.”

“No! You’ve stopped listening, which is not the same thing. The stakes are high here, Anita! This is not a time for ego.”

“For once I agree with you, Mr. Hood. He told you where to wait, and I suggest you go there. Now, please excuse me. I, too, have a job to do.” The woman strode toward the Technical Center.

Hood raised his hands in exasperation. But anger was not going to help, and he lowered them. He remained beside the wide asphalt road that ran through the complex. The cars were still parked by the side of the building. A guard at the door of the center watched Hood but did not move from his post.

The rising sun was hot, and Hood was perspiring. Only the slightest breeze moved across the field. Hood pulled his cell phone from the loop on his belt. He wanted to call Rodgers and tell him what he had learned about a squad from Zhuhai. At least he knew where the general’s team had been. It would allow the marines to narrow their patrol zone.

Unfortunately, the communications at the complex interfered with the signal. He would have to find some other way to get this information to Rodgers.

Quickly.

FIFTY-TWO

Zhuhai, China Thursday, 10:49 A.M.

Before leaving his post, one of the soldiers in the booster security detail sent an E-mail message to Zhuhai. It read:

Team recalled by PM.

It was not the kind of message the general wanted to receive. There was slightly more than an hour until launch. If the device he had planted were discovered and the rocket took off safely, the rationale for what he was planning to do next would evaporate. Without the explosion, Tam Li could never convince the surviving president that Taiwan had used the disaster — perhaps even caused it — to press a military advantage, and only the quick action of the general had thwarted a major strike against targets along China’s eastern coastline.

It was dramatic action that would merit the general’s appointment as the new minister of defense, or perhaps even as the prime minister. Since it was no longer necessary to attach suspicion to the late Chou Shin, Tam Li could concentrate on the purely military aspects of the action.

As long as the rocket blows up. Without that, he had nothing.

Tam Li sat alone in his office, staring out the window and thinking. He was not a man prone to displays of anger or frustration. He preferred to use his energies more effectively. Every problem had at least one solution, often more. It was simply a matter of finding the right one. The general had spoken with the white team officers when they came in from extinguishing the fire. They were loyal soldiers who understood why he had destroyed the aircraft. They were also well-paid members of Tam Li’s black market gang. Explaining to Beijing what had happened on the airfield would not be a problem. Chou Shin’s explosives-laden jet had blown up. The pulling of his rocket team was a greater concern, especially if the prime minister suspected an attack. A new security crew might find what had been done to the rocket.

The irony was that when they were called in, the Xichang team had been getting set to pull back and leave the space complex. They did not want to be within fifty miles of the facility when the plutonium core exploded. Tam Li could not count on them remaining silent as the countdown progressed. If they were still in the complex, chances were good they would die.

And then it occurred to him, a way to fix this situation. Tam Li would use the hide-in-plain-sight scenario.

He pressed the intercom on his telephone.

“Yes, General?”

“Get me the Xichang space center,” he said. “I want to speak with the prime minister at once.”

“Yes, sir.”

Tam Li would tell the prime minister why he had assigned those men to the boosters, and why he must let