'Invading another country's airspace?'
'J-2 and I are running this. You want us to know what they're up to and what their capabilities are, don't you?'
'Yes, I need that.'
'Good, you tell me what to do, and let me worry about how, all right? It's a stealthy platform. It self-destructs if it goes out of control or the guys directing it don't like something, and it gives us very good real-time data we can't get from satellites, or even from J-STARS, and we don't have one of those over there at the moment. Any other questions, Mr. President?'
'louche, Admiral. What's the take look like?'
'They're looking better than our initial intelligence assessment led us to expect. Nobody's panicking yet, but this is starting to get our attention.'
'What about Turkestan?' Ryan asked.
'They're evidently trying to get elections going, but that's old information, and that's all we know on the political side. The overall situation there is quiet at the moment. Satellites show increased cross-border traffic— mainly trade, the overhead-intelligence guys think, nothing more than that.'
'Anybody looking at Iranian—damn, UIR—troop dispositions on the border?'
'I don't know. I can check.' Jackson made a note. 'Next, we've spotted the Indian navy.'
'How?'
'They're not making a secret of anything. I had 'em send a pair of Orions off from Diego Garcia. They spotted our friends from three hundred miles out, electronic emissions. They are about four hundred miles offshore from their base. And, by the way, that places them directly between Diego and the entrance to the Persian Gulf. Our defense attache will drop in tomorrow to ask what they're up to. They probably won't tell him very much.'
'If they don't, I think maybe Ambassador Williams will have to make a call of his own.'
'Good idea. And that's the summary of today's news, unless you want the trivia.' Robby tucked his documents away. 'What do your speeches look like?'
'The theme is common sense,' the President reported.
'In Washington?'
ADLER WAS NOT overly pleased. On arriving in Beijing, he'd learned that the timing wasn't good. His aircraft had gotten in on what had turned out to be a Saturday evening—the date line again, he realized—then he learned that the important ministers were out of town, studiously downplaying the significance of the air battle over the strait, and giving him a chance to recover from jet lag so that he would be up to a serious meeting. Or so they'd said.
'What a pleasure to have you here,' the Foreign Minister said, taking the American's hand and guiding him into his private office. Another man was waiting in there. 'Do you know Zhang Han San?'
'No, how do you do, Minister?' Adler asked, taking his hand as well. So, this was what he looked like.
People took their seats. Adler was alone. In addition to the two PRC ministers, there was an interpreter, a woman in her early thirties.
'Your flight was a pleasant one?' the Foreign Minister inquired.
'Coming to your country is always pleasant, but I do wish the flight were faster,' Adler admitted.
'The effects of travel on the body are often difficult, and the body does affect the mind. I trust you have had some time to recover. It is important,' the Foreign Minister went on, 'that high-level discussions, especially in times of unpleasantness, are not clouded by extraneous complications.'
'I am well rested,' Adler assured them. He'd gotten plenty of sleep. It was just that he wasn't sure what time it was in whatever location his body thought itself to be. 'And the interests of peace and stability compel us to make the occasional sacrifice.'
'That is so true.'
'Minister, the unfortunate events of the last week have troubled my country,' SecState told his hosts.
'Why do those bandits seek to provoke us?' the Foreign Minister asked. 'Our forces are conducting exercises, that is all. And they shot down two of our aircraft. The crewmen are all dead. They have families. This is very sad, but I hope you have noted that the People's Republic has not retaliated.'
'We have noted this with gratitude.'
'The bandits shot first. You also know that.'
'We are unclear on that issue. One of the reasons for my coming here is to ascertain the facts,'
Adler replied. 'Ah.' Had he surprised them? SecState wondered. It was like a card game, though the difference was that you never really knew the value of the cards in your own hand. A flush still beat a straight, but the hole card was always down, even for its owner. In this case, he had lied, but while the other side might suspect the lie, they didn't know for sure, and that affected the game. If they thought he knew, they would say one thing. If they thought he didn't know, they'd say another. In this case, they thought he knew, but they weren't sure. He'd just told them otherwise, which could be a lie or the truth. Advantage, America. Adler had thought about this all the way over.
'You have said publicly that the first shot was taken by the other side. Are you sure of this?'
'Completely,' the Foreign Minister assured him. 'Excuse me, but what if the shot were taken by one of your lost pilots? How would we ever know?'
'Our pilots were under strict orders not to fire except in self-defense.'
'That is both a reasonable and prudent guide for your personnel. But in the heat of battle—or if not battle, a somewhat tense situation, mistakes do happen. We have the problem ourselves. I find aviators to be impulsive, especially the young, proud ones.'
'Is not the same true of the other side as well?' the Foreign Minister asked.
'Certainly,' Adler admitted. 'That is the problem, isn't it? Which is why,' he went on, 'it is the business of people like ourselves to ensure that such situations do not arise.'
'But they always provoke us. They hope to garner your favor, and we find it troubling that this may have succeeded.'
'Excuse me?'
'Your President Ryan spoke of two Chinas. There is only one China, Secretary Adler. I'd thought that issue settled a long time ago.'
'That was a semantic error on the President's part, a linguistic nuance,' Adler replied, dismissing the observation. 'The President has many qualities, but he has yet to learn the niceties of diplomatic exchange, and then a foolish reporter seized on the issue. Nothing more than that. There have been no changes in our policies toward this region.' But Adler had deliberately not said 'our policies,' and 'have been' instead of 'are.' There were times when he thought that he might have made a fortune for himself by drafting insurance policies.
'Such linguistic errors can be seen as things other than errors,' the Foreign Minister replied.
'Have I not made our position clear on this issue? You will recall that he was responding to a most unfortunate incident in which American lives were lost, and in searching for words to use, he selected words which have one meaning in our language, and another in yours.' This was going a lot easier than he'd expected.
'Chinese lives were lost as well.'
Zhang, Adler saw, was doing a lot of listening but wasn't uttering a single word. In the Western context, that made him an aide, a technical assistant, there to assist his minister on an issue of law or interpretation. He wasn't so sure that rule applied in this case. More likely, the reverse applied. If Zhang were what the American thought him to be, and if Zhang were smart enough to suspect that the American would be thinking along those lines—then why the hell was he here?
'Yes, and various others, to little purpose and great sorrow. I hope you will understand that our President takes such things seriously.'
'Indeed, and I am remiss in not saying sooner that we view with horror the attack on his daughter. I trust you will convey to President Ryan our heartfelt sympathy at this inhuman act, and our pleasure that no harm has come to his child.'
'I thank you on his behalf, and I will pass your good wishes along.' Twice in a row now the Foreign Minister had temporized. He had an opening. He reminded himself that his interlocutors thought themselves smarter and shrewder than everybody else. 'My President is a sentimental man,' the Secretary admitted. 'It is an American trait. Moreover, he feels strongly about his duty to protect all of our citizens.'
