“My field asset, Valentin Kovalenko, is very good. I can have him meet again with his agent, Darren Lipton, and force him to apply pressure to his agent, Melanie Kraft, to find out how the intrusion was detected.”
Tong shook his head. “No. Hendley Associates was a curiosity. We hoped to learn their role in the American intelligence hierarchy. But then they became a problem in Hong Kong. Then came Miami, where they were even more of a nuisance. Our measures against them have been insufficient. I do not have time to devote to unraveling the mystery of Hendley Associates. If they have detected our presence on their network, then they might have more information about us than we know. It is time for larger measures.”
“Yes, Center. As was always the case, we can covertly report them to the American authorities, or direct one of our proxy assets in the American press to investigate them.”
Tong shook his head. “They know about us. Revealing them to the world reveals us to the world. No, we can’t do that.”
“Yes, Center.”
Tong thought for a moment more and then said, “I will call in Crane.”
“Yes, Center. Shall I end our relationship with Lipton?”
“No. He is FBI. He might still be useful. His agent, though… the girlfriend of the President’s son?”
“Melanie Kraft.”
“Yes. She has proved worthless, and she can compromise our asset Lipton. Send her details to Crane. I will have him remove that compromise.”
“Yes, Center.”
SIXTY-ONE
Domingo Chavez and Sam Driscoll sat in Gerry Hendley’s office with Gerry and Sam Granger. For the first time in the two years Chavez had worked for The Campus, Hendley’s laptop was not open on his desk. Instead he’d zipped it up in a leather bag and put the bag in his closet. It seemed a little paranoid to Ding, but there was a lot of that going around these days.
It was after eleven p.m., but no one commented on the late hour. The only topic of discussion was the potential to follow Mary Pat Foley’s request for help inside China.
Granger said, “We’ve found a way to get you into Beijing, and I talked to the Red Hand representative and let him know we might be requesting their help.”
Driscoll asked, “What’s our access?”
“The Propaganda Department of the PRC is conducting a major charm offensive with other nations around the world. Trying to rally support for China and pull support away from the United States. They are inviting foreign media outlets to come to Beijing to learn about China from a Chinese perspective, not what Hollywood says about it.”
Chavez said, “I’ve used media credentials as cover for status on more than one occasion in my career.”
“Yeah, the Propaganda Department is pledging free movement of the press in China throughout this conflict.”
Chavez said, “Yeah? I’ve heard other dictatorships say the same shit.”
Granger conceded the point. “You can figure that every step you take will be with a government minder on your arm and clandestine surveillance will be monitoring your every move.”
Driscoll said, “That sounds like it might interfere with our plans to work with a group of cutthroat criminals to link up with a group of armed rebels.”
Chavez chuckled.
Granger laughed, too, then said, “Red Hand has a plan to get you away from the minders.” He looked down at his notepad. “In Beijing the Ministry of Culture will offer you the opportunity to go on a number of media excursions. One of the excursions will be to the Great Wall. There is a main location where they visit, and a secondary, less traveled location. The name of it is listed here. You are to ask to see that portion of the wall.”
Driscoll asked, “And then what?”
“Somehow they will get you away from the minders, at which point they will take you to the rebels.”
“Tell me what you know about the rebel force.”
“One of their number is a cop, and he’s been alerting them to police crackdowns, government movements, and the like. They have been doing small-scale harassing actions against the government out in the provinces. They set some government vehicles on fire, blew up a couple of rail lines.
“So far Chinese state-run media has covered it up. No surprise there. But they are planning on acting next inside of Beijing, where there is a lot of international media and foreigners who can spread the word. That’s their main goal, starting a small fire that will grow and grow like the protests grew.
“They claim to have a well-trained force of over three hundred rebels, as well as small arms. They want to hit back against the Chicoms.”
Chavez was incredulous. “They want to take on the Army? Are they insane?”
Driscoll echoed the sentiment: “Excuse me if I don’t faint from excitement. They sound like lambs to the slaughter.”
Granger shook his head. “Obviously they are not going to topple the government with a counterinsurgency. Not with three hundred guys. Hell, not with three hundred thousand guys. But maybe we can use them.”
“Use them for what?” Ding asked.
“If a shooting war starts, Mary Pat wants assets in the capital city. These rebels are in place and might be just what we need. It’s hard to get a straight read on how successful they’ve been. The Chinese government makes out like they are a couple of mosquito bites, and the rebels are proclaiming that they are a gnat’s-ass distance from toppling the Communist government.”
Driscoll groaned. “I think we have to go on the assumption that, on this one issue, the official word from Beijing is closer to the truth.”
“I agree. But even if the rebels aren’t exactly an organized and elite fighting force, if we get over there with the right equipment and intelligence, we will provide a force multiplication effect.”
Ding asked, “What are their politics?”
Granger shrugged. “Confused. They are against the government — on that they all agree. Otherwise they are just a disparate band of students. Plus there are some criminals in the mix, folks on the run from the cops, AWOL soldiers.”
Chavez asked, “Are our document guys good enough to get us into Beijing?”
“Yeah. We can get you into the country, but you’ll be going in light.”
Gerry Hendley added, “Shit, you’ll be going in naked. You will be foreigners in a city that is wary of foreigners.”
Chavez said, “We’ll need to bring Caruso back for this. He can play Italian, at least in front of the Chinese.”
Hendley nodded, looked to Granger. Sam did not seem happy about it, but he said, “Do it. But not Ryan. Not there.”
Chavez said, “Okay. We get Caruso, and I’ll go. What about you, Sam?”
Driscoll was not sold. “Just trust the killers and thieves of Red Hand to take us to some untested rebel force. Is that the plan, basically?”
Granger replied, “You don’t have to do this.”
Driscoll thought it over and then said, “Under normal conditions, this would be way too thin to chance it. But I think we have to give it a shot.” He sighed. “What the hell, I’m in.”
Hendley nodded appreciatively, then said, “Damn lot of unknowns on this, guys. I am not prepared to green- light you for any action, but I will let you three go over there and sniff around. You meet with the rebels, send me your best impressions of what is going on, and together we’ll decide if this is something that we can pursue.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Chavez, and he looked at the other two men on his side of the desk.
“Works for me,” said Driscoll.
Granger stood up, signifying the end of the meeting. “Okay. Head down to operations and order a full
