picking up speed. It moved toward the terminal building, on the opposite side from where they’d come out. The personnel carriers were on their right. Then the driver found a road marked with reflectors across the wide asphalt concourse and turned sharply. Their speed gradually increased as they moved away from the terminal building. They passed some maintenance vehicles, then slowed as they approached a hangar.
A two-engined Fokker 50 passenger plane sat out front. The truck stopped.
Zeus pulled the door handle next to him, only to find it was secured by a lock that allowed it to be opened only from the outside.
They sat in the dark for a moment. Zeus considered the odds of overpowering both men in the front. He could strangle the driver easily enough; could Christian take the other?
Push the man aside, flip over the seat — he’d probably be able to make it before anyone in the bed behind them or outside could react. Once in the driver’s seat, he could simply back up, drive around to the front.
Desperation move.
Was it better than just doing nothing?
Yes.
He was just turning to Christian, intending on miming what he wanted to do, when the door next to him opened.
It was Solt Jan. “Out. On the plane. Let’s go!” she ordered.
“What the hell?” asked Christian under his breath.
Zeus followed Solt to the stairs leading to the aircraft. He walked deliberately, trying to observe the surroundings without being too obvious. There were some mechanics or maintenance personnel in the hangar, but no soldiers.
He glanced back at Christian, who was still back near the truck.
Was Christian thinking of making a break for it?
Don’t, thought Zeus. Play this through.
Christian started walking. He was mumbling when he reached the steps.
“I’m hungry,” he said.
“There’s probably food on the plane.”
“Right.”
Zeus went up and found Solt waiting just inside the door.
“Take the seats in row six,” she whispered. She handed him their passports. “Say nothing.”
“Where are we going?”
“Say nothing,” she hissed. “Good luck.”
8
“The attack a few hours ago on our invasion fleet illustrates a capacity we had not realized the Vietnamese had,” continued Lo Gong. He turned to the large display at the front of the war room. “There have been attacks on the harbor, and encounters all along the coast. We dare not move the fleet forward until we have cleared the waters.”
“How many were true encounters, and how many were sailors having panic attacks?” said General Qingyun Pu sharply. It was not a question. Qingyun headed the air force, and was Cho Lai’s most aggressive general.
“We have images of the attack and casualty reports,” answered Lo Gong. “We’ve already lost two patrol boats and several landing craft. Perhaps the air force believes it can do a better job.”
“We could flatten Vietnam in a day.”
“You haven’t even conquered Hanoi,” answered Gong.
“Enough,” said Cho Lai. The premier liked Qingyun Pu, but the defense minister had a point. “What is the impact on our plans?”
“We are shifting our resources,” said the general. “We will be ready to launch a different attack along the coast within hours.”
“Good.”
“The next question is what the American Navy will do,” said Lo Gong. He pointed to a spot near the southern Vietnamese coast. “The American destroyer sent to test the blockade has been moving north. We are continuing to shadow him. At the moment, it is the nearest vessel. Most of the American fleet is near Taiwan.”
“How do we know the destroyer didn’t launch the attack?” asked the premier.
“The destroyer was out of range, Your Excellency.”
“What about an American submarine?”
The defense minister lowered his gaze. “As for an American submarine, I can assure you, the Americans would have made a much larger attack. We have our aircraft carrier to worry about. No, this was a surprise and beyond what we thought the Vietnamese could launch, but far less than the American capacity. They are still out of the war. They are afraid to attack.”
Cho Lai kept his thoughts on that subject to himself.
The discussion continued. The main thrust of the Chinese army had been slowed by the destruction of the dams west of Hanoi. The flood-waters were gradually subsiding, and the attack could be resumed within a few days. Ho Chi Minh City would be theirs within a week.
“Assuming the political winds remain in our favor,” said the defense minister.
“I will worry about the winds,” said Cho Lai. “You push our generals to be more aggressive. They act like old women, afraid of their own shadows.”
The intelligence reports said American public opinion was against intervention. Cho Lai wasn’t so sure.
Even with their well-documented decline, the Americans were a force that must be dealt with carefully. Militarily, they were still ahead of the Chinese in many areas — not all, however, and the gap was closing rapidly, but Cho Lai knew it was best to avoid direct conflict for at least another year, perhaps two or even three. He needed the time not so much to catch up with their weaponry — the estimate there was closer to a year and a half — but to get his people healthy again. The drought that had spread from western China had devastated much of the rural population. The impact could be measured in calories — the average peasant in Yunnan Province ate five hundred calories per day.
Five hundred. A quarter of what was needed to live. Those who had fled to the cities fared somewhat better, but even in the places where food was plentiful, wages were unable to keep up. He was not surprised that there had been food riots; the wonder was that there hadn’t been more.
Just enough to bring him to power. But surely that wouldn’t last. He needed Vietnam, its oil, but mostly its rice, its soil, and its climate. And he needed Cambodia and Thailand. The shifting of the weather patterns had favored them all at China’s expense.
“Your Excellency?”
Cho Lai looked up. His intelligence minister, Ludi Yan, had returned to his office after taking a call outside.
“The agent we sent almost reached him on the bridge,” said Ludi Yan. “But the plan fell short.”
Cho Lai nodded.
“The man — we believe he died. We are looking for his body.”
