Chang looked at his watch. He was becoming impatient. “Time’s up,” he said. “You won’t like what happens next.”
Dr. Ma sighed. He bit his lip, paused, and then began speaking.
“They need the Ministry because we run the agents. 2PLA and 3PLA don’t have the goods. We do. The PLA hates us, but they can’t stop us. This is our ticket. Isn’t that what you say? Our ‘ticket.’ Our card. It keeps us in business.”
“What’s your mission? Come on, professor. No point in delaying. Let’s get you back to the villa, tucked in your bed.”
Dr. Ma exhaled again. When you have begun talking, it’s hard to finish. He adjusted his glasses, trying to maintain a bit of dignity.
“We try to penetrate the American quantum programs that become classified. The ones that ‘go black.’ Isn’t that your word? Those are our targets. I help the Ministry think about where to place our contacts. Where to collect. What to watch. The technical details. This knowledge keeps our ministry in business. They can fire all the MSS vice ministers they want. But as long as we have this knowledge, we survive. You see?”
Dr. Ma sounded almost proud. This was his gift. His special thing. Chang took a deep breath. His man was nearly there.
“That’s very good. How would you say it in Chinese? ‘Holy fuck!’ ”
“Wo cao!” said Dr. Ma. Yes, holy fuck. A transaction had just been made. Now he wanted compensation. Reassurance.
“Now, I have a question for you, Mr. 101st Airborne. How will you protect me? You promised that I would be safer, but how? I feel that I am more vulnerable.”
“Listen, Lao Ma. You have begun a secret relationship with the most powerful intelligence agency in the world. Believe me, you’re safer now than you were twenty-four hours ago. We will help you protect your money, and we’re the best in the world at that. We can monitor every computer and every financial transaction on the planet. As powerful as you think we are, we are much more so.”
“Very nice, I suppose.” Dr. Ma made a slight, almost imperceptible bow.
“We will also give you money. A lot of money, as a ‘thank you.’ We will assist your friend in Vancouver, invisibly, so that she never knows. We can help your daughter at Stanford in finding the best graduate school. Like her dad. We can even help you with your work by giving you information to guide you in the Ministry. We want our friends to succeed. You’ll be a hero. They’ll promote you.”
“I am happy with my current position. When can I return to my hotel?”
Chang raised his hand.
“Not yet. We need to know a few more things. You understand? And we need to arrange procedures for communication.”
“I’ve already told you what you wanted to know. The Scorpion. That’s the special project, Mr. Tong. There is nothing else.”
“Call me ‘Peter,’ please. I’ll call you Yubo. We’re brothers now. We can’t have any secrets. That ended when I walked into your room today. Okay?”
Chang was trying to talk gently. He knew that the Chinese scientist was exhausted and that, if pushed too far, he would freeze. But nothing Dr. Ma had said so far was really actionable intelligence. They were still at the level of generalities, which would turn to mush when Chang compiled his reporting cable.
Mark Flanagan, S&T’s best tech, was down the hall with a bull-necked assistant from Support. They could intimidate the scientist even more, but that would be a mistake. Dr. Ma was a frightened man; under duress, he would say whatever he thought people wanted to hear. The nuance of his scientific understanding would disappear.
“Let’s have some tea. Green tea or black?”
Dr. Ma didn’t answer, so Chang made two cups of Lipton and brought them over with milk and sugar.
Dr. Ma let his tea sit, steam rising above the cup. He had started to cry. Not sobs or sniffles, but silent tears running down his cheeks.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Ma. This will be over soon. Here’s what I need before we break for the evening, so that you can go back to your hotel and get some rest. I need to know the names of your American agents in Scorpion.”
Dr. Ma wiped his eye with a tissue and tried to look dignified.
“I don’t know their names. We use code.”
“Yes, but you know where they work. Otherwise how could you give them instructions and evaluate their work? Help me out, and then we’re done.”
Dr. Ma shook his head. The tears seemed to have brought a new stubbornness, or self-pity. It was hard to read the man’s face.
“I have gone far enough. I have given you the clues you need. The rest, you can discover for yourself.”
Chang sat back in his chair. He cupped his chin in his hand while he thought for a moment about how to develop this case. The East Asia Division veterans said it was a mistake to squeeze the Chinese too hard. They would crack. But in this case, gentle wasn’t going to work. Ma was too fragile to last much longer.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Ma. That’s not how it works. You don’t give us clues. You give us information. Otherwise, bad things can happen.”
Chang reached down to the FedEx envelope that he had brought from the sitting room thirty minutes before. It was under the Luxembourg Asset Management dossier, but now he took it in his hands. It contained several dozen pages. He laid the envelope before Dr. Ma.
“The express package is addressed to someone in China. Can you read the address?”
Dr. Ma read the script. “No,” he said.
“Yes, of course, you can read it. The package is addressed to the head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in Beijing. It is to be sent directly to his private quarters in the leadership compound. You know who he is, I assume?”
The Chinese scientist tried to speak, but he choked on the words at first, so the CIA officer answered his own question.
“This gentleman is the enforcer of your party’s anti-corruption campaign. He has prosecuted generals and admirals, even a minister of public security who was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee.”
Dr. Ma shuddered. He knew all too well the purge that was swirling around the upper levels of the Chinese bureaucracy.
“And you know, Dr. Ma, that the Discipline Commission is always looking for new targets, new symbols of the abuse of power and rot in the senior levels of the government. The chief of the commission hates your ministry. He hates everyone from Shanghai. He would find what’s in that envelope to be a small treasure.”
“What have you put in the package?” Dr. Ma spoke the words so quietly they were almost inaudible.
“You know what’s there. It’s the story of Dr. Ma Yubo, a very prominent Chinese scientist, who grew up in Shanghai with all the privileges of the elite and stole money from the people. It has all the information in your investment dossier, and more.”
“No.”
“Yes. I think this matter would be of great concern to the Discipline Commission. I think they would be very upset. You would be destroyed, I am afraid to say, and I fear that would also be the case with all of your family and friends. This shame would endure, as long as people remembered your name.”
Dr. Ma reached for the folder but the case officer had already pulled it away. He held it aloft in his hand. The Chinese scientist was crying again. He bowed his head. He was submissive now, entirely. He choked back a sob and then, after a long pause, spoke words coated in black.
“What do you want? I am lost. I have no face. I have only shame.”
Chang reached out his hand to Dr. Ma’s elbow, as if to a bolster a man who had lost his balance.
“Save yourself, doctor, and those you love. Talk to me. You will remember this as a day of happiness and relief from your burdens.”
Dr. Ma held his head in his hands and swayed in his chair. He didn’t believe a word of what the American said.
Chang let him rock, silently, for twenty seconds. The Chinese man would come across this final bridge. He had no alternative.
“Very well.” Dr. Ma sighed in despa
ir and then continued.
“The primary agent in Scorpion is referred to only by a number, which is regularly changed. I do not remember the current number, but it would be useless to you. Soon it will be something different. Handling of the cables about this agent is very restricted, even within the Tenth Bureau. Very few within the Ministry even know of the case. They keep it from the joint group and the PLA. It is their secret. The PLA is very angry, but they have no choice but to accept. We have the asset.”
“What do people say about him? How do they describe him?”
“Among those who know, he has an informal code name in Chinese. It is ‘Rukou,’ which means ‘The Doorway.’ That is the way the Ministry thinks about him, as a door.”
Chang took a shallow breath. He didn’t want to break the mood, now that the information was finally flowing.
“Does he work at the CIA, this agent Rukou?”
“Yes, I think so. He has access to all the different scientific programs that your government runs, the ‘IARPA’ and the ‘In-Q-Tel’ and the different directorates. That is why he is so precious. He sees all the traffic back and forth. He is the door.”
“And you help evaluate the projects that Rukou tells you about. How does that work?”
“So much is public. This the biggest science project in the world, but no one understands what works. We can see all the unclassified grants that IARPA is making. We know about the work all the private companies do. Microsoft, Google, Apple. They all are doing things in this ‘quantum’ space. They publish papers, we read them. They fund joint research. They travel to conferences. That’s where I help.”
“How? What’s your job as adviser?”
“To advise. I understand technology. I have worked with many of the universities and private companies. We have hundreds of Chinese students who work on related projects. When we need to find out what is working and what isn’t—the things that aren’t published in the papers—we can.”
“In the middle, a Scorpion. And beyond that, a Doorway.”
“We have a thousand men! That’s what they call these big collection programs now. A thousand men. Maybe these days it is ten thousand.” Dr. Ma emitted a grunt that was almost a laugh. “You are very generous with your research grants.”
“But what about the classified part?”
“I told you. That is why we have The Doorway.”
“To go places that would be closed.”
“Yes, of course. When things go dark, we know that the Americans have found something important. A grant recipient disappears from the open list, so we assume that the research is now classified, meaning that it is productive. So we ask Rukou to help us find where things went in the dark. I help write the questions and then interpret the answers for the Ministry, so we can use our asset wisely.”
Chang was going down his list, mentally checking the boxes that John Vandel had given him. There were a few more items.
“Have you ever heard of a company called ‘Parcourse Technology Partners’? It’s a venture capital fund. We think your ministry runs it.”
“Yes, maybe. Parcourse. I think so. There are so many names and fronts, I don’t follow them all.”
Chang shook his head in mock disgust. “You’re stealing our biggest secrets.”
“We are sharing. Science is for everyone. And you make it so easy. We have a wise helper in Rukou, a person who believes in global peace.”
“You must know who this Rukou is, Dr. Ma. I don’t believe that you are unaware.”
“I don’t know the identity. I never wanted to ask. You can believe what you like. I have nothing left to hide from you. What does it matter? Already people would say I am bùyàoliăn de dōngxi. I have no shame and I am less than human. Why would I lie?”
“Just tell me the truth, even the little pieces that sound like gossip. What have you heard about Rukou? Is he a senior official? Is he married? Does he travel?”
Dr. Ma shook his head. It was almost a shiver.
“I am so tired,” he said. “So tired of everything.”
“I know. A little more. We’re almost there. Then you can rest.”
Dr. Ma closed his eyes, as if he could not bear to watch.
“Rukou is a senior person. If he were not high level, he would not have so much access. Rukou does travel. Sometimes we meet him overseas. I don’t know where.”
“Who meets him?”
“Eh?” Dr. Ma was resisting again.
“Who meets him, Dr. Ma? This is important.”
“A senior officer. Quite senior. I don’t know who. This is a very big secret. They do not even tell the PLA about this case.”
“It’s that important?”
“The Ministry has lost so many battles with the PLA. This Rukou is our most precious asset. Maybe our only one left.”
“What else have you heard about Rukou? Things about his personal life. His past assignments. Anything that can help us . . .” He broke off.
“Find him?” Dr. Ma snorted, weakly. “Good luck.”
“Yes, find him. I need anything you can remember. A personal detail that you heard in the corridor, at lunch, or from a friend down the hall.”
Dr. Ma closed his eyes again. This was the last shred of betrayal.
“Rukou has a relative within the CIA. An uncle, a brother, a cousin, a something. I don’t know. My bureau director said it once, several years ago. That was why Rukou knew so much. He had family in the intelligence business.”
“Thank you.” The CIA officer’s face was still set hard, but it betrayed a trace of satisfaction. He looked at his watch. “It’s late.”
Dr. Ma shrugged. He had given up more than the information. His soul had gone out of his body. He was a spirit person now.
“I know you’re tired. Maybe it’s time for you to go back to your hotel. We have a cab at the stand that can take you back. You’ll be safe. We have reserved the villas on either side of you.”
“And what then, the day after tomorrow?”
“You’ll attend your conference and then go back to Beijing and return to your job.”
Dr. Ma shook his head. “Impossible.”
Chang reached out again toward the computer scientist, who looked as if he had aged twenty years in the last hour.
“We can do this, together. Tomorrow we’ll go over the communications procedures. We’ll give you a device. It will look like your iPhone. It can’t be opened or broken or cracked. It uses wireless signals that can’t be captured either. It’s called a SRAC. Short-Range Agent Communications. It has always worked in Beijing.”
Dr. Ma was looking away. “Bah!” he said.
Chang wasn’t sure whether the older man’s response meant that the Chinese had broken the SRAC system, or that he didn’t believe it would work, but he would save that conversation for later. Dr. Ma was on the edge.
“We’ll discuss communications tomorrow in another location. We’ll have a whole condo for you on Beach Road. You see how much we like you?”
Dr. Ma didn’t laugh. He looked dispossessed. He shook his head.
“I am zhao si. Looking for trouble. Looking for death. I am no good to you.”
“Come now, Dr. Ma. You’re just tired.”
Chang took a communications device out of his pocket and buzzed Flanagan in the next room, who had been recording every word.
“It’s time,” he said.
He stood and offered the scientist his arm. Dr. Ma remained sitting until the younger man tugged at his elbow and he rose.
“We’ll take you back to your hotel, Dr. Ma. Have a good dinner from room service and a drink. Get some rest. Don’t do anything stupid, because we’ll be watching. Okay? Then we’ll think about the future. I’ll explain the payments we will make, and how they will be hidden.”
“I cannot do it.”
“Sure you can. We’ll talk about a new treat for Jasmine. How would she like a Mercedes-Benz? Or a BMW convertible? We can arrange for you to bring it to her in
Vancouver. Drive it to her door. How does that sound?”
Dr. Ma studied the younger man’s face.
“You are wen shen. Do you know what that means? It means you are a troublemaker. Someone who plagues god.”
“I’m your friend,” said the CIA officer, steering his new asset toward the door. “Your best friend. You’ll see.”
Dr. Ma stopped at the door. Two Support agents had already arrived, dressed as hotel staff, to get the Chinese man down to the car and back to Sentosa. But he had something more to say.
“I feel sorry for you,” he said, looking his host directly in the eye for the first time since he had come to the Holiday Inn. “I tried to make you a compliment when I first met you. I spoke to you as a Chinese man. But I see I was wrong. You are a banana. A man who has Chinese skin but is white inside. You are a high nose. You look Chinese, but you are not. How sad.”
Dr. Ma turned and walked out the door, framed by the two men from Support. He was unsteady at first, and the officer worried that his recruit’s legs might collapse under him. But the Chinese man steadied, and his posture became erect and his steps firm. It was as if he had seen the future and was walking deliberately toward it.
4.
GRANGE ROAD, SINGAPORE
Harris Chang sat down on the couch in Room 1028 after Dr. Ma had departed. He was flushed with the exhilaration of pitching the Chinese scientist, but even more with its implications. When someone says your agency has been penetrated, what do you do? He closed his eyes, but only for a moment. His body was tingling. He needed to move quickly.
His first call was to Mark Flanagan, the S&T technician next door.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” exclaimed Flanagan. “That was pretty damn good, Harris.”
“You think?” Chang considered what had just gone down. “I guess you’re right. That was pretty good.”
“Never heard a cleaner pitch,” said Flanagan. “That guy was so scared, he gave it all up.”
“We need to hold this tight, Mark. Airtight. Watertight.”
“Tight,” said Flanagan from next door.
Flanagan was a lanky red-haired man whose long legs always made his pants seem too short. He had survived his two decades in the Science and Technology Division on pure competence and a black Irishman’s talent for staying out of the way of career-killing superiors. He regarded the younger Chinese-American case officer as a smarter kid brother.
The Quantum Spy Page 4