“I’m Ambassador Davidson,” said the man, rising from his cot and extending his hand. “Call me Ian.”
Laura rose as well and shook the man’s hand. “Laura Palmer. I’m guessing it was you my fiancée was trying to save.”
“What’s his name?”
“Professor James Acton.”
The man’s eyebrows shot up. “Really! Heady company, your fiancée. I’ve read much about him. And you too, Professor.”
Laura shrugged with a slight smile, then looked over at the cop.
“Are you okay?”
The woman nodded, but seemed to be nursing a head wound.
“Let me look at that,” said Laura, stepping toward the woman.
The woman recoiled in fear, shoving herself against the wall.
“I won’t hurt you. You know I’m not involved in this, otherwise I wouldn’t be here with you.”
The woman looked at her for a moment, then visibly relaxed, her shoulders slumping and the veins in her neck and forehead receding.
Laura sat down beside her and gently moved the woman’s hair aside so she could see the small cut above the left eye.
“I’m Laura, Laura Palmer,” she said as she examined the wound. “Forgive me, but I don’t remember your name.”
“Inspector Hu.”
“Since we’re all in this together, do you have a first name?”
The woman winced, jerking her head away.
“Sorry,” said Laura, sitting back, her examination finished. “You’ll be okay; it doesn’t need stiches, but you should get it washed and put a plaster on it as soon as you get a chance.”
The woman nodded, gingerly touching the wound then looking at her fingers. Apparently satisfied that there was no blood, she looked at Laura.
“Ping.”
“Excuse me?”
“My name. Ping.”
Laura smiled as broadly as she could, trying to reassure the woman she wasn’t a threat. We need everyone working together and trusting one another if we’re going to get out of this.
“Pleasure to meet you.”
Laura pushed herself off the cot, and stepped over to Dawson’s, looking him over. He didn’t have any obvious wounds, and his breathing seemed steady and strong. She gently slapped his cheek, but there was no reaction.
“Out cold,” she said to the others. “They must have really dosed him.”
“Who is he?” asked Ping.
“Mr. White. He’s State Department,” said Ambassador Davidson. He looked at Laura. “You know him?”
She nodded, making direct eye contact with him for a moment, and he nodded, she hoped acknowledging that he realized exactly who and what Dawson was, and that it wasn’t to be mentioned.
She turned to the Inspector.
“Ping, any idea where we are?”
The young woman shook her head.
“No, I woke up here only a few minutes before you did.”
Laura sat back down on her cot, then quickly patted her pockets in the hopes they had missed her cellphone.
No such luck.
Ping smiled. “I checked as well. They took my phone too.”
“I never carry one,” said Ambassador Davidson. “Security reasons.”
Laura nodded. Phones could be tapped and tracked. Not something you wanted happening to your ambassador.
A sound outside the door had them all start, their eyes fixing on the metal grate covering the Judas hole as it slid open. But any hopes at rescue were doused as the door opened, and two heavily armed men in body armor entered, followed by a third who carried a cardboard box that he tossed on the floor.
“Food. Water. Medical supplies,” he said, pointing at the box.
Laura eyed the contents, and suddenly realized how thirsty she was. She reached forward for a bottle of water, when she saw a blur to her left.
Chongqing, China
Two weeks ago
Bo Yang struck an imposing figure, his uniform freshly pressed, his rank and insignia, ceremonial and not yet official, classified him far higher than the top generals in the room. He sat at his desk flanked by two gold flags, their blue dragons boldly displayed, giving the impression they were clawing their way to the top of the poles that held them, locked in an ancient game of King of the Mountain.
And in Bo’s mind, it was he who was that dragon, clawing his way back to the top of the mountain his family had been so unceremoniously kicked from. His grandfather, Mao Zedong, had ruled the country for decades, an emperor in everything but name only, but after his death, the family had been forced underground, but the reemergence was almost complete.
With billions of dollars, pounds and Euros, he had bought the loyalties of the men he needed, and most were in the room now, ready to follow his orders for a chance at ultimate glory and power, and if all else failed, escape from the country that would have them shot for even discussing what was about to happen.
“Everything is ready?” he asked.
His second-in-command, General Liang, nodded. “The killings will begin today across all major cities. We anticipate they will be covered up, but that is part of the plan. Leaflets designed to confuse the issue, will be scattered at the scenes, and the stories slowly leaked internationally. After one week, we will ramp up the killings, and the international community will demand a response. The Committee will meet to discuss this, and I will tell them I’m moving troops into position to restore order should it be necessary. This will satisfy them, and by the end of the second week, we will have armored and infantry divisions, along with air support, in place outside each of the target areas.”
“How much air support?”
“Enough.” General Liang leaned forward. “You must realize that we cannot hope to defeat the combined forces of the People’s Liberation Army. We must defeat the forces in Beijing and the other target areas, replace the government, and then demand the loyalty of the unit commanders, eliminating those who refuse immediately, and replacing them with those loyal to us. It must be swift, decisive, and unwavering. And done within twenty-four hours of the start of our operation, or all will be lost.”
Bo nodded, looking at the animated display of the planned Beijing assault on the large screen to his right. His heart slammed against his ribcage in anticipation.
It’s so close.
“The essential piece is the kidnapping of the American Ambassador. We’ve analyzed his patterns, and found a weakness that should be easily exploited. Once we have him, the Americans will demand a response. This will allow me to move my troops in under the guise of providing that very response, which will allow us to take key positions within the city before they even know what’s happening.” The general leaned back in his chair, looking about the room. “If all goes well, the coup will be complete within hours, and you, sir, will be our supreme leader, and Emperor of a new China.”
Bo sat back in his chair, having leaned forward during the description of the plan, it playing out in his mind like a Hollywood blockbuster.
Emperor Bo.
It wouldn’t be his title at first, it would take time for the country to be prepped for such a change.
But it was a change he was certain they would embrace.
If they knew what was good for them.
7th District Police Station, Beijing, China
Today
Inspector Li Meng stood dumbfounded in his boss’ office. It had been everything he could do to prevent his jaw from dropping, and even now, it still begged to be open, if only slightly. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard. It was incredible. It was insane.
It was so Chinese.
He stepped over to a chair and dropped in it as his boss, Superintendent Hong, stood up and closed the office door. Returning to his seat, he lowered his voice.
“I can’t believe it myself.”
Inspector Li, his head buried between his knees, looked up.
“Where did the order come from?”
Superintendent Hong waved
his hands. “No no no no no!” he hissed. “Don’t ask that. Not this time.”
“But—”
Hong cut him off with a curt wave of his hand.
“You don’t want to know. I don’t want to know, but I do, and it terrifies me. Never before have I seen an order come from so high.”
Li sucked in a deep breath, then sat up straight.
“When will the trials take place?”
Hong looked away.
“It’s my understanding the trials have already taken place.”
Li bolted from his seat.
“What! He hasn’t even been in custody for more than a few hours!” Li paced the room, shaking his head. “And we don’t even have the others in custody!”
“They were all tried in absentia. There was no defense. There will be no appeal. Justice will be swift and unwavering.”
“But what were the charges?”
“Conspiring to overthrow the People’s Government, and espionage.”
Li’s heart almost stopped. “Espionage?”
Hong nodded, staring out the window as if ashamed to make eye contact with Li.
“And you’re certain about the sentence?”
Hong nodded.
“With espionage, there can be only one sentence.”
Li knew he was right. And with the state apparently hell-bent on being seen as taking action on the shootings and now kidnapping of the American Ambassador, he knew the sentence would be carried out as equally swift as the trial.
“When?”
“Professor James Acton will be executed by firing squad tomorrow morning at six a.m.”
Bo Yang’s Mobile Headquarters, Beijing, China
“You were right to have us follow them, sir.”
Bo Yang nodded as he reviewed the display in front of him. Of course I was right. I am to be an emperor. He looked up at the captain in front of him.
“They met with an American State Department official, most likely to give him information on what they had seen, but we ran his face.” The man placed a file in front of Bo, opened to a summary page with a photo of the official. “He is not Mr. Virgil White. He’s a special forces operative.”
Bo’s eyebrows went up slightly.
If things go wrong, someone to pin it on.
“I decided it was best to grab him, just in case. It was an easy takedown. The arrogance of the police knows no bounds—they had no escort vehicles so it was a low risk op. I figured foreign money, foreign operatives. We can leak photos and surveillance video of him, along with his true identity. Blame the Americans for what’s going on. It could cause confusion while we consolidate power.”
“Agreed,” said Bo. “And the woman?”
“Facial recognition has her as Professor Laura Palmer, British subject,” he said as he placed another folder on the desk.
“A professor? What the hell does that give us?”
“Nothing. But a mega-millionaire professor? That gives us a valuable hostage, just in case. She’s worth over one hundred million Euros. Well over.”
Bo pursed his lips. He didn’t like to think of things going wrong, but it was best to plan for the worst. He pushed the file aside.
“I took the female cop as well. I figured it might be handy to have one of their own as a hostage. It might make them more reluctant to shoot.”
“Or more eager to find us.”
His subordinate frowned.
“Yes, perhaps taking her wasn’t wise.”
“It’s too late now.”
The man bowed in apology.
Bo nodded. “Where are they now?”
“I put them in the sleeping compartment with the Ambassador.”
“Very well, you’re dismissed.”
“One other thing, sir.”
Bo looked up, his attention already back on the monitors showing his forces’ movements.
“Yes?”
“I took the liberty of having our contacts order the execution of the other passenger. He’s the one who interfered with our operation earlier today.”
“The would-be hero?”
“Yes. He’ll be dead by dawn. Our people have already convicted him and the others of conspiracy and espionage.”
Bo chuckled.
“Captain, you are thorough. I think you will go far in the new China.”
The man bounced on his heels and thrust his shoulders back, chest out.
“Thank you, sir!”
Bo dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “Now go, I have work to do.”
The captain bowed deeply, and began to back out of the room when Bo, constantly planning for every contingency, stopped him.
“On second thought, kill the American soldier. I don’t want to risk having him getting loose in my headquarters.”
The captain bowed even deeper.
“At once, sir. I’ll do it myself.”
The door closed and Bo leaned back in his chair, spinning it to face away from the desk. He stared at the gold silk that hung proudly on the wall, and debated if the flag should indeed stand side by side with the red Chinese flag when he made his announcement to the nation, and the world.
A shout from down the hall interrupted his reverie.
7th District Police Station, Beijing, China
Inspector Li Meng sat at his desk, staring at the empty chair that should be occupied by his partner. I hope you’re okay, Ping. He was at a loss as to what to do. Any time now they would be here to pick up his only witness for execution. He couldn’t interfere with that without risking being accused of involvement and finding himself in front of the same firing squad. And of course nobody had seen anything. CCT footage was being reviewed, but not by him. That was another department. And would he be told if they actually found anything?
He doubted it.
He sighed and picked up the phone to call his wife. Punching the numbers from memory, he placed the phone to his ear and waited, but didn’t hear anything. He hung up and waited a moment, then was about to pick up the phone to try again when he noticed that several others around him were looking at their phones, some yelling, “Hello, hello!”
Quickly picking up the phone, he held it to his ear.
No dial tone.
He stood up as the entire room went dark.
Shouts of confusion erupted from all around, and a moment later emergency lighting kicked in, lending a dull glow to the proceedings, long shadows cast from the glaring battery powered bulbs on the walls.
“Phones are down, power’s out!” yelled someone as they rushed by him toward Superintendent Hong’s office.
Li, still standing, looked through several sets of windows and saw three soldiers walking through security, unchallenged, the post seemingly abandoned in the chaos.
They must be here for the professor.
Li watched them calmly walk past police officers running in all directions, then proceed out of sight, toward the cellblock. Ignoring the confusion around him, Li strode from the squad room, something not seeming right about the soldiers.
Why aren’t they wondering what’s going on?
He hurried through the doors separating the squad room from the admin area, then through to the hallway that ran the length of the building on the outer wall. Turning left, he headed toward the cell block and saw the three soldiers at the end of the hall, one trying the door without success.
When the power goes out, the doors actually seal.
These couldn’t be the soldiers here to pick up the prisoner. They would never head to the cellblock; they would merely wait at the front entrance for an officer to retrieve the prisoner.
There’s definitely something wrong.
He started toward the end of the hall when he saw one of the men kneel down, then the three turn their heads. A popping sound and a flash of light from their position made him think of fireworks, but when the door to the cellblock opened, and the three men disappeared inside, he began to run toward the end of the hall.
Within mome
nts he was at the door, weapon drawn, peering into the darkness. A lone emergency light over his head cast a beam down the corridor, and he could see the three men at the far end. There was a moan to his right, and he saw the officer on duty, who should have been behind a desk, actually lying in a heap on the floor.
He aimed his weapon down the hall.
“Identify yourselves!” he yelled as another small explosion flashed at the far end. Two of the men dropped to their knees, aiming weapons at him as the third disappeared into the cell.
Li continued to advance.
“I said, identify yourselves!”
The third man appeared, along with a fourth he immediately recognized as the professor.
Maybe they are here to pick him up?
He lowered his weapon slightly, then realized how ridiculous the thought was.
He raised his weapon again.
“Don’t shoot!” yelled one of them, in English, the voice vaguely familiar.
It must be the professor.
“He’s the cop who questioned me earlier. He was attacked in the van, just like I was.”
The two men on their knees continued to aim their weapons at him, but Li continued to advance, realizing he was now committed, there was no escape to the sides as the cell doors were sealed, and there was no escape to the rear, it too far to go.
Adrenaline fueled his courage now.
And curiosity.
Who are they? And why is the American going with them willingly?
“I’ll get you to stop where you are, Inspector.”
This was a different man, one of the three soldiers, and the only one standing.
Li stopped.
“We’re taking this man out of here. I suggest you turn around and forget what you saw.”
Suddenly the lights flickered, then blazed above their heads. Li was momentarily blinded, and raised his hand to shield his eyes so they could adjust. In seconds he found himself in the grip of the two soldiers who had been aiming their weapons at him only moments before.
One removed Li’s weapon, then covered him as the man’s partner patted him down.
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