“This looks like more than the usual holiday crowd,” David said as the driver turned onto Changan Avenue toward Tiananmen Square.
From a few blocks away, it was clear the demonstrators converging on the square numbered in the tens of thousands.
“Shall I try to go through?”
“No,” David responded. “Just return to the hotel.”
He leaned back and shut his eyes. It didn’t matter. The Asian Development Bank meeting was merely a convenient cover. He’d return to his room and wait for word from Lee Tong. And with Camille along, he anticipated that wait to be very pleasant.
Ten minutes outside of Beijing Chi-Wen woke. “Did you sleep?” he asked.
Lili shook her head. “Not a wink.” For twenty-one hours she’d remained in the uncomfortable hard seat section, afraid to move, terrified to call attention to herself. Could she trust the woman with the baby or the old farmer or the young couple?
Thankfully, her fellow passengers had expressed no curiosity — dozing through most of the trip, waking only to spit or smoke or slurp tea or eat whatever snacks they’d brought with them. With the loudspeaker announcing their impending arrival, the compartment emptied. Like a Chinese fire drill, Lili thought, imagining the passengers jammed up against one another at the exit, panting and pushing, waiting to make a mad dash the moment the train reached the station.
Every muscle ached as she stood to stretch. The fact she hadn’t had even the Chinese version of a shower in over twenty-four hours compounded her discomfort. “I think I know what they mean by Chinese torture,” she complained.
Chi-Wen threw her a curious look that she would later interpret as sinister. Now she merely ascribed it to his own fatigue.
The train lurched to a halt at Beijing Central Station. Lili followed Chi-Wen to the compartment door.
“You stay here,” he said. “The train won’t depart for another fifteen minutes.”
“But —”
“You’ll be safer here. As soon as I find Tu’s contact, I’ll be back to get you.”
Chi-Wen disappeared before Lili could protest. Alone in the compartment, she felt uneasy. She knew it was accumulated exhaustion and emotional stress, but she couldn’t control her anxiety. Through the window she scanned the station platform, wondering how Chi-Wen could find anyone in the crowd. Hurry, she silently urged.
A soft tap at the door made her jump. “Shir? Yes?”
“More tea?”
“No, thank you,” Lili responded before she realized the question had been in English.
The door opened. “Dr. Quan, so nice to see you again.” It was the uniformed cadre from Xi’an.
“What do you want?”
“You’re to come with me.”
“Where?”
“Dr. Seng thought you should meet our foreign minister.”
If Lili had contemplated escape, the two soldiers standing just behind him quickly dispelled the notion.
Had David Kim attended the morning session of the Asian Development Bank group, he would have heard Zhao Ziyang’s speech. The general secretary of the Party openly challenged the conservative old-timers and Deng himself by proposing to meet the students’ demands for reform.. That speech may have improved Zhao’s image with the students, but it sealed his and, ultimately, their fate. Weeks later, when Ziyang had been deposed, it would be officially branded as “a turning point for the escalation of the turmoil.”
Outside his office window the din of the crowd was deafening.
Lin would have shut it if not for the stifling heat. His fan provided little relief. He stood, fists clenched, watching thousands of citizens of Beijing lining the streets to Tiananmen Square to cheer the students, bringing them food and drink, joining their ranks. He shook his head. “I thought we had a news blackout.”
“In the official press,” Peng Han acknowledged, joining the foreign minister at the window. Sweat soaked his porcine face. “But the students seem to have a better network than we anticipated.”
Someone was singing a newly composed hymn, Beijing University’s Pledge: “Fear not, fear not, to shed blood for the people, fear not — To demonstrate in our quest for people’s rights, to oppose corruption and guandao, advance, fear not!”
“People’s rights!” Lin sneered. “They have no idea what they want. Anarchy, chaos. That’s what all this will bring.”
“It’s May fourth,” Han said. “There’s nothing we can do today. But starting tomorrow, if the class boycotts don’t end, Deng is committed to cracking down. He says he will sacrifice two hundred thousand lives in the square to buy twenty years of stability.”
“It may come to that, old friend.”
General Tong barged in without knocking. “The girl is on her way here.”
Lin nodded. “And Chi-Wen Zhou?”
“He eludes us for the moment,” Tong reluctantly admitted. “But we’ll find him.”
Lin quickly weighed his future against the present political value of the players in his scheme. “When you do, kill him.” He spoke dispassionately. “The fewer witnesses the better.”
Silence affirmed the others’ consensus.
Chi-Wen was stunned.
Far enough away and camouflaged by the teeming station crowd, he could see without being seen. He didn’t believe it possible. How did they find her? Chi-Wen trembled with frustration and rage.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
Only Bin Go’s strong grip on Chi-Wen’s shoulder held him as he helplessly watched three men, including the cadre from Xi’an, push Lili into a gray Shanghai and whisk her away. He looked at Bin Go, ashen faced, drained. The cadre had followed them on the train. It was his fault. “I can’t just leave,” he said, his voice filled with anguish.
“What can you do?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted, “but I must help her.”
“First, let’s get you to a safe house. Then we’ll find where they’ve taken her.”
Two hours later, the phone in David Kim’s hotel room rang.
“Yes?”
David recognized Lee Tong’s voice. “Good news. The package has been delivered.”
Lilli was in an office. Totally disoriented. Blindfolded until now, she had no way of knowing exactly where she was — only that she was probably still in Beijing.
“Good afternoon, Dr. Quan. I’m Foreign Minister Lin. This is Peng Han from Intelligence and General Tong.” Lin’s voice was polite as he proffered a packet of cigarettes. “Smoke?”
So it was afternoon. How many hours had passed since they’d forced her into the limo? Three? Four? For Lili, time had lost its structure, its predictability. Seated opposite Lin’s desk, she watched while he lit a cigarette with the butt of an old one and inhaled, leisurely drawing the nicotine deep within his lungs, as if it were a substitute for oxygen.
Summoning all the bravado she could, she shook her head. “Didn’t anyone tell you smoking was bad for your health?”
“American propaganda, I assure you,” he replied, making noisy use of the spittoon beside his desk. “I am eighty-three years old. I was on the Long March with Mao.” His smile was nicotine stained. “Do I look unhealthy to you, Dr. Quan?
“Why have you kidnapped me?”
“It should hardly be necessary to spell out the position we’ve reached. Your grandfather found the secret of shou. We think he passed it to you before his death. Therefore we must compel you to disclose what you know.” As he spoke, the smirk never left the foreign minister’s face. He looked at Lili inquiringly, to see if further explanation was needed.
She was stunned. Grandfather was right. These men would stop at nothing. “I can’t help you.”
“We know you have Dr. Cheng’s research notes,” Tong said.
“Is that what Dr. Seng told you? Your people searched me — quite thoroughly I might add — and found nothing.” Despite the fact that she was sweating, Lili forced her voice to remain steady.
“Can’t you s
ee? Seng’s so ambitious for power, he’d make up any story. If my grandfather had the secret of longevity, he took it with him to his death. He told me nothing. And since he is dead, it is best for me to return to America as soon as possible.”
“I’m afraid that isn’t possible.” Lin did not sound regretful.
“Are you telling me I’m not free to go home?”
“Your old life is gone. Forget about America. China is your home now. You can choose to be part of this great country and live and work here or sit in prison, labeled a counterrevolutionary enemy of the State.”
“What if I want neither?”
“You don’t have a choice.” He grinned broadly despite the fact that Lili’s level gaze was unusually self-possessed for a Chinese woman, betraying no hint of fear.
“Listen,” Han interrupted. “My Intelligence branch has devised many ways of extracting information. Some are scientific, some are — shall we say — more crude. The scientific methods — drugs — are powerful, but dangerous. There are two reasons for this.”
He used his chubby index finger to emphasize each point. “First,” he said, jabbing the digit in the air, “once the chemical effect is set in motion, it cannot be halted. The optimum dose for each individual varies and if too much accumulates in the bloodstream, anything can happen. On more than one occasion these drugs have destroyed the minds of our subjects before they could divulge what they knew.”
Lili’s eyebrows shot up, revealing alarm for the first time.
“Second, it is possible for a person of average strength and intelligence to resist drugs for a long time, either giving us false information or talking nonsense. In your case, we may be forced to resort to the cruder methods I mentioned.”
His eyes wandered from her face, briefly focusing on the guard behind her. “In the past, I have been forced to employ physical methods, but I must say, it has never been something I’ve enjoyed.”
Outraged, Lili jumped up. “You’re not serious. I’m an American citizen. You can’t keep me here.” Her voice sounded strong and confident, masking inner terror.
The foreign minister nodded slowly. “We can and we will.”
Lili turned pale. Her calm exterior began to wither. She was more frightened than she had ever been in her life.
Lin came around from behind his desk and stood beside her. The imposed intimacy had an unnerving effect. “Perhaps a little time alone will help you decide.” He motioned to the guard. “Take her to the detention cell.”
The guard grabbed Lili’s arm and shoved her to the door.
“Until the morning —”
What did that mean? Fifteen, eighteen hours maybe. Lili had no doubt that further delay would not be tolerated.
Los Angeles, California
“What the —?” Dylan stared transfixed at the strange message just transmitted over his home fax. He had no idea who had sent it, but the words were clear: Lili was in trouble and needed help. Now.
Without hesitation, he made several calls, left a few messages and began packing his bags. Less than an hour later he had locked his apartment. Downstairs, the cab was already waiting for him. “LAX, Pan Am Airlines, and hurry,” he told the driver. “My plane leaves in forty minutes.”
Beijing, China
Lili was taken to a room no larger than a cell, furnished with a bed and chair. There were no windows, so she sat in the chair in total darkness, her head in her hands. They had taken her watch, but she estimated that at least several hours had passed since the surly guard brought her dinner tray of rice cakes and tea. Too distraught to eat, the meal delivery merely provided a sense of time. She figured it must be somewhere around eight or nine o’clock in the evening.
What have I gotten myself into? And Chi-Wen? Where was he? Lin hadn’t mentioned him and she’d been too afraid to ask. She assumed he’d been captured too. Had they tortured him? Or worse, was he dead? No, no, she couldn’t even conceive of it. And yet, hadn’t her grandfather told her what a monster Lin was?
She thought about tomorrow. Suppose Lin made good on his threats. Could she stand up to his torture? She honestly didn’t know. Her grandfather had died to protect his secret from these men. How could she simply hand it over? She refused to accept fate. She would turn it into an instrument of her own will. But how? She couldn’t think anymore. Tears of rage, frustration, and despair coursed down her cheeks until exhausted, she lay across the bed and drifted into an uneasy sleep.
Hours later, she was startled awake. A light flickered in the room. Someone stood near the bed, silently watching her. For a second she thought it might be Chi-Wen, but the figure was shorter.
“Who’s there?” she cried out.
A hand clasped over her mouth. The intruder put his lips to her ear. “Don’t make a sound,” he commanded in a strident whisper. “I came to take you out of here. Quickly, follow me.” He removed his hand.
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me who you are.”
“Shh,” he hissed. “If we’re discovered we’ll both be killed.” A second match was lit and the man held it just below his face, offering her a quick look. “My name is Lee Tong. My father is General Tong.”
One of Lin’s fellow conspirators. “So why would you help me?”
“He may be my father, but he represents the worst of our country. Until people like him are eliminated, China will never change. By helping you, I keep him from his dream to remain in power,” Tong lied easily. “Now no more questions. There’s no time.”
“What’s happened to Chi-Wen Zhou? Is he a prisoner too?”
“Chi-Wen Zhou works for my father.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He’s been spying on you since you arrived in China.”
Lili struggled to get oriented. Her panic soared. “It’s not possible. Chi-Wen was helping me escape.”
“That’s what he wanted you to think. But tell me, how did the cadre know where to find you?”
Was it mere coincidence that the moment Chi-Wen left her on the train, the cadre appeared? Lili reeled inwardly.
Beijing?
Chi-Wen’s idea really.
How did the cadre know where to find you?
You stay here — As soon as I find Tu’s contact, I’ll be back to get you.
“He deceived me? Was it all a trick?”
“I’m afraid so.”
She felt faint. If Tong’s words were true, Chi-Wen had lied to her from the beginning. She had trusted him. She had loved him! Was it all just part of a clever plan? She recalled that sinister look on the train. Oh God. How could she have been such a fool? Ironic — he’d called her naïve. Perhaps the only honest thing he’d said. Shocked and disillusioned, she wanted to scream.
I’m just a messenger.
It was simply a job to him, deluding a naïve American to gain control of her grandfather’s secret.
Be wary of new friendships. The most cunning adversary first seeks to be your closest ally.
Why hadn’t she heeded the fortune-teller’s warning? She was shaken, scared, and filled with rage. Chi-Wen hadn’t just tricked her, he’d deceived her into falling in love with him. How he must have laughed at her.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” Tong urged. “I’ve put some milkwort root in the guard’s tea. He’ll sleep for at least another half hour.” He handed her a gauze mask. “Wear this over your mouth and nostrils. It will help disguise your face.”
Lili knew men and women wore these on the street when they had colds and were obeying rules to avoid spreading infection. She took the mask, then shut her eyes for a brief moment, trying to master the surge of emotions within her. This was not the time for feelings. She had to suppress them to remain alive. Keep control! Emotions were luxuries for later.
Opening her eyes, she turned to Tong. “I’m ready,” she said, wondering if there ever would be a “later.”
Hong Kong
Traveling east to west halfway around the world often le
ft even the most experienced traveler disoriented and Halliday was no exception. He needed a few hours sleep to let his body catch up with the time zones, but he didn’t have a second to waste. The instant his plane landed in Hong Kong, he headed for the telephone kiosks to check his messages and grab a cup of black coffee. Then he found a taxi to take him to Yaumati dock where he caught the eleven o’clock jetfoil for Macao.
Beijing, China
They emerged from the walls of the Foreign Ministry Building to a hot, moonless night.
“Stay close!” Tong whispered.
As the blackness swallowed them, Lili’s heart pounded against her ribcage, her lungs burned, and her legs ached. All her senses were focused on one thing: escape. She ran, adrenaline propelling her onward. Crouching, hiding in the shadows of doorways whenever cars approached, looking over her shoulder to see if anyone followed them. Even though the small, back streets were virtually empty, she expected armed cadres to appear at any moment. She hoped Tong had a real escape plan. Her chest heaved as she took in gulps of air.
“You okay?”
“I’ll be fine,” she wheezed, “as soon as we’re out of China.” Hot beads of sweat had formed on her forehead and cheeks. “Where are we going?”
“Not far. Near Tiananmen Square. Just two more blocks.”
Slammed into wakefulness from a pleasant dream, General Tong was annoyed. After hearing the cadre’s report, he was furious. Incompetent fools! First they let Chi-Wen Zhou escape at the train station. Now the girl had escaped. In frustration, he pounded his fist on the nightstand. How could they lose someone in the middle of the Foreign Ministry Building?
“There is something else,” the cadre stammered.
“What?”
“Your son helped her escape.”
The color in Tong’s cheeks rose to a bright fuchsia as he considered the betrayal. But he shouldn’t be surprised. That was the problem with the country today. Young people had no loyalty to tradition, no respect for their elders, no filial piety.
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