by Tom Clancy
“Premed.”
Cathy looked up from her journal. “Great. If there’s any way I can help her, you let me know, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am, I sure will.” And the nice thing, George thought, was that she wasn’t kidding. The Ryans were very popular with the staff, despite their awkwardness with all the fussing. There was one other family the Ryans looked after, the widow and kids of some Air Force sergeant whose connection with the Ryans nobody seemed to understand. And Cathy had personally taken care of two kids of staff members who’d had eye problems.
“What’s tomorrow look like, Jack?”
“Speech to the VFW convention in Atlantic City. I chopper there and back after lunch. Not a bad speech Callie wrote for me.”
“She’s a little weird.”
“She’s different,” the President agreed, “but she’s good at what she does.”
Thank God, Cathy didn’t say aloud, that I don’t have to do much of that! For her, a speech was telling a patient how she was going to fix his or her eyes.
There’s a new Papal Nuncio in Beijing," the producer said. ”That’s an ambassador, like, isn’t it?"
The producer nodded. “Pretty much. Italian guy, Cardinal Renato DiMilo. Old guy, don’t know anything about him.”
“Well, maybe we can drive over and meet the guy,” Barry thought as he knotted his tie. “Got an address and phone number?”
“No, but our contact at the American Embassy can get ’em quick enough.”
“Give the guy a call,” Wise ordered gently. He and the producer had been together for eleven years, and together they’d dodged bullets and won those Emmys, which wasn’t bad for a couple of ex-Marine sergeants.
“Right.”
Wise checked his watch. The timing worked just fine. He could get a report at his leisure, upload it on the satellite, and Atlanta could edit it and show it to people for breakfast in America. That would pretty much take care of his day in this heathen country. Damn, why couldn’t they do trade conferences in Italy? He remembered Italian food fondly from his time in the Mediterranean Fleet Marine Force. And the Italian women. They’d like the United States Marine uniform. Well, lots of women did.
One thing neither Cardinal DiMilo nor Monsignor Schepke had learned to like was Chinese breakfast food, which was totally alien from anything Europeans had ever served for the early-morning meal. And so Schepke fixed breakfast every morning before their Chinese staff came in—they’d do the dishes, which was enough for both churchmen. Both had already said their morning mass, which necessitated their rising before six every morning, rather like soldiers did, the elderly Italian had often remarked to himself.
The morning paper was the International Herald Tribune, which was too American-oriented, but the world was an imperfect place. At least the paper showed the football scores, and European football was a sport of interest to both of them, and one which Schepke could still go out and play when the opportunity arose. DiMilo, who’d been a pretty good midfielder in his day, had to content himself with watching and kibitzing now.
The CNN crew had their own van, an American make that had been shipped into the PRC ages ago. It had its own miniature satellite transceiver rig, a small technical miracle of sorts that enabled instant contact with any place in the world via orbiting communications satellites. It could do anything but operate when the vehicle was moving, and someone was working on that feature, which would be the next major breakthrough, because then the mobile crews could work with little threat of interference from the gomers in whatever country they happened to be operating.
They also had a satellite-navigation system, which was a genuine miracle that allowed them to navigate anywhere, in any city for which they had a CD-ROM map. With it, they could find any address faster than a local taxi driver. And with a cell phone, they could get the address itself, in this case from the U.S. embassy, which had the street addresses for all foreign legations, of which the Papal Nuncio’s house was just one more. The cell phone also allowed them to call ahead. The call was answered by a Chinese voice at first, then one that sounded German, of all things, but which said, sure, come on over.
Barry Wise was dressed in his usual coat and tie—his neatness was another leftover from the Marines—and he knocked on the door, finding the expected local—he was tempted to call them “natives,” but that was too English, and distantly racist—at the door to conduct them in. The first Westerner they met was clearly not a Cardinal. Too young, too tall, and far too German.
“Hello, I am Monsignor Schepke,” the man greeted him.
“Good day, I am Barry Wise of CNN.”
“Yes,” Schepke acknowledged with a smile. “I have seen you many times on the television. What brings you here?”
“We’re here to cover the trade meeting between America and China, but we decided to look for other items of interest. We were surprised to see that the Vatican has a diplomatic mission here.”
Schepke ushered Wise into his office and motioned him to a comfortable chair. “I’ve been here for several months, but the Cardinal just arrived recently.”
“Can I meet him?”
“Certainly, but His Eminence is on the phone to Rome at the moment. Do you mind waiting a few minutes?”
“No problem,” Wise assured him. He looked the monsignor over. He looked athletic, tall, and very German. Wise had visited that country many times, and always felt somewhat uneasy there, as if the racism that had occasioned the Holocaust was still there somewhere, hiding close by but out of sight. In other clothing, he would have taken Schepke for a soldier, even a Marine. He looked physically fit and very smart, clearly a keen observer.
“What order are you in, if I may ask?” Wise said.
“The Society of Jesus,” Schepke replied.
A Jesuit, Wise thought at once. That explained it. “From Germany?”
“Correct, but I’m based in Rome now at Robert Bellarmine University, and I was asked to accompany His Eminence here because of my language skills.” His English was about halfway between English and American, but not Canadian, grammatically perfect and remarkably precise in his pronunciations.
And because you’re smart, Wise added to himself. He knew that the Vatican had a respected intelligence-gathering service, probably the oldest in the world. So, this Monsignor was a combination diplomat and spook, Wise decided.
“I won’t ask how many languages you speak. I’m sure you have me beat,” Wise observed. He’d never met or even heard of a dumb Jesuit.
Schepke offered a friendly smile. “It is my function.” Then he looked at his desk phone. The light had gone out. Schepke excused himself and headed to the inner office, then returned. “His Eminence will see you now.”
Wise rose and followed the German priest in. The man he saw was corpulent and clearly Italian, dressed not in priestly robes, but rather a coat and trousers, with a red shirt (or was it a vest?) underneath his Roman collar. The CNN correspondent didn’t remember if the protocol was for him to kiss the man’s ring, but hand-kissing wasn’t his thing anyway, and so he just shook hands in the American custom.
“Welcome to our legation,” Cardinal DiMilo said. “You are our first American reporter. Please—” The Cardinal gestured him to a chair.
“Thank you, Your Eminence.” Wise did remember that part of the protocol.
“How may we serve you this day?”
“Well, we’re in town to cover the trade talks—America and China—and we’re just looking for a story about life in Beijing. We just learned last night that the Vatican has an embassy here, and we thought we might come over to talk to you, sir.”
“Marvelous,” DiMilo observed with a gracious priestly smile. “There are a few Christians in Beijing, though this is not exactly Rome.”
Wise felt a lightbulb go off. “What about Chinese Christians?”
“We’ve only met a few. We’re going over to see one this afternoon, as a matter of fact, a Baptist minister named Yu.”
“Really?” That was a surprise. A local Baptist?
“Yes,” Schepke confirmed. “Good chap, he was even educated in America, at Oral Roberts University.”
“A Chinese citizen from Oral Roberts?” Wise asked somewhat incredulously, as the STORY! light flashed in his head.
“Yes, it is somewhat unusual, isn’t it?” DiMilo observed.
It was unusual enough that a Baptist and a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church were on speaking terms, Wise thought, but to have it happen here seemed about as likely as a live dinosaur strolling up the Mall in Washington. Atlanta would sure as hell like this one.
“Could we go over with you?” the CNN correspondent asked.
The terror began soon after she arrived at her workplace. For all the waiting and all the anticipation, it still came as a surprise, and an unwelcome one, the first twinge in her lower abdomen. The last time, now nearly six years before, it had presaged the birth of Ju-Long, and been a surprise as well, but that pregnancy had been authorized, and this one was not. She’d hoped that it would begin in the morning, but on a weekend, in their apartment, where she and Quon could handle things without external complications, but babies came at their own time in China, as they did elsewhere in the world, and this one would be no exception. The question was whether or not the State would allow it to take his first breath, and so the first muscle twinge, the first harbinger of the contractions of frank labor, brought with it the fear that murder would be committed, that her own body would be the scene of the crime, that she would be there to see it, to feel the baby stop moving, to feel death. The fear was the culmination of all the sleepless nights and the nightmares which had caused her to sweat in her bed for weeks. Her co-workers saw her face and wondered. A few of the women on the shop floor had guessed her secret, though they’d never discussed it with her. The miracle was that no one had informed on her, and that had been Lien-Hua’s greatest fear of all—but that just wasn’t the sort of thing one woman could do to another. Some of them, too, had given birth to daughters who had “accidentally” died a year or two later to satisfy their husbands’ desire for a male heir. That was one more aspect of life in the People’s Republic that was rarely the subject of conversation, even among women in private.
And so Yang Lien-Hua looked around the factory floor, feeling her muscles announce what was to come, and all she could hope was that it would stop, or delay itself. Another five hours, and she could pedal her bicycle home and deliver the baby there, and maybe that wasn’t as good as on a weekend, but it was better than having an emergency here. “Lotus Flower” told herself that she had to be strong and resolute. She closed her eyes, and bit her lip, and tried to concentrate on her job, but the twinges soon grew into discomfort. Then would come mild pain, followed by the real contractions that would deny her the ability to stand, and then ... what? It was her inability to see just a few hours beyond where she stood that contorted her face worse than pain ever could. She feared death, and while that fear is known to all humans, hers was for a life still part of herself, but not really her own. She feared seeing it die, feeling it die, feeling an unborn soul depart, and while it would surely go back to God, that was not God’s intention. She needed her spiritual counselor now. She needed her husband, Quon. She needed Reverend Yu even more. But how would she make that happen?
The camera setup went quickly. Both of the churchmen watched with interest, since neither had seen this happen before. Ten minutes later, both were disappointed with the questions. Both had seen Wise on television, and both had expected better of him. They didn’t realize that the story he really wanted was a few miles and an hour or so away.
“Good,” Wise said, when the vanilla questions were asked and answered. “Can we follow you over to your friend’s place?”
“Certainly,” His Eminence replied, standing. He excused himself, because even Cardinals have to visit the bathroom before motoring off—at least they did at DiMilo’s age. But he reappeared and joined Franz for the walk to the car, which the Monsignor would drive, to the continuing disappointment of their own servant/driver who was, as they suspected, a stringer for the Ministry of State Security. The CNN van followed, twisting through the streets until they arrived at the modest house of the Reverend Yu Fa An. Parking was easy enough. The two Catholic churchmen walked to Yu’s door, carrying a large package, Wise noted.
“Ah!” Yu observed with a surprised smile, on opening the door. “What brings you over?”
“My friend, we have a gift for you,” His Eminence replied, holding up the package. It was clearly a large Bible, but no less pleasing for the obvious nature of the gift. Yu waved them in, then saw the Americans.
“They asked if they could join us,” Monsignor Schepke explained.
“Certainly,” Yu said at once, wondering if maybe Gerry Patterson might see the story, and even his distant friend Hosiah Jackson. But they didn’t get the cameras set up before he unwrapped the package.
Yu did this at his desk, and on seeing it, he looked up in considerable surprise. He’d expected a Bible, but this one must have cost hundreds of American dollars ... It was an edition of the King James version in beautifully literate Mandarin ... and magnificently illustrated. Yu stood and walked around the desk to embrace his Italian colleague.
“May the Lord Jesus bless you for this, Renato,” Yu said, with no small emotion.
“We both serve Him as best we can. I thought of it, and it seemed something you might wish to have,” DiMilo replied, as he might to a good parish priest in Rome, for that was what Yu was, wasn’t it? Close enough, certainly.
For his part, Barry Wise cursed that he hadn’t quite gotten his camera running for that moment. “We don’t often see Catholics and Baptists this friendly,” the reporter observed.
Yu handled the answer, and this time the camera was rolling. “We are allowed to be friends. We work for the same boss, as you say in America.” He took DiMilo’s hand again and shook it warmly. He rarely received so sincere a gift, and it was so strange to get it here in Beijing from what some of his American colleagues called papists, and an Italian one at that. Life really did have purpose after all. Reverend Yu had sufficient faith that he rarely doubted that, but to have it confirmed from time to time was a blessing.
The contractions came too fast, and too hard. Lien-Hua withstood it as long as she could, but after an hour, it felt as though someone had fired a rifle into her belly. Her knees buckled. She did her best to control it, to remain standing, but it was just too much. Her face turned pasty-white, and she collapsed to the cement floor. A co-worker was there at once. A mother herself, she knew what she beheld.
“It is your time?” she asked.
“Yes.” Delivered with a gasp and a painful nod.
“Let me run and get Quon.” And she was off at once. That bit of help was when things went bad for Lotus Flower.
Her supervisor noted one running employee, and then turned his head to see another prostrate one. He walked over, as one might to see what had happened after an automobile accident, more with curiosity than any particular desire to intervene. He’d rarely taken note of Yang Lien-Hua. She performed her function reliably, with little need for chiding or shouting, and was popular with her co-workers, and that was all he knew about her, really, and all that he figured he needed to know. There was no blood about. She hadn’t fallen from some sort of accident or mechanical malfunction. How strange. He stood over her for a few seconds, seeing that she was in some discomfort and wondering what the problem was, but he wasn’t a doctor or a medic, and didn’t want to interfere. Oh, if she’d been bleeding he might have tried to slap a bandage over the wound or something, but this wasn’t such a situation and so he just stood there, as he figured a manager should, showing that he was there, but not making things worse. There was a medical orderly in the first-aid room two hundred meters away. The other girl had probably run that way to fetch her, he thought.
Lien-Hua’s face contorted after a few minute
s’ relative peace, as another contraction began. He saw her eyes screw closed and her face go pale, and her breathing change to a rapid pant. Oh, he realized, that’s it. How odd. He was supposed to know about such things, so that he could schedule substitutions on the line. Then he realized something else. This was not an authorized pregnancy. Lien-Hua had broken the rules, and that wasn’t supposed to happen, and it could reflect badly on his department, and on him as a supervisor ... and he wanted to own an automobile someday.
“What is happening here?” he asked her.
But Yang Lien-Hua was in no shape to reply at the moment. The contractions were accelerating much faster than they’d done with Ju-Long. Why couldn’t this have waited until Saturday? she demanded of Destiny. Why does God wish my child to die aborning? She did her best to pray through the pain, doing her utmost to concentrate, to entreat God for mercy and help in this time of pain and trial and terror, but all she saw around her was more cause for fear. There was no help in the face of her shop supervisor. Then she heard running feet again and looked to see Quon approaching, but before he got to her, the supervisor intercepted him.
“What goes on here?” the man demanded, with all the harshness of petty authority. “Your woman makes a baby here? An unauthorized baby?” the most minor of officials asked and accused in the same breath. “Ju hai,” he added: Bitch!
For his part, Quon wanted this baby as well. He hadn’t told his wife of the fears that he’d shared with her, because he felt that it would have been unmanly, but that last statement from the shop supervisor was a little much for a man under two kinds of simultaneous stress. Recalling his army training, Quon struck out with his fist, following his hand with an imprecation of his own:
“Pok gai,” literally, fall down in the street, but in context, Get the fuck out of my way! The shop supervisor gashed his head when he went down, giving Quon the satisfaction of seeing an injury to avenge the insult to his wife. But he had other things to do.