“What about the Chinese Army in China?” McGraw asked.
“We demand that they follow a similar order,” Alan said. “We must receive sixty percent of their artillery and armor. If they fail to comply after a set time, a week or nine days, perhaps—”
“We launch the ICBMs,” Harold said.
“We have to make sure that Hong cannot back out of the deal later,” Alan said. “We must disarm them so we know they won’t continue the war.”
Anna had heard enough. She pushed up to her feet. Walking forward, shoving through the crowd, she faced Director Harold. “Given such a harsh peace, Chairman Hong may decide not to surrender.”
Harold’s eyes seemed to shine. “That’s just as well,” he said. “Because if they don’t surrender, we will launch. We’ll burn them out of existence, which is, frankly, my preference.” He took a breath, and he regarded the crowd. “It’s time to put a call through to Beijing and let them know the situation.”
BEIJING, CHINA
Shun Li sat at the far end of the Ruling Committee table. For the last thirty minutes, she had watched China’s strategic defenses go up in irradiated smoke.
Each loss had taken something out of Chairman Hong. He was slumped in his chair, with his arms on the big table and his head lying on them.
Tang the Lion Guardsman approached the Leader. The bodyguard whispered softly.
Hong sat up sharply, shoving to his feet. “Yes!” he shouted. “Put him on the wall. Let us see what this barbarian thinks he has done.”
Shun Li felt flutters in her stomach. She couldn’t believe this. The Americans—
Director Harold with his broad bland features regarded them on the wall. The American didn’t smile or gloat. He kept a calm demeanor. That was something, she supposed.
He spoke quietly, in barbaric English. A translating machine put his words in subtitles. It was like watching a foreign movie.
“Is this Chairman Hong?”
“Of course it is I,” Hong said, as if insulted.
“We have destroyed your anti-ICBM defenses,” Harold said. “Your country is open to us.”
“Ha!” Hong said. “We have many more defenses that you know nothing about.”
“You, sir, are bluffing, but I don’t blame you. Let us make this simple, Chairman. You invaded the United States of America, and we kicked you out of our country. Now, we invaded you because of your arrogance. If you fail to meet our surrender demands, I personally will give the order that launches our ICBMs. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than annihilating your entire country, if that’s the only way we can get lasting peace.”
As the American spoke, the Leader’s eyes seemed to bug outward farther and farther. “This is an outrage!” Hong shouted.
Director Harold ignored that as he presented his list of demands.
“No!” Hong said, after the director stopped talking. “This is outrageous. If you use your ICBMs on my country, I will unleash a biological terror against your country. I will destroy the American people with flus and whooping coughs.”
The American sat forward. The skin seemed to stretch across his face, and his eyes burned with a fierce emotion.
“You have sealed your fate, Chairman Hong,” Harold said.
Shun Li stood. She shouted, “Leader, may I speak with you!”
Slowly, Chairman Hong turned around, facing her. With his gaze fixated on her, he said, “Tang, draw your gun.”
The Lion Guardsman hesitated. Then he drew his heavy gun, aiming it at Shun Li.
“No!” small Fu Tao said. He pointed his right index finger at Hong. “She has told me about you, the worst rapist of the planet.”
Hong scowled, and he opened his mouth, no doubt to issue another command.
A soft bang sounded, and Fu Tao’s pointing index finger, the tip, blew apart. It startled everyone.
As if the bones had disappeared from Chairman Hong’s body, he slid to the floor. There was a small smoking hole in his forehead.
Tang holstered his weapon and rushed to the Chairman. Kneeling, the Lion Guardsman cradled the Leader’s head. A second later, Tang looked up, “The Chairman is dead.”
Shun Li gulped for air. She struggled to remain in control of herself. Then she walked briskly toward Tang.
She knew what had happened. Months ago, she had convinced Fu Tao to undergo surgery. A doctor had removed the tip of his right index finger. In its place, he put an implant, a one-shot weapon of dubious worth. The idea had been to get Fu Tao beside the Chairman. The little killer had taken a chance and shot now.
Tang looked up at her.
“He would have killed you for what happened with Marshal Kiang,” she said. “Now, if you stand by me, I will give you power.”
“Should we kill her, Tang?” another Lion Guardsman asked.
“No!” Tang said. “She is the only member of the Ruling Committee here. She must act for China and save our country.”
“See that no one leaves,” Shun Li said. “And turn off the techs’ consoles.”
Letting the dead Chairman’s head strike the floor, Tang stood, barking orders. The other Lion Guardsmen obeyed him.
Shun Li stepped up to the wall image, facing the American director. “As you can see,” she said, “the Chairman is dead. I rule China, or I will once my police remove my rivals.”
“Who are you?” Harold asked.
“I am Shun Li.”
“Shun Li the Butcher,” he said with obvious distaste.
That was Hong’s legacy for her. She shrugged inwardly. “I will deal honestly with you,” she said. “I want an end to the war. Can we not come to a better understanding, though? Your conditions—”
“I am firm in my demands,” Harold said, “as I have the upper hand and plan to execute justice now.”
“Very well,” she said. “I can see no other alternative for us. It will take several days for the others to obey my orders, however.”
“You have three days,” Harold said. “If you cannot achieve control by then, our ICBMs will leave their silos and you won’t have anything left to talk about.”
WASHINGTON, DC
The murder of Chairman Hong onscreen shocked Anna, but not nearly as much as what Director Harold did next.
After the connection with China ended, Max Harold stood up. He buttoned his suit, almost as if he hesitated. Then he raised his head, took a breath and said, “Arrest them for treason.”
Anna had no idea who the director meant. All around the room, Militia guards drew their sidearms. It seemed prearranged, as the guards charged people, lacking all hesitation or restraint.
A Militia guard grunted and folded as Hicks kneed him in the groin. The CIA wet works specialist twisted a different Militiaman’s wrist so a big pistol clunked onto the floor. Then Hicks reached under his coat and drew a small black weapon. He aimed it at Max Harold and fired with suppressed shots.
Harold had quick instincts and reflexes. The man dropped to the floor. The tiny projectiles hit an officer who stood behind the director.
Before Hicks could retarget, Militia pistols discharged. People screamed, many of them crouching and cowering. Anna saw Hicks go down, with several bullet-holes riddling his frame. The small weapon in his hand clattered across the floor.
“Bring it to me,” Harold said, who climbed back to his feet. He straightened his jacket and ran a hand through his hair.
As guards handcuffed Anna and McGraw, handcuffed the guardian majors and Levin, a Militia officer handed Director Harold the CIA weapon.
Harold turned the thing in his hands. “Plastic?” he asked Levin.
Doctor Levin looked on in silence.
Harold pointed the weapon at Levin. “I’ll test it on you then.”
It seemed to take Levin an effort of will. He focused on Harold. “It’s a spring-driven gun, firing biodegradable slivers.”
“Glass slivers?” Harold asked.
Levin shook his head.
Harold’s jaw
line hardened, and it seemed he would pull the trigger after all.
“Poison slivers,” Levin whispered.
Director Harold lowered his arm and set the plastic gun on the table. “Quite ingenious,” he said. “It might have worked if you’d used it yourself. Bringing Hicks gave you away. But no matter, justice is served.” He made a shooing motion. “Take them away, but be sure to separate each of them. We’ll have to decide on their punishments on an individual basis of guilt.”
That was the last Anna saw of the director, as her pair of guards spun her toward the door and marched her out of Underground Bunker #5.
INNER MONGOLIA, CHINA
The painkiller wore off as Paul guided the lifter across a nighttime wasteland of sand and rocks.
After the firefight with the helicopters, they’d taken the lifter to a hidden area, landed and waited for dark. Once they achieved that, he flew the platoon across land, avoiding populated areas and detouring through Inner Mongolia.
“The pass is fifty miles to the east,” Romo shouted through his open faceplate.
Paul nodded. They saved power talking this way. Without the lifter, all of their suits would have long ago shut down. Each of them had plugged in, reenergizing themselves to thirty percent capacity. That should prove enough.
“Will we make it?” Chavez asked.
“Are you kidding?” Romo asked. “This is Paul Kavanagh you’re talking about. He always wins through.”
“I’ve heard that said about him,” Chavez replied. “But I have also heard that those with him are not so lucky.”
“Good point,” Romo said. “You’d better pray you make it.”
Paul dialed himself another painkiller. He’d taken too many, and he knew it, but he wanted to be lucid for the last leg of the mission. Shortly after swallowing the pill, he turned east, heading for the pass.
If America didn’t win with this Orion stunt…would he stay in the orbital dropping arm of the Marines? He didn’t know. He missed Cheri. He missed his son. He wanted to hug both and never let them go. How did being away all the time show them he loved them? Maybe it was time to retire—and do what?
He didn’t know, but he thought about it the rest of the journey. As the lifter neared American lines, Romo gave the call signs to Liaoning Province US defenders. Soon, the lifter slipped around the Chinese front—and after a long journey from inland, China, the Marines landed in friendly-occupied territory.
“We did it,” Paul told his platoon. “We came, we destroyed our enemies and now we’re going home.”
-16-
Surrender
BEIJING, CHINA
I’m becoming the very thing I hated most, Shun Li thought.
She rode in the Chairman’s armored car with Tang beside her. Fu Tao sat up front with a Lion Guardsman on either side of him. The diminutive man with a bandaged right hand had proved to be the most ruthless killer among them, personally slaying three, top-rank East Lighting commissars and two Ruling Committee members who disagreed with Shun Li’s elevation to power.
It had been three days since Hong’s death. Shun Li’s eyes were red-rimmed and her mind numb. It was becoming almost impossible to concentrate. She hadn’t slept since Fu Tao killed Hong, taking stimulants to stay awake.
I must save China from nuclear annihilation. The only way to do so is to enforce my will over everyone else. To do that, I must rule. To do that now, I must move like lightning and become steel, impervious to all emotions.
With the backing of the Lion Guardsmen and operating with the sublime knowledge that if she failed, China would cease to exist, Shun Li had executed several key East Lightning opponents, cementing her power in the Police Ministry. Afterward, she swept the old Ruling Committee members from office—having them shot in secret. Now she attempted to negotiate with the Army and Navy.
“They may shoot you and take control themselves,” Tang said.
She nodded brusquely.
“Their assurances of letting you leave after the talk means nothing,” he added.
“You are wrong,” Shun Li said. “I have observed the marshals and generals for quite some time. They are military men, which mean they thrive on honor. Besides, I have learned a secret.”
Tang looked down at her, listening.
Closing her mouth, Shun Li realized she spoke too much. She must keep these secrets to herself. Tang could become dangerous if he became too knowledgeable. She must mollify him long enough to gain control of the country.
I do this for China. It is a heavy burden.
The car approached the Army checkpoint on the outskirts of Beijing. The procedure took several minutes. Once they confirmed it was indeed her, the guard colonel gave her new directions.
They fear me. They must wonder if I merely wanted to know where the top command stayed, so I could send a missile to destroy them.
The journey took another half-hour. Her eyelids drooped and her chin slumped onto her chest. She considered taking another stimulant, but at this point, it would merely numb her mind more.
“Chairman,” Tang said softly, “we’re here.”
As she raised her head, Shun Li forced herself awake. They had stopped in an underground garage. She opened the door and saw a hundred or more armored soldiers. Each held an assault rifle at port arms. Each of the weapons was tipped with a stubby bayonet. The massed soldiers caused her to hesitate. She brushed that aside. At least seeing these men woke her up.
With Tang, Fu Tao and the Lion Guardsman driver, Shun Li approached the officers sitting behind a table. It was an odd choice as a meeting place, but that hardly mattered. There were three marshals, a general and an admiral. Did that mean the Navy and Army were united?
Yes, of course it means that.
Shun Li marched past the soldiers with their rifles. All looked on with dour expressions. Wanting to get this over with, she marched ahead of her people.
They think to judge me, but I am here to judge them.
She halted before the table, took a wide stance and folded her arms behind her back. It was time to take charge.
“So, we finally meet,” she said. “Good. I have little time for you. I hope you have the wisdom to make the right decision.”
The oldest marshal glanced at the others. He was stoop-shouldered, with many wrinkles across his face. After scanning his confederates, he spoke in a surprisingly strong voice.
“We have heard strange rumors about you, Police Minister.”
“I am the Chairman of China,” she said in a loud voice. “I command the Ruling Committee.”
“You have given some of your stooges high-sounding titles and called them the Ruling Committee. That does not make it so.”
Shun Li took a step forward. “Listen to me, old man. Maybe you don’t care that China lives or dies. I do.”
The marshal scowled. “You are being foolish, Shun Li. I—we rule China now. You are at my—at our mercy.”
“Rule, you say?” Shun Li laughed. “Your kingdom will become irradiated rubble. Don’t you realize the Americans are about to rain death onto China?”
“They are bluffing.”
“No. They’re. Not,” she said. “They have waited for this day a long time. The director hates us. We must surrender or die.”
“You want our soldiers to give their weapons to the Mexicans? No. I don’t think so. If our army over there does such a thing, the Mexicans will butcher our soldiers. We are not loved in North America.”
“I doubt you’re right,” Shun Li said. “But even if you are correct, it doesn’t matter. If they die, they die.”
“Only Shun Li the Butcher could speak like that,” the marshal said.
She hated the title. She had Hong to thank for it, but that didn’t matter today.
“For the sake of China,” she said, “you will listen closely to what I am about to say.”
They stared at her, waiting. Finally, the old marshal said, “We will listen.”
“Chairman Hong led us down
a path of folly. He overreached. There was a time he should have cut his losses and retreated. He didn’t know how to do that. I do. I am also Chinese, as are you. We must now take the long view. Isn’t that our ancient strength?”
“It is,” the marshal admitted.
“The Americans are barbarians, but we have lost. They won’t hesitate to wash our land with nuclear devastation. When the Americans desire revenge, nothing stops them. Ask the Japanese. They know.”
“But to surrender our armies…”
“Like the Japanese when they surrendered, we will rebuild after this is all over,” she told them. “Yes, it may take ten years, it may take twenty, or fifty. The amount of time doesn’t matter as long as we have our country and our people. This is our hour. We stretched too far and now we must pay the price before we rise again.”
“And you wish to rule as the American puppet?”
“No,” Shun Li said. “I am no one’s puppet. But you should be glad I’m willing to rule.”
“Why should we be happy about that? One of us should rule.”
“Don’t you realize that history will judge me harshly? It will look back at whoever rules as a traitor. Do you wish to tar the Army and the Navy with that?”
“You will stain the police if you rule.”
Shun Li laughed. They were so simple. She could see how Hong fooled them all the time. “No one ever loved secret policemen. People have always hated my kind. They already think me a monster. Therefore, I lose nothing by accepting the post in this dark hour.”
“She has a point,” the admiral at the end of the table said.
The old marshal studied the admiral. So did Shun Li. The admiral appeared to have a false left eye.
Finally, the marshal told her, “Let the five of us here talk together. If you could go and wait in your car…”
Without another word, Shun Li walked back to the car. Tang strode ahead, opening the door for her. She slid in, and then she watched the officers at the table debate.
Invasion: China (Invasion America) (Volume 5) Page 46