by Ted Halstead
"Yes to both," Chen replied calmly. "But being part of the capitalist world means that people like me must have some freedom to travel and the ability to move at least some of their money out of China. And if you give a rich man an inch…"
"Soon, he'll have crossed the Pacific and be laughing at you from Vancouver," Chen finished with a scowl.
"I would have said San Francisco, personally, but yes," Pan agreed with a nod. "So, what place do you see for people like me after the Revolution?"
Chen looked at Pan thoughtfully. "I'll be honest. There was a time when I thought the rich were just as much oppressors as the Party. Then someone subsidized my purchase of a Gateway. You, I'm guessing? And probably the others who got Gateways in our movement?"
Pan nodded silently.
"So, as I said before, I'm no innocent. I know the rich have many reasons to want to be free of Party rule. Maybe even take power themselves, the way they have in most Western countries. But that's for the people to decide for themselves in free elections. I trust them to make the right choice," Chen said confidently.
"So, let the best person win?" Pan asked with a smile.
"Exactly. And until the day comes when we can finally have free elections in China, all of us who hate the Party will work together to bring it down," Chen said.
And thrust her right hand towards Pan, who immediately recognized it as that most American of gestures.
Pan shook Chen's hand gravely and said, "With the help of patriots like you, I am sure that day will come soon."
Once Chen had left, Wang Yan entered through a side door.
Pan smiled. "You heard all that, yes?"
Wang smiled and nodded. "I did. A real idealist. Are you sure we'll be able to get her to do everything you want?"
Pan laughed. "That's what I have you for. You did say you believe you can seduce her?"
Wang shrugged. "I've met no one yet, man or woman, who can refuse me. But there is always a first time. She is in a relationship, after all."
"Yes. But that will just make Chen a more interesting challenge for you. And once you succeed, help to increase our hold over her. After all, Chen wouldn't want this other woman to find out about you, would she?" Pan asked.
Wang shook her head. "Remind me again how we're supposed to be better than the Party."
"Oh, you know better than that. Once we're in charge, we won't be locking people up just for speaking against us. No more forced labor camps. People will be liberated from the thousands of controls on what they can do and say," Pan said.
Wang nodded thoughtfully. "And so will you and your companies. As well as those of your friends."
"Of course. I never pretended otherwise. You shouldn't pretend either. I can tell from how you talk about her that you actually like this woman," Pan said.
"It's true," Wang acknowledged. "But don't worry. I never forget the difference between an assignment and reality."
Pan nodded approvingly. "And that's why you're so valuable to me. I'm willing to share you for a while."
Then he paused and looked at Wang intently.
"But never forget, I do want you back."
Chapter Forty-Five
Near the Chinese-Indian Border
Sergeant Xu had taken familiarization with the Barrett sniper rifle one step at a time. It helped a lot that he'd already read quite a bit about the rifle, as well as watched hours of online video of Americans using it.
Xu thought to himself wryly that he'd have to do something to thank his cousin Deshi the next time he saw him. Yes, he'd been right to be angry that Deshi had risked their whole family by using a Gateway to obtain the information.
But it was indeed coming in handy now.
Step one had been disassembling, cleaning, and then reassembling the rifle. The Barrett had a solid, reassuring feel to it. Everything about it said quality.
Well, it made sense. For a long time, Americans had said that General Motors was inferior in quality to its competitors such as Ford. But GM sold more cars in China than in America.
Why? Because Chinese customers correctly considered its cars superior to those produced by its many Chinese-owned and run competitors.
Even though all GM's factories producing cars sold in China were in country, and all their workers were Chinese.
Xu carefully checked the armory's inventory of Barrett ammunition and then relaxed a fraction. There was enough here for a multi-year deployment.
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than he did his best to stamp it out. Xu had been told their unit would be at the border for no more than a few months, and as far as he was concerned, that was plenty.
Zeroing the rifle was easy. Its previous owner had all the settings almost exactly right, as far as Xu could tell.
Then he remembered this rifle had been used to kill a Night Tiger commando and shook his head.
Yes. Its accuracy had been proven.
Xu spent the rest of the day firing at targets, with Corporal Guan calling out his results. They improved steadily as Xu became more familiar with the rifle.
Normally Xu would have spent several more days practicing with the Barrett before taking it into combat. But nothing about this situation was normal.
Xu and Guan once again avoided the trail that led to their previous sniper perch. As well as the perch itself. Xu had picked out a different spot, certain their previous one had already been plotted by the Indians.
They also set out even earlier than usual. By the time Xu and Guan arrived at their new perch, the sky was just beginning to lighten. It would be a while before there was enough light to attempt a shot.
Trying to hit an enemy sniper at this range with night optics was out of the question.
And this was exactly how Xu framed the challenge in his mind. His target was enemy snipers, not their spotters.
Xu's training had emphasized that spotters were just as much legitimate targets as the snipers they assisted. Any time the topic came up, he'd pretended to agree.
On one level, Xu understood the point. A sniper with a spotter to help him identify both targets and threats was far more effective.
But even if the spotter was armed, in practice, he was no threat. His job was to look, not fire. As far as Xu was concerned, that meant he wasn't a legitimate target.
Xu had made sure Guan understood that from everything he had seen and heard, their Indian opponents had no such scruples.
Before picking this spot for today's patrol, Xu had given plenty of thought to its location. If he were replacing a sniper team that had been ambushed and wiped out by commandos, how would he react?
Would he seek a safer but probably less effective location? Or would he move forward, eager for revenge?
Xu went back and forth until he finally realized he had no way to know. So, he used two factors to guide his choice. First, topography and the Barrett's range limited available spots to just a handful.
Second, Xu thought that only a fool would try to reuse the sniper base that the Night Tigers had wiped out. The Indians were many things, but they weren't idiots.
Soon, Xu thought, we'll see whether my guess pays off. The sky was getting lighter by the minute.
Guan had become much quieter after his hospital stay, Xu thought. Well, nothing like a brush with death to make you realize just how serious their situation was here at the border.
Almost as though the thought had provoked him to speak, Xu heard Guan's low voice.
"Movement, twenty degrees right," Guan said.
Xu shifted his scope and, at first, saw nothing. But Xu didn't doubt Guan's abilities. If he said he'd seen movement, it was there.
Xu just had to be patient.
The minutes crawled by. But Xu still had faith in Guan. Wait, wait…
There!
A rifle barrel. At this range, Xu couldn't be sure, but he thought it was another Barrett.
Xu quickly calculated where the enemy sniper had to be and fired. He didn't have to tell Guan an
ything.
Time to go.
Xu had too much respect for the Barrett's capabilities to try to see whether his round had found its mark. But there was no answering round.
When they were both sure they were out of view of the Indian side of the border, Guan startled Xu by patting him on the shoulder.
"You got him!" Guan said with a grin.
Xu nodded back and smiled but said nothing. Partly because he was out of breath from their crouched run to safety.
Partly because he knew the sniper he'd just shot had been a person, too. The first one he'd ever killed.
And Xu knew better than to kid himself that maybe he'd just wounded his Indian opponent. The Barrett's .50 caliber round was large enough and traveling at such a high speed that it could punch through light armor. Anywhere it hit a person would be nearly sure to cause enough shock and blood loss to kill him.
Winded as they both were, it took them a while to make it back to base. Still, it was quite a shock that there had apparently been enough time to organize a reception when Xu and Guan arrived.
Captain Yin greeted them as they walked in and escorted them to the mess tent. As soon as Xu saw him, he remembered hearing that Colonel Chang had been ordered to Beijing for consultations and was expected back tomorrow.
Xu hadn't thought about it before, but now he realized that had left Yin in command. What was he up to?
Xu hadn't had much to do with Yin, but what little he knew he didn't like. He came across as a Party lackey with little interest in the men he commanded, who cared only about his career.
Fortunately, Yin could do little damage as long as Chang was around. Was that about to change?
A white cloth had been rigged up against one interior side of the mess tent, and now a digital projector whirred to life. It looked like almost everyone in the camp had been packed into the tent for the show.
What were they going to see? Besides calling for silence and attention, Yin hadn't said anything.
It took a moment for Xu to recognize the scene that appeared. He had just seen a much smaller view of it through his scope.
A drone! Yin must have ordered one to observe the area.
That would have been nice to know, Xu thought acidly. Even nicer to have had whatever the drone operator saw relayed to them.
Now the view zoomed in to the figures of an Indian sniper and his nearby spotter. They were both cautiously moving.
Yeah. It would have been really nice, Xu thought.
He'd barely completed the thought when Xu saw the sniper thrown backward into the tall grass behind him. The spotter crawled towards him.
And then crawled away without doing anything. As Xu had guessed, a hit from a Barrett round was very unlikely to be survivable.
Up to now, everyone in the tent had been silently staring at the screen with rapt attention.
Now, though, Yin began to clap loudly. Then he stood between Xu and Guan and shouted, "Congratulations to our newest heroes!"
Everyone in the tent stood and joined in the clapping, along with yelled congratulations.
Xu's feelings were mixed. On the one hand, many of the men crowding around him were friends who knew the Indians had put Xu and Guan in the hospital and come close to killing them both. Xu had no problem accepting their praise as sincere.
Yin was another matter. What he was doing couldn't have been more obvious. He was trying to make their success his own.
For a moment, Xu wondered if he was being too hard on Yin. After all, maybe he was just trying to raise camp morale the way Chang had by giving them the Barretts.
Xu immediately saw the difference. There had been a military purpose to giving them the captured rifles. And Chang hadn't staged a spectacle to do it.
No, this felt uncomfortably close to dancing on the enemy's grave while his body was still warm. The thought sent a wave of nausea washing over Xu.
After all, probably no more than a second or so of reaction time had prevented that still figure in the grass from being him or Guan.
Xu had to get out of here.
"Sir, I need to secure my weapon," Xu told Yin. Yin had dragged them into the tent before either he or Guan had been able to put anything away.
Yin nodded absently, busy with accepting congratulations from soldiers looking to curry favor with the base's second in command. Xu was relieved to see none were friends of his.
Guan was surrounded by his friends and didn't seem in any hurry to leave. Xu didn't blame him.
After all, he hadn't killed anyone today.
Xu shook his head as he hurried to the armory. He had to snap out of it. Killing that Indian sniper was his job.
And if he hadn't, Xu had no doubt the Indian sniper would have taken the first available shot. Particularly after the Night Tiger attack.
"Hey, Sergeant! Great shot! Way to go, sir!"
The words from the armory guard brought Xu out of his thoughts. "Thank you, Private. I need to secure my weapon."
"Of course, sir," the guard said, hastily unlocking and opening the door to the bunker. The only solid concrete structure in the entire forward base, it always made Xu feel claustrophobic. Even more than other bunkers Xu had entered, it was precisely as large as it needed to be. And not one square meter more.
Xu knew the guard hadn't been able to leave his post for the show and almost asked him how he could have possibly learned about what had happened.
Then he smiled to himself. As well, ask how the sun could shine. Soldiers always heard the news that mattered, one way or another.
Xu had just finished cleaning the Barrett and putting it back in its case when the floor suddenly rocked.
An earthquake?
The guard always left the armory door opened a crack when someone was inside. Partly because Xu wasn't the only one who had complained about feeling claustrophobic. But more because the door automatically locked when it was closed, and that meant the guard would have to go to the trouble of unlocking it again to let him out.
Now though the door slammed shut with a loud bang, as if it had been closed by a giant hand.
Next, the floor didn't just rock. It seemed to rush up to meet his face.
And then Xu saw nothing more.
301 Military Hospital
Beijing, China
Sergeant Xu blinked and tried to focus. Where was he?
What had happened?
Xu heard a voice to one side say, "Colonel, I've administered this stimulant against my better judgment. Keep this brief."
Colonel. Which Colonel, Xu wondered.
Colonel Chang! As his face came into view, Xu felt a wave of relief. Chang, at least, knew what he was doing.
But this wasn't the camp medical unit. What was going on here?
Before he had a chance to frame the question, Chang answered it for him.
"Sergeant, you're at the 301 Military Hospital in Beijing. You've already undergone surgery. The doctors tell me you're expected to make a complete recovery, but will be here at least another week, probably longer. At least, you can be sure you're getting the very best care available," Chang said.
Xu knew Chang wasn't exaggerating about the quality of care. 301 Hospital was famous as one of China's best hospitals, where both soldiers and many in the Party elite received care. A massive four thousand-bed facility, it was also a teaching hospital that turned out many of China's best doctors.
"Sir, what happened? Was anyone else hurt?" Xu asked.
Xu wasn't sure how to interpret the expression that passed quickly over Chang's face. Anger? Sadness? Shame?
Some combination of the three?
"The Indians attacked our base with drones firing from their side of the border. The drones had been patrolling there for weeks and done nothing but watch. There was no warning," Chang said and then took a deep breath.
"You and I are the only survivors from the men assigned to the base. You, because you were inside the armory. Me, because I was absent, having been ordered to re
port to headquarters here in Beijing," Chang said.
"That means Guan is dead," Xu said, almost to himself.
"Yes, I'm afraid so, Sergeant," Chang replied quietly.
"It's because I killed their sniper, sir," Xu said. This was all my fault, he thought.
Chang shook his head at once. "No. The drone attack came too soon after that. It must have been approved at the highest level of the Indian government, probably by their President. No, I'm afraid this was the Indian response to the Night Tiger assault. This is my responsibility, not yours."
Before Xu could respond, Chang said briskly, "And speaking of Presidents, there's one who wants to speak with you. I think I've kept him waiting long enough."
Then Chang surprised him by smiling. "Get some rest, Sergeant. You'll need it. There will be plenty of work for us to do, and soon."
Chang walked away, and Xu could see him nodding to someone in the hallway out of his view.
Xu hadn't even had time to wonder what Chang had meant by his "Presidents" comment when President Lin Wang Yong walked in.
Xu's first shocked thought was that Lin looked smaller than he seemed on TV.
His next, instinctive, response was to try to stand.
Lin appeared to have been expecting that because he smiled and grabbed Xu by his shoulders, pressing him gently back into bed.
"Take it easy, Sergeant. That's an order from your commander in chief, so I expect you to obey it," Lin said with an easy humor that made Xu think, yes.
Here is a politician.
Aloud, Xu said, "Thank you, Mr. President. I very much appreciate your taking the time to see me."
Lin shook his head. "The honor is mine, Sergeant. I am about to recognize your courage in facing Indian mines and snipers and your skill in using an Indian weapon against its former owners. Before I call in the cameras, is there anything you would like to ask me?"
Here was an opportunity Xu had never dreamed could be possible. Dozens of questions immediately crowded his head, especially the most obvious. Was there any real point to pressing the Indians at an arid, rocky, frigid, and high-altitude border?
Xu's survival instincts prevented any of those questions from passing his lips.
Instead, he quietly said, "Sir, I know the Army will take care of the families of the men who died at my base. But I would rest easier if I knew you were personally involved in that effort."