Kim and Zak take Baiyun Road across the Yongdinghe Canal, hewing close to the canal along Baiyunguan Beili Street. They walk past a Public Security University hotel, a Public Security University publishing house, and a Public Security University hi-rise residence before reaching the sand colored Public Security University main building, a massive block long structure of seven stories with a formal entrance marked by dozens of flagpoles. They make their way under its large porte cochere, enter the lobby, and encounter the security protocol of government buildings the world over: magnetometers.
Kim and Zak pass safely through and end up sitting in Wu-pen Xu’s outer office cooling their heels until his return from class. They are accompanied by a young woman who acts as Xu’s secretary but who explains, in somewhat fractured English, that she is a graduate student temping for Xu. Xu is a very busy professor. But he has no permanent secretary and this is because he is too demanding and none of the experienced secretaries will work for him.
They hear Wu-pen Xu coming down the hallway, loud footfalls coming fast, before they see him reach and open the glass hallway door in a rush of smooth, practiced motion. He raises his head to see them only as he enters. Immediately he shifts his gaze to the secretary and she introduces them as American graduate students attending Tsinghua University. This seems to impress Xu and he ushers them into his office.
While the office is tiny, the walls are packed with shelves piled high to the ceiling, dangerously loaded down with every manner of book and reference. An oversized screen resides on a cadenza to the side. Wu-pen is an older man, bald, but only on top, above average height, wearing what passes as horn rims, dressed in a dark grey suit with a light grey sweater vest, dark tie and white shirt. Natty. Fit. He moves like a much younger man. Right now, he is wondering if he should use the temp to help translate or go it alone with his English.
“You will pardon me I hope. I do not get very many chances to speak English.”
Zak apologizes in turn for their inability to speak Chinese.
“We have been attacked by someone who we think is probably a member of an organization that is, well…”
“A black society? A triad?” Wu-pen offers in response.
“Yes, I guess so,” Zak replies.
“So your inquiry is of a more personal nature? This is not some student project?”
“That’s right. I hope that’s okay.”
The professor somehow makes it around his desk to his stuffed leather chair and motions for them to take a couple of the several plastic chairs arranged haphazardly in front of his desk.
“You should take great care then. There is no reason why students such as your selves should ever have any contact with anyone from the Triads. Their activities are entirely illegal. If you have had the misfortune to come across them it would naturally raise questions about your own activities.”
“I agree Professor. I was a witness to a crime in which one of the Triad were apparently involved. Since then we have been pursued by members of that gang or, possibly, some other.”
“If you were the only witness, your days would already have run short.”
“That is true, but there was a crowd. The victim gave me this.”
He pulls the memory stick from his pocket.
“May I?”
“Of course.”
Wu-pen takes it and connects it to his pc. It’s directory boots instantly and Xu tries to open various files. He runs a diagnostic.
“You should know that most of this is military grade encryption. And there are many files within files. Millions.”
“But not everything has this military encryption?”
Xu pulls up one of the lesser encrypted of the files, decrypts it, and sees that it references an activist, one whose name is not entirely unknown to him. He continues, finds a number of files that he can open, and does so. After several minutes examining the contents of these he closes and runs a wipe.
“Here,” he says, patiently holding out the flash.
“There are files that can be opened that provide insight into the full contents of the drive. They are not that significant. The most significant files have military crypto and will be very hard to unwrap.”
“What is it really? What’s the point?” Kim asks.
“I don’t know. Could it be the ravings of lunatics? Or could it be somebody’s prescription for real change? Will it be laughed at or will it send people into the streets? I suspect the answer lies somewhere in there. I also suspect that whoever decrypts it and however they decide to use it will play a significant role in determining how really important it is.”
“UNK?” Zak says the name with resignation.
“It’s possible. Who knows?” Xu answers.
“Why are they after us?” asks Kim.
The dapper professor leans back.
“That is easy. But a little history may be in order first. Triad is a term used to describe Chinese organized criminal gangs in general. There are several million members worldwide and they trade between one half to one trillion dollars a year. The triads arose from secret societies of peasants a thousand years ago. They organized themselves to defend against the tyrants in their country. One of these secret societies, the Buddist White Lotus Society, inspired a revolution. Their protest brought down Mongol rule, founding the Ming Dynasty. Later on, legend has it that Shaolin monks in the 1600s helped organize societies to fight against injustice when the Ming Dynasty was overthrown by the Qing Dynasty. Triads have exercised political powers that have influenced the very rise and fall of Chinese emperors. And they have been identified with rebellions against tyrannical regimes throughout most of Chinese history.
“When the British showed up in Hong Kong they called these various groups Triads and they persecuted the members of triads as criminals. The Triads were involved, among other things, in the trade of opium. But Triads were assisted in the drug trade by the British police themselves. By 1898 half the British police force in Hong Kong was dismissed for having accepted bribes associated with the trade. Today only 5 to 10 percent of crime in Hong Kong is Triad related but the Hong Kong Police Department maintains an Organized Crime and Triad Bureau nevertheless. I helped staff it myself.
“Triad leadership continues to play an important part in the life of the nation. Triad leaders met with communist officials regarding the hand-over of Hong Kong to the Chinese. They played a vital role in Operation Yellowbird, which was a network that smuggled pro-democracy activists out of China after Tiananmen. Was it only for the money? Or was it because of the politics? You tell me.”
Here Wu-pen Xu paused to take a drink from a water bottle sitting on his desk.
“Certain Triads keep close ties to different officials of the government from time to time. There is always an ebb and flow between the light and the dark, a balancing of interests that must be achieved. The Triads play their traditional role.”
“You may well be the victims of these traditions. If a Triad member is after you, it could be because some state security interest is directing his triad’s actions. If that is the case then you have indeed earned yourself powerful enemies.”
Kim and Zak exchange looks.
“What should we do?” Kim asks.
Professor Xu does not hesitate in his answer.
“You must leave China. You are no longer safe here. You are being watched by authorities, I can assure you. You are going to need help in departing the country so as to avoid being detained.”
“How can we find that kind of help?”
Xu stops to think. Finally, he speaks.
“You are in luck. I just may know someone.”
Chapter 12
On Fire Page 11