by Andrew Watts
Once on her floor, Li first darted into the bathroom and threw the tongue piece into one of the toilet holes on the floor. She flushed it down several times, and then began thoroughly scrubbing her hands, arm, and the scissors. She scrubbed using the same pair of pants that were already bloody. She only gave herself a minute to finish. If anyone had seen her, they would be up here soon. If not, she would have longer. But she wasn’t sure exactly how long.
She looked out the bathroom and into the dark hallway. No one was there, so she sprinted into her room and placed the now-clean scissors back in her desk drawer. She took the bloody pants and climbed up on her desk. She lifted a ceiling tile and shoved them up top, into the unused space above. Later, she would have to get rid of them. She then scurried under her sheet and pulled the mosquito netting back over her bed.
She could hear the commotion downstairs. Yelling from one of the instructors to get the nurse. Fang’s continued screams of agony. Li listened for the footsteps down her hallway, but they never came. She kept imagining a trail of blood droplets leading up the stairs and to her room. She told herself that there wasn’t one. That she had been careful.
The noise died down an hour later. It was the middle of the night. Only a few more hours until dawn. She smiled to herself. A deep feeling of content filled her, and—as she thought of the moment when she had cut off Fang’s tongue—an excitement that she had never known until now.
Two days later, Jinshan marveled at the girl sitting on the other side of his desk. Had he known what would happen, he might not have suggested that Lieutenant Lin give Fang the keys to her room. No one would ever know the details of that particular transaction. Even Fang didn’t know of Jinshan’s role.
Jinshan had thought that Li would give Fang a black eye, or vice versa. Either would suit his purpose. The fight would be grounds for dismissal or even legal trouble for Li. Jinshan would be able to use this as cause to have her removed from the school, and she would join his own team. He would then talk to her father, the colonel, insisting that it was the only way to keep her out of trouble. Eventually, with the influence of Jinshan’s contacts in the PLA, the father would give his approval.
But all had not gone as planned. This girl was quite unpredictable.
As soon as Jinshan had become aware of what had happened to Fang that night, he’d had Lieutenant Lin transferred to another district. Anything Fang said—or wrote, since he would never speak again—would be denied by Lin. Jinshan had made sure of that.
But Fang wasn’t communicating anything. The investigative team, who were reporting through Jinshan, said that Fang didn’t write anything about the keys, or paying the girl Li a visit in the night. His story was that he didn’t know who had sliced off his tongue, or why. And he didn’t want to know.
The poor boy was a neutered animal without his tongue. He just wanted to be left alone. And Jinshan didn’t want anyone to find out that one of the instructors had a hand in this mess.
Jinshan had made sure that Li was not questioned about the incident. Fang’s roommate had said that Fang had left his room for an hour earlier that evening, but that was all he knew.
So this interview, in the office of the supervisor of the Junxun camp, would be the first time that Li was confronted about the incident. Jinshan wasn’t sure exactly what had happened that evening between Fang and Li, prior to Fang’s tongue being sliced off, but he had his suspicions.
“Are you comfortable?”
“Yes, sir, thank you,” said Li.
She looked calm. Jinshan was surprised at that. He thought she would be terrified to be in his presence.
“Do you know who I am?”
She said, “No, sir.”
“But you have some idea of my role here?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Tell me what you think I do.”
“I think you are evaluating us. For which role we will go on to next.”
Jinshan nodded. “This is partly true.” He looked down at his notepad. “You’ve done exceptionally well here.”
“Thank you, sir.”
He watched her eyes as he asked his next question. “What happened the night that you cut off Fang’s tongue?”
Li’s composed demeanor shattered, but only for a microsecond. She then stared at the wall and remained silent.
“You heard my question,” he persisted. “What is your answer?”
“He came to my room and…”
“And what?”
“He attacked me.”
“Did he?” Jinshan let the question hang in the air.
He expected her to fill the uncomfortable silence with an excuse, or with an apology. But she offered none.
“If he attacked you, why don’t you have any scars or bruises?”
She stopped looking at the wall and faced Jinshan. “Sometimes an attack is not easily recognized.”
Jinshan pursed his lips. “Why didn’t you bring this information to the attention of the instructors?”
“After he lost his tongue, that seemed unwise.”
His mouth formed a slight smile. “What shall we do with you now?”
She didn’t reply.
“I am of two minds. One, Fang was the aggressor and I would say that he got what he deserved. Two, you took matters into your own hands and committed an illegal act of violence.”
She said nothing.
“Punishable by prison.”
No response.
“Your father is a colonel in the People’s Liberation Army. You would bring much dishonor to your family if it were to get out that his daughter was the psychotic girl who sliced off the tongue of the university student in Guangzhou.”
At that, she looked worried.
Jinshan’s instincts were right. She was selfless. Service and sacrifice, devotion to family, to country. These were her motivations. Jinshan could work with them.
Her eyes moved as she was thinking of what to say. “I am sorry.”
Jinshan said, “Your father’s career would be over. Your family name would be associated with this violent act for decades. Instead of university, you would be behind bars. These are all things that a thoughtful person would have considered before taking such drastic action.”
Her head was down. Looking at the floor now. Shame was a powerful drug.
Jinshan held up his hand. “There is an alternative, however. Li, you have performed brilliantly here. I would hate to lose such a talented young woman to one careless act. An act that could be perceived by many as justified.”
She looked up at him, her eyes watery.
He reached down for her file, thumbing through the pages. “Like I said, you’ve done quite well here. With training and discipline, you could learn to harness your talents. You could help our nation in extraordinary ways. But the path that I am thinking of…it requires a great sacrifice.”
She nodded. “I am willing to sacrifice.”
“I am sure you are. But would you be willing to sacrifice everything you have? The life you know? Even your identity?”
She looked confused. “If it meant that I would not dishonor my family. If it meant that I could serve my country, yes. Of course. I will sacrifice anything.”
Jinshan smiled. “Then I think there is a way to remedy this unfortunate situation. I can take care of Fang and the incident here. I think you would be a valuable asset to my team.”
“Your team?”
“Yes, Li. You see, each year, I look for the best recruit at these types of camps. Some years I don’t find anyone suitable. This year, I have found you. The personnel that I select go on to serve China in ways that are dangerous but extremely crucial to our national security. We export many students to overseas assignments each year. Many of them do work for the Ministry of State Security while they are there.”
At the mention of the Ministry of State Security, Li raised her eyebrow. “The Ministry of…”
“Yes. We work with students before they travel, to ensure that they ke
ep their eyes open while they are abroad. We use these Junxun camps to identify the best candidates for this type of work. They will go for a few years. Perhaps they will be asked to make a copy of a particular file, or sometimes to take certain pictures. Tens of thousands of these types of activities funnel in to my office each year. The Ministry of State Security is able to use all this information to improve China’s standing in the world.”
“I see.”
“But while it is very helpful to have so many temporary personnel performing these activities, we need to have a long-term presence as well. This allows us to better position ourselves for the bigger pieces of work. Long-term human resources, living and working alongside our adversaries. These are the type of people that I recruit.”
Li nodded, understanding. She said, hesitantly, “Spies?”
Jinshan smiled. “In a word, yes.”
“And when you say that I would need to sacrifice my identity…it is because I would become a…spy?”
“I am offering you the opportunity to serve your nation as a covert operative.”
“What types of things would I be doing? If I may ask?”
“Of course you may. The Ministry of State Security has many arms. We engage in counterintelligence, the collection of our adversaries secrets and technology, and if needed, a variety of special activities that we don’t need to go into right now.”
“It sounds…exciting.”
“It can be. It can also be incredibly boring. For every exciting day, you will have two hundred days of the mundane. But the work is very fulfilling. And there is no greater way to serve China with honor.”
She took a deep breath. “I accept. What do I need to do now?”
A wide smile crossed Jinshan’s lips. “Excellent. Tomorrow you will leave this camp to begin your training. It will be different from anything you have done in your life. Much more rigorous. Military training. Language schools. Schools in espionage tradecraft. We must prepare you, Li. You will remain in China for another year or so. Then you will move to the United States and live under your new identity. You will become an American citizen. You will attend an American university and get an American job after you graduate. We will help with that.”
He slid over a manila envelope.
“What is this?” She reached for it.
“Open it. This is your new identity.”
She looked down at the sheet of paper. “A new name?”
“Yes. A more American-sounding first name. I thought it was similar enough.”
She looked down at the name and the life summary beneath it. The name had a nice ring to it, she thought.
Lena Chou.
11
Langley, Virginia
Present Day
Susan walked over to David’s desk. “I just sent you a link. Check it out.”
David searched his email for the message from Susan and clicked on the link. It took him to a Top Secret portion of the share drive where recent intelligence data was stored. He pressed his thumb up against the biometrics reader to open the folder to gain access, and then began scrolling through the imagery.
David said, “What am I looking at?”
He scrolled through pictures of…
“Is that the island? Who took these?”
The profile was not an overhead view. All he had seen so far were images from reconnaissance drones. But these pictures were taken from the surface. As if someone had taken them from a boat.
Susan said, “Your access just went through, so now you’ll be able to see all our surveillance intel on the Red Cell island. This one comes from the USS Jimmy Carter. It’s a Seawolf-class submarine. Ultra quiet. She’s orbiting around the island, gathering as much information as she can. But since almost all of our satcom is down, we’re only getting her reports and data sporadically. You’ll also get electronic eavesdropping information from our surveillance aircraft in the area. The updates come in about every hour.”
David kept scrolling through the files. “This is great stuff.”
She said, “Yes it is. Anyway, take a look. We’re meeting at two p.m. to go over the latest information. Can you join us?”
Until now, David had been asked to provide information almost solely based on his experience on the island. This was different. Now they wanted him to help out with the analysis of the collected intelligence.
Part of this change in his treatment might be due to being short-staffed. Some of the men and women who had been assigned to the SILVERSMITH project were reassigned to the Middle East desk after the Beltway attack. The war with Iran was going to happen. It was no longer a question of if, but when.
This China theory, as some called it, was becoming a lower priority, despite interest from the director. While it frustrated David, he found that the more noise he made, the less credibility he had. Chase kept telling him that he needed to earn their trust first, and then give his opinions. This seemed to be the first evidence that the strategy was working.
“I’ll be there.”
She nodded. “Good.”
He sipped on his coffee and resumed scrolling through the images on his screen, taking notes.
The next day, David watched an interrogation of the Chinese operative with a mix of intrigue and frustration. He sat next to Susan and a few others on the SILVERSMITH team, in a darkened room behind a two-way mirror. Some of them wore headsets so they could hear the interrogation through the speakers. Two video monitors showed the Chinese spy’s face at different angles as he answered questions. But the man’s answers didn’t help David get any closer to the answer to his problem.
For the past twenty-four hours, David had been studying the data from the Red Cell island that Susan had granted him access to. His job was to look at the data coming from the USS Jimmy Carter, which was surveilling the Red Cell island, and compare it to other bits of intelligence.
Thinking he might have found something, he decided to look at the tail numbers of the large Chinese transport jets that were now landing on the island every day. Among the information they had access to were the details from the flight plans that the Chinese pilots filed before takeoff. Each of these files contained the tail number and takeoff time of the aircraft.
Next, David used the imagery and written summary provided by the USS Jimmy Carter. Its mission was to monitor everything that happened on that island, using its high-tech sensors to gather a variety of information. They were able to get pictures of almost every aircraft that landed on the island.
What David found interesting was that the tail numbers and the time stamps provided by the USS Jimmy Carter didn’t match the filed flight plans. He was about to tell Susan about his find when the director stepped in.
“Morning, Susan,” the director whispered, not wanting his voice to carry through the two-way mirror. While the rooms were supposed to be soundproof, they weren’t perfect. “I’ve got about ten minutes. What have you got for me?”
“Sir, we’re starting to hit a wall,” Susan replied quietly. “He has confirmed his own role in instigating the Beltway attacks, but links to China are tenuous. We have a list of potential personnel within the US who might have assisted him. None of them have any ties to the Chinese, though. They’re just third parties he has used.”
“So where did he get the orders from?”
“He claimed that they were verbal orders, from Lena Chou.”
“Another person the Chinese don’t claim to own.”
“Correct, sir.”
“Anything more on Latin America and Chinese military movements?”
“No, sir, just that they are taking place. No distinct locations yet, although we’re working with US Air Force and other reconnaissance assets to narrow down a few possibilities.”
“What about the Red Cell?”
“He claims not to know much about the Red Cell. Our interrogator told us he would be digging more on this today. It seems the initial shock of being captured has worn off. Now he’s sticking to h
is script more, and giving us less.”
The director nodded. “Alright. Anything more from our friends in Beijing?”
He was referring to a human intelligence source within the highest levels of the Chinese Politburo.
“Sir, our source has triple-verified that the Chinese president and top generals in the PLA know nothing of any Chinese participation in the Beltway attacks. They aren’t convinced one way or another about Jinshan’s participation.”
“How is Jinshan doing this? How is he able to use so many Chinese military and intelligence assets without the consent of Chinese leadership?”
Susan said, “Sir, we now believe that one of Jinshan’s main allies within the Chinese government must be the South Fleet Commander of the PLA Navy. He would be the one in charge of the Red Cell island, based on the island’s location. He would also have been able to grant access to the types of military assets that are supposedly supporting Jinshan’s operation.”
The director leaned in. “So you’re telling me that Jinshan and one rogue general are really the ones doing all this?”
“An admiral, not a general. But yes, sir. That’s what we now think.”
“Unbelievable. The president wants to show the Chinese president proof. Assuming that we think his reaction would be favorable.”
“Our China analyst team thinks that the Chinese president would consider Jinshan’s actions high treason, if confirmed, sir. And our China station is doing everything they can to help find out more and bring it to the attention of the Chinese leadership. But to be honest, sir, we still have very little proof, other than our word against theirs.”
“But what about all the military buildup on the Red Cell island?” the director said.
“That particular military buildup is approved by the PLA leadership, sir. As you know, part of the Chinese military strategy is to build up military outposts and bases in the South China Sea. This extends their territorial claim and defensive capability.”
