by Laer Carroll
As the limo pulled out of the garage two black SUVs took up positions before and behind the vehicle. Jane guessed that it was into them that the soldiers had disappeared to.
The hotel was out of the airport and a few city streets away, a tall dark-grey building amid several similar buildings. Chinese ideograms fronted the nearest reading GUANGZHOU COUNTRY GARDEN AIRPORT APARTMENTS. The escort vehicles peeled off and the limo pulled in under an overhang before the entrance to the hotel.
An assistant who'd been seated beside the driver jumped out to open the door for the general. He exited, giving a hand to Jane as she followed him out. Behind them the intelligence agent and her assistant followed.
The lobby was luxurious in beige and brown colors. The quartet walked to an elevator being held open by a hotel staff member. The party entered and the general pushed a button. Jane noticed that it was for the top, 12th, floor.
They exited into a hallway with beige carpet covered with brown floral figures. At the end was a double door, held open by another staff member. She bowed as the party neared and proffered a handful of magnetic cards which must provide access to the suite beyond her. The general took them and motioned Jane to go ahead into the room beyond.
It opened directly into a large living room with beige carpet. There were couches and easy chairs, an elaborate entertainment center, and on the opposite side of the room huge picture windows with a view of the outside. In the distance a low sun showed, barely noticeable through the grey sky.
"Quite nice, General."
He had followed her into the room and now passed her to sit on the couch facing the large wall-mounted flat screen. Jane followed and took the easy chair beside the couch. When she sat he was on her right. The female agent sat herself beside the general. She motioned her assistant to sit on the easy chair to her right, opposite Jane.
"I'll just say a few words then leave you to relax.
"Tomorrow is a Sunday. You might like to sleep in but not too late. Our charming colleague here will likely want to show you around, perhaps escort you to museums or whatever, then accompany you at dinner. She'll be available most of the week, till you feel well settled.
"Monday morning, if you please, we'll meet in my office to discuss matters of mutual interest. Does that sound like an agreeable schedule?"
"Perfect. I'm eager to get to those matters of mutual interest. But I do appreciate the time to see some of the sights. I look forward to spending much time on weekends exploring more of your cultural establishments. I understand, for instance, that in Guangzhou you have some of the world's foremost opera and music houses."
"We do indeed. In fact, beginning next weekend is the opening there of the touring Shen Yun Performing Arts dance company."
Jane nearly squealed her words: "I love them! I've seen them three times!"
"Then I have you beat, dear Captain. I've seen it several times more. Perhaps you'd join me and my family that Friday night. That's their invitational-only premiere night."
"Thank you. I will."
The general sat forward as if to leave, then sat back.
"Did you indeed break guns with your bare hands?"
"I'm freakishly strong. Also I was very angry. The men had threatened my mother's life. I left them alive only because I wanted to order them to pass along the message: Never threaten my family or friends. I will kill anyone who does."
He chuckled. "I would never do something so ungracious. And I will pass along the warning to anyone who might be tempted to do so."
He stood. Jane stood with him and said, "Thank you. I would be tempted to burn down to the bedrock any country who might threaten those I love."
The general faltered in his walk toward the door, but only for the tiniest fraction of a second, one too slight for an ordinary human to notice.
Jane accompanied him. There he stopped just inside the door and handed her three laser cards which would act as keys to the rooms.
"For you and your two assistants. Have a good night."
"Thank you. You too."
Back at the couch her two "assistants" were standing. Jane gave each of them a laser card, tucked the third into a pocket of her pants.
The woman said, "Those were strong words: 'burn down to the bedrock.' I'm not sure the advisability of saying something like that to someone so powerful."
Jane's expression was coldly inhuman.
"He and everyone else need to be reminded of who I am and what I can do. All it would take would be a few dozen large Moon rocks to end this country."
Zhang Jing swallowed. "But others could do the same to your country. Once you talk about Armageddon matters can get out of hand."
Jane smiled. "Lucky for everyone I am a 'gracious' person. Now, I want to see the rest of this suite and get to bed. How will I reach you if I need to?"
"Press 8 on the room phone and ask for the Rose Suite Annex. This is the Rose Suite. The Annex is next door. Or you could just push the door bell button next to my door."
"I don't anticipate anything. But it's good to know I can contact you if I need to.
"Now, good night to you both."
Jane walked them to her door and let them out. Then she turned to explore her suite.
<>
In addition to the living room there was a full-sized kitchen and an attached dining room with a table which could sit ten, a den in which she could work, a bathroom with a large tub, a bedroom with a bed big enough for three or four, and a large closet hung with two sets of clothing and shoes (one leather, the other running shoes), all her sizes.
She went back into the living room and turned on the TV. It had a big selection of Chinese and other Asian fare and Australian, American, and European fare.
She sampled some of it for a half hour then turned it off to write three emails in her head and sent them off via Robot.
<>
==============================================
TO: Mom, Pop, Natalie,
SUBJ: My absence
____________________________________________________
I've just settled into a luxury hotel in Guangzhou. It is late Saturday here. I am being chaperoned by a woman who is a cold-blooded killer and also a fun companion.
Tomorrow I'll spend the day visiting tourist attractions I want to see then have dinner with my charming companion. Monday I start work. She'll be with me till Friday.
That evening I will attend an event with my boss (he thinks) and his family. It is the Shen Yun dance company's Gz premiere. I've seen three perfs of them over the years and absolutely love them. On weekends I'll visit other cultural attractions, including some beautiful shrines and botanical gardens, eat all sorts of food, go to movies, shop, and get to know lots of people. I hope I don't have to kill any of them.
Resist worrying about me. They think they have me captured by them. They can't imagine that it is the exact opposite: they are in this country-sized jail with me.
My love to you all.
==============================================
TO: Phil
SUBJ: My absence
____________________________________________________
I have been sent on detached duty. I'll not be able to communicate for perhaps a year. I ache for you. (It sounds silly written in black and white but is nonetheless true.) Do not forget me.
Love, Jane
==============================================
TO: Lieutenant General Allison Griffin
SUBJ: My absence
____________________________________________________
Sir,
By now my executive officer has informed you that I have left the country in the custody of Chinese agents from the "Glorious" break-away country. I just now finished talking to the general who heads the intelligence agency which controls all their efforts to steal technical information from us and the other countries.
I've told him I will work for them to secure some of the technical infor
mation the country has been denied. And so I shall. But with some limits. If they try to force such information from me beyond what I give them they will find out just how dangerous that is.
As witness to such dangers I am comming you by means invisible to them, a system that is at least a century ahead of what the human race would otherwise attain. Unfortunately it is a one way process.
In the months to come I will give you progress reports via this process. The CIA may be able to confirm them via their covert efforts. Some of them our satellite surveillance will be able to confirm also.
This all may seem like fantasy and megalomania, or a Chinese scam, or outright insanity on my part. I believe you know me well enough to believe that I am telling the exact truth. Reflect on all I've done.
They think they have me where they want me. The truth is the exact opposite. I have them.
Aim high!
==============================================
<>
Zhang Jing got the phone call she'd been expecting for some time.
"I'm almost done with my report, General."
"Take your time. It will be fine if I have it by noon tomorrow."
That was a relief. This report would be read by many more people than all her previous ones put together. Some readers might be many years in the future.
"I called to get your impressions of our guest. Is it true she broke several guns in two with her bare hands?"
"It is. I saw it. The event was captured on the webcam buttons we wore and will be attached to our reports."
"I can't imagine how that was done even if her muscles are three times as strong as those of normal people. Even ten times as strong."
"I agree. The explanation that immediately comes to mind is that she had some technological assistance. But she wears no rings or bracelets. Any such assistance must be inside her."
"Fascinating. But we will leave detailed explanations to our analysts. What I most want are your thoughts on her emotional nature."
"Paradoxical. On the one hand she is warm, kind, interested in people, likes people. On the other hand she can be completely cold-blooded and is capable of great violence."
"Some kind of psychosis, do you think? What is that term: multiple-personality disorder?"
"Perhaps. But I'll paraphrase your earlier statement: best to leave detailed explanations to our clinical psychologists."
"And we shall. But you are an excellent practical psychologist. What are your guesses?"
"I suspect her two natures are two sides of the same coin. She is just as she appears: very empathetic. She is also supremely intelligent and logical, perhaps one of the brightest people on the planet. When those she cares about are threatened the coldly thoughtful side comes to their rescue."
"And her threat to 'burn down to the bedrock' a country?"
"Possibly hyperbole. But she did comment to me that it would take only a few dozen Moon rocks dropped onto it to devastate a country."
"You think she might do that?"
"Moon rocks, the reports say, would take days to arrive, giving targets time to intercept them. More likely she would use steel rods from near-Earth orbit. And target only strategic military targets. Being adverse to harming innocents."
"I'll let you get back to work. Good job, Zhang."
Good job delivering positive reinforcements, Sir. She was amused that despite her awareness of being manipulated she still felt warmth at the compliment.
She returned to writing her report.
Chapter 18 - Mutual Interests
Jane enjoyed her sightseeing Sunday and the dinner with Zhang that evening. The woman had a dry sense of humor which Jane liked. She was also amused that her very real enjoyment served to bolster the impression she wanted to make of someone so enamored of China that she would betray her country.
Monday she went to work bolstering that impression more.
<>
"Lovely view you have, Sir." Jane dropped the General's hand and nodded toward the big picture window behind him.
"One of the requirements of the job: a view that will impress others. Being so high up also suitably impresses people at the altitude of my job."
He shook his head, a wry expression on his face. He gestured toward the comfortable leather chairs in front of his desk. He sat and Jane followed his example, taking the middle of the three chairs.
"Unfortunately I can never spend much time enjoying it. Subordinates always think the boss can go home early. Entirely too often I'm the last one to leave. Or nearly so. There's usually someone else here that I have to shoo out."
"I've experienced the same. Engineers--at least my engineers--are chronic workaholics. Or is that the right term for someone who loves their work so much they'll near kill themselves doing it?"
"Addicts?"
She laughed and nodded.
"You enjoyed yourself this weekend?" he said.
"Very much so. It would not take much to make me love your beautiful city."
"Even the inevitable ugly parts? Well, let's talk about something else: interests which we might share."
"I've given much thought about that subject. And even more about how we can exercise them without drawing down upon us the wrath of our respective governments."
"Indeed?"
"First, we must face the fact that both of ours have, for whatever reasons, taken a hostile stance toward the other. The Glorious Republic claims much of its offshore ocean. My country insists it claims too much.
"However, suitable rewards can create an almost head-dizzying reversal of stances. I believe that I have come up with a possible way of doing that."
"A pleasant fantasy, one would think."
"One might. Yet history shows a number of examples.
"Now. You might have somehow gained access to my orders through some obscure channels."
She took out her SuperSmart and tapped an icon, and then another.
The General's smart phone gave a faint chime. He raised an eyebrow, picked it up, looked at its screen, then back up at her.
"So I might."
"If you had your legal experts analyze them, preferably ones familiar with military laws, they would see that I have extraordinary orders. They basically let me do almost anything I choose. This is in hopes, of course, that I will repeat some of the extraordinary achievements I've done.
"Cosseting the golden goose, in other words."
The general leaned back in his comfortable leather-surfaced ergonomic chair and steepled his hands in front of his mouth.
"That gamble has paid off, as I'm sure you know," she continued. "Including in ways that, being classified, you would not know about.
"You might also have your legal experts examine the several laws and regulations which limit the export of technology to nations with manifestly hostile intentions. Of which, unfortunately, your nation is PRESENTLY one.
"Your experts would find that there are a number of loopholes in those laws and regulations. I suggest that you help me use some of those loopholes."
"An interesting suggestion. I will, of course, not commit to anything until I've done my due diligence on this matter. But, just hypothetically, how might that work out?"
"I'm going to build you the 'sickist' aerospace plane ever."
She put the English word "sickist" in airy finger quotes.
"I understand the slang. Do teenagers in your country still use it?"
She laughed. "At 25 I am way too old to know. Probably not."
<>
While the legal experts were presumably looking for loopholes Jane went about preparing to build a "sick" spaceplane. She made a number of requests which were relayed as orders to various organizations.
One was to find an abandoned or little used military airfield. It also had to be close to a college or university with strong technical departments. Several candidates came back to her desk in a small enclosed office which nevertheless did have a view to the outside. It was, not surprisingly,
not too many floors down from the general. He was not going to let the Golden Goose get very far from his control.
Jane rejected several candidates because they were too far from Guangzhou. She wanted the enormous technical resources of that vast metroplex readily available.
She finally picked one. The People's Liberation Army's Huiyang Air Base was about a dozen miles to the southeast of Huizhou, a city in a metroplex of some 5 million people and a major electronics and manufacturing area. It also contained Huizhou University, a doctoral granting institution of some 30,000 students.
It was also connected to Quangzhou some 100 miles to the west by a freeway and high-speed automated railway.
Jane then sent requests for personnel for the air base. Fully operational that might be 1000 people, or several times that for bigger bases. She would only need a hundred or so when she brought the abandoned base to life as a research facility. To get that process started she requested two dozen people with a variety of specialties.
She got 17 assigned to this task. She began to look at their dossiers.
After the third dud she realized that the General's plan was being sabotaged.
Leaning back in her chair she twirled it to look out at the magnificent view. Today last week's rainy weather had been swept away by a bright cold front out of the north.
Down below, when she stood and stepped close to the window, she could see an octagonal plaza which stood at the back of seven tall buildings like the one she was in. Numerous round umbrellas with red and white pie segments covered tables. A couple of dozen potted trees showed green in the mid-morning sun.
As she watched the few people she could see began to be joined by others. From this height she could not easily see the brown bags and brighter take-out boxes of the worker's lunches but she was sure they were there.
At a thought Robot flashed down electronic pathways into the personnel section which had delivered her duds. A few thousand milliseconds identified a common signature on the personnel transfers.
Her first impulse was to email the identity of the woman to the General and let him take care of her and the situation. But she looked closer at the woman.
Hah! An agent of the Beijing-based One True Faithful Alliance which had succeeded the once-unified People's Republic of China. A known enemy could be useful. Jane decided to leave her in place as a possible resource for herself.
