Seated at the desk, the adoption officer shuffled through their file. They had scrambled to get all the forms together. All of their experience with administrative red tape didn’t seem to make this any less nerve-racking. Matt’s hands were sweating and Casey was putting on her “please like me” face.
“It is all in order.”
They both exhaled, relieved.
“Vaccination shots next. Here is the address. You can go there now. When you have the stamps on these three forms, the process will be complete and I can then issue the girl her certificate of adoption by foreigners.”
“Vaccinations?” he asked, but Casey had stood up and was already taking the forms they were being handed.
“Let’s go, honey,” she said.
Matt stood up, frowning.
As the three of them left the office, Casey shushed him, so he held his tongue until they had left the building.
“Matt, I know what you are going to say. I agree with you. We’ve all had our shots, it’s stupid. Let’s take it to our Doctor first and see what he says. I’m not entirely sure what some of these phrases mean.”
“Good,” he replied, a little peeved.
Later that morning, their family Doctor looked at the form and shook his head. “They have been requiring it lately, but do not worry. It will not do you any harm to have these particular vaccines again. You know how the government can be.”
They stood there looking at each other in silence, knowing that there was so way around it.
Matt blurted, “Sometimes you’re the pigeon and sometimes you’re the statue, I guess.”
The doctor laughed nervously, obviously not understanding.
Back at home, Casey had to keep reminding Lu Lei to stop scratching the injection site on her shoulder.
“We’re a family!” chirped Casey. Matt looked up from the newspaper and replied, “That’s right, honey. And then there were three. By the way, whose turn is it to take her to tai chi tonight? I think it’s mine, right?”
“Do you want to?” she asked, knowing that he loved taking her on the bicycle.
“Lu Lei. We leave in ten minutes. Get suited up. We are going to ride fast tonight.”
The front-page article that Matt was reading didn’t paint the Falun Gong in a favorable light. It was confusing to him, the flip-flopping that was going on. He lay the paper down and scoffed to himself. One day they were releasing prisoners, the next they were criminalizing book ownership.
“Matt? Shall we call Roet tonight and tell him that it’s official? Give him the good news? Have that conversation?”
“Not it,” he blurted.
Casey laughed, knowing that she absolutely had to play good cop after Matt’s last tactless conversation.
“Ready,” Lu Lei called, wandering into the room in her blue uniform. Matt noticed how worn out she looked. The dry, grayish circles under her eyes seemed to have appeared from one day to the next. He would do his best to distract her with a bit of her own adrenaline on the handlebars of the bicycle.
The Chairman ground his teeth and snatched up the phone. “Send him in.”
He was still furious that the central government had permitted such a large demonstration and released prisoners without consulting him. To be hearing it from the Beijing Police Chief! It was shameful.
“Please come in.”
“Sir, I have the report you asked for.”
“Where did they find the balls to make these decisions without my go-ahead?” he demanded from the aide, a thirty-year-old whom the Chairman valued for his straightforwardness.
“Sir, the Falun Gong’s leader, Li Hongzhi, convinced the Premier to allow it. To show the Party’s strength by demonstrating tolerance... sir.”
“But the Premier should know that we are not tolerant of such things.”
“No, sir, we are certainly not tolerant,” the aide smirked and looked down at his notes.
“And what of their religious nature? Does this not matter to the Premier? It clearly goes against Party policy.”
“Sir, the principles by which they live are stated as... it says here: truthfulness, compassion and tolerance, sir. So, not a religion, though one could... argue that they are a cult, pointing out their unusual spiritual beliefs, sir.”
“Then cult it is.”
“Sir, it is just, well, they marry outside their community. They are permitted to have normal jobs–”
“Yes, yes. We’ll run with ‘cult’ for now. How about a drink? Go and pour us both a nice big whisky, would you?” He remained seated at his desk. “In your opinion, why should we consider them to be such a threat?”
“Sir, if I may be frank with you?” he asked, pouring just one scotch.
The Chairman waved him on.
“The problem with allowing them to carry on freely, is that the success of your regime is based on fear, personal favors, corruption, and occasionally... violence. Now if their numbers continued to grow, their principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance might start to overshadow your… our way of life.”
He accepted the drink. “I’d like to crush this thing before it gets any bigger. I’ll make it policy so we don’t have any more rogue politicians making up their own little minds. Start putting together the propaganda. Use the word cult. Also, see if you can throw in the phrase: ‘incompatible with the Party policy of atheism.’ Yes, that sounds good.”
“A threat to social order, sir?”
“Yes, throw that in too. And have them draft the new policy.”
“Yes, sir. We’ll get it done by tomorrow.” He paused awkwardly, looking at the door while the Chairman gulped his whisky.
The Chairman pressed a button on his desk. His secretary appeared a moment later. “Would you please have the Premier come and see me this afternoon?”
She nodded, somewhat grimly, and held the door open for the aide to leave.
Casey waited until after dinner, when it was ten in the morning in Virginia, and dialed. After security measures, the call was put through.
“Hello, Marcus.”
“Casey. What’s new in Beijing?”
She looked out the window at the street lamps burning orange below. “We’re keeping an eye on the Falun Gong. It seems like they’re destined for some human rights issues. Watching from a distance. I’d love to tell you that we could recruit a few to our side, but these people have values.”
“Okay, what else?”
“We are now parents.”
She looked over at Matt, sitting on the couch looking at adoption certificate, smiling to himself. There was a long pause on the other end, but she had nothing to add and she didn’t see the point of softening it.
Roet’s reply sounded resigned and a little disappointed. “This is not good, Casey. You both have a job to do.”
“Marcus, sometimes it’s important to act like human beings. This job is basically blackmail with a dash of assassination. We’re humans, not machines. People can go off the rails if it’s all dark deeds and no sunshine. Why don’t you let us do our thing?”
“Okay, Casey. Whatever. I suppose there’s nothing I can do. I expect it makes you look more legit, anyway. No spy I’ve ever heard of has adopted a Chinese girl while on a job. Maybe it’s smart. Get to know those chatty women, the wives. Do they have soccer moms in China? Ping pong I imagine it would be?”
“Tai chi. Listen, Marcus, I should go. Unless there’s anything happening state-side that affects us?”
“I’ll fill you in when I have more,” replies Roet, “but since you asked, the Chinese are doing some of their own recruiting over here. Academics in the sciences, university Deans, billionaire philanthropists and whatnot. We’d like to know what’s coming down that pipe, so keep shopping around, okay?”
“Always.”
Casey hung up. That went well. He hardly flinched.
She joined Matt on the couch. “We are we due for a trip back. Let’s call the guy at the embassy to organize Lu Lei’s citizen
ship and get her a passport.”
The Chief relaxed with the newspaper and a bottle of whisky while his housekeeper put Wei Bao to bed. The facial burns from the car’s airbag had scabbed in a few places and his back was bothering him, but despite the aches, he was feeling exhilarated. Wu Feng was out of the way now. He had been a thorn in his side since school days.
Still, he had not rid himself of the feeling that the annoying stench of Wu Feng was lingering. The Master, Wu Feng’s daughter, his students, all reminders of what Wu Feng had done to him all those years ago.
Going to the Master’s birthday party had been a mistake. Being at their house only served to remind him of how well liked and respected the Master was. He was connected with important people. He wielded too much power for an old man who held no official position.
The disappearance of the baton from Wu Feng’s property was troubling. Cheng Li had been adamant that he should have been able to find it in the bushes. It must have been picked up by the Master and the American. It couldn’t be a coincidence, running into them at the house. The American seemed like an idiot, but still…
The accident investigation had concluded. He need not worry about any further inquiry from his own people, but the death of the two policemen in Sun Yi’s car now played on his conscience. He was having nightmares about them.
At least his appointment with the Chairman had gone well. It would instigate a second wave of crackdowns on the Tai Chis. They would undoubtably suffer. That was certain.
“I’m going home now, sir. Wei Bao is asleep.” The housekeeper removed her apron and walked toward the front door to put her shoes on.
“Thank you. Good night,” the Chief called over his shoulder.
For the first time, he contemplated Lu Lei’s new status as an orphan. She who dared to attack Wei Bao had now paid a heavy price. Her life would be far worse for it. He felt the corners of his mouth turn upward. How ironic it would be if I adopted her.
The Chief grunted, getting up to go and change clothes. Since watching his three men take such a beating, he’d felt inspired to brush up on his own skills in the studio he had built before his son was born. He hadn’t used it in over a year, which was a shame, for it was a beautiful space.
He opened a drawer and dug out his old, faded red kung fu uniform. He mused over the fact that sometime in the next few days he could bring the full force of his men down on the Tai Chis. Perhaps even the Master could be rounded up, if only he would make the mistake of joining his students in a demonstration.
11
Policy Change
The Chairman sat down at his desk and looked over the draft of the re-education policy. His office was quiet, despite the small team of young policy writers standing together, waiting.
“Yes, very good, I like ‘evil cult’,” he kept reading. “Oh yes, ‘dangerous meditation’ that’s excellent. Let’s take out ‘terrorist organization’ for now. We can put it in later if need be.”
His aide nodded, smirking to himself, the others looking on, appearing more and more relieved.
The Chairman looked up. “Take out any mention of ‘prison or arrest’ and replace it with words like re-education, re-learn; you understand?” Pointing at the front page he said, annoyed, “It says right here ‘re-education policy’. It is an excellent title. Everybody will know what it means. Am I right?”
They all nodded.
“Fix it and send a copy to the Ministry of Propaganda by the end of the day.”
“Yes, Chairman” almost in unison the group shouted, all surprised that the policy was being pushed through so quickly.
The secretary paused at the door, as the group waited awkwardly for her to usher them out of the office, but the Chairman indicated for her to send in his next visitor. A severe-looking man in a dark suit entered, regarded the group out of the corner of his eye as he walked past them toward the Chairman’s desk.
“Thank you for coming in. I must be brief. I would like Li Hongzhi found and detained immediately. Alert the airports and borders. He is not to leave the country. Go.”
The Chairman smirked at his aide and then indicated to his secretary to usher the group out.
The young government writers returned to the conference room to work on the final draft of the policy.
“Pork buns?” one of them asked.
“Yes,” a few responded.
“Back in twenty minutes,” he said, walking toward the staircase. Given all the security, he doubted that he would make it back so quickly. Several members of his own extended family were already scrambling to prepare for their escape to Hong Kong tonight, but Li Hongzhi needed to be warned.
While Casey opened Tupperware containers in the kitchen, Matt looked across the breakfast table at Lu Lei, who glanced up from her homework to look at him innocently with her sad eyes. She was sleeping enough, but invariably woke up in the middle of the night, crying. It was heartbreaking for him and Casey, but they had been told to expect such things. At least she had not been asking too many questions about the death of her parents.
Matt broke the silence. “Today, after you get home from school, we are going to get a passport photo of your beautiful face. That way we can get you a special little book that will allow you to visit faraway places with us when we feel like having a special adventure.”
“What faraway places? I know Africa, because I love elephants. Also, I love koala bears. They live in Australia.”
Matt glanced over at Casey crouching at the fridge, digging violently through the bags and containers of cooked food that Lu Lei’s family friends had brought over to help out.
"You okay there, honey? Looking for something in particular?"
Casey was now sitting on the floor, surrounded by Tupperware. Ignoring Matt, she yelled across the kitchen, “Lu Lei, you have lots of people who love you. Do you know that? Go and dress for school. Breakfast will be ready in five minutes. Have you finished that homework?”
“No,” she said, wandering back to her bedroom.
Casey continued rummaging, wondering if they would ever manage to eat their way through all the food that been dropped off. Pigs' feet! They'll be the last to get eaten. She shoved the less palatable looking food to the back and left three noodle dishes out. Lu Lei was always happy to eat this stuff at breakfast time, but Matt would probably never get used to it.
“Matt, we should go to the zoo one day. I hear they have kangaroos.”
“Okay... So, what are you doing today? Are you coming in to work after you drop her off?”
“Actually, no, I have tea with the fancy ladies. I want to see if I can find out if anything’s coming down the track.”
“You mean with the book burning and whatnot?”
“For starters, yeah. By the way, when are you going to develop those photos? The disposable camera ones.”
“I have to get supplies, but I’ll do them soon.”
Lu Lei reappeared, ready for breakfast, and sat at the table as Casey sat herself down opposite her. In the center of the table she placed a container of metal chopsticks. The Master had brought them in the box from Lu Lei’s house.
Lu Lei said, “My parents took me to the zoo once. It was cold. The kangaroos were shivering. Kangaroos like it better when it is hot.”
Casey filled her mouth with noodles. “Mm-mm. Your momma's friends can cook! This food is very, very tasty.”
Matt put down his coffee mug. “Lu Lei, I’ll get you from school today. Casey already put your hairbrush in your bag. We’ll go straight from school to get a photo of your beautiful smiling face. Maybe, if you’re lucky, we can all go to the United States for a visit when school goes on break.”
“Am I visiting the lady today?”
“Yes you are, Lu Lei. You can tell her about all of your dreams, if you can remember them.”
“Last night I had a dream that a long line of ants was getting stepped on by a giant boot.”
“You should tell her that,” added Matt, looking
at Casey. Obviously, Lu Lei had inherited her mother’s gift.
During the ride to school, Casey felt the weight of the Chinese bicycle. They were solid and well built. Simple, but functional. They reminded her of how American cars used to be built. She put more of her weight into the pedals, and became conscious of how tired she was.
“My father rides faster than this,” yelled Lu Lei without turning around. Casey lifted off the seat to pedal harder. To her, it didn’t seem safe to have a child on the handlebars, but it was what Lu Lei was accustomed to.
“Where was my father driving with my mother when they hit the wooden post?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe we will know more in the future.”
“I hope I see Wei Bao at school today. I forgave him for Barbie. I hope he is nicer to me.”
“Remember what I am about to tell you. When a boy is mean to you, it’s because he likes you. It’s stupid, but it is true.”
“That is stupid,” she replied, as the breakfast stalls passed by a little more rapidly.
“Also, when people are cruel, it means something might be wrong at home.”
“It is that way,” Lu Lei pointed to the left and Casey braked a little, nearly losing Lu Lei, whose head lurched forward for a second before she regained her balance.
“Sorry about that.” I’m new to this.
“Do not worry, Casey, I am new at almost everything.”
Casey smiled at the cute figure of Lu Lei walking through the gate to her friends.
“Good morning.”
Casey turned around to see the Police Chief standing behind her, holding the hand of Wei Bao, whose face was looking bruised.
“Hello, Chief. My name is Casey. We met at–”
Surviving Spies (Irving Waters, Spy Fiction Series) Page 12
