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Clark’s knuckles whitened as he tightened his grip around the pen. “If it was simply a matter of one floating corpse, Mr. Chairman, I would drop my, ah, inquiry.”

Smiling from his wheelchair, the Chairman asked, “I do hope you are not making inquiries of me, Mr. President? I sit in a wheelchair, not a witness stand.”

“Perhaps I chose the wrong word.”

“You were a fearsome trail lawyer in your younger days. Old habits surely die hard. I can understand. But—”

“Please, Mr. Chairman, I misspoke a moment ago. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

“No, no, Mr. President. There is no need to ask of this forgiveness. I simply asked for a clarification. You have given it to me. Thank you.”

Clark nodded, and he seemed relieved.

He is truly a simple, weak man, Jian thought. We should have invaded their country long ago.

“As I was saying—or as I tried to say—Mr. Chairman, there is another incident that adds to my…disquiet concerning the corpse found at the oil rig.”

“Oh?”

“Surely, you’ve watched it on the news. Two carriers in San Francisco Harbor were attacked.”

“That is dreadful, Mr. President. I heard the supercarriers were not only attacked, but destroyed.”

“Yes. Er, no,” said Clark. “They were hit. No one denies that. One was hit twice. Fortunately, American damage control teams prevented either from sinking. As surprising as it may seem, both carriers will soon return to sea in active duty.”

The Chairman nodded slowly.

“He lies, sir,” Jian hissed. “Those carriers will never fight again.”

“Mr. Chairman,” Clark asked. “Did you say something?”

“I merely cleared my throat.” The Chairman nodded as if thinking. Then he smiled again.

Wise, Jian thought. The Americans are a nation of smiling fools. They will believe anyone who can smile well. He watched on a side computer-scroll the Chairman’s image as portrayed to the American.

“This is wonderful news about your carriers,” the Chairman was saying. “I congratulate your Navy personnel on fast work. Few would believe that any carrier could survive such devastating hits.”

“Our Navy damage control teams are the best in the world,” said Clark, “as I’m sure you know.”

“The American Navy is respected throughout the world, yes.”

“It is still more than capable of protecting its shores from any invasion.” Clark smiled in a seemingly false manner. “Our Navy can still hunt down those who harm the nation, in order to inflict punishing damage in retaliation.”

“That is excellent news, excellent,” the Chairman said. “Still, in hunting down these extremist dogs, I would think swift, hunter-killer CIA teams would serve you better than any carriers.”

“For hunting extremists, I suppose that’s true. Unfortunately, sir, I fear I must inform you that Chinese corpses were found in the trawler from which the San Francisco missile attack took place. Please let me finish, sir.”

The Chairman had been about to speak.

“Dragon Claw missiles were used against our carriers,” Clark said. “As you know, these are Chinese missiles.”

“I told you the Taiwanese extremists were ruthless,” the Chairman said. “Ever since they escaped our clutches, they have nefariously been selling small-arms weapons to drug lords and various separatists in order to acquire the funds for truly powerful weapons.”

“Dragon Claws are the latest and most deadly missiles in the Chinese arsenal,” Clark said. “I don’t see how any extremist could acquire them.”

The Chairman frowned. “Mr. President… are you suggesting that someone other than Taiwanese terrorists attacked your carriers?”

President Clark set down the pen and peered intently out of the screen. “Not only were Chinese weapons used to destroy—to hit our carriers—but you are at this time carrying out a giant naval exercise in the North Pacific, well west of the Kamchatka Peninsula. These naval maneuvers are taking place much too near Alaskan waters. Mr. Chairman, your naval exercise troubles many of my highest military people.”

“This exercise was planned months in advance.”

“Mr. Chairman, I would like to speak frankly with you if I may.”

“Please do.”

“First, let me say that is an honor to speak with a man such as you. You have brought together all the ‘lost’ provinces of China’s previous heydays. You have forged your country into a powerhouse. If one includes the satellite states of Central and East Siberia, you have welded together the largest country on Earth. In this day and age, that is an amazing feat. I speak to you therefore with utmost respect.”

“Thank you, Mr. President. I also respect you.”

“It pleases me to hear so. Sir, your giant naval exercise, combined with the boarding of T-66 multi-turreted Army tanks into several cargo ships, troubles my senior officers. Of course, I told them not to worry. They then told me that your—” Clark glanced at a paper before continuing “—your ice-mobile formations in East Siberia, in Ambarchik Base, have received massive shipments of winterized aircraft and new air-mobile formations. My military men tell me these units are capable of crossing the polar ice.”

The Chairman nodded as he tugged at his lower lip. “I suspect this is faulty information you’re receiving.”

“You deny—you’re telling me this build-up at Ambarchik Base is not happening?” asked Clark.

“I will have to ask my Minister of the Army to find out the full details of what is going on,” the Chairman said. “If he is practicing a deceitful maneuver without my knowledge, he will face serious consequences. I assure you of this, Mr. President. It is far more likely that your satellites or human intelligence sources saw something quite inconsequential in nature.”

“Mr. Chairman,” said Clark, “if I could cut to the chase, I feel I must ask you this: What could possibly cause China to attack the United States?”

“I am unaware of anything,” said the Chairman, “other than protecting our national sovereignty.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that. I know that recently our talks in Sydney were stalled due to the unfortunate timing of the assault against our Californian oil rig. Perhaps we could reopen negotiations between our two countries concerning a trade of oil for grain.”

Jian quit breathing. The sniveling President could ruin everything.

“Mr. Chairman?” asked Clark.

He’s bargaining for time, thought Jian. Time to beef up his defenses.

“Your words intrigue me,” the Chairman said. “The trade would benefit both our nations. I wonder…. In the interest of trade and to show your good faith, could you immediately ship grain from San Diego?”

“I would need a clarification on what you mean by ‘immediately,’” said Clark.

“Today,” the Chairman said, as he stared at the President.

Clark glanced left to somewhere off-screen. The American President obviously listened to an advisor. Soon, a visibly shaken Clark turned back to the Chairman. “Yes, to show that we mean business, two ships will leave immediately for Hong Kong.”

“This is excellent news, Mr. President. I suspect you’ve heard something about a few rice ‘incidents’ in China’s interior.”