3
THE LIE
The hallway was dimly lit as Peter and Rob were quickly escorted by two Chinese soldiers, one in front and the other behind, at the Jiuquan Launch Center. Jiuquan was located a thousand miles west of Beijing in an isolated desert in the northwest Gansu province in China and was where all CNSA’s manned missions were launched. Peter and Rob had made it to Jiuquan in record time. What normally was a day trip from England to the remote location was cut to seven straight hours thanks to China providing a private plane and helicopter. Peter was still perplexed about what the rush was to get him and Rob to Jiuquan, especially since China was right in the middle of their historical moon mission. He surmised the laser was somehow involved in this mission, which was not a total surprise since the commander was Tang Liwei, who had attended past meetings. Though Peter did not know Tang’s exact position at CNSA during those meetings, he was always impressed with his questions. But how was the laser being used?
Though it was an early spring afternoon in Jiuquan, the outside temperature was a chilly 10 F. The coldness from the outside seemed to be creeping into the hallway Peter and Rob walked. Peter pulled his coat around tighter as he hurried to stay with the soldier in front. The cold didn’t seem to bother Rob, who was struggling to keep up while hauling his heavy briefcase. The Chinese soldiers walked at a brisk and steady pace, in a unison march, staring straight ahead and saying nothing. The pounding of their boots echoed in the empty hallways. Peter was surprised to see the hallways bare of workers, considering a mission was currently going on. He assumed it was probably because the launch was five days earlier and all communications had been transferred to the Beijing Command Center. This was the first time while visiting Jiuquan that Peter was being escorted by soldiers. He could not help but notice the gun in the holster on the soldier’s side. He and Rob looked at each other; Rob with a look of concern. Trying to put his friend at ease Peter just gave him a wink, knowing Brits weren’t allowed guns and the sight of one was probably making Rob nervous.
Upon arriving at Jiuquan, Peter and Rob had been put through a tight security check where Rob’s briefcase was emptied and searched, and both had to walk through a metal detector and a full body soft x-ray scan. They were then warned by CNSA security to do exactly as they were told while at the launch center. Under no circumstance were they to go anywhere unescorted. Even if one of them had to use the restroom, they were to be escorted by one of the soldiers, who would stand behind as he did his business. Peter’s previous visits never required such tight security. Today’s escort and pat-down was probably due to the current mission. This was obviously a visit they had not planned on or prepared for, and what was going on around him was apparently top secret stuff. This was the perfect opportunity to gather intelligence on China’s current and future plans for space.
The soldier Peter trailed came to a door at the end of the hallway, and knocked. A pretty Chinese lady opened the door. The soldier stepped aside and motioned for Peter and Rob to enter. They bowed slightly to both soldiers before turning to enter the room. The soldiers took position outside the doorway, one on each side. Upon entering, Peter’s lungs were overwhelmed by the cigarette smoke blanketing the room, and he struggled not to cough, which might be perceived as rude. It seemed like every man smoked in China.
The lady bowed, and again, Peter and Rob bowed back. She offered to take their coats. Peter had been coached both by the CIA and by Byington Corporation on proper etiquette for business meetings in China. He understood the importance of tradition and showing respect. This being Rob’s first visit to China, Peter gave the engineer some pointers on the plane, but basically told him to follow his lead and remember, he was the senior member of the team and it was expected he would do most of the talking. Peter handed the girl his coat, Rob doing the same.
This was the first time Peter had been to this conference room, and he did a quick scan. The large room was surprisingly bright and fortunately much warmer than the hallway, which Peter assumed was due to all the lit cigarettes. The room had no windows, but on the back and side walls were beautiful murals of rockets. The front wall had an impressive six-foot CNSA emblem made of stained metal. In the front corner of the room was the prototype of the MK laser on a stand with wheels. In the center of the room was a large conference table with probably twenty-five chairs around it. He had been to some meetings where they sat on the floor, so he was happy to see chairs. He counted eight gentlemen, seated at one end of the table. Seating was by seniority, and in all his previous meetings Sie had been at the head of the table. In this meeting he was second back on one side. Since senior members sit across from each other, this meant there were at least three gentlemen who had seniority over Sie, and one of those was a military officer. This was a serious meeting.
Peter first walked up to the person of highest seniority, seated at the head of the table. The gentleman stood. Per local custom, Peter extended his hand and looked to the floor, a sign of respect. The gentleman shook his hand. Peter then held out his business card with both hands, with the Chinese written side showing. The gentleman did the same with the English side up. Peter slowly took the card and examined it in silence. The card read: Kuang Pin, Director of China National Space Administration. Wow, the director of CNSA! Damn, this must be an important meeting, especially with a mission going on. Peter quickly concluded the laser must be somehow involved on the mission, but how? He continued to formally meet the remaining gentlemen at the table, as Rob followed and did the same. When all introductions were complete, Peter instructed Rob to take out the wrapped gift box from his brief case, and put it at the center of the table as a traditional gift offering to the group. All bowed in appreciation. Peter and Rob took their appropriate seats.
Kuang opened the meeting thanking Peter and Rob in English for making it on such short notice. Peter thought back to the blonde he hurriedly had to leave and a sly smile crossed his face. Rob nudged him. Kuang went on, saying the meeting would be spoken in English since most everyone spoke it. Peter was amazed how good Kuang’s English was. Kuang turned to Peter and asked, “Are you the son of Tom Novak, the astronaut who walked on the moon back in the early ’70s?”
Peter was surprised Kuang knew this since Sie never mentioned it, plus it was an odd way to start the meeting. He looked at Kuang. “Yes, I am.”
Kuang turned to Sie. “Tai qiao le.”
Peter didn’t know what that meant and thought it was impolite after Kuang said the meeting would be in English. An amused look crossed Kuang’s face when he said it, like he knew something Peter didn’t. That was an odd reaction. Peter looked over at Rob to get his read on Kuang, but instead saw a dumfounded look on the Brit for hearing he was a moonwalker’s son. Peter just smiled as he looked back at Kuang, who motioned for Sie to take over the meeting. Sie paced over to the MK prototype and rolled it in front of Peter and Rob.
Sie said, “We are testing the laser at a very remote location in China. For some reason the laser stopped working, and we have to fix it immediately. As director of engineering, Mr. Novak, you need to know the facts.”