Shu Li nodded. "Deal."
Rami loosened his grip; Shu Li opened the door and jumped out. She heard the truck pull away, but she didn't look back. She was already running.
Shu Li Wan was exhausted. She turned off the water, stepped from her shower, and walked into her bedroom at the Haikou Tower. Without explaining, she had informed the hotel's manager that she would not be in her office until later.
She sat down on the edge of her bed and turned on the television. She had already heard the announcement once, but this time she was hoping there would be more details. The images crystallized and she again heard the monotonous voice of the newscaster. Tang Ro Ji had been ''apprehended." Apprehended, she decided, was a curious word for such a violent death. There was no way of knowing for certain, but she was convinced that Quan had been the one who released the information.
The newscaster finished reading the bulletin and immediately launched into a lengthy recitation of the details of Han Ki Po's state funeral. Shu Li turned it off.
What she didn't know was what had happened to Bogner and Driver. Twice she had tried to call Bogner's room, but there was no answer. Twice she had called the desk to see if there were any messages from the Canadians. Again, nothing. For the moment she was stymied. There was a telephone at the orphanage, but no one answered. On top of that, her car was tucked away on some unknown side street in the Ghengdi district. Even though she would report that it had been stolen, if the Haikou police worked the way they normally did, it would be days before they would locate it.
She was thinking about calling Bogner's room again when the phone rang. It was Bogner.
"Where are you?" she blurted.
"Never mind that, are you all right?"
"I'm fine. Well, maybe not finebut at least I'm in one piece. Where are you?"
"At a place called the Guizhou Medical Center. Le figured this was the safest place to drop me off. It was the only place that wasn't crawling with Quan's men. Besides, I needed a little patch work."
There was a long pause before Shu Li's next question. "Do you know anything about Zhun Be?"
"Not so good," Bogner said. "He's in bad shape. The nurse at Zebo thinks the shot ruptured his spleen. He lost a lot of blood. Father Hua is doing what he can."
On Shu Li's end of the line there was silence. Finally she said, "How long will you have to stay there at Guizhou?"
"They just cut me loose. When he left, Le told me to stay put until he called. Apparently he talked to a Lieutenant Yew and then he called me back fifteen minutes ago. Yew told him they captured Tang and released his hostages. That's all I know. I have no idea what happened."
"It's a long story." She hesitated again. "Stay where you are. I'll send someone from the hotel over to get you. We can talk when you get here."
Shu Li hung up and called the desk. After she made arrangements to have Bogner picked up, she realized she hadn't asked about Driver. She lay back and fell into a deep sleep.
The winding road that would eventually lead him to the secluded dacha of Georgi Kusinien took Colonel General Viktor Isotov through the rolling Kovinsk foothills and past picturesque vistas where he could catch glimpses of the winding Moskva River.
Isotov, accompanied by an administrative assistant with the rank of major, and chauffeured by a young corporal from the Air Wing's support staff, sat in the rear seat of the black Moskovich staff car, ignoring the dispatches the AA had brought with him for Isotov's perusal.
"Did Secretary Kusinien discuss the agenda with the General?" Lvov inquired. Pyotr Lvov was a bookish-looking man who viewed his position as Isotov's AA as one of great importance.
"Nyet," Isotov grumbled. He did not elaborate. Nor was he concerned. He no longer viewed the Party secretary as an equal. Moshe Aprihinen and Georgi Kusinien were two of a kind. They were lackeys, former comrades, men of compromise. The way Isotov viewed it, the moral fabric of the former Union was in shreds. Ideologies had been mediated and re-dressednegotiated until there was no longer strength in covenant.
"Perhaps in these communiqués there is some clue as to what is on the Secretary's mind…" Lvov tried.
Isotov waved the man off as the staff car roared through the security gate and began the ascent to the main house. It was another mile before the driver brought it to a gentle stop behind a string of Volgas, Zaporozhets, and more Moskovichs.
When the two-man entourage from the Air Ministry stepped out into a fresh light snow, two guards standing at the door of the dacha's main entrance snapped to attention.
Inside, a member of Kusinien's staff escorted them through the Secretary's library to the Tartar Room. Kusinien's ancestors hailed from Suzdal, and with the ornate furnishings in the room, the Secretary paid homage to his Tartar heritage.
Isotov was surprised at the number of Aprihinen's staff members in attendance. He had expected a small, if not intimate, session with the Secretary.
Kusinien, with his parchment-thin skin and death-mask countenance, was already seated with his back to the roaring fireplace, a concession to his eighty-two years.
"Come in, Air Major," the Secretary said. "We were just about to get started."
Isotov and Lvov took their place at the end of the table as Kusinien nodded to Colonel General Suvorov to begin. Suvorov was the man said to be responsible for disassembling the convoluted intricacies of the GRU.
"Four weeks ago," Suvorov began, "you will recall, General Isotov reported the apparent loss of our second Su-39 Covert. This report was based on the fact that Air Major Borisov was not heard from again after checkpoint Tultue, fourteen September at 1142 local time. In a subsequent session of the staff, Isotov confirmed his earlier report."
Several members of the staff were reading the report along with Suvorov.
"Then how is it, Comrade General," Kusinien interrupted, "that we now have confirmed reports that the Covert which you reported lost somewhere in the foothills of the Uliastays recently crashed on a flight from Hainan Island?"
"I have heard no such report," Isotov blustered.
Kusinien nodded for Suvorov to continue.
"Hanoi Government Radio on October eleventh reported activity on Anxi atoll. The basis for these reports were two PIREPS, one from a Vietnamese military aircraft, the other from a British commercial airliner. Both reported a strange illumination in the sky ten October over the Gulf of Tonkin near the Anxi atoll cluster. Because the Anxis are a Vietnamese control point, a patrol was alerted. Debris from a downed aircraft was reported by two different pilots within twenty minutes of each other. Vietnamese patrol boats were requested; they investigated, and confirmed that the aircraft was one of ours."
Isotov rocked back in his chair with his arms folded. For the first time since he had taken his seat at the conference table, he realized the Gorgi Kusinien was watching him intently. "I do not see the" Isotov began, but Kusinien cut him off.
"The report, Comrades," he said, "reveals that on ten October, twenty-six days after it was reported lost by General Isotov, the Su-39 crashed near Anxi Atoll One. It would seem, would it not, that Comrade General Isotov erred in his first report."
Isotov glowered. His eyes traveled from Lvov to Suvorov.