“Losing her was a dangerous mistake, but pushing up the timetable should negate the effects provided she is dead before Gemini detonates.” Again, Liu felt a twinge about the code name. It had been hubris on his part to use even that oblique clue.
Captain Chen’s cell phone rang. He used his eyes to ask permission to answer it and stepped to the corner of the office. “Yes.”
“Sir, it’s Private Jhiang.” One of the men detailed to kill Maria Barber.
Chen’s guts tightened. He knew this wasn’t going to be good. “What happened?”
“Li is dead. Corporal Hung is injured. The woman is gone.”
“How?” Chen screamed, not caring his commanding officer was fifteen feet away.
“Five men, whites. I think one of them was the engineer, Mercer. Li shot one of them, but they all escaped in a waiting vehicle with the woman. They were here before we arrived.”
“What’s going on?” Liu demanded, striding across the carpet to where Chen stood.
“Maria Barber escaped with Mercer and four other men, one of whom was shot. One of our men was killed, another wounded.”
Liu snatched the cell phone from Chen’s grip. “Who is this?”
“Colonel Liu, this is Private Jhiang, sir. I was the third man on the detail.”
“Where are you now?”
“At the Hatcherly infirmary, sir.”
“Good. Who is the wounded man?”
“Corporal Hung.” The young soldier’s voice quivered.
“And he headed the detail to kill Maria Barber?”
“Yes, sir.” The boy’s voice cracked.
“Do you agree that he is to blame for failing to eliminate her?”
“Yes, sir.” The words came as a ragged murmur.
“Is he there with you now?”
“Yes, sir. He’s holding my hand while the doctor bandages his leg.” Jhiang then added timidly, “We are comrades, sir. From the same village.”
“Now listen to me very carefully.” For a fleeting moment he thought of the mercy he’d shown Ping on the night of the warehouse break-in. He should have ordered the man killed on the spot. Liu spoke as if he savored the words, relishing their taste and feel as he spoke. “Look him in the eye, pull out your sidearm, and kill him.”
“Sir?” the soldier cried.
“Do it now,” Liu whispered seductively, “or kill yourself and I’ll have Hung executed later.”
Eight seconds later, the pop of a silenced automatic carried to Liu. He smiled grimly. “Are you there, Private?”
“Yes, sir,” Jhiang sobbed. “The doctor is staring at me.”
“Don’t worry about him. You are now absolved of Corporal Hung’s failure. Remain at the terminal port for now.” Liu snapped off Chen’s phone and handed it back. “I want that man executed for dereliction of duty.”
For an instant, Chen’s expression protested Liu’s order and then he bowed his head. “Yes, sir.”
“Good.” Liu retook his place behind his desk, noting a tinge of respect on Mr. Sun’s shriveled face. He felt he deserved it, too. To men like Sun, Liu was an office worker, what the Japanese so brilliantly called a salaryman, content to shuffle papers from pile to pile. Now he knew that Liu was as much a man of action as General Yu or any of the other gray veterans who ran China. Proving he was a ruthless businessman capable of amassing a fortune meant nothing to them. Being able to order death was the only kind of power they recognized.
Gaining Sun’s respect should have meant nothing, but it took on a meaning far more important than the fortune he’d created or the dominion he was about to wield. The realization surprised him, and somehow made him feel bigger, stronger. Curious.
“I suspect we’ll find Captain Vanik with Maria Barber and Mercer,” Liu continued, able to resist the urge to blow on his fingers. “Chen, warn the men you’ll station at the American embassy. I expect the soldiers you dispatched to kill Maria were some of our finest. For them to be overcome by a geologist and his mysterious friends should be a warning to us all.”
“We’ve had many opportunities to learn that lesson,” Sun said laconically. “The warehouse, the lake, the mine, the lock.”
“And you’ve failed to deliver information to me from two people who you’ve had in your care.” As secure as he was in the role of political officer and as China’s most skilled interrogator, Sun had to feel some measure of distress about that. Liu gave him a disarming smile. “That is all behind us now. I want additional security on Gemini, in case Mercer or anyone else tries to interfere. Dispatch them as soon as I get a transit time from Director Silvera-Arias.”
“Sir,” Chen hazarded. “As a contingency in case Captain Vanik manages to convince some of her people to send a Special Forces team here, could you have President Quintero suspend incoming flights from the United States?”
“A good suggestion but no. It would look too suspicious. However, I’m sure we can deny a military flight if the Americans try to send one.”
“In that case, how about staging a demonstration at the American embassy? We could use our Panamanian soldiers as agitators, maybe pay a few street people to join them.”
“For what purpose?”
“If the United States does manage to mobilize troops, they would have to come down on commercial aircraft. They’d have no weapons and the only source to get any would be from the embassy’s marine guard armory. We can deny them access to arms as well as preventing Vanik or Mercer from reaching sanctuary.”
Liu nodded slowly. “Excellent suggestion. And no one could possibly link it to our actions. See to it at once.”
Chen stood and snapped a salute. Liu usually dispensed with military formality, but returned it. Sun flowed up off his chair and made to follow the young officer.
“Sun,” Liu said from his desk, phone in hand to dial Silvera-Arias. “From now until after the explosion, I want you at hand at all times. Remain in the compound.”
He paid no attention to the old man’s reply. His attention was already on his call. “Felix, Liu Yousheng.”
“Ah, my friend. I want to apologize again about almost giving away your liaison with Señora Barber.”
“That is no longer important.”
“So how are you today? Busy, no doubt.” The canal director affected a light tone to counter the darkness in Liu’s voice.
“And about to get busier. Have you changed tomorrow’s transit schedule to allow Gemini’s passage in the afternoon?”
“The revised list is in my hand. I was about to have it given to the harbormaster and alert the canal pilots of the modifications.”
“Don’t send it. We’re pushing ahead even sooner.”
“What?! Impossible!” Silvera-Arias sputtered. “Transit times are determined days, even weeks, in advance. Ship owners were furious when I told them about the alterations. You have no idea what I went through to make this new schedule.”
“Nor do I care,” Liu menaced. “I want Gemini in the Gaillard Cut early tomorrow morning and I will not accept excuses.”
“Señor Liu, por favor,” he wheedled. “You don’t understand how our system works. I can’t just change the timetable again. It takes negotiations, money for ship owners. It is amazing that I made the first schedule as quickly as I did.”
“Do it, Felix, whatever it takes to get Gemini in position. And make sure it doesn’t look suspicious. Rearrange every ship if you have to.”
“Señor, cruise ships are returning to the Caribbean from their summer in Alaska. They take priority. I simply cannot deny them transit.”
“Don’t deny them, you fool. Send them through.”
“The PANAMAX cruise liners sail with three thousand people on board. We can’t let one of them near the Gaillard Cut with your Gemini. The loss of life ...”