Tetsuo looked at Chase, who nodded. “Okay. Thank you, Dr. Wang. I will speak with my superiors and get their thoughts. I will meet with you once more tomorrow evening.”
After transmitting their reports to Langley that evening, Chase and Tetsuo ate dinner in Osaka.
“You drinking?” Tetsuo’s mood was much more light-hearted now that the work was done. They sat on pillows on the floor, thin wooden walls on three sides giving them privacy. An open curtain revealed dozens of similar tables. Well-dressed Japanese businessmen and women, done with the day’s work at the early hour of 10 p.m., were out on the town, ready for cocktails and fine cuisine.
Chase’s legs were once again squeezed at impossible angles underneath the table — it couldn’t have been more than a foot off the ground. Why didn’t they use chairs in this country?
“I think I’ll need some alcohol to get over the pain in my legs from all this yoga you people have been making me do.”
Tetsuo smiled. “So I take it you’ve never been to Japan.”
“Never been to Asia, actually. Well, not this part of Asia.”
“You’ve been in the sandbox, though, right?”
“Yeah. Spent all my operational time there with the teams and then with the Agency.”
“Teams? Like, the SEAL teams?”
“Yes.”
“Nice. How does this compare?”
“This? This is very different. But it’s interesting work, and I’m trying to learn as fast as I can.”
The waitress came and Tetsuo ordered for them. Chase had looked at the menu, but everything was in Japanese. A minute later she brought two frosted mugs and filled them with bubbling golden lager. The bottle said Asahi. Chase took a sip and gave a nod of approval.
“Cheers. Welcome to Japan.”
“Thank you. I was worried you were going to make me drink sake. I’ve had that. Don’t care for it much.”
“No, actually, we start with beer here. It is the Japanese way.”
The waitress came back a moment later and laid down a cubic stone that looked like a miniature castle tower. She lit the gas flame in the center of the stone and placed a metal grate on top. Next she placed a plate of assorted raw seafood on the table. She then smiled, bowed, and left them.
Tetsuo said, “You gotta use your chopsticks and just place the meat on the grill. Let it cook for a minute and then eat. We’ll have several courses, so save room. The best stuff is coming later. The Kobe beef is unbelievable here. They just give you little morsels, but the way they cook it, and the quality — it wins awards.”
Chase fumbled around with the chopsticks and eventually got a few pieces of a translucent white meat on the grill. “What is this stuff?”
“It’s the fin of a ray.”
“No shit? Like a manta ray?”
“Yeah. Or maybe a stingray. I forget. But it’s really good.”
Chase sipped his beer while he let the ray cook. “How about you? What’s your story?”
“I entered the Agency right out of college. My fluency in Japanese and Chinese helped. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I love it. There’s nothing better than this game, I tell you what.”
Chase gripped a piece of cooked ray with his chopsticks and brought it to his mouth, taking a bite. “Damn. That is pretty good. It’s like salty beef jerky.”
“That’s a great description. Never heard that one.” He took another gulp of beer, finishing his glass. He signaled the waitress to come over and ordered another round.
After she left, Tetsuo lowered his voice and said, “So we’ve shot off our reports to Langley. We’ll wait and see what they want to do next. But my guess is that they’re going to want exactly what we asked for. Details and verification.”
Chase nodded. “Let me ask you something. You’ve had to learn about Cheng Jinshan, and you know the Asian geopolitical scene. What do you think is going on over there in Beijing right now? What’s going to happen with Jinshan’s trial?”
The waitress returned and brought two more beers. They waited until she departed before continuing their conversation.
Tetsuo said, “I’ve never seen it like this before. My sources in China say that they’re cracking down on religious groups, and on the information that’s filtering to their people, like never before. This anti-American, antireligion kick is pretty scary. They’ve always leaned atheist, from their communist roots. But China has a lot of traditional religions that influence their people as well. Taoism, Buddhism. This antireligion thing is different. It’s more like a nationalist sentiment than anything. Our analysts say that a lot of it stems from a big social network and news media propaganda push. But it’s hard to gauge how prevalent the feeling is without being on the street.”
“But we must have a lot of agents there, right?”
“We do. And we do get reports. Anecdotal stuff. But honestly, China has spent the last decade purging our agents over there. It was pretty bad there for a few years. We’ve had to rebuild our network from scratch. And it’s really dicey trying to gain access to their political and intelligence mindset.”
Chase said, “What’s your opinion?”
“Me? Shit.” He took another swig of beer. “This could be the conflict that shapes the next few decades. America and China have coexisted and mutually benefited from each other. But now that China is becoming more wealthy and powerful…”
“And what about Jinshan?”
“I just don’t know, man. But if they’re dragging him out in front of everyone for a public trial, I would think that his time is coming to an end.”
Chase felt a buzzing in his pocket. He pulled out his phone. It was a CIA-issued smartphone, with little capability other than sending and receiving encrypted phone calls and text.
CONTACT SILVERSMITH FROM SECURE LOCATION ASAP
Tetsuo saw his look. “What’s up?”
“Tell them to hurry up and send the Kobe beef. We gotta go.”
Susan and General Schwartz gave Chase and Tetsuo the details of the brief on video conference. A slightly buzzed Chase noted that his brother, David, was also at the table. An almost imperceptible nod between the two brothers was transmitted thousands of miles across the world on fiber-optic cables that had been specially laid by the NSA over a decade ago.
David looked good, Chase thought.
Susan looked worried. “I realize that parts of what I’m about to say will be highly unusual. But we commend you both on your recent operational achievements and are confident that you’ll be able to make this work.”
Outlining the plan took a little over an hour. It would involve coordination between an Air Force B-2 Spirit crew stationed at Guam, members of the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment — Delta (known more commonly as Delta Force) stationed in Korea, and Chase.
Susan said, “We evaluated GIANT’s proposal that he be the one to inspect the camp. Frankly, we thought that was too risky. We would use GIANT only as a last resort.”
Tetsuo said, “Understood.”
They spoke for a few more minutes, going over timing and some of the details of the plan. When the video conference ended, Chase turned to Tetsuo. “So I guess I’ll be going to China.”
Shortly after their video call with Chase and Tetsuo, Susan hit David Manning with a new assignment.
“The Chinese think Lena Chou is dead.”
David nodded. “I read the report that they sent this morning.”
“And if you believe that, I’ve got a used car to sell you.”
“What are you talking about?” David asked.
“Come on, I’ll show you.” She walked into one of the enclosed huddle rooms in the CIA headquarters. One of the senior analysts was already in there.
“Last week we received a report from the NSA. They picked up a radio transmission matching Lena’s voice ID.”