Zhang was dumbfounded.
Everyone was looking at him like he was the traitor. What had just happened? Didn’t they see? Didn’t they understand that he was the only one who was looking out for what was right?
As he was taken away, he saw Cheng Jinshan speaking to the woman. They were on stage, speaking with the general and other members of the panel. Zhang passed by the auditorium director. He pointed his finger at one of his workers and said, “Cut camera feed and audio. Mr. Jinshan wants to see all the footage before it gets circulated.”
“Yes, sir.”
14
Two days later, Jinshan walked into the conference room and looked around the table. Dedicated eyes stared back at him. Politburo mostly, but some military men as well. Senior generals and admirals. Some were Politburo Central Committee members. The head of the Ministry of State Security was present. All were loyal to Cheng Jinshan.
The others had been purged.
Shortly after Jinshan and Song had been acquitted of all charges and Secretary Zhang removed, the Central Committee had held a vote on who was to be their next general secretary. The vote for Jinshan had been unanimous, and the subsequent consolidation of power had been swift.
Jinshan sat down at the head of the table. Everyone was quiet, waiting for Jinshan to speak.
“How much has changed with our military readiness over the past few weeks?”
The question was understood by the occupants of the room: how much progress had been lost because of his unplanned incarceration?
General Chen spoke first, which was only appropriate. He was now the senior military officer in all of China. Jinshan had asked his predecessor to retire a few days earlier.
“Mr. Jinshan, very little has changed. We have continued to train and prepare our army, navy, and air force for the next stages. While China’s official response has been to apologize for the recent hostilities, we were able to convince the former president that we needed to maintain a high level of alert in case of a retaliatory response from the Americans. A separate order chain was used to keep up pretenses prior to…”
Jinshan smiled. “Prior to my public proclamation of my innocence?”
“Yes, sir.” Uneasy smiling. Ambition and fear of retribution coated every one of their faces. But a culture of strong central control was needed during wartime.
Jinshan nodded. “Good. I am pleased to hear that our military forces are making progress. They should be ready to execute with little to no notice. Am I clear, General?” Cheng Jinshan’s appointment as the general secretary also made him the chairman of the Central Military Commission.
“Of course, sir.”
“The Americans will likely be unnerved by my freedom and newfound power. We will need to ease their worries, and distract them from seeing us as their primary threat.” He looked across the room. Lena and Natesh sat in chairs along the wall. “How has the response been, domestically?”
Lena looked at Natesh, who was standing in the back of the room. He didn’t speak Mandarin. She quickly relayed the question to him in English. Natesh cleared his throat. “Yes, Mr. Jinshan. The video of your… speech… is getting extremely high views on all Chinese social media. Our bots are amplifying the positive response. The message that Chinese citizens are receiving is that you were unjustly imprisoned for standing up to religious activists and wanting to defend China’s military. Polls show most citizens believe that you desire our nation to grow stronger and stand up to oppressive Western regimes.”
“Are the people with us, Natesh?”
“Yes, Mr. Jinshan. The data that my team has been looking at shows that the overwhelming majority of Chinese people fully support you and your agenda. They see China as being attacked by outside meddlers, and they see you as a savior, sir.” Natesh’s eyes darted around as he said it.
Jinshan held his gaze for a beat longer than normal, then turned to his generals. “We will need to act swiftly. The American military and intelligence community will understand what this means. They will be increasing their readiness levels. They will be making their own preparations.”
Nods around the table.
“We have prepared for years. Soon we will act. A few more weeks at the most. Everyone must be prepared to execute our plans immediately, when the order is given.”
As the generals and politicians were leaving, Jinshan said, “Natesh, Lena — please stay for a moment.”
They gathered near him and Admiral Song. Jinshan waited for everyone else to leave before speaking.
“I thank you for the great work that you have done thus far. I fear that there will be much more to do before we are finished.”
Neither of them spoke.
“Natesh, you seem concerned.”
Natesh glanced at Lena and then said, “Our loss-of-life estimates have increased.”
“Have they?” The old man sat back down in his chair. Natesh thought he looked awful. Tired eyes and sallow skin. More wrinkles and spots on his face than the last time Natesh had seen him.
Lena said, “Natesh, we don’t need to bother Mr. Jinshan about this.”
Jinshan held up his hand. “It is alright, Lena. Too often, I am only told good news. Perhaps if more people around me were brave enough to tell me the truth, I wouldn’t have spent the last few weeks in a prison.” He looked out the door as he said that, in the direction of the Chinese military generals and politicians he was working with.
Natesh said, “It’s just that — none of this was expected. Our plans would have been much more effective if they had been executed all at once. But we aren’t doing that. The GPS satellites were taken out a month ago, but the Americans are making progress towards fixing that. Their military readiness has increased dramatically in the past few weeks. We still don’t have an active supply chain in Latin America. And we haven’t even started our Canadian—”
Jinshan looked up at Lena. “But as you have said, the people are with us.”
“From what I’ve seen, yes, Mr. Jinshan.”
“Then we can overcome schedule setbacks, as long as our people are motivated.”
Natesh said, “Those people are going to find out eventually.”
“Find out what?” Jinshan’s eyes grew dark.
Natesh hesitated. “That none of this was about religion. I understand the need to motivate them. But I worry that by not telling them the truth, we hurt ourselves in the long run.”
Jinshan and Lena shared a look.
“Natesh, truth can be a dangerous thing.”
“A moment ago, you told me that you wished more people told you the truth.”
Jinshan’s fatigue was gone now. He raised his voice. Just a bit, but enough that Natesh was taken aback. “Mr. Chaudry, nothing has changed since the moment when we met in San Francisco. Our objectives have not changed. Our methods have not changed. The only thing that is new for you is that you are witnessing with your own eyes what sacrifice truly means. Bloodshed. Death. Lies. All of these things will be necessary. If you can’t stomach it, please let us know. Did you really think that a world war would be won in a few weeks? Did you think that a few blackouts in the United States would allow the Chinese army to stroll in and plant a flag in Washington? Ninety-day wars are campaign slogans. There is no such thing as a quick and easy war — not when you take into account the occupation and transformation of the populace. I hired you because this was a complicated, challenging task, and you were a worthy contributor.”
Jinshan’s flash of anger sent a chill down Natesh’s spine. “I’m sorry…”
Jinshan recomposed himself, speaking in a softer tone. “There can be no second-guessing now, Natesh. You have committed yourself to this. Soon, my generals will give orders for a military strike the likes of which the world has never seen. After this order is given, much of the globe will be in darkness.”
Lena said, “Mr. Jinshan, perhaps there is a way that Natesh can support us that is less — how shall I say — involved in the kinetic aspect of our plans?”
Jinshan looked at Lena, admiration in his eyes. “What would you propose, Lena?”
“We have an office in Japan. Your logistics supplier is out of there. The one who manages our shipping containers. Natesh’s talents are best put to use in operations management. With his knowledge of our ultimate objectives, he would be quite valuable as an embedded advocate in Japan, would he not?”
Jinshan looked thoughtful. “He could join our Tokyo embassy personnel as soon as the war begins. To ensure his safety.”
Natesh was looking between Lena and Jinshan, not sure if this was a good thing or not.
Finally, Jinshan said, “Go to Japan. Do our work where no one will be looking for you. We will get you a special military assistant. They will make sure that anything you need is done. I want you to continue to improve our logistics. The container ships must begin their journey across the Pacific soon. Convoys will need to start as soon as the EMPs detonate.”
“Yes, Mr. Jinshan.” His voice sounded shell-shocked.
“Now go. Both of you have a lot of work to do.”