Chase had been deciding what to say next all day. He was torn between potentially hurting his brother’s reputation and career, and doing his duty. He knew that David wouldn’t voluntarily provide information to any entity that he wasn’t supposed to.
“I’ve been pretty conflicted about this. Elliot, I swear to God there has to be some mistake. Or this is part of some Iranian misinformation operation or something. I don’t know…”
Elliot frowned. “Spit it out.”
“The reason that Gorji apparently wanted to speak with me is because of my brother. Do you remember David?”
Elliot frowned. Elliot had been long-time friends with Admiral Manning, David and Chase’s father. He had met David before, but didn’t know him. “I remember your brother.”
“We’ve got a bigger problem than just one leak in Dubai. They claim to have a list of Americans that are providing some group on Abu Musa with classified information. Gorji’s assistant claims that Gorji wants to meet with me personally. Says the Supreme Leader of Iran wants to make a trade. This list of Americans for our help in getting rid of this group on Abu Musa. The proof that the list is authentic is that my brother, David, is on the list. They think that if we look into it, we’ll be able to verify that he’s doing something he shouldn’t be.”
Elliot’s face contorted. “Excuse me?”
Chase repeated everything that he had been told, careful to emphasize that his brother would never betray their country.
When Chase was finished speaking, Elliot leaned back in his chair. He didn’t say anything for a while. He just looked at the wall, thinking. Then his eyes went back to Chase. He said, “It must have been hard for you to tell me about this, Chase. But you did the right thing.”
“I don’t know what to do. They said that we can’t communicate with David or the trade is off.”
“Why did they say that?”
“They think it will be too high-risk. It might alert whoever has penetrated Dubai Station.”
Elliot nodded. “Chase, I don’t know what Gorji is up to. I don’t know if this list is real, or how they got the name of our man in Dubai. But… do not contact your brother David. Do you understand? Not until we figure all of this out.”
Chase grudgingly said, “I understand.”
“Meet with Gorji. Soon. Let me know when you go to see him. I need to run this one up the chain. This is turning out to be much bigger than I thought.”
“And about Pakvar?”
“We’re trying to locate him. See if Gorji can help with that when you meet.”
“Will do.”
They got up and walked back out to the living area, where the equipment was set up. Lisa stood across the room, speaking to a group of CIA surveillance technicians. Her eyes locked onto Chase. They held each other’s gaze for a moment. Busy conversations went on around them. Neither of them showed any emotion as they looked at each other. But Chase could feel a craving inside himself. He wondered if she was thinking of the same things. Then a landline phone rang loudly, the spell broke, and they continued on with what they were doing.
Chase turned to Elliot and said, “May I ask what is all this for?” He motioned toward the electronic eavesdropping equipment.
Elliot pointed at the big TV screen, the one showing the live feed of the hotel conference room. “There wasn’t US representation at the Dubai Financial Summit. It’s a closed-door session among the big investors. But the Director wants us to make sure we know everything that is going on there.” The Director he referred to, Chase realized, was the actual Director of the CIA. This must be getting a lot of attention back in Washington.
Lisa appeared next to them. She said to Elliot, “There have been sweeps of the room by three different intelligence services so far.”
Elliot said, “I’m guessing that you would have told me if anyone found one of our devices?”
She gave a coy smile. “Oh, was that important?”
He smiled and said to Chase, “You see what I’m dealing with here?”
Lisa gave a sly wink. “Relax. I’ve got you covered.”
Chase looked at the TV screen. It was HD-quality video from two different angles, and while the volume of the TV was low, there were captions being typed at the bottom of the screen.
“How did you guys pull this off?” Chase asked.
Elliot looked at Lisa. She didn’t answer. Then she said, “Well, tonight’s show is about to begin. Chase, I’ll give you a ride back when we’re finished. Why don’t you have a seat?”
Elliot sat back down and Lisa pulled up a chair. Chase remained standing, reading the captions at the bottom of the screen.
The conference room filled up and different groups began speaking. Chase picked up the gist of it. A large Chinese investment was being made into the new financial exchange in Dubai. It would open up more opportunity for global investment in the region. So far nothing stood out to him that would be suspicious.
He watched as an Arabic man in a flowing white robe finished speaking. The man then walked down from the podium and sat in the front row.
A short Chinese man hobbled up to the stage.
Chase asked Lisa, “Who’s that?”
“That is the man everyone is here to see.”
Cheng Jinshan was ready for this moment. This was the culmination of decades of careful planning. His meteoric rise in the business world, and equally impressive — although unpublicized — rise in the world of Chinese government power brokers had made this all possible. But this was not just business. It was not just politics. This was war.
He took a drink of water from his glass and looked out at the room. There were only fifteen or twenty men here. No women. The American ambassador had no doubt been quite irritated that she had been not invited to this gathering, but it would not matter.
“Gentlemen, thank you for allowing me—a mere investor—to speak and dine with such great statesmen and economists as each of you. It is you who are the nation builders, the thinkers, and the world makers. I am but a humble businessman.”
There were smiles on the faces of the spectators. Many of them knew Jinshan well, including the Chinese ambassador. Those who did know him were aware that he was a very accomplished individual. The word mere would never be used to describe one such as him.
He gave a devilish grin. “What is money?” He grasped the edges of the wooden podium and looked around the room. “There are some that would tell you that money is only created by men who produce. It is the great equalizer in this world. These same people would have you believe that money can only be exchanged in the fair trade of goods, because both parties must agree on the price. The novelist Ayn Rand, in one of her books, said, ‘To trade by means of money is the code of the men of good will. Money permits no deals except those to mutual benefit by the unforced judgment of the traders.’ And I think that this could be true, except for one thing. We don’t all use the same type of money. And of that great king of currency, the US dollar… none of us in this room have any control over its regulation. I suggest that the world is not currently set up for mutually beneficial trade.
“While I am only a simple businessman, I am a businessman that knows a great opportunity when he sees one.” His audience smiled, some of them with a few seconds delay after the translation finished in their earpiece as Jinshan spoke in his native tongue, Mandarin.
“What we are about to embark on is a great investment for the bankers of the world, but also, what one can only hope will be a great rebalancing for the citizens of the world. Each of you, no doubt, is now well acquainted with the details of cryptocurrency. A few years ago, when bitcoin first came to us, I thought it to be nothing more than a passing flavor. How simpleminded that thinking was. The great transformations of technology always seem preposterous at first glance. Especially to simple old men like myself.”