The sound of a helicopter landing on the elevated pad caused a stir of commotion in the room. It lasted for about thirty seconds, and then faded away. From Chase’s seat, he couldn’t see that side of the hotel. Perhaps Waleed had been flown in?
A waiter brought over a silver plate of green olives, hummus, and warm pita bread, still puffed and steaming. Compliments of the house, he said. Chase was hungry. He nodded in thanks and popped an olive into his mouth.
He stopped mid-chew when he saw who walked in.
Strolling in from the entrance to the Skyview Bar was Lisa Parker. She looked stunningly attractive. Her long waves of black hair hung over her smooth bare shoulders. She wore a tight black dress which outlined her curvy yet athletic body. Chase went through a dozen responses in his mind as Lisa walked towards him, smiling.
He thought of reaching for his gun, but he didn’t. She looked unarmed. And there was something else… he didn’t know if he was capable of shooting her. Whoever she really was, whatever her motives, Chase still felt something for her.
In the intimate moments that they had shared, wrapped in sheets and each other’s embrace, there had been an emotion in her eyes. Fire, longing, desire, yes… but something else, too. Something like affection or adoration. Chase wanted to believe that those were true feelings behind those eyes.
Even now, knowing what he knew about what she had been a part of, he had feelings for her. And he hated himself for it.
Chase finished his olive, took another sip of his cool drink, and placed the glass down on the white tablecloth.
As she arrived at his table, Chase remained seated and expressionless.
An Indian waiter quickly came over to their table and pulled out her chair. She sat, thanked the waiter and looked at him carefully. She then asked for a glass of ice water in what sounded like Hindi. The look on the waiter’s face was that of delight. He nodded happily, smiling and quickly filling her glass from a chilled bottle of Italian sparkling water.
“You’re quite the talented linguist,” Chase said.
“I knew the right words.”
A moment of silence passed before she snapped up some of the still-warm pita bread and dipped it in the hummus. She chewed and stared at him. The look again. Like she was glad to see him.
She said, “So much of our world’s history is shaped by the hands of so few. Back channels and smoke-filled rooms. That’s where the real decisions get made. It just takes someone in the right position, saying the right words at the right time. For instance, if I was to say the right words to you, you might take me somewhere and get to see what’s under this dress.”
“Would I find a gun?”
She cocked her head. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I’ve heard some disturbing things about you recently.”
She didn’t reply.
He said, “I had hoped that you would at least deny them.”
She looked out the window at the fiery sunset. She looked lost in thought. Then she said, “I read a book about the Pacific theater during World War Two recently. It got me thinking. Who do you think was responsible for the plan to bomb Pearl Harbor? I mean… who was really responsible? The one who thought: this is how it should be done. Was there a meeting of midlevel managers and military tacticians who brought the idea to their leader and appealed to his ego and quest for national power?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Just humor me.”
“Yamamoto was in charge of the attack.” Chase couldn’t understand where this was coming from.
Lena looked disappointed. “Yamamoto was in charge of the attack, that is true. But my point is that history is filled with small groups of unknown thinkers and planners. Although, in that particular example, they made a large mistake.”
“And what mistake is that?”
“The only way to ensure that the will of the attacking country is carried out, is to — as they say in financial circles — buy and hold. The same holds true for invasions. Conquer and hold. Bring the dominant policies and progress that made the attacking nation great to this new country. Don’t half-ass it…”
Chase said, “What’s your real name?”
She smiled. “So I see you’ve been reunited with David. You can call me Lena. That’s a butchered pronunciation of my birth name. But it was the American name that I took as a teenager. And it suits me better than Lisa, which I’ve been calling myself since I joined the Agency. The CIA has given me several cover names over the years, but it’s mostly been Lisa Parker. I’m tired of those fake names. I’m tired of pretending to be someone who I’m not. Lena will do just fine.”
“Whose side are you on, Lena?”
She took a sip of water. “The winning side.”
“Why are you here today?”
She bowed her head and pointed at him. “Now there is a good question. I am here to start a war. The greatest war the world has ever seen.”
Chase just looked at her. Her attitude was getting to him. This was a different person than the woman he had been with. He wasn’t sure how this conversation would end, but she was giving him information, so he would keep asking questions.
“How will the war start?”
She looked out over the skyline. “Truly, it already has.” She sighed and looked sad. She spoke softly. “I know you are disappointed and probably upset with me. I do not wish to fight with you. I didn’t have to come see you. I wanted to. I wanted to tell you something.”
“What?”
She looked into his eyes. “If you live past the next few days… if you live past the next few years, someday you may ask yourself, was it real? Between us, I mean. And I wanted to tell you that it was. I see, in you, much of myself. There aren’t too many of us, Chase. The people that prop the world up on their backs. The ones that can change the world, if they try. That’s what attracts me to you. And I don’t want to see you hurt.”
He narrowed his eyes, slightly alarmed. “Just what do you think is going to happen?”
“I think that you, like so many people, have been conditioned to believe certain things. I want you to know that what I’ve done is to make the world a better place. And it will be, eventually. I hope that you see that someday.”
David’s face flushed. “How could you think like this? How could you betray the country that you served?”
“It’s not my country, Chase. And honestly, America will be better off for my actions.”
“You said you lived there since you were a teenager. I assume that before that, you lived in China.”
“I did.”
“And you came to the United States knowing that you would betray it?”
She tilted her head. “Yes.”
“If you lived in America as long as you did, you know that the United States stands for principles of freedom and morality. How could you betray it after living there? I don’t care where you were born.”
“Now listen—”
“You want to turn America in to China?”
She whispered, “I told you that I admired you because I recognize greatness in you.”
“So what?” He tried not to sound too angry. His emotional ties to her were interfering with his ability to think clearly.
“Well, there is another person who I also admire greatly. He is a great leader. Cheng Jinshan. You would be impressed with him, Chase. He is an amazing man. His vision of what this world can become… Chase, it’s the only future that our world can have. One globally unified government that makes the right decisions for its people. Yes, I’ve lived in America since I was a teenager. But you know what? America isn’t so great. It has faults just like everywhere else.”
Chase shook his head, disgusted. “It’s better than the rest. Trust me, I’ve been to most.”