Jack Du Brul - River of Ruin

“You told the premier I couldn’t. .” Liu wasn’t sure he’d heard right. “It was you who recommended that I propose this operation to him.” And then he understood just how well he’d been set up by the man he considered his mentor. “There aren’t any missiles on this ship, are there?”

Yu smiled as if to say of course not. “Only the small circle of workers who assembled them know they are mock-ups. Partially for your benefit, had you chosen to inspect them, but also because several of the more militaristic members of the politburo wanted to be on the docks in Shanghai to see them loaded. Captain Wong doesn’t even know they are dummies. The Korvald ’s true reason for being here is to return the launcher/erectors, which, I might add, are genuine.”

“You did all of this just to get me out of Hatcherly.”

“Oh, it’s much more than that. It’s also to teach your generation that you only have power because we decide you can. There are thousands of companies under the COSTIND umbrella, each headed by men such as yourself, men who sometimes forget their place. China is going through dynamic changes, sweeping economic shifts that sometimes threaten to spill over into full-blown capitalism. Which we both know fosters thoughts of democracy. These thoughts must be crushed.

“Tiananmen taught us that punishing the people just gives our enemies more reason to denounce us. However, targeting men like you, men whose overreaching ambition makes them vulnerable, is just as effective at reducing capitalistic, and thus democratic, aspirations. The people don’t care about men like you. They resent that your grand lifestyle is a result of their labor. They love to hear about a corrupt executive being executed for misappropriation of state funds. They see your downfall as the state protecting their interests.”

“While we both know it’s just the state clamping down harder on their rights.”

Yu smiled. “It’s like Ronald Reagan’s trickle-down theory. Executives, factory managers, and many others will know by what happened to you that they aren’t as free as they believe. Your defeat will keep their dreams of autonomy dormant for another ten years at least. And with them subdued, the people who work for them will remain compliant.”

“What if I had succeeded?” Liu asked.

“I would have reaped the rewards, but the risk of failure was too great to back you completely. I chose to give you just enough to encourage you but not enough to embolden you. That you did on your own.”

“How much has this cost you? The gold, the mining equipment, all the ships. Was this power play worth all that?”

“To maintain absolute control of China for another ten years? Of course. Besides, the ships are all tired rust buckets destined to be broken up. The remainder of the gold you didn’t turn over for Quintero’s televised photo opportunity has already been recovered from your vaults by Mr. Sun here. Certainly there were costs, but it seems enough damage has been done to the canal to ensure they will be recovered by Hatcherly. Freight still has to move across the isthmus and our railroad and oil pipeline are the only way.”

“So there are explosives on the ships?”

“More than enough for even one detonation to choke off the Gaillard Cut for at least a year,” Yu said. “Don’t you see, I took the best of your operation and discarded the rest. We don’t need to threaten America with nuclear weapons to take Taiwan. Eventually China will be rich enough that they will want to return to the fold on their own. I needed you as an example to the men who will make China rich that they do it for the good of the party, not themselves. A lesson you forgot long ago, I’m afraid.”

So thoroughly outmaneuvered, Liu was speechless. General Yu had manipulated him perfectly, pushing him ever onward toward his own downfall. He felt the deck vibration change slightly as the engine RPMs were increased. The eight large trucks could be loaded in fifteen minutes or so since the dry dock was serviced by two overhead cranes and there was no need to be as delicate as if they were unloading the volatile strategic missiles.

“Will I be going back with you?” he finally asked the general.

Yu shook his head as if he was actually saddened by this. “I’m sorry, my young friend. Someone needs to remain behind and take the blame for this attempt at a corporate takeover of an entire country. I brought a briefcase full of documentation that shows this operation was entirely your doing. President Quintero and the canal director, Felix Silvera-Arias, were told this morning that it is in their best interest to keep quiet about their involvement.”

“My family?”

“Won’t share your fate. I promise you that.”

“That is very generous of you.” Liu was serious. Usually wives, parents, children and other family members would be purged because of the mistakes of one man. That fear was one more way the government maintained its iron grip. “What happens now?”

“We have a little time.” Yu reached into his jacket for his cigarettes. He offered one to Liu. “I know you quit, but considering the circumstances. .” The general lit his own cigarette first and held his lighter for Liu. “Sergeant Huai, would you care for one?”

“Thank you, General.” Huai was left to light his own and stepped back into the shadows to wait for his orders.

The three smoked in silence.

“What about the treasure, General?” Liu asked, dropping the spent butt to the deck and grinding it with his heel. “Will you try to recover it?”

“I hadn’t thought about it. I guess if it really is there, then in a month or a year we will find it for the Panamanians and turn it over to them as a gesture of goodwill. Learning about a billion dollars in gold, even if it’s already yours, is a powerful diplomatic tool.”

An officer approached and saluted General Yu. “With Captain Wong’s compliments. The cargo is aboard. He reports that the Englander Rose has cleared the Miraflores Locks and believes it might be heading toward us.”

“Damn. Tell the captain we can cast off in a moment. Wait, I’ll come to the bridge with you. Sergeant Huai, your sidearm, please. Give it to Mr. Liu.”

“Sir?”

“Your sidearm. The least we can do is let him do this honorably. But keep him covered just in case.” Yu grabbed a large briefcase from the first officer’s cabin and locked it to Liu’s wrist with a pair of handcuffs. “When it is done, take his body to his office, give some explanation to his staff and get your men out of Panama as quickly as possible.”

“I understand, sir.” The veteran eyed Liu then turned back to the general. “May I ask one thing?”

“What is it, man?” Yu snapped, irritated that Huai saw any ambiguities in his orders.

“When you mentioned the costs incurred in this operation, you didn’t mention the men I’ve lost.”

Something in the sergeant’s tone made the general pay more attention. “It’s a soldier’s duty to do as ordered, Sergeant. It is the price of war.”

“That’s what I thought, sir.”

General Yu turned to follow the first officer up to the bridge.

“The price of war,” Huai repeated and slid his pistol from its holster.

Lauren had moved next to Mercer and slipped her arm around his waist, snuggling her head against his shoulder to wait for the inevitable. The Frenchmen spoke quietly among themselves, offering prayers perhaps or recounting the bravery of how past Legionnaires had faced death. Harry smoked through another cigarette and guzzled the last of the Jack Daniel’s. Mercer refused his offer of a hit knowing his old friend would enjoy it more.

A nagging voice, tinny and remote, tickled Mercer’s hearing. He tried to ignore it, but it was insistent. The uncomfortable radio earpiece dangled down his chest on its slender wire. He realized that was the source of the voice and he pressed the speaker back in place. “Angel Two, this is Heaven. Over.”