twisted. A shot rang out. Amazingly, the bullet hit no one.
The captain and his MPs raced back. “What’s going on here?” he demanded.
The driver had ripped away the pistol, holding it in his hands. With hostility in their eyes and as they gripped their weapons, the others in the truck watched the MPs.
“The Colonel is delirious,” Paul said. “He thought we were Chinese soldiers and fired at us.” Paul put his fingers on the end of the stretcher. “Come on, Romo, give me a hand.”
Paul dragged the Colonel out of the truck-bed and Romo grabbed the other end of the stretcher.
“Let him go with the Colonel,” Paul said to the captain. He used his chin and pointed at the driver. “The others can wait.”
“The others can walk along I-70 with everyone else,” the captain said. “Only the wounded are getting a ride out. Well, he can go, I guess. But don’t give him the gun until he’s well.”
“I won’t,” the driver said.
“Come on,” Paul told the driver. “I’ll show you the way.”
Paul and Romo carried a sick Colonel Valdez onto the Chinook, laying him down among other wounded.
Valdez’s hot eyes flickered open. “This changes nothing,” he told Paul.
“No,” Paul said. “You’re wrong. This changes everything. I just saved your life. Heck, I probably saved you from jail, too, or from the firing squad. That’s what would have happened to you if you’d killed me.”
“My men—”
“Would have been badly outnumbered here,” Paul said. “Anyway, just shut up for change. I’ve listened to you rant before. The way I figure it is that you owe me big time. Most people are grateful to someone saving their life. How about you: are you an ingrate and a dog, or are you a man who pays his debts?”
Valdez’s eyes seemed to burn hotter.
“Think about it,” Paul said. “What I know is that I’ve paid you back for what happened to Maria. There isn’t any more guilt in my heart that you can tap. If you keep coming after me, I’ll kill you just like the assassin Santiago that you sent after Romo.”
“Words,” Valdez said with a sneer.
“It’s time to start channeling your anger the right way,” Paul said. “Kill the Chinese, drive them home and then worry about your stinking honor, as worthless as yours is.”
“No one speaks to me like that.”
“You ready?” Paul asked Romo.
“Si.”
“Then let’s go. Be seeing you,” Paul told the driver. “And thanks. I owe you one.”
With that, Paul left Colonel Valdez in the Chinook, which took off five minutes later. It was strange, but it felt good saving a life for once instead of taking it, even that of a man who hated him.
BEIJING, PRC
Shun Li knelt in the cage with the small polar bear cub. The fur was so soft and she loved listening to the little fellow as she held the milk bottle for him.
He sucked strongly, drinking deeply. The Chairman no longer let the mother bear pace in the next chamber, watching. Shun Li smiled. She wondered how much longer she would get to do this.
She’d been agonizing over the correct course of action. The Police Minister’s plot continued apace. She had written many reports for Xiao, and his questions about the Chairman and his Lion Guards had become very pointed. She enjoyed Tang and his rough lovemaking. She loved this little polar bear cub. But she did care for either enough to die for them?
She had come to wonder if the Chairman’s days were numbered. China’s armies had suffered hard defeats. The North American conquest hung in the balance. How could the Chairman defeat Xiao if the military backed the secret policeman?
She stroked the cub’s fur as he suckled.
“You love him,” the Chairman said.
Shun Li twisted around in fright. She hadn’t heard the Chairman sneak up behind her. Tang waited with Hong.
There was one thing about Tang that impressed Shun Li. The Lion Guardsman never acknowledged her while he was on duty, never winked or joked. He acted utterly like the Leader’s protective guardian. He was loyal.
“I have been studying you,” Hong said. “And I have finally reached a conclusion.”
That sounded ominous. She tried to smile, but failed. So she went back to helping the cub suckle the bottle.
“There,” Hong said, as if speaking to Tang. “That is why I trust her. She loves the cub. Xiao Yang could never love.”
“He loves China,” Shun Li heard herself say.
“He is a fanatic,” Hong said. “He has always been a fanatic and it warps his judgment. I’ve