to force America’s collapse so that China could collect on the resources it so desperately needed. The President found it only fitting that America’s debt to the Chinese, all of it, be nullified. The Chinese were apoplectic, but there was absolutely nothing they could do about it. They had lost legitimacy and they had lost face. The President intended to press his advantage for every economic and diplomatic benefit he could reap.
For its role in helping to develop the EMP weapons, knowingly delivering them to the Chinese, and allowing Chinese soldiers to train for an American invasion on their soil, the President imposed crippling concessions on the North Koreans.
President Porter was particularly moved by the story of Jin-Sang, the little boy the Gold Dust team had rescued from the North Korean labor camp. In addition to a multitude of demands on the DPRK economically and militarily, President Porter had forced the North Korean government to accept all types of inspectors, including the IAEA, Amnesty International, and the Red Cross. It was that or face total annihilation.
Before the President had even picked up the phone to inform the Chinese and North Koreans of the consequences of their actions and the restitution they would be forced to make, he had consulted with America’s allies. Each of them knew that the same plot could have been carried out against their country, and they stood shoulder to shoulder with the United States, agreeing to back them on anything they chose to do. It was good for them to be reminded of who their friends and enemies were from time to time. They seemed to get the two mixed up on a disturbingly regular basis.
As for the Chinese, the United States had one final demand. And until that demand was satisfied, the princelings would remain as guests in the United States.
• • •
Colonel Jiang Shi stepped to the window and watched the snow that had begun to fall outside. The seasoned logs in the fireplace snapped and popped as they gave off a bright orange flame. The opulent mountain retreat did little to lessen his dislike of China’s political class.
The General Secretary and the rest of the PSC blamed him, of course, for the failure of Snow Dragon. He had thought about fleeing. He had money, contacts. Yet he knew eventually they would find him. While it wouldn’t be Tai Cheng, it would be someone just like him. Someone born with a predator’s instinct who knew nothing but the hunt. It would have been pointless to run. So he had gone to work, waiting to be summoned, waiting for a speedy trial and a bullet to the back of his head, with the bill sent to his wife. But neither the trial nor the bullet ever came.
As it turned out, the General Secretary and the PSC were more concerned about coming up with a trump card, something they could give the Americans that would stave off the inevitable. They didn’t care what it was. They would throw any other country to the wolves in order to save themselves. Shi had never seen them so convinced that the Americans would unite the world against them in war.
The Second Department worked around the clock, trying to develop a plan. On top of figuring out a way to avert war, contingencies were being made in case they did go to war. It was in this arena that the PSC wanted Colonel Shi focused. Despite the failure of his Snow Dragon operation, they had finally come to appreciate his talent in unrestricted warfare. If war were to come, the PSC, the PLA, and the Second Department needed a concise plan for how to win it. The stakes had never been higher, especially as the PSC was convinced that the new American president was so incensed that he fully intended to launch a full-scale nuclear attack.
That was why Colonel Shi had been invited to the PSC’s mountain retreat. The Chinese had agreed to unconditionally release the Americans from their debt obligations, but that hadn’t been enough. The United States had a bloodlust that couldn’t be sated. China needed a plan, a brilliant plan, and Jiang Shi had been told to have multiple options for them by the time they arrived.
Turning from the window, Shi walked to the fireplace and added another log. His dinner sat on the table. He hadn’t had much of an appetite, but knew he needed to eat.
Sitting down, he placed the elaborately folded napkin in his