Bali

General Zhou was angry.

He rarely disagreed with his brother. Even when Zhou Yun had urged him to accept President Li’s offer to leave China in exile after Craig Page uncovered his plan with Iran to cut off the flow of foreign oil to the U.S. and President Brewster threatened military action, General Zhou had followed his brother’s advice and gone to Paris. Albeit reluctantly.

And he couldn’t remember being angry at Zhou Yun. But today, he was furious. General Zhou was still in Bali. They were talking on an encrypted cell phone. General Zhou had just told his brother about Craig Page’s attempt to abduct him from Bali and the bittersweet
victory he had achieved with his Chinese troops. Bittersweet because Page had somehow escaped.

At the end of that discussion, General Zhou asked his brother when President Li was having his surgery for colon cancer. Zhou Yun had said, “I don’t want to discuss this topic on the phone.”

That infuriated General Zhou. He had to know what was happening in China. And he had to know now.

“But these encrypted phones are state-of-the-art,” General Zhou protested. “One of your companies manufactured them. You told me the code can’t be cracked.”

“Correction. I told you it was extremely unlikely. That’s the most that can be said about any encrypted system.”

“Fine. I’ll take the chance.”

“With so much riding on what happens, that’s not a wise decision. We have to assume Page is picking up all your conversations. This one included. And the CIA has the highest deciphering capability.”

General Zhou was trying to keep his anger in check. His brother couldn’t be intimidated. He was capable of simply hanging up the phone.

In a calm voice, General Zhou responded, “Page isn’t with the CIA. His EU agency has relatively few high-tech resources.”

“He could go to the CIA.”

“Norris hates him. We know that from our own source within the United States.”

“It’s too risky.”

“That’s my decision,” General Zhou said forcefully.

“If you lose, then I lose.”

“That’s not right. You’ll still be one of the wealthiest and most powerful industrialists in China, regardless of who the president is. But my whole life is on the line.”

General Zhou heard a deep sigh at the other end of the phone. A good sign. He’s coming around.

“President Li’s surgery is scheduled to take place next Monday morning, ten o’clock.”

“What have you arranged?”

There was a long pause.

“I want to know,” General Zhou insisted.

“The anesthesiologist has been paid off. He will mix potassium chloride with the anesthetic. Then he’ll appear to be doing everything he can to save President Li. No one will suspect him. The medical examiner
is with us as well. He’ll conclude it was one of those unfortunate
situations that sometimes occur in surgery.”

“Excellent.”

“Now tell me what’s happening in the Central Committee. For their selection of the next president.”

“I’m having more difficulty than I imagined.”

“Who’s opposing me for the presidency?”

“Mei Ling.”

General Zhou was incredulous. “That wench?”

“Don’t underestimate her. She has President Li’s backing.”

“But can’t you pay off enough members to lock up a majority of the votes?”

“I’m close. But not there yet.”

“Well, offer more. You only have three days to get it done.”

“It may not be possible. Not everyone’s for sale. We need an alternative if she has more votes.”

General Zhou was thinking.

“Have Mei Ling murdered,” he finally said. “Make it look like an accident.”

“You sure you want me to do that?”

“Absolutely. We can’t let the Presidency get away. Meantime, I’ll have Captain Cheng fly back to China. He’ll talk to my closest friends in the military. He’ll line up their support. With Mei Ling out of the way and support from the military, the Central Committee will have to pick me as president.”

His dream was almost a reality.