Free Ark by Charles McCarry Page B

we met. He was charm itself.
     
    “It is so interesting that the American people and the Chinese people became friends again on the very day that the great President Nixon came to China and the animosity between our two populations ceased to exist,” he said. “Forty years of the most outrageous propaganda vanished like the smoke of a couple of cheap cigarettes.”
     
    His smile asked how anyone could possibly question this sunny view of Sino-American relations.
     
    Over coffee, General Yao turned to Henry.
     
    “Something rather curious is happening,” he said. “The American government is suddenly very interested in you, Henry.”
     
    “Really?” Henry said. “How so?”
     
    People from the American embassy, Yao said, had asked him and certain of his colleagues questions about Henry’s activities in Hsi-tau and elsewhere in China.
     
    “We are puzzled by this gossip,” General Yao said. “It’s unusual for the Americans to ask us about one of their own citizens, especially one as prominent as Henry Peel.”
     
    These Americans had heard that Henry was investing heavily in certain Chinese companies. They were especially curious about his dealings with Ng Fred and his company. They were curious about the mysterious ring of booster rockets. They knew from their satellite images that they were not military vehicles, but they were somewhat alarmed by their size. What was their purpose? The CIA had asked permission to visit the site to inspect the boosters. They told General Yao that the president of the United States himself was concerned about them. CIA briefers had shown him photographs taken from orbit. He had been intensely interested, even agitated. He thought the rockets might be a threat to America’s national security. He had demanded more information. The situation was uncomfortable.
     
    Henry said, “Have you granted permission for an inspection?”
     
    “Our government has taken the request under advisement. It will move slowly, Henry, but it’s difficult for us to say no to the CIA. As you know, it has done good and valuable things for China.”
     
    For instance? I was dying to hear, but Henry did not ask the question, no doubt because he, like his friend General Yao, already knew the answers.
     
    “And there is another problem—two problems, actually,” said General Yao. “The booster rockets do not belong to the Chinese government, nor are they in China. As you know, they are just across the frontier in Mongolia.”
     
    Henry said, “I don’t mind their having a look from a suitable distance, in case that’s part of the dilemma.”
     
    “It’s not. They have already had a look from a suitable distance. Our concern is that the president might conclude that we are going to boost some sort of military hardware into space that will be targeted on the United States or its space station and satellites.”
     
    “But the rockets are harmless. The satellite photos should tell them that.”
     
    “One would think so. One would also think the CIA and the Pentagon know that the rockets are in Mongolia.”
     
    “I’m sure they do,” Henry said. “So why are you humoring them?”
     
    “Because humoring them seems to be what they’re asking us to do,” General Yao said. “It’s all very puzzling.”
     
    “Why not just state the obvious? Why play this game?”
     
    “The president of the United States is a nervous man. He might not believe the obvious. He leads a volatile democracy that might throw him out of office for letting China get ahead of America. He might be tempted to reassure the voters and assure his reelection by putting some kind of battle star in orbit, with all missiles pointed at us.”
     
    Henry said, “I’ll talk to him.”
     
    “And tell him what? The truth?”
     
    “As you say, that’s probably the last thing he’d believe.”
     
    “Don’t be so certain of that, Henry,” General Yao said. “He’s been briefed on the core of the earth