Free Power Curve by Richard Herman

them on board until we can give them a proper funeral. They’re finished in this town.”
    Bender studied the last protocol, a map at the back of the agreement. Dashed lines outlined the so-called spheres of influence. He froze. “Son of a—” he muttered, catching himself before he finished the expletive. He looked up. Turner was smiling at him.
    “Did I sense a little emotion, Robert?”
    Bender felt his face turn red. “We’ve got serious problems.” He handed the open agreement back to Turner.
    Shaw laughed. “How do you know that, son?” Bender’s skin prickled at Shaw’s patronizing use of the word son .
    “The map.” The two men gathered around Turner. “See how our sphere of influence does not include Japan?” Bender’s left forefinger traced the dashed line that ended just beyond the island of Guam in mid-Pacific.
    “Neither does theirs,” Shaw said.
    Bender’s finger traced the dash line that outlined China’s sphere. “But the Chinese sphere of influence does include Okinawa and the Korean peninsula.”
    “A glitch in the map,” Shaw said. “Hell, North Korea has always been under Chinese influence and everybody knows Okinawa is a part of Japan.”
    “So what does this mean?” Turner asked.
    “It doesn’t mean a thing,” Shaw said. “By protocol, this agreement is invalid. They got Taiwan before this poker game was called and are going to take their winnings and go home.”
    “This is the way it all started over the Spratly Islands,” Bender said. The Spratly Islands were an oil-rich chain of 200 uninhabited reefs and shoals in the South China Sea. “The Chinese issued a map in the early 1990s that had a dotted line around the Spratlies.”
    “Yeah, yeah,” Shaw grumbled. “And it’s been China-creep in the South China Sea ever since, which is nowhere close to Okinawa.”
    “Korea and Okinawa are next,” Bender said.
    Turner shook her head slowly. “Is this the Pentagon’s latest version of the Red Scare to justify a big budget? I’ve heard it before. You’re obsessing, Robert.”
    Shaw walked back and forth, making a big show of being worried. He glanced at the folders and briefing bookon her desk, willing them to disappear. “The general here might have a good point, Mizz President.”
    “Then we’ll wait and see,” Turner said. “I am not going to bankrupt this country with an unwarranted military buildup. Now I’ve got a cabinet meeting to get ready for. Thank you, gentlemen.”
    Shaw ushered Bender out of the Oval Office. “Most helpful, General, most helpful.” He shambled down the corridor toward his office, making a popping sound with his mouth, much like a champagne cork. He closed his office door behind him and dialed a number on his private phone. “Hello, darlin’,” he said. “It’s me.” A long pause. “I know it’s been a while, but I’ve been thinking about you. I’d love getting our libidos together tonight.” Another pause. “Break it. You won’t regret it.”

4
    Washington, D.C.
    R obert Bender was fighting the last of the evening’s rush hour traffic and had almost reached his quarters on Bolling Air Force Base when his cellular phone buzzed. It was a summons from his bosses in the Pentagon. Automatically, he reversed course and called his wife. Nancy Bender answered on the first ring. “It’s one of those days,” he said. “I just got called to the Pentagon and have no idea when I’ll be home. Don’t wait dinner.”
    “Just come home horny,” she answered.
    He smiled at the old response. Nothing had changed on the home front. Nancy was one of the constants in his life, always there, always busy, down to earth, and always ready to start a second honeymoon. Or would it be the thirty-fifth? More like the 135th, he calculated. How many times had he uprooted her on a moment’s notice to rush to a new assignment? But he couldn’t have done it without her.
    Traffic over the George Mason Memorial Bridge was still heavy but