Free Collateral Damage by Dale Brown Page A

began. By now several more members of the international committee assigned by the UN to investigate the matter had joined them in the suite. They included an Egyptian army general, a Thai bureaucrat, and an Iranian named Ali Jafari. As a former member of the Republican Guard, Ali Jafari was not particularly inclined to view Zen or any American with anything approaching favor. But he was nonetheless polite, telling Zen how very grateful he was for his decision to join the committee.
    Which of course made Zen doubly suspicious.
    The video connection was made through Skype, the commercial video service. As such, they all assumed it was insecure, being monitored in capitals around the globe—and probably by the rebels as well. But this suited Zongchen’s purposes. He wanted everyone to know exactly what the committee was doing.
    Beamed wirelessly from one of the aide’s laptops onto the suite’s large television, the feed looked slightly washed out. But the connection was good.
    The deputy interior minister was speaking for the government. Zen saw that this annoyed Zongchen; he had clearly expected a higher ranking official, most likely the minister himself. The mood worsened when the deputy minister began with a ten minute harangue about how the allies were being allowed to murder innocent Libyan people.
    Zen watched Zongchen struggle to be patient. It didn’t help that the deputy minister’s English, though fluent, was heavily accented, making it hard for the Chinese general to understand. Zongchen turned occasionally to two aides for translations into Chinese. The men, too, were struggling with the accent, asking Zen several times for clarifications.
    Finally, the Libyan allowed Zongchen to tell him that the commission wanted to inspect the sites.
    â€œThis will be arranged,” replied the deputy minister. “We will need identities—we do not want any spies.”
    â€œWe expect safe conduct for the entire party,” said Zongchen. “And we will choose our own personnel.”
    â€œYou will submit the names.”
    â€œWe will not,” insisted Zongchen. It was a small point, thought Zen—surely giving the names was not a big deal—but the general was holding his ground for larger reasons, establishing his independence. “We are operating under the authority of the United Nations to investigate this matter, and we will be granted safe passage. If you do not wish us to investigate it under those terms, you may say so.”
    The deputy minister frowned. “No Americans,” he said.
    â€œThere will be Americans,” said Zongchen. His voice was calm but firm. “There will be whomever I decide I need to accompany me. This investigation is in your interests. But you will not dictate the terms. We will undertake it on our terms, within the precepts of international law, or we will not undertake it at all.”
    The Libyan finally conceded.
    â€œI will make the arrangements,” he told Zongchen. “But you had best get safe conduct from the criminals as well. We cannot guarantee your safety with those apes.”
    â€œWe will deal with them on the same terms we have dealt with you,” said Zongchen.
    The feed died before Zongchen finished. The Chinese general glanced around the room.
    â€œI believe that went well,” he said, with the barest hint of a smile. “And now, let us talk to the rebels.”

8
    Sicily
    T urk wanted to thank Rubeo for coming to his aid during the interview, but the scientist left the room before he got a chance; he was gone when he reached the hall.
    He went over to the hangars and found out that the Tigershark and Sabres were still grounded, and would be for the foreseeable future. Unsure what else to do, Turk headed toward the base cafeteria to find something to eat.
    Cafeterias on American military installations typically provided a wide variety of food; while the quality might vary somewhat, there was