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“The bomb will kill the people in the target area, but not damage the buildings,” said the scientist. Fa
Should he use it?
His concerns had nothing to do with the deaths the bomb would cause—he cared nothing for the communists, who clearly deserved to die. While undoubtedly many i
Regrettable, lamentable—but necessary.
Chen’s concern was with what would happen next. The communist military leaders who survived would no doubt wish for revenge.
Would the Americans step in and prevent it?
He was unsure.
And if they did, then what?
An uneasy truce? Things would continue as they had for the past fifty years.
That would be an even greater failure.
Perhaps he should wait, and try and build other bombs, enough to obliterate every last communist.
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Chen Lo Fa
The letter in the old man’s desk—a letter Ai knew of, though he seemed not to have read—directed that the meeting between the two heads of state be stopped at all costs.
What was his duty as Chen Lee’s grandson? Should he use the weapon as Lee clearly wished? Or should he choose his time?
Duty demanded he carry out his grandfather’s wishes. The way was clear.
The endless surging of the universe, as he interpreted the Tao, or “way.”
The way that can be spoken is not the true way.
Life and death were as one, different stages in the never-ending river. His grandfather’s death, his own—these were meaningless. Duty was constant. Duty lasted longer than the poor clay and ashes of a single day.
“Prepare,” he told Professor Ai. “We will strike during the meeting, as my grandfather wished.”
Dreamland
2100
JENNIFER GOT UPfrom the computer station and bent her head straight back. Her vertebrae all seemed to crack at once. She felt a surge of energy, and if it weren’t for the fact that they were close—very, very close—to a breakthrough, she would go for a run. Instead, she stretched and twisted her way across the lab to the coffee counter. A fresh pot had just finished sifting through into the carafe; she poured herself a cup and took a few slow sips.
Dog’s voice had surprised her during the video conference earlier that morning; he seemed to have aged ten years since she’d last seen him.
Maybe that meant she was over him.
Good.
She went back to the computer, which had just finished ru
The screen flashed. It had found the radio.
Several radios.
“Oh,” said Je
She picked up the phone to call Major Catsman, who was over in the Dreamland Command Center Page 178
getting ready to update the Whiplash Force in Taiwan.
“I know how they do it,” she said when the major came on the line. “Basically they’re using buoys and a commercial satellite. I should be able to narrow down the ship, but I’m going to need some help from the Navy. High-level help. We have to tap into their collection of NOSS intercepts, the Sigint data they collect to track ship movements.”
“Who do I talk to?” asked Catsman.
Hangar 43C, Taichung Air Base, Taiwan
1600
ROLLING TOWARD THEsmall room at the far end of the hangar, Zen realized he hadn’t spoken to his wife, Brea
Dog—just in from Brunei with Pe
Da
Stoner would ride with the Marines in the Osprey, carrying backup detection gear and his own hot link back to Dream Command, where a team of experts would be providing real-time analysis of the data the assault team gathered. Major Alou and Pe
While the site was being secured, Zen and Raven would head south to observe the ship Dreamland had just tagged as the possible UAV operator. With the help of signal intelligence the Navy routinely collected as it tracked ships on the ocean, the Dreamland team had matched seemingly i
Undoubtedly to get the bomb.
If the robot launched, Zen would destroy it. Raven had been tabbed for the mission because its computers had the UAV frequency data; Dog would take the helm.
The Dragon Prince would be apprehended by two U.S. Navy destroyers in international waters after Page 179
the ground operation was under way. The ships were already en route, though they had not yet been informed of their exact mission or situation.
“Washington is worried about security concerns,” explained Dog.
“That doesn’t make sense,” said Stoner. “The ship captains may not think it’s a high priority. They ought to have the entire situation laid out for them.”
“It’s not my call,” said Dog. Zen realized from the sharpness in Colonel Bastian’s voice that he didn’t agree with the decision, but was prepared to carry it out. “The concern is not only to preserve the element of sur- prise, but to keep the Mainland Chinese from finding out. If they knew there were nuclear devices on the island, they might use that as a pretext to launch an all-out attack.”