Page 66 of Soul on Fire
“That’s why you need our help. You don’t want a war because you want to keep your stranglehold on the Congo’s resources.”
“We both want the same thing,” Bai said, holding his hands wide. “We want to stop Majambu. Does it matter that our reasons are different?”
Ikolo shook beside him, his rage a physical, palpable thing. The ravaging of his country, the ignorance of the West. Everything about his life used as a political bargaining tool, his country and his identity nothing more than a pawn for others to use and abuse as they saw fit. Elliot swallowed. “We will stop Majambu together,” he said slowly, “butyes, it matters that our reasons are different. Itmatters,” he hissed.
Bai arched an eyebrow at him and said nothing.
“How do I know any of this is true? Prove it to me. Prove these files, these photos, all of her research, is accurate. Hell, how do I even know if Emily Wu exists?”
“A simple Google search will tell you she existed,” Bai shot back. “As for the veracity of the intel, I myself did not believe it until I followed her trail back to whom she was working for. After I was dismissed from Assistant Minister Si’s office, I took Emily’s hard drive and fled. I was in Macao when I figured out what Emily had painstakingly put together. I admit, I’m not as smart as she was. It took me a long time to see the patterns and put everything together.
“After I uncovered the truth she had been murdered for, I realized I had to know who she had worked for. Was it the CIA? If so, why would they target their own country? To what point and purpose? I accessed her VPN and connected to the secured communications channel she used to communicate with her handler. And then I found the truth: she was one of our agents. She was working for us. Her handler was my boss, Assistant Minister Si of the Ministry of State Security. Emily had uncovered a threat to the People’s Republic and to our prosperity in the future. But why did Assistant Minister Si shut down my investigation into her death? Shouldn’t he have been deeply motivated to uncover her killer?
“I contacted the Minister in charge and presented my evidence. I had been labeled a traitor after my flight from Beijing, but with the information I provided, the Ministry began an investigation into Assistant Minster Si immediately. Assistant Minister Si has worked closely with his North Korean intelligence counterparts throughout his career, and, unfortunately, was compromised by the North Koreans. He has been working for them and providing information and intelligence to the North Korean intelligence officers we were supposed to receive information from. This is out of balance.”
“How was he compromised?”
“I was not given the details. It was enough, though, that Assistant Minister Si, after being personally interviewed by the Minister, decided to swallow a bullet in his office rather than face the consequences for his betrayal. Perhaps he pulled the trigger himself or perhaps it was pulled for him. Whatever the case, Assistant Minister Si could no longer hold his position. He was a traitor to the people. He failed to uphold the trust the people put in him through the Party. Maintaining stability is of the utmost importance, and Assistant Minister Si’s actions would throw the world into chaos, chaos which would engulf the People’s Republic. His heart was not aligned toward the Party. His actions represent the worst security breach in both of our countries’ histories.”
“We have nothing to do with the Ministry of State Security. This isn’t our breach, this is yours.”
Bai smiled, this time laughing. “You may think you do not, but we certainly have so much to do with you. It’s our job to know everything we can. We knew about your secret CIA station in Kisangani, didn’t we? When the bomb went off, I knew exactly where to go.”
“Majambu talked about a test he had to do before they would give him the package. The North Koreans directed him to bomb the CIA station, and they knew about the station because Assistant Minister Si told them.”
“Not an unintelligent assumption. Backed up by my tracking Rhee Dae-sung, the North Korean intelligence officer who worked with Assistant Minister Si, to Kisangani. We have been monitoring Rhee’s cell phone. Yesterday, Idrissa contacted him and asked to move the meeting with Majambu to earlier. He said Majambu needed it but wouldn’t elaborate why.”
“We think he’s infected with Ebola,” Ikolo said. “And he’s been trailing infection across half of the Congo. He’s dying, and he probably only has a few days left before he crashes.”
Bai’s lips thinned. His forehead creased, brows furrowing. “I came here to find Rhee myself. To stop him before anything went further. If we could have cleaned up Assistant Minister Si’s disloyalty without involving America, we would have done so. But I have been unable to locate him. He disabled his cell phone shortly after landing in Kisangani. When the bomb detonated at your station, I knew I was too late. Majambu had already set his bomb, and Rhee was here to collect him. There was nothing more I could do on my own. I had to ask you for help.”
“And you knew we were with the CIA just running down the street? Two black men in all of Kisangani?”
Bai gave him a droll stare. “Yes. I knew you were CIA. Not only is ‘intelligence officer’ and ‘military’ practically written on your forehead—” he pointed to Elliot “—you two were the only ones covered in soot and blood on that block. I may be in the intelligence field, but even I can add one plus one and get two.”
Elliot almost smiled. It faded fast. “If Majambu has a larger target and plans to use the nuclear device the North Koreans are giving him, they have to move fast.” His mind whirled, searching for targets of opportunity Majambu would go for and how he’d deploy a tactical nuke against America. It had to be a tourist attraction, a hotel famous with Westerners, especially Americans. Or civilian infrastructure. Embassies, most likely. Or, could he get it on an American airplane? “What else did this Si guy give the North Koreans? You said you knew where he was going. Where?”
Bai’s smile vanished. He stared at Elliot, his expression hard. “Former Assistant Minister Si gave Rhee Majambu’s final target and the access documents the target requires. Documents that took many years for China to acquire.” He hesitated, breathed in. “He gave Rhee an ability China has spent years exploiting, one that allows us unrestricted access as civilian workers to your Fifth Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain.”
“Which means—”
“Majambu’s target is the United States Fifth Fleet Headquarters.”
* * *
Chapter Twenty-Four
En Routeto Bahrain
All in all,Kline took Elliot’s resurrection from the dead and reappearance on a Chinese military plane surprisingly well.
He took the news of North Korea’s behind-the-scenes machinations of their manhunt far worse.
“The president has given orders for an air strike to begin on Damascus at dawn,” Kline shouted. “She’sconvincedit is the Syrians behind this. That they traded a nuclear device for Ebola virus.”
“The North Koreans purposely infected Syrian diplomats who were in Pyongyang before they returned to Syria. Have the CIA look up Syria’s recent official travel to North Korea. They’ll be able to corroborate all of this.” Elliot had emailed the intel dump from Bai to Kline as soon as they were in the air on board Bai’s Chinese military plane.
Kline barked orders in the CDC, his rough voice roaring at the sailors manning their stations. He came back to the phone a moment later. “Tell me what the Chinese gave to the North Koreans. How are they able to penetrate our base in Bahrain?”
