Razing Beijing: A Thriller (101 page)

Stuart found a rag inside the boathouse and dusted off a
couple of chairs for his guests. He retrieved two cans of Coors from the
refrigerator for McBurney and himself.

“A gift from the president.” McBurney removed a stapled
stack of paper from inside his envelope and handed it to Stuart. “That’s a
draft of the
amicus
brief that the government will present on your
behalf, in order to have this frivolous civil suit against you and Thanatechnology
dropped.”

Stuart was stunned. “How can they on the one hand indict me,
and on the other defend me?”

“The hearing’s scheduled to take place in Cleveland next
month, isn’t that right?”

Stuart tossed the thick document onto his workbench. His
expression grew dark. “When do I learn why those bastards took down Thanatech’s
aircraft?”

McBurney let out a deep breath. “It’s a long story—a really
long story.”

“Make yourself comfortable.”

McBurney took a swig from his beer. “I guess the first
important thing you already understand. Our system of intelligence had a few
misfires. There are a number of reasons for that, in which I share the blame
and that I’ll not go into. Sadly, it took only one man in China to exploit that
vulnerability.”

“Rong Peng?”

“We think he was laying the foundation to usurp power during
their leadership succession, which otherwise can never be certain. Instigating
war between us and Iran was the apparent objective. According to Lance Lee,
blowing apart Thanatech’s fuel-miserly engine and us blaming it on Tehran was intended
to be one provocation toward that outcome.”

“This is the first I’ve heard anything connecting Iran to our
sabotage.”

“That’s because they never meant to go so far as to bring
the whole airplane down,” Hildebrandt explained. “Lee’s testified that both he
and Rong, his spy boss, then got cold feet. They decided against inviting the
scrutiny certain to follow were Paul Devinn to proceed with their original plan,
which was to plant some sort of evidence suggesting that Iran had sabotaged the
flight test. They took the step of blackmailing Emily Chang for similar
reasons.”

That’s only the half of it
, thought McBurney,
recalling Lance Lee’s unemotional monologue inside the Alexandria interrogation
room. They had confirmed that the diplomat-spy, Mohammad Ahmadi, was following
Lee’s instructions on the risky errand to blackmail Senator Milner into
divulging secrets of America’s missile defense. Ahmadi simply had to have been
terrified, his overture to Thomas Herman for political asylum undoubtedly
genuine. Lee admitted the plan all along was to eliminate Ahmadi any way, in
order to subordinate control of the Iranian network to him.

The subject of Mohammad Ahmadi’s murder investigation still
grated McBurney. Responding in plea bargain testimony to the question of why he
had had Samuel McBurney summoned to the scene of the double murder at the
Rivergate, Lee admitted to having been surprised by the diplomat’s resolve
under torture to conceal the stolen satellite document. Faced with the dilemma
of the document’s recovery by his own bureau investigators, Lee cited
McBurney’s prior failure to execute on his assignment to eliminate the
terrorist who, decades later, would lead the attack on the Holocaust Museum. Casting
a look at McBurney, Lee had explained that the CIA veteran was simply the man
he wanted in charge of investigating the matter.

McBurney found it bad enough that Hildebrandt and others
were there, but
Thomas Herman... 
Of all people on hand to savor the slap
in his face...

“Something wrong, Sam?” asked Stuart.

McBurney realized he was gritting his teeth. He nodded
toward the
amicus
brief. “You’ll find that’s full of redaction, but Thanatech
will be able to make use of it. You won’t.” He could see that Stuart’s patience
was growing thin. He actually wondered how Stuart had managed to keep it
together as long as he had.

“Remind me again why I just offered you dinner.”

“We’re only having a little fun. Now, what we’re about to
tell you cannot be shared with anyone, including Emily. That was part of the
deal.”

“What deal is that?” Stuart caught the look that passed
between both of his guests.

“The Attorney General’s plan to indict CLI for illegally
transferring technology to China, and then covering it up as a theft, was
conceived inside the Oval Office.”

“I figured out that much on my own, Sam.”

“Yeah, well, whatever his motivation to cover his own rump,
I can tell you that Dr. Denis did not take lightly your acting unilaterally. What
you also didn’t know is that charging you with attempting to murder Paul
Devinn, ‘a key government witness in the unsolved terrorist attacks,’ was
supported by the discovery of Devinn’s DNA in a dead Iranian’s Rivergate
apartment.”

Stuart looked confused.

McBurney explained how a match of Paul Devinn’s DNA had come
about, from the blood inside CLI to material found beneath Katherine Prouty’s
fingernails. “With your image battered by that civil lawsuit, and their spin on
your admission to shooting Devinn, the Justice Department figured your
indictment as a corporate big shot would be a slam-dunk. What this all means
is, the White House has been preparing to weave a conspiracy theory that links
everything to
you
. Talk about tidy solutions. It would allow the
President to downplay accusations of an intelligence disaster on his watch. His
Justice Department was happy to play along, of course.”

“Not everyone,” Hildebrandt reminded him.

“Oops, not everyone.”

Stuart realized that just when he thought he had heard the
last of the subterfuge, there suddenly seemed to be no end of it. “Are you
telling me that Lance Lee is getting off the hook?”

Hildebrandt suppressed a smile. “Lee was given a choice. In
exchange for divulging key information, he could choose to stay in the United
States and stand trial for treason, or expatriate to China. Of course, when stepping
off the plane in Beijing he discovered that he will stand trial there for conspiring
to undermine China’s regime change. The man is toast.”

“And their messy matter of Lee is no longer our issue,” added
McBurney.

“I’ve heard the Chinese don’t waste time meting out
criminal justice,” Stuart observed. “What about Reedy?”

“Reedy’s one of several bit players who seem to have
operated pretty much in the dark,” Hildebrandt said.

Thinking it all over, Stuart decided...that he was still
confused. “I don’t see where ‘the deal’ is in any of this. I mean, my lawyer
gets to hear the plaintiff’s evidence, doesn’t he?”

“There isn’t going to be an indictment.” McBurney retrieved
another few pages stapled together from inside his envelope. “
This
is
the deal: a full and unconditional pardon, signed just this morning by the
President.” He handed it to a befuddled Stuart. “You see, there was one big
hole in the President’s case against you. That’s because Edward and I refused
to testify against Chang and Thackeray, both of whom claim that you
had
shot
Devinn purely in self-defense.” McBurney also was ready to testify that the
President had been conflicted during the crisis because of his secret,
politically inspired negotiations with the Chinese government. That tidbit
Stuart was better off not knowing.

McBurney said to Stuart, “We have to agree to keep the
whole thing quiet. So far as the public knows, the United States has sensibly
backed down from a newly provocative nuclear power.”

“No more federal grand jury?”

“And no more civil lawsuit. Your bail deposit will be
returned forthwith. It’s all spelled out in Denis’s pardon.”

Stuart considered the peculiar turn of events. With Rong
Peng and his cronies dead, there was one side of the story they were never
going to prove. “Sounds like I owe you guys my gratitude.”

“Like Ed said, we’re the ones who owe you.”

“Will the Thanatech software evidence help in seeking
reparations from China?”

McBurney studied him.

“Come on, Sam. It doesn’t take a genius to see the mess on
our hands. We now have in our possession not one but
two
Chinese
satellites, representing billions of dollars, never mind they stole the
technology, and for which I’m sure their nose is nonetheless bent out of shape.
The United States has cowed to the UN Security Council and begun withdrawing
our forces—”

“That’s a bit misleading. The Security Council agrees that
Tehran illegally imported proscribed missile and nuclear weapons technology.”

“The point is, the new Chinese leadership has been left
holding the bag—you told me it was
their
guy who instigated all of this.
Iran has publicly demanded that we provide reparations. And unless someone
comes clean with the American taxpayer, my guess is that we’ll be forced to eat
the tab for two national landmarks and a refinery, to say nothing of the
disruption to our economy. There will be endless lawsuits on behalf of the
hundreds if not thousands of innocent victims. If I were Uncle Sam, I’d be
banging my fist on China’s door. Get them to simply retire some of our debt, or
something.”

McBurney reluctantly acknowledged the Gordian Knot of
liabilities to be quietly unraveled. “It’ll take years to iron out. That you all
but wiped out their government hasn’t exactly helped. Your friend Deng has been
assigned to participate—by the way, he sends his regards. Oh, and I nearly
forgot. President Denis may be a little miffed right now, but he is a practical
man. He’s instructed his staff to see that CLI’s project funding is fully
reinstated, ‘and then some.’ ”

Stuart didn’t respond.

“He offered up some crock about wanting to prevent working folks
from being hurt by any of this. What he wants is to make sure that you’re satisfied
with the arrangement. That you’re ‘onboard with the program,’ is what I think he
actually said.”

“Seriously?”

“You are the CEO. Are you with the program, or not?”

Stuart didn’t need long to think about it. He looked
at McBurney and laughed.

#  #  #

.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Special thanks to my mother, Janice, who instilled in me
my appreciation for the written word. William Holinger, Peter Kneisel, Carol
Moore, Jane Bernstein, Ph.D., and Susan Meyers are the early prospectors who encouraged
me to keep digging. Stephen Reucroft, Ph.D., Scott Elston, M.D., Noriko ‘Lee’
Elston, and Scott Phillips indulged my questions with their specialized
insight. Any errors of substance are mine. Judy Hauser, Eileen Wilson, and Dave
Dolan were generous with their time and contributions for improving the
manuscript. Terri Morrison provided me with that final push across the finish
line.

This novel owes its existence most of all to my good friend
Dave Spiewak, who managed to believe in both the story and my writing when I
did neither.

Only the renowned editorial prowess of Emily Bestler could
have hammered the doorstop into the readable magnum opus of its present form. Truly
I am the greater beneficiary of our good will, charity-born relationship. My
heartfelt thanks to Emily, Caroline Porter, and the Simon & Schuster
Corporation for having made that possible.

Finally, I am inspired daily by the love and perseverance
of my wife, Lynn. Along with our daughter, Lindsay, these two strong women in
my life make it all worthwhile.

.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sidney Elston has traveled extensively to Japan, China,
and Western Europe. Following graduation from Villanova University with a
degree in engineering, he spent sixteen years in the field of aircraft engine
design; his earliest inventions are inside the engines that power Air Force
One.
Razing Beijing
is his
first novel. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and daughter and is at work
on his second novel,
The Yacht Club,
scheduled for release in the fall of 2014.

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