Through the lattice doors, he could see Wu positioned among his generals on the balcony outside, seated on a gilded throne imported to Beihai Park for the occasion.
He was surrounded on all sides by armed guards, members of the Hong Kong SOU. Cole counted eight of them, two to each wall.
He had been allowed to sit while he waited, and did so, his iron will still controlling his breathing, which in turn controlled the often debilitating effects of adrenalin.
He had been waiting at least ten minutes when he saw the big general move, raising his massive bulk from the throne, waving to his people across the lake to roars of appreciation that Cole could hear all the way across from the mainland.
Wu turned to the lattice doors, another man — even bigger, if that was possible — accompanying him closely as a military aide snapped off a salute and opened the doors for them.
Cole got to his feet as Wu strolled into the pavilion, the second man right next to him, and as Cole saw the huge, scarred, savage face, he realized this must be Zhou Shihuang, Wu’s private bodyguard, the one Liu had informed him about. Liu had warned him to be careful of the man, and Cole would take the advice. Everything about Zhou made Cole want to be careful.
‘Mr. Hoffmeyer,’ General Wu said in perfectly accented English, performing a slight bow as he spoke, a wide smile underneath his oiled mustache.
Without offering to shake hands, Wu gestured for Cole to sit back down.
Cole hid his disappointment, bowed in return, and did as he was asked, watching closely as Wu sat down opposite him, his weight making the gilded chair groan underneath him. Zhou moved off to the side, but not by much; he was placed close enough to defend Wu if he should need to.
Cole’s disappoint stemmed from the lack of handshake; it was to be the opening move in the triple strike that would leave Wu dead without him even knowing it. But the opportunity for that was gone, and Cole quickly started to calculate options.
He would monitor the position of Wu’s body throughout the meeting, taking any chance he could to touch the man in the correct locations, his mastery of body language masking his intentions by making the movements seem as natural as possible.
If he didn’t manage during the meeting, he would be sure to offer his hand first, as soon as the meeting ended; surely Wu would not ignore it?
But if he did, there was another option; he could attack the Chinese leader conventionally, crush his windpipe by striking the throat with the edge of his hand, or else by grasping the head, wrenching and breaking the neck. There were many options, and Cole was capable of doing them all.
The only drawback to that strategy, of course, was that Cole would almost certainly be killed instantly as a result.
But Wu would be dead, and the mission would be accomplished.
Cole was prepared to go that route if he had no other options, but his mind started firing on all cylinders, determined to find some other way.
‘So Mr. Hoffmeyer,’ Wu said, after accepting a cup of green tea from an assistant, ‘first let me apologize for your being kept here in Beijing. But things are fraught, as you can well understand, and for safety reasons I have had to put this curfew into place.’
‘I understand completely,’ Cole said, knowing the real reason for Wu’s policy — to ensure a large foreign population in the city in order to avoid the possibility of reprisal attacks by other counties.
Wu smiled. ‘Coffee?’ he asked. Cole nodded, and almost immediately a cup was brought over, cream and sugar exactly as Hoffmeyer took it. The message was clear; he had been under surveillance.
Cole took a sip and smiled back. ‘Perfect,’ he said.
‘Good,’ Wu said, still smiling. ‘It might even be that your unexpectedly extended stay in our great city has actually worked out well, eh? With no other foreign companies coming in, you’re in quite a good position, aren’t you?’
‘Every cloud has a silver lining,’ Cole agreed.
‘Ah, yes,’ Wu said thoughtfully. ‘I like this expression. Now, let’s get down to business. The races will start soon, and I must be there to watch them, yes?’ He looked around the gilded room, as if to check for people listening in. Seemingly satisfied, he leaned closer to Cole and whispered to him conspiratorially. ‘So, I understand you have a proposal which might be of interest to me?’
Cole nodded, also leaning further forward. ‘Yes indeed,’ he said, and went on to outline the fictional deal being offered by TransNat Drilling, a proposal that would undercut Wu’s chosen partner by over twenty percent.
Wu listened thoughtfully, asking questions when he needed confirmation of the details. Cole found him to be articulate and intelligent and — somewhat surprisingly given his reputation — even rather charming.
Cole came to the end of his brief, and Wu rested his corpulent frame back in his chair, an assistant appearing to take his empty teacup. He steepled his fingers over his large belly, looking across at Cole thoughtfully.
‘It is a tempting offer,’ Wu said finally, ‘but I am afraid that our existing partners in the Diaoyu Islands have received my promises, and they are already involved in exploration as we speak. Their time would have to be compensated, and this would eat up a large share of the savings you are offering. And they are already en route to Taiwan to deal with the deposits there.’
Cole nodded. ‘I understand. But if you are unwilling to change companies, why did you agree to see me? The offer was never going to be better than the one we made.’
A wide smile covered Wu’s face, possibly the first genuine smile Cole had seen the man give. ‘That is a good question, Mr. Hoffmeyer,’ he said. ‘A very good question.’
Wu leaned forwards, once again in conspiratorial mood. ‘Let me tell you why you are here, Mr. Hoffmeyer. Perhaps I have an offer for you, if you can come back to me with terms like the ones you have offered for the Diaoyus.’
Cole looked puzzled. ‘I’m sorry, General Wu,’ he said, ‘I think it must be the heat, I’m not used to it. I don’t understand what it is you’re asking.’
Wu looked around, as if sniffing the air. ‘Perhaps it is the pressure,’ he agreed. He listened intently for a moment, then nodded. ‘Yes,’ he confirmed, ‘just listen.’ He paused to let Cole do so. ‘The rains have started.’
The general was right, although Cole had already picked up on it; the sound of the rain pitter-pattering on the roof above them was light, but starting to get louder and louder. It wouldn’t be long before there was a fully-fledged storm.
‘A perfect day for the racing,’ Cole said, eliciting yet another smile from the general.
‘It is indeed,’ Wu agreed. ‘Perhaps even auspicious. It is said that the rains fell on Qu Yuan’s dead body as it lay in the river.’
They both listened to the rain for a time, the faint drumming above them vaguely meditative. Cole wondered if Wu was thinking about the power and wealth of China’s imperial past, imagining himself as the leader of a renaissance of those former, glorious times.
Eventually, Wu’s attention returned to the man sat opposite him; for despite his sense of destiny and self-aggrandizement, the general was — like many dictators — a businessman first and foremost.
‘But as for what I am saying, Mr. Hoffmeyer,’ Wu continued, ‘I am intimating that there might soon be another location whose resources can be exploited.’
Cole shifted in his seat, interested in this development not only as a negotiator for TransNat Drilling, but also as the head of Force One.
‘And what location is this?’ he asked with genuine interest, though tinged with equal parts trepidation and anxiety.
‘If I was to say Chunxiao and Longjing,’ Wu said with a raised eyebrow, ‘would that be sufficient to answer your question?’