There are so many people here. She hadn’t expected that.
Eleven guardsmen, three waiters ready to serve food, drink, and seventeen other aides, a few for the various Ruling Committee members. Like the others, Shun Li stood against a wall. She was directly behind Xiao Yang’s seat.
There was a Navy Minister, an Army Minister, an Agricultural Minister and a Foreign Affairs Minister and lastly a Minister for the Pan-Asian Alliance. Only three Ruling Committee members had served here for over a year: the Chairman, Xiao Yang and the Agricultural Minister. Everyone else had been elevated only a month before the Texas-New Mexico invasion.
A side door opened and Chairman Jian Hong entered briskly. The Lion Guardsmen froze in their positions, and others along the walls did likewise, seemingly becoming statues.
The Leader’s eyes darted about the room, and in seconds, they focused on Shun Li. The medium-sized man in the black suit stopped abruptly. He had dark hair and pale skin, as if he never stepped outside.
“May I speak, Leader?” the Police Minister asked.
“She belongs to you?” Hong asked.
“Yes, Leader,” Xiao replied.
“Tell her to cease twitching. I find it annoying.”
The Police Minister’s chair scraped back. He stood and approached Shun Li. Without any preamble, Xiao Yang slapped her across the face. It was a stinging blow, twisting her head to the side.
“In the Leader’s presence, you will remain still and respectful or I will have you shot,” Xiao Yang said.
Shun Li froze now as the Lion Guardsmen had done earlier, as all the aides in the room had. A primordial fear spread outward from her belly. The Leader—Chairman Hong—had become the undeclared Emperor of Greater China. Power flowed into and from his hands. He decided who lived or died on a vast scale.
She had dealt with petty killers until now, but these men…
Shun Li kept silent and motionless. Xiao Yang could have warned her about this. Why hadn’t he? Likely, so he could do what he just had before the Chairman.
I have no idea what hidden motives swirl around me. I must remain alert and practice the greatest caution.
“Your promptness disciplining one of your own does you credit, old friend,” Hong said.
Shun Li heard a note a true admiration in the Chairman’s voice.
“The police are here to serve you, Leader,” Xiao Yang said. “If one of them cannot do that, they are useless to you and useless to China. I will have perfection in the furtherance of service to our noble land or I will retire in disgrace.”
Shun Li almost raised her eyebrows at the speech. She heard an excess of passion there. It is false. He pretends.
“Well spoken,” Hong said. The man moved to his spot at the table.
Quietly, a large Lion Guardsman strode to the Leader’s chair, drawing it out for him.
Chairman Hong sat down, and the guardsman pushed the chair in for him.
“We are all assembled, I see,” Hong said. “Good. Do any of you desire refreshments?”
Several of the ministers raised their hands.
“Ah, excellent,” Hong said. He clapped his hands.
The waiters hurried to each Ruling Committee member. Soon, they wheeled trays near, putting coffee, sandwiches or bowls of steaming rice before the various ministers. Each of the ministers sipped and ate what the waiters placed before them.
The Chairman watched in obvious approval. “Good, good, it is good we can eat together in each other’s company,” Hong said. “It shows we trust each other and know that none shall poison his friend. In this evil and wicked generation, I find such trust refreshing.”
Shun Li noticed that the Leader did not eat or drink. She wondered what this spectacle and speech signified. She was certain the American strategy sessions were not like this.
In a few minutes, the waiters cleared the plates and the majority of the cups. They wheeled their trays out of the chamber and did not reappear.
Only then did the Leader sit forward in anticipation.
“There is much to discuss today,” he said. “My forecasters tell me the miserable American Midwestern rains will soon cease. An Alaskan cold front will descend upon the American plains, turning it into a tundra of ice and snow. With the cold, our armies can lunge forward and complete the task we have set for them.
“First,” Chairman Hong said, “I would like to know when the German military will make its coastal assault. Their delay has cost us dearly, and I find myself wearying of Chancellor Kleist’s excuses. Foreign Minister, what can you report along those lines?”
The Foreign Minister had open features and the roundest face Shun Li had ever seen. He appeared nervous, though, wetting his lips far too much.
“Leader,” the Foreign Minister said, twisting his wedding ring as he spoke. “I have reason to suspect the Chancellor has secretly met with American delegates. I believe he is in the process of making a clandestine treaty with them.”
Chairman Hong turned in wonder to Xiao Yang. “Can this be true? Has the Chancellor practiced treachery against us without our knowing it?”
“There are rumors, Leader,” Xiao Yang said. “The Germans...they are deceitful and clever. Their security operatives consider no devious trick as too low to practice. It isn’t intelligence, as a cultured Han would possess, but a low animal cunning they exhibit. Because of Chancellor’s Kleist security mania, my agents have been unable to discern the truth of these rumors.”
“This is failure, Xiao,” the Leader said. “I demand knowledge, even from these low animals. How are we to proceed with our plans if I’m given faulty or misleading information?”
“As I was about to say, Leader,” Xiao Yang said, “I have discovered that an American team went to Iceland. As amazing as it sounds, the beleaguered Americans are not as security-conscious as Chancellor Kleist’s people are. We believe one of the Chancellor’s representatives might have met with these Americans to hear their begging.”
Chairman Hong’s eyes narrowed, giving him a suspicious squint. “Americans begging, yes; they must be thrashing about, looking for help wherever they can. Their armies crumble before Chinese might and they think now to crawl on their knees to the Germans for help. Did these representatives lick German jackboots? The Americans are proud boasters and now crawl on their bellies, seeking aid against us. I knew they were nothing but a jackal, mongrel people with no true spirit.”
The Chairman banged a fist on the golden table. “All that aside, I want to know why the Germans see fit to remain in Cuba. My spies, it appears, cannot crack the German plans. That is intolerable. Police Minister, you must change that.”
“It will be done, Leader,” Xiao Yang said as he bowed his head. “After the meeting I will dispose of the failure running the German infiltration division.”
“Make an example of him,” Hong muttered.
“An excellent idea, Leader,” Xiao Yang said. “His passing with be a painful and instructive one. The rest of the case officers will take note and redouble their efforts.”
“I want results soon, Xiao.”
“I will light a fire under them,” the Police Minister said. “Of that you can be sure.”
“That doesn’t help us today,” Hong said in a petulant tone. “This is a strategy session and we are clueless concerning the Germans. You, Foreign Minister, what about your endless stables of mandarins; cannot they decipher the German signals? Surely, they can outthink these pork-eating Europeans.”
“Leader,” the Foreign Minister said. A light sheen of sweat had appeared on his round face. “I do have a theory regarding the situation.”
“Speak! Tell us,” Hong said. “What do these secretive Germans plan to do?”
“The Germans are greedy, Leader,” the Foreign Minister said. “They wish to reap where they have not sown. Chinese arms has smashed the Americans and driven like a steamroller over their country. Once the Americans surrender, we have a right to take the vast share of land, as Chinese blood and Chinese courage and strategy produced the glorious victory. It is my belief the Germans envy us because of this. They are a vainglorious race, believing they are super soldiers. I suspect Chancellor Kleist of duplicity in an effort to acquire a greater share of the coming spoils.”