Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

34 JEFF EDWARDS
The secretary of state spoke first. “Did you notice his eyes, sir? He
was blowing smoke the entire time, and I don’t think he was at all happy
about it.”
The president waved a hand in a circle. “Continue.”
“The diplomacy game is sticky,” she said. “An ambassador is
sometimes forced to present his government’s position, even when he
thinks his government is screwing up. This is especially true of diplomats
who represent communist governments; they have little or no latitude to
deviate from the official party line.”
The president leaned back in his chair. “You think Shaozu disagrees
with the Politburo’s position on this missile launch?”
“Maybe, sir,” the secretary of state said.
“Something is definitely bothering him,” added William Collins, the
assistant secretary of state for Southeast Asian affairs. “I’ve worked with
Tian for years, and I have to agree. Tian put on a good show tonight; he’s
too good a diplomat not to put his best into every session, but his heart
wasn’t in it tonight.”
“All right,” the president said. “He was distracted, and that threw his
game off a little. The next obvious question is: what’s got him rattled? Is
it just frustration over having to spout Party rhetoric? Or is he worried
about something?”
“If I had to guess,” Assistant Secretary Collins said, “I’d say Tian is
worried.”
“About what?” the chief of staff asked.
Gregory Brenthoven, the national security advisor, loosened his tie.
“We’ve got two good possibilities. On the one hand, he may be worried
about our response to the missile launch—possible military reprisals,
diplomatic or economic sanctions—hell, he may even be worried that this
will goad us into extending formal diplomatic recognition to Taiwan. On
the other hand, it may be his own government he’s worried about. Either
something they’ve done, or something they’re about to do.”
“That doesn’t exactly narrow the field,” the president said. “Do you
have any sense for what it might be? At the moment, I’ll settle for a
hunch.”
“I have no idea, sir,” Brenthoven said. “But it’s liable to be something
we’re really not going to like.”
Veronica Doyle looked around at the members of the team. “Anybody
got any idea how far the Chinese might go?”
“They just launched a ballistic missile over Taiwan,” said Secretary
Whelkin. “I’d say they’re feeling pretty bold.”