tc.thebearandthedragon-第46部分

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ld　reply　in　kind。　He　hated　when　she　did　that。　But　not　now。　Now　his　hand　touched　her　face　quite　tenderly；　as　the　prompt　screen　said　another　thirty…four　minutes　to　plete　the　download。
　〃Who's　the　guy　at　Fort　Meade　who　put　the　Ghost　programs　together？〃
　〃They　contracted　a　game　place…a　guy　at　a　game　pany；　I　guess；〃　Mrs。　Foley　corrected　herself。　〃They　paid　him　four　hundred　fifty　big　ones　for　the　job。〃　Which　was　more　than　the　Director　of　Central　Intelligence　and　the　Deputy　Director　（Operations）　made　together；　what　with　the　federal　pay　caps；　which　didn't　allow　any　federal　employee　to　make　more　than　a　member　of　Congress…and　they　feared　raising　their　own　salaries；　lest　they　offend　the　voters。
　〃Call　me　when　you　have　it　downloaded；　baby。〃
　〃Who's　the　best　guy　we　have　for　China？〃
　〃Joshua　Sears；　Ph。D。　from　U…Cal　Berkley；　runs　the　China　desk　in　the　DI。　But　the　guy　at　NSA　is　better　for　linguistic　nuances；　they　say。　His　name's　Victor　Wang；〃　the　DCI　said。
　〃Can　we　trust　him？〃　MP　asked。　Distrust　of　ethnic　Chinese　in　the　American　national…security　apparatus　had　reached　a　considerable　level。
　〃Shit；　I　don't　know。　You　know；　we　have　to　trust　somebody；　and　Wang's　been　on　the　box　twice　a　year　for　the　last　eight　years。　The　Chims　can't　promise　every　Chinese…American　we　have；　you　know。　This　Wang　guy's　third…generation　American；　was　an　officer　in　the　Air　Force…ELINT　guy；　evidently　worked　out　of　Wright…Patterson…and　just　made　super…grade　at　NSA。　Tom　Porter　says　he's　very　good。〃
　〃Okay；　well；　let　me　see　what　all　this　is；　then　we'll　have　Sears　check　it　out；　and　then；　maybe；　if　we　have　to；　we'll　talk　to　this　Wang　guy。　Remember；　Eddie；　at　the　end　of　this　is　an　officer　named　Nomuri　and　a　foreign　national　who　has　two　eyes…〃
　Her　husband　cut　her　off　with　a　wave。　〃And　two　ears。　Yeah；　baby；　I　know。　We've　been　there。　We've　done　that。　And　we　both　have　the　T…shirts　to　prove　it。〃　And　he　was　about　as　likely　to　forget　that　as　his　wife　was。　Keeping　your　agents　alive　was　as　important　to　an　intelligence　agency　as　capital　preservation　was　to　an　investor。
　Mary　Pat　ignored　her　puter　for　twenty　minutes；　and　instead　went　over　routine　message　traffic　hand…carried　up　from　MERCURY　down　in　the　basement　of　the　Old　Headquarters　Building。　That　was　not　especially　easy；　but　necessary　nonetheless；　because　CIA's　Clandestine　Service　was　running　agents　and　operations　all　over　the　world…or　trying　to；　Mary　Pat　corrected　herself。　It　was　her　job　to　rebuild　the　Directorate　of　Operations；　to　restore　the　human…　intelligence…HUMINT…capability　largely　destroyed　in　the　late　1970s；　and　only　slowly　being　rebuilt。　That　was　no　small　task；　even　for　an　expert　in　the　field。　But　Chester　Nomuri　was　one　of　her　pets。　She'd　spotted　him　at　The　Farm　some　years　before　and　seen　in　him　the　talent；　the　gift；　and　the　motivation。　For　him　espionage　was　as　much　a　vocation　as　the　priesthood；　something　important　to　his　country；　and　fun；　as　much　fun　as　dropping　a　fifty…footer　at　Augusta　was　for　Jack　Nicklaus。　Toss　in　his　brains　and　street　sense；　and；　Mary　Pat　had　thought　at　the　time；　she　had　a　winner　there。　Now　Nomuri　was　evidently　living　up　to　her　expectations。　Big　time。　For　the　first　time；　CIA　had　an　agent…in…place　inside　the　Chim　Politburo；　and　that　was　about　as　good　as　it　got。　Perhaps　even　the　Russians　didn't　have　one　of　those；　though　you　could　never　be　sure；　and　you　could　lose　a　lot　of　money　betting　against　the　Russian　intelligence　services。
　〃File's　done；〃　the　puter's　electronic　voice　finally　said。　That　occasioned　a　turn　in　her　swivel　chair。　The　DDO　first　of　all　backed　up　her　newly　downloaded　file　to　a　second　hard　drive；　and　then　to　a　〃toaster〃　disk；　so　called　because　the　disk　went　in　and　out　of　the　drive　box　like　a　slice　of　bread。　With　that　done；　she　typed　in　her　decryption　code；　51240。　She　had　no　idea　why　Nomuri　had　specified　that　number；　but　knowing　was　not　necessary；　just　so　long　as　nobody　else　knew　either。　After　typing　in　the　five　digits　and　hitting　RETURN；　the　file　icons　changed。　They　were　already　aligned　in　list　form；　and　MP　selected　the　oldest。　A　page　full　of　Chinese　ideographs　came　up。　With　that　bit　of　information；　MP　lifted　her　office　phone　and　punched　the　button　for　her　secretary。　〃Dr。　Joshua　Sears；　DI；　Chinese　Section。　Please　ask　him　to　e　see　me　right　away。〃
　That　took　six　endless　minutes。　It　took　rather　a　lot　to　make　Mary　Patricia　Kaminsky　Foley　shiver；　but　this　was　one　such　occasion。　The　image　on　her　screen　looked　like　something　one　might　get　from　inking　the　feet　of　several　drunken　roosters；　then　making　them　loiter　on　a　piece　of　white　paper；　but　within　the　imagery　were　words　and　thoughts。　Secret　words　and　hidden　thoughts。　On　her　screen　was　the　ability　to　read　the　minds　of　adversaries。　It　was　the　sort　of　thing　that　could　win　the　World　Series　of　Poker　in　Las　Vegas；　but　infinitely　more　important。　It　was　the　sort　of　thing　that　had　won　wars　and　altered　history　from　the　expected　path　determined　by　the　most　important　of　players；　and　in　that　was　the　value　of　espionage；　the　whole　point　of　having　an　intelligence　munity；　because　the　fates　of　nations　really　did　ride　on　such　things…
　…and　therefore；　the　fates　of　nations　rode　on　Chet　Nomuri's　schwantz　and　how　well　he　used　it；　Mrs。　Foley　reflected。　What　a　crazy　fucking　world　it　was。　How　the　hell　could　an　historian　ever　get　that　right？　How　did　you　municate　the　importance　of　seducing　some　nameless　secretary；　an　underling；　a　modem…day　peasant　who　merely　transcribed　the　thoughts　of　the　important；　but　in　being　promised　made　those　thoughts　available　to　others；　and　in　doing　so；　altered　the　course　of　history　as　surely　as　turning　the　rudder　changed　the　course　of　a　mighty　ship。　For　Mary　Pat；　Deputy　Director　（Operations）　of　the　Central　Intelligence　Agency；　it　was　a　moment　of　fulfillment　to　place　alongside　the　birth　of　her　children。　Her　entire　raison　d'être　lay　in　black…and…white　ideographs　on　her　puter　monitor…and　she　couldn't　read　the　fucking　things。　She　had　the　language　skills　to　teach　Russian　literature　at　Moscow　State　University；　but　all　she　knew　of　Chinese　was　chop　suey　and　moo　goo　gai　pan。
　〃Mrs。　Foley？〃　A　head　appeared　at　her　door。　〃I'm　Josh　Sears。〃　He　was　fifty；　tall；　losing　his　hair；　most　of　it　gray。　Brown　eyes。　He　hit　the　cafeteria　line　downstairs　a　little　too　hard；　the　DDO　thought。
　〃Please　e　in；　Dr。　Sears。　I　need　you　to　translate　some　things　for　me。〃
　〃Sure；〃　he　replied；　picking　a　seat　and　relaxing　into　it。　He　watched　the　DDO　take　some　pages　off　her　laser　printer　and　hand　them　across。
　〃Okay；　it　says　the　date　is　last　March　twenty…first；　and　the　place　is　Beijing…humph；　the　Council　of　Ministers　Building；　eh？　Minister　Fang　is　talking　to　Minister　Zhang。〃　Sears　ran　his　eyes　down　the　page。　〃Mrs。　Foley；　this　is　hot　stuff。　They're　talking　about　the　possibilities　of　Iran…no；　the　old　UIR…taking　over　the　entire　Persian　Gulf　oil　fields；　and　what　effect　it　would　have　on　China。　Zhang　appears　to　be　optimistic；　but　guarded。　Fang　is　skeptical。。；　oh；　this　is　an　aide…memofr　isn't　it？　It's　Fang's　notes　from　a　private　conversation　with　Zhang。〃
　〃The　names　mean　anything　to　you？〃
　〃Both　are　Ministers　Without　Portfolio。　They're　both　full　Politburo　members　without　direct　ministerial　duties。　That　means　they're　both　trusted　by　the　chairman；　the　PRC　premier；　Xu　Kun　Piao。　They　go　back　thirty　years　plus；　well　into　the　time　of　Mao　and　Chou。　As　you　know；　the　Chinese　are　really　into　lengthy　relationships。　They　develop…well；　not　friendships　as　we　understand　them；　but　associations。　It's　a　fort…level　thing；　really。　Like　at　a　card　table。　You　know　what　the　other　guy's　mannerisms　and　capabilities　are；　and　that　makes　for　a　long；　fortable　game。　Maybe　you　won't　win　big；　but　you　won't　lose　your　shirt　either。〃
　〃No；　they　don't　gamble；　do　they？〃
　〃This　document　demonstrates　that。　As　we　suspected；　the　PRC　backed　the　Ayatollah　Daryaei　in　his　play；　but　they　never　allowed　their　support　to　be　public。　From　skimming　this；　it　appears　that　this　Zhang　guy　is　the　one　who　ramrodded　this…and　the　play　the　Japanese　made。　We've　been　trying　to　build　a　book　on　this　Zhang　guy…and　Fang　as　well…without　a　whole　lot　of　success。　What　do　I　need　to　know　about　this？〃　he　asked；　holding　the　page　up。
　〃It's　code　word；〃　MP　replied。　By　federal　statute；　〃top　secret〃　was　as　high　as　it　went；　but　in　reality　there　were　more　secret　things　than　that；　called　〃special…access　programs；〃　which　were　designated　by　their　controlling　code　words。　〃This　one's　called　SORGE。〃　She　didn't　have　to　say　that　he　could　not　discuss　this　information　with　anyone；　and　that　even　dreaming　in　bed　about　it　was　forbidden。　Nor　did　she　have　to　say　that　in　SORGE　was　Sears's　path　to　a　raise　and　much　greater　personal　importance　within　the　CIA's　pantheon　of　bureaucrats。
　〃Okay。〃　Sears　nodded。　〃What　can　you　tell　me？〃
　〃What　we　have　here　is　a　digest　of　conversations　between　Fang　and　Zhang；　and　probably　other　ministers　as　well。
　
　
　We've　found　a　way　to　crash　into　their　documents　storage。　We　believe　the　documents　are　genuine；〃　MP　concluded。　Sears　would　know　that　he　was　being　misled　on　sources　and　methods；　but　that　was　to　be　expected。　As　a　senior　member　of　the　DI…the　Directorate　of　Intelligence…it　was　his　job　to　evaluate　information　provided　to　him　by　various　sources；　in　this　case　the　DO。　If　he　got　bad　information；　his　evaluation　would　be　bad　as　well；　but　what　Mrs。　Foley　had　just　told　him　was　that　he　would　not　be　held　at　fault　for　bad　information。　But　he'd　also　question　the　authenticity　of　the　documents　in　an　internal　memo　or　two；　just　to　cover　his　own　ass；　of　course。
　〃Okay；　ma'am。　In　that　case；　what　we　have　here　is　pure　nitroglycerine。　We've　suspected　this；　but　here's　confirmation。　It　means　that　President　Ryan　did　the　right　thing　when　he　granted　diplomatic　recognition　to　Taiwan。　The　PRC　had　it　ing。　They　conspired　to　wage　aggressive　war；　and　since　we　got　involved；　you　can　say　that　they　conspired　against　us。　Twice；　I　bet。　We'll　see　if　another　of　these　documents　refers　to　the　Japanese　adventure。　You'll　recall　that　the　Japanese　industrialists　implicated　this　Zhang　guy　by　name。　That's　not　a　hundred　percent；　but　if　it's　confirmed　by　this；　then　it's　almost　something　you　could　take　before　a　judge。　Mrs。　Foley；　this　is　some　source　we　have　here。〃
　〃Evaluation？〃
　〃It　feels　right；〃　the　analyst　said；　reading　over　the　page　again。　〃It　sounds　like　conversa