The Armageddon Machine Read online

Chapter Four

  Beijing, People’s Republic of China

  May 27 -- 05:30 UTC/1:30 pm local time

  Lu Ping was getting impatient. She looked at her watch for the umpteenth time with an exaggerated gesture in hopes that General Zhang’s secretary would take notice. Their meeting was set for one o’clock, and it was already twenty-two minutes past. She blew a wisp of hair out of her face and looked again at the selection of magazines spread across the coffee table, as if she hoped to find something interesting that she had somehow managed to miss the first three times she’d looked. Again, she found nothing of any interest.

  Lu Ping stood up and walked over to the secretary’s desk. The woman--with her nose buried in a book--took no notice of her. Lu Ping cleared her throat, and the secretary finally looked up at her.

  “Can I help you, Madame Lu?”

  “Do you have any idea when General Zhang will be able to see me? I was supposed to meet with him a half hour ago.”

  “General Zhang is in a meeting right now; the meeting is running late, and he will see you as soon as it is finished. Please have a seat.”

  “But I--”

  The secretary held up a finger as the door to General Zhang’s office opened and a short, middle-aged man stepped out, closing the door behind him. The man gave the secretary a polite nod--which she did not return--and exited the offices; he took no notice of Lu Ping. A moment later the phone on the secretary’s desk buzzed; she picked it up and listened.

  “Yes, General; right way.”

  She hung up the phone and looked at Lu Ping, flashing her a false smile.

  “The General is ready to see you now. Go right in.”

  “Thank you, Miss.”

  Lu Ping gave a soft knock on the door as a courtesy before entering. General Zhang Jianguo sat behind his desk. He was a tallish man who looked to be in good shape for a man in his mid-fifties.

  “Please sit,” Zhang opened.

  Lu Ping took the seat that was offered and sat staring at the General over his tidy desk.

  “It is good to meet you again, General,” she said.

  “Very good, indeed. It has been ages since I saw you last; you were just a tiny thing then. Your father was a good man, and I was honored to call him a friend.”

  “I know that he felt the same way, sir.”

  “Would you care for some tea? I can have my secretary bring some in, if you would like.”

  She considered it, and took some pleasure in the thought of the woman being put out by having to bring them tea. She shook her head, however.

  “No, thank you,” she said.

  “All right then.”

  The General adjusted himself in his chair.

  “I’m sure you are curious as to why I brought you in here,” Zhang said.

  “Very curious, sir. I was afraid that perhaps you were unhappy with my work for the Recovery Team.”

  He laughed, and his laughter eased her uncertainty somewhat.

  “Quite the contrary. I’ve been reading reports on you, and I am most impressed. As you know, Mister Leung was dismissed from his position as head of the Recovery Team yesterday evening.”

  Lu Ping straightened up with a start.

  “Dismissed?”

  “I’m sorry; I thought you would have been informed by now. Yes, he was dismissed. He rubbed too many people the wrong way, and he was mule-headed, always sure that his way was the only way. We’ve all had enough of him, frankly. Which brings us to the reason I called you here.”

  She raised one eyebrow questioningly.

  “I would like you to take over as head of the Recovery Team.”

  She hoped he didn’t see the utter shock that she was sure must be plastered on her face.

  “Well?” Zhang asked. “Do you accept this responsibility?”

  “Yes, of course,” she said. “I will give you my best, sir.”

  “Good.”

  Zhang stood up and offered her his hand; Lu Ping stood up and shook it.

  “I’ll let you go on your way,” Zhang said. “I know you will be very busy for the foreseeable future. Give my greetings to your mother.”

  “I will do that, General. Thank you.”

  Lu Ping left General Zhang’s office, closing the door gently behind her. The secretary gave her a snide look as she passed by, but she took no notice. She took the elevator down to the parking garage, feeling all in a daze. A year ago she had been a mid-level analyst for the Ministry of State Security, and now she was to be in charge of the Recovery Team, formed especially to find Dragon’s Breath and those responsible for taking it. To call her rise meteoric would be an understatement. She knew that this may cause some friction on the Team. Many Team members were either military or ex-military, and they already resented her presence on the Team as both a woman and a civilian. How would they react when they discovered that she was now their superior?

  As these thoughts scrambled around in her head the elevator beeped, letting her know that she had arrived at her level. The doors slid open and she stepped into the dimly lit underground parking garage. She searched in her purse for her keys as she walked. She found the keys as she turned into the aisle where her car was parked.

  As she got to her car she noticed a man standing off in the shadows. She looked over at him. He was leaning against a compact car, smoking a cigarette. She recognized him as the man who had come out from General Zhang’s office before she went in. He turned, catching her staring at him. He watched her impassively as she unlocked the door and got into the car. He was still standing there, smoking that cigarette, when she drove out of the garage.