Today is the 25th anniversary of the Insurrection at Tianamen Square, I am posting a fictional short story to honor the event. It is a little long for a blog (4,000 words), so I’m breaking it down into five parts. If you missed Part 1 & 2, scroll down. It is titled, Insurrection at Tiananmen Square. [It contains violence and adult material.] Here is Part 3.
Two days later Wang was having lunch again at the Azure Dragon. The waitress brought his check and said, “A guy asked me to give you this.”
It was Brett’s business card. On the back was written, Meet me at 1:30 at the same bagel shop where we first talked. Come alone. –Brett. When he arrived, he saw Brett waving from a table in the back. Another man was with him. Brett introduced the other man as Sean Anderson, CIA.
“Why the melodrama?” asked Wang as he pulled up a chair.
Sean answered, “We thought you might be followed. Your phone might be bugged too.”
“Why? What has happened?”
Brett picked up, “Have you heard from Miao Tian?”
“No, not yet.”
Brett continued, “We checked her out, and no one at China University ever heard of her. She is not who you think she is.”
“But Zhou checked her out, and said she worked there for five years. I have known her for twenty years.”
Sean said, “She is an agent for the MSS. We are pretty sure she killed Dong.”
“What? That can’t be! She was a student leader like the rest of us.”
“What did you know about before you met her?” asked Sean.
“Not much. She was from Gansu.”
“Well, she was very active in the Communist Youth in Gansu,” said Sean. “We think she was recruited to infiltrate the university student organizations. Now she is an assassin for the MSS, and specializes in hunting down the leaders from Tiananmen Square.”
“I still don’t believe it.”
“I will spell it out for you,” continued Sean. “Why did she stay in China when the rest of you fled?”
“I…I don’t know.”
Sean drove home his point, “And why do you suppose after she was arrested, the MSS let her go unharmed? Now she is allowed to travel abroad, and even uses her real name?’’
“Oh my God!” said Wang. “I am the one who told her where to find Dong. I killed him!”
Brett interrupted, “Not likely. Someone else told her. She came from China to kill Dong. You have a snitch in your group.”
Sean added, “We don’t understand why she didn’t kill you when she had the chance. Tell us everything you did.”
“Well, there is not much to tell. We met at the Azure Dragon. We talked for hours and then went to my place for the night. She took a shower, and then I took one.”
“Did she have access to your computer?” interrupted Sean.
“Yes. She asked to use it.”
Sean smiled, “Don’t use your computer again. Tonight I will be over with some computer people. We are going to check out your computer, and see if your condo is bugged.”
Sean and Brett came to Wang’s condominium later that night with a couple of technicians. Later, Sean said, “Here’s the deal. Your phone is not bugged, and we found no other bugs. Your computer is a different sorry. Tian placed a program on your e-mail very much like a cookie. Every time you send out an e-mail, a copy is sent to the Chinese embassy in Canada. The MSS wants you to send out e-mails so they can locate the leaders. That is why Tian did not kill you. She needs you to use your e-mail, at least for a few days. But that is not all--take a look!” Sean led Wang and Brett into the next room where a technician had Wang’s computer open. “Show him!” Sean ordered.
The technician held up two wires, and said, “We found this neat device installed on your computer. It is Tian’s MO.”
Wang traced the wires with his eyes down to a small packet of paper clips and scraps of metal stuck in what looked like a clump of clay dangling at the end of the wires.
“It is military grade C4. It looks like she added anything she could find from your desk to create shrapnel: paper clips, coins, and a nail clipper. It is not very powerful, but it would kill anyone sitting at the computer. It is rigged up so that she can trigger it by e-mail when you are on line.”
Wang stepped back, “Is it harmless now?”
Sean interrupted, “Yes, but you cannot use your computer. We are going to take it with us, and use it to create bogus intell. It will take the MSS a few days to realize that we are on to them. Perhaps, by then we can locate Tian.”
“But I have hundreds of addresses on there,” protested Wang.
“Consider them all compromised. Use a third party to tell everyone to change their addresses as soon as possible.”
“Yes, of course.”
Sean continued, “If Tian contacts you, stay away from her. Notify me immediately. Your life depends on it.” Sean handed Wang his card.
Two days later Wang was having lunch again at the Azure Dragon. The waitress brought his check and said, “A guy asked me to give you this.”
It was Brett’s business card. On the back was written, Meet me at 1:30 at the same bagel shop where we first talked. Come alone. –Brett. When he arrived, he saw Brett waving from a table in the back. Another man was with him. Brett introduced the other man as Sean Anderson, CIA.
“Why the melodrama?” asked Wang as he pulled up a chair.
Sean answered, “We thought you might be followed. Your phone might be bugged too.”
“Why? What has happened?”
Brett picked up, “Have you heard from Miao Tian?”
“No, not yet.”
Brett continued, “We checked her out, and no one at China University ever heard of her. She is not who you think she is.”
“But Zhou checked her out, and said she worked there for five years. I have known her for twenty years.”
Sean said, “She is an agent for the MSS. We are pretty sure she killed Dong.”
“What? That can’t be! She was a student leader like the rest of us.”
“What did you know about before you met her?” asked Sean.
“Not much. She was from Gansu.”
“Well, she was very active in the Communist Youth in Gansu,” said Sean. “We think she was recruited to infiltrate the university student organizations. Now she is an assassin for the MSS, and specializes in hunting down the leaders from Tiananmen Square.”
“I still don’t believe it.”
“I will spell it out for you,” continued Sean. “Why did she stay in China when the rest of you fled?”
“I…I don’t know.”
Sean drove home his point, “And why do you suppose after she was arrested, the MSS let her go unharmed? Now she is allowed to travel abroad, and even uses her real name?’’
“Oh my God!” said Wang. “I am the one who told her where to find Dong. I killed him!”
Brett interrupted, “Not likely. Someone else told her. She came from China to kill Dong. You have a snitch in your group.”
Sean added, “We don’t understand why she didn’t kill you when she had the chance. Tell us everything you did.”
“Well, there is not much to tell. We met at the Azure Dragon. We talked for hours and then went to my place for the night. She took a shower, and then I took one.”
“Did she have access to your computer?” interrupted Sean.
“Yes. She asked to use it.”
Sean smiled, “Don’t use your computer again. Tonight I will be over with some computer people. We are going to check out your computer, and see if your condo is bugged.”
Sean and Brett came to Wang’s condominium later that night with a couple of technicians. Later, Sean said, “Here’s the deal. Your phone is not bugged, and we found no other bugs. Your computer is a different sorry. Tian placed a program on your e-mail very much like a cookie. Every time you send out an e-mail, a copy is sent to the Chinese embassy in Canada. The MSS wants you to send out e-mails so they can locate the leaders. That is why Tian did not kill you. She needs you to use your e-mail, at least for a few days. But that is not all--take a look!” Sean led Wang and Brett into the next room where a technician had Wang’s computer open. “Show him!” Sean ordered.
The technician held up two wires, and said, “We found this neat device installed on your computer. It is Tian’s MO.”
Wang traced the wires with his eyes down to a small packet of paper clips and scraps of metal stuck in what looked like a clump of clay dangling at the end of the wires.
“It is military grade C4. It looks like she added anything she could find from your desk to create shrapnel: paper clips, coins, and a nail clipper. It is not very powerful, but it would kill anyone sitting at the computer. It is rigged up so that she can trigger it by e-mail when you are on line.”
Wang stepped back, “Is it harmless now?”
Sean interrupted, “Yes, but you cannot use your computer. We are going to take it with us, and use it to create bogus intell. It will take the MSS a few days to realize that we are on to them. Perhaps, by then we can locate Tian.”
“But I have hundreds of addresses on there,” protested Wang.
“Consider them all compromised. Use a third party to tell everyone to change their addresses as soon as possible.”
“Yes, of course.”
Sean continued, “If Tian contacts you, stay away from her. Notify me immediately. Your life depends on it.” Sean handed Wang his card.
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