The Lost Kingdom

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

Placing a round-the-clock watch on Lauren Fox, Dahl’s family and their own homes was one of the hardest things Hayden had ever had to do. A simple physical matter of placing a call — it was far more than that psychologically. It was an admission that one of the most effective teams on the planet weren’t entirely safe in their own homes, that the old Blood Vendetta had been relatively ineffective compared to a megalomaniac and his nasty little hobby. It was — almost — admitting failure.

Soon though, the events of the day put Tyler Webb’s personal intrigues on the backburner. Key events were occurring in the world at large. China had released a tentative but enthusiastic communiqué about the discovery of a lost civilization and that they were close to verifying the find. Their defenses had been ramped up, jets patrolling the land and sea borders. In response, as ever, Taiwan had scrambled their own jets and the US had made rumblings about the preparedness of its nearby carrier fleet. Chain shaking, she thought. Dick measuring. Her country did it well but the Taiwan issue was always going to be a loaded one. Since 2008 relations had considerably improved but the Chinese, disinclined to make any proposals that might appeal to democratic Taiwan, had been left with only two options. Give up on the twenty-three-million-strong country or take it by force.

According to Beijing, the cost of losing credibility ruled out the former option, especially in light of the ever-growing power imbalance in the Taiwan Strait, and key members of the PLA believed that Taiwan had no fight in them. Hayden knew China had never actually ruled out the possibility of force, even when relations improved between the two countries. The problem was, given China’s declared defense budget at more than a 12:1 ratio over Taiwan’s, the outcome was never in real doubt. That left America, Taiwan’s principal security partner, with much more than a headache. Of course an attack or even an invasion would not be a simple matter — Taiwan employed F-16s, attack choppers and destroyers in their armory, not to mention the anti-ship, supersonic cruise missile system, Hsiung Feng III — and American warships would only escalate the problem.

The trouble was, these days China was always willing to up the ante. The US had already forewarned its fleet and even such minor transmissions were seen as acts of provocation.

Kinimaka entered her eye line, breaking into her thoughts. “Guards have all been assigned. We’re going high-profile to warn these people off, rather than low-key and risk missing something. Sound okay?”

“Yeah.” Hayden was distracted, ruminating over China and the latest developments. “Mano, we have a far, far bigger problem.”

The Hawaiian stopped so suddenly his shoes squeaked across the floor. “We do? What?”

“The Taiwan Strait just went up in a water bomb. China have wasted no time blaming it on Taiwan, attributing their earlier overflies to sighting flights and provocation. They’re calling the explosion an act of war.”

Kinimaka’s mouth fell open. “And the Lost Kingdom?”

“Nobody knows. But take a look at this…” Hayden spun her laptop around and pressed a button, playing a recording of the Taiwan Strait event for him. As he watched she continued, “You can bet your ass the Lost Kingdom’s a helluva mess. Once the dust has settled who knows? But the consequences of that explosion…” Hayden shook her head.

“What do we know?”

“Dudley pressed the button. Almost certainly he’s working with the Pythians who ransomed the Peking Man to China earlier. In addition, the Chinese gave them three items called Z-boxes. We’re still working to discover what they are, but the rumors are frankly terrifying. Our current situation is this — Drake and the team are in Hong Kong awaiting instructions.”

Kinimaka waited for more, then said, “That’s it?”

“We don’t know Dudley’s location. The Yakuza are still hunting for Mai and Chika with a vengeance. What do you want SPEAR to do? Take control of Beijing?”

“I bet they could do it.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Hayden rubbed her tired eyes.

“Hey,” Kinimaka walked forward and held her. “Let’s focus. The war problem is out of our control. Stick with Dudley. These Z-boxes that he probably has. Let’s work that.”

Smyth entered the room then, fresh from his visit to the hospital. “Damn, you two just hack me off. Ya can’t stand around hugging all friggin’ day. We got work to do.”

Hayden pulled away from Kinimaka. “Would you like to punch him first, or shall I?”