The Secret Cardinal

33

Peng Shi responded quickly to the summons and presented himself in the anteroom of Minister Tian’s office suite. The young officer was dressed in a dark gray suit with black wingtip shoes, a starched white shirt, and a patterned silk tie. He looked very much like a member of the diplomatic corps, though in fact he was an intelligence officer and had in the previous year distinguished himself over the course of an investigation into an attack on a manned Chinese spacecraft. That notoriety had the unfortunate effect of rendering his cover as a junior member of the embassy staff in Washington, D.C., useless, necessitating his recall to Beijing until a new identity could be created for him. As the glow of his hero’s welcome in the halls of the Guojia Anquan Bu faded, Peng found himself missing the excitement of working in a foreign capital.

‘The minister will see you now,’ Tian’s assistant announced politely.

The man opened the ornate wooden door, allowing Peng to pass through into the minister’s office. Tian sat in a leather chair behind a large desk of black lacquered wood. In furnishing and objects, the space surrounded its occupant with the visible trappings of his office and reminded all visitors of the power directed from inside this room. Glancing past the minister, through a panoramic span of ribbon windows, Peng saw the famed gardens of the imperial Summer Palace in their autumn splendor.

‘How are they treating you in the Tenth Bureau?’ Tian asked.

‘Quite well, Minister.’

‘Good.’ Tian pointed a wireless remote at a large flat screen wall monitor. ‘Please look carefully at these photographs and tell me if you recognize this man.’

Peng walked up to the screen and studied the images. It had been more than a year, but the man’s face was still quite fresh in his memory.

‘This man is Nolan Kilkenny,’ Peng declared, though his voice betrayed some confusion.

‘Are you certain?’ Tian asked.

‘Absolutely, but these photos — has he committed a crime in China?’

‘Several.’

‘But Nolan Kilkenny uncovered the murder of our yuhangyuans aboard Shenzhou-7 and brought the criminals responsible to justice. This man is a hero.’

‘Was a hero,’ Tian corrected. ‘Today, he is an enemy of the state. But before I elaborate, I have a few more photographs for you to look at.’

The images changed. On the left, Peng saw Kilkenny standing in the lobby of a building next to an Asian woman with long black hair. A black-and-white image of a woman in an officer’s uniform filled the right side of the monitor. The date and time index at the bottom of the image indicated that it had been taken that morning.

‘I took this first photograph in August of last year,’ Peng said, ‘in Washington, D.C. The woman was identified as Roxanne Tao, an associate of Kilkenny’s.’

‘She is also an American spy wanted for espionage in this country. Once the preliminary identification was made on Kilkenny, putting a name to her was not difficult. Can you confirm the woman on the right is Tao?’

‘The quality of this photograph is poor.’

‘It was taken by a surveillance camera at Chifeng Prison,’ Tian offered.

‘I cannot confirm a match with absolute certainty, but it appears so, and it makes perfect sense. They have worked together before.’

‘That was our analysts’ thinking as well.’

Tian moved on to the next pair of images. One was a recent photograph of Yin, the other taken at his arrest in the late 1970s. Peng studied both and felt a faint sense of recollection about the older photograph.

‘This is the criminal that Kilkenny extricated from the laogai in Chifeng this morning.’

‘An American spy?’ Peng asked, assuming he had seen the picture during his training as an agent.

‘A Roman Catholic Bishop. You have a sense for Kilkenny and Tao, followed them for a few weeks, no?’

‘That is correct.’

‘Good. I want you to fly to Chifeng and assist the man tasked with hunting them down. You are to be his second.’

Peng nodded.

‘You performed well on your last assignment — I expect the same effort now. On your way out, pick up your flight information and a briefing package from my assistant. This is a matter of great political importance, Peng. These people cannot be allowed to leave China.’

‘I will do my best, Minister.’