Read Online Razing Beijing: A Thriller by Sidney Elston III - Free Book Online

many Iranian terrorists at large, to which you
say, ‘Our second largest trading partner might have somehow violated every
major arms treaty on the books!’ ”
    The President leveled his gaze on Herman. “But Tom—we need
to be careful here. We can’t allow them to pull the wool over our eyes. Can
we?”
    Herman seemed to consider that but didn’t reply.
    President Denis said to McBurney, “You say this physicist
needs access to medical help for a member of his family. Do you know the nature
of the illness?”
    Herman was still having no part of it. “Mr. President,
Congress will have a field day with this. You provoke Beijing on the one hand
and try to cut a deal on the other. I can think of a dozen senators who will
eat you alive.”
    McBurney wondered what deal Herman referred to when he
recalled that the President was once a licensed physician. “We understand the
family member is terminally ill with a rare form of liver cancer. This
individual could live for months or just as easily die tomorrow.” The latter
actually might have created the opportunity to generate more ongoing
intelligence product, an option which the veteran case officer had given
serious thought.
    There was a knock on the door and the President’s chief of
staff entered the Oval Office. “Mr. President, the Chinese embassy motorcade.”
    Denis nodded and his aide disappeared back through the
doorway. The room fell prey to a minute or so of anxious paper shuffling. McBurney
caught the President glancing his way.
    “All right,” said President Denis as he rose and rounded
his desk. He held out the finding document for McBurney. “Re-write this. Make
it sound like a humanitarian mission to save the life of a Chinese dissident,
or something like that. Make no mention of our interest in the man’s scientific
knowledge. Then I’ll sign it.”
    “Thank you, sir,” Director Burns quickly replied, unsure
exactly what it was they had just been given permission to do.

7
    TWO DAYS LATER ,
Lester Burns closed McBurney’s top-secret folder before sliding it back across
his desk to its author. “I spoke to Herman later that evening. He accused us of
sham intelligence work. He’s convinced the lynchpin of your espionage scenario
is still only a garden-variety terrorist.”
    “Well...he’s not entirely wrong.”
    “He all but threatened to advise the President to revoke
approval of your finding.”
    McBurney noted the Director’s use of the word ‘your.’ “With
Ahmadi dead, Herman’s safely positioned himself in case things go south.”
    Director Burns smiled. “You won’t let that happen, of
course. And you have to stop goading poor Herman. He’s obviously in over his
head.”
    “Poor Herman? Who can’t think of a time poor Herman played
loose with the facts?”
    Burns lurched for a box of tissue and sneezed. “Aw, damn,
excuse me. Didn’t Mohammad Ahmadi have ties to that sheik fellow, the one who
helped put the Shiites in power in Lebanon?”
    “Sheikh Ibrahim al-Amin led Hezbollah resistance in the
early eighties. Ahmadi was sent there to be his advisor.”
    “So, it is plausible Herman’s right in that Ahmadi had a
handle on two Holocaust terrorists.”
    “I never said he was wrong. In fact, it would be dishonest
not to acknowledge at least some discrepancy in all this.”
    “In what way?”
    “I was more than half serious with that swipe I took at
Herman for buying into Ahmadi’s conflicting mindsets of terrorism and
espionage. Even I could more readily see something like drug trafficking and
terrorism, where our profilers tell me there’s more synergy. But…” He hiked up
his shoulders. “I’m more interested in the flip side of Herman’s coin, Ahmadi’s
discussion with Senator Milner on missile defense. The FBI’s sitting on information
about their conversation, I’m sure of it, but they deny it exists. How’s that
for Homeland Security teamwork?”
    “Let me guess.” A spark of recognition glistened in