Hong Kong by Stephen Coonts Page A

another line, couldn't even get a dial tone, so he motioned to an aide that there was a problem and handed the instrument to him.
    Sun turned to General Tang, explained that Beijing wanted the bank demonstrators dispersed and, if possible, wanted to avoid a bloody incident that the press would publicize around the world, inflaming foreign public opinion. "Remove the press from the area," Sun advised, "before you remove the hooligans. That way the foreign press will be unable to use provocations as propaganda. Still, first and foremost, these hooligans must not be permitted to flout the authority of the state. That is paramount."
    Tang understood his instructions and the priorities they contained. Both men firmly believed that the state could ill afford to give an inch to anyone challenging its authority or resolve. Perhaps they were right, because both men knew Chinese history and their countrymen.
    In any event, they were determined men who believed that the party and the government could and should use every weapon in the arsenal, indeed, every resource of the state, to fight for the survival of the revolution. And if pushed, they were fully capable of doing just that.
    The telephones had been off for ten minutes when Tang left the governor huddled with his aide, who tried to explain that the computers at the stock exchange had been sabotaged. As Tang rode out of the City Hall parking area in his chauffeur-driven car, two telephone repair vans passed him on their way in.
    Three men wearing one-piece telephone company jumpers and billed caps climbed from the vans. Tommy Carmellini removed an armload
    of tools and equipment from the van he came in while Bubba Lee talked to the security guard in Chinese. Carson Eisenberg unloaded the equipment they needed from the other van. The men strapped on tool belts. When Lee motioned to them to follow, they picked up their equipment and trooped along in single file into City Hall.
    Tommy Carmellini was worried. He was an obviously non-Chinese worker who didn't speak a word of the language. The other two spoke Chinese, of course, and they had assured Tommy that there would be no problem, but still...
    When he walked into City Hall, Carmellini took the bull by the horns. The very first Chinese he saw, he brayed, as Australian as he could, "G'day, mate. Where's your switchbox?"
    Carson Eisenberg repeated the question in Chinese, the official pointed and said a few words, and they were in!
    The CIA officers went to work on the telephones. Since the system was an ancient government one, this involved picking up each handset and using a noisemaker that allowed a colleague in a manhole just up the street to identify the line and tap it. After each line was identified, there was much shouting in Chinese into the instruments for the benefit of the watching civil servants.
    As the crew worked their way from office to office, Carmellini inspected the building and its security system. He did this as one of the uniformed guards stood beside him quietly observing his every move. Carmellini smiled at the guard, nodded, then ignored him.
    The building looked modern enough. The hallways and rooms were spacious, with hardwood floors, but, like government offices the world over, looked crowded and cramped.
    Carmellini was in the foyer of the governor's office examining the door locks and alarms when one of the staff began staring at him. Carmellini glanced at the man ... and recognized him: It was the guy who had stared at Kerry Kent at China Bob Chan's party the other night!
    The man's brows knitted; he knew he had seen Carmellini before but couldn't quite remember when or where. His puzzlement was obvious.
    Carmellini headed for the hallway with his escort right behind.
    The staffer followed.
    Uh-oh!
    He had seen a men's room a moment ago and he headed for it now, his entourage in tow. Inside he went into a stall and shut the door.
    He listened as the staffer and the security escort chattered away, their