birthday?”
“Hmm. Or, one might say, its national death day.”
“And just out of curiosity, how the hell do you plan to do that?”
“The Centurion Submarine Fleet, of course. First one, then two or three more major American cities on the eastern and western seaboards will fall victim to our undersea missiles launched from the bottom of the Atlantic basin and the mid-Pacific trench. They will all disappear simultaneously. Poof! New York, Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles, let us say. The same fate will immediately befall a few of the great cities of England. The ones that Hitler sadly failed to annihilate.
“We will then issue demands that the Seventh Fleet be withdrawn from the Pacific within seventy-two hours. And that all U.S. forces be withdrawn from South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines, et cetera. If our demands are not met within a reasonable timeline, the annihilation of more cities on both sides of the Atlantic will follow. Until the White House comes to its senses. Assuming a reeling President David Rosow is still capable of making any sense at all at that point.”
“That’s why you took out McCloskey. Rosow’s barely had time to consolidate his government.”
“Excellent deduction, Doctor! And then, with the strength and might of the entire Chinese military solidly behind me, I shall march on Beijing and arrest the current government and assume sole power.”
“And then? What will you do then, O mighty Caesar?”
“Then? Why, then I shall rule the world, Dr. Chase.”
The old man sat there beaming like a well-fed cat in a garden full of mice. He looked up at the beamed ceiling, eyes glazed over, like an addict pumped full of some ecstatic chemicals.
“Chase?” he said.
“Yes.”
“What a lovely sentence that is, is it not? I shall rule the world.”
C H A P T E R 1 5
M oon struck a match and lit a long yellow cigarette. He delicately inserted it into an ebony holder and stuck it in the right corner of his mouth. He kept talking, letting it burn down without taking a drag. He was a man of peculiar habits, and this was one of the milder ones.
“You will play a key role in the final phase of my grand plan, Dr. Chase. What my officers are calling ‘Spring Dawn.’ And when China emerges from the coming preemptive strikes on the British and the American mainlands, victorious, of course, I shall terminate any further obligations on your part to my newly formed government. You will be reunited with your lovely wife and two children and returned to what’s left of your homeland.”
“You said you had news of my family. I’d like to hear it now. I insist.”
Moon reached across the desk and handed him a letter.
“Read that. As always, Dr. Chase, all three are in perfect health and being well cared for. Here, read the letter from your lovely wife. They are involved in the camp tasks for which they have shown the most aptitude and pleasure. They live in relative comfort and safety. I think you can rest assured that—”
“Fuck you, I don’t believe it,” Chase said, his eyes skimming the banal letter of reassurance. “Kat didn’t write this happy horseshit. Somebody else wrote and made her sign it. I think you’re lying.”
“Oh, come now. Me? Why? What possible reason would I have to lie? I’m not a monster, Dr. Chase.”
“I won’t even bother to address that. You listen to me, damn it to hell. I want to know where they are, General! I want to speak with them. All of them. How long has it been? How long? You told me that—”
“And you will see them. You will speak with them. All of them. Just as soon as your final mission here at Xinbu Island is nearing completion. When this is all over, your family will be generously provided for. You will be given an inordinately generous stipend for your services to my country and provided with private jet transportation anywhere in the world.”
“When does this Spring Dawn commence? It’s spring now, as you may
“Hmm. Or, one might say, its national death day.”
“And just out of curiosity, how the hell do you plan to do that?”
“The Centurion Submarine Fleet, of course. First one, then two or three more major American cities on the eastern and western seaboards will fall victim to our undersea missiles launched from the bottom of the Atlantic basin and the mid-Pacific trench. They will all disappear simultaneously. Poof! New York, Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles, let us say. The same fate will immediately befall a few of the great cities of England. The ones that Hitler sadly failed to annihilate.
“We will then issue demands that the Seventh Fleet be withdrawn from the Pacific within seventy-two hours. And that all U.S. forces be withdrawn from South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines, et cetera. If our demands are not met within a reasonable timeline, the annihilation of more cities on both sides of the Atlantic will follow. Until the White House comes to its senses. Assuming a reeling President David Rosow is still capable of making any sense at all at that point.”
“That’s why you took out McCloskey. Rosow’s barely had time to consolidate his government.”
“Excellent deduction, Doctor! And then, with the strength and might of the entire Chinese military solidly behind me, I shall march on Beijing and arrest the current government and assume sole power.”
“And then? What will you do then, O mighty Caesar?”
“Then? Why, then I shall rule the world, Dr. Chase.”
The old man sat there beaming like a well-fed cat in a garden full of mice. He looked up at the beamed ceiling, eyes glazed over, like an addict pumped full of some ecstatic chemicals.
“Chase?” he said.
“Yes.”
“What a lovely sentence that is, is it not? I shall rule the world.”
C H A P T E R 1 5
M oon struck a match and lit a long yellow cigarette. He delicately inserted it into an ebony holder and stuck it in the right corner of his mouth. He kept talking, letting it burn down without taking a drag. He was a man of peculiar habits, and this was one of the milder ones.
“You will play a key role in the final phase of my grand plan, Dr. Chase. What my officers are calling ‘Spring Dawn.’ And when China emerges from the coming preemptive strikes on the British and the American mainlands, victorious, of course, I shall terminate any further obligations on your part to my newly formed government. You will be reunited with your lovely wife and two children and returned to what’s left of your homeland.”
“You said you had news of my family. I’d like to hear it now. I insist.”
Moon reached across the desk and handed him a letter.
“Read that. As always, Dr. Chase, all three are in perfect health and being well cared for. Here, read the letter from your lovely wife. They are involved in the camp tasks for which they have shown the most aptitude and pleasure. They live in relative comfort and safety. I think you can rest assured that—”
“Fuck you, I don’t believe it,” Chase said, his eyes skimming the banal letter of reassurance. “Kat didn’t write this happy horseshit. Somebody else wrote and made her sign it. I think you’re lying.”
“Oh, come now. Me? Why? What possible reason would I have to lie? I’m not a monster, Dr. Chase.”
“I won’t even bother to address that. You listen to me, damn it to hell. I want to know where they are, General! I want to speak with them. All of them. How long has it been? How long? You told me that—”
“And you will see them. You will speak with them. All of them. Just as soon as your final mission here at Xinbu Island is nearing completion. When this is all over, your family will be generously provided for. You will be given an inordinately generous stipend for your services to my country and provided with private jet transportation anywhere in the world.”
“When does this Spring Dawn commence? It’s spring now, as you may
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