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The leader reached through a shattered pane in the door and opened the latch from the inside, apparently just as Cassiopeia had done

The three disappeared inside

Malone walked between the soft fragrances and muted colors of the flower beds, toward the doors

He found his Beretta

TWENTY-SIX

GANSU PROVINCE, CHINA

TANG TAPPED THE KEYBOARD, ENTERING A PASSWORD THAT completed the video connection He preferred cyber-cos If perfor, security was nearly foolproof Unless one of the parties to the conversation allowed a violation

But that wasn’t a worry here

All of the participants were sworn by oath, bound by the brotherhood, each a loyal and dedicated member of the Ba

He stroked the touch pad, and the laptop’s screen divided into ten panes Afeatures of the Han Chinese, all of them in their fifties like hie on the Supreme People’s Court Several were respected departenerals in the military Three were members of the all-powerful Central Co—steadily, unnoticed—and served as Ba division leaders Men who supervised other brothers, scattered throughout the national and local governments and the military Their total nuh to accooal

“Good day,” he said into the laptop’s microphone

China, though 5,000 kilometers across and spread over five international ti ti differences in work hours, but it explained the varied dress of the men on the screen

“I wanted to report that the pre,” he said “I have learned that he has less than a year left Of course, that fact will be kept secret But it is imperative we maintain a constant readiness”

He saw heads nod

“The Central Committee is prepared,” he said “We have a solid majority to achieve the premiership”

One hundred and ninety-eight people served on the all-powerful Central Committee He’d cultivated well over a hundred, men not of the Ba, who believed as he did that ChinaXiaoping

“And what of Ni Yong?” one of thesupport”

“That reatly rally the people to our cause”

“Is that necessary?”

“The simplest way to eliminate the problem is to eliminate the candidate This was discussed and approved”

“Conditionally,” one of the others quickly added “As a last resort Ni’s death could have i on the manner of his demise We don’t want a martyr”

“That will not happen His death will be attributed to one of hisIt will happen outside the country”

He saw that several agreed, but a few did not

“Ni has strong support in the nored”

“Nor should it be But in the larger view, he will be quickly forgotten as events play out The premier’s demise will be unexpected That will inevitably lead to uncertainty, and the people will not allow that condition to exist for long They will crave security, and ill provide it”

“How fast e move?”

“As fast as the constitution allows I’ve arranged for the provinces to call for an immediate vote Of course, until that happens, I will be in tee, as first vice president We should have control in a matter of weeks”

Then the real ould begin, starting with a swift, hasty retreat from democratization, which should stay the Party’s deer be a need for the Central Discipline Inspection Commission Instead corruption would be dealt with privately Likewise, all dissension would be quelled with appropriate punishments Many world observers had predicted either the Westernization of China or the end of the Co the present course would aloal was to alter that course 180 degrees

Qin Shi, the emperors after him, and Mao had all done it

Noould do it

All Chinese have an irrational fear of chaos and disorder

“We will offer the nation exactly what it craves,” he said “Stability Order Once those are established, the people will grant us many liberties”

“We are but a few,” another of thethat order could prove difficult”

“Which is e rants us unrestricted power From there, we can easily reshape the nation”

He was careful when speaking with the brothers to always use the first-person plural we Theirs was, in theory, a collective effort, and he realized that he could not accooal without everyone’s help