Page 7 (1/2)

ONE MONTH LATER

AT FIRST GLANCE, the scene was a bucolic one, two old y But the park, with its trees and bushes and black-water pond, was actually the private yard of the second-arden hid surveillance ca vines in the distance covered a twelve-foot wall And the as lined with sensors, topped with razor wire and watched by arh to approach too closely

Beijing sprawled outside that wall, frantic, crowded and chaotic Inside lay a sanctuary

Walter Han had been a guest hereor with such little talk between himself and his mentor With no words between thearid partially filled with black and white stones

They were playing the ancient game of Asia Older than chess and infinitely o in Japan and Baduk in Korea Westerners simply called it Go

Sensing an opening, Han pulled a small white stone from a cup at his side and placed it into position Satisfied with his ardens “Whenever I come here, I’m amazed to knoe’re still in the city limits”

Han was in his late forties Taller than most Chinese men, he was also lean and wiry So to a Chinese father and a Japanese iven a Western name because that made it easier to do business with the European and American companies that so loved the island outpost

At the ti a s, Han’s father chose to align hi battle for independence That decision paid handsome rewards Han’s family were millionaires by the time the British stood down And in the decades since, Han and his father had built the largest congloy, Inc

With his father gone, Han had spent the last decade running the company on his own Not only did he , he expanded theoverne made him a force to be reckoned with And yet, he still deferred to the man across from him

“A place of solitude is essential Otherwise, one cannot think beyond the noise” The words came like poetry fro on the sides of his head He had ht side of his face

As a strategist, Wen had seen the Party leaders through six decades of turist He was ru of the Tiananuided China onto the path of capitalisle party

He held several offices within the Party, but his unofficial title was more impressive They called hih skills, but applied to Wen it was the equivalent of learned Master

Wena small black stone beside one of Han’s white stones Essentially, cutting it off from the rest of Han’s pieces “You come to me with a heavy heart,” he said “Is the news that bad?”

Han had been waiting for the right er “Unfortunately, yes The survey of thesite is complete Our worst fears have been confirmed The avalanche destroyedin parts of the canyon and scattering debris across the Serpent’s Jaw The reactor was untouched, but the project cannot be rebuilt without a massive effort and expenditure”

“How large?”