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“To what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked.
“My husband requires something of you.”
“Does he?”
“Yes. First he requires that you understand this: we know that your name is not Zhou, and you are not a colonel in the People’s Liberation Army. Your name is in fact is Feng, and you are a general.”
General Feng felt like his stomach had turned to a block of ice. It was an act of will to keep the panic from showing on his face. “Is that so?”
“It is. We know everything about you, including all of your other illicit activities: small-arms dealing, heroin smuggling, and so on. We also know who in your chain of command is an ally of yours and who is an enemy. In fact, my husband is on quite good terms with a certain general named Gou. Do you know the name?”
Feng swallowed hard. He felt his world crumbling around him. He managed a barely perceptible, “I do.”
“General Gou is not fond of you, is he?”
“No.”
“Have I made my point?” Zhilan Hsu asked.
“You have.”
“Let’s talk about our partnership. My husband, in fact, is pleased with the services you have provided and would like to offer you a fifteen percent increase on all transactions.”
“That’s very generous.”
“My husband is aware of that. He also asks a favor of you.”
Even as the words were leaving his mouth, Feng was cursing himself. “A favor suggests no compensation.”
Zhilan’s hard obsidian eyes stared at Feng for a few moments before answering. “I misspoke. Perhaps ‘task’ is a better word. Of course, he is happy to compensate you in the amount of two hundred thousand U.S. dollars. But only if you succeed.”
Feng struggled to keep the smile from his face. “Of course. That is only fair. What’s the nature of this task?”
“There are people—two of them, to be specific—who are threatening our business interests here. We expect that they will be traveling along the border in the coming weeks, perhaps even crossing into the TAR,” Zhilan said, referring to the Tibet Autonomous Region. “We want you to intercept them.”
“You will need to be more specific.”
“Captured and held for us or killed. I will give you the order when the time comes.”
“How close to the border will they be traveling?”
“In some places, less than a few miles.”
“The border is many hundreds of miles long. How would one find two individuals in all of that?”
“Don’t be obtuse,” Zhilan said, her voice taking on a harder edge. “You have under your command fourteen Harbin Z-9 helicopters equipped with infrared radars, night-vision cameras, and missiles, both anti-air and anti-tank.”
Feng sighed. “You are extraordinarily well informed.”
“Your command also maintains seventy-nine observation posts along the border. Is this also correct?”
“Yes.”
“We suspect the people will have to use a helicopter to transit some of the more remote areas. There are a limited number of charter companies in Nepal that offer such services. In order to make your task easier, we will be monitoring these companies.”
“Then why not intercept these people before they board?”
“We will allow them to . . . complete their mission before you take action against them.”