Today’s coup in Beijing had caught him by surprise, but he now saw that he should have at least thought of the possibility. He had been focussed on persuading President Chen not to start a war, and he had not imagined that the hawks might deprive Chen of the power to choose.
A conspiracy against the president should have been uncovered by the Homeland Security half of the Guoanbu but, of course, the head of that department, Vice-Minister Li Jiankang, had been in on the plot, and his superior, Security Minister Fu Chuyu, had been one of the ringleaders. With the military and the secret service behind the coup, it could not fail.
The greatest shock had been his father’s betrayal. Of course he had heard Jianjun say that the Communist revolution was more important than anything else, including family ties; but people said that sort of thing without really thinking about it. Or so Kai had always thought. But his father had meant it.
Sitting at the desk, watching the news on the small TV screen, Kai felt how strange it was to be helpless. The fate of China and the world was now out of his hands. With Kong Zhao also in jail there was no one left to restrain the military men. They would probably carry out Jianjun’s scheme of a limited nuclear attack. They might bring about the destruction of China. He just had to wait and see.
He only wished he could wait with Ting. He would never forgive his father for separating them for what might well be their last days of life. He was desperate to talk to her. He looked at his watch. It was an hour to midnight.
The watch gave him an idea.
He banged on the door to attract attention. A couple of minutes later a muscular young prison officer called Liang came in. He took no precautions: the guards had obviously decided Kai was no threat to them, which was true. ‘Something wrong?’ the man said.
‘I really want to phone my wife.’
‘Not possible, sorry.’
Kai took off his watch and held it in his hand for Liang to see. ‘This is a steel Rolex Datejust that cost eight thousand US dollars second-hand. I’ll swap it for your watch.’ Liang was wearing an army-issue officer’s watch worth ten bucks.
Liang’s eyes glittered with greed but he said cautiously: ‘You must be corrupt if you can afford a watch like that.’
‘It was a present from my wife.’
‘Then she must be corrupt.’
‘My wife is Tao Ting.’
‘From Love in the Palace?’ Liang was thrilled. ‘I love that show!’
‘She plays Sun Mailin.’
‘I know! The emperor’s favourite concubine.’
‘You could call her for me on your phone.’
‘You mean I could speak to her?’
‘If you want. Then pass the phone to me.’
‘Oh, wait until my girlfriend hears about this!’
‘I’ll write down the number for you to dial.’
Liang hesitated. ‘I’ll take the watch as well, though.’
‘All right. As soon as you pass me the phone.’
‘Agreed.’ Liang dialled the number Kai gave him.
A moment later Liang said: ‘Am I speaking to Tao Ting? Yes, I’m with your husband, but before I pass you to him, I just want to say that my girlfriend and I love the show and it’s such an honour to speak to you – Oh, you’re very kind to say that, thank you! Yes, here he is.’
He gave the phone to Kai, and Kai gave him the Rolex.
Then Kai said: ‘My darling.’
Ting burst into tears.
‘Don’t cry,’ said Kai.
‘Your mother told me they put you in jail – she says it’s your father’s fault!’
‘That’s true.’
‘And the Americans have destroyed half of North Korea with nuclear bombs and everyone says China will be next! Is that true?’
Kai felt that if he answered honestly she would become even more upset. ‘I don’t think President Chen is so foolish as to let that happen,’ he said, not really telling a lie but not telling the truth either.
‘Everything’s going crazy,’ she said. ‘All the stop lights in Beijing have been turned off and the traffic is gridlocked.’
‘That’s the Americans’ doing,’ he said. ‘Cyber war.’
Liang took off his old watch and put on his new Rolex. He held up his wrist, relishing how it looked.
Ting said: ‘When will you get out of there?’
Never, Kai thought, if the old Communists fire a nuclear weapon at the US. But he said: ‘If you and my mother put pressure on my father, it might not be too long.’