Catalyst (Breakthrough Book 3)(117)
When they reached the doors, he watched the four goons exchange looks of importance amongst themselves. Then the door was opened and M0ngol was ushered inside.
The room was large, and unlike the dreariness of the hallways, it was richly decorated –– particularly with the giant mahogany conference table and high-back leather chairs filling the space.
Inside sat a lone person. An elderly man looking outward from the far end of the table. He studied M0ngol carefully before motioning to the table and chair.
“Please sit down.”
The young man complied.
“Do you know who I am?”
“Yes,” M0ngol replied. “You’re Yu Xinzhen, Chairmen of the Politburo Standing Committee. Most people know who you are.”
Xinzhen nodded, studying the young man. His tone and posture spoke volumes. He was one of the new generationals, one of the inflicted, as many of the elders referred to them. Immature and emblazoned by a sense of rebelliousness. But in the end, little more than children hiding behind a veneer of maturity, with a shroud of gadgets giving them a feeling of importance. And then there were those like this one, swollen with self-importance and undeserved power, granted by an exploitation of technologies their parents didn’t understand. That most of the world didn’t understand.
He stared at M0ngol with a sense of bemusement. “Do you know why you’re here?”
“No.”
“You’ve been working with Qin.”
“I have.”
“And it seems you have uncovered a great deal.”
Xinzhen watched the expression on M0ngol’s face begin to change. This wasn’t about giving another explanation of what M0ngol was able to do. This was about what he knew…what he had learned. An air of nervousness began to form.
“I have discovered some things, as requested.”
Xinzhen nodded. “As requested.”
“Yes.”
“And by who would that be?”
M0ngol shifted slightly in his chair. Qin had clearly spoken to the old man, but he didn’t know what was said between the two. A fleeting thought that left M0ngol wishing he’d recorded Qin’s call.
“Qin. He asked me to learn everything I could about General Wei.”
“And what have you learned about Wei?”
“Well, we learned that his daughter is alive.”
“And.”
“And that the general may have hidden something with her.”
“And.”
M0ngol stopped. His mind was racing. He looked out through the glass door to find the two agents watching him intently. His confidence was melting. “Um…and… an American is trying to reach her first.”
To M0ngol’s disappointment, the old man’s expression did not show the faintest hint of surprise. Instead, he took a deep breath and placed a delicate hand on the table. “What else?”
“W-what do you mean?”
“My dear boy. You think me a fool.”
“No! No, sir.”
“Then tell me. What else have you been learning about?”
M0ngol swallowed. “What else?”
Xinzhen rapped his fingers on the table. Oh, how quickly they shrink.
“I know you’ve been searching for a great many things on General Wei. Surely you’ve found more interesting facts to share with me.”
“Um…I-”
“You’ve read about our project in South America.”
The young man stammered. “A little.”
“I think you know more than a little. Indulge me.”
M0ngol nodded. “They’re searching.”
A trace of interest appeared in Xinzhen’s eyes. “Who is searching?”
“The Brazilians. Now. They’re searching now.”
“Searching for what?”
“Traces of the plants. They think there is more there.”
Xinzhen’s eyes focused intently on M0ngol. “More?”
“Yes. And they’re also looking for a primate. A monkey. They think it may have absorbed some of the plant’s DNA.”
“And they’re searching now?”
“Yes, Your Eminence. On the mountain. The Brazilians and a small team from the U.S.”
Xinzhen leaned forward in his chair. “The U.S. too?”
“Yes. Friends of the American that came here to find Wei’s daughter.”
The old man’s eyes were now transfixed on M0ngol. He had been told that all traces were wiped clean on the mountain. Destroyed. If the Americans were now there, and the Brazilians, they clearly had reason to believe that something remained. And if they found it first, there would be no stopping them.
Qin said he had Wei’s daughter and now the case. But it would mean little if the Americans found their own source.
“Have they found anything yet?”