"So you think I shouldn't use that force at all," said Alai.

"No" said Bean. "I think you need to be bolder with them. I think you need to waste more lives on an even more spectacular nonmilitary objective."

Alai turned away. "I was afraid you'd see that."

"I was sure you'd already thought of it."

"I was hoping one of the Arabs or the Indonesians themselves would propose it," said Alai.

"Propose what?" asked Petra.

"The military goal," said Bean, "is to destroy their armies, which is done by attacking them with superior force, achieving surprise, and cutting off their supply and escape routes. Nothing you do with the third front can achieve any of those objectives."

"I know," said Alai.

"China isn't a democracy. The government doesn't have to win elections. But they need the support of their people all the more because of that."

Petra sighed her understanding. "Invade China itself."

"There is no hope of success in such an invasion," said Alai. "On the other fronts, we will have a citizenry that welcomes us and cooperates with us, while obstructing them. In China, the opposite would be true. Their air force would be working from nearby airfields and could fly sortie after sortie between each wave of our planes. The potential for disaster would be very great."

"Plan for disaster." said Bean. "Begin with disaster"

"You're too subtle for me," said Alai.

"What's disaster in this case? Besides actually getting stopped at the beach-not likely, since China has one of the most invasible sh.o.r.elines in the world-a disaster is for your force to be dispersed, cut off from supply, and operating without coordinating central control."

"Land them," said Alai, "and have them immediately begin a guerrilla campaign? But they won't have the support of the people."

"I thought about this a lot," said Bean. "The Chinese people are used to oppression-when have they not been oppressed?-but they've never become reconciled to it. Think how many peasant revolts there've been-and against governments far more benign than this one. Now, if your soldiers go into China like Sherman's march to the sea, they'll be opposed at every step."

"But they have to live off the land, if they're cut off from supply." said Alai.

"Strictly disciplined troops can make this work." said Bean. "But this will be hard for the Indonesians, given the way the Chinese have always been regarded within Indonesia itself."

"Trust me to control my troops."

"Then here's what they do. In every village they come to, they take half the food-but only half. They make a big point of leaving the rest, and you tell them it's because Allah did not send you to make war against the Chinese people. If you had to kill anybody to get control of the village, apologize to the family or to the whole village, if it was a soldier who died. Be the nicest invaders they've ever imagined."

"Oh," said Alai. "That's asking a lot, from mere discipline."

Petra was getting the vision of this..."Maybe if you quote to your soldiers that pa.s.sage from The Elevated Places, where it says, 'Maybe your Lord will destroy your enemy and make you rulers in the land. Then He will see how you act.'"

Alai looked at her in genuine consternation. "You quote the Q'uran to me?"

"I thought the verse was appropriate," she said. "Isn't that why you had them put it in my room? So I'd read it?"

Alai shook his head. "Lankowski gave you the Q'uran."

"And she read it," added Bean. "We're both surprised."

"It's a good pa.s.sage to use," said Alai. "Maybe G.o.d will make us rulers in China. Let's show from the start that we can do it justly and righteously."

"The best part of the plan." said Bean, "is that the Chinese soldiers will come right afterward, and fearing that their own armies will be left without supplies, or in the effort to deprive your army of further provender, they will probably seize all the rest of the food."

Alai nodded, smiled, then laughed. "Our invading army leaves the Chinese people enough to eat, but the Chinese army makes them starve."

"The likelihood of a public relations victory is very high," said Bean.

"And meanwhile," said Petra, "the Chinese soldiers in India and Xinjiang are going crazy because they don't know what's going on with their families back home."

"The invasion fleet doesn't ma.s.s for the attack," said Bean. "It's done in Filipino and Indonesian fishing boats, small forces up and down the coast. The Indonesian fleet, with its carriers, waits far offsh.o.r.e, until they're called in on air strikes against identified military targets. Every time they try to find your army, you melt away. No pitched battles. At first the people will help them; soon enough, the people will help you. You resupply with ammunition and demolition equipment by air drops at night. Food they find for themselves. And all the time they move farther and farther inland, destroying communications, blowing up bridges. No dams, though. Leave the dams alone."

"Of course," said Alai darkly. "We remember Aswan."

"Anyway, that was my suggestion." said Bean. "Militarily, it does nothing for you during the first weeks. The attrition rate will be high at first, until the teams get in from the coast and get used to this kind of combat. But if even a quarter of your contingents are able to remain free and effective, operating inside China, it will force the Chinese to bring more and more troops home from the Indian front."

"Until they sue for peace," said Alai. "We don't actually want to rule over China. We want to liberate India and Indochina, bring back all the captives taken into China, and restore the rightful governments, but with a treaty allowing complete privileges to Muslims within their borders."

"So much bloodshed, for such a modest goal," said Petra.

"And, of course, the liberation of Turkic China," said Alai.

"They'll like that," said Bean.

"And Tibet," said Alai.

"Humiliate them enough." said Petra, "and you've merely set the stage for the next war."

"And complete freedom of religion in China as well."

Petra laughed. "It's going to be a long war, Alai. The new empire they'd probably give up-they haven't held it that long, and it's not as if it brought them great wealth and honor. But they've held Tibet and Turkic China for centuries. There are Han Chinese all over both territories."

"Those are problems to be solved later," said Alai, "and not by you. Probably not by me, either. But we know what the West keeps forgetting. If you win, win."

"I think that approach was proven a disaster at Versailles."

"No"' said Alai. "It was only proven a disaster after Versailles, when France and England didn't have the spine, didn't have the will, to compel obedience to the treaty. After World War II, the Allies were wiser They left their troops on German soil for nearly a century. In some cases benignly, in some cases brutally, but always definitely there."

"As you said," Bean answered, "you and your successors will find out how well this works, and how to solve the new problems that are bound to come up. But I warn you now, that if liberators turn out to be oppressors, the people they liberated will feel even more betrayed and hate them worse."

"I'm aware of that," said Alai. "And I know what you're warning me of."

"I think," said Bean, "that you won't know whether the Muslim people have actually changed from the bad old days of religious intolerance until you put power in their hands."

"What the Caliph can do," said Alai, "I will do."

"I know you will," said Petra. "I don't envy you your responsibility."

Alai smiled. "Your friend Peter does. In fact, he wants more."

"And your people," said Bean, "will want more on your behalf. You may not want to rule the world, but if you win in China, they'll want you to, in their name. And at that point. Alai, how can you tell them no?"

"With these lips," said Alai. "And this heart."

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

TRAPS

To: [email protected] From: [email protected] Re: Invitation to a party You don't want to miss this one. Kemal upstairs thinks he's the whole show, but when Show and Pock get started in the bas.e.m.e.nt, that's when the fireworks stop, say wait for the downstairs party before you pop any corks."John Paul," said Theresa Wiggin quietly, "I don't understand what Peter's doing here."

John Paul closed his suitcase. "That's the way he likes it."

"We're supposed to be doing this secretly, but he-"

"Asked us not to talk about it in here." John Paul put his finger to his lips, then picked up her suitcase as well as his and started on the long walk to the bunkroom door.

Theresa could do nothing but sigh and follow him. After all they'd been through with Peter, you'd think he could confide in them. But he still had to play these games where n.o.body knew everything that was going on but him. It was only a few hours since he had decided they were going to leave on the next shuttle, and supposedly they were supposed to keep it an absolute secret.

So what does Peter do? Asks practically every member of the permanent station crew to do some favor for him, run some errand, "and you've got to get it to me by 1800."

They weren't idiots. They all knew that 1800 was when everyone going on the next flight had to board for a 1900 departure.

So this great secret had been leaked, by implication, to everybody on the crew.

And yet he still insisted that they not talk about it, and John Paul was going along with him! What kind of madness was this? Peter was clearly not being careless, he was too systematic for it to be an accident. Was he hoping to catch someone in the act of transmitting a warning to Achilles? Well, what if, instead of a warning, they just blew up the shuttle? Maybe that was the operation-to sabotage whatever shuttle they were going home on. Did Peter think of that?

Of course he did. It was in Peter's nature to think of everything.

Or at least it was in Peter's nature to think he had thought of everything.

Out in the corridor, John Paul kept walking too quickly for her to converse with him, and when she tried anyway, he put his fingers to his lips.

"It's OK," he murmured.

At the elevator to the hub of the station, where the shuttles docked, Dimak was waiting for them. He had to be there, because their palms would not activate the elevator.

"I'm sorry we'll be losing you so soon," said Dimak.

"You never did tell us," said John Paul, "which bunk room was Dragon Army's."

"Ender never slept there anyway," said Dimak. "He had a private room. Commanders always did. Before that he was in several armies, but..."

"Too late now, anyway," said John Paul.

The elevator door opened. Dimak stepped inside, held the door for them, palmed the controls, and entered the code for the right flight deck.

Then he stepped back out of the elevator. "Sorry I can't see you off, but Colonel-the Minister suggested I shouldn't know about this."

John Paul shrugged.

The elevator doors closed and they began their ascent.

"Johnny P.," said Theresa, "if we're so worded about being bugged, what was that about, talking so openly with him?"

"He carries a damper," said John Paul. "His conversations can't be listened to. Ours can, and this elevator is definitely bugged."

"What, Uphanad told you that?"

"It would be insane to set up security in a tube like this station without bugging the tunnel through which everybody has to pa.s.s to get inside."

"Well excuse me for not thinking like a paranoid spy."

"I think that's one of your best traits."

She realized that she couldn't say anything she was thinking. And not just because it might be overheard by Uphanad's security system. "I hate it when you 'deal' with me.""OK, what if I 'handle' you instead?" suggested John Paul, leering just a little.

"If you weren't carrying my bag for me," said Theresa, "I'd..."

"Tickle me?"

"You aren't in on this any more than I am," said Theresa. "But you act as if you know everything." Gravity had quickly faded, and now she was holding onto the side rail as she hooked her feet under the floor rail.

"I've guessed some things," said John Paul. "For the rest, all I can do is trust. He really is a very smart boy."

"Not as smart as he thinks," said Theresa.

"But a lot smarter than you think," said John Paul.

"I suppose your evaluation of his intelligence is just right."

"Such a Goldilocks line. Makes me feel so ... ursine."

"Why can't you just say 'bearlike'?"

"Because I know the word 'ursine,' and so do you, and it's fun to say."

The elevator doors opened.