Chapter 17

2007-2008 – Peking, China

The coming Olympics were going to be the biggest and the best Olympics ever. I guess that happens every four years. The truth was that, even if the Chinese didn’t really want admit it, they had some real use for my area of expertise: uncommon and special structures used in buildings. Of course, they had the idea that by following me, they could get some of my patented ideas into production without paying any fees. Like they wouldn’t do that, anyhow? But the bottom line was that we both believed that we could benefit from this co-operation. Pam and I would be safe and alive, and they’d get my ideas.

Pam had been a bit reluctant about leaving, even if she didn’t want to show it to me, but once she got her first feel of the school her opinion changed. The school was demanding and the schedule was tight. When she complained to me about that, I just had to laugh. For once my knowledge-hungry daughter would really have to work to be successful. She remained mad at me after I laughed at her - for almost two hours.

The only negative thing was that my love-life was non-existent. Zero, zip, zilch, nada. On the other hand, I was not willing to get burned again. Marie had some months during which she could have contacted me if she had wanted to, but now only my lawyer and the Company people knew how to contact me. My lawyer had NOT written my new phone number anywhere, and he wouldn’t call me unless it was absolutely necessary. So in a way my situation didn’t really differ from starting all over again. I could only hope that once again this would only be temporary.

After a month or so I was contacted by email by my local superior, insisting on meeting me. I frowned, and after deleting the message, I replied using the secure connection and tried to refuse the request. An hour later, I got the reply and I was told to do just as I was told. Just great. I knew that at this point I was probably still being followed by the Chinese at least occasionally, and losing my tail would suggest that I had some other missions other than to help the coming Olympics. Well, I had. I wanted to stay alive and live in peace.

During my time there, I had learned enough about the local transportation system, that I was sure that I could lose a single tail without raising too much suspicion. When the time of the meeting came I had informed them that I would be doing some shopping, as I had claimed to be an electronic gadget freak. Besides, I could use some new clothes, too. So, I spent some time shopping some clothes and some silly gadgets until I was quite sure that there was no more than one man following me. Some time later I could see from the reflection in the window that he’d missed the tram I used. I made it to the park early, but once I got there I got some bad vibes. Two strangers meeting in a park like this would be just like a bad act from an old agent movie, since I had no real reason to be there. Shit.

Of course, it could only get worse. When the woman I was supposed to meet came, I was quite sure that she was not only being followed, but that she was being followed by two different people. As soon as she noticed me she tried to act like she had not seen me, but any trained observer could tell differently. I gave her no option, as I just forced a smile and rushed to hug her.

“Is it really you? I cannot believe my eyes!”

When I held her close, I whispered to her.

“You are being followed and they saw me, too.”

“Not possible. You must have brought them with you.”

“Negative. Been here for twenty minutes. They came with you.”

I could tell that she was mad as hell, but after that whispered conversation we managed to generate the sort of discussion two friends might have while meeting in an odd place. They just might believe it ... at least for fifteen minutes, maybe even an hour. When we decided to go our own ways, I climbed into a taxi that had just appeared by the park. The driver was almost startled when I climbed in and spoke to him - in English.

“The US embassy, please.”

The poor guy just started driving, not really understanding that he had just blown his cover. Like that would matter any more?

At the embassy it took almost half an hour of pleading and threats to get a secured line to States. I informed my ‘friend’ of what had happened, and gave him also my best - and only - idea how to get something good out of it. After all, in theory we had a friendly relationship with China. I spent almost an hour on the phone and to my surprise they agreed with my plan. I would be, from now on, an unofficial security consultant who specializes in protecting structures. The people at the embassy were not happy when they had to give me an encrypted laptop filled with documentation I would need to study and get familiar with.

Back at home I decided not to worry Pam about this, and started studying. The following weekend it was raining, so some of the construction work was canceled anyway. We both spent the weekend studying. I had to admit that some of the stuff the Company gave me was quite fascinating, and it made me think about the buildings and structures quite a bit differently. Instead of creating structures I needed to start thinking also how to destroy them. Sunday evening I knew that I still had a lot to learn.

When I was back at the site early Monday morning, there was one more surprise waiting for me. Standing next to my assistant and interpreter Zhang was a Chinese woman. When they saw me the woman smiled in a way that was very un-Chinese, and Zhang looked like he’d like to be somewhere else. She took a step forward and bowed to me a bit.

“Hi, my name is Jia, and I’m your new assistant and interpreter. Pleased to meet you.”

At that point it was all clear to me. While Zhang had been a student of architecture this woman - Jia - was something else. I smiled as I bowed back.

“You name does not do you enough justice. Pleased to meet you, too.”

I could see that she was a bit started when I so willingly admitted that I understood some Chinese. Zhang told us the latest updates and then he was on his way. Quickly. I smiled at the thought of how the presence of a beautiful woman in her mid-twenties, could be so intimidating for him. Maybe his girlfriend was the jealous type. Or maybe it was something else. I turned to Jia and smiled.

“Miss Jia - or is it Mrs? - if you don’t mind, I’d be very happy to practice my Chinese with the workers. After all, your English sounds so good that you don’t really need any practice with it.”

“But of course. I don’t mind at all, and it is ‘Miss’.”

I could almost taste the honey when she talked to me. This would be a very, very long year unless I’d do something about it.

When it was time to leave the site and go back home I noticed that Jia followed me. When I looked at her she just smiled.

“Since we’ll working closely together, I’d like to meet your daughter. Of course if that is okay with you?”

Honey, definitely honey. With some sweet oriental flavor.

Pam was already home and she had warmed and eaten some leftovers from the weekend when I arrived with Jia. When I presented Jia to Pam as my new assistant and interpreter she smiled just as sweetly as she had done before. When Jia was looking around our apartment Pam raised her eyebrows when she looked at me. I just shook my head slightly and shrugged. Then all of sudden she came to me and hugged me while whispering in my ear.

“Just go for it, Dad. I don’t mind.”

With a louder voice she said something else.

“I need to do my homework, now. It will take probably about two hours.”

Just like that my fourteen-year-old informed me that it would be fine for me to make a move towards Jia, and she would not interrupt us for the next two hours. I should have blushed but instead I just wondered if other parents had similar issues with their offspring. Maybe I should have socialized more so I would have been able to find it out before it was too late.

When smiling Jia came back to me I asked her if she’d like to have some tea. She agreed and smiled again. I sighed inwards. When I had served her tea I sat on the table opposite her and looked into her eyes. Then I made my decision and took a deep breath.

“Jia, you don’t need to try that hard.”

Her smile froze for a second but she recovered quickly and she was to respond but I continued before she could say a thing.

“I guess your employer is in some section of Ministry of State Security. You should know about me that for the most part I’m an engineer. I’m only a part-time employee for the Company as their security consultant. I guess I should feel flattered that I’m considered that important that MSS assigns someone to seduce me and learn my secrets. However, there just aren’t many secrets so...”

Again I took a deep breath before continuing.

“ ... there is not much benefit in seducing me. However, if you still need or want to do it, I promise that I’ll do my best to be a good lover. But if you decide to do it, just be yourself, please. When it comes to my work I promise that I’ll do my best, so there is no need to worry about that.”

She looked at me like she didn’t believe her ears. She started to say something but she just opened her mouth and closed it again. Then she looked down and shook her head in disbelief. When she turned back to face me, the look on her face was more natural than it had been before. If possible, that made her even more attractive. She cocked her head a bit before she started talking.

“You know that it might not be a good idea to admit your involvement with your agency so openly.”

“I do. But I’m not really up to this ‘do you know that I know’ -stuff. Look, I’ve been married once and widowed and engaged twice with bad results. Right now I’m so tied up with my work, that there is no room for dating and searching for relationship. However, I do like certain activities just as much as anyone else. I assume that you have your orders, even if I don’t know how far you are supposed to go. I think that for me this opportunity is too good to pass up, in case we both find this situation beneficial.”

The way she blushed indicated that she was not as experienced she had let me believe, and I felt pity for her.

“Jia, I don’t want to force you to do anything you don’t want to do, and I promise that your superiors will never know.”

She shook her head.

“No, Greg, I need to do it. I ... I just was not prepared to talk openly about it.”

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to be honest with you. I think you deserve that much. Besides, I think you are even more attractive as yourself than in that role.”

“Do you really find me attractive?”

At that point I put my tea back on the table and walked to the other side and kissed her.

It was about three hours later when Pam knocked on the door to my bedroom before opening it a bit.

“Since I’ve been totally abandoned by my only parental unit, I had to make the evening meal all by myself before going to sleep. Good night, Dad. Good night, Jia.”

“Good night, Pam.”

Jia looked a bit shocked, but when I rolled my eyes she just started giggling. We agreed that we would get up early the following morning so that I could drive her to her apartment so that she could get some clean clothes. She didn’t need to say that she’d probably give a quick report also.

We soon developed a routine. She would spend a few nights a week with Pam and me and the rest in her own place. After all, she had work to do and reports to give. I could only hope that her superiors would have as much fun reading the reports as I had in generating the material for them. During our time together I told Jia about my history and relationships and I also learned about her. She had been a good student studying linguistics when someone from their agency had spotted her.

Our relationship was strange to start with; but on the other hand, it was quite satisfying for both of us. We were seeing each other exclusively. While I openly told her about my - failed - relationships she also opened up for me. I’m not sure if she understood that by doing so, she also revealed quite a lot about the way her employer was working with us poor honey trap victims. On the other hand, I learned to like her, despite her training. She was not that experienced and I was only her second successful western client. It took some effort to assure her that I didn’t think badly about her because of the things she had done, but after licking her to a few orgasms she became much more responsive.

I used her contacts in finding myself a dojo in which I could continue my MA studies. I was sure that at least part of the people there - if not all - had connections to Chinese Intelligence MSS, and some of them were really happy to toss around my western ass. I took humbly those first beatings. Eventually, I even managed to surprise some of my opponents, gaining some respect that way.

When the end of the year was closing in, I could sense that some extra pressure had been put on Jia. I guess that her superiors were not totally happy with the amount of information she could get out of me. Hell, since I knew next to nothing, there was nothing to give. I was wondering how to solve this problem in a way that would satisfy all parties when Jia and I were staying late on my construction site. All the activity had stopped due to lousy weather. Luckily my project was well within its schedule, so this break was no problem to us.

I closed the office and was ready to leave with Jia, when I saw movement from the corner of my eye. It seemed that someone was still working, which was not at all unusual as there were typically several teams working all the time. Only this time there was something odd that caught my attention. My instincts told me that something was not exactly as it should have been. I motioned Jia to follow me when I started walking towards the shadowy figures I had seen through the mist.

The problem with the rain is that while it somewhat protects your actions from being noticed it can also protect those approaching you. I guess that was what happened when I walked to the area where the best section of the stands would be one day. Suddenly I felt a chill that was not caused by the weather. I stopped walking and forced Jia to stop, too. She looked at me questioningly when I tried to make her turn back quietly.