Act of God by John Maddox Roberts, Eric Kotani Read Free Book Online Page B

"Clowns they got working for the government these days. No wonder the country's in the shape it's in." He took their order back to the kitchen.
    "Is he a friend of yours?" Laine asked.
    "He's somebody I helped out in a jam once. His name's Sammy Quo. A few years back he was having some tong trouble. I happened by when a couple of thugs were roughing him up and straightened things out. Since it wasn't official business, I didn't report it to anybody. That meant a lot to Sammy. Probably half the people working here are relatives of his who're here without proper immigration papers."
    "Tongs?" Laine said. "Are they still active? I thought they were something from old films."
    "Very active," Sam said. "They were pretty quiet from the twenties through the fifties. It was the big upsurge in the drug trade and illegal immigration in the sixties that revived them."
    Their beer arrived and the Chinese doll poured it into tall glasses. Laine lifted hers in a silent toast and took a cautious sip. Surprisingly, it tasted much like the beer she was used to. She remarked on the fact.
    "I'm not surprised," Sam said. "It was the Germans who started brewing in China before the First World War. They probably still make it the same way."
    "You have a remarkably broad range of information," Laine said.
    "You mean for a CIA thug?"
    Laine flushed. "I meant no such thing!" She was embarrassed. He was right. She had not expected a government gunman to be so many-faceted. She wondered whether the KGB had such unusual men.
    "Sure you did. That's ok, it comes with the job. Actually, I came by that last piece of information from my grandfather. He was with the Marines in Shanghai in the twenties. He was a mine of information about China in those days." Their dinner arrived and the quality of the food proved to be even better than Sam had hinted. The Peking duck, in particular, was roasted exquisitely crisp. They made small talk while eating, and Sam in his unobtrusive way managed to get a little background information from Laine without being obvious.
    He learned that she had befriended a visiting American astronomer for a year or so while she had held a research appointment at the Sternberg Astronomical Institute in Moscow. She had learned from him much of her American English. She displayed that rare ability to talk about her work without cluttering her speech with incomprehensible jargon. It was some time since Sam had found such a charming dinner companion. She had a wry sense of humor that came across despite her slight linguistic handicap.
    Throughout the meal and the drive back to Laine's hotel, both were aware of a tension between them, a tension resulting from a mutual withdrawal from a mutual attraction. Sam rejected the temptation to involvement for professional reasons, Laine because she still did not trust her feelings She wondered whether he would make a more determined advance. Experience told her that he would, but he didn't.
    "Good night, Laine. I'll be by to pick you up at about nine in the morning." They parted with a mutual sense of disappointment.

CHAPTER FOUR

    WASHINGTON, D.C. AND SUBURBS

    The following morning, Sam got up just before the alarm rang at six. He turned on his radio for the early news broadcast as he forced himself through an intensive set of calisthenics of his own design. He was still far from his peak condition, and he promised himself that, as soon as his schedule straightened out, he would resume his judo workouts. For years, karate had been the glamour art, largely because of media exposure and Bruce Lee movies, but he still preferred judo. Dripping with sweat, he switched the radio off and went into the shower.
    At 8:15 Sam phoned a number at Langley CIA headquarters. The phone was answered on the first ring. "Novak."
    "Hello, Slats. Sam Taggart here."
    "Hey, old buddy! What's new?" Novak's Alabama drawl sounded even more exaggerated than usual.
    "Slats, I want you to do me a favor," Sam said, without