Flood Tide (Dirk Pitt 14)

"Remind me never to make you mad," Pitt said with a grin.

She massaged her fist and stared up at him, her face sad and strained. "If only we could have caught them in the act of transporting illegal immigrants. God only know how many lives we could have saved. Now it's too late."

Pitt hugged her tenderly, favoring her cracked ribs. "Didn't you know?"

"Know?" she said, puzzled. "Know what?"

He motioned toward the train below. "There are over three hundred of them locked into freight cars down there."

Caught off balance, she stiffened as if Pitt had struck her. She stared uncomprehending at the train. "They were here and I never saw them."

"How did you get to the sugar mill?" he asked her.

"I sneaked on board the trash barge as it left the Sung Lien Star."

"Then you rode on top of them from Sungari. They came across the sea from China in a submerged container that was moved by an underwater rail system from under the Sung Lien Star to the barge that brought them here."

Her voice suddenly became hard. "We've got to free them before the train leaves."

"Not to worry," said Pitt with a canny smile. "Even Mussolini couldn't make that train run on time."

They were unlocking the freight cars and helping the illegal immigrants onto the loading docks when the Immigration and Naturalization Service agents and coast guardsmen arrived and took over.

38

PRESIDENT DEAN COOPER WALLACE came from behind his desk as Qin Shang stepped into the oval office of the White House. He put out a hand and said, "My dear Qin Shang, how good to see you."

Qin Shang pressed the President's hand in both of his. "It's so kind of you to see me in light of your busy schedule."

"Nonsense, I'm deeply in your debt."

"Will you be needing me?" asked Morton Laird, who had escorted Qin Shang from the reception room.

"Please stay, Morton," said the President. "I'd like you to be present."

The President showed Qin Shang to a pair of sofas that faced across a coffee table, and they sat down. "I wish you to convey my deep appreciation to Premier Wu Kwong for his generous contribution to my presidential campaign. And please tell him he has my promise of

close cooperation between our two governments."

"Premier Kwong will be happy to hear it," said Qin Shang affably.

"What can I do for you, Qin Shang?" asked the President, setting the discussion in a firm direction.

"As you know, certain members of Congress have been calling my country a slave state and condemning what they call human-rights abuses. They are currently proposing a bill to reject our most-favored-nation status. Premier Wu Kwong fears they may muster enough votes to push through the bill's passage."

"Rest assured," the President said, smiling, "I fully intend to veto any bill Congress passes that jeopardizes trade between our two countries. I've also gone on record as stating that mutual trade benefits are the best opportunity to eliminate the human-rights questions."

"Do I have your word on that, Mr. President?" asked Qin Shang, his aggressiveness pulling a negative expression from Chief of Staff Laird.

"You can tell Premier Wu Kwong that he has my personal assurance."

Laird marveled at the conciliatory atmosphere in the room between the shipping tycoon and the President when the air should have crackled with antagonism.

"The other matter of concern is the harassment by your Coast Guard and immigration agents of my ships. Search boardings have become more numerous and extensive in the past months, and shipping-schedule delays have proved very costly."

"I understand your concern, Qin Shang," said Wallace flatly. "At last count by the INS there were six million people living illegally in the United States. A good percentage of them, so the Immigration and Naturalization Service claims, were smuggled into the country in your ships, and the fiasco at Orion Lake was not an easy event to conceal. By rights I should have you arrested as you stand in my office and indicted for mass murder."

There was no display of indignation from Qin Shang. He stared at the most powerful man in the world without blinking. "Yes, under your laws you have every right to do so. But then you run the risk of much delicate information being leaked to the American public about your secret dealings with Qin Shang Maritime and the People's Republic of China."