The Washington Lawyer by Allan Topol

Chinese-manufactured limousine with tinted glass windows forcing its way through traffic. He had no idea why Yao wanted to see him.
    He had developed a close relationship with Yao Xiao when Yao was engaged in an intense battle to succeed Xi Jinping as Supreme Leader. At the time, Liu was deputy director of MSS. In return for Yao’s promise to promote him to MSS director, Liu surreptitiously forwarded to Yao damaging information about the two other possible choices. Liu had no doubt that information about the corruption of one and the sexual proclivities of the other destroyed their chances.
    Thanks in large part to Liu, Yao had gotten the prize: president of the People’s Republic of China, the Supreme Leader. Foreigners rarely understood how powerful that position was in the world’s most populous country. It was Mao Zedong who established the almost unlimited authority of the office. His successors, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jinto, and Xi Jinping brought their own personalities and styles to the position, but all followed the autocratic approach of Mao to a great extent.
    As a reward, Liu had expected Yao to elevate him to director of the MSS as soon as Yao assumed the presidency two years ago.
    But that hadn’t happened until five months ago, and Liu was concerned that Yao would never have done it if Liu had not greatly benefited from his secret relationship with Andrei Mikhailovich, his Russian partner who had given him a great deal of his information.
    During the year and a half Liu waited for the promotion, he fumed at the ungrateful Yao, who had to know that Liu’s boss, the existing director, was incompetent. But that period of waiting taught Liu a bitter lesson: Yao couldn’t be trusted to keep his word. He also observed Yao turning on other former backers. The man had some of Mao’s qualities. Even after Liu was promoted to director of MSS, Liu had to be careful to avoid having Yao turn on him.
    * * *
    Yao was alone, seated behind a large red leather topped desk in his ornate office. He didn’t come forward or even rise when Liu walked into the cavernous office. Instead, he motioned to the empty chair in front of his desk.
    As he sat down, Liu was struck by the fact that the sixty-three-year-old Yao had aged perceptibly in the two years he had been in the president’s job. He had creases in his face, bags under his eyes, and a sallow look. The pressure of the office was getting to him.
    The desk was empty except for a bound document which Liu recognized as the top secret summary of the documents Xiang had obtained from Senator Jasper, which Liu had personally prepared for Yao—and only Yao.
    The president pointed to the document. “In your summary, you have powerful and sensitive information about American military actions, including their development of a new generation of long-range missiles and their commitment to aid Japan in the event we attack over islands in the East China Sea. How accurate is that information?”
    â€œExtremely. I prepared it from copies of American internal documents.”
    â€œAre you certain they were true documents? Not misinformation? The CIA is experienced at doing that.”
    â€œQuite certain.”
    â€œWhat’s your source?”
    Liu had an intelligence agent’s reluctance to disclose a source, but Yao was the Supreme Leader. And he was now staring hard at Liu. Refusal to respond was not an option.
    â€œUS Senator Wesley Jasper from Colorado. He’s the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He has been supplying the documents to my agent in Washington. I’ve code named it Operation Trojan Horse.”
    â€œYour agent recruited Jasper?”
    â€œNo. I did. At a meeting in Tokyo in July.”
    Liu expected a compliment, but deadpan Yao continued his interrogation. “How did you turn Jasper?”
    â€œWith money.” Liu hoped Yao wouldn’t ask him how much. The expenditures