Read End Game for Free Online Page B

an end.’
    ‘That is correct,’ said Wu. ‘I am not aware of any other states who have issued such an invitation.’
    ‘Nor am I,’ said Haskell. He smiled.
    Wu frowned. ‘Ambassador, we will oppose any intervention in other states.’
    ‘We have no intention of intervening in other states.’
    ‘This will be a very delicate situation.’
    Haskell didn’t respond immediately. His aide had translated the word that Wu had chosen, xianruo , as ‘delicate’, but Haskell’s Mandarin was good enough that he knew the word also had a strong connotation of fragility. And the tone in which the vice-minister said it left no doubt that it concealed a host of further, more worrisome meanings.
    Haskell had been briefed by State. Border demarcation between Uganda, Sudan and Congo in the jungle-clad region in question was blurred, to say the least, and there were a number of areas of dispute between the countries. Steve Haskell couldn’t imagine a US Apache pilot worrying too much over the niceties when in pursuit of enemy combatants on the ground. International law over hot pursuit could be interpreted to allow incursion into other states. It could also be interpreted to forbid it.
    Facing an insurgency that roamed across the borders of three states, it wasn’t too hard to imagine incidents that the Chinese government could use to protest against the mission if it chose to do so.
    ‘I will read this note now, Vice-Minister, if I may, in case I need to ask you for any clarification.’
    ‘Please,’ said Wu.
    Haskell opened the envelope. It was a brief note, containing little more than what the Vice-Minister had already said. It gave no greater insight into the Chinese government’s intentions.
    Haskell put the note away. ‘We will of course provide a response as soon as my government has had time to consider this note.’
    Wu nodded.
    ‘However, I trust that your government will interpret our actions in the spirit of our mission. The Lord’s Resistance Army is a truly evil group and I personally believe that removing it is something that we all should be interested in seeing done. The United States has no interest in this mission but to do that, and to do it as quickly as possible with least cost in the lives of our soldiers and the lives of civilians on the ground.’
    Wu gazed at him impassively. Haskell knew the vice-minister wouldn’t respond to that. This was a minuted conversation and he wasn’t being tasked by his superiors with giving a moral evaluation of Jungle Peace.
    ‘I just want you and your government to understand that,’ said Haskell.
    Wu smiled briefly. ‘We look forward to receiving a reply from your government.’
    IN THE CAR , Haskell read over the note again, then handed it to his aide.
    ‘It’s interesting they chose Wu to deliver the message,’ he said.
    The aide nodded, reading the note.
    Haskell had expected to be called in to see the Chinese foreign minister. It was a good sign, he thought, that the Chinese government seemed to be keeping it one level lower down.
    ‘What do you think?’ said Haskell. ‘I don’t think they’re going to make too much noise about it.’
    ‘Doesn’t look like it.’
    ‘The media silence says to me: we’re embarrassed by this. Something happens that they don’t like, they’re still going to be embarrassed by it. Even more so. I think the message here is, don’t make us say anything on this. Don’t put us in a situation where we have to say something, where we have to remind people what’s going on. You have a resolution, and we can live with it, but don’t go outside the terms of that resolution because then you’re going to force us to make a protest, and we don’t want to do that. It won’t be good for either of us.’
    ‘And that would happen if the government of Sudan started making complaints that we were in their space. They’d demand Chinese backing in public and the Chinese would feel they’d have to give it.’
    ‘Exactly,’