Chimera Read Free Page A

boys later. Good Luck. Out.”
    This was where the two teams were to separate out and move towards different targets in separate areas. Gephel signaled his ‘Point’ man to move out with a silent wave of his arm. His comms-specialist had a question for his CO:
    “Where to now, Sir?”
    Gephel smiled back. He felt like it. They had had a good night. The fact that they had just terminated the lives of several dozen enemy troops in the convoy was already in the past and no longer a concern.
    They should have stayed where they belonged. Out here, only their deaths await them. We will take them out, if it has to be one at a time.
    Perhaps my death awaits as well.
    So be it .
    In any case, they now had a very long walk ahead of them. It was time for their re-supply drop-off. They were going to need those supplies seeing as they had used up a lot of explosives tonight. Gephel recovered from his reverie and looked back at the camouflage-painted face of the captain standing before him.
    “The job’s not over, boy. To the pick-up point. We have some replenishing to do.” 
    The moonlight was a problem, but they had no choice. As the team began their long walk to the south, they disappeared within the long, dark shadows of the hills surrounding the Aksai Chin. The team left five burning military vehicles on the road, otherwise known as the Chinese National Highway-219.
     
     
    NEW DELHI
    MARCH 29, 0950 HRS
    “So what can you tell me about the Lhasa situation?” Dr. Abdul Ravoof, the Indian foreign-minister, asked as he lifted his cup of tea.
    “Tense.”
    The Chinese ambassador Jiang replied before reaching for his cup. His eyes did not move up to match those of his host. A few seconds of silence in the room reminded Jiang that more was required from him. His eyes finally caught up.
    “Martial law is still in place. It is for the public’s own security. There have been no more attacks in the city. Lhasa is locked down. The rebels continue to attack civilians elsewhere. Civilian casualties have been high,” Jiang said and sipped his tea. Ravoof finally removed his stare from his guest and instead stared out of the windows at the green grass being watered by the sprinklers. The blue sky and a bright sun above completed the serene view.
    The same as over Tibet ...He reminded himself as he recollected the minute details from the NSA meeting the previous night.
    Rebels attacking civilians my ass. This guy speaks outrageous lies without blinking. But I suppose one needs to be dead inside for doing this job...
    “You mean Chinese citizens or Tibetans?”
    “I am afraid I do not know the statistics.” Jiang replied simply.
    Aren’t you predictable ...Ravoof thought with an inward smile before finally turning away from the windows to face his guest:
    “Of course”
    He opened a file and removed a piece of paper from it and handed it to Jiang across the table:
    “That is the statement that the Government of India has released as of fifteen minutes ago and which the prime-minister will reiterate during his scheduled press conference from Washington DC. It asks for both sides to break off the cycle of violence that has been spiraling out of control in Tibet for the last few weeks. This is the gist of the page long statement you find in front of you. The prime-minister wanted me to give you a personal assurance of help should Beijing need a mediator to intervene on behalf of both sides.”
    Ravoof leaned back in his chair while Jiang grew significantly more uncomfortable in his own.
    “I will pass this offer back to Beijing, but I would also like to remind you and your government that the situation in Tibet is an internal affair, not an international one. While we thank India for taking a mature stand in these troubled times, I feel obliged to remind you that the resolution of an internal affair does not require international mediation, similar to your situation in Kashmir.” Jiang replied in an almost unnoticeably sterner tone