Foreign Influence_ A Thriller - Brad Thor [85]
“The more appropriate question would be, what was it,” stated Sterk. “Two weeks ago, site 243 was destroyed.”
“By whom?”
“By my clients. They were able to launch an attack inside China on a Chinese military base and not only kill everyone on the base, but they then tracked down the remaining Chinese intelligence officers who had any knowledge of what was being worked on at site 243 and they killed them as well.”
“This was a Chinese operation?”
The woman nodded. “You wanted to know why I fear my clients. That’s why. Who mounts an attack on a Chinese military base, slaughters everyone on it, and then hunts down high-ranking Chinese intelligence agents inside and outside of China? Who has the skills and the resources to do something like that?”
“I still don’t understand what this has to do with the attacks in Rome and Paris.”
Sterk took a deep breath. “The Chinese know that they can’t defeat America on a conventional battlefield. They’ve known that for a long time. To win a war against America, the Chinese would have to engage in unconventional warfare.
“They created a military base in the middle of nowhere in Mongolia with the sole purpose of studying America. Its operatives spoke only English, ate only American foods, read American books, watched American television programs, played American video games, and surfed nothing but American and Western Web sites. It was as close as you could be to the United States while still remaining under China’s umbrella.
“They were steeped in American culture and the American way of thinking. Their job was to study America, find its weaknesses, and develop the most devastating attack they could conceive of. They were encouraged to think outside of the normal military mind-set.”
“And suicide bombers were the best they could come up with?” asked Harvath.
“Look at the impact of 9/11,” replied Sterk. “Look at what it did to America’s psyche and its economy. How many billions were lost? How many billions more were spent preventing another similar attack? Massive governmental agencies like your Department of Homeland Security and the TSA were created as a response. Now multiply that impact across the United States in all new waves of attacks. Pick whatever targets you want: movie theaters, shopping malls, churches, hotels, schools. Your country would grind to a halt, its people paralyzed with fear.”
“But the attacks aren’t happening in America, they are happening in Europe.”
“Not yet.”
“What do you mean, not yet?” replied Harvath.
“Through site 243 the Chinese had created an entire terrorist network. My clients have not only hijacked it, they have activated it.”
“And they are planning on targeting American cities?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know so much?”
“It’s my job. I deal in information. Information is power.”
“And she probably spies on and steals from her own clients,” added Nicholas.
“The bigger the picture I have,” she replied, “the better I am able to connect the dots. When I know what pieces I’m missing, I go after them and secure them. My customers don’t come to me to purchase incomplete intelligence.”
“So in other words, you snuck a peek at what your clients were paying you for.”
“I didn’t get to see all of it.”
“But you got to see some of it.”
Sterk nodded.
Harvath was trying to make sense of it all. “Why would they bother targeting Americans in Europe? Why not move right to attacks on American soil?”
“I don’t profess to understand the mind of the Chinese,” Sterk said with a shrug.
“Try.”
She thought about it for a moment. “The easiest answer is that Muslim attacks in Western Europe erode support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The less support America has from its allies, the deeper it will get drawn into those conflicts. Its military is stretched too thin. Stretch it even further, maybe open up another war somewhere, and all that stretching could lead to a snap.”
It was a good point and one that Harvath and others had grown increasingly concerned about. With the Madrid train bombings, Islamic terrorists had proven that they could influence Western