“Premier,” the man started. “These last two attacks were sloppier than the initial…”

“Who?” Bo Jintao demanded.

Fu Ping stuttered. “Either… Either the Americans. Or the Indians.”

“You don’t know?” Wang Wei, of the Committee for Discipline Inspection, roared.

“There’s data pointing in both directions…” Fu Ping’s voice was wavering. He was avoiding eye contact. “It could be that one is behind the attack, and trying to shift blame…”

“When can you stop it?” Bo Jintao interrupted.

“We… we are working as fast as we can. We’re optimistic that we’ll find a way…”

“You don’t know anything, is that what you’re telling us?” Wang Wei’s voice was cutting. The old conservative was turning the screws. Maybe Fu Ping really should be frightened.

Information Minister Fu Ping took a deep breath. “The Peace and Harmony Friends run in a distributed manner. We send them instructions from the ministry. But they’re not listening to us just now.”

“They listen to guns,” General Ouyang announced from the doorway, dressed in his full uniform.

Bo Jintao looked up. He hadn’t heard Ouyang enter.

“My men have been going door to door, destroying Friend processors. We’ve just posted video on our Army channel of how citizens can do the same, or how they can safely disconnect the dedicated power supplies.”

“That’s our crown jewel!” Fu Ping protested.

“It’s a tool,” Ouyang shrugged, still standing. “It can be used by you or against you. I warned you of that years ago.” The grizzled general shook his head. “Overdependence on one tool is always a strategic error.”

Bo Jintao nodded. He’d told Gao the same.

“General,” Bo Jintao said. “How goes re-establishing communications?”

Ouyang took a seat at the end of the table, stared hard at Bo Jintao.

Bo Jintao knew that look. It was the look that reminded him that he was here, that he was Premier, that he was the man behind the throne, because the Army had backed him.

Because Ouyang had backed him.

“We’re making progress,” he said. “Old fashioned radio systems and analog wires are uncompromised. We’re using high altitude aircraft to send signals from one location to another. It’s slow. It’s low bandwidth. But it works.”

“You have control of the armed forces?” Bao Zhuang asked.

“I do,” Ouyang said, flatly.

“And the Americans?” Bo Jintao asked.

“Their fleet elements are as aggressive as ever. They’re in disputed waters, in parts of the East China Sea and South China Sea we claim. Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou are all in their strike range. The entire eastern seaboard is within their range. And if they struck now…” Ouyang shook his head. “Our response would be uncoordinated. They would have a significant tactical advantage.”

“Our response?” Bo Jintao asked.