Wen Lo dispensed the prostitutes with a shove and a brusque word and got in the Roewe. The husky man shut the door and slid in front next to the driver. As the car pulled away from the curb, a slender man in an Army uniform sitting in the backseat, said, “Good evening, Wen Lo. My apologies for spoiling your night out on the town.”

“Good evening, Colonel Ming. No apologies necessary. It is always a pleasure to see you, my friend.”

In this case, it was more of a relief than a pleasure. Colonel Ming was the liaison between the Army and the Triad, and both organizations profited handsomely from the hundreds of brothels that they jointly operated around the country.

“The feeling is mutual, of course,” said the colonel, a soft-spoken man whose patrician air seemed more suited to the diplomatic corps than the Army.

Wen Lo always trod carefully around Ming. He was not unmindful of the fact that the colonel’s comrades had nicknamed him Colonel Cobra.

“I must say that I was concerned when I saw my men were not at their posts and my car was gone,” Wen Lo said.

“Rest assured, they are in a safe place,” Ming said. “I thought it best not to have any distractions while we talked over a serious problem that has arisen.”

“Of course,” Wen Lo said. “What sort of problem? Are you looking for a more luxurious apartment . . . or car? . . . Or is there someone that you would like removed from the scene?”

“This is not personal,” Ming said. “This is business. The problem is in Pyramid’s pharmaceutical division.”

“That puzzles me, Colonel. The contaminated drugs have been destroyed. The poisoned infant formula killed only a few hundred children.”

“Perhaps this will explain the problem better than I can,” Ming said.

Colonel Ming stretched his hand out to a DVD player built into the back of the driver’s seat and pushed the ON button.

Wen Lo’s face appeared on the screen. He watched himself taking a tour of the secret lab with Dr. Wu, whose voice was narrating, and close-ups of the subjects and their disease-ravaged faces.

“Where did you get this?” Wen Lo asked as the video came to its end.

“That is of no importance,” Ming said. “But I am puzzled as to the nature of this facility your organization is operating.”

The colonel was being disingenuous. The video was quite detailed in its presentation.

Wen Lo glanced at the men in the front seat. Speaking in a conspiratorial whisper, he said, “I am taking you into my confidence, Colonel. The secret I am about to reveal is held by me and a few of the most powerful people in the government. The laboratory has been working on a revolutionary new vaccine that will not only contain a new outbreak of SARS but will cure dozens of other diseases caused by viruses.”

Colonel Ming lightly clapped his hands.