***

Hundreds of armored trucks and thousands of sentries marched through the streets of Topeka, turning the once-quiet Midwestern town into Gordon Reath’s personal fortress. The constant drum of boots against the asphalt could only be outdone by Gordon’s virulent screams at every new report that arrived informing him of his sentries’ failures to hold the communities under their control.

Dean Grout, still dripping Louisiana mud on Gordon’s floor, bolted out of the room with his tail between his legs, leaving Gordon in fumes alone in his office. He stepped over Dean’s muddy footprints on his way to lock the door then immediately entered a video conference with Sheng.

“Mr. President,” Gordon said. “I hope you’ve given more thought to my proposal.”

Sheng smiled. His round cheeks and taut skin made it difficult to determine just how old the man was, but the dark pupils in his eyes gave him an almost ancient look, balancing out whatever plastic surgery had ironed out the wrinkles and age spots along his face.

“Your recent losses haven’t evoked much confidence in your soldiers’ abilities, Gordon. I’m afraid that until we see some sort of progress we will no longer be able to continue our discussion.”

“Regardless of what happens with this war, you and I both know I’m the one with the soil data, and that will become increasingly valuable the longer this conflict rages on. I’m sure there will be a lot of buyers out there who would jump at the opportunity.”

“But I’m wondering how many of those buyers have the resources to extract you safely? Good luck, Gordon.”

The connection ended before Gordon could get in another word. Ultimately, he knew the Chinese wouldn’t risk losing such an important piece of data like the soil solution, but despite Gordon’s detestation of Sheng’s ability to have the upper hand, he knew Sheng was right. There wasn’t another country that could offer the same resources as China, which was the only country left to even consider challenging the US. Sheng would wait until Gordon had no other option before he offered him any type of deal. And when Sheng did, Gordon knew he would take whatever was put on the table.