Wu pressed the palms of his hands together. “So let me get clear on this. You want us to supply the military force to regain your lost western provinces?”
“You must do so for your own sake.”
Wu shook his head. “We have alternatives for the dam’s power.” That was almost true. He could buy a couple of BrainTrust nukes, but he was already over budget. He thought he could probably persuade the Chinese government to put up a military presence out of someone else’s budget for the strategic value of the oil.
Pressing on with the negotiation, he continued, “Our main goal would be to secure the dam.”
Imam Ekon sat back in his chair, satisfied. “And once you have control of the dam, we’ll have control of the region. They’ll be utterly at our mercy.”
Wu had no idea why the West Nigerians would c
