Summary

In 1955 just before Gary’s 31st birthday, he is notified that his agency is return to the U.S. He is asked to go with them, and he accepts the offer. They travel by ship to San Francisco. He takes a train across country and is enthralled with the beautiful country. The agency opens its office in Virginia as an extended unit of the CIA. He is impressed with the wages, the libraries, street lights, and supermarkets - but he feels isolated, alone and afraid. He longs to return to China. He meets 26-year old Nellie McCarrick, a waitress at a small local restaurant. A relationship develops between them. He tells her that he has no family in China.

Gary’s plan is to become naturalized as soon as possible so he’ll have access to more-classified documents. The People’s Liberation Army had...