Daylight on Iron Mountain (17 page)

‘How’s the siege going?’ she asked. ‘Anything new happening?’

Peter shook his head. ‘There have been skirmishes, but nothing serious.’

He changed the subject. ‘How’s Tom, by the way? Is he all right? I heard him grizzling in the night.’

‘He gets fretful, that’s all. All the girls were like that…’

‘Were they?’

She nodded. ‘I feel sorry for them, you know.’

‘Who? The girls?’

‘No. The Americans. It must be hard for them.’

‘But necessary. And when it’s done it’s done.’

She looked to her stepson, surprised by the hardness that had come into his voice. She had heard the phrase before, of course. It was one of Tsao Ch’un’s sayings and the media had taken it up. ‘When it’s done it’s done’, as if it were merely a case of finishing the job. The fact that they were killing all the blacks, the mentally deficient, the politically active and the old was never mentioned. But when Peter said it, it was the hardness in his face that troubled her.

Her daughters were the same. Where she saw suffering, they saw necessity. If the world was going to be at peace, they argued, then America had to be subdued and its people brought within the walls of Chung Kuo’s City. It couldn’t be left to chance.

But part of her still inwardly rebelled against what they were doing.

‘Aren’t you going in to College today?’

Peter smiled. ‘I’ve got the day to revise. I’ll just finish my
ch’a
, then I’ll get down to it.’

‘I’m waiting for a call from Jake. He was supposed to be going in this morning.’

‘What… into the datscape?’

‘First thing… I’ve been expecting the call for hours.’

Peter looked disappointed. ‘He didn’t say… when I spoke to him the other evening…’

‘He probably didn’t know. Not for sure. I only found out yesterday. I thought he was coming back for a few days, but he had to stay on.’

‘You don’t think anything could go wrong, do you?’

‘No, it’s just… I know how much it means to him. If something
were
to go wrong…’

And not just to him.

Peter shook his head, a half smile on his face. ‘It’s weird, thinking of him using all that old technology, after all this time…’

‘He’ll be fine.’

But after Peter had gone upstairs again, she sat there, worrying now that something
had
gone wrong. That was the other reason why she hadn’t slept. Because today was what Jake had been working towards these past three months. The reason why they had seen so little of each other lately.

Switching off the screen, she looked about her. Everything was so neat and tidy, the lid closed over the swimming pool, the garden fresh and orderly.

They were high up where they were; their apartment one of only twenty-four on the whole of this deck. It wasn’t quite First Level, but it was more than Mary had ever dreamed of owning.

There was just so much room here, compared to where they’d come from. A lot more room. She should have been happy that they didn’t have neighbours crowded in on all sides, only strangely enough she missed that. And the house… well, it was lovely, luxurious most would have said, and the kids each had their own rooms. Only sometimes it felt as if they didn’t fit. Most of the time, if she was honest about it. And the people!

Most of their neighbours were Han; successful businessmen and their wives and trophy children. They were bad enough, with their arrogant, aggressive ways, but the
Hung Mao
– those of them who aped the Han, anyway – were a lot worse. Snobs, the lot of them. New money, as they used to call it, and with the manners of pigs. She had stopped accepting dinner
invites, only you couldn’t help but bump into them from time to time, in the corridors or in the lifts. And the kids… She felt sorry for her girls. Sorry for Peter, too, because they’d lost most of their friends when they’d moved up here. It wasn’t even as if they could go down the levels and see them from time to time. Peter and Meg lived the other side of Europe to their friends now. It was just too far.

Mary went back into the kitchen. She ought to have been preparing the evening meal, or getting a feed ready for Tom, only she was feeling a little depressed now. It was a feeling that visited her more and more recently, especially those times when the screens showed vistas from outside – rolling landscapes and mountains and rivers and the like. When she saw those, it created a longing in her that was almost a pain. Jake’s absence didn’t help. She missed him being there at night; missed their whispered conversations, the smell and touch of him, especially since he’d lost all that weight.

She smiled. As she did, the comset began to buzz.

‘Hello?’

There was the briefest delay and then Jake’s face appeared on the screen.

‘Hi, sweetheart…’

‘Hi, darling. How’d it go?’

‘Not well. Not well at all. Like Tom, we’ve got teething troubles here. The bloody thing’s so slow.’

‘But you’re okay?’

‘I’m fine. But I’m going to have to stay on a day or two longer. It can’t be helped. We want to try and iron things out. I’m sorry. I know you’ll be disappointed by that, but…’

‘No, no. I’m fine.’

‘You sure? I can always have you flown out.’

She smiled at that. ‘No… I don’t want to distract you. And if I was there…’

‘You would distract me.’ Jake smiled. ‘I’ve missed you.’

‘Missed you too. You seen the news? Our friend Jiang Lei again. It was the Texans this time.’

‘Who’d have thought it, eh? At this rate it’ll be over by the year’s end.’

‘You think?’

Mary paused. She wanted to say so much, only she knew it was all being monitored. And besides, she didn’t want anyone to know how she’d been feeling. Particularly Jake. No, she’d keep that to herself, until he was home.

‘Look,’ Jake said, glancing around as if someone had entered the room. ‘I’ve got to go now, but I’ll call you again tonight. Once things are tied up here. Have a good day, yes? And I love you.’

‘Love you too.’

The screen blanked.

Mary looked down. Was it worth it? Was all this really worth it?

Some days she felt that maybe she had driven him into doing this. That her desire for a better life had made her pressurize him into taking the GenSyn job. Because now that she had it, she wasn’t sure she wanted it.

She took a long breath, then, determined not to let it get her down, went to the cupboard and pulled out the wok. There was a lot to do before Tom woke, and she’d sure as hell get nothing done when he was awake again.

That was another thing. Jake kept telling her to get a maidservant. Like the house, they could afford it now. Only she didn’t want someone else bringing Tom up. Hard as it was sometimes, she wanted to be there for him at every step. If she’d had another girl, maybe she’d have felt differently, but as it was…

She stood at the window, looking out at the garden. The view of distant mountains and a clear blue sky was artificial. She knew that. She was conscious of it every waking second. Only it was better than what she’d had. Those endless walls, close up and in your face. The crowded corridors and the constant buzz of noise.

Maybe they had climbed a bit too high. Maybe that was it. If they were a deck or two lower, maybe she’d have felt different about it all.

She pushed the thought aside, not wanting to dwell on it. There would be time enough to talk about it when Jake was home.

Lahm was busy pruning the tiny oak when the comsat in the corner flashed.

‘What is it?’ he asked, not glancing up.

‘They’ve called a meeting, Master. Gustav Ebert’s flying back in from Shanghai to attend.’

‘Anything I should know?’

‘Seems there’s a signal delay, too few spinners, and… oh yes, our man lost his temper, especially about the lack of smell. He read them the riot act.’

Lahm looked up. ‘Reed?’

‘That’s why Ebert’s flying back. Their woman wanted to delay things another week.’

‘I see.’

Then Reed’s career – his second chance – was in the balance. Because Gustav Ebert was a perfectionist and, from past experience, if it didn’t work 100 per cent, it would be ditched. Gustav didn’t like imperfection and he didn’t care about the expense.

‘Send me the tape,’ he said. ‘And keep me advised as to when and where the meeting takes place.’

‘Yes, Master.’

Lahm straightened, then set the tiny watering jug aside. He ought to have been getting ready. The reception was in an hour, and it was important that he be there, what with the new elections to the Council taking place next month. Only he felt out of sorts. Not in the mood to spend the afternoon pressing flesh and smiling at his enemies.

And there was no doubt he had enemies.

He spoke to the air.

‘Wu Chi… have my craft ready for me on the roof. And tell Steward Jung to lay out my robes for me when I’m back.’

‘As you wish, Master.’

Wu Chi was his AI, both here in his office and at home.

‘Oh, and Wu Chi… see if you can find out what the initial thinking is at GenSyn over this morning’s trial. Whatever you can… yes?’

‘I’ll report back to you, Master.’

‘Good.’

Only Lahm had been having doubts about Wu Chi lately. About AIs in general. Not that they weren’t the perfect servants. One couldn’t fault them. After all, who knew him better than Wu Chi? Wu Chi never forgot a thing.

Only
that
was the problem. For if his AI fell into the wrong hands, what could incriminate him more?

Not that there were that many skeletons. But there were
some
, and, as he knew so well, a little could go a long way in discrediting a man. He knew it for a fact: the higher he had risen, the more rivals he had gained, and every last one of them would delight in pulling him down.

In certain hands, Wu Chi would make him vulnerable. Especially when it
came to things he had sanctioned; things he might claim were the products of necessity.

Yes, those especially.

Lahm spoke to the air.

‘Lock everything, Wu Chi. I’m out of here.’

As he climbed the stairs up to the landing pad, he found himself dwelling on it. Maybe it was time to speak to the First Dragon about this. Maybe they should shed their reliance on such things. Because what could be used against an individual could be used equally well against a Ministry, and if it were…

Lahm pushed the thought aside. Right now it was time to play another game. To dress up in his finery and put on his falsest smile.

For necessity. To keep the vultures from picking on his corpse.

Alison looked up at him as he entered the room and smiled apologetically.

‘I know, Jake. I know. You’re not a happy bunny, are you?’

He took a chair, facing her across the desk. ‘The suit… what in the gods’ names went wrong?’

‘I don’t know. But we’re taking steps. I’m drafting in two of our electronics whiz-kids. See if they can’t come up with some answers.’

‘And Gustav?’

She met his eyes. Her own were cold, blue steel. They’d always reminded him of that Joni Mitchell song.

‘If Gustav wants in, Gustav gets in.’

‘Fine. But as a scientist he must surely know—’

She interrupted him. ‘You’ll get a face to face with him, Jake. That’s as much as I can promise you. But he’s got a personal interest in this one, and he overrules you every time.’

Jake huffed, his frustration evident.

‘Was it
that
bad?’

‘It didn’t come close. And unless it gets markedly better… Well, I don’t think we’ve got a chance of using it. At least, not as Gustav wants to use it.’

‘Do you think the answer is to throw more money at it? If it needs more resources, that’s not a problem.’

‘No?’

‘No. But only if you think that’s an answer. If you think we’re wasting our time here…’

‘You think I’d give in that easily?’

‘Not for what we’re paying you.’

‘It isn’t the money.’

‘I know…’ Alison looked down, then met his eyes again. ‘I want this to work, Jake, every bit as much as you do. You could have a good future here at GenSyn. Follow your own research, if that’s what you wanted to do. I could set you up in your own department.
If
this works.’

Jake sat back, grinning. ‘Hey, slow down… Let’s not think of running before we can walk. Money could be part of the answer. It’d mean we could get more spinners, and make the input side of it that much better. Sharpen things up and get some depth to it. But a lot of work needs doing on the suit. That more than anything. That’s where we start.’

‘And you, Jake?’

He was quiet a moment, then, ‘I don’t know. I still don’t know. And until we get the rest of it right, I’ll keep on not knowing. But I know one thing now. I’m not afraid of it any more.’

‘Good. Then tell Gustav that when you see him.’

Peter set the revision folder aside, then climbed off the bed and went across to where he’d hung the map, on the noticeboard over his desk. There were twenty-four of the tiny dragon flags on the map now, all of them clustered on the eastern seaboard. Each one represented a state of the old US of A.

As yet the left-hand side of the map was empty. Out there, long trails of refugees were heading west along the old abandoned highways, in their hundreds of thousands, crossing the deserts because there was nowhere else to go. Not because there was any hope of a new and better life, but because they were afraid of what life under the Han would be like.

And because they were Americans.

If he’d been older he would have volunteered. Millions had. Mary and his father would have tried to talk him out of it, but he’d have gone, because he knew this was the final war. The war to end all wars. Quite literally so. For once Jiang Lei had finished, earth would be a single state; at peace, the
dream made real. A perfect, orderly world, better than the old. A world free of imperfections.

It had taken him a long time to see it, but now he did. The campaign had helped. He understood now, and that new understanding forged all his future decisions.

Once he had his exams he would apply to GenSyn. He liked what he’d heard of them, especially first-hand from his dad. He already had the forms in the drawer of his desk. And he would spend a lifetime working for them, if he could. If GenSyn would have him.