Ice and Fire: Chung Kuo Series (36 page)

‘Kuan Yin preserve us!’

Pavel nodded vehemently, then let out another shuddering breath. ‘How will we anchor
him?’

Chen looked about him, then hit upon the best solution. ‘We’ll lift him up. Jam his
head and shoulders into one of the niches. That should hold him long enough for us
to decide what
to do with him.’

Pavel looked at him, wide-eyed, then swallowed again.

‘What
are
you, Kao Chen? What are you doing here?’

Chen looked down, then decided to tell Pavel the truth. It was that now or kill him,
and he didn’t think he
could
kill the boy, even to get DeVore.

‘What I am doesn’t really matter. But I’m here to get Overseer Bergson. To trap him
and bring him to justice. Will you help me, Pavel? Will you help me get the
bastard?’

Pavel looked again at the body of the man he had helped to kill, then looked up at
Chen again, the candle wavering in his hand, throwing shadows about the tiny space.
He smiled and offered his
hand. ‘Okay, Kao Chen. I’ll help you.’

Karr stood at the window, looking down at the vast apron of Nanking spaceport, then
turned, smiling. ‘Well, General, it seems we must play our final card.’

The old man nodded, returning Karr’s smile openly. ‘So it seems. Unless they change
their minds. You’re prepared?’

‘I know what I have to do.’

‘Good.’ Tolonen went across and stood beside Karr, then, unexpectedly, embraced him.
He did not expect to see the big man again.

Karr held Tolonen’s upper arms a moment, his smile undiminished. ‘Don’t be sad, General.
Remember what you said to me. I’m a winner.’

Tolonen sighed, then smiled. ‘I hope it’s so, my friend. Never more than now.’

Karr turned his head, looking outward again, watching a craft rise slowly on the far
side of the field. The noise reached them a moment later – a deep, rumbling reverberation
that went
down the register.

‘You know, General. I’d love to see their faces. Especially DeVore’s.’ He paused,
then, on another track, added. ‘Chen has his back-up?’

‘Of course. The best I could arrange.’

Karr turned back. ‘That’s good.’ He went across and took something from the top of
his pack and brought it back across, handing it to Tolonen.

‘What’s this?’

‘For Chen. Just in case.’

Tolonen laughed. ‘So you are human, after all. I was beginning to wonder.’

‘Oh, yes,’ Karr answered, his smile fading momentarily. ‘And I’ll tell you this, General.
What I’m about to do frightens me. More than anything I’ve ever done
before. But I’ll do it. Or die trying.’

Tolonen looked at him, admiring him, then bowed his head respectfully.

‘Good luck. And may heaven favour you, Gregor Karr.’

The journey to Tongjiang took Tolonen an hour. Li Shai Tung was waiting for him in
his study, the authority on the desk beside him, signed and witnessed – the seven
tiny
Ywe Lung
seals imprinted into the wax in the whiteness on the left-hand side of the document.

‘Your man is on his way, Knut?’ the T’ang asked, handing Tolonen the parchment, then
waving away his secretary.

‘He is,
Chieh Hsia.
We should know by tomorrow evening how things stand.’

‘And the other matter? The business with DeVore?’

Tolonen smiled. ‘That will be settled sooner,
Chieh Hsia.
The agent concerned, Kao Chen, passed vital evidence back through channels yesterday.
It has been verified that the
suspect, Overseer Bergson is, in reality, the traitor, DeVore.’

‘Have we arrested the man?’

‘I have arranged things already,
Chieh Hsia
. We will capture the man this evening. Within the next few hours, in fact.’

‘Good. That, at least, eases my mind.’ The T’ang sniffed, his expression grave, then
got up slowly from his desk. ‘A great storm is coming, Knut, and we shall have made
enemies
enough before it blows itself out. DeVore is one I’d rather have in hand, not loose
and making mischief for us.’

Yes
, thought Tolonen.
And Berdichev, too. But that would have to wait a day or two. Until after Karr had
done his stuff.
He looked down at the document in his hands, feeling a
great sense of pride at being at the centre of things this night. He had foreseen
this long ago, of course. Had known the day would come when the Seven could no longer
sit on their hands and do
nothing. Now they would shake Chung Kuo to its roots. Shake it hard, as it needed
to be shaken.

Tolonen smiled and then bowed to his T’ang, acknowledging his dismissal; feeling a
deep satisfaction at the way things had gone. The days
of wuwei
– of passive acceptance
– were past. The dragon had woken and had bared its claws.

And now it would strike, its seven heads raised, magnificent, like tigers, making
the
hsiao jen
– the little men – scuttle to their holes and hide, like the vermin that they
were.

Yes. They would clean the world of them. And then?
His smile broadened.
Then summer would come again.

Li Shai Tung sat at his desk, brooding. What had he done? What was set in motion?
He shuddered, disturbed by the implications of his actions.

What if it cracked Chung Kuo itself apart? It was possible. Things were balanced delicately
now. Worse, what if it brought it all tumbling down – levelling the levels?

He laughed sourly, then turned at a sound. It was Li Yuan. He was standing in the
doorway, his shoes removed, awaiting his father’s permission to enter. Li Shai Tung
nodded and beckoned
his son to him.

‘Bitter laughter, father. Is there something wrong?’

Too wise. Too young to be so old and knowing.

‘Nothing. Just a play of words.’

Li Yuan bowed, then turned away slightly: a gesture of indirectness his father could
read perfectly. It was something difficult. A request of some kind. But awkward. Not
easy to ask. Li Shai
Tung waited, wondering how Li Yuan would breach the matter. It was an opportunity
to study his son: to assess his strengths, his weaknesses.

‘I’ve been much troubled, father.’

Li Yuan had looked up before he spoke. A direct, almost defiant look. He had resolved
the matter and chosen to present it with firmness and authority.
Yes
, the old man thought,
Li Yuan
would make a fine T’ang. When it was time.

‘Is it your dream again, Yuan?’

Li Yuan hesitated, then shook his head.

‘Then tell me what it is.’

He stood and went across to the pool, then stood there, looking down at the dim shapes
moving in the depths of the water, waiting for his son to join him there.

Unexpectedly, Li Yuan came right up to him, then went down onto his knees at his feet,
his eyes fixed upon the floor as he made his request.

‘I want to ask your permission to marry, father.’

Li Shai Tung turned sharply, surprised, then laughed and bent down, lifting Li Yuan’s
face, his hand cupping his son’s chin, making him look up at him.

‘But you’re only twelve, Yuan! There’s more than enough time to think of such matters.
A good four years or more. I never meant for you to…’

‘I know, father. But I already know what I want. Who I want.’

There was such certainty, such fierce certainty in the words, that the T’ang released
his hold and stepped back, his hand stroking his plaited beard thoughtfully. ‘Go on,’
he
said. ‘Tell me who it is.’

Li Yuan took a deep breath, then answered him. ‘Fei Yen. I want Fei Yen.’

Li Shai Tung stared at his son in disbelief. ‘Impossible! She was Han’s wife, Yuan.
You know the law.’

The boy’s eyes stared back at him intently. ‘Yes, and by our law Fei Yen was never
Han Ch’in’s wife.’

Li Shai Tung laughed, amazed. ‘How so, when the seals of Yin Tsu and I are on the
marriage contract? Have you left your senses, Yuan? Of course she was Han’s wife!’

But Li Yuan was insistent. ‘The documents were nullified with Han’s death. Think,
father! What does our law actually say? That a marriage is not a marriage until it
has been
consummated. Well, Han Ch’in and Fei Yen…’

‘
Enough
!’ The T’ang’s roar took Li Yuan by surprise. ‘This is wrong, Li Yuan. Even to talk
of it like this…’

He shook his head sadly. It was not done. It simply was not done. Not only was she
too old for him, she was his brother’s bride.

‘No, Yuan. She isn’t right for you.’

‘Fei Yen, father. I
know
who I want.’

Again that intensity of tone, that certainty. Such certainty impressed Li Shai Tung,
despite himself. He looked down into the pool again.

‘You could not marry her for four years at the least, Yuan. You’ll change your mind.
See if you don’t! No, find some other girl to be your bride. Don’t rush into this
foolishness!’

Li Yuan shook his head. ‘It’s her I want. I’ve known it since Han Ch’in was killed.
And she’ll take me. I know she will.’

Li Shai Tung smiled bitterly. What use was such knowledge? In four years Chung Kuo
would have changed. Perhaps beyond recognition. Li Yuan did not know what was to be:
what had been decided.
Even so, he saw how determined his son was in this matter and relented.

‘All right. I will talk to her parents, Yuan. But I promise you no more than that
for now.’

It seemed enough. Li Yuan smiled broadly and reached out to take and kiss his father’s
hand. ‘Thank you, father. Thank you. I shall make her a good husband.’

When Yuan had gone, he stood there, staring down into the darkness of the water, watching
the carp move slowly in the depths, like thought itself. Then, when he felt himself
at rest again, he
went back into his study, relaxed, resigned almost to what was to come.

Let the sky fall
, he thought:
What can I, a single man, do against fate?

Nothing, came the answer. For the die had been cast. Already it was out of their hands.

Bamboo. A three-quarter moon. Bright water. The sweet, high notes of an
erhu
. Chen looked about himself, at ease, enjoying the warmth of the evening. Pavel brought
him a
beer and he took a sip from it, then looked across at the dancers, seeing how their
faces shone, their dark eyes laughed brightly in the fire’s light. At a bench to one
side sat the bride and
groom, red-faced and laughing, listening to the friendly banter of their fellow peasants.

Two great fires had been built in the grassy square formed by the three long dormitory
huts. Benches had been set up on all sides and, at one end, a temporary kitchen. Close
by, a four-piece
band had set up their instruments on the tail-piece of an electric hay wagon:
yueh ch’in
,
ti tsu
,
erhu
and
p’i p’a
– the ancient mix of strings
and flutes enchanting on the warm night air.

There were people everywhere, young and old, packing the benches, crowded about the
kitchen, dancing or simply standing about in groups, smoking clay pipes and talking.
Hundreds of people, maybe
a thousand or more in all.

He turned, looking at Pavel. ‘Is it true, Pavel? Have you no girl?’

Pavel looked down, then drained his jug. ‘No one here, Kao Chen,’ he answered softly,
leaning towards him as he spoke.

‘Then why not come back with me? There are girls in the levels would jump at you.’

Pavel shivered, then shook his head. ‘You are kind, my friend. But…’ He tilted his
shoulder slightly, indicating his bent back. ‘
T’o
they call me here. What girl would
want such a man?’

‘
T’o
?’

Pavel laughed, for a moment his twisted face attractive. ‘Camel-backed.’

Chen frowned, not understanding.

‘It was an animal, so I’m told. Before the City.’

‘Ah…’ Chen looked past the young man, watching the dancers a moment. Then he looked
back. ‘You could buy a bride. I would give you the means…’

Pavel’s voice cut into his words. ‘I thank you, Kao Chen, but…’ He looked up, his
dark eyes strangely pained. ‘It’s not that, you see. Or not only that.
It’s just… well, I think I would die in there. No fields. No open air. No wind. No
running water. No sun. No moon. No changing seasons. Nothing. Nothing but walls.’

The young man’s unconscious echo of DeVore’s words made Chen shiver and look away.
Yet perhaps the boy was right. He looked back at the dancers circling the fires and
nodded to
himself. For the first time since he had been amongst them, Chen had seen the shadow
lift from them and knew how different they were from his first conception of them.
He saw how happy they could
be. So simple it was. It took so little to make them happy.

He stared about him, fascinated. When they danced, they danced with such fiery abandon,
as if released from themselves – no longer drab and brown and faceless, but huge and
colourful,
overbrimming with their own vitality, their coal dark eyes burning in their round,
peasant faces, their feet pounding the bare earth carelessly, their arms waving wildly,
their bodies twirling
lightly through the air as they made their way about the fire.

As if they were enchanted.

He shivered, wishing that Wang Ti were there with him, partnering him in the dance;
then with him in the darkness afterwards, her breath sweet with wine, her body opening
to him.

He sighed and looked down into his jug, seeing the moon reflected there in the dark,
sour liquid. In an hour it would begin. And afterwards he would be gone from here.
Maybe forever.

The thought sobered him. He took a large swallow of the beer, then wiped his mouth
and turned to face Pavel again. ‘You’re right. Stay here, Pavel. Find yourself a girl.
Work hard
and get on.’ He smiled, liking the young man. ‘Things will be much better here when
Bergson is gone.’

Yes
, he thought,
and maybe one day I’ll come back, and bring Wang Ti with me, and Jyan and the new
child. They’d like it here. I know they would.