The Demi-Monde: Summer (2 page)

In sum, I do not believe there has been any material impact on the timetable set for the Final Solution which proceeds inexorably towards the planned execution date of 30 April 2019.

I remain Your Humble Servant,

Professor Septimus Bole

Of all the opponents of HerEticalism, perhaps the most dogged and the most troublesome has been the SheTong, a rebel group which seeks to overthrow Her Divine Majesty Empress Wu; subvert the One True Religion, HerEticalism; and prevent Demi-Mondian Femmes entering the glorious state of MostBien. The SheTong is led by Su Xiaoxiao – former concubine of that arch-paternalist and enemy of all Femmes, the pigEmperor Qin Shi Huang, may his soul roast in Hel – a demented and unbalanced Femme unable to throw off the shackles of the specious sociocultural misogynist construct that is heterosexual sex. All members of the ChangGang Security Force are urged to make every effort to locate and destroy Su Xiaoxiao – who has been classified as the Coven’s Public Enemy Number One – and her pernicious and destructive organisation.

Circular to all Officers of the ChangGang Security Force signed by Imperial Secretary, NoN Mao ZeDong

Those who would kill must nurture patience
.

Su Xiaoxiao waited.

Serene.

Silent.

Still.

Standing formless as smoke, merging into the emptiness of the night.

All her will was concentrated on gauging the correct moment to move. And to do this, she had to have perfect control of her Qi, channelling the energy of the Living until she became one with the Nothingness. As she had been trained, she regulated her breathing, slowing the beat of her body clock, allowing
wu wei
– the effortless inaction of the enlightened soul – to suffuse her mind and her body. She felt herself relax as her body remembered that the harder one tries, the more resistance one creates for oneself.

And as she always did before battle, she found comfort in the words of her great mentor, Sun Tzu.

The Superior Warrior imitates the cobra and lies motionless until the time of striking
.

So she stood, swathed from head to toe in her skin-tight black silk
shinobu sh
zoku
, invisible in the darkness, indifferent to the monsoon rain that pummelled down on her, oblivious to everything but the study of her prey, waiting until the Amazon turned her back. She was wise to be cautious: the soldierFemme was a dangerous adversary, tall and powerful, her oiled musculature arrogantly displayed by the sleeveless pink jerkin that announced her to be a soldier of the Fifth Legion of Amazons, one of the best fighting units in the whole of the Coven. But this strength, which made Amazons such formidable soldierFemmes, was also their weakness.

Beware hubris: overconfidence makes a warrior contemptuous and contempt of an enemy is the first step towards defeat
.

The Amazon turned. Now she had her back to them.

This was the moment. In one fluid motion Su Xiaoxiao adjusted her black scarf – her
tenugui
– so that it covered her face. Now when she moved out of the shadows, only her eyes were uncovered.

Like a black ghost, she drifted through the darkness, avoiding the oases of light spread by the gas lanterns that lined the alleyway, avoiding the puddles of rainwater that patinated the cobbles. She knew to be careful; though they had seen only this one sentry, there might be others. Soon there would be war with the ForthRight and, in anticipation of an invasion, Rangoon’s docks had become a military zone, swarming with soldiers day and night as the Coven prepared to resist the onslaught of the ForthRight army.

A sudden movement by the Amazon caused Su Xiaoxiao to flinch back into the night-shrouded safety of a door well, motioning her three
kunoichi
to do likewise. Still as statues, they stood watching as the Amazon moved towards them, rattling the gates of the warehouses as she walked, checking that everything was secure. Satisfied, she began to stroll – blithely negligent of the fate awaiting her – along the alleyway towards the spot where Death was hiding.

Fifteen metres.

Ten metres.

Five metres.

With a touch to the fighter’s shoulder, Su Xiaoxiao signalled that the Amazon should be eliminated by Mochizuki Chiyome, her deputy in the SheTong. The girl’s black-bladed
tant
sighed out of its scabbard and for an instant the short steel blade of the knife shimmered in the moonlight. Then Mochizuki oiled forward. A moment later there was a barely audible gasp as she made a
kubi
strike, her
tant
piercing the Amazon’s throat, simultaneously killing her and preventing her from crying out. The soldierFemme crumpled to the cobbles, and Mochizuki dragged her flaccid, lifeless body deeper into the darkness.

The enemy must be dispatched swiftly and without feeling. Terrible surprise is the way of the SheTong
.

Wait.

Listen.

Nothing.

The killing had gone unnoticed. There were no shouts of warning, no alarms being sounded, nothing to indicate that a soul had passed to the Nothingness. An uncaring world was oblivious to the death of the Amazon, the only sound accompanying her demise being the distant grumble of the early morning traffic moving through Rangoon’s docks. Confident now that no one stood between them and their objective, Su Xiaoxiao ushered her fighters forward and together the four of them crept towards the Anichkov Bridge, their footsteps deadened by the thick crêpe soles of their black canvas boots. And as she stole along, Su Xiaoxiao glanced up towards the Moon, gauging the time. Soon the boat bringing Norma Williams from the WarJunk would be landing in Rangoon and then, for a brief moment, she would hold the fate of the Demi-Monde in her hands. Soon she would decide if it was the destiny of the Demi-Monde to embrace Yin or Yang, darkness or light, salvation or destruction, good or evil. And just for an instant she felt that terrible responsibility resting heavy on her slim shoulders as she remembered the words of the Epigram the iChing had cited in answer to her question as to whether Norma Williams was indeed the true Messiah.

The Flood comes
,

Irresistible
.

To wash clean the wounds

Sustained by the warrior
.

But beware, just as water supports the boat

So in its fury it may swamp it
.

Water is the giver of life
,

But oft-times

It is the bringer of death
.

Yes, the Flood – the Messiah – approached, and her coming
heralded the Time of the Cleansing but there were many who would seek to thwart her, many who would seek to kill her. She was the delicate flower that had to be shielded from the harsh winds of hatred and the savage frosts of ambition. That was the responsibility ABBA had charged Su Xiaoxiao with: to protect the Messiah … and then to plunge her back into harm’s way. A paradox, but such was the Way.

Reaching the end of the alleyway, she paused. She could see the deserted warehouse where she and her fighters would wait for the arrival of the Messiah. Now all they had to do was cross the wide and crowded Maha Bandoola Street unchallenged, a task fraught with danger. Even though it was after midnight, Rangoon’s docks bustled; steamer lorries puffed and panted along the road bringing coal to the huge and ominous WarJunks that rocked low and brooding at their moorings; horse-drawn carts dragging artillery pieces rumbled along, the carts’ metalshod wheels snarling and clacking on the cobbles as they made their way to the redoubts that were being built so hurriedly along the banks of the Volga River; and coolieNoNs pushed handcarts laden with boxes of ammunition, their wooden clogs click-clacking as they went. A coffle of slaves covered from head to toe in mud shuffled grumpily along, making their sleepy way back to their barracks after a long day spent digging trenches. And through the whole muddle darted rickshaws bearing officerFemmes and their painted geishas, the rickshaws ducking and weaving through the maelstrom of traffic that had crammed itself into Maha Bandoola Street.

But most dangerous for Su Xiaoxiao and her
kunoichi
was that everywhere there were hundreds upon hundreds of pink-jacketed soldierFemmes marching to take up their positions in the fortified buildings, in the redoubts and in the already flooded trenches, ready to repel the expected assault of the ForthRight Army.

She took a deep breath, reminding herself that at midnight few people were fully awake, most minds were fogged by fatigue or by Solution, then slipped out of the shadows and raced as fast as she could across the street. By the Grace of ABBA, she and her fighters reached the darkness of the opposite side unnoticed and unchallenged. There they settled down in the warehouse to wait. But even as Su Xiaoxiao unslung her M4 and checked its magazine, her eyes were never still, they continually flicked back and forth searching the night for danger.

The Superior Warrior always expects the unexpected
.

And then kills it …