Wingrove, David - Chung Kuo 02 (51 page)

Again T'ai Cho's
head went down. "But, Highness. . ."

Li Yuan stood
angrily. "You forget yourself, T'ai Cho!" He took a breath,
calming himself, then spoke again, softer this time. "As I said,
I, too, am concerned for Kim's safety. Which is why, this very day, I
interceded on the boy's behalf."

He picked up the
warrant and handed it to T'ai Cho, seeing his puzzlement change to a
bewildered horror. The blood drained from the man's face. T'ai Cho
bowed his head low, one trembling hand offering the warrant back.
"And you had this rescinded, Highness?"

"Not
rescinded, no. Postponed. Kim lives because I wish him to live. My
father has made him my responsibility. But I am a fair man. If Kim
does as I wish—if he comes up with the answers I want—then
I will tear up this document. You understand, T'ai Cho?"

T'ai Cho kept
his head lowered. "I understand, Highness."

* *
*

fei YEN was
sleeping when he came in. He stood above her, in partial darkness,
studying her features, then turned away, noting her discarded riding
clothes there on the floor beside the bed. He undressed and slipped
into the bed beside her, her body warm and naked beneath the silken
sheets; he pressed up close, his hand resting on the slope of her
thigh.

In the darkness
he smiled, content to lie there next to her. He was too awake, too
full of things, to sleep; even so he lay there quietly, mulling
things over, comforted by her warmth, her presence there beside him.

He understood
now. It was only natural for her to be jealous. It was even possible
that some strange, feminine instinct of hers had "known"
about his earlier relationship with the girls.

He closed his
eyes, listening to her gentle breathing, enjoying the sweet scent of
her, the silkiness of her skin beneath his fingers.

After a while he
rolled from her and lay there, staring up through layers of darkness
at the dim, coiled shape of dragons in the ceiling mosaic, thinking
of the boy. Kim was promising—very promising—and he would
make sure he got whatever he needed to complete his work. And if, at
the end of the year, his results were good, he would reward him
handsomely.

That was a
lesson he had learned from his father. Such talent as Kim had should
be harnessed, such men rewarded well, or destroyed, lest they destroy
you. Control was the key. Directed interest.

He stretched and
yawned. He had not felt so good in a long time. It was as if
everything had suddenly come clear. He laughed softly. It made him
feel wonderful—hugely benevolent.

A smile came to
his lips as he thought of the thing he had bought Fei Yen that very
evening, after he had come from the boy. A thoroughbred, an Arab
stallion bred from a line of champions. Its pure white flanks, its
fine, strong legs, its proud, aristocratic face—all these
combined to form an animal so beautiful that he had known at once she
would want it.

He had had it
shipped directly to his stables here at Tongjiang. He would take her
first thing in the morning to see it.

He smiled,
imagining the delight in her face. Beside him Fei Yen stirred and
turned onto her back.

He sat up, then
turned, looking down at her. Slowly, carefully, he drew back the
sheet, letting it slip from her body, exposing her nakedness. For a
while he simply looked, tracing the subtle curves of her body, his
fingers not quite touching the surface of her flesh. So delicate she
was. So beautiful. A perfect sculpture of the living flesh.

Wake up,
he
thought.
Wake up, my love.
But the wish was unrequited. Fei
Yen slept on.

He lay there a
while longer, unable to relax, then got up and put on his robe. His
desire had passed the point where he could lie there and forget it.
He went into the marbled bathroom and stood there in the shower,
letting the cold, hard jets of water purge him.

He stood there a
while longer, mindlessly enjoying the flow of water over his limbs.
It was lukewarm now, but still refreshing, like a fall of rain,
clearing his mind. He was standing there, his arms loose at his
sides, when she appeared in the doorway.

"Yuan . . .
?"

He looked up
slowly, half conscious of her, and smiled. "You're awake?"

She smiled,
looking at him. "Of course. I was waiting for you."

She slipped off
her robe and came to him, stepping into the shower beside him, then
gave a small shriek.

"Why, Yuan!
It's freezing!" She backed out, laughing.

He laughed, then
reached up to cut the flow. Looking across he saw how her skin was
beaded with tiny droplets.

"Like
jewels," he said, stepping out.

She fetched a
towel and knelt beside him, drying him, tending to him obediently, as
a wife ought. He looked down, feeling a vague desire for her, but he
had doused his earlier fierceness.

She stood to dry
his shoulders and his hair, her body brushing against his, her
breasts and thighs touching him lightly as she moved about him.
Turning from him she went to the cupboards, returning a moment later
with powders and unguents.

"A treat,"
she said, standing before him, the fingers of one hand caressing his
chest. "But come, let's go into the bedroom."

She laughed,
then pushed him through the door before her. It was a raw, strangely
sexual laugh, one he had not heard from her before. It made him turn
and look at her, as if to find her transformed, but it was only Fei
Yen.

"I've
missed you," she said as she began to rub oils into his
shoulders, his neck, the top of his back. "Missed you a lot."
And as her fingers worked their way down his spine he shivered, the
words echoing in his head. "Like breath itself, my husband. Like
breath itself. . ."

* *
*

six HOURS LATER
and half a world away, in the Mids of Danzig Canton, Marshal Tolonen
was standing in the main office of the newly formed Wiring Project.
He had seen for himself the progress that had been made in the three
days since he had last visited the laboratories. Then there had been
nothing—nothing but bare rooms—now there was the
semblance of a working facility, even though most of the equipment
remained in cases, waiting to be unpacked.

Tolonen turned
as Administrator Spatz came hurriedly into the room, bowing low,
clearly flustered by the Marshal's unannounced arrival.

"Marshal
Tolonen, please forgive me. I was not expecting you."

Tolonen smiled
inwardly. No, he thought,
you weren't. And I'll make it my
practice in future to call here unannounced.
He drew himself
upright. "I've come to advise you on the last two appointments
to your team."

He saw how Spatz
hesitated before nodding and wondered why that was; then, pushing the
thought from his mind, he turned and snapped his fingers. At once his
equerry handed him two files.

"Here,"
Tolonen said, passing them across. "Please, be seated while you
study them."

Spatz bowed,
then sat at his desk, opening the first of the files, running his
finger over the apparently blank page, the warmth of his touch
bringing the characters alive briefly on the specially treated paper.
After only a minute he looked up, frowning.

"Forgive
me, Marshal, but I thought the last two places were to be filled by
working scientists."

"That was
the intention."

Spatz looked
aside, then looked back up at the Marshal, choosing his words
carefully. "And yet... well, this man T'ai Cho—he has no
scientific background whatsoever. He is a tutor. His qualifications .
. ."

Tolonen nodded.
"I understand your concern,
Shih
Spatz, but if you would
look at the other file."

Spatz nodded,
still uncertain; then he set the first file aside, opening the
second. Again he ran his finger over the page. This time, however, he
took his time, working through the file steadily, giving small nods
of his head and occasional grunts of surprise or satisfaction.
Finished, he looked up, smiling broadly. "Why, the man's record
is extraordinary. I'm surprised I've not heard of him before. Is he
from one of the other Cities?"

Tolonen was
staring past Spatz, studying the charts on the wall behind him. "You
could say that."

Spatz nodded to
himself. "And when will he be joining us?"

Tolonen looked
back at him. "Right now, if you like."

Spatz looked up.
"Really?" He hesitated, then nodded again. "Good. Then
there's just one small thing. A mistake, here on the first page."
He ran his finger over the top of the page again, then looked up, a
bland smile on his lips. "The date of birth. . ."

Tolonen looked
away, snapping his fingers. A moment later his equerry returned. This
time he was accompanied. "There's no mistake," Tolonen
said, turning back.

There was a look
of astonishment on Spatz's face. "You mean, this is Ward?"

Tolonen looked
across at the boy, trying to see him as Spatz saw him; as he himself
had first seen him, before he had seen the films that demonstrated
the boys abilities. Looking at him, it seemed almost impossible that
this scrawny, dark-haired creature was the accomplished scientist
described in the personnel file; yet it was so. Berdichev had not
been alone in believing the boy was something special.

Spatz laughed.
"Is this some kind of joke, Marshal?"

Tolonen felt
himself go cold with anger. He glared back at Spatz and saw the man
go white beneath the look.

Spatz stood
quickly, bowing his head almost to the desktop. "Forgive me,
Marshal, I did not mean . . ."

"Look after
him, Spatz," Tolonen answered acidly. "Allocate a man to
take care of him for the next few days until his tutor, T'ai Cho,
joins him." He shivered, letting his anger drain from him. "And
you'll ensure he comes to no harm."

He saw Spatz
swallow dryly and nodded to himself, satisfied that he had cowed the
man sufficiently. "Good. Then I'll leave him in your custody."

* *
*

SPATZ WATCHED
Tolonen go, then turned his attention to the boy. For a moment he was
speechless, still too astonished to take in what it all meant; then
he sat heavily and leaned forward, putting his hand down on the
summons button. At once his assistant appeared in the doorway.

"Get
Hammond in here," he said, noting the way his assistant's eyes
went to the boy. "At once!"

He sat back,
steepling his hands together, staring across at the boy. Then he
laughed and shook his head. "No . . ."

Now that the
first shock was wearing off, he was beginning to feel annoyed,
angered by the position he had been put in. Now he would have to
return the money he had been given to put names forward for the
vacancies. Not only that, but in the place of real scientists he had
been lumbered with a no-hoper and a child. What had he done to
deserve such a thing? Who had he angered?

He looked down
at his desk, sniffing deeply. "So you're a scientist are you,
Ward?"

When the boy
didn't answer, he looked up, anger blazing in his eyes. "I'll
tell you now. I don't know what game people higher up are playing,
but I don't believe a word of that file, understand me? And I've no
intention of letting you get near anything important. I may have to
nurse-maid you, but I'll be damned if I'll let you bugger things up
for me."

He stopped.
There was someone in the doorway behind the boy.

"You called
for me,
Shih
Spatz?"

"Come in,
Hammond. I want you to meet our latest recruit, Kim Ward."

He saw how
Hammond glanced at the boy, then looked about the room before finally
coming back to him.

"You mean,
you're
Ward?" Hammond asked, unable to hide his surprise.
"Well, the gods save us!" He laughed, then offered a hand.
"I'm Joel Hammond, Senior Technician on the Project."

Seeing how the
boy stared at Hammond's hand a moment before tentatively offering his
own, how he studied the meeting of their hands, as if it were
something wholly new to him, Spatz understood. The boy had never been
out in society before. Had never learned such ways. It made Spatz
think, made him reconsider what was in the file. Or, rather, what
wasn't. But he still didn't believe it. Why, the boy looked nine at
the very most. He could not have done so much in so brief a time, "I
want you to look after the boy, Hammond. Until his ... guardian
arrives."

"His
guardian?" Hammond looked at Kim again, narrowing his eyes.

"T'ai Cho,"
Kim answered, before Spatz could explain. "He was my tutor at
the Recruitment Project. He was like a father to me."

Gods, thought
Spatz, more convinced than ever that someone up-level was fucking
with him, willing him to fail in this. A boy and his "father,"
that was all they needed! He leaned forward again, his voice suddenly
colder, more businesslike.

"Look,
Hammond. Get him settled in. Show him where things are. Then get back
here. Within the hour. I want to brief you more fully, right?"

Hammond glanced
at the boy again, giving the briefest of smiles; then he looked back
at Spatz, lowering his head. "Of course, Director. Whatever you
say."

* *
*

"Well,
Yuan, can I take it off yet?"

He turned her to
face him, then untied the silk from her eyes, letting it fall to the
ground. She looked up at him, wide-eyed, uncertain, then gave a
small, nervous laugh.

"There,"
he said, pointing beyond her, smiling broadly now.

She turned,
looking about her at the stables. The grooms were standing about
idly, their jobs momentarily forgotten, watching the young Prince and
his bride, all of them grinning widely, knowing what Li Yuan had
arranged.

She frowned, not
knowing what she was looking for, then turned back, looking at him.