Authors: David Wingrove
Tsu Ma took his peach brandy, giving Ebert a brief smile, then turned back to face his fellow T’ang.
‘You know my feelings on the matter, Shai Tung. Things are still uncertain. We have given our friends considerable rewards already. To break up the one hundred and eighteen Companies and offer them as spoils to them might cause resentment amongst those not party to the share-out. It would simply create a new generation of malcontents. No. My vote will be to appoint stewards. To run the companies for ten, maybe fifteen years, and then offer them on the market to the highest bidder. That way we prevent resentment and, at the same time, through keeping a tight rein on what is, after all, nearly a fifth of the market, help consolidate the Edict of Technological Control.’
Ebert, holding the tray out before Hal Shepherd, tried to feign indifference to the matter being discussed, but as heir to GenSyn, the second largest Company on the Hang Seng Index, it was difficult not to feel crucially involved in the question of the confiscated Companies.
‘What is this?’
Ebert raised his head and looked at Shepherd. ‘It is Yang Sen’s Spring Wine Tonic,
Shih
Shepherd. Li Shai Tung asked me to bring you a glass of it. It has good restorative powers.’
Shepherd sniffed at the glass, then looked past Ebert at the old T’ang. ‘This smells rich, Shai Tung. What’s in it?’
‘Brandy,
kao liang
, vodka, honey, gingseng, japonica seeds, oh, and many more things that are good for you, Hal.’
‘Such as?’
Tsu Ma laughed and turned in his seat to look at Shepherd. ‘Such as red-spotted lizard and sea-horse and dried human placenta. All terribly good for you, my friend.’
Shepherd looked at Tsu Ma a moment, then looked back at Li Shai Tung. ‘Is that true, Shai Tung?’
The old T’ang nodded. ‘It’s true. Why, does it put you off, Hal?’
Shepherd laughed, the laugh lines etched deep now in his pallid face. ‘Not at all.’ He tipped the glass back and drank heavily, then shuddered and handed the half-empty glass to the nurse.
Tsu Ma gave a laugh of surprise. ‘One should sip Yang Sen, friend Hal. It’s strong stuff. Matured for eighteen months before it’s even fit to drink. And this is Shai Tung’s best. A twelve-year brew.’
‘Yes...’ said Shepherd hoarsely, laughing, his rounded eyes watering. ‘I see that now.’
Tsu Ma watched the ill man a moment longer then turned and faced Ebert. ‘Well, Major, and how is your father?’
Ebert bowed deeply. ‘He is fine,
Chieh Hsia.
’
Li Shai Tung leaned forward. ‘I must thank him for all he has done these last few months. And for the generous wedding gift he has given my son today.’
Ebert turned and bowed again. ‘He would be honoured,
Chieh Hsia
.’
‘Good. Now tell me, before you leave us. Candidly now. What do
you
think we should do about the confiscated companies?’
Ebert kept his head lowered, not presuming to meet the T’ang’s eyes, even when asked so direct a question. Neither was he fooled by the request for candour. He answered as he knew the T’ang would want him to answer.
‘I believe his Excellency, Tsu Ma, is right,
Chieh Hsia.
It is necessary to placate the Above. To let wounds heal and bitterness evaporate. In appointing stewards the markets will remain stable. Things will continue much as normal, and there will be none of the hectic movements on the Index that a selling-off of such vast holdings would undoubtedly bring. As for rewards, the health and safety of the Seven is reward enough, surely? It would be a little man who would ask for more.’
The old T’ang’s eyes smiled. ‘Thank you, Hans. I am grateful for your words.’
Ebert bowed and backed away, knowing he had been dismissed.
‘A fine young man,’ said Li Shai Tung, when Ebert had gone. ‘He reminds me more of his father every day. The same bluff honesty. Tolonen’s right. He should be general when he’s of age. He’d make my son a splendid general, don’t you think?’
‘An excellent general,’ Tsu Ma answered him, concealing any small qualms he had about Major Hans Ebert. His own Security reports on Ebert revealed a slightly different picture.
‘Now that we’re alone,’ Li Shai Tung continued, ‘I’ve other news.’
‘What’s that?’ Tsu Ma asked, stubbing out his cheroot in the porcelain tray on the
kang
beside him.
‘I’ve heard from Karr. Berdichev is dead.’
Tsu Ma laughed, his eyes wide. ‘You’re certain?’
‘I’ve seen it with these eyes. Karr was wired up to transmit all he saw and heard.’
‘Then it’s over.’
Li Shai Tung was silent a moment, looking down. When he looked up again his eyes seemed troubled. ‘I don’t think so.’ He looked across at Shepherd. ‘Ben was right after all, Hal. We’ve killed the men, and yet the symptoms remain.’
Shepherd smiled bleakly. ‘Not all the men. There’s still DeVore.’
The old T’ang lowered his head slightly. ‘Yes. But Karr will get him. As he got Berdichev.’
Tsu Ma leaned forward. ‘A useful man, Karr. Maybe we ought to mass-produce the fellow. Give Old Man Ebert a patent for the job.’
Li Shai Tung laughed and lifted his feet one at a time from the turtle stool. ‘Maybe.’ He pulled himself up and stretched. ‘First, however, I have another idea I want you to consider. Something Li Yuan has been working on these last few months. I’m going to introduce it in Council tomorrow, but I wanted to sound you out first.’
Tsu Ma nodded and settled back with his drink, watching the old T’ang as he walked slowly up and down the room.
‘It was an idea Li Yuan had years ago, when he was eight. He was out hawking with Han Ch’in when one of the hawks flew high up in a tree and refused to come down to the lure. Han Ch’in, impatient with the hawk, took the control box from the servant and destroyed the bird.’
‘Using the homing-wire in the bird’s head?’
‘Exactly.’
Tsu Ma took a sip, then tilted his head slightly. ‘I’ve never had to do that, myself.’
‘Nor I,’ agreed Li Shai Tung. ‘And it was the first I had heard of the matter when Li Yuan told me of it six months back. However, until then Li Yuan had not realized that the birds were wired up in that way. It made him wonder why we didn’t have such a thing for men.’
Tsu Ma laughed. ‘Men are not hawks. They would not let themselves be bound so easily.’
‘No. And that is exactly what Li Yuan told himself. Yet the idea was still a good one. He argued it thus. If the man was a good man he had no fear of having such a wire put into his head. It would make no difference. And if the man was a bad man, then he
ought
to have the wire.’
‘I like that. Even so, the fact remains, men are not hawks. They like the illusion of freedom.’
Li Shai Tung stopped before Hal Shepherd and leaned forward a moment, placing his hand on the shoulder of his old friend, a sad smile on his face, then turned back, facing Tsu Ma.
‘And if we gave them that illusion? If we could make them think they
wanted
the wires in their heads?’
‘Easier said than done.’
‘But not impossible. And Li Yuan has come up with a scheme by which the majority of men might do just that.’
Tsu Ma sat back, considering. ‘And the technicalities of this?’
Li Shai Tung smiled. ‘As ever, Tsu Ma, you anticipate me. There are, indeed, problems with creating such a control system. Men’s brains are far more complex than a hawk’s, and the logistics of tracking forty billion separate individuals through the three hundred levels of the City are far greater than the problems involved in tracing a few hawks on an estate. It is fair to say that Li Yuan has made little progress in this regard. Which is why there is a need to invest time and money in research.’
‘I see. And that’s what you want from the Council tomorrow? Permission to pursue this line of enquiry?’
Li Shai Tung inclined his head slightly. ‘It would not do for a T’ang to break the Edict.’
Tsu Ma smiled. ‘Quite so. But rest assured, Shai Tung, in this as in other things, you have my full support in Council.’ He drained his glass and set it down. ‘And the rest of your scheme?’
Li Shai Tung smiled. ‘For now, enough. But if you would honour me by being my guest at Tongjiang this autumn, we might talk some more. Things will be more advanced by then and Li Yuan, I know, would be delighted to tell you about his scheme.’
Tsu Ma smiled. ‘It would be my great honour and delight. But come, talking of Li Yuan, we have neglected your son and his new wife far too much already. I have yet to congratulate him on his choice.’
Both men pretended not to see the flicker of doubt that crossed the old T’ang’s face.
‘And you, Hal?’ Li Shai Tung turned to face his old friend. ‘Will you come through?’
Shepherd smiled. ‘Later, perhaps. Just now I feel a little tired. Too much Yang Sen, I guess.’
‘Ah. Maybe so.’ And, turning sadly away, Li Shai Tung took Tsu Ma’s arm and led him out into the gathering in the Great Hall.
Karr leaned across the desk and, with one hand, pulled the man up out of his seat, the front of the man’s powder blue silk tunic bunched tightly in his fist.
‘What do you mean, “
Can’t
”? I’m leaving today. By the first craft available. And I’m taking those files with me.’
For a moment the man’s left hand struggled to reach the summons pad on his desk, then desisted. He had heard what a maniac Karr was, but he’d never believed the man would storm into his office and physically attack him.
‘Don’t you know who I
am
?’ he screeched, his voice half-strangled. ‘I’m Governor of Mars. You can’t do this to me!’
Karr dragged the man across the desk until he was eye to eye with him. ‘You’re a fine one to lecture me on what can and can’t be done, Governor Schenck. You were ordered to give me full assistance, but you’ve been nothing but obstructive since I came back to Tian Men K’ou City.’
The Governor swallowed painfully. ‘But... the investigation... Feng Shou Station’s destroyed, the pipeline badly damaged.’
‘That’s your concern. Mine is to report back to my T’ang at the earliest opportunity, and to take back with me all relevant information. You knew that. You had your orders.’
‘But...’
Karr leaned back across the desk and threw Schenck down into his chair, then slammed his fist down on the summons pad.
‘Do you want war with the Seven?’
‘
What?
’ Schenck’s face blanched.
‘Because that’s what you’ll get if you take any further measures to keep me here. By a special Edict of the Seven I was authorized to do as I saw fit to bring the traitor Berdichev to justice and to reclaim any files or documents relating to that same person. That I have done. Now, tell me,
Shih
Schenck, what has your investigation to do with me?’
‘I...’ he began, then saw the door open behind Karr.
Karr turned at once. ‘Bring the Berdichev files. At once.’
The underling looked past Karr at Governor Schenck. ‘Excellency?’
Karr turned back to Schenck. ‘Well? Will you defy the Seven and sign your own death warrant, or will you do as I request?’
Schenck swallowed again, then bowed his head. ‘Do as he says. And while you’re at it, prepare Major Karr’s clearance for the
Tientsin.
He leaves us this afternoon.’
‘At once, Excellency.’
‘Good,’ said Karr, settling his huge frame into the tiny chair, facing Schenck. ‘Now tell me, Governor, who ordered you to keep me here?’
Back on Chung Kuo, DeVore looked up from the files and stared hard at his lieutenant. ‘Is this all?’
Wiegand bowed his head. ‘For now, Excellency. But our contacts have promised us more. You’ll know all you need to know about these scum before you meet with them again.’
‘Good. Because I want to know who’s good at what, and who’s responsible for what. I want to know where they came from and what they ultimately want. And I want no guesses. I want facts.’
‘Of course, Excellency. I’ll see to it at once.’
Wiegand bowed low, then turned and went.
A good man
, thought DeVore, watching him go.
Intelligent and reliable, despite that business with Lehmann and the Notice
.
He got up and came round his desk, then stood there, studying the huge, blown-up photograph of the five
Ping Tiao
leaders that Wiegand had pinned to the wall.
The simple black and white image was clear and sharp, the life-size faces of the five terrorists standing out perfectly, Gesell in their centre. It had been taken ten or fifteen seconds into the meeting, the tiny lens cameras activated when he’d nodded to indicate the half-map on the table in front of Gesell. His intention had been merely to get images of the other four
Ping Tiao
leaders so they could be traced through his contacts in Security, yet what the picture captured most clearly was the intense, almost insane suspicion. DeVore smiled. He had sensed something of it at the time, but had been too engrossed in his own scheme to make anything of it. Now, seeing it so vividly – so physically – expressed, he realized he had missed something of real importance.
They were scared, yes, but it was more than that. They were on the run. Their cockiness was merely a front. Gesell’s bluster masked a general fear that someone would come along and simply wipe them out. They and everything they stood for. They had suffered too many setbacks, too many betrayals by their own kind. They were paranoid, afraid of their own shadows.
But that was good. He could use that. It would give him the whip hand when they met in two days’ time.
He went through what he knew. The Han male to the far left of the picture was Shen Lu Chua, a computer systems expert, trained as a mathematician. He was in his mid-thirties, his clean-shaven face long and drawn. Beside him was a rather pretty-looking woman with finely chiselled features – a
Hung Mao
, though her dark, fine hair was cut like a Han’s. Her name was Emily Ascher and she was an economist, though of more interest to DeVore was the fact that she was Gesell’s lover. On the other side of Gesell – second from the right in the photo – was the Han female, Mao Liang. She was an interesting one. The fourth daughter of a quite prominent Minor Family, she had been raised and educated at First Level, but had rebelled against her upbringing in her late teens and, after a year of arguments at home, had vanished into the lower levels, surfacing only now, five years on, amongst the
Ping Tiao.