Ice and Fire: Chung Kuo Series (10 page)

Tsu Ma answered him softly. ‘Not at all, Shai Tung. You mistake my meaning. Things
have changed. Many who were angry three years ago have cooled. They see things differently
now, even in
the House.’

Li Shai Tung looked about him, expecting strong disagreement with Tsu Ma’s remarks,
but there was nothing. They looked at him expectantly.

‘I still don’t follow you. You mean they’d have him back? After what he did?’

Tsu Ma shook his head. ‘Not as General, no. But in some other role.’

Li Shai Tung looked down sharply. It was more than he could have hoped for. But dare
he say yes? Dare he call the old rogue back?

‘We are not alone in thinking things have gone too far,’ said Wu Shih, picking up
on what Tsu Ma had said. ‘There are many at First Level – even among the
Hung Mao
– who feel we gave too much; were too timid in our dealings with the Dispersionists.
They would see the changes to the Edict reversed,
The New Hope
melted down.’

‘We daren’t go so far. There would be war, surely?’

Tsu Ma leaned forward. ‘Not if we challenge them in their own sphere.’

‘You mean the House?’

There were nods all around. So, they had discussed this between them. Why? Had he
been so preoccupied? So unreachable?

Wei Feng spoke for them all. ‘We know the last three years have been hard for you,
Shai Tung. You have tasted bitterness and we have had to watch in silence. But we
shall watch no longer,
or hold our tongues for fear of hurting you. We have seen the plan your advisor, Shepherd,
drew up and…’

Li Shai Tung sat forward jerkily. ‘Impossible! No one has seen those papers!’

Wei Feng waited a moment then continued. ‘Not impossible, old friend. Not at all.
Shepherd merely took advantage of his right as equal to appeal to us. He knew you
would not act as your
heart dictated, so he sent us copies.’

Li Shai Tung stared back at him, astonished. Then they knew…

‘And we agree.’ Wei Feng was smiling now. ‘Don’t you see, Li Shai Tung. We agree with
Shih
Shepherd’s proposals. Our enemies have gone too far. To kill your
son and take advantage from it – it was too much for any man to bear. And a T’ang
is not just any man. A T’ang is one of Seven.’

‘And the Seven?’

Wei Feng looked about him, then back at Li Shai Tung. ‘In this the Seven shall do
as Li Shai Tung decides.’

As the door at the far end of the room hissed open, steam billowed out into the corridor
beyond. Berdichev shivered but stood straighter, his skin still tingling from the
shower.

An armed guard stood there in the doorway, head bowed, a clean silk
pau
folded over one arm. Behind him stood two Han servants who, after a moment’s hesitation,
entered the room and
began to dry Berdichev with soft towels. When they had done, he went over to the guard
and took the full-length gown from him, pulling it on and tying it at the waist.

‘You have my charm?’

The guard’s head moved fractionally, but remained bowed. ‘I’m sorry, excellency. I
was given only the
pau
.’

Berdichev huffed impatiently and looked up at the overhead camera. Moments later an
official appeared at the far end of the corridor and hurried to him. The man bowed
deeply, his face flushed
with embarrassment, and held out one hand, offering the necklace.

‘My humble apologies, Excellency. I did not understand.’

Berdichev took the silver chain and fastened it about his neck, closing his hand over
the smooth surface of the charm a moment.
The impertinence of these little men
, he thought, making a
mental note of the official’s number – so prominently displayed on his chest – before
he waved him away. Then he waited as one of the two Han brought him anti-static slippers
while the other combed and plaited his hair. Only then, when they were finished, did
Director Clarac make his appearance.

Clarac embraced him lightly and then stepped back, smiling pleasantly, his appearance
and manner the very model of elegance and charm. Berdichev smiled tightly and gave
the barest of nods in
response to Clarac’s respectful bow. As ever, he was in two minds about Clarac’s value
to the project. He was a good front man, but the real work was done by his team of
four
assistants. Clarac had only to step out of line once and he would be out, family connections
or no.

Clarac’s voice oozed warmth and friendliness. ‘Soren! It’s a real delight to have
you here as our guest.’

Yes, thought Berdichev,
but I’m the last person you expected to see up here today. I bet you were shitting
your elegant white pants when you heard I was here
. That said, Berdichev
was impressed by what he had seen. The defences about The New Hope left nothing to
be desired. Neither had he had any reason to complain about the security measures
surrounding visitors to the
base. He had been forced to undergo the full body search and decontamination procedure.
And when he had tried to bully the guards into making an exception in his case, their
officer had politely
but firmly stated that there could be no exceptions – hadn’t
Shih
Berdichev insisted as much?

‘
Shih
Clarac,’ he answered, distancing the man at once and subtly reminding him of their
relative status. ‘I’m delighted to be here. But tell me, what are you
doing about the spy camera?’

Clarac’s momentary hesitation was telling. He was a man who prided himself on having
everything at his fingertips, but he had not counted on Berdichev’s directness. Clarac
was used
to social nicety. It was how he functioned. He approached such matters slowly, obliquely,
over wine and sweetmeats. But Berdichev had no time for such ‘niceties’.

‘We know about the remote,’ Clarac answered, recovering quickly. ‘In fact, if you’ll
permit me,
Shih
Berdichev, I’ll take you to our tracking
room.’

Berdichev nodded tersely and walked on, not waiting for Clarac, who had to hurry to
catch up with him.

‘And that gap in your defences – the blind spot on darkside – how do you account for
that?’

Clarac did not hesitate this time. ‘Our defence experts have assured me that nothing
of any real size could get through undetected. The blind spot, as you call it, is
a mere 30 degrees of
arc. Our central sensors would detect any ship coming in from five thousand
li
out. In any case, no one would come from that direction. There’s nothing out there.
You would have to
orbit the moon in a one-man craft to get into position. And who would do that?’

Berdichev stopped and stared at him a moment.

‘Besides which,’ Clarac added quickly, facing Berdichev, ‘there’s the question of
cost. To extend our defence satellite system to cover the darkside channel would cost
a
further one hundred and twenty million. The budget is already two hundred and eighty-five
per cent over original costings. Our investors are justifiably concerned…’

‘And if one man did just what you say is impossible and slipped in on the darkside?’

Clarac laughed. ‘If he did it would make no difference. Every airlock is linked to
central security. There are seals at every level. And more than a thousand security
men guarding the
outer shell alone. The inner shell is a self-sufficient unit which can be cut off
at once from the outer shell. As the engines and life-support systems are there, there’s
no possibility of
them being under threat. No, the only way the Seven could get at
The New Hope
would be to try to blow it out of the sky from below. And we’ve designed our defence
system to prevent
just that possibility.’

Berdichev sniffed, then, satisfied, nodded and began to walk on. Beside him, Clarac
began to talk about the progress they had made, the difficulties they had overcome,
but Berdichev was hardly
listening. He had seen the reports already. What he wanted were answers to some of
the things they might not have thought of. He wanted to make certain for himself that
nothing had been
overlooked.

In the tracking room he took a seat at the desk and listened while Clarac explained
the system. But all the time he was looking about him, noting things.

Interrupting Clarac he pointed to the screen that showed the remote spy camera. ‘You’re
certain it’s not a weapon?’

Clarac laughed. A laugh which, to Berdichev’s ear, was just a touch too self-confident.

‘We’ve scanned it thoroughly, of course. There’s an engine unit at the back of it
and a whole system of foils and anti-jamming devices, and though the central core
of it is
lead-screened, our experts have calculated that there’s barely enough room for the
camera unit, let alone any kind of weaponry.’

‘Unless they’ve developed something new, neh?’

Clarac looked at him and gave a slight bow, understanding that he would be allowed
nothing today. He would need answers for everything.

‘I’ve assumed that that might be the case. Which is why I personally ordered that
the thing should be tracked twenty-four hours a day. I’ve two lasers trained on the
aperture
constantly. At the smallest sign of unusual activity they’ll blow the thing apart.’

‘Before it can damage
The New Hope
?’

‘The lasers are set for automatic response. The remote would be blasted out of the
sky in less than a fiftieth of a second.’

Berdichev turned his head and looked at Clarac, for the first time letting a brief
smile signal his satisfaction.

‘Good. I want nothing to stop
The New Hope
from making its maiden flight three months from now.’

He saw the surprise on Clarac’s face, followed an instant later by a broad smile of
unfeigned delight. ‘But that’s excellent,
Shih
Berdichev! That’s marvellous
news! When did the Seven agree to this?’

‘They haven’t. But they will. Very soon now. By the week’s end there will be a proposal
in the House. We’re going to push them on this one. We’re going to make them
fulfil the promises they made three years ago. And then we’ll push some more. Until
there’s a whole fleet of these ships. You understand me? But this is the first, the
most important of
them.
The New Hope
will break their stranglehold. They know that and they’ll try to prevent it – but
we must pre-empt their every move. That’s why it’s so important
things are right up here. That’s why I came to see things for myself

Clarac bowed. ‘I understand, Shih Berdichev. You think, then, that we should extend
the satellite system?’

Berdichev shook his head. ‘No. I’m satisfied with your reasoning. As you say, it would
be impossible for a single man to do any real damage to the craft. Let us worry about
more
direct approaches, eh? And for a start let’s destroy that remote. I’m sure one of
our ferry craft could have a little accident, eh? A technical malfunction, perhaps,
that would place it
on a collision course?’

Clarac smiled. ‘Of course, Shih Berdichev. It shall be done at once.’

Fei Yen stood in the shade of the willow, waiting for the two princes to come along
the path that led to the bridge. She had seen their craft land only minutes earlier
and had
placed herself deliberately here where they would have to pass her. Her maids stood
off at a slight distance, amongst the trees, talking quietly amongst themselves and
pretending not to watch her,
but she knew they were as inquisitive as she. For the past three years they had shared
her tedious exile on her father’s estate, where she had seen no one but her brothers
and aunts. Today,
however, for the first time since the period of mourning had ended, she had been granted
permission to call upon the young prince – to stay a week and celebrate his birthday.

Seeing movement among the trees at the far end of the stone-flagged path, she turned
and signalled to the maids to be quiet.
Here they come!
she mimed exaggeratedly.

The maids giggled then, obedient, fell silent.

Fei Yen turned back to watch the two approach. But as they came closer she drew her
sandalwood fan and waved it impatiently, certain there must be a mistake. Where was
Tao Chu? Where was Tsu
Ma’s strapping young nephew?

She saw the taller of the boys hesitate, then touch the arm of the other and lean
close to whisper something. The smaller of them seemed to stare at her a moment, then
turn to the other and nod.
Only then did the older boy come on.

Three paces from her he stopped. At first she didn’t recognize him, he was so much
taller, so much gawkier than when she had seen him last.

‘Li Yuan?’

Li Yuan swallowed and then bowed; an awkward, stilted movement that betrayed his unease.
When he straightened up and looked at her again she saw his face was scarlet with
embarrassment. His lips
moved as if he was about to say something, but he had not formed the words when she
interrupted him.

‘Where is Tao Chu? I was told Tao Chu would be with you.’

There were giggles from the trees behind her, and she turned sharply, furious with
her maids, then turned back in time to see Li Yuan summon the small boy forward.

‘Fei Yen?’ said the boy, bowing elegantly like a tiny courtier. Then, in a lilting
yet hesitant voice that betrayed his unfamiliarity with English, he added, ‘I am most
honoured to meet you, Lady Fei. My uncle told me you were beautiful, but he did not
tell me how beautiful.’

She laughed, astonished. ‘And who have I the pleasure of addressing?’

The boy bowed again, enjoying her astonishment in the same way he had enjoyed the
applause of the T’ang earlier that day when he had played Tsu Tiao. ‘I am Tsu Tao
Chu, son of Tsu
Wen, and third nephew of the T’ang, Tsu Ma.’

The fan that she had been waving stopped in mid-motion and clicked shut. ‘Tao Chu?’
She laughed – a different, shorter laugh, expressing a very different kind of surprise
– then shook her head. ‘Oh, no. I mean, you can’t be. I was told…’