The Kingdom of Four Rivers

by Guy Salvidge

“When? In the future?”

  She nodded eagerly. “Yes. I hate being stuck here.”

  Liang understood. He felt trapped too, but sleeping in a cold coffin wasn't his idea of freedom. “You can't get away like that,” he said gently. “We'll run away. Well, we have run away.” Now he understood her obsession, the force that had been driving her.

  “But this isn't freedom,” she said. “This is misery. No food, no possessions, nothing. Like you said.”

  “We'll find something underground,” he said. Now he was comforting her. Ji Tao seemed to shrink slightly, as though the release of her suppressed desire had deflated her. He put his arm around her. “It'll be all right, Ji Tao.”

  “I hope so,” she whispered.

  When it had cooled down a little, they began to walk the final stretch to Shulao. Liang was conscious of the need to conserve his remaining energy. Hunger had made them weak, and they were running out of water. With this in mind, the first glimpse of the city's ruined dome did not fill Liang with joy. They would need to be very extremely careful.

  “We've made it,” Ji Tao said.

  “Keep your voice down,” Liang said. Now he was the one chiding her.

  The great shield radiated heat, parching them. Liang and Ji Tao entered the city between two massive shards of shield jutting out several hundred metres toward the sky. Liang could picture the bombs raining down. He pushed this image from his mind, and concentrated on placing his damaged leg not there but here. He tried to keep up with Ji Tao, but she forged on ahead. Again he contemplated whether she might abandon him to his fate. Their earlier discussion seemed distant, now that the object of her obsession was close at hand. But then Liang was aware that he himself was being driven on, through the pain, through the exhaustion.

  “Wait for me!” he cried, redoubling his efforts. There was a red haze around him but he was passing rapidly through it. Before he knew it they were in the shield's shadow; they were approaching the vast, empty towers. Liang thought then of the phantasmogoric spire he had seen in his fevered dash through the jungle. Did the spire correspond with one of the towers he saw before him now? But in his vision, he had been going up, while Ji Tao's own desires lay downward, below their feet.

  “There it is,” Ji Tao said, waving to him. “That's the one.”

  It was a tower like any other. Liang remembered the flight from the scavengers, his own excitement at riding the lift to the top floor. It was returning to him now. He was going to keep on living. All semblance of caution had been abandoned. The pain seemed to fade away. He realised that it was his last burst of energy. Ji Tao ran, and he surprised himself by running too.

  They ran into the darkened foyer, just as Liang remembered it, and went over to the lift. One of the lifts was here on the ground floor, the letter G illuminated on the display. They had made it. Ji Tao pressed the button and they stepped inside. She took the key from around her neck and slotted it into the keyhole. Then she pressed the button marked -4 and the lift began to descend.

  Chapter Fourteen

  S: My friend, you do not look well.

  K: You lied to me. You said the condition was curable.

  S: My physician tells you otherwise?

  K: You know damn well that he did. He said there was nothing he could do for me. Nothing.

  S: This is most distressing. Perhaps I can apply some pressure—

  K: What's the point? He said it's incurable, that I might not have more than days to live. I'm finished.

  S: There is no cure. But I was led to believe that certain palliative procedures might be available. Is this not so?

  K: What does it matter? I—

  S: You need to calm down. You're in no condition to exert yourself.

  K: Why wake me up for this? To die again?

  S: You flatter yourself. In truth I begin to tire of our conversations. You were not woken to 'die again,' no. You were woken because you might have been of some use to us. And you have been, Kai Sen. You have provided a valuable service.

  K: What service? Inciting the peasants so that you can crush them?

  S: Such bitterness. You might be interested to hear that your friend Chen Cheng has made some progress in his mission.

  K: My friend? He's no friend of mine. He tried to kill me.

  S: Did he? You didn't mention that. At any rate, such a deed is hardly necessary now. But let me continue. Cheng reports that he has captured one of the vagabonds and that another drowned in the Wu.

  K: Not Ji Tao—

  S: You've developed quite an affinity for her, haven't you? Then you will be pleased to discover that it was not Chen Ji Tao that drowned in the river, but her cousin Liang.

  K: Liang's dead? And who did Cheng capture?

  S: Chen Sovann. She's in custody now. Cheng tells me that young Sovann was quite distraught over what happened to Liang. It seems her own husband died in a similar manner.

  K: So Ji Tao is still free?

  S: Free? Yes, but not for much longer. It seems that she is heading for Shulao, of all places. And now I want to ask you a question. You spoke with this woman, you know her mind. Tell me, what would possibly motivate her to return to Shulao?

  K: She probably thinks she'll be safe in the Institute of Cryonics. She has the only key, after all.

  S: That's so. Do you think she might try to sabotage the remaining freezers to spite us?

  K: I doubt it. Has she made it to Shulao, then?

  S: Possibly, but my agents are close at hand. I think between Bao Min and Cheng, they ought to be able to capture one unarmed peasant.

  K: Not if she gets there first. You underestimate her.

  S: And you overestimate her. At any rate, Bao Min reports that his team has managed to access the lower levels.

  K: How? I thought that wasn't possible without the key?

  S: It seems that by rewiring the power, he was able to raise the barrier on the stairs. Do you know anything about this?

  K: No, I don't. I'm sure Ji Tao doesn't know about it either.

  S: I concur. Really, Kai Sen, you shouldn't invest too much hope in Chen Ji Tao. She has done extraordinarily well to get this far, I'll give her that. The girl must be incredibly resourceful. But she will be in custody forthwith.

  K: Where are Cheng and Sovann now?

  S: Chen Sovann has been transferred to a holding facility in Zhenghe. Cheng will be arriving in Shulao within the hour. I thought you might want to be made aware of these developments.

  K: Thank you. What is Cheng's mission?

  S: His first priority is to safeguard the sleepers and to neutralise any threat.

  K: Neutralise? That's his sister we're talking about.

  S: Cheng seems quite willing to make a sacrifice in this case. Really, I have been most impressed by his attitude.

  K: What are his other priorities?

  S: Once the threat has been neutralised, he is to revive the remaining sleepers and bring them directly to Baitang.

  K: What will Bao Min think of this?

  S: Bao Min has not been told of Cheng's imminent arrival. His instructions are to gain access to the facility, which he has done, and to safeguard the facility. But he has been explicitly told not to revive the sleepers.

  K: I don't understand.

  S: Clearly you don't. I said Cheng and his team were to neutralise any threat.

  K: This includes Bao Min?

  S: Yes. Bao Min has proven to be an unreliable agent. It seems only fitting that the man he recruited should usurp him. Bao Min is not without a chance, it must be said. If he can defeat Cheng, then it shall be he who brings the sleepers back.

  K: But Cheng has the element of surprise.

  S: Correct. And now you understand the game.

  K: It's just a game to you, isn't it? These are people's lives we're talking about.

  S: I am the administrator of Baitang, Kai Sen. I am among the most powerful men in the Kingdom. It is not always possible to consider the needs of the individual in the l
ight of the needs of the whole.

  K: What about Ji Tao? You won't harm her?

  S: I cannot guarantee her safety, of course. She has got herself into a dangerous predicament. But I can promise you that neither Cheng nor Bao Min have been instructed to eliminate her. They are to use their discretion. It is my sincere desire that Ji Tao be brought back alive. I would like to speak with her personally, and I'm sure you would too.

  K: I would. But there's no way of warning her.

  S: No. The die is cast. Now we must wait to see where it lands.

  K: I don't understand why this is so important to you.

  S: It is as I said—we owe a debt to our forebears. We are committed to reviving and retrieving them where possible. But it is also possible to further multiple goals simultaneously. Therein lies the art of good governance.

  K: So you are the puppet master, and they are your puppets.

  S: You are getting a handle on this, in your final days! It is truly a shame that your condition really is incurable, my friend. You could have made an astute advisor. But alas! It is not to be.

  K: What's that supposed to mean?

  S: Patience. Time will tell.

  *

  It was musty here; their torches lit up dust suspended in the air. -4 was the Hydroponics level, but there did not appear to be anything edible here. All Liang could see was row upon row of glass containers, with nothing more than a few ancient, withered leaves inside. The air filters had started up, pumping stale air into the chamber.

  “Let's try the next one down,” Ji Tao said. “That was the Stores level, I think.”

  “That's right,” Liang said, his mouth dry. They got back into the lift and went down to -5. Something was different here; there were lights on everywhere. Liang wondered whether his family had left them on before.

  Cautiously, they made their way into the maze of corridors and storerooms. They were looking for something—anything—to eat or drink.

  “I think there was a freezer room at the back somewhere,” Liang said. “We didn't end up going in there, remember?”

  “What freezer room?” Ji Tao asked.

  “Maybe I was with Yi Min. Come on.”

  If his memory served him right, then the freezer should be through this door and along the corridor. Now was it left or right at the end? Yes, he knew where he was now. “Here it is,” he said, pointing to a grey metal door in an alcove. Peering through the tiny window, Liang saw rows of shelves. There was a light on inside. “I don't remember that being on,” he said.

  “Open it.”

  Liang pressed the button. There was a hiss of pressure releasing and the door slid open. Cold air plumed out. The light in the freezer room had been turned on, but by whom? As far as Liang was aware, no one had entered this room for hundreds of years. But he pushed these thoughts away—the need for food and drink predominated. The shelves were stacked with crates full of cans and cardboard boxes. The walls of the freezer were covered in ice, and the shelves were coated with a thick layer of ice that must have accumulated over time, dripping down to form icicles on the underside. Liang snapped one off and licked it experimentally. A bitter taste, but it was definitely water.

  “Come on,” Liang said. “Let's thaw out some of this stuff and see if it's edible.” They lugged a couple of crates out of the freezer room.

  “How do you know this won't make us sick?” Ji Tao asked, sifting through the crates in search of something recognisable.

  “I don't. It probably needs cooking. Come on, or everything will thaw out.”

  “What are we going to drink?”

  “Let's put these icicles in a bowl and wait for them to melt.”

  “There's got to be something else,” Ji Tao protested, but she did as he suggested, collecting more icicles from inside the freezer.

  When they were done, Liang pressed the button on the door, forgetting to turn the light out inside.

  “Why do you think all these lights are on?” Ji Tao asked. “We didn't leave them on, did we?”

  “Maybe someone's here.” Liang was taking boxes out of the crate nearest to him, laying them out on the floor.

  “But we've got the only key,” Ji Tao said. “Don't we?”

  “Maybe the sleepers have woken themselves up,” Liang joked. But it wasn't funny. Why were the lights on? “We should find some clean clothes to wear while we wait for this food to melt,” Liang said. “ And I want to find something for my leg.”

  They were filthy. Ji Tao looked like a beggar, her face black with mud. Liang had not thought about his leg much in recent days, but he knew it needed some kind of treatment. It was completely numb now, which might not be such a good thing. They found the rooms full of clothes, and selected garments to their liking. Liang chose some blue slacks and a pale green shirt. Ji Tao came out wearing jeans and a nondescript grey jumper.

  “You can have anything, and you chose that!” Liang laughed.

  “You look like a guard now,” Ji Tao retorted.

  “Don't worry—I'm still dirty underneath.”

  “I know. I wonder if this place has a shower?”

  “It's not a hotel! But there might be one around somewhere. Come on, I need something for my leg.” Liang had not dared to remove the makeshift bandage, fearing what the wound might look like.

  “-3 was the Medical level,” Ji Tao said. They started making their way back toward the lifts.

  Back in the lift room, Liang was about to press the button to open the doors when Ji Tao grabbed his arm. “Look!” she said, pointing to the stairwell.

  The metal grates over the stairwell had been retracted.

  Ji Tao didn't have to say anything. It was obvious that they weren't alone. They weren't safe. This wasn't the sanctuary they'd imagined.

  The display over the second lift began to change. It had been sitting on -3, and now it was going up.

  “What do we do?” Liang said.

  “Don't panic,” Ji Tao said. “Let's think for a minute. Okay, the stairwell's open. But the lift can't go lower than -3 without the key, right? And I've got the key.”

  “But they can walk down the stairs! It might be Cheng.”

  “That's right, they can come down the stairs, but they don't know we're here yet, do they?” The number on the panel was changing: -1, G, 1, 2, 3....

  “It's going up to the top floor,” Liang said. “There's still time to get out, but we've got to hurry.”

  “Where will we go?” Ji Tao demanded. “We can't leave.”

  “Cheng will turn us in.”

  “You don't know that it's Cheng.”

  “So what do you suggest?”

  “We go down. We hide.”

  “What about the food we left out?” Liang thought of the boxes scattered in the hall near the freezer, and their filthy rags left lying in the rooms full of clothes.

  “There isn't time.” The lift was up to 15 now and was still rising. Ji Tao went over to the stairwell but Liang hesitated. “Come on,” she said.

  “We can't hide in the crypt,” Liang said. “It's too cold. Let's go up.”

  “No, we're going down.” There wasn't time to persuade her otherwise. Liang would have to follow. “Let's see what's on -6,” Ji Tao said.

  But Ji Tao did not stop at -6. Liang could not escape the feeling that they were descending to their doom. He blocked Ji Tao's way. “Come back up,” he pleaded. “We'll be trapped down here.”

  “No,” she said, barging past him. “Get out of the way.”

  “You'll get us killed!”

  But Ji Tao wasn't listening. Liang could tell that she was going to walk down to the bottom level, -8. Why was she so stubborn with danger so close at hand?

  Then they heard voices from below.

  “Someone's down there!” Liang hissed. He ran over to the lift and pressed the call button. The lift was still on -5, so it only had to descend two levels. Meanwhile the other lift was on 52, as Liang had predicted.

  “Give me the
key. Hurry up!” he said. But it was too late. There were footsteps on the stairs now. Liang saw Ji Tao standing there as though dumbstruck. He could see the key still dangling from her neck.

  Run.

  He pressed the button on the door that led to the rest of level -7. The door slid open. Liang had just enough time to read the red writing on the wall near the lift before he had to flee.

  Liang wasn't a good reader, but he'd seen this word written down before:

  ARMAMENTS.

  *

  Bao Min leered in her face, his breath stinking of fish. “Where are your friends?” he said. They had tied Ji Tao up with a length of rope, pinning her hands behind her back.

  “I d...don't know,” Ji Tao stammered. She took a deep breath. You're not going to blubber, she informed herself.

  Bao Min was accompanied by two other men, but she couldn't get a good look at their faces. One of them was pushing her up against the wall. Her cheek was pressed against the cold metal.

  “Hey Bao!” the other unknown man said. “Look at the lift!”

  “Don't move,” the man holding her said. “Look at the wall.”

  Ji Tao did as instructed. They had guns. She heard their voices behind her:

  “It's coming down.”

  “What should we do?”

  “Maybe it will stop at the ground floor.”

  Then there was a pause. The men must be looking at the display over the lift. Ji Tao imagined the numbers ticking down. Was there a chance for her to slip away? No.

  “It must be her friends.” That was Bao Min speaking. Then she heard him coming up behind her. He spun her around and hit her in the face, but Ji Tao felt nothing. She resisted the urge to spit; it would only make things worse.

  “Who's that?” he said. “Want to tell me?” He hit her again, across the cheek this time. The blow was harder than the first but she did not cry out. Where had Liang got to? She saw the display: 14, 13, 12....

  “I'm alone,” she said. “I don't know who that is.”

  “Bullshit. I'll cut your throat!” Bao Min's face was full of rage. Strangely, she felt no fear. Beads of sweat gathered in the tiny folds on his forehead. His teeth were stained yellow.