‘Ben?’
The young man was to the right, in the kitchen garden, close by the hinged door. He looked up from where he was kneeling at the edge of the path, almost as if he had expected Li Yuan to appear at that moment.
‘Li Yuan…’
Li Yuan went across and stood there over him, the late morning sunlight warming his neck and shoulders. ‘What are you doing?’
Ben patted the grass beside him. ‘I’m playing. Won’t you join me?’
Li Yuan hesitated then, sweeping his robes beneath him, knelt at Ben’s side.
Ben had removed a number of the rocks from the border of the flowerbeds, exposing the dark earth beneath. Its flattened surface was crisscrossed with tiny tunnels. On the grass beside him lay a long silver box with rounded edges, like an over-long cigar case.
‘What’s that?’ Li Yuan asked, curious.
Ben laughed. ‘That’s my little army. I’ll show you in a while. But look. It’s quite extensive, isn’t it?’
The maze of tiny tunnels spread out several ch’i in each direction.
‘It’s part of an ants’ nest,’ Ben explained. ‘Most of it’s down below, under the surface. A complex labyrinth of tunnels and levels. If you could dig it out in one big chunk it would be huge. Like a tiny City.’
‘I see,’ said Li Yuan, surprised by Ben’s interest. ‘But what are you doing with it?’
Ben leaned forward slightly, studying the movement in one of the tracks. ‘They’ve been pestering us for some while. Getting in the sugar jar and scuttling along the back of the sink. So Mother asked me to deal with them.’
‘Deal with them?’
Ben looked up. ‘Yes. They can be a real nuisance if you don’t deal with them. So I’m taking steps to destroy their nest.’
Li Yuan frowned then laughed. ‘I don’t understand, Ben. What do you do – use acid or something?’
Ben shook his head. ‘No. I use these.’ He picked up the silver case and handed it across to the young T’ang.
Li Yuan opened the case and immediately dropped it, moving back from it sharply.
‘It’s all right,’ Ben said, retrieving the case. ‘They can’t escape unless I let them out.’
Li Yuan shivered. The box was full of ants. Big, red, brutal-looking things. Hundreds of them, milling about menacingly.
‘You use them?’
Ben nodded. ‘Amos made them. He based them on polyergus – Amazon ants, as they’re known. They’re a soldier caste, you see. They go into other ants’ hives and enslave them. These are similar, only they don’t enslave, they simply destroy.’
Li Yuan shook his head slowly, horrified by the notion.
‘They’re a useful tool,’ Ben continued. ‘I’ve used them a lot out here. We get new nests every year. It’s a good job Amos made a lot of these. I’m forever losing half a dozen or so. They get clogged up with earth and stop functioning or, just occasionally, the real ants fight back and take them apart. Usually, however, they encounter very little resistance. They’re utterly ruthless, you see. Machines, that’s all they are. Tiny, super-efficient little machines. The perfect gardening tool.’
Ben laughed, but the joke was lost on Li Yuan.
‘Your father tells me I must be ruthless.’
Ben looked up from the ants and smiled. ‘It was nothing you didn’t know.’
Li Yuan looked back at Ben. As on the first occasion they had met – the day of his engagement to Fei Yen – he had the feeling of being with his equal, of being with a man who understood him perfectly.
‘Ben? Would you be my counsellor? My Chief Advisor? Would you be to me what your father was to my father?’
Ben turned, looking out across the bay, as if to take in his surroundings, then he looked back at Li Yuan.
‘I am not my father.’
‘Nor I mine.’
‘No.’ Ben sighed and looked down, tilting the case, making the ants run this way and that. There was a strange smile on his lips. ‘You know, I didn’t think it would tempt me, but it does. To try it for a while. To see what it would be like.’ He looked up again. ‘But, no, Li Yuan. It would simply be a game. My heart wouldn’t be in it. And that would be dangerous, don’t you think?’
Li Yuan shook his head. ‘You’re wrong. Besides, I need you, Ben. You were bred to be my helper, my advisor…’
He stopped, seeing how Ben was looking at him.
‘I can’t be, Li Yuan. I’m sorry, but there’s something else I have to do. Something more important.’
Li Yuan stared at him. Something more important? How could anything be more important than the business of government?
‘You don’t understand,’ Ben said. ‘I knew you wouldn’t. But you will. It may take twenty years, but one day you’ll understand why I said no today.’
‘Then I can’t persuade you?’
Ben smiled. ‘To be your Chief Advisor – to be what my father was to Li Shai Tung – that I can’t be. But I’ll be your sounding board if you ever need me, Li Yuan. You need only come here. And we can sit in the garden and play at killing ants, neh?’
Li Yuan stared back at him, not certain whether he was being gently mocked, then let himself relax, returning Ben’s smile.
‘All right. I’ll hold you to that promise.’
Ben nodded. ‘Good. Now watch. The best bit is always at the start. When they scuttle for the holes. They’re like hounds scenting blood. There’s something pure – something utterly pure – about them.’
Li Yuan moved back, watching as Ben flipped back the transparent cover to the case, releasing a bright red spill. They fell like sand on to the jet-black earth, scattering at once into the tiny tracks, the speed at which they moved astonishing. And then they were gone, like blood-soaked water drained into the thirsty earth, seeking out their victims far below.
It was as Ben had said: there was something pure – something quite fascinating – about them. Yet at the same time they were quite horrifying. Tiny machines, they were. Not ants at all. He shuddered. What in the gods’ names had Amos Shepherd been thinking when he’d made such things? He looked at Ben again.
‘And when they’ve finished… what happens then?’
Ben looked up at him, meeting his eyes. ‘They come back. They’re programmed to come back. Like the Hei you use beneath the Net. It’s all the same, after all. All very much the same.’
Hans Ebert sat back in his chair, his face dark with anger.
‘Karr did what?’
Scott bowed his head. ‘It’s all here, Hans. In the report.’
‘Report?’ Ebert stood and came round the desk, snatching the file from the Captain. He opened it, scanning it a moment, then looked back at Scott.
‘But this is to Tolonen.’
Scott nodded. ‘I took the liberty of making a copy. I knew you’d be interested.’
‘You did, eh?’ Ebert took a breath, then nodded. ‘And DeVore?’
‘He got away. Karr almost had him, but he slipped through the net.’
Ebert swallowed. He didn’t know what was worse: DeVore in Karr’s hands or DeVore loose and blaming him for the raid.
He had barely had time to consider the matter when his equerry appeared in the doorway.
‘There’s a call for you, sir. A Shih Beattie. A business matter, I understand.’
He felt his stomach tighten. Beattie was DeVore.
‘Forgive me, Captain Scott. I must deal with this matter rather urgently. But thank you. I appreciate your prompt action. I’ll see that you do not go unrewarded for your help.’
Scott bowed then left, leaving him alone. For a moment he sat there, steeling himself, then leaned forward.
‘Put Shih Beattie through.’
He sat back, watching as the screen containing DeVore’s face tilted up from the desk’s surface, facing him. He had never seen DeVore so angry.
‘What the fuck are you up to?’
Ebert shook his head. ‘I only heard five minutes back. Believe me, H
oward.’
‘Crap! You must have known something was going on. You’ve got your finger on the pulse, haven’t you?’
Ebert swallowed back his anger. ‘It wasn’t me, Howard. I can prove it wasn’t. And I didn’t know a fucking thing until just now. All right? Look…’ He held up the file, turning the opening page so that it faced the screen.
DeVore was silent a moment, reading through, then he swore.
‘You see?’ Ebert said, glad for once that Scott had acted off his own initiative. ‘Tolonen ordered it. Karr carried it out. Tsu Ma’s troops were used. I was never, at any stage, involved.’
DeVore nodded. ‘All right. But why? Have you asked yourself that yet, Hans? Why were you excluded from this?’
Ebert frowned. He hadn’t considered it. He had just assumed that they had done it because he was so busy, preparing to take over the generalship. But now that he thought about it, it was odd. Very odd indeed. Tolonen, at the very least, ought to have let him know that something was going on.
‘Do you think they suspect some kind of link?’
DeVore shook his head. ‘Tolonen would not have recommended you, and Li Yuan certainly wouldn’t have appointed you. No, this has to do with Karr. I’m told his men were poking about the villages recently. I was going to deal with that, but they’ve pre-empted me.’
‘So what do we do?’
DeVore laughed. ‘That’s very simple. You’ll be General in a day or so. Karr, instead of being your equal, will be your subordinate.’
Ebert shook his head. ‘That’s not strictly true. Karr is Tolonen’s man. He always was. He took a direct oath to the old man when he joined Security eleven years ago. He’s only technically in my command.’
‘Then what about that friend of his. Kao Chen? Can’t you start court martial proceedings against him?’
Ebert shook his head, confused. ‘Why? What will that achieve?’
‘They’re close. Very close, so I’ve heard. If you can’t get at Karr, attack his friends. Isolate him. I’m sure you can rig up enough evidence to convict the Han. You’ve friends who would lie for you, haven’t you, Hans?’
Hans laughed. More than enough. Even so, he wasn’t sure he wanted to take on Karr. Not just yet.
‘Isn’t there an alternative?’
‘Yes. You might have Karr killed. And Tolonen, too, while you’re at it.’
‘Kill Tolonen?’ Ebert sat forward, startled by the suggestion. ‘But he’s virtually my father-in-law!’
‘So? He’s dangerous. Can’t you see that, Hans? He almost had me killed last night. And where would we have been then, neh? Besides, what if he discovers the link between us? No, Hans, this is no time to play Shih Conscience. If you don’t have him killed, I will.’
Ebert sat back, a look of sour resignation on his face. ‘All right. I take your point. Leave it with me.’
‘Good. And, Hans… congratulations. You’ll make a good general. A very good general.’
Ebert sat there afterwards, thinking back on what had been said. To kill Karr: he could think of nothing more satisfying, or – when he considered it – more difficult. In contrast, having Tolonen killed would be all too easy, for the old man trusted him implicitly.
He understood DeVore’s anger – understood and even agreed with the reasons he had given – yet the thought of killing the old man disturbed him. Oh, he had cursed the old man often enough for a fool, but he had never been treated badly by him. No, Tolonen had been like a father to him these past years. More of a father than his own. At some level he rather liked the old dog. Besides, how could he marry Jelka, knowing he had murdered her father?
And yet, if he didn’t, DeVore would. And that would place him at a disadvantage in his dealings with the Major. Would place him in his debt. He laughed bitterly. In reality there was no choice at all. He had to have Tolonen killed. To keep the upper hand. And to demonstrate to DeVore that, when it came to such matters, he had the steel in him to carry through such schemes.
He paused, contemplating the map. As from tomorrow all this was his domain. Across this huge continent he was the arbiter, the final word, speaking with the T’ang’s tongue. Like a prince, trying out the role before it became his own.
There was a tapping on the door behind him. He turned. ‘Come!’
It was the Chancellor, Chung Hu-yan.
‘What is it, Chung? You look worried.’
Chung held out a sheaf of papers to him, the great seal of the T’ang of Europe appended to the last of them.
‘What are these?’
Chung shook his head, clearly flustered. ‘They are my orders for the coronation ceremony tomorrow, Major Ebert. They outline the protocol I am to follow.’
Ebert frowned. ‘So what’s the problem? You follow protocol. What’s unusual in that?’
‘Look!’ Chung tapped the first sheet. ‘Look at what he wants them all to do.’
Ebert read the passage Chung was indicating then looked up at him, wide-eyed. ‘He wants them to do that?’
Chung nodded vigorously. ‘I tried to see him this morning, but he is not at the palace. And the rehearsal is to be in an hour. What shall I do, Major Ebert? Everyone who is to be there tomorrow is attending – the very cream of the Above. They are bound to feel affronted by these demands. Why, they might even refuse.’
Ebert nodded. It was a distinct possibility. Such a ritual had not been heard of since the tyrant Tsao Ch’un’s time, and he had modelled it on the worst excesses of the Ch’ing dynasty – the Manchu.
‘I feel for you, Chung Hu-yan, but we are our masters’ hands, neh? And the T’ang’s seal is on that document. My advice to you is to follow it to the letter.’
Chung Hu-yan stared at the sheaf of papers a moment longer, quickly furled them and, with a bow to Ebert, turned, hurrying away. Ebert watched him go, amused by how ruffled the normally implacable Chancellor was. Even so, he had to admit to a small element of unease on his own account. What Li Yuan was asking for was a radical departure from the traditional ceremony and there was bound to be resentment, even open opposition. It would be interesting to see how he dealt with that. Very interesting indeed.
The big man mounted the steps, pressing his face close to the Chancellor’s, ignoring the guards who hurried to intercede.
‘Never!’ he said, his voice loud enough to carry to the back of the packed hall. ‘I’d as soon cut off my own bollocks as agree to that!’
There was laughter at that, but also a fierce murmur of agreement. They had been astonished when Chung Hu-yan had first read Li Yuan’s instructions to them. Now their astonishment had turned to outrage.
Chung Hu-yan waved the guards back then began again. ‘Your T’ang instructs you –’ But his words were drowned out by a roar of disapproval.
‘Instructs us?’ the big man said, turning now, looking back into the hall. ‘By what right does he instruct us?’
‘You must do as you are told,’ Chung Hu-yan began again, his voice quavering. ‘These are the T’ang’s orders.’
The man shook his head. ‘It is unjust. We are not hsiao jen – little men. We are the masters of this great City. It is not right to try to humiliate us in this manner.’
Once more a great roar of support came from the packed hall. Chung Hu-yan shook his head. This was not his doing. Not his doing at all. Even so, he would persist.
‘You must step down, Shih Tarrant. These are the T’ang’s own instructions. Would you disobey them?’
Tarrant puffed out his huge chest. ‘You’ve heard what I have to say, Chancellor Chung. I’ll not place my neck beneath any man’s foot, T’ang or no. Neither will anyone in this room, I warrant. It is asking too much of us. Too much by far!’
This time the noise was deafening. But as it faded the great doors behind Chung Hu-yan swung back and the T’ang himself entered, a troop of his elite guards behind him.
A hush fell upon the crowd.
Li Yuan came forward until he stood beside his Chancellor
, looking back sternly at the big man, unintimidated by his size.
‘Take him away,’ he said, speaking over his shoulder to the captain of the guard. ‘What he has said is in defiance of my written order. Is treason. Take him outside at once and execute him.’
There was a hiss of disbelief. Tarrant stepped back, his face a picture of astonishment, but four of the guards were on him at once, pinning his arms behind his back. Shouting loudly, he was frogmarched past the T’ang and out through the doors.
Li Yuan turned his head slowly, looking out across the sea of faces in the hall, seeing their anger and astonishment, their fear and surprise.
‘Who else will defy me?’
He paused, looking about him, seeing how quiet, how docile they had become. ‘No. I thought not.’
‘This is a new age,’ he said, lifting his chin commandingly. ‘And a new age demands new rules, new ways of behaving. So do not mistake me for my father, ch’un tzu. I am Li Yuan, T’ang of City Europe. Now bow your heads.’
*
He was like the sun, stepping down from the Tien Tan, the Temple of Heaven. His arms were two bright flashes of gold as he raised the imperial crown and placed it on his brow. Sunlight beat from his chest in waves as he moved from side to side, looking out across the vast mass of his subjects who were stretched out prone before him in the temple grounds.
No one looked. Only the cameras took this in. All other eyes were cast into the dust, unworthy of the sight.
‘This is a new age,’ Li Yuan said softly to himself. ‘A new time. But old are the ways of power. As old as Man himself.’
One by one his servants came to him, stretched out on the steps beneath him, their heads turned to one side, their necks exposed. And on each proffered neck he trod, placing his weight there for the briefest moment before releasing them. His vassals. This time they’d learn their lesson. This time they would know whose beasts they were.
The Broken Wheel Page 30
