Tangshan Tigers: the Silent Enemy

by Dan Lee

  Carl, on the other hand, was injury-free and showing off to the new coach. Carl got in three blows to every two of Matt’s – and he hit hard too. Matt had never absorbed the full force of his strikes before, and he had to admit he was impressed by his power. Carl might be boastful, but he did know how to fight. ‘OK!’ shouted Ryan. ‘And relax!’ The smack of fists and feet died away. The only sound was students breathing hard. Many were bent double, or stood with their hands on their knees, trying to get their breath back.

  ‘Stand up straight!’ ordered Ryan.

  He walked around the kwoon, staring into the face of each student. When he came to Andrei, Matt saw their eyes meet and a look of understanding seemed to pass between them. Was that a sly smile on Andrei’s lips? He seemed to be enjoying this training! Ryan gave an almost imperceptible nod and moved on.

  He paused in front of Matt. His cold eyes bored into him. Matt felt an eyelid twitch as he forced himself not to drop his gaze. He wouldn’t give in, wouldn’t be psyched out!

  ‘You seemed to be struggling, Matt,’ Ryan said. ‘Is everything OK with your fitness?’

  ‘Fine, sir. Never better,’ Matt replied, pulling his shoulders straight. No way was he going to admit to Ryan that the sit-ups had hurt him.

  At last, Ryan grunted and moved away. He returned to the front and addressed the whole group. ‘I have made my decision,’ he said. There was an agonizing pause. ‘You’ve all trained well today. Every one of you has shown skill and commitment and plenty of hard work – so, well done for that. I’ve decided that young Andrei is worthy of a place on the team.’

  ‘Yes!’ said Drago, punching the air.

  Ryan looked at him sternly. Drago dropped his hands to his sides and composed himself. But he couldn’t stop the smile that played on his lips.

  I knew it, thought Matt. The way they’d looked at each other, the way Ryan had nodded… It’s a set-up!

  ‘It’s unfortunate that someone has to go to make room for him,’ said Ryan. ‘The student who will be dropped is…’

  His eyes roved around the room, alighting briefly on each student in turn. Finally it came to rest on…

  ‘Matt,’ said Sensei Ryan.

  Matt felt as if he had taken a punch in the gut – harder than any of Carl’s blows. He could hear the rush of blood in his ears. He heard Catarina gasp in dismay, Shawn saying ‘What?’ and Olivier crying ‘No!’ Surely this was a bad dream?

  But it wasn’t a dream. The sarcastic slap on the back Carl gave him felt all too real.

  ‘Bad luck, mate!’ said Carl. ‘Still, maybe you could take up another sport? Maybe there’s a place on the girls’ netball team!’

  ‘Shut up, Carl,’ said Catarina.

  ‘Oh well, if he can’t take a joke…’ sneered Carl. He turned away and went to congratulate Drago. ‘Congratulations, mate! High five!’

  Drago grinned. ‘High five!’

  ‘Training session over!’ said Sensei Ryan. ‘Go and get changed and go to your lessons.’

  The squad began to pile into the changing rooms, exclaiming loudly about the events of the session. Drago and Carl were laughing together. Matt ran out of the door into the corridor. He didn’t want to speak to anyone, didn’t want to be with people he couldn’t call teammates any more.

  He came to a halt in front of a big landscape window that looked out over the bustling city of Beijing. Was Chang out there somewhere? Had he already left the school?

  The Tangshan Tigers ran out after him and clustered round, trying to console him.

  ‘Hey, that wasn’t fair!’ said Olivier. ‘You’re one of the best, we all know that!’

  ‘But I wasn’t at my best today,’ said Matt, massaging his stomach. ‘I was thinking about Chang.’

  ‘Well, if this guy’s here to stay and he’s holding regular try-outs, you’re bound to get back in the squad,’ said Shawn.

  ‘Yeah. Well. Maybe,’ said Matt.

  He did his best to put his disappointment to one side. There was no point wallowing in it.

  ‘Let’s not worry about it now. There’s something more important to worry about.’ Matt swivelled round to face his friends. ‘Where’s Chang?’

  INVESTIGATING SENSEI

  ‘We could go and look in Chang’s office,’ said Shawn. ‘We’ll be late for class, but –’

  ‘Don’t worry about that,’ said Olivier. ‘I’ll think of a story to keep Mrs Barraclough happy.’

  ‘Let’s go!’ said Matt.

  They sprinted down the corridor. At the junction with another corridor they skidded to a sudden stop as Miss Lee, the Principal’s secretary, almost walked into them. She was a severe woman with her hair scraped back into a bun. She looked at the Tangshan Tigers disapprovingly.

  ‘Why are you not in class? The bell went –’ she consulted her wristwatch – ‘four and a half minutes ago.’

  ‘We’re on an errand for Sensei Ryan,’ said Olivier smoothly. ‘Delivering a message.’

  ‘I see. Well, please remember that it is forbidden to run in corridors.’

  ‘Sorry, Miss Lee!’

  They walked on quietly until Miss Lee was out of sight, then, without a word, broke into a sprint all at the same time.

  There was the door with Chang’s name in gold letters in both the Roman alphabet and Chinese characters. Matt tapped at it.

  No answer.

  He turned the handle – the last time Chang had unexpectedly disappeared, the Tigers had found a clue to his whereabouts in his office. The door swung open to reveal a bare room containing nothing but a desk and chair. Chang’s books had gone. So had his painting of a tiger. The Tigers looked under the desk and chair and on the window sill behind the blinds, and Matt even turned up a corner of the carpet. But there was not a hint of Chang: no scrap of paper, no hidden message, nothing to give them a lead.

  ‘What now?’ said Catarina.

  ‘I think we should go and see Mr Wu,’ said Olivier. ‘I mean, he is the Principal, he ought to know what’s going on!’

  They hurried to Mr Wu’s office, arriving just as the bell for morning break was ringing. At least they didn’t need to think of an excuse for not being in class. Matt knocked at the door.

  ‘Yes?’ said Mr Wu. He stood in the doorway, immaculate as always in his well-cut suit, glittering steel spectacles and neatly trimmed moustache. He was holding the basketball trophy that Matt’s room-mate Johnny had won with his team last season in one hand and a feather duster in the other. ‘Can I help you?’

  ‘We were wondering,’ said Olivier in his most winning manner, ‘if you could tell us anything about where Master Chang has gone. If he’s left, you see, we’d like to say goodbye, get him a present –’

  ‘I’m afraid that is unlikely to be possible. I will pass on your good wishes if I speak to him again.’ He flicked a final speck of dust from the basketball trophy. All around the room, gleaming trophies stood on shelves. Mr Wu picked up another – Soccer, 2005 – and began dusting that one.

  ‘So he has definitely left? For good?’ ‘Really, the staffing of this Academy is not something students need concern themselves with,’ said Mr Wu. He seems flustered, Matt thought. He couldn’t look any of the Tangshan Tigers in the eye. He picked up a swimming cup. ‘The fact is that I – and the governors – reached a decision that it was no longer in the best interests of the school for Master Chang to continue as martial arts coach.’

  ‘But he helped us win the last two tournaments!’ said Matt.

  ‘Er, yes, but at this point it was felt…’ Mr Wu allowed the sentence to tail away. ‘Sensei Ryan also has an excellent record as a coach.’

  ‘But I don’t understand!’ Catarina burst out. ‘You sacked Chang? Why? What did he do?’

  There was a tap at the connecting door and Miss Lee came in from her adjoining room. ‘Is everything all right? I heard loud voices.’ She gave the Tangshan Tigers a bemused look.

  ‘Everything is under control, Miss Lee,’ said Mr Wu, wavin
g his feather duster at her. ‘There is no need to fuss. Please leave us.’

  The door closed behind Miss Lee. Mr Wu coughed and continued, ‘Er, this is not a matter that children would understand. Better not to worry your heads over it. I can tell you, however, that Chang was not sacked. It was felt he was no longer the best choice as coach. We offered him an alternative position as professor of Chinese history, a subject in which he has considerable depth of knowledge – but he declined.’ Mr Wu put down his duster and spread his hands in a gesture of innocence. ‘What more could I do?’

  ‘So where is Chang now?’ asked Shawn.

  The Principal moved past the Tigers to get to another shelf of trophies. He started flicking his handkerchief at a gymnastics trophy. ‘I am not Master Chang’s keeper. Now he has left the Academy I have no responsibility for him. He is – wherever he has gone. Now if you will excuse me, I have much work to be getting on with.’

  He pushed past Matt and started dusting another trophy – and this one, Matt saw with a pang, was the replica jade dish that Chang had helped them win in their first tournament together.

  ‘But –’ began Catarina loudly. Matt saw she was on the point of flaring up, and he knew exactly how she felt. But what good would it do to get into a row with Mr Wu? He gently tugged Catarina’s arm.

  ‘Let’s go,’ he said quietly.

  The Tangshan Tigers walked away. Matt heard Mr Wu close his office door firmly behind them.

  ‘Something’s not right here!’ said Catarina, smacking her fist into her palm.

  ‘I agree,’ said Matt. ‘But we’d better not discuss it here in the corridor. We might be overheard.’

  ‘Does that matter?’ said Olivier.

  ‘It might,’ said Matt, glancing over his shoulder. ‘This looks like a case for the Tangshan Tigers. Come on, let’s go to the Walled Garden.’

  The Walled Garden was a paved, enclosed space behind the Common Room, a secluded spot that was a good place for secret discussions. It had wooden benches and a cherry tree, as well as a fountain that sprang from a little pile of rocks, lit from below with a constantly changing light that made the water glow green, then blue, then red, then amber in turn.

  ‘Catarina’s right that something’s up,’ said Matt. ‘Chang did say that he wouldn’t leave us willingly. I just don’t believe that Chang would go without saying goodbye.’

  ‘No,’ said Shawn. ‘No way.’

  ‘Whatever made him leave either happened very suddenly, or behind his back. Either way, it looks suspicious,’ Olivier said.

  ‘Well, we’ve got to investigate it then,’ said Matt. ‘And put it right!’

  ‘But how are we going to do that?’ said Olivier. ‘Nearly all our time outside of class is going to be taken up with training –’

  ‘And recovering from training, if this morning’s session was anything to go by,’ added Shawn.

  ‘You guys won’t have much spare time,’ said Matt. ‘But I will. I’m not in the squad any more, am I?’

  The other Tigers looked uneasy, Matt saw. They weren’t comfortable about having their friend shoved off the team.

  ‘Maybe we should all quit,’ said Catarina. ‘Tell Ryan if he doesn’t want you he can’t have us either!’

  ‘There’s no need for that,’ said Matt. ‘I don’t want the whole squad to break up just because of me. I can get on with investigating on my own.’

  He walked over to the lift to go to his dorm.

  The Tigers followed him.

  ‘But – we’re a team, right?’ said Shawn. ‘I mean, we’re supposed to work together –’

  ‘I’ll keep you posted on whatever I find out,’ said Matt. He pressed the lift button. ‘Don’t worry, we’re in this together. But it makes sense for me to get on with it – I’m the one with time on my hands!’

  ‘What are you going to do?’ asked Olivier.

  ‘I’m thinking about who benefits from Chang leaving,’ said Matt. ‘It’s Sensei Ryan, right? He’s got a new job out of it. I’m going to find out all I can about the man, see if he could be behind it in any way.’

  ‘Sounds like a good idea,’ said Shawn.

  ‘Well, I’ll let you know,’ said Matt.

  The lift doors silently opened. Matt stepped in.

  ‘Good luck!’ said Olivier.

  ‘Sure thing,’ said Matt.

  The lift doors closed. The high-speed elevator whisked him up to the dorm. I’ll find out what’s happened, thought Matt. I have to.

  Matt made his way to the room he shared with Johnny Goldberg. Johnny wasn’t there – he was off training with the basketball team. Everyone’s training, except me, thought Matt, but he pushed the thought away. It was time to get on with his task.

  He sat down at the computer on the desk under the window and got on to the Internet. He tapped in ‘Sensei Mike Ryan’ and hit Search.

  A few seconds’ pause, and the flat screen filled up with hits for Mike Ryan. The first screen of fifty. Over five hundred hits. The man had an international reputation, there was no disputing that.

  Matt began to work through the links, starting with Ryan’s official website. A picture of Ryan’s unsmiling face appeared, chin tilted upwards aggressively. Matt jumped as a booming voice filled the room.

  ‘Hi, I’m Mike Ryan. Three times heavyweight karate champion. Twice winner of the Philippines open championship. Member of the American Olympic karate team for the Athens Olympics. Tae kwon-do black belt…’

  The list went on and on. There was a host of tournaments, in both karate and tae kwon-do, that Ryan had won, and he’d even won a number of extreme cage fighting competitions. His record was pretty much on the same level as that of Chang. Matt found himself wondering who would have won if they’d fought each other when both were in their prime. Surely Chang would know too much for Ryan, Matt thought loyally. But there was no way of really being sure.

  He quit the official website and explored some of the other hits. Sensei Ryan was senior instructor of a karate federation, Matt discovered, with schools all over the world. It was more of an honorary than an active position now, but according to the website he had set up the federation himself some years ago. That looked interesting. Matt clicked on the link for the federation website. This was getting even more interesting. He went from link to link, finding out more and more. Nearly an hour had gone by when he finally straightened up, drew a deep breath and shut down the computer.

  Hope you find out a few things, Olivier had said.

  Well, he’d done that all right.

  Matt raced downstairs and reached the kwoon just as the Tangshan Tigers were leaving after training – except it wasn’t called the kwoon any more, Matt noticed. Sensei Ryan had replaced the sign with one saying dojo, the Japanese term used by karateka. It was as though every trace of Chang was being removed.

  ‘Well? Did you turn up anything?’ asked Olivier.

  ‘You could say that,’ said Matt, deliberately casual.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Let’s just get away from here – don’t want anyone to overhear.’

  He led the way down the passage to a quiet stairwell.

  ‘Tell us!’ said Shawn. ‘Don’t keep us in suspense!’

  ‘Ryan’s senior instructor of a federation of karate schools.’

  ‘The Ryan Karate Federation,’ said Olivier. ‘I think I’ve heard of it.’

  ‘Yes, it’s a pretty big business,’ said Matt. ‘International. Must be worth a lot of money. He started it himself about ten years ago. But how did he get the money to set it up?’

  ‘Don’t know,’ said Catarina impatiently. ‘How?’

  A school security guard wandered past, whistling off-key, and the Tangshan Tigers ducked further into the shadows. Matt waited for the guard to disappear round a corner.

  ‘A friend from his university days lent him the money,’ he continued. ‘He’d done well for himself, this friend – he was a famous scientist and he’d patented some inventions.’


  ‘And?’ said Catarina. ‘What about this friend?’

  ‘What’s his name?’ asked Olivier.

  ‘Oh, didn’t I mention his name?’ said Matt. ‘It’s Vitali Drago.’

  The Tigers stared at Matt.

  ‘You mean – Andrei’s father?’ said Shawn.

  ‘That’s right,’ said Matt. ‘Andrei’s father.’

  ‘So that’s it!’ said Olivier. ‘Mr Wu said it wasn’t in the best interests of the school for Chang to continue here –’

  ‘The best interests of the school would be to receive a whole lot of money from Old Man Drago, on condition his son gets in the martial arts squad!’ said Catarina.

  ‘And Andrei’s not good enough to be sure of a place with Chang as coach – and there’s no way you could bribe Chang!’ said Shawn.

  ‘But Ryan – of course he’ll put Andrei in the squad. He owes his dad, big-time!’ finished Olivier.

  ‘Yes,’ said Matt. ‘It’s the only explanation that makes sense. We know that Andrei’s dad can pull strings – it must have been him who got his son off the hook in Kyoto. Now he’s at it again!’

  ‘The question is, what do we do now?’ said Olivier. ‘Not much use going to Mr Wu about it.’

  ‘Obviously not,’ said Matt. ‘But we really need someone we can tell, an adult we can trust…’

  ‘Master Chang!’ said Catarina.

  ‘Right,’ said Matt. ‘If we tell him what’s been happening, he’ll be able to think of something. He always does.’