Earth-Thunder

by Patrick Tilley

  Aishi Sakimoto and the other members of the family council paled visibly. ‘Merciful heaven!’ exclaimed Hide-oshi Yama-Shita. ‘It was around this table that our late and much-beloved Lord Hirohito held many of his most important meetings!’

  Cadillac nodded. ‘Which probably included his future plans for expanding trade and the strategies to be employed in countering the machinations of the Toh-Yota.’ He did not wait for Hideoshi to answer. Holding up the bug, he said: ‘You may be sure that every word was carried from this room to eager ears beyond these walls – by this cunning device! Ears belonging to the Toh-Yota! For it was the agents employed by Lord Ieyasu who placed it beneath this table!’

  Lord Min-Orota, astounded by what he had seen and heard, was not yet ready to condemn the Toh-Yota. ‘The device can only have come from the long-dogs, and it must have been placed there by someone, but there is, as yet, no proof they were agents of the Toh-Yota. The Shogun’s feelings on this matter are well known. His family has always upheld the edict against the Dark Light. It is not possible for him to be involved in such an appalling act of treachery!’

  Aishi Sakimoto nodded then turned to Cadillac. ‘Can you back up this charge?’

  Cadillac bowed. ‘Sire, if my accusation is well-founded, there will be agents of the Toh-Yota stationed nearby equipped with more powerful devices to capture the words spoken here. Their task is to despatch them unheard and unseen, together with any other intelligence, to their ultimate destination. Let us see what we can find.’

  Returning to the small table, he sat down beside Roz, and whispered: ‘I think we’ve got ‘em.’ Twiddling the controls of the radio, and manipulating the buttons controlling the multi-track tape, Cadillac succeeded in ‘capturing’ a conversation between two voices for his attentive audience.

  The content of the transmission removed any shred of doubt in the minds of the listening domain-lords. The unidentified agent – who had apparently been standing by to eavesdrop on the present meeting – reported that the listening device had stopped working before anything incriminating had been said.

  Questioned by the ‘home station’ he expressed his certainty that the Yama-Shita family, led by Aishi Sakimoto were plotting a coup of some kind, and passed on the names of all those present. It was vital, said the agent, that Lord Ieyasu and the Shogun were informed of what was afoot. With the failure of the device within the Sara-kusa Palace, information on the plotters would have to be gathered elsewhere.

  The domain-lords gasped as they heard the ‘home station’ tell the agent that that was not a problem. Lord Ieyasu, said the voice, had been able to place a string of black beads across the length and breadth of Ne-Issan and with their help he would be able to strangle any conspiracy to remove the Toh-Yota.

  Seeing the effect this had on the domain-lords, Cadillac went for the kill. Addressing Sakimoto, he said: ‘Sire! I promised you proof of the Toh-Yota’s treachery. Now you have seen and heard it with your own eyes and ears! They have not only betrayed you, they have betrayed the soul of the nation!’

  Coming hard on the heels of his discovery of the listening device, these phantom voices banished all doubt – even in the mind of Lord Kiyo Min-Orota. The Toh-Yota had abused the power accorded to them by their fellow domain-lords in the most heinous way imaginable – demanding death, money and other punitive forms of retribution for crimes which they themselves had perpetrated for years. And were continuing to do so!

  Cadillac and Roz sat back calmly as the shocked domain-lords tried to hammer out a coherent response to these revelations. All were agreed that the Toh-Yota shogunate had to be swept away, but they were hopelessly split over the means by which this could be best accomplished. Hawks and doves both knew it would require the use of considerable force. Probably full-scale civil war. Despite their present sense of outrage, that was not a course the majority of the assembled nobles were ready to embark upon without careful preparation.

  It would be better, said the doves, to gather more support for their Progressive ideals by exposing the corrupt behaviour of the shogunate. Quite so, said the hawks – but could it be done quickly and effectively before the Toh-Yota – who would be bound to learn what was afoot – launched a pre-emptive strike on the Yama-Shita with whom they shared common borders?

  When the steam ran out of the discussion without any agreed plan of action having being produced, Cadillac asked permission to speak. Aishi Sakimoto, who was presiding over the meeting, invited him to do so.

  ‘Great and noble lords, I have listened to your deliberations and sensed your rightful anger. The house of Toh-Yota, the supposed guardian of tradition, has flouted the sacred edicts it imposed on the rest of Ne-Issan. For this alone, it should fall. But I would advise you against the use, at this stage, of military force.

  ‘The Shogun and his principal advisors have shown themselves to be cunning, unscrupulous adversaries. They may well find ways to ridicule or deny the proofs I have laid before you. Through their great wealth and the patronage they can bestow, they may be able to purchase the support of domain-lords who are less principled than yourselves. The answer to this problem lies elsewhere.

  ‘It is the Shogun and Lord Ieyasu who stand condemned. If you remove them, the house of Toh-Yota will be plunged into confusion. Ieyasu is like the head of a viper with a thousand forked tongues – spies and provocateurs who have poisoned the minds of this nation and filled them with fear and hatred for those – like you – who wish to see it strong and secure. Able to resist the Federation. For there, beneath the Deserts of the South, is where the real threat lies.

  ‘A threat which the Toh-Yota cannot meet, because it lacks the will. It has no vision of the future and, most of all, with its pretence of clinging to tradition, it deprives you of the means to adequately defend yourselves!’

  His words met with strong murmurs of assent. Cadillac turned to Roz who sat cross-legged beside him and sought encouragement with a raised-eyebrow ‘how am I doing?’ look. She maintained the same blank expression she had assumed on entering but nodded approvingly.

  Lord Min-Orota, in whose domain the ill-fated Heron Pool had been built, said: ‘Are you suggesting the assassination of the Shogun and Lord Ieyasu?’

  ‘As the first step, yes,’ said Cadillac. ‘From what I have learned, Lord Ieyasu is the most powerful man in Ne-Issan and your most feared adversary. The Shogun, Prince Yoritomo, has certain strengths, but he is manipulated by his great-uncle – and is thus equally guilty.

  ‘He has no male heir and he has no brothers. The question who would succeed him is bound to cause great dissension amongst the rest of the Toh-Yota family – especially after his guilt is revealed. That is the moment when you should make your challenge against their authority.’

  Sakimoto shook his head. ‘I commend your insight, but the proposal you have just put forward has been considered and rejected on countless previous occasions.’

  ‘Rejected,’ added Lord Se-Iko, ‘because of the difficulties of placing an assassin within reach of the Shogun. If anything, Lord Ieyasu is an even more difficult target. The assassination of both of them simultaneously or in quick succession is not a practical proposition.

  ‘On all formal occasions they are surrounded by guards whose loyalty is beyond question, and there are watchers who exercise extreme vigilance at all times. Access to the Inner Court is strictly controlled and no one is allowed to carry anything that might be remotely considered as a weapon when accorded a private audience.’

  ‘What constitutes a "private audience" …?’

  Sakimoto swapped glances with his co-conspirators. ‘The phrase is usually applied to meetings between members of the Inner Court in which two individuals – although it can be more – engage in some form of sexual intercourse.’

  Lord Se-Iko enlarged upon his colleague’s reply. ‘In the case of Ieyasu, these audiences are said to be a daily event. The Shogun, despite his youth, is somewhat less voracious.’

  Cadillac looked at
Roz, then said: ‘Can you enlighten us further?’

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘By telling us what kind of partners they prefer, how they are chosen and how they are introduced into the presence of Lord Ieyasu and Prince Yoritomo.’

  ‘We can give you some information,’ replied Sakimoto, ‘but this is a blind alley. Anyone chosen to receive the intimate attentions of these gentlemen has to strip and bathe – and of course they are washed and groomed by trusted members of the palace staff.

  ‘Every orifice is searched – even their fingernails are trimmed – and they are then dressed in clothes which have been specially prepared and checked, and offer no possibility of concealing any dangerous objects.’

  ‘And,’ said Lord Min-Orota, ‘any food or drink served on such occasions is carefully prepared, inspected and tasted beforehand.’

  The other Iron Masters seated around the low table took it in turns to reveal what they knew, providing Cadillac and Roz with an entertaining mixture of fact, speculation and gossip.

  It emerged that Ieyasu’s preference was for pre-pubescent young girls between ten and twelve years old. These were supplied by a group of favoured ladies of the Inner Court. On the much rarer occasions when the Shogun indulged his baser passions it was with partners nearer his own age – male and female.

  An unsubstantiated rumour which had gained currency because of its juicy content hinted at a romantic attachment to several of the Heralds. Founded by Prince Yoritomo soon after his accession, the College of Heralds was a body of intelligent, dedicated, handsome young men, chosen by the Shogun to be his personal representatives. His ‘eyes and ears’.

  With their appointment came the privilege of direct access to the Shogun, a move which had threatened Ieyasu’s influence at court and his grip on the reins of power.

  Cadillac sought further details about their exact role and it was at this point that the name of the Herald Toshiro Hase-Gawa came into the conversation. This, he recalled, was the Iron Master who had been closely involved with Steve.

  It transpired that, following the successful unmasking of the conspiracy led by Lord Yama-Shita to resurrect the Dark Light, the Herald Toshiro Hase-Gawa – who had played a pivotal role in the Shogun’s triumph – had been obliged to take his own life because of a compromising letter that had been intercepted by one of Ieyasu’s agents.

  No one knew what the letter contained, but its penning and posting by Toshiro had led directly to his death. Slicing open his own belly in the time-honoured fashion before being beheaded by his second – Kamakura, a Captain in the Palace Guard.

  The recounting of this incident caused the assembled Iron Masters a great deal of merriment. Sakimoto explained: The good captain has five daughters and an ambitious wife, who entertained hopes of marrying one of them off to the Herald. Not only was he a good friend of the family, he was also Kamakura’s pupil. The poor man – who is a magnificent swordsman – works lovingly for years and then has to cut off the head of his most outstanding pupil!’

  Sakimoto slapped his thighs and roared with laughter. His colleagues seemed to find it equally amusing.

  When the laughter subsided, Moro Ko-Nikka, who was there to represent his brother, the domain-lord, said: ‘I think the letter was an excuse. The palace gossips say it was Lady Mishiko who sent the Herald to his death by asking her brother’s permission to marry him – a little too soon after the death of her husband.’

  This met with a murmur of agreement.

  The Consul-General Nakane Toh-Shiba had been the Shogun’s official representative in Lord Min-Orota’s domain. Cadillac not only knew of him, he had witnessed his fiery descent from the sky. He sensed a trail that might finally be leading somewhere.…

  ‘Was he a man of noble birth? An acceptable candidate for her hand?’

  ‘Indeed he was,’ replied Moro. ‘The house of Hase-Gawa has always been a staunch ally of the Toh-Yota.’

  ‘So why did the Shogun view this match with such disfavour?’

  The Iron Masters around exchanged knowing glances.

  Lord Se-Iko leant forward. ‘Because the same palace gossips claimed that Yoritomo was secretly in love with Toshiro but had not yet found the courage to declare his affection! His carnal desire for men is something he tries to deny! You can imagine how mortified he was when he found that his favourite Herald loved another – and had been doing so for some time in secret!’

  Lord Min-Orota, who had been a party to the plot with the Yama-Shita family and had only managed to save his neck by switching sides at the last minute, provided the capper. ‘I happen to know there was more to it than that. It was Ieyasu who pushed him into allowing Mishiko to marry Nakane – to bolster their alliance with his family.

  ‘The Herald wasn’t the only one who wanted Mishiko’s husband out of the way. Yoritomo couldn’t bear the idea of her being in Nakane’s bed – and not just because he was a dissolute pig whose conduct dishonoured his wife and, by extension, the Toh-Yota. He couldn’t bear it because he had been, and still was, in love with her himself!’

  There were gasps of astonishment from those around the table who had not heard this particular nugget before.

  Cadillac’s pulse quickened. ‘My lord, are you suggesting that the Shogun had his sister’s lover killed because they had both rejected him?’

  ‘Rejected is not the word I would choose,’ replied Min-Orota. ‘It seems pretty certain that Yoritomo slept with his sister fairly regularly over a number of years before Ieyasu managed to remove her. The Herald was, I imagine, merely a consolation prize.’

  ‘That he didn’t collect.’

  Lord Min-Orota shrugged. ‘Whether he did or not doesn’t really matter. The important thing is that Yoritomo couldn’t bear the idea of anyone else touching his sister.’

  ‘Or the idea that they might love her and were only humouring him,’ suggested Cadillac.

  ‘Very likely. In the past, ambitious young men have been known to use their bodies to gain preferment. We call it promotion by the backstairs. Women do it all the time, but they, of course, come equipped with two tunnels of love.’

  ‘The last time I counted it was three!’ said Lord Se-Iko. This provoked another round of thigh-slapping laughter.

  Cadillac and Roz exchanged another glance. Her eyes told him she knew what he was thinking. And approved. ‘Does the Lady Mishiko have any children?’ he asked.

  Aishi Sakimoto nodded. ‘Yes. Two daughters, Miyori and Narikita, aged five and four – and a two-year-old son.’

  ‘Toshi,’ added Lord Min-Orota. ‘There was a vague rumour he was fathered by the Herald.’

  ‘And she grieves for him still.’ Cadillac swept his eyes over his Iron Master audience. ‘My lords, I think we may have found our assassin – the Lady Mishiko.’

  The domain-lords and the other high-ranking nobles reacted with gasps of surprise. Sakimoto laughed. The idea seemed so preposterous. ‘She obviously has access, but even if some way was found to smuggle a weapon in, what makes you think she would want to kill her brother?’

  Cadillac responded with a bow. ‘Sire, we are going to make her want to. When we have finished our preparations she will be unable to think of anything else. The desire for revenge will overwhelm all other thoughts.’

  He pointed to the electronic bug and the radio he had placed on the small low table in front of him. ‘We will show her these devices, and persuade her to listen to the voices of Ieyasu’s agents that I managed to draw from the air and trap inside this box.

  ‘We will reveal Ieyasu’s treachery, and we will tell her that her lover, the Herald Toshiro, discovered Ieyasu’s secret pact with the long-dogs under which they supplied him with devices filled with the Dark Light for use by his network of spies. Devices which were also used to discredit the College of Heralds.

  ‘We will tell her that Toshiro intended to reveal all this to the Shogun and that, in order to stop him, Ieyasu had the fatal letter forged and mailed in Toshiro’s name in o
rder to protect his own position.

  ‘And we will tell her that her brother, the Shogun, ignored the Herald’s protestations of innocence – even though he suspected he was telling the truth – because he was insanely jealous of the intimate relationship she had – all too hastily – revealed. And she will believe this because that part, at least, is true.

  ‘She and the Herald both wanted her husband Nakane out of the way, but it was the Shogun who ordered Toshiro to arrange his death.’ Cadillac paused and surveyed his audience, sensing their rapt attention. ‘When these facts are laid before her she will want to kill Ieyasu and her brother because it all fits in neatly with what she already knows – and because it is what she wants to hear.

  ‘We must make sure nothing stops her. We have to arrange for the evidence she needs to be put in place, plus the means to commit murder.’ He gestured towards Roz. ‘Rain-Dancer and I can provide much of this, but first we need more details about the organisation of the Inner Court and the personalities who surround the Shogun. Plus a body of stout-hearted horsemen willing to ride with us into the Toh-Yota heartland and aid our escape when the deed is done.’

  Lord Min-Orota could hardly believe his ears. ‘You intend to enter the Shogun’s palace?’

  ‘If necessary, yes.’

  There was a long silence, then Sakimoto said: ‘I hate to admit this, but you may have actually produced a plan that could work. It has some exquisite touches. You deserve to be made an honorary Iron Master.’

  Cadillac bowed low. ‘You are most gracious, sire. But it would be too great an honour for such an unworthy outlander. We are happy to be accepted into your presence and your confidence as we are, and to offer you, on behalf of the Plainfolk, whatever assistance we can.’

  ‘There’s something I’d like to know,’ said Lord Na-Shona. He was one of the few who had refrained from dishing up the dirt. ‘If the Lady Mishiko takes the bait, how will she kill Lord Ieyasu and Prince Yoritomo?’