Clockwork Samurai (12 page)

A brass nightingale on a shelf ruffled metal wings and cooed at me when I walked by. Its jeweled eyes glinted as it cocked its head this way and that. The creature was so charming that I wanted to pick it up and turn it over and over with a child's curiosity. I didn't dare break anything.

One of the automatons was only partially complete. A panel had been removed from the left side of its chest, exposing the internal clockwork.

“I don't usually allow anyone to see the
karakuri
until they're completed,” Takeda said, coming to stand beside me. “It ruins the illusion.”

Reaching behind the
karakuri
, he released a trigger mechanism and the creation came to life. It lifted a bow and went through the motions of pulling an arrow from a quiver. The partial state of the automaton made it even more fascinating as I watched the exposed gears in the shoulder spinning to drive each movement.

“They're exquisite.” I wanted to spend the rest of the day in this room, turning on each of the
karakuri
to find out their secrets.

“Was this the machine being tested in the field?” Chang-wei asked from across the room. He stood over a workbench, looking down at a diagram sketched on a sheet of rice paper.

Takeda went to him, and I trailed immediately behind. This newest creation looked nothing like the collection inside the room. Over Chang-wei's shoulder, I could see a drawing of an assembly of bows rigged onto a base. A hook latched onto each string, and every hook was attached to an arm that could pull back the string in unison. It was a mechanical battery designed to fire a rain of arrows without needing a single archer.

“So this is the one design that interests you, Engineer Chen,” Takeda observed. He sounded thoughtful and a little sad.

“I'm interested in all sorts of inventions.”

“This one is meant to release a volley of arrows between rounds of gunfire. Rifles take a long time to reload, creating a vulnerable situation on the battlefield. This machine is for cover fire, not truly meant to be an accurate weapon. As you can see, the firing is quite blind.”

All of his other machines were whimsical, meant to create an illusion to entice and amuse. But the arrow assembly was purely a war machine. There was no art to it.

“This one is very different from your other inventions, Takeda-san,” I remarked with what I hoped was a respectful tone.

“The
karakuri
were part of my youth,” he said, looking nostalgic. “In these times, it is important to be more practical in one's approach.”

“Practical application is of utmost importance,” Chang-wei agreed. “With foreign ships at our harbors, it's become a matter of life and death.”

“Engineer Chen Chang-wei and Lady Jin Soling are from the imperial court of
Shina
,” Satomi informed him.

“I deduced as much,” Takeda said, letting out a breath. “What is it you seek, Chen-san?”

“An audience with the shogunate in Edo.”

“Edo,” Takeda echoed gravely. “Chen-san. Jin-san. I am very happy you have come here. I have always been interested in learning from the discoveries of other lands. I've learned Dutch as well as Chinese for this very purpose. I've studied your developments with cannons and gunpowder engines with great interest. When Canton fell, I was horrified. How could the Middle Kingdom, the empire at the center of the world, be defeated by gaijin?”

“We were blind to our own failings,” Chang-wei answered. “But now we can learn from those mistakes. We can learn together.”

“Unfortunately, there is more than learning involved.” Takeda turned to Satomi. “I apologize Satomi-san, if what I am about to say causes you more pain.”

“I have had five years for any wounds to heal,” Satomi replied, her jaw set in a hard line.

“After the Chinese Emperor capitulated, news came to us from the merchants. We learned of the devil ships powered by steam. We learned of how they rained fire and overpowered the coastal defenses. They won with barely an army released onto Chinese soil. This is an insulting assessment, is it not? I regret that there is no other way to say it.”

“It's truth,” Chang-wei said grimly. “It can't be helped.”

“When the
bakufu
learned of what had happened, it merely reinforced what we had known for centuries. The foreigners had to be kept out at all costs. My good friend Lord Sagara protested when the
bakufu
decreed all foreigners found outside of the trading ports should be executed. Sagara-san paid for his conviction with his life.”

Satomi's eyes remained dry, but she bowed her head.

“It wasn't the foreign warships the shogunate feared,” Takeda continued. “By the time the ships came with their iron hulls and heavy cannons, it was already too late for the Chinese forces. The shogunate became convinced that we needed to protect against attempts to weaken us from within.”

“The shogunate needed to protect the country against opium,” I concluded.

“Against all foreign goods,” Takeda conceded. “And foreign ideas. Our Chinese neighbors had become tainted in the eyes of the shogunate. So they tightened the restrictions on the trading ports, and any Western influence was seen as a threat. It became increasingly dangerous to be a scholar of foreign studies, so Lord Nabeshima invited me as a guest of his domain for my protection. He was a longtime admirer of my work.”

“But he no longer wanted
karakuri
,” Chang-wei finished for him. “He wanted war machines.”

“The times require it. What good is knowledge if we don't use it? But as useful as my knowledge might be, I know I am merely a breath away from being declared a danger to the
bakufu
.”

A sinking feeling formed in the pit of my stomach. “We've endangered you by coming here.”

Takeda shook his head. “No. This is what makes me dangerous.” He gestured to the books on the shelves. “And this.”

He pointed to the clockwork devices and the tools hung over the workbench.

“These are ideas from the outside, from the West, but I can't unlearn what is in my head. I can't undo what my hands have done. I don't wish to. That, in itself, would be death.”

Outside of the workshop, talk turned to less dire topics. Takeda did not mention traveling to Edo on our behalf, but he didn't banish us from his villa, either.

After our brief tour of the grounds, we were shown to our rooms. The villa was staffed by relatively few servants. I wondered if Takeda's
karakuri
had other functions within the household, reducing the need for attendants.

Satomi and I were lodged together in a sleeping room on the main courtyard while Chang-wei and Makoto were given a room on the other side of the house. Before our evening meal, Satomi led to me to the bathhouse where we scrubbed clean before sinking into a steam bath.

I closed my eyes and let the heat soak into my muscles. The coals burning beneath the platform kept the water just below scalding. At first the heat of it was a shock, but gradually I could feel the tension and cares of the outside world melting away. The house really did have a meditative quality about it, from the gardens to the delicate walls and paper windows, which allowed light to filter through.

“Takeda-sama will come around to your cause.”

I opened my eyes to see Satomi regarding me through the steam. Her bare shoulders rose above the water.

“He'll take us to Edo to address the shogunate?” I asked.

“Perhaps Edo is not yet ready for that.”

“Peking isn't ready, either.” Emperor Yizhu had refused to open formal talks with Japanese.

“But with time, things can change. Takeda-sama will be a good ally for you. He's well respected.” She rested her head back against the edge of the pool and closed her eyes. “My father wanted cooperation between our two countries. Unfortunately, he wasn't as diplomatic as Takeda Hideyori.”

“Lord Takeda is a good man,” I agreed. “Well-mannered, educated and clever as well.”

Satomi angled a slanted look at me, her eyes still half lidded. “Are you going to suggest that I would have been wise to marry him after all?”

“I wasn't thinking that.”

She visibly relaxed, sinking back into the bath. “It's not that I mind being around people. But wherever I go, the sentiment is the same. I should be grateful for Takeda-sama's protection. That he was offering me a secure future. No future is secure.”

“Lord Takeda doesn't say such things.”

“He doesn't. Takeda-sama has been nothing but kind,” she agreed. “He also prefers men.”

The last part was added as an afterthought.

“Oh,” I replied. “Oh.”

Satomi was the one living within an isolated country, yet I was the one who felt sheltered and unworldly.

“Anyone who doesn't believe the Westerners will eventually come to our shores is blind. Even the most reactionary members of the
bakufu
know that,” Satomi continued. “But we've enjoyed peace for so long that we believe we can prevail on our own.”

“What do
you
believe?”

She paused as she considered it. “I've been alone for a long time now. Maybe it's time to look outside of myself.”

It wasn't an answer, but in a way it was. She had come with us here, hadn't she?

“There is a phrase in our language for a kind of fate that causes people to meet. We call it
yuan fen
,” I told her.

Satomi nodded. “We call it
en
.”

“I believe the work of our fathers and their deaths created fate between us. You and I were meant to meet, Satomi. We were meant to do something besides grieve for those we've lost.”

I caught her brushing the back of her hand hastily over her eyes. “Whoever heard of a daughter continuing her father's legacy?” she said bitingly.

Though we had just met, I felt close to her. It made me suddenly bold. “I also believe there is more to my father's execution than I've been told.”

“Why is that?”

I told her about the Japanese puzzle box that had been hidden from my father's possessions and the device contained within it.

“They were sending messages using the signal towers,” I surmised. “Sharing knowledge.”

Satomi pressed a hand to her temples, thinking hard. “They might have tried to form an alliance back then.”

“Do you have any of your father's records?”

“At the school. After the assassination, they seized his lands, but the school was left alone. No one cared.”

“Maybe we can finally find out what it was they communicated across the ocean,” I proposed. “We can finish what they started.”

* * *

On the way to supper, I ran into Chang-wei in the garden. At first I didn't recognize him. He was wearing a plain robe, a loose
yukata
that fell to his ankles. The garment was dyed in a blue workman's color. His hair was damp from the bathhouse.

It was strange to see him in Japanese clothing. The garment appeared archaic, like a traditional Han robe of centuries past. I had been given a house robe as well so that I was no longer dressed like a boy.

“Soling,” he began.

“Chang-wei. What's the matter?” His gaze had that faraway look that meant he was pondering something.

“Nothing.” Chang-wei's jaw was clenched too tight as he smoothed his sleeve over his arm.

“Lady Sagara went to see to her bodyguard,” I told him as we walked together through the garden. “He's resting to recover from his wound.”

“The rest will do him good. He rarely sleeps, that one.”

“He's very dedicated to Lady Sagara's protection.”

Yoshiro was exactly how I imagined a samurai would be. Taciturn. Uncompromising. Honor until death.

“A loyal friend,” Chang-wei agreed.

I suspected it was more than that. A man and a woman running away together immediately spoke of forbidden love, even if Satomi was of a different class than the swordsman. I kept quiet on the matter—it was rude to spread gossip.

“Soling, you . . . you're a good friend,” he began haltingly.

“Of course.”

“If I were to ask— If something were to happen . . .”

I hung on every word, but Chang-wei couldn't get his thoughts together. “Never mind.”

He was so
impossible
. “Whatever it is—”

“Forget I said anything. It was nothing important.”

He was lying. Or not telling the truth. Was I supposed to beg it out of him?

“They're waiting for us.” He gestured toward the far side of the garden.

Impossible.

The sliding panel of the main parlor room remained open to the garden, and two lanterns had been lit on either side of the entrance. Makoto and Lord Takeda were engaged in conversation, but Takeda stood to greet us as we set foot on the walkway. Satomi was the last to arrive to supper, without her bodyguard. She almost seemed incomplete without his dark shadow beside her.

“Makoto-san and I were discussing the Great Sword Hunt,” Takeda told us after directing his servants to bring the evening meal. “When the shogunate decreed that all commoners must relinquish their swords. They also sought to chase out
rōnin
from villages and towns.”

Makoto stiffened at the mention of
rōnin
. I hadn't realized the word held such power, but of course it did. It was a word that indicated a different class of men. Ones who had been stripped of honor and cast out.

“The sword hunts further romanticized the idea of the blade as the symbol of nobility and status,” Takeda told us.

“The sword is not merely a symbol,” Makoto argued. “A thousand swords can conquer a city.”

“And a thousand firearms can topple a regime,” Satomi countered. She gave Chang-wei a knowing look that I wasn't particularly fond of. “That is why the shogunate fears them so.”

Makoto's shoulders straightened as he rested a hand onto the hilt of his weapon. “There is honor in wielding a sword. The decision of life or death resides with the swordsman. There is little art or skill in the making of a gun or the pulling of a trigger.”

Satomi raised an eyebrow. “Efficiency is art. Achieving one's purpose is skill.”

“Thank you both for educating us in your ways,” I interjected, “with this peaceful discussion of opposing views.”

They both looked at me, suddenly remembering there were guests in their midst. Makoto sank back a notch, and Satomi lifted her wine to take a sip. I prayed there would be no sudden duel between them.

Takeda used the break to address Chang-wei and me. “In the early days of the Tokugawa, every army was equipped with firearms. A battle could not be won without a battery of them. But for the last two hundred years, those weapons have been confiscated and left to rust. When the Chinese ports fell, a few among the samurai class counseled the
bakufu
to arm itself with firearms. We were scientists as well as samurai and had studied Western technology and warfare. Because of that, our views were unpopular.”

“The samurai have elevated themselves to godly status,” Satomi said with a curl in her lip. “But they've had no one to fight but themselves for two centuries.”

Makoto's expression was like stone. “The katana is indeed a weapon for a civilized age.”

He claimed to no longer be samurai, but honor and pride still ran thick in his blood.

Takeda folded his hands before him. “If there is poison in the water and one knows of it, it is his responsibility to inform the villagers. If the villagers will not believe him, it is his responsibility to destroy the well. Even if he is condemned for it. Silence is not loyalty. I will petition the
bakufu
on your behalf, Engineer Chen. I truly believe you have both of our kingdoms' best interests in mind.”

Chang-wei bowed low. “
Arigato gozaimasu
, Takeda-sama. If you'll allow me, I'd like to accompany you so the shogunate will know the strength of our intentions.”

I bit back a protest. Edo was already unfavorable to foreigners. Once in the capital, we would be surrounded on all sides with escape routes cut off. Moreover, the imperial court had refused to support an official diplomatic mission. Even if the Emperor could intervene on our behalf, he would consider us a lost cause and be done with us.

The inventor folded his hands and breathed deeply as he considered Chang-wei's request.

“Therein lies the challenge,” he began with a rueful smile. “You see, I have not set foot outside this villa for five years now. The moment I leave without permission, there will be a bounty on my head.”

Satomi looked startled. “Takeda-sama—”

“It was good of you to leave when you did, Satomi-san. And there was a good reason I did not come to find you, even though I was your guardian. I am under house arrest.”

Chang-wei stiffened, glancing out to the garden. “Are we being watched?”

Takeda nodded calmly. “The servants will have sent word to Lord Nabeshima of my visitors. There is no need to fear. The daimyo assures me that this confinement is for my own protection. I believe it is to keep me away from the corrupting foreign influences in Nagasaki, lest my reputation be further darkened. Once Lord Nabeshima learns of your presence, I will be expected to explain myself, which I will. So there is no need to make the long journey to Edo. The
bakufu
will come to
us.”

“Then we will make our case to Lord Nabeshima,” Chang-wei said, though I could see the tension gathering in his shoulders. The tranquil villa had become a trap. “Our purpose was to make contact with the shogunate. We have nothing to hide.”

“And that is why I trust you, Engineer Chen. A samurai's sense of honor, wouldn't you say, Makoto-san?”

Makoto's reply was to drink his rice wine in silence.

“Let us eat, then,” Takeda invited as the servants returned with plates of rice and fish. “We have an important day ahead of us.”