Heaven to Wudang (17 page)

‘We won't all fit in the car,' I said.

Bridget put her hands on her hips. ‘I'm not coming. It's late and the boys are at home with the amah.'

‘You go in your car, darling,' David said. ‘I'll come in my own car. I need to be in on this so that I can explain further to Cheung when we're done.'

‘He has a point,' Martin said. ‘Bring him with us.'

David raised one hand, mock-serious. ‘Let us therefore travel in state from the House of a Thousand Assholes to the Upside-down Gin Bottle.'

I choked with laughter. ‘You know this building's called that?'

‘With these round windows…' He gestured towards the view, framed by the two-metre circular opening. ‘Could it be called anything else?' He opened the door
and spoke conspiratorially to me. ‘Besides, have you met some of the other executives? I think it's a very fitting epithet.'

‘I'll tell Tony you said that,' Bridget said.

‘He's the one who first told me about it when I arrived here,' David said. ‘Kiss the boys for me; I'll be there as soon as I can.'

She reached up to peck him on the cheek. ‘Don't do anything silly, okay? We need you.'

He smiled down at her. ‘Don't worry, I know.'

 

The guards opened the gates for us and we swept through into the PLA barracks next to the harbour between Wan Chai and Central. The old Prince of Wales Building, which had housed the British before the handover, really did look like an upside-down gin bottle: the rectangular building was perched on top of a pillar about half its width, with an upside-down pyramid shape supporting the building above the pillar. It had been designed this way to make it near impregnable to a climbing attack, and it sat next to the water in a vast open space that gave a clear view all around it.

A young woman in a khaki PLA uniform, complete with peaked cap, was waiting for us at the entrance. She saluted me Western style. I nodded back to her and she opened the doors for us to go in.

Cheung came out of his trance about halfway to the visitors book. He stopped and stared at the armed guards on either side of the lift doors, and then back at the entrance. He went rigid, obviously confused about what to do.

David put his hand on Cheung's arm. ‘I apologise if you're disoriented, sir. But the medication only just wore off when we entered the building.'

‘I'm in the PLA building?' Cheung said.

‘That's right, and I apologise as well,' I said. ‘I'm taking you to see my boss. He can tell you the whole story.'

‘You work for the PLA?' he said, aghast. ‘But you're not Chinese! How could they let you … Wait, you work for the mainland government?'

‘That's right,' I said. ‘I owe my allegiance to China. I want to help the Chinese people, and the glorious army of liberation is giving me an opportunity to show my loyalty.'

Lay it on with a spatula, why don't you?
Leo said.

Why not? They do in the propaganda
, I said.

The lift doors opened and I gestured for Cheung and the other policeman to go in. Once inside, I pressed the button for the top floor and the doors closed.

‘You work for them as well?' Cheung asked David.

‘No, no,' David said. ‘I help out, that's all. That business in the car park was the closest I've gotten to any of it.'

I forgot about that. Can we give Tian Guai a good cover story to explain the blood and disappearances to the policemen?
I asked the stone.

Way ahead of you; just nod and smile,
the stone said.

We reached the top floor, the bell rang, and the doors opened.

Tian Guai in his khaki PLA uniform was waiting for us in the lobby. He was tall and strongly built with a huge welcoming smile. He shook my hand in both of his, grinning broadly, and spoke Putonghua to me. ‘Miss Donahoe. So good to see you, but don't make a habit of this, all right? We don't want people seeing you come in and out.'

‘Brigadier Tian,' I said, nodding with deference and replying fluently in the same language with Martin's assistance. ‘Thank you so much for helping me on such short notice.'

Tian turned to Cheung and switched to Cantonese. ‘Lieutenant Cheung. I believe you have been following your civic duty and pursuing Miss Donahoe's activities. You are to be commended.' He gestured with one hand. ‘But it is entirely unnecessary. Please come into my office and I will explain everything.'

About half an hour later, I slipped out of the office with David, leaving Cheung and the other policeman, who'd turned out to be called Chan, with Tian Guai. Leo and Martin were waiting in the lobby.

‘All sorted?' Leo said.

‘Tian wants to recruit Cheung,' David said. ‘Said he's going to bring him into the Chinese Secret Service because he's so dedicated.'

‘Can he do that?' Martin said.

‘Yeah, they have a lot of pull in the Territory,' I said. ‘It'll keep Cheung out of my hair, so I'm not complaining.'

‘Then he threw us out because I don't have enough clearance to hear what they're saying,' David said.

‘Suits me,' I said. ‘The rest was boring.'

‘You don't think one of you could do a magical lift home for me and my car, do you?' David said as we went back down in the lift. ‘It's nearly bedtime for the boys. If I drive all the way back to Shek O I'll miss them altogether.'

‘Leo? Martin?' I said.

‘I'll take our car back to the car park, then take Emma home,' Leo said. ‘Martin, can you carry Mr Hawkes and his car?'

Martin nodded. ‘Done.'

David shook Leo's hand, then bent and kissed me on the cheek. ‘Thanks, Emma, you make my life way more fun. And now I get to spend another evening telling stories to Bridget.'

‘Let's try not to make a habit of this, okay?' I said,
and waved as he and Martin got into his car and Martin drove it away.

‘He forgot to put his hands on the steering wheel,' Leo said, watching them go. He opened the rear passenger door of our car. ‘Ma'am, if you'll permit me to escort you home.'

‘Where's Simone?' I said as I settled into the back of the car.

‘Waiting for us back at the Mountain; she made her own way home,' Leo said as he pulled himself into the driver's seat. He glanced at me in the rear-view mirror. ‘You're even paler than usual, Emma, are you all right? You look unwell.'

I rubbed my hands over my face. ‘Just tired. Too much all at once, and I haven't fully recovered. I just need to go home and rest.'

‘Take some vitamin C,' Leo said as he pulled out of the PLA compound and headed towards our private car park under the Landmark shopping centre. ‘Meredith said it would only take three months, but you're still not back to even half of what you were. You should talk to them about it.'

‘I did. They said I'm doing too much and I need to rest,' I said, leaning back on the seat and closing my eyes.

He didn't reply and I opened my eyes. He was watching me in the mirror and I glanced away.

‘T
his will be the first night in a while it'll be just us three for dinner,' I said over breakfast the next morning.

‘Curse our frantic social life,' Leo said.

‘Uh, actually … I was planning to go out tonight. Is that okay?' Simone said.

‘Where to?' Leo said sharply.

‘Just … out,' Simone said, obviously cringing.

‘Where … to?' Leo said slowly and with force.

‘The movies with a friend.'

‘You have another date with that dragon?' I said.

Simone opened and closed her mouth a few times, then looked down at her congee. ‘Maybe.' She glanced back up at me. ‘How do you know about this? You're stalking me.'

‘He's one of Qing Long's. I was concerned about the … family aspect of it,' I said. ‘So I asked Qing Long.'

‘Yeah,' Leo said, rounding on Simone. ‘Qing Long is like a brother to your father. Dating one of his kids is like dating your own cousin.' He leaned back and spoke with satisfaction. ‘You can't date any of the Four Winds' children, so there.'

‘Well, if you asked Qing Long then you know there isn't any family aspect about it at all,' Simone said,
defiant. ‘The kids aren't blood-related, they're not even real family, and they get together all the time.'

Leo glanced from Simone to me. ‘Really? I would have thought they were like cousins.'

‘Like Simone said, not blood relatives; there's no restriction on them getting together,' I said, then turned to her. ‘You have school tomorrow so don't be home too late.'

‘He'd better not be anything like his father,' Leo growled.

‘He's a lovely kid,' I said. ‘I've met him. He's in Simone's poisons and demon classes at CH.'

‘You're too young to be dating anybody,' Leo said.

‘I'm seventeen!' Simone said.

‘Only just seventeen, young lady. Way too young. This kid'll turn out like his father and treat you like rubbish.'

‘Leo, I've only ever been out with him once, and that was with some other friends. This is the first time for the two of us alone.'

‘I don't like it.'

‘I don't believe you're actually sulking about this,' Simone said. ‘I thought Emma would be the one giving me trouble, and here you are acting like my over-protective auntie.'

‘Demons could come after you, and you'd have no bodyguard —'

‘Leo!' Simone and I both exclaimed at the same time.

I finished the point for both of us. ‘She's the second most powerful thing on any Plane, Leo Alexander, and you know it. About the only thing that could take her down is a demon army, and even then they'd have trouble. She can call for help any time; and she has access to Seven Stars and knows how to use it.' I turned to Simone and winked at her. ‘Frankly, I think this young man should be the one who's worried.'

Leo sat lower in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. ‘I just don't like it.'

‘What you don't like,' I said, pouring him some more coffee, ‘is the idea of our little girl growing up.'

He glared at her over his crossed arms. ‘I won't let you.'

‘What, grow up?' she said.

He settled even lower and recrossed his arms protectively. ‘No.'

‘Oh, and I'll be a bit late home from school, Freddo and me are having another session with the therapist.'

‘How's that working for you?'

She grimaced. ‘The therapist gave me this … electric thing. It's like a taser but doesn't shoot. Every time he gets … embarrassing, I have to give him an electric shock.' She shuddered. ‘He cries. It's awful.'

‘Poor little guy.'

‘It's worse — I have to shock him where it hurts.'

Leo quickly sat upright and shifted uncomfortably.

‘He must hate it,' I said.

‘He doesn't care, he wants me to do it. He wants it to work.'

‘Good luck with that,' Leo said.

‘Aversion therapy,' I said. ‘It should be effective.'

‘That's what the therapist said.' Simone pushed her congee bowl away and rose. ‘Oh, and you wanted to go to Macau today or tomorrow?'

‘I want to check on Ben and Tom,' I said. ‘They're with the Rats, and I haven't been to that village in a while. Can you carry me from Hong Kong?'

‘I have an assignment coming up,' Simone said. ‘Get Michael or something.'

‘Yi Hao can arrange it,' I said. ‘I'll just go down and be right back.'

 

I ran across the helipad on the roof of the Macau Ferry Terminal in Hong Kong, unable to resist the urge to duck
under the blades, which seemed to be whizzing at neck height. I crawled into the chopper's cabin, Leo wrestled with stowing his wheelchair, and we were in. The technician on the pad checked the doors, rapped the cabin twice, and we were up and heading towards Macau.

Hong Kong Island and Kowloon were a mass of grey high rises, their tops drifting in and out of the low clouds. We passed over the greenery of Lantau, still below the cloud cover, then the helicopter ascended and we were in the middle of the clouds. The chopper was buffeted by turbulence; I held onto the frame of the door next to me, and we were above it. Leo yelled something but I shook my head; I couldn't hear him over the noise and his intercom wasn't working.

He switched to silent speech.
We should buy a new boat to go over to Macau. This helicopter business is too damn uncomfortable.

Tell him it wouldn't be an issue if he swallowed his pride and learned to ride a cloud
, I said to the stone, but it didn't reply — probably asleep.

The clouds moved under us, gaps between them giving us quick views of the wakes of boats on the water.

It was a thirty minute ride to Macau, and the water became more brown as we approached. Macau's harbour wasn't as deep and sheltered as Hong Kong's, making it a less attractive port for the opium traders all that time ago and leading to Macau becoming a poorer colony. It had overcome its limitations by legalising gambling, and every hotel on the ex-Portuguese enclave had a casino. The place had a faded European charm that still managed to delight despite the crass trashiness of the gambling attractions, brightly lit to appeal to the visiting Hong Kong punters.

We put down on the roof of the ferry terminal in Macau just as a jetfoil roared into life, lifted out of the water on its wings, and thundered out of the bay to start
its one-hour journey back to Hong Kong. Four of these ferries left every hour carrying a vast number of Hong Kong visitors. Even more visitors came from the Mainland to visit the casinos every day, filling Macau with easy money.

The terminal had minimal disabled facilities, so Leo shrugged, pulled himself out of his wheelchair and carried it. Master Long, the headman of Rat Village, met us at the bottom of the ferry terminal, shook our hands as though we were visiting businesspeople, and escorted us to his van. Leo put the chair into the back of the van and sat in the front next to Long.

‘How are our visitors?' I asked Long as he drove us over the huge bridge to the next island.

‘They are managing. Their possessions are in storage, and they're in one of our guesthouses.'

‘Have you uncovered anything about Tom?'

Long glanced back at me, his eyes full of amusement. ‘Demon boy. He's fascinating, but we haven't been able to gain any useful information. We're not even sure what level he is by our standards. He seems to be totally unrelated to anything we've ever seen.'

‘How many Western demons have you seen before?' Leo said.

‘None at all, sir. We must send some hunting trips over there,' Long said. ‘Up until now we thought that the Centre business kept us safe — demons from other Centres wouldn't move between regions. It looks like our enemies have found a way around it.'

‘By breeding new hybrids from more than one region,' I said.

‘Precisely. That's what Tom appears to be.'

‘I'm something like that as well. You'll have to take a look at me when we're at the village.'

‘If you like. I doubt if we'll find anything, ma'am. You're the chosen of the Dark Lord, and he wouldn't be
hooking up — if you don't mind the expression — with any sort of demon. If there's one thing we can rely on, it's his ability to pick them.'

‘I know.'

We arrived at the village: a collection of three-storey apartment blocks around a central grassy area, a long way from the bright lights and casinos. A few children played in the playground, watched by a small group of gossiping Filipina domestic helpers. Long led us into the village hall, which was actually more like a shared clubhouse for the village. It had been decorated in European style, with a marble floor and wood inlay on the walls. A small gym took up one room, and a karaoke machine occupied another. The main area was full of chairs and tables, moved to form a horseshoe-shaped conference table. The leaders of the village stood around chatting with Ben and Tom as they waited for us.

They nodded when Leo and I entered, and we all sat at the table.

Long pulled a piece of paper in front of him and put on some reading glasses. ‘We have a report and a few recommendations for you, sir, ma'am.'

‘Go right ahead,' I said.

‘First the report. Tom.' He peered at Tom over his glasses. ‘Definitely an East-West hybrid; his mother was probably just that — a Mother. Ben tells us she went home for a few weeks every year, back to Hong Kong, so that's how she was able to survive for so long in the West.' He tapped the paper with his pen. ‘We aren't sure, but we guess he's about level eighty-five, even though he's half human. He could probably sire spawn on a Mother if he wished.'

‘No wonder they want him back,' I said.

‘Ben is the interesting one, though,' Long said, and Ben shifted uncomfortably.

‘Tom is all that, and
Ben
is the interesting one?' I said.

Long nodded, tapping the paper again. ‘Ben is something we've never seen before … No, I take that back. We've only seen something like him once before.'

‘Me.'

‘Yes, ma'am. We don't know how to study him; every demon identification technique we use on him fails. We scan him as completely human, but there's something deep down inside, something dark and monstrous that wants to destroy the whole world.' He took his glasses off to study me. ‘Frankly, he's more than a little scary.'

‘Just like you,' said Long's wife, Camilla.

‘I understand,' I said. ‘So what next?'

‘We want to send both of them to the Tiger's lab in the West,' Long said. ‘We've already arranged it; we just need the go-ahead from you.'

‘And what do you say to this?' I asked Ben and Tom.

‘We're a threat,' Tom said. ‘Take us to the lab.'

‘They may want to experiment extensively on you, gentlemen,' I said. ‘Make sure you don't give them permission to do anything you're not comfortable with.'

‘As long as we're together and safe, nothing else matters,' Tom said.

‘Very well,' I said. ‘Let's arrange someone to carry them to the West.'

‘We'd like to make a stop at the Mountain and see how Vincent's going, if you don't mind,' Tom said.

‘Then we need to organise someone to take them up there first,' I said to Long.

‘Already done. All you need to do is give the go-ahead and we'll move them first thing tomorrow,' Long said.

‘Go right ahead. I'll meet you on the Mountain tomorrow morning,' I said.

‘Will you stay here this evening?' Long said. ‘We can
show you our latest projects. The Blue Dragon's people have been working with us on high-tech espionage equipment; we've a lot to show you.'

‘I can't stay tonight, I have to leave after dinner,' I said. ‘But I'll be happy to stay until then.' I turned to Leo. ‘Do you want to stay here or go back to the Mountain? Do you have a class to teach?'

‘By your leave, ma'am, I'd like to scout the territory, see what people are saying around town,' Leo said.

I sighed with exasperation. ‘Is Gold meeting you at the track?'

He spoke with forced dignity. ‘I have no idea what you're talking about.'

‘Go, have fun, and be back here after the last race so we can go back to the Mountain,' I said. ‘Amy'll shred Gold when she finds out.'

‘I am not a gambling man,' Leo said, still intensely dignified, and wheeled himself out.

 

After breakfast the next morning, I went into the temple to share a meditation session with the visiting monks. The incense coils in the ceiling filled the temple with smoke, but apart from that it was empty. I went to the office behind the shrine; that was deserted as well.

‘Stone,' I said.

‘I'm checking,' the stone said. ‘They were here half an hour ago.'

‘Are they in the mess?'

‘No.'

‘Double-check. Are they anywhere on the Mountain?'

‘Give me a moment, I'll hook into the network. Processing … No.'

I fell to kneel on one of the mats, then changed my mind and went out of the temple. Preparing for war wasn't a suitable activity in that place.

‘Put the word out, stone. We've run out of time. See if any of the Five are available for a meeting in the War Room.'

Meredith appeared next to me as I walked back from the temple across the bridge to the administrative centre and the War Room: a rectangular building, twenty by ten metres, with a modular divider system that allowed it to be made into one large training room or smaller meeting rooms. The demons were already dividing it into a quarter-sized meeting room for us, and rolled a wooden tabletop from the back of the building to place it on top of an ordinary six-seater, making it big enough to fit all of us. They threw a black silk cloth decorated with warriors on horseback over the table.