Ride The Rising Tide (The Maxwell Saga) (33 page)

Steve enjoyed three more delicious courses recommended by the waiter, but declined more wine, sticking to water so as to keep a clear head. Tactfully, Steve’s food arrived already cut into portions suitably sized for someone eating with one hand. The waiter poured coffee and a local liqueur to round off the meal.

Steve had finished half his coffee when the manager returned, with another man following him. The new arrival was of medium height and powerfully built. Steve noted that his walk was balanced and alert, clearly that of a trained martial artist. His black hair was close–cropped over a round face, unremarkable except for his piercing dark eyes.

“
This is Mr. Wang Qiangshui,” the manager introduced him. “He will be able to help you further.” He nodded to the waiter. They walked away from the alcove in different directions. Each stopped several meters away, out of earshot, and stood with their backs to the alcove, clearly ready to divert anyone seeking to walk along the balcony.

Steve half–bowed to the new arrival. “I’m Steve Maxwell. Thank you for coming so quickly. I hope I haven’t inconvenienced you.”

“Not at all.” Wang returned Steve’s formal half–bow and sat down. “One who bears a token such as yours is hardly an inconvenience to us. I understand it was given to you at Vesta?”

“
Yes, by the Red Pole of the Dragon Tong there. His name was Wang as well — a relative of yours, perhaps?”

“
Almost certainly a distant relative, but I don’t know him personally. Wang is a very common family name among those of Chinese origin.”

“
I see. I’d been able to render him a service, and I’ve continued to send annual reports to your Vesta branch in connection with an investigation I’m conducting for the Tong. Mr. Wang gave me the disk as a means to make contact with the Tong elsewhere, in case of need.”

Wang nodded, and displayed a signet ring on his finger bearing the same Mandarin character that was silver–inlaid into the disk. “I hold the same office in the Dragon Tong here on Midrash. I’ve checked our records, as you requested, and found that our people on Vesta have kept the Tong informed about your annual reports — thoroughly disguised and encoded, of course, so as not to risk identifying you. How may we assist you?”

Steve took a deep breath. He’d made up the story he was about to spin out of whole cloth. He’d managed to convince the Tong’s branch on Vesta of his sincerity, so he felt confident of his ability to do the same here.

“
First, and most important from your point of view, I have some news of my search.” He reached into his pocket and took out an envelope. “Three years ago I learned of the existence of another of Bosun Cardle’s friends, a man presently in the merchant service. Gaining his trust was aided by the fact that the Bosun had mentioned my name to him; but his ship trades on the far side of the settled galaxy, well over two thousand light years away, with no direct trade routes between us, so communication with him has been very slow and circuitous.

“
After several messages back and forth, each taking four to six months to make the one–way trip, I broached the subject with him of the jade knife of Lei Sik Hoi. He didn’t reply for some time, and when he did, he expressed fear — even panic — at the prospect that others might learn of our discussion. I had to assure him of the security of my communications, and guarantee secrecy about his name and location, before he’d go any further. He finally accepted my assurances, and sent me these images. I’ve just printed them.”

Steve handed the envelope to his host, who opened it and took out several photographs. The Red Pole gazed in fascination at the jade knife they depicted. As he watched Wang look through them, Steve thought,
Good thing I kept those pictures all these years. If the Bosun could see us now, I bet he’d be laughing!

Wang asked slowly, almost reverently, “These… is this…?”

“Those are very similar to the images I saw in the possession of Bosun Cardle on Vesta, several years ago — the ones he showed to Mr. Lamington, a jade dealer on that planet. Mr. Lamington identified the knife as being that of Lei Sik Hoi, based on a picture and description in a scanned copy of a book, and on information contained in a reward offer circulated from Old Home Earth. At the time, of course, I had no idea of its importance. However, I also don’t know whether his identification of the knife was correct. It seemed to me that before going any further, I should ask the Dragon Tong whether this is, in fact, the right knife. I imagine you have experts who can identify it?”

“
Not here on Midrash, but at Qi… on another planet, I’m sure there are people who can do that.” Steve grinned inwardly as the Red Pole almost slipped up and named the planet Qianjin. Bosun Cardle had told him it was widely believed to be the Dragon Tong’s home base, its government said to be controlled by them from top to bottom. “I’ll send these to our people there at once. Do you have the raw images?”

“
I do. I’ve put copies on this data chip for you.” Steve reached into his pocket and handed over a chip. He’d previously erased all identifying data in the image files, then converted them to and from four different formats, resizing them every time, to make sure nothing in each file could indicate its origin. “I figured it was best to bring the pictures to you here,” he continued, “rather than send them all the way back to Vesta, because that would minimize any delay in identifying the knife. If it’s the one we want, I can take the next step.”

“
And that is?”

“
To try to arrange to get the knife from him — and that’s going to be very difficult indeed, because he doesn’t have it in his possession any longer. He learned of the Bosun’s and Mr. Lamington’s deaths several years ago, and heard about the intense search for the knife. In his panic, he buried it on the planet he was visiting at the time, in the hope that he’d never be connected with it. He’s still terrified of being murdered for it as well.”

“
But we’ll pay him a fortune for it! The reward for its recovery currently stands at ten thousand
taels
of gold.”

Steve blinked at hearing that the knife was now worth the equivalent of more than twelve and a half million credits to its discoverer, but strove to keep his composure. “He doesn’t fully trust anyone about something like this — not even me. All he knows for sure is that his closest friend in the world, and the person to whom his friend showed pictures of the knife, were both murdered. Put yourself in his shoes. Can you blame him for his caution? He told me frankly that he intends never to retrieve the knife. His exact words were, ‘It can sit in the ground and rot, for all I care’. I don’t even know on what planet he buried it.”

Wang winced. “The ancestors forbid! We must recover it at once! If you give us his name, and the name of his ship, we can ask him for the details — “

“
No, Mr. Wang.” Steve’s voice was firm. “When I embarked on this quest several years ago, the Dragon Tong — in the person of the Red Pole on Vesta — agreed that I could keep the names of the Bosun’s friends confidential, for a number of reasons. I’m going to stick to that agreement. Even more important, I’ve given this man my personal assurance that I’ll never identify him to the Tong. If I hadn’t done that, he’d never have told me as much as he has, or sent me those photographs.”

“
But — but… what if he should have an accident, or die from disease, without saying any more? The knife would never be recovered.”

“
True; but my word is my bond. That’s an old–fashioned attitude, I know, but the Bosun was an old–fashioned man in many ways. It’s one of the reasons I honor his memory; and for that reason, I’m not prepared to go back on my word.”

Wang gave a long sigh of frustration. “Then what
will
you do?”

“
There are three things, all dependent on whether you can identify that knife as the one you seek. If it is, my first step will be to try to persuade my contact to retrieve the knife from where he buried it and send it to me anonymously, so he can’t be traced through it. If he wants the reward, I’ll offer to make arrangements for him to receive it. If he won’t do that — and given the delay in messages, it’ll be up to a year, perhaps even longer, before I know — then I’ll ask him to tell me where the knife is, so I can go to that planet and retrieve it myself. That’ll cut him right out of the loop, and minimize his exposure to danger. I can try to arrange a posting in due course to a Fleet ship operating near that planet, once I know where it is. Alternatively, I can take a leave of absence and travel there privately.

“
If neither approach works, I’ll point out to him that if I return the knife to the Dragon Tong, I can ask the Tong in return to help me with information about pirates and the piracy problem. I can use that in my Fleet career to put some real hurt on them, which will help to avenge Bosun Cardle. I spoke about that with your counterpart on Vesta some years ago.”

Wang nodded. “He recorded your suggestion and passed it up the line. I read about it just before coming to meet you.”

“Good — then you understand my motivation. I think that’s likely to be a powerful incentive for him, too, given that pirates killed his best friend. He may want proof of it before committing himself. If so, I’ll contact the Tong to see what can be done to satisfy him.”

“
I daresay we can provide some suitably… impressive information to convince him that your relationship with us is worth pursuing.”

“
Very well. I think one of those three approaches will produce results. It’ll take a long time to obtain his approval; perhaps a few more years, given communications delays, and possibly the necessity for me to arrange a posting or leave of absence that’ll allow me to retrieve the knife. Still, I’m fairly confident that in the end, you’ll get it. I think those pictures are proof that I’ve been working on your behalf for the past seven years. I hope you’ll trust me to continue to do that.”

Wang nodded slowly. “They’re certainly convincing evidence of your efforts. Very well. I’ll pass on your points to my superiors, and await their response.”

“Thank you. In the meantime, I hope you can help me with more immediate information, to help me stay alive long enough to recover the knife for you.”

Wang looked up, startled. “What do you mean?”

Steve explained about the contract that had been issued on his life after the
Vargash
incident. “I’m not asking the Dragon Tong for protection — as a Fleet officer, I have access to all I need. However, since time’s of the essence, I’d greatly appreciate any information you might be able to provide about those behind this contract. I understand you can’t be expected to co–operate with law enforcement authorities, or provide evidence to convict those responsible. However, if you use informants to pass a name or names anonymously to Inspector Gilon of the Ashkelon Police Department, he can search for more information using his own resources. As an added incentive for you to get that information to him, the murder of a Fleet officer as the result of such a contract would lead to a widespread, long–term crackdown while the authorities searched for those responsible. That might be… shall we say, as detrimental to the Tong and its interests as it would be to everyone else in your line of work. Your assistance might help to avoid such disruption.”

Wang pursed his lips. “It’ll be useful to point that out to those who may be able to provide the information we need — it’ll invoke their own interests as well. I think we can help you, Lieutenant. I’ll initiate inquiries at once, as a matter of extreme urgency. If any information is available, I’ll have it in Inspector Gilon’s hands by this time tomorrow at the latest.”

“Thank you very much, Mr. Wang. I appreciate your help.”

“
One last point about your search for the jade knife. Have you submitted your annual progress report to Vesta yet?”

“
I’ll be sending it to them within the next few weeks.”

“
If you wish, I’ll inform them of our meeting, and of the pictures you’ve given me.”

“
Thanks very much. Please remind them that I’m trying to avoid open contact with the Tong, due to my position in the Fleet. It’s only because of the urgency of the present situation that I came here today.”

“
Of course. I’m pleased that you did. You can hardly continue to make inquiries on our behalf if you’re in your grave! We’ll do all we can to prevent that.”

~ ~ ~

As Steve drove away from restaurant, he mulled over his conversation with Wang. Clearly, the Bosun’s worst fears about the jade knife had not been exaggerated. It was still the object of an intense search, and — judging by the astronomical reward being offered for it — more in demand than ever. He’d bought himself time with the story he’d spun to the Tong on Vesta more than seven years ago, and hopefully bought more after yesterday’s discussion… but that wasn’t going to last forever. He’d have to plan the end–game very carefully.

The bedside comm unit in his hotel room rang the following morning as he was using a depilatory in the bathroom. He wiped his face as he walked over to the bed, and picked up the handset.

“Lieutenant Maxwell speaking.”

“
Good morning, Lieutenant.” He recognized Wang’s voice. “I just wanted to inform you that the information you requested has been delivered to the person you designated.”