The Middle Kingdom (91 page)

Chen nodded,
letting the insult pass. "As far as I know, sir. The Overseer's
craft is still on the landing pad, so I assume DeVore is in there."

Ebert stared
across the fields toward the house, then turned back to him, looking
him up and down. He gave a short, mocking laugh. "The costume
suits you, Kao Chen. You should become a peasant!"

"Sir!"
He tried to keep the sourness from his voice, but it was hard. He
knew instinctively that Ebert was the reason for the delay. He could
imagine him waiting until he had finished dining. Or whoring, maybe.
He had heard such tales of him. Karr would never have done that. Karr
would have been there when he'd said.

Men jumped down
from the craft behind Ebert. Special unit guards, their hands and
faces blacked up. One of them came over to Ebert and handed him a
clipboard.

Chen recognized
him from the old newscasts about the Hammerfest massacre. It was
Ebert's chief lieutenant, Auden.

Ebert studied
the board a moment, then looked up at Chen again. "You know the
layout of the Overseer's House?"

Chen bowed his
head. "I do, sir."

"Good. Then
you can play scout for us, Kao Chen. Auden here will be in command,
but you'll take them in, understand?"

Chen kept his
head lowered. "Forgive me, Captain, but I am unarmed."

"Of course.
. . ." Ebert reached down and drew the ten-shot handgun from his
holster. "Here."

Chen took the
weapon and stared at it in disbelief. "Forgive me, sir. But
they've automatics and lasers in there."

Ebert was
looking at him coldly. "It's all you'll need."

Chen hesitated,
wondering how far to push it, when Ebert barked at him.

"Are you
refusing my orders, Kao Chen?"

In answer Chen
bowed to the waist, then turned to Auden. "Come. We'd best move
quickly now."

Halfway across
the field a figure came toward them, Auden Stopped, raising his gun,
but Chen put a hand out to stop him.

"It's all
right," he said urgently. "I know him. He's a friend."

Auden lowered
his gun. The figure came on, until he stood only a few paces from
them. It was Pavel.

"What do
you want?" Chen asked.

"I want to
come with you."

He had found
himself a hoe and held it tightly. There was anger in his twisted
face. Anger and an awful, urgent need.

"No,"
said Chen after a moment. "It's too dangerous."

"I know.
But I want to."

Chen turned and
looked at Auden, who shrugged. "It's his neck, Lieutenant Kao.
He can do what he likes. But if he gets in our way we'll shoot him,
understand?"

Chen looked back
at Pavel. The young man smiled fiercely, then nodded. "Okay. I
understand."

"Good,"
said Auden. "Then let's get into position. The other squad is
going in five minutes from now."

They waited in
the shadows at the bottom of the ramp, the main door to the house
above them. The windows of the House were dark, as if the men inside
were asleep, but Chen, crouched there, staring up at the great
three-tiered pagoda, knew they would be awake, celebrating the
night's events. He watched the vague shadows of the assault troops
climbing the ropes high overhead, nursing his anger, knowing it would
not be long now.

Pavel was
crouched beside him in the darkness. Chen turned and whispered to
him. "Keep close to me, Pavel. And don't take risks. They're
killers."

Pavel's mouth
sought his ear. "I know."

They waited.
Then, suddenly, the silence was broken. With a loud crash the assault
troops swung through the windows of the second tier. It was the
signal to go in. Chen leapt up onto the ramp and began to run toward
the door, his handgun drawn, Pavel, Auden, and his squad close
behind.

He was only ten
ch'i
or so from the door when it slid back suddenly, spilling
light.

"Down!"
he yelled as the figure in the doorway opened fire. But it was only a
moment before the man fell back, answering fire from behind Chen
ripping through his chest.

There were
shouts from within, then two more men appeared, their automatics
stuttering. Chen watched them fall, then scrambled up and ran for the
door.

He stood in the
doorway, searching the first room at a glance, the handgun following
each movement of his eyes. As he'd thought, the three men had been
the duty squad. Close by the door a table had been upset and moh-jong
tiles lay scattered about the floor. He stepped over the dead man and
went inside.

Up above there
was the sound of further shots, then a burst of automatic fire. Chen
turned, nodding to Auden as the veteran came into the room, pleased
to see Pavel, unharmed, behind him in the doorway.

"They'll
defend the stairwell," Chen said quietly, pointing to the door
at the far end of the room. "There's a second guard post at the
top, then DeVore's offices beyond that."

"Right."
Auden went across and stood by the doorway, forming his squad up
either side of it. He tried the door. It was unlocked.

Chen took
Pavel's arm. "Here," he said, drawing him aside. "Let
them do this. It's what they're trained for."

Pavel stared
back at him. "And"you, Kao Chen? YouVe one of them? A
lieutenant?"

Chen nodded,
then turned in time to see Auden tug the door aside and crouch there,
the big automatic blazing in his lap.

The noise was
deafening. There was a moment's silence, then four of the squad moved
past him, climbing the stairs quickly.

But they were
only halfway up when the firing began again, this time from above.

Chen started
forward, but Auden was already in charge. He was climbing the stairs
over his fallen men, his gun firing ceaselessly, picking off anything
that dared show itself up above.

Chen went up
after him. Two of the Overseer's men had been guarding the stairs.
One lay to one side, dead. The other was slumped over a makeshift
barrier, badly wounded. Auden took a new clip from his band and
fitted it in the gun, then tugged the man's head back and looked
across at Chen. "Who is he? Is he important?"

Chen shrugged,
not recognizing the Han, then said, "No. . . . He's only a
guard."

Auden nodded,
then put his gun to the man's head and pulled the trigger savagely.
"Come on," he said, letting the body fall away.

He was about to
turn, when the door behind him burst open.

Chen opened up
without thinking, firing off three shots rapidly, the big handgun
kicking violently.

The man looked
at him wide eyed, as if surprised, then fell to his knees, clutching
his ruined chest, his gun falling away from him. He toppled forward
and lay still.

Auden looked at
Chen strangely. "Thanks," he said coldly, almost brutally.
Then he turned and went through the door, the big gun chattering
deafeningly in his hands.

Chen followed
him through, into DeVote's office.

The place was a
mess. The u>ei chi board was broken, the stones scattered over the
floor. The bank of screens had been smashed, as if in a drunken orgy.
He frowned, not understanding. Auden couldn't have made all of this
mess. It was too thorough. Too all inclusive. It had the look of
systematic destruction.

And where was
DeVore?

One man lay dead
beneath the screens. Two others were kneeling in the far corner of
the room, their weapons discarded, their brows pressed to the floor
in a gesture of submission. Auden glanced at them dismissively, then
waved one of his men over to bind them and take them away. Pavel had
come into the room. As the captives passed him, the young man leaned
close and spat into their faces.

"For
Supervisor Sung," he said, his voice hard, bitter.

Chen watched him
a moment, then turned to Auden. "Something's wrong," he
said, indicating the screens, the broken board.

Auden looked
back at him. "What do you mean?"

Chen looked
about him, uncertain. "I don't know. It's just..."

Auden turned
away, impatient. "Come on, Kao Chen. No more foolishness. Let's
finish the job."

Chen stared at
him a moment, angered, then did as he was bid. But there is something
wrong, he thought. The killings in the field. The broken screens.
They mean something.

In the corridor
outside Auden had stopped and was talking to the sergeant from the
second squad.

"They're
holed up at the top of the house, sir," the sergeant was saying.
"About eight of them. Peskova's there. But not DeVore."

"What?"
Auden turned and glared at Chen. "I thought you said—"

Chen shivered.
So that was it. He'd gone already. It explained the killings, the
board, the broken screens. He had known it earlier—some part of
him had sensed it. But where? Where could he have gone to?

Chen turned and
banged his fist against the wall, all his anger and frustration
spilling out. "Shit!"

Auden blinked,
surprised, then looked back at the sergeant. "Okay. Keep them
covered, but pull most of the men back. We'll offer terms."

He watched the
sergeant go, then turned and met Chen's eyes. "What's eating
you, Kao Chen?"

Chen laughed
bitterly. "You think I wanted DeVore to get away?"

"That's if
he has. We've only their word. One of those eight could be him."

Chen shook his
head. "I doubt it. He's too good a player."

Auden shrugged,
not understanding, then went through. Chen followed.

There was a
space at the foot of the narrow stairs where the corridor widened
out, forming a kind of small room without doors. Two men were
stationed there, guns at their shoulders, keeping the door at the top
of the steps covered. It was the only way in to the upper room, and
the stairs themselves were too narrow for more than a single man to
use at any one time.

"What have
they got?" Auden asked his sergeant.

"Guns. One
or two
deng
rifles, maybe. But that's all."

"You're
sure?"

"It's all
they're issued with out here. These peasants never riot."

Auden laughed.
"Lucky them!"

Waving one of
the men away, he took his position on the left, half sheltered by the
wall, then called out to the men above.

"My name is
Lieutenant Auden of the T'ang's Security forces. As you know, you're
totally surrounded by my men. Worse than that, you're in a bad
situation. The Overseer, the man you knew as Bergson—his real
name was DeVore. Yes, DeVore, the traitor. Which means that in
helping him you, too, are traitors. Dead men. Understand me? But the
T'ang has empowered me to make a deal with you. To be lenient.
Surrender now and we deal with you lightly. If you come out, unarmed
and with your arms raised where we can see them, we'll treat this
whole matter as a mistake. Okay? Any tricks, however, and you're all
dead."

Chen crouched by
the back wall, watching. He had heard the sudden murmur of voices
from above at the revelation of Berg-son's true identity. So now you
know, he thought. But what are you going to do? • The door slid
open a fraction.

"Good,"
said Auden, turning to Chen. "They're coming out—"

Chen heard the
grenade bump-bump-bump down the stairs before he saw it, and threw
himself to the side, his handgun clattering away from him across the
floor. He tensed, fearing the worst, but instead of an explosion,
there was a tiny pop and then a furious hissing.

"Gas____"

It was a riot
gas; a thick, choking gas that billowed out of the split canister,
spreading quickly in the tiny space. He had to get up, above it.
Forgetting his gun, Chen crawled quickly on his hands and knees, his
breath held, making for the stairs. But they were quicker than he.

Chen glanced up.
The first of them was already halfway down the narrow stairs. He was
wearing a breathing mask and held a stiletto in his right hand.
Seeing Chen, his eyes narrowed and he crouched, preparing to spring.
But Chen moved quickly. As he jumped, Chen rolled to the side.

The man landed
next to him and turned, slashing out wildly with the knife. It
flashed past Chen's face, only a hand's width from his eyes. Chen
scrambled backward, cursing softly to himself.

More masked men
were coming down the stairs now, spilling out into the tiny
smoke-filled space, while from the two side corridors Auden's men
emerged, their knives drawn, afraid to use their guns in the
confusion.

Chen's man had
turned, looking for him. He took a step toward Chen, his knife
raised; then, with a small strangled noise, he staggered forward,
collapsing to his knees. Behind him Auden smiled fiercely through his
mask, then quickly turned away, rejoining the fight.

Chen's eyes were
streaming now, his throat on fire. He had to get air. He dragged
himself forward, making for the stairs, then stopped.

"No-o!"

Pavel was
halfway up the stairs, his hoe held out before him. He turned,
surprised, looking back down at Chen. "It's Peskova!" he
said hoarsely, as if that explained it all. Then his face changed and
he fell forward slowly, a knife protruding from his back.

For a moment
Chen struggled to get to his feet, then he fell back, a wave of
blackness overwhelming him.

IT SEEMED only a
moment before he came to again. But the corridor was almost clear
of-the gas, and five bodies lay neatly to one side. Three men sat
trussed and gagged in one corner. The door at the top of the stairs
was locked again, the stairway covered by the sergeant.

Chen sat up, his
head pounding, then remembered. "

"Pavel!"
He mouthed the word, his heart wrenched from him.

He crawled
across to where they had laid the bodies, and saw him at once.

Chen pulled the
young man's body up into his arms, cradling him a moment. He was
still warm. "You silly bastard!" he moaned softly.' "You
poor, silly bastard!" He shuddered and straightened up, looking
across to where Auden was standing, watching him. Chen's cheeks were
wet with tears, but it didn't matter. It was like losing a son, a
brother. He felt a black rage sweep through him.