The Marriage of the Living Dark

“Captain Zelic?”

The young officer got up smartly from his chair and turned to face Li Yuan, surprised to find the Pang there in his room in the heart of the soldiers’ quarters. “Chay Sha?”

“Are you busy, Captain?”

“Busy? No, I...”

Zelic glanced at the open journal on the table beside him. It was a large book with a thick, dark leather cover. Beside it, a quill pen rested in an ink pot From the dark, wet look of the handwriting on the left-hand page, he had interrupted Zelic in mid-flow. But what had he been writing? A report for his superiors? His personal thoughts on events? Or was Zelic, perhaps, of a literary turn of mind?

In another place and time he might have walked across the room and looked, but he knew better than to do so now. He was no longer in a position of power. Besides, he liked Zelic, and even if the man were reporting back his observations, that was his duty and he could not be blamed for it “You want something, Chay Sha?”

Li Yuan turned away, his golden eyes scanning the room, conscious of its spartan, military feel. “I hoped you might show me around the fortress. While we’ve time.”

“Of course.” Zelic gave a single nod, then, turning to close the journal, took his tunic from the back of his chair and slipped it on. “What would you like to see, Chay Sha? The trays?”

“We could begin there.”

Zelic paused, alerted by something in Li Yuan’s manner. “Chay Sha?’ “I thought we might go outside, perhaps, and visit one of the guard posts. See the frontier.”

“But Chay Sha, it would be most.. .”

“Irregular?’

Zelic nodded, then, in a much quieter voice, added, “Besides, I don’t think we would get permission.”

“And why is that?”

“They would say it was not safe, Chay Sha.”

“And the real reason?”

“Security.”

“Ah ...” Li Yuan smiled. So his guess had been right. Something was going on out here “The trays, then,” he said, standing back to let Zelic move past him.

Yin Han Ch’in was eating his evening meal when his half-brother called on him at his modest quarters in the south of the tity. Sending his wife and children into another room, Han rose from the table, then asked his Steward to send his brother in.

“Well, brother,” he asked, as Kuei Jen stepped into the sparsely decorated room, “what brings you here so late in the day?”

Li Kuei Jen embraced his brother warmly. “The truth is, I need your help, Han.”

“My help?” Han Ch’in laughed “Have you debts, little brother?”

“Only one. And that is to my husband.”

Han Ch’in made a sour face. “We owe him everything, neh? He’s been so generous, after all. These quarters, for instance...”

“Forget that We are to move into the castle, as his guests.” “We?” Han Ch’in stared at him a moment, then, in a quieter voice: “What has happened, Kuei Jen? Has there been an attempted coup?” “No. But there might be, unless we intercede.”

Han Ch’in laughed scornfully. “You think you and I can influence events? No. If anything, our intercession would only make things worse. These Americans hate us. They hate everything we stand for. Don’t you understand that yet?” “I understand full well, yet we must try. We know things you and L Oh, and father, too. We know how to govern. How to ride the tiger. These things were bred in us. Are in our blood.”

Han Ch’in sighed. “Things must be bad.”BLOOD AND IRON “Bad enough. A million men dead, four million prisoner.” “Gods! When?”

“He returned from the battlefield earlier this afternoon. No one knows . . .” “Everyone knows. You can be sure of it How can you keep a thing like that a secret?”

“We can try. Egan has called a full meeting of his Advisory Council. They are

sitting even as we speak. In the meantime he has called for a total media

blackout”

“And you think they’ll obey him?”

“He has given Colonel Chalker the job.”

“Ah ...” Han Ch’in nodded thoughtfully. Chalker had a reputation for ruthlessness, and as newly-appointed head of Egan’s Internal Security Force, he was not known for his restraint in carrying out orders. “Then your husband means to fight” “You thought he wouldn’t?” Kuei Jen put out his hand and touched his brother’s arm. “You thought him an excellent soldier once.” “And a pig-headed, stubborn fool.”

“You were friends.”

Han Ch’in looked down. “Yes. But that is in the past The things he said to me

...”

“You must forgive him, Han.”

“Forgive him? What, and lose face? Never!”

But Kuei Jen was insistent “You must. Think of your children, Han. Is your face worth their lives?”

Han Ch’in met his eyes, his voice quiet now, subdued. “As ever you are right, little brother. You have an instinct for these things.” He smiled, then reached out to hold his brother’s arm. “No doubt it is the woman in you ...” Kuei Jen looked back at his brother, smiling now, letting the immense pride he felt show in his face. “Let me tell you clearly, Han. You would lose no face in my eyes. Besides, this is our chance to show these Hung Mao what we’re made of, neh?”

“And what is that, Kuei Jen?”

“Blood and iron, elder brother. Blood and iron.”

CHAPTER-5