The Marriage of the Living Dark

A TRAIL OF SMOKE

DeVore put out a hand, indicating that he should take a stone. Ben did so, placing it seemingly without thought in the top left of the board, by DeVore’s right hand. DeVore studied the move a moment, then gave a grudging nod. “So you do play.”

“H pushed.”

DeVore ran his right forefinger along the length of his bottom lip, then looked up at Ben once more. “So what do you want, my friend?” “Hannem.”

DeVore raised an eyebrow, surprised. “I thought you wanted one of the living morphs.”

“You’d have given me one?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll take the next best thing.”

“He stinks.”

“I know. But I can cure that.”

DeVore took a white stone from his pot and placed it, extending his line in the north of the board and threatening one of Ben’s stones. “Out of interest, what will you do with him?”

“Make him live again. Like Lazarus.”

“Lazarus?”

‘If s a tale from one of the old religions. From before the City.” “Ah ...” But DeVore showed no signs of recognising the name. Then, “You think you can?”

Ben slapped down another stone, defending the stone DeVore had just threatened.

It was a necessary sente move. “Oh, I’m sure of it I’m good at repairs.”

“Is there anything you aren’t good at?”

“Relationships.”

DeVore laughed at that. “You should build yourself a mate.”

“Like you did?”

DeVore nodded. “You and I... we need compliance, neh? That sister of yours, I bet she’s a handful.”

“She hates you, you know.”

DeVore grinned, showing his teeth. “Oh, I know. I could fed it What”s that saying you English have? A look like daggers’?” He laughed. “I was well and truly stabbed that night””Thafs why she left me.” “So I understand.” DeVore met his eyes, no sign of any remorse or contrition in his own. “Your move.”

Ben looked. DeVore had placed another stone in the same group, pushing him into yet another defensive move. That was, unless he decided to relinquish that small group and go for something bigger.

“By the way,” DeVore said, “I’ve heard your tapes were a great success. You’re the toast of America. Or would be, if anyone bothered to climb out of their shells.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. If s worked like a dream. My agents tell me that Boston was a ghost town.”

“Was?”

DeVore looked up, surprised. “You mean you haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?”

“Old Man Egan nuked the place. Yesterday at sunset Took out the whole damn government at a stroke.”

Ben sat back, astonished. And here was DeVore, playing wei chi as if nothing had happened!

“So why haven’t you made a move?”

“Because I’m waiting... for the dust to settle, if you like. I want to see if anyone makes a move to fill the void.”

“Coover, for instance?”

“Or Old Man Egan himself.”

“And if they do?”

“I make a deal with them.”

Ben nodded then placed his stone. A sente move again. Defensive. DeVore looked at him, then gave a little shrug. “Strange,” he said. “I was sure you were going to make a more aggressive play.” “And if I had?”

The smile was predatory. “I would have bitten your fucking head off.”

A TRAIL OF SMOKE

Seated at the far end of the crowded table from her son, Emily frowned, surprised to hear such bitter words from him.

“Lin Sung? Do I hear you right? Do you really think we’ve achieved nothing these past eight years?”

“Well, if s true,” Lin Sung said, refusing to meet his adopted mother’s eyes, his face almost scowling as he spoke. “We’re just pissing in the wind! We kill one corrupt official and DeVore replaces them immediately with another, equally corrupt! We destroy one munitions dump and he builds two in its place!” “So what do you suggest?” Lin Chao asked gently. “You want to bomb Frankfurt, maybe? And Bremen, and Munich?”

Sung swallowed, then. “It would be a start At least he’d know he had a fight!” “I see.” Chao looked about him at the others gathered round the table. Most, like himself, seemed saddened by this suggested escalation, but one or two met his eyes challengingly, his young brother Lin Han Ye among them. “And what about the innocents who would die? The mothers and children? The old people and the sick? Don’t you care about them, younger brother?” “Does DeVore care?”

“That’s not what I asked. Don’t you care?”

Sung struggled with the notion a moment, then. “Of course I care. You know I do, Lin Chao. But DeVore’s just taking the piss out of us, can’t you see that? He’s using the fact that we care to stifle our effectiveness. To nullify and castrate us!”

“I see. So what you’re saying is that we should become more like him. Adopt his rules, his ways?”

“That’s not what Lin Sung is suggesting at all,” the stranger on Lin Qiao’s right answered, turning to face him, his grey, steel-like eyes staring humourlessly at Chao. “We merely want to widen the conflict” Looking into those eyes, Chao felt himself go cold. He had only been marginally conscious of the stranger until that moment, but now it seemed as if he sat alone, facing the man. “I’m sorry,” he said, after a moment, “but we have not been introduced.””Horton,” the American said, putting out a long, sparsely-fleshed hand. “Feng Horton. I represent my good friend, Coover.” Lin Chao took a mental step backward. Horton. Now that he had the name, the face slipped into place. He had seen the file on this one. His full name was Feng Horton, otherwise known as “Meltdown”. Horton had been a “Son” once; one of those who had been incarcerated by Wu Shih back in ‘07. If the rumours were right - and who could tell what was true and what false in the chaotic aftermath of the collapse of City North America? - it had been Horton who had been behind the “Campaign for Racial Purity”, Horton who, so rumour had it, had boasted of eating “nothing but good Han meat”.

And now here he was, sitting at their table, discussing policy. Chao looked to Emily. “Mother?”

“What is it, Chao?”

“May I speak with you, in private?”

Emily looked about her, then nodded. “You will excuse us a moment, ch’un tzu. We shall not be long.”

They went through, into Emily’s own rooms, then closed the door.

“Well?” she asked.

Lin Chao kept his voice low. “Why is that man here?” “Because Coover is the power now in America. Word is he has destroyed Egan’s Western banners and all the land to Denver is his. Horton is his man.” “You know what is said of him?”

She nodded. “I too was once the subject of such rumours, don’t you remember?”

“Yes, but thafs different What they say of Horton ...”

“May or may not be the truth. But we must deal with him now if we wish to throw

down the tyrant”

“And put another in his place?”

“It is a risk we take.”

Chao shook his head. “I do not like it It feels wrong.”

“Like Daniel felt wrong?”

“There I was wrong, I concede. But this... to embrace such a one, I feel, would be a grave mistake. Already he speaks of widening the campaign, of bombing cities and hurting innocents. I, for one, would vote against it” “And I too, Chao.” She smiled. ‘Til not be Coover’s puppet if thaf s what you fear. Yet it would be well if we came to an agreement with the man. He can give us weapons and supplies, and the gods know we are in dire need of both right now.”

“And in return?”

“In return we continue to be a pain in the arse to The Man.”

Lin Chao hesitated, then, encouraged by Emily, smiled a reluctant smile.

“Now come,” she said. “Argue strongly, but also listen.” They went back. In their absence Tybor had arrived. He sat now next to Lin Sung, his tall figure looming over the table as he spoke quietly to one of Emily’s lieutenants.

“Tybor,” Emily said, greeting him. “Have you any news?” Tybor had taken three men and gone to bring home the carts. For the last three or four hours he had been in the labs, analysing the strange-smelling powders that had been in the sealed plastic wrappers.

Tybor met her eyes gravely. ‘Tm afraid there was nothing we could use.” “Nothing?” Emily felt a strange little tremor inside at the thought Had Michael died so needlessly then?

“Nothing useful” And the way he said it made her understand that this was not something he wished to pursue in an open meeting. She made to move things on, but Horton interrupted. “Are you speaking of the powders Michael was bringing back from the old GenSyn works in Milan?”

Tybor looked to Emily, who shrugged. “Yes,” he answered.

“And you’ve destroyed them?”