THE MOZAMBIQUE DRILL
Eventually, Karil was sufficiently healed to be taken out of the healing bed and put in a normal hospital bed with a wheelchair next to it. Wan-Ji came in one morning with his breakfast and checked his vitals while he ate.
“Mister Zhang wants you to see The Great Wall,” she told him.
“Really?”
“I’m sure it’s because everybody here has been working on the ship or at least watched it being built for some time, but you have never seen it before and would be properly impressed.”
Karil did not say that he had seen the ship long before Zhang, when it had a different name. “In other words, if I know what’s good for me, I’ll be impressed. In fact, I’ll be blown away by the ship or I might be blown away by Zhang.”
Wan-Ji struggled not to smile.
“What about what’s her name?” he went on. “Adhira.”
“Why? Does she know anything about ships?”
Karil shrugged. “Not that I know of.”
“Well, she’ll be there because Doctor Suzuki will be there to explain the antimatter drive. And they’re always together. The fact is: Mister Zhang doesn’t believe women know anything about spaceships.”
“I’m sure Doctor Suzuki could explain antimatter containment all day and I wouldn’t know what the hell she’s talking about. But I must admit I’m intrigued. I love spaceships.”
“I know,” Wan-Ji said. “You’ve written poems about them. One called Atalanta, I believe, which is dead in the forest not far from here, where you were found. I suppose that was your ship. Though there is a school of thought that says the poem Atalanta wasn’t about a ship at all, but about a woman.”
“Really? Wow! A literary controversy, like Shakespeare’s Dark Lady. I’m so pleased.”
“Anyway, you’d better wax poetic about Mister Zhang’s ship. I’ve been telling him what a connoisseur of spaceships you are.”
“Thank you, Wan-Ji. I wondered what was keeping me alive.”
***
Later that morning, Wan-Ji helped Karil into the wheelchair and pushed him out into the corridor. He made sure to observe everything carefully, as he had seen nothing of the compound but the hospital wing so far. He ought to know, if he could, where the ship was located, where Loris was staying, where the exits were. Eventually, he would be able to walk.
At a dome in the center of the residence wing, he saw Doctor Suzuki and Loris coming down the hall.
“Good morning, Ladies,” Karil said cheerfully. “Doctor, it’s nice to see you again.” He bowed as well as he could in the chair and tilted his head to Loris, who ignored him and concentrated on observing her surroundings, like a good bodyguard.
“Nice to see you out and about,” Suzuki said. “I wonder which one of us is more interested in The Great Wall.”
“Surely you’ve seen it before.”
“I’ve seen it under refit, covered with scaffolding, and I’ve been poring over the diagrams forever, but this is the first time I’ve seen it finished, as it were. This whole compound is built for it, including the antimatter factory that I helped design two years ago. That’s a horrendously expensive process, mostly because of the necessary shielding. Compared to that, mining fusion fuel from the Jovian atmosphere is like picking up shells on the beach.”
Karil laughed. As they moved on, he told her about the Emperor Caligula declaring war on Neptune and ordering the Roman Army to pick up shells from the beach and take them back to Rome as spoils of war. He did not actually suggest that Zhang was as crazy as Caligula, but they all thought that was what he meant.
The big shock came when they were ushered into Zhang’s luxurious office suite, his native environment. He sat behind his huge desk, his broad shoulders hunched, and his hands spread out on the desktop. He looked over the desk like a giant tortoise on the beach, Karil thought. Behind him was a window revealing the interior of the hangar. They could barely see The Great Wall in the distance, behind an entire fleet of ships. Cutting torches flared and sparked in the construction site and men in hardhats circulated everywhere.
But though he did not look directly at it, Karil was keenly aware of the figure in the corner of the office—a dead cyborg, its once-human face shrunken like a mummy’s, its skeletal body supported by the body-armor and artificial limbs which had supported the long-dead soldier who had once breathed within. Karil wondered how long Zhang had searched the war-torn Americas for this ghoulish monstrosity to display as a symbol of his godlike power over life and death. Everyone pretended not to notice it, but it was the perfect bodyguard for a man like Zhang, whom all reports suggested was incapable of trusting anyone. It would obey no-one else, could not be stopped by anything short of total destruction, and would terrify anyone who saw it.
“Ali Karil,” Zhang said, smiling like a human being. “I’m glad to see you in such good shape. Are you looking forward to seeing my pride and joy?”
“I am, Mister Zhang. It’s also a joy to escape my room for a while.”
“I wouldn’t mention the word escape,” Zhang said with a rather chilling laugh. “Miss Dhawan could tell you about our security here.”
“I could,” Loris said. “I’ve never seen security like it. And surrounded by a thousand kilometers of wilderness on all sides.”
Karil marvelled at the honesty of it all. Despite the businesslike friendliness, everyone knew they were prisoners here and subject to Zhang’s whims.
“Shall we go, then?” Zhang said. He rose and left the office, followed by Doctor Suzuki and Loris, and by Karil, pushed by Wan-Ji. Behind them, they heard a clank and a heavy tread and realized the Morg was in motion, following Zhang. No doubt the first threatening movement toward Zhang would cause it to spring—not swiftly, but implacably—to his defense. A small army might take it out, but at a great loss of life. Because it was not only equipped with body-armor that would protect the semi-sentient A.I. devices within but armed with a machine-gun normally found on helicopters and tanks. Everyone in the room would be cut down and slaughtered except for Zhang.
The party passed through a blast-door lock into the next dome, where several shuttles and small freight-ships sat being fueled and serviced by uniformed men. The din became louder as they approached The Great Wall on the other side of the dome. Cables and hoses stretched across the floor and torches blazed with intense blue light, illuminating the great ship.
It was not the biggest ship Karil had seen—that would be the supertankers Poseidon Earthshaker and Zeus Cloudgatherer—nor the most beautiful, like White-Armed Hera or Grey-Eyed Athena, but everything about this ship spoke of power. There was not only an Art-Deco monumentalism about it, but something of Art-Nouveau grace, with the huge antimatter driver nacelles attached to the hull with what looked like a cathedral’s flying buttresses. It reminded Karil of the High Company colonies above, like High Asia and Karil’s High Africa. He could have found names for it more poetic than The Great Wall. Although, he was forced to admit, the graceful characters for Wan-Li Chang-Sheng and the coiling dragon painted on the bow gave it a certain fantastic charm.
Karil did not have to pretend to be impressed. He stared at it open-mouthed. A glance at Loris showed her analyzing it for weaknesses, systematically examining its structure and its weapons, the entire bank of fusion engines and the gaping, monstrous antimatter drivers.
“Mister Zhang,” Karil said. “That is a beautiful ship, possibly the most beautiful ship I’ve ever seen. It’s both heavenly and terrifying, like a fallen angel—Lucifer, or Gabriel bringing the trump of doom. Congratulations.”
He thought he was laying it on a bit thick, but he was treated to the rather disturbing image of Mister Zhang beaming like a proud parent. It made Karil’s flesh crawl.
“May we see inside?” Karil asked. “I’m fascinated by its launch transformation. Here it sits in a gravity field, then I suppose the fusion-drivers lift it into orbit like an ordinary ship, where the antimatter drivers engage and the continuous full-gee forward movement would create a gravitic pull toward the stern, with the bridge at the forward end becoming the top of a tower.”
He went on, recalling what Professor Kelley had told him about al-Zubair’s designs, and his own memories of being trapped inside Thor’s Hammer. Karil was in fact an expert on this ship, and Zhang was impressed. Despite himself, Karil spent the rest of the day wandering through the ship like a tourist. He rolled up the cargo hold ramp, wide enough for ships or tanks or entire armies of men to be deployed. They toured the engine room, where Doctor Suzuki explained the antimatter drive readouts, almost making sense to Karil. They saw the luxurious staterooms of VIP passengers, including Zhang’s quarters close behind the bridge. Loris pretended not to care about the bridge controls, but Karil could see her studying the helm and the engineering and gunnery stations, comparing them no doubt to Atalanta or perhaps the bridge of the Fair-Haired Demeter, where she had probably charmed the captain into giving her a tour.
Knowing her mind as well as he did, Karil was able to ask questions that he thought she would want answered, and he impressed Zhang even more. In fact, Zhang seemed to become alarmed at Karil’s insights and cut the tour short with an invitation to dinner. It was a fine meal, of course, not even ruined by the literal skeleton at the feast in the corner of the compound’s dining room.
“How soon do you think you’ll be able to launch,” Karil asked, quite interested in the answer because the chances were good that he would then be liquidated promptly, unless he and Loris could prevent it.
“Well,” Zhang said, “the construction is nearly complete, except for a few interior details, and we have sufficient antimatter for a test-run. And we have fusion fuel as well, to lift it into orbit before engaging the main drivers.”
Loris was somewhat relieved. “You mean, so the annihilation drive would kick in sufficiently far from inhabited areas for safety. Should something go wrong.”
“Well, I do want an audience,” Zhang said. “When High Asia and the other Colonies see the ship take off across the System at full speed, they’ll be seriously impressed.”
Loris must have looked sceptical. The thought of that ship annihilating itself close to a residence colony was terrifying.
“It’s completely safe,” Zhang said, laughing. “Tell her, Doctor.”
“He’s right,” Suzuki said. “Ignition will be under complete control. Magnetic containment is perfect, even more so than in the fusion drivers we use every day. It’s perfectly safe.”
She had not looked at Loris while she was speaking. Loris’s eyes met Karil’s and he read her look: Margie’s not certain at all. Why is she doing this?
Karil spoke up. “I’ve heard reports that cast a bit of doubt. As far as I know, al-Zubair’s success has not been duplicated, though there were several attempts. They used only a tiny bit of antimatter, but containment was not at all perfect and if there had been a larger quantity, there would have been…”
“That was Galilean research,” Zhang said, “specifically intended to cast doubt and prevent my success. When I perform orbital transfers in hours instead of weeks or months, they’ll be singing a different tune.” His brows furrowed and his face twitched with suppressed rage.
Karil was going to mention the economic facts of System travel, that most interplanetary shipping need not be fast. Solar sail was slow, but it was virtually free and System-wide commerce depended on it. The only possible use for the annihilation drive was in war, and all the planets and moons had signed a declaration banning it. But he realized there would be no point. Zhang believed in himself so thoroughly that any opposition could only be because of his rivals’ or his enemies’ jealousy. He simply could not be wrong, and Marjorie Suzuki had just confirmed it, as far as he was concerned.
Zhang abruptly ended dinner and left, saying he had work to do. Karil gave Loris a long look, which she took to be an invitation to come and talk to him later. Karil and Wan-Ji were silent as they returned to the hospital wing. Wan-Ji helped him climb into bed.
“I have to begin exercising rigorously,” Karil said. “I have to be on my feet very soon.”
“I think you’re right,” Wan-Ji said. She kissed him on the forehead, opened the window at his request, and left, turning out the light.
***
Loris and Margie were silent as well. Loris sat in bed, deeply troubled as she watched Margie undress. The girl crawled into bed and snuggled up to Loris as usual, held protectively in her arms. She was trembling.
“Why did you do that?” Loris demanded. “Don’t you realize how dangerous he is with that toy in his hands?”
“He wouldn’t listen anyway,” she said. “He’d rather kill us than listen to opposition. You and Karil have to stop him.”
“Me and Karil?”
“I know who you are, Loris. It really didn’t take me long to figure it out. I’m not without resources, you know. The last few days, I picked up on the occasional glance between you and Karil and that confirmed it. I know you think I’m emotionally immature, Loris, but I’m still pretty smart.”
“You little minx! Can’t you sabotage the drivers so he can’t ignite them?”
“He watches me like a hawk, and the technicians would probably know what I was doing. I think one or two might help, but others would stop me.” She sighed. “I’ll try.”
“I’ll be guarding you,” Loris said. “I’ll do something.”
***
Karil was walking on the treadmill when Wan-Ji came in. He was gripping the handrails but moving rather well.
“You’ve been dissembling,” she said.
“That’s right. I wanted Zhang to think I was harmless. But I still tire easily, and I was glad to have the wheelchair. What’s that?”
Wan-Ji set a storage box on the bed. She opened it up and took out Karil’s weapons—a double holster with a pistol-grip laser on one side and an antique pistol on the other.
“Where did you get that?” Karil laughed.
“They brought it in when they brought you. It’s been in storage, and I have a key. And I think you’ll want this.” She pulled out Chi-Chi Li’s old shotgun and a belt of cartridges. Karil checked them out and they put them back in the box and slid it under the bed.
“Now,” she said, “when the shit hits the fan, you’ll have a shovel. And it’s going to hit the fan soon. There are three small armies on the way, sent by Auntie Em. When the first barrier is breached, all hell should break loose here. They’ll have to fight their way in, but you and Loris are already on the inside, and you might be able to get to Zhang before they do. I figure the first thing he’ll do is try to get his ship out of here. If he does, nobody will be able to catch him. Oh, yes, and there’s one other thing.” She handed him a tiny green jewel.
“This belonged to Inger,” he said sadly. “But it’s been hit by EMP and it doesn’t work.”
Wan-Ji pulled a tiny red jewel from a pocket in her uniform. She placed the jewels side by side, in physical contact in her hand. The red one glowed and in a moment, the green one began to glow as well.
“That’s amazing,” Karil said. “Where did you get that?”
“Auntie Em. Where else? It’s a pretty new device, but I’m not surprised Inger had one. It reads anything electronic it touches and starts it up, then copies it.”
“You could have let me know you were an agent, you know.”
“I wasn’t sure you needed to know. But now it’s about time for you and Loris to take over.” She took the newly restored jewel and hid it under Karil’s pillow
“Later,” she said. She kissed him on the forehead and left.
***
When she believed Margie was asleep, Loris slipped out of bed and went to the garden door.
“Where are you going?” Margie asked.
Loris came back and sat down on the edge of the bed. “I’m going to talk to Karil,” she said. “We have a lot of things to discuss. I’ll be back soon.”
“Okay,” Margie said. “I love you.” She kissed Loris and drifted off to sleep. Loris watched for a moment and realized that, no matter what she had done, the girl was precious to her. She went out into the garden, climbed the trellis, and made her way once again across the roof of the compound—silent as a ghost, barefoot, and dressed only in short pajamas in the hot night—then climbed down to Karil’s window. He sat up in bed as she swung into the room.
“Suzuki knows who we are,” she said quietly. “She’s told Zhang nothing. She doesn’t trust him any more than he trusts her. She’s trying to manipulate both of us. That’s why she told him the ship was ready to go. She knew we would do something about it, and we were more likely to succeed than she was. She’s got a point there, but it’s still devious.”
“Well, I’ve got news too,” Karil said. “You’d better sit down. It’s going to take a while.”
***
It was broad daylight in High China, because the day/night cycle was based on the opening and closing of the mirrors and had nothing to do with the rising and setting of the sun anywhere on Earth. Wu-Jing Zong-Yao, Zhang’s head of security, received a message from his boss. He read it and called for a shuttle, then armed himself with a revolver with a silencer and went down to the hangar. In a few minutes, he had left High Asia behind and was descending to Earth’s surface. In the dark, the Eastern Forest was spread out below, and soon he saw the lights of the Zhang Industries compound. The hangar-roof slid back, and his shuttle landed inside. Wu-Jing climbed out, leaving his pilot to wait. He knew exactly where he was going and made his way through the maze of corridors in the low night-shift light. A door down the corridor opened and Wan-Ji came out of the nurses’ quarters.
“Hello, Captain,” she said. “What brings you here?”
“A little errand for the boss,” he said. “But I wasn’t expecting a witness.” He pulled out his revolver and shot her once in the head and twice in the heart. He replaced and pocketed the three cartridges. He was going to need six for Suzuki and Dhawan. No, he’d better get Dhawan first. Then he stepped over Wan-Ji’s body and continued down the corridor. He punched out a security code on a panel next to a door and it slid open. A dark form sat up in the bed.
“Loris?” Margie asked. Wu-Jing shot her once in the head and twice in the heart. He holstered his weapon and left.
Several minutes later, Loris came in from the garden and found Margie.
“No!” she said. “No! You sonofabitch!” She padded over to the credenza and picked up the Samurai sword in the rack. She bowed to the family shrine there and left the apartment with the sword. She found Wan-Ji’s body in the corridor. “You sonofabitch” she said again. She noticed the assassin was using the Mozambique drill—three shots. A professional, and a real traditionalist. She knew immediately who it was.
***
Wu-Jing Zong-Yao was just about to open Karil’s door. He was punching in the code as Loris came up behind him, silent on bare feet. He saw her reflection in the brass plaque on the door and whirled to face her, yanking his gun out of the shoulder-holster. Loris sliced off his hand and it flew away, still clutching the gun. Then, she disembowelled him in one movement. He glanced down at his intestines tumbling out on the floor and looked up to see the calm expression on her face for just a second before she sliced off his head. It hit the floor and rolled away, looking astonished and uncomprehending.
“Consider yourself disgraced, Captain,” she said.
The door slid open, and Karil stood there, fully dressed, with his guns strapped on and his shotgun in his hands. He looked at Loris, dressed in shortie pajamas drenched in blood, and then glanced down, meeting Wu-Jing’s befuddled stare.
“Holy shit,” he said.
“He killed Margie and Wan-Ji. I thought he was a nice guy. I was wrong.”
Karil started forward to hug her blood-soaked figure, but she threw up her hands to stop him.
“Why did he do that?” Karil wondered.
“I guess Zhang always intended to eliminate her when she was no longer needed. I’m sure he never really trusted her. I found Wan-ji in the hallway outside her quarters and I think she just turned up at the wrong time and place. This bastard was obviously just about to kill you, and if I’d been with Margie instead of with you, he might have killed me too. Zhang is nothing if not thorough.”
They were nearly deafened by the sound of warning sirens echoing through the compound. The lights blazed from low nightshift to high day. “Attention!” a voice bellowed calmly. “Breach of the South Wall. Enemy incursion. Full security alert.”
“That,” Karil said, “is the sound of the shit hitting the fan.”
“We have to stop Zhang.”
They could hear the rising thunder of fusion drivers and the floor vibrated beneath them.
“Go wake up Atty,” Karil said, and started off toward the hangar. Loris could see he was limping slightly and trying to hide it from her.
“Karil…”
“We need her,” he said. He turned and shouted back, “Love you, Doll.”
“Love you, Babe,” she said. She unstrapped Wu-Jing’s shoulder holster and put it on over her blood-soaked pajamas, picked up his hand and pried the gun from its grip, snatched up the sword, and her long legs carried her rapidly down the South Corridor.