Read Online Ice and Fire: Chung Kuo Series by David Wingrove - Free Book Online
Authors: David Wingrove
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right, of course. You should destroy them. Now, while you still can.’
Ah…’ Li Shai Tung hesitated, then nodded.
Maybe so
, he thought, surprised yet again by the child’s unpredictability. But he said nothing.
Time alone would prove them
right or wrong.
He looked back at Shepherd who was standing now. ‘I must go, Hal. It would not do
to keep Minister Chao waiting.’ He laughed. ‘You know, Chao has been in my service
longer than
anyone butTolonen.’
It was said before he realized it.
‘I forget…’ he said, with a small, sad laugh.
Shepherd, watching him, shook his head. ‘Bring him back, Shai Tung,’ he said softly.
‘This once, do as your heart bids you.’
The T’ang smiled tightly and held the file more firmly. ‘Maybe,’ he said. But he knew
he would not. It was as he had said. He was T’ang, yes, but he was also Seven.
When the T’ang had gone they stood at the river’s edge. The moon was high overhead
– a bright, full moon that seemed to float in the dark mirror of the water.
The night was warm and still, its silence broken only by the sound – a distant, almost
disembodied sound – of the soldiers working on the cottage.
Shepherd squatted down, looking out across the water into the darkness on the other
side.
‘What did you mean, Ben, earlier? All that business about dissolving walls and making
it real. Was that just talk or did you have something real in mind?’
Ben was standing several paces from his father, looking back up the grassy slope to
where they had set up arc lamps all around the cottage. The dark figures of the suited
men seemed to flit
through the glare like objects seen peripherally, in a dream.
‘It’s an idea I have. Something I’ve been working on.’
Shepherd turned his head slightly and studied his son a moment. ‘You seemed quite
confident. As if the thing existed.’
Ben smiled. ‘It does. Up here.’
Shepherd laughed and looked down, tugging at the long grass. ‘So what is it? I’m interested.
And I think the T’ang was interested, too.’
‘What did he want?’
A faint breeze ruffled the water, making the moon dance exaggeratedly on the darkness.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Why was I there?’
Shepherd smiled to himself. He should have known better than to think Ben would not
ask that question.
‘Because he wanted to see you, Ben. Because he thinks that one day you might help
his son.’
‘I see. And he was assessing me?’
‘You might put it that way.’
Ben laughed. ‘I thought as much. Do you think he found me strange?’
‘Why should you think that?’
Ben looked directly at his father. ‘I know what I am. I’ve seen enough of the world
to know how different I am.’
‘On a screen, yes. But not everything’s up there on the screen, Ben.’
‘No?’ Ben looked back up the slope towards the cottage. They were hauling the first
of the thin, encasing layers over the top of the frame, the heavily suited men pulling
on the
guide ropes. ‘What don’t they show?’
Hal laughed, but let the query pass. Ben was right. He did know what he was, and he
was
different. There was no point in denying that.
‘You’ve no need to follow in my footsteps.’
Ben smiled but didn’t look at him. ‘You think I’d want that?’
Shepherd felt a twinge of bitterness, then shook his head. ‘No, I guess not. In any
case, I’d never force that on you. You know that, don’t you?’
Ben turned and stared out across the water fixedly. ‘Those things don’t interest me.
The political specifics. The who-runs-what and who-did-what. I would be bored by it
all. And what
good is a bored advisor? I’d need to care about those things, and I don’t.’
‘You seemed to care. Earlier, when we were talking about them.’
‘That was something different. That was the deeper thing.’
Shepherd laughed. ‘Of course. The
deeper
thing.’
Ben looked back at him. ‘You deal in surfaces,
Ah…’ Li Shai Tung hesitated, then nodded.
Maybe so
, he thought, surprised yet again by the child’s unpredictability. But he said nothing.
Time alone would prove them
right or wrong.
He looked back at Shepherd who was standing now. ‘I must go, Hal. It would not do
to keep Minister Chao waiting.’ He laughed. ‘You know, Chao has been in my service
longer than
anyone butTolonen.’
It was said before he realized it.
‘I forget…’ he said, with a small, sad laugh.
Shepherd, watching him, shook his head. ‘Bring him back, Shai Tung,’ he said softly.
‘This once, do as your heart bids you.’
The T’ang smiled tightly and held the file more firmly. ‘Maybe,’ he said. But he knew
he would not. It was as he had said. He was T’ang, yes, but he was also Seven.
When the T’ang had gone they stood at the river’s edge. The moon was high overhead
– a bright, full moon that seemed to float in the dark mirror of the water.
The night was warm and still, its silence broken only by the sound – a distant, almost
disembodied sound – of the soldiers working on the cottage.
Shepherd squatted down, looking out across the water into the darkness on the other
side.
‘What did you mean, Ben, earlier? All that business about dissolving walls and making
it real. Was that just talk or did you have something real in mind?’
Ben was standing several paces from his father, looking back up the grassy slope to
where they had set up arc lamps all around the cottage. The dark figures of the suited
men seemed to flit
through the glare like objects seen peripherally, in a dream.
‘It’s an idea I have. Something I’ve been working on.’
Shepherd turned his head slightly and studied his son a moment. ‘You seemed quite
confident. As if the thing existed.’
Ben smiled. ‘It does. Up here.’
Shepherd laughed and looked down, tugging at the long grass. ‘So what is it? I’m interested.
And I think the T’ang was interested, too.’
‘What did he want?’
A faint breeze ruffled the water, making the moon dance exaggeratedly on the darkness.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Why was I there?’
Shepherd smiled to himself. He should have known better than to think Ben would not
ask that question.
‘Because he wanted to see you, Ben. Because he thinks that one day you might help
his son.’
‘I see. And he was assessing me?’
‘You might put it that way.’
Ben laughed. ‘I thought as much. Do you think he found me strange?’
‘Why should you think that?’
Ben looked directly at his father. ‘I know what I am. I’ve seen enough of the world
to know how different I am.’
‘On a screen, yes. But not everything’s up there on the screen, Ben.’
‘No?’ Ben looked back up the slope towards the cottage. They were hauling the first
of the thin, encasing layers over the top of the frame, the heavily suited men pulling
on the
guide ropes. ‘What don’t they show?’
Hal laughed, but let the query pass. Ben was right. He did know what he was, and he
was
different. There was no point in denying that.
‘You’ve no need to follow in my footsteps.’
Ben smiled but didn’t look at him. ‘You think I’d want that?’
Shepherd felt a twinge of bitterness, then shook his head. ‘No, I guess not. In any
case, I’d never force that on you. You know that, don’t you?’
Ben turned and stared out across the water fixedly. ‘Those things don’t interest me.
The political specifics. The who-runs-what and who-did-what. I would be bored by it
all. And what
good is a bored advisor? I’d need to care about those things, and I don’t.’
‘You seemed to care. Earlier, when we were talking about them.’
‘That was something different. That was the deeper thing.’
Shepherd laughed. ‘Of course. The
deeper
thing.’
Ben looked back at him. ‘You deal in surfaces,
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