Part 26 (1/2)

'Soon, sire,' replied n.o.buro. 'But first, there is another person I must bring to your attention.” Without further explanation he unwrapped a piece of cloth to reveal the combat knife, and proceeded to tell the Herald about Steve's intervention to halt the slaughter of the camp women and his subsequent revelations.

Tos.h.i.+ro listened impa.s.sively, then reached out and touched the knife.

'Why do you show this to me?”

'Because it is more than a knife. It is a weapon filled with the power of the long-dogs. The . . .” n.o.buro hesitated '... power whose name we dare not speak.”

The Dark Light...

Tos.h.i.+ro examined the knife cautiously. It was well crafted but the quality and sharpness' of the steel blade was markedly inferior to the swords and daggers produced in Ne-Issan. He offered it back to the ronin. 'Show me . . .”

n.o.buro released the hidden pressure catches and removed one of the wooden side-pieces revealing the device hidden inside. He had observed Steve's actions and had practised opening the hilt several times in order to avoid looking clumsy in front of the Herald. He had even taken out the stylus and used it to press various b.u.t.tons just as the cloud warrior had done, but he had not found out how to make the moving word-signs appear.

What n.o.buro had done - although he did not know it was to cancel the automatic broadcast of Steve's call-sign programmed by Side-Winder, plus the brief twelve-hourly transmissions Steve had keyed in himself.

The result was to take Steve completely off the air. For the last two days, the high-flying ears of the First Family had searched for his signal and drawn a blank. The last fix A'MEXICO had on him was in the area of Big D - the ronin's secret hide-out - but now, no one knew where he was, or what had happened to him.

Tos.h.i.+ro inspected the microcircuitry inside the handle but was none the wiser. 'Did the cloud warrior explain the purpose of this device?”

'Yes. It is like a courier pigeon without wings. He uses it to send messages through the skies - and also to receive the commands of his masters.” n.o.buro shook his head in wonderment.

Tos.h.i.+ro also found the idea fascinating, but he was acutely conscious that they were playing with fire. The hidden contents of the knife made it a forbidden object whose power might destroy those who tampered with its mechanisms. He was obliged to take it with him in case the Shogun expressed a wish to see it, but its presence in the room made him feel uneasy. Tos.h.i.+ro got the ronin to show him how to release and replace the wooden sidepieces, then told him to wrap the knife up and place it in another room until they had concluded their business.

When n.o.buro returned he had the mysterious cloud warrior in tow. The tall dark-haired figure whose wrists were tied together went down on his knees before the Herald and bowed respectfully.

'Remove the mask,' said Tos.h.i.+ro, in j.a.panese.

n.o.buro untied the straw mask and adopted a cross legged position facing them, on the Herald's right.

Steve sat back on his heels and kept his eyes lowered until the black-clad figure addressed him. n.o.buro had given him a crash course on how to behave, stressing that this high-flyer did not owe him any favours and was apparently a stickler for protocol. Social inferiors and especially outlanders - did not sit in the company of samurai.

They knelt. Above all, they did not come on like Jack the Bear.

Tos.h.i.+ro studied Steve's patterned face and forearms with a mixture of suspicion and distaste. He had never been this close to a gra.s.s-monkey before. He paused, uncertain what tone to adopt in this situation. He thought over what the ronin had said about his extraordinary martial skills and his fearless responses when questioned and decided to address him in a firm, but not overbearing, manner. 'I understand you call yourself a cloud warrior. What is that exactly?”

Steve was surprised to hear the fluency with which his interlocutor spoke Basic. 'That's the name the Mutes give to the wingmen of the Federation. They are a special kind of soldier. Cream of the crop.

But instead of being mounted on horses like samurai, they ride into battle on flying machines called Skyhawks.”

'Got it. So tell me - why would someone as special as that dress up as a gra.s.s-monkey?”