Part 60 (2/2)

'Well done,' said Cadillac, as Steve stopped to ma.s.sage his knee. The visiting Iron Masters had all departed.

'You okay?”

Steve grimaced. 'Yeah. I just twisted this leg a little.

How did it go your end?”

'Terrific. They're over the moon. That lift-off put them in a really good mood. Ryos.h.i.+ - the head of the party that came down from Ba-satana - is one of Min-Orota's top men. He says we can have whatever materials we need. They want to move ahead as fast as possible. All the plans under construction are to be completed.

They're talking about putting on some kind of display for the Shogun.”

'Good. Did they say anything about drafting in more people to speed things up?”

'Yes. But they won't be Trackers.”

'j.a.ps.”

'No. They'd lose too much face working alongside us.

They'll probably be Koreans or Vietnamese.”

'Gotcha.” Steve tested his wrenched leg by putting his full weight upon it. It was still tender. 'Listen, while we're on the subject of d.i.n.ks, I saw a horse tied to one of the hitching-posts out front. Had this black cloth on its back, trimmed with red ' 'It's called a ”caparison”...”

Steve ignored the interruption ' - and there were red doo-dabs '

'Ta.s.sels...”

'-hanging from the reins. Did you, by any chance, see who it belonged to?”

'Yeah. Tos.h.i.+ro Hase-Gawa. He's a Herald to the Inner Court.”

'Sounds important...”

'He is important.” Cadillac gave Steve a concise explanation of the Heralds' role, their position in the government hierarchy and their special relations.h.i.+p with the Shogun.

Steve listened intently. He'd asked because the horse, with its red and black trappings, was identical to the one he'd encountered near Two Island Lake. So the Man in Black was Tos.h.i.+ro Hase-Gawa, Herald to the Inner Court, one of the 'eyes and ears' of the Shogun - the top man in Ne-Issan. He really was caught up in a high-level conspiracy.

Once again his gut-feeling and that silent inner voice had enabled him to put it all together. It was the Shogun who wanted the Consul-General killed. And by using a lowly long-dog, he made sure no one would ever be able to point the finger at the prime mover. Neat.

Steve was prepared to keep his side of the bargain to secure Clearwater's release, but what then? The Shogun, he imagined, merely had to lift his little finger and his people would be falling over themselves to ensure their safe delivery to the border. Except, of course, that, for the same reason they were using him to make the hit, they would not want to be seen doing so.

It would make things a lot easier if they could move under the Shogun's protection, but could he be trusted?

How much did he know about what was going on? Had he, for instance, bought the story about the ma.s.sive air strike that would be delivered if he did not return safely with Cadillac and Clearwater? The Man in Black was a tricky customer. He might be using his position as intermediary to settle a few scores of his own.

Fascinating problem. What was even more fascinating was the intimate knowledge Cadillac had garnered about the Iron Masters. 'Tell me,'

said Steve, 'how do you know all this?”

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