Part 11 (1/2)

She went upstairs to change into something more savoury than the j.a.panese garb. It amused her to think of the enemy's materials being used against them, though she didn't really feel comfortable with the need. If only that nurse had not got herself killed, she could have played the part of the j.a.panese woman. It wouldn't be long, though, before her part would be finished, and she and Kwok could get out of the business and live more comfortably somewhere else.

In a way, the thought was saddening, for she knew that barring accidents she would outlive Kwok, along with everyone else. At first she had tried to tell herself that she didn't care for him at all, but it hadn't worked, and thinking about their future life led her naturally to wonder what life would be like after losing him. She would have to come to terms with it someday, but so far the idea always chilled her, making her need his rea.s.suring presence even more.

Fear bred, she knew, and it could be borne of love as well as of anything else.

The Doctor gave another three inaudible blasts of the whistle, then grimaced. 'You'd think he would have got here by now.'

He and Li were sitting at a rice stall on the street, still chained together. This was the old Chinese city, rarely visited by foreigners, so many pa.s.sers-by paused to stare at the Doctor, never having seen a non-Chinese before. n.o.body seemed bothered that he was handcuffed and Li suspected it was because they didn't realize that this wasn't a normal state for a westerner.

'The city is no place for a dog,' Li observed. He was beginning to wonder if he had been taken for a ride.

'K9 is no ordinary dog.' A chorus of startled cries and shouts rose from along the street, and several coolies and porters jumped into the middle of the road to get out of the way of whatever was approaching. Whatever it was was too low to be visible through the crowd, and Li drew his gun just to be on the safe side.

The crowd parted and a squarish metal construction in the vague shape of a dog slid up to them. 'I'd put away the gun if I were you,' the Doctor said in a low voice. 'Guns make him nervous.' Li did so but kept his hand near it, just in case. He had never seen anything quite like this thing. The Doctor glared at it. 'What kept you? No, never mind. Where is Romana?'

'Mistress Romana is at the Club Do-San. She said to tell you that she has located the whereabouts of the leaders of the Tong of the Black Scorpion.'

The Doctor grinned. Li was only frustrated; he had spent days piecing together the Black Scorpion's movements, and it was galling for some d.a.m.ned deus ex machina deus ex machina to come and deliver their address. 'Well? Where is it?' to come and deliver their address. 'Well? Where is it?'

'Mistress Romana did not say. Logic would suggest meeting to discuss the subject.'

'Yes, well, I think the inspector would like to compare notes about me with the Black Scorpion a little earlier than that. Do you remember what I taught you about being a bloodhound?'

'All memory is fully accessible.'

'Good, good.' The Doctor produced the locket he had taken from the a.s.sa.s.sin at the police station, and opened it to reveal the geomantic compa.s.s. 'Scan this blood sample again.'

K9's probe extended. 'Cellular structure patterned and memorized.'

'Good dog; now, scan for a matching cellular genetic pattern. I want to find the original owner of this blood.'

'Scanning.'

Li gave the Doctor a blank look. 'If that belonged to a Tong soldier, the chances are that any blood on it was from some street girl they killed to avoid paying her fee.'

'All the a.s.sa.s.sins who tried to kill us in your station had lockets like this, with the same blood type. That means the blood is all from the same person for a reason. Now, either it belongs to the woman from the docks, or to someone else who is valuable to the Tong as a mascot and therefore still alive.

Either way, it's likely to lead us to their headquarters.' Li nodded. It made sense of sorts, but things were not that simple these days.

'Pattern match detected,' K9 announced after a few moments. 'Bearing two-two-seven degrees, fourteen point three kilometres.'

'We'll take my car,' Li said in a tone that was clearly not that of a mere suggestion.

'Warning, master. Blood sample is highly charged with chronons.'

The Doctor gaped. 'What? That blood is a chronon radiation source?'

'Affirmative. The iron content in the red cells has been temporally polarized by chronon decay.'

'That's impossible!' He looked at Li. 'Don't you think it's impossible?'

Li pulled him towards the car. 'I think this whole case is impossible.'

The two armed guards who flanked the main door scarcely gave Kwok a second glance as he strolled into the house. It had taken far too long to carry the stolen goods to Utsonomiya, even though the thirty-seven-mile journey was accomplished with one step. He hoped that next time HsienKo would choose a target situated on a Dragon Path they could drive through.

HsienKo was in the dining-room eating a late breakfast.

She had changed into a black trouser-suit of light silk and unbound her hair so that it could fall between her shoulderblades. Kwok bent to nuzzle her neck before sitting beside her. 'Did you get everything?' she asked.

'Yes. The trucks will be at the Arch by now and will return for the guns at dusk.'

'Good. Feng's still on duty, if you want something to eat.'

Kwok shook his head, getting up to leave. 'I want to have all Vogler's guns checked, just in case.'

'Don't you trust anyone?'

He sat back down, taking her hand. 'Only you.' He had never quite known why that was the case. He had met her at the plagiaristic Canton Club, where one of HsienKo's late rivals had decided to set up a Chinese version of America's Cotton Club. The Canton Club had been wrecked in the air strike from the j.a.panese aircraft carrier Hosho Hos...o...b..ck in 1932. back in 1932.

He had been a lowly bouncer then, and she a regular visitor to the offices upstairs, where trade agreements between Tongs were thrashed out sometimes literally. She had asked to borrow his car on the first night and he had allowed it, though it was foolish. He had instinctively felt that he had known her long enough for her to earn his trust, though intellectually he knew better.

He was quite surprised when she returned it the next night, and surprised again that it hadn't been used in some crime.

After a few days he felt that he'd always known her. After a few weeks they were engaged to be married. But...

But this business of hers had to be finished first. It was important to her, so he knew better than to deny her it. Indeed, he wholeheartedly approved, once the reality of the Dragon Paths had been proved to him. To do so, she had taken him to New York in the wink of an eye.

He had seen the potential immediately the shock had worn off.

More than that, he had seen how intelligent and imaginative she was to have exploited her discovery like this.

He wished they could travel together more often, to enjoy each other's reactions to every new location.

They would travel again, he was sure, once this business was finished. Then he would never be apart from her again.

Every time they parted, he was secretly terrified that he would lose her, and so he went on the more dangerous trips himself.

He didn't fear death half as much as he feared loss.

Soon, though, he could relax. Everything was progressing as planned.

The Doctor and Li peered through the shrubbery at the landscaped gardens which surrounded the mansion on three sides. Croquet hoops were set into a flat lawn, while a carefully arranged stone garden surrounded a wide pool filled with daintily coloured fish. A low bridge arched over the pool for decorative effect.