Escorted by three Lion Guardsmen, Shun Li walked past large pigeon coops. Inside were amazing, exotic creatures that hardly deserved the name “pigeon.”
She was used to the nuisance creatures that made a mess on public statues or strutted in the biggest cities beside open-air restaurants, pecking for crumbs.
The pigeons in the coops had feathers on their feet, feather crests, and one kind called fantail was like a mini-peacock. They were extraordinary.
Since the turn of Chinese fortunes in North America, the Leader had lost interest in his polar bears. She’d heard rumors about his new interest, but this was her first time experiencing it in person.
The pigeon coops were on his estate outside Beijing. Then she saw him. The Leader sat in a chair before several show cages on a table. He wore blue flowing robes like some ancient emperor, with golden swirls sewn on it. That was most exotic, yes, just like his strange pigeons.
The Leader studied several large birds as big as chickens. They stood in the metal cages on the table.
The guards brought her near and came to a halt. The biggest guard cleared his throat.
Without turning to look at them, Chairman Hong raised an arm, beckoning them near with a flick of his fingers.
“Go,” a guard whispered, pushing Shun Li in the back, propelling her toward him. “And remember to bow.”
Shun Li timidly approached the Leader. She still ran the Police Ministry, but it felt as if Hong watched her every move, and second-guessed most of her key decisions. The Indian-American alliance had been the final straw, it seemed, pushing Hong into these unusual antics.
As the Leader lifted a metal door, releasing a bird into its cage, Shun Li dropped to her knees. Then she bowed low, letting her forehead press against the cool grass.
“Ah, Shun Li,” Hong said. “This is a pleasant surprise. Please, rise, come sit beside me.”
She stood, startled at his agreeable voice and manners. He patted a chair beside him. She took it, sitting on the edge.
“What do you think?” he asked, indicating the pigeons.
“I’ve never seen them so large,” she said.
Hong smiled in a tolerant manner. “Clearly, you are not a pigeon fancier.”
“Should I be, Leader?”
“No, no, this is a gentleman’s hobby. You are a killer, Shun Li, a wader in blood. The world hates you for your part in the Red Dragon assault, among other atrocities.”
She had discovered that for herself on many occasions. To her, the accusations from those in the world felt terribly unfair. But there was nothing she could do about it. The rest of the world—at least outside the Pan-Asian Alliance—considered her a war criminal. No doubt, that had been Hong’s intent from the beginning.
“I do what I must for China’s glory,” she said.
“I understand, and I applaud your efforts. But it means you cannot enjoy the finer things in life such as pigeon breeding. You are too coarse to appreciate such beauty.”
She studied the bird, watching it coo. The thing was beautiful? Could the Chairman be right about her? Was she too coarse to see its beauty?
“Shun Li,” he said, “I have a mission for you, a sacred task.”
She dreaded hearing that, but smiled, nodding. I am a barracuda swimming with the world’s most dangerous shark. It is best to avoid his teeth.
“No doubt, you have heard of Admiral Ling’s decisive victory in the Tasman Sea.”
“I’m afraid not, Leader.”
“That’s right. You missed the Ruling Committee meeting yesterday.”
She’d missed it because she had been following the Chairman’s orders. Several days ago, she’d flown to Japan, studying the situation there. The country had become restless. The mass nuclear strike had something to do with that. Hong also disliked the Japanese, and the country’s displeasure had hardened him against them. He’d lowered their rank on the food chain, putting them on hard rations. The Japanese had become angry, rebellious and finally publicly outspoken.
Two days ago, Shun Li had personally witnessed the execution of fifty-three high-ranking Japanese, including politicians, business leaders and police commissioners. Foreign news sources already laid the blame at her feet. They gave her credit for far more power than she deserved. Hong ran China through people like her. The important decisions were always his.
“You dealt with the Japanese, did you not?”
“Yes, Leader,” she said.
“They are a stubborn people and understand a strong hand.” With a stick, Hong poked the pigeon, making it strut about the cage. “Once, many thought of the Japanese as a warrior people. They roamed the seas as we do now, but they only reached the Coral Sea at the height of their glory. We have gone beyond to the Tasman Sea, gone even farther south than the South West Cape of New Zealand. There, Admiral Ling smashed the American armada. His drone operators counted forty-five vessels, and he sank them.”
“That is wonderful news, Leader.”
“Over one hundred years ago, the Japanese fought the battle of Coral Sea. They suffered some minor losses and pulled back. The Americans struck at us in the Tasman Sea with THOR missiles, and inflicted losses against us.”
“This is terrible news.”
“No,” the Chairman said. “We survived, and Ling destroyed the invasion fleet and has been sinking American submarines at a prodigious rate. It is very gratifying. However—”
Hong pointed the pigeon stick at Shun Li.
She sat erect, waiting for the worst.
“There are hints that more American task forces slink around the area,” Hong said.
“Will Admiral Ling sink them too, Leader?”
Hong stared at her, and she wondered in what manner she had misspoken.
“Are you faithful to me?” Hong asked.
“With all my heart, Leader,” she said.
“I want to believe you. Yes, I’ve sent you to do many unpleasant tasks. Yet isn’t that the lot of a Police Minister?”
“It is, Leader.”
“Would you like a different post, Shun Li?”
She hesitated for just a fraction of a moment. Indeed, she would. The bloodletting wearied her soul. It stained her, she knew, and she’d become afraid of an accounting someday.
With her hesitation, something changed behind Hong’s dark eyes. They seemed to glitter, and it wasn’t good, but a dark evil.
“No,” Shun Li said. “I am what I am. Your question so startled me, that for a moment I could not speak.”
Those wet eyes watched her, and she felt the furnace heat of his wickedness. Yes, it was evil the things he’d done. Murdering his foes, unleashing nuclear war—the Leader had become a human devil.
What are you thinking? Shun Li asked herself in alarm. It’s possible he can read thoughts, or sense emotions like an empath. Some of his guesses and political moves were uncanny, unnatural, possibly supernatural.
“You are lying to me,” he said in a quiet voice.
She wanted to shudder, but suppressed it. Instead, as calmly as possible, she parted her lips and laughed gently. This was a gamble, but she felt the need to do something.
At first, the shine in his eyes intensified, and she knew the guards would throttle her soon at his orders. Then he smiled, and he, too, chuckled.
Shun Li stopped, letting herself listen to his laughter. It was frightening.
“You speak truth, Police Minister. You are a killer, my killer. You will do exactly as I tell you, won’t you?”
“With all my heart, Leader,” she said. “I live to obey China.”
“It is good to have at least one person you can rely on. I won’t say I fully trust you. That is too difficult to mouth, and who would believe it? But I can rely on you to carry through chilling tasks.”