"There have been misunderstandings," he said. "Bad rumors. We need to clear the air."
Reluctantly, looking to Ni Yueh then back to Lehmann, Yan Yan took the offered hand.
Lehmann smiled. It was a charming, almost innocent smile. A disarming smile. Slowly, Yan Yan's lips formed a mirror to it, but his eyes still showed uncertainty. Lehmann closed a second hand about Yan Yan's, keeping the handshake warm and unthreatening.
"There's no need for enmity," he said reassuringly. "There's enough for all, neh? More than enough."
Yan Yan looked down at the long, pale hands that held his own, then up into Lehmann's face again, puzzled. But it was Ni Yueh who spoke.
"You say that, but why should we trust you? What's to stop you doing to us what you did to K'ang A-yin and Lo Han?"
Lehmann lowered his head slightly, his expression seeming to say, "Oh dear, that again . . ."He released Yan Yan's hand and half turned, looking across at Ni Yueh.
"I've heard the stories. Heard the tales men whisper to each other, and let me assure you, they are simply not true." There was an earnestness, a sincerity in his voice as he said it that half convinced them. A plea for belief. The very look of a wronged man. His eyes seemed pained by the misunderstanding. Regretful.
"I didn't want to kill K'ang A-yin. He was a friend. A benefactor. But he made a deal with Lo Han, and my death was part of that deal. Soucek here can vouch for that, can't you, Jiri?"
Soucek nodded and stepped forward, saying the words Lehmann had had him rehearse.
"It was halfway through the meeting. Lehmann and I had gone out to check that everything was secure in the corridors. When we came back, K'ang had moved back against the far wall and Lo Han was sitting there with his big snub-nosed gun in one hand, laughing. It seems that K'ang had given his permission to kill Lehmann. He told me to leave the room. Told me it was simply business. But I stayed."
"How loyal," said Ni Yueh in an undertone that suggested he didn't believe a word of it. But Soucek turned on him angrily.
"Maybe. But I saw it like this. A boss looks after his men. He sells one he sells them all, right? So I made a choice."
There were nods from the other big men. Soucek's outburst had impressed them. If it was as Soucek said, then Lo Han and K'ang had clearly broken the code. It was not done to betray one's own so casually, even for the sake of peace.
"So," Ni Yueh said, stepping between the two men and confronting Lehmann face to face, "there was Lo Han, sitting behind the desk with his gun out. How is it he didn't kill you?"
Lehmann held Ni Yueh's eyes. "Because I was better than him. Quicker. And now he's dead, and I'm alive. It's simple, really."
"Too fucking simple!" Ni Yueh turned to face the others. "I don't believe a word of this. I trust this bastard about as much as I'd trust shit to taste good."
There was laughter, but it was short-lived. Lehmann had split them. The three who had been standing with Ni Yueh were still glaring at him, but the others—Yan Yan and Man Hsi among them— were not happy with Ni Yueh's words. Man Hsi spoke up.
"I don't see what proof you have, Ni Yueh. We all know how things get distorted. I say we should forget the past and make things good for the future. That's why we're here, right? Not to bicker and fight. WeVe done too much of that already and it's got us nowhere. No. WeVe got to make deals. Patch things up. For all our sakes."
Ni Yueh was scowling. For a moment he seemed about to answer, then, abruptly, he shook his head and turned away, as if he'd washed his hands of it. Turning to Lehmann, Man Hsi spoke again, his voice growing softer, more conciliatory.
"So what deal have you got for us, Shih Lehmann? What can you offer us to make the peace?"
Lehmann looked past Man Hsi at the others, knowing how things stood. If they had wanted—if they had really wanted—they could have wiped him out. It would have cost them dearly, but it had been possible. They could have done it. But now? Inside—deep inside—he laughed. Now it was too late. Simply in agreeing to come here and meet him they had made their greatest concession. Had admitted to him their lack of will. Even Ni Yueh, for all his hostility.
Turning to Soucek, he nodded, then waited while his lieutenant brought the documents. As arranged, others brought a long, six-
legged table and a stack of chairs and set them down close to where the big men stood. Then, documents in hand, Lehmann put out a hand, inviting them to sit.
There were ten copies of the treaty; one for each of the signatories. He watched as they first frowned, then, with greater interest, began to read the fifteen terms that would bring peace to the Lowers of north-central Europe. A treaty that divided the Kuei Chuan's territory into ten equal parts. That provided the detailed conditions by which they dealt with one another. Lehmann had modeled it on the commercial treaties he had found among his dead father's effects, but the terms were specific to the tang.
Man Hsi looked up, met Yan Yan's eyes, and smiled. As Lehmann had expected, they were impressed. They had never seen the like of this before and it pleased them greatly. It gave their activities the seal of legality. It made them feel like businessmen. Like Company executives. Lehmann watched each of them straighten up as they finished reading and seemed to puff out, bigger than they'd been only moments before. Kings. If only of the Lowers.
"Well?" he said, looking to Man Hsi.
Man Hsi looked across at Ni Yueh, who nodded grudgingly, not looking at Lehmann. After that it was a formality. Soucek handed out brushes and they signed, Yan Yan with a flourish that strayed over the signatures of three of his fellow bosses. Slowly the documents were passed around the table until each of the copies bore ten signatures at its foot. That done, Lehmann stood, raising his hand for silence.
"By this document—a copy of which will be held by each of us— we have peace in our part of the great City." He smiled pleasantly, and nodded. "Yes, peace and prosperity. But. . ." his face changed, all friendliness draining from it, ". . . should anyone break this treaty, then all the other parties must and will unite to bring the transgressor to account." He paused dramatically and looked at each of them in turn. When he spoke again his voice was fierce, insistent. "It is only if each one of us knows this and fears it that the agreement will work. You understand?"
There was a moment's hesitation, then nods and a murmur of agreement.
"We understand," Ni Yueh said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. But his eyes showed something different now. The treaty had affected him; had made him question what he had earlier believed. And though the bantering tone remained, deep down he was far less certain. Lehmann had impressed him despite all.
"Good," said Lehmann, releasing Ni Yueh's eyes. "Then our business here is done."
the CORRIDOR was packed. People had been gathering for the last thirty minutes outside the offices of the Ch'i Chu corporation, curious to see who had ordered such a grand sedan. Old men and children, young wives and idle youths, Han and Hung Mao alike, all stood there, gawping and chattering. Some busied themselves examining the sedan, feeling the thickness and quality of the green er-silk coverings or peeking inside at the big, luxuriantly cushioned chair. There were jokes about how big a man the chair might carry, and then sudden laughter as one of the young boys acted out a mime, pretending to be a fat official, his pomposity matched only by his grossness as he waddled across to take his place in the chair. Others, meanwhile, had formed a crowd about the squatting pole-men, trying to strike up a conversation, but long experience had made the carriers taciturn. The four men waited patiently, saying nothing, their eyes downcast, conscious of the runners who stood nearby.