Frank Schätzing - Limit

‘And it wouldn’t have been the sons either?’

‘No.’

‘Well,’ Tu clicked his tongue. ‘There’s surprisingly little information about what’s been happening there over the last year, don’t you think?’

Jericho gave him an appraising look. ‘Is it just my imagination, or do you know something that I should know?’

‘ Oída ouk eidós ,’ said Tu innocently.

‘That’s not Confucius.’

‘I know, are you impressed? It’s Plato, Socrates’ apologia: I know that I know not.’

‘Show-off.’

‘Not at all. It’s perfectly fitting for what I’m trying to say. I do know that there’s an explanation for the diminished interest in Equatorial Guinea, but I just can’t work out what it is. I know it’s something obvious though. Something that’s right in front of our noses.’

‘Does it also explain why there was hardly any public speculation about involvement from abroad?’

‘Ask me after I’ve figured out what it is.’

Jericho listened to the navigation system for a while.

‘Look, the problem is that the coup wouldn’t have been possible without outside help,’ he said. ‘It’s clear that Mayé was installed there by the Chinese, so one would assume that America did it. But our text fragment says something different, that China had its finger in the pie too. If that’s correct, then the submissive servant wasn’t submissive enough when it really came down to it.’

‘You mean he was no longer willing to comply with Beijing’s wishes?’

‘Yoyo and I are leaning towards the view that he and his inner circle could even have become dangerous for China.’

‘Which would explain why the Chinese build him up first and then kill him,’ concluded Tu.

‘And accept the considerable disadvantages too.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘Oil. Gas. Ndongo had never been Beijing’s friend.’

Tu opened his mouth. For a moment he looked as though he had grasped something which had far-reaching implications. The he clapped his lower jaw back up. Jericho raised an eyebrow.

‘You wanted to say something?’

‘Later.’

They fell silent. Yoyo had fallen asleep on the back seat again. Once they were finally on the autobahn, dawn began to break and the traffic became busier. The navigation system issued muted directions. They approached Berlin Mitte, were directed towards Potsdamer Platz and, by 5.30 a.m., had secured spacious rooms on the seventh floor of the newly renovated Hyatt. An hour later, they sat down to breakfast. The choice was more than ample. Yoyo had overcome her tiredness and was shovelling immense quantities of scrambled eggs and bacon into her mouth. Tu, much less picky, instead made his way diagonally through what was on offer, managing to combine smoked fish and chocolate spread in such a repulsive way that Jericho had to avert his gaze. As usual, Tu didn’t even seem to register what he was eating. He noisily watered down the melange with green tea and started to talk:

‘You can’t still be tired, you slept enough in Shanghai, so—’

‘I didn’t even get a wink of sleep,’ groaned Yoyo. ‘Only just then on the plane.’

‘The same with me,’ admitted Jericho. ‘Every time I thought I was dropping off it felt as if I was falling into an electrical field.’

‘God, that’s it!’ Yoyo opened her eyes wide and touched his hand, as though in reflex. ‘That’s exactly what it feels like. As if someone’s running a bolt of electricity through you.’

‘Yes, you jump—’

‘And then you’re awake again! The whole night through.’

‘Interesting.’ Tu looked at them each in turn and shook his head. ‘I mean, I went through the little Depression of 2010, the Yuan Crisis of 2018, the recession two years ago – and I didn’t let any of it rob me of my sleep.’

‘Oh no?’ drawled Yoyo. ‘Did someone slaughter your friends in front of your eyes too, and then almost hound you to death afterwards?’

Tu cocked his head to one side.

‘So you think you’re the only person who’s seen others die?’

‘I have no idea.’

‘Exactly.’

‘I mean, I have no idea what you’ve seen.’

‘If you don’t have any idea—’

‘No, I don’t!’ hissed Yoyo. ‘And do you know why not? Because you and my father brood about your miserable pasts by yourselves! I don’t care what you’ve both been through. Maggie, Tony, Jia Wei and Ziyi were shot into shreds in front of my eyes. Xiao-Tong, Mak and Ye are dead too. I don’t even want to start on Grand Cherokee; and the fact that my father, Daxiong and Owen are still alive is bordering on a miracle. So I’ve allowed myself to lose a little sleep over it. Do you have any other clever comments?’

‘You should keep your outbreaks of emotion—’

‘No, you should!’ Yoyo waved her hands around wildly in the air. ‘Hongbing, tell your child the truth, you have to trust her, you can’t keep up this silence any longer, blah blah blah. God, you’re the master of blah blah blah, Tian, you’re sooo understanding and constructive! But when it comes to you, you keep things under wraps, right?’

‘If I could just—’ interjected Jericho.

‘You’re no better than Hongbing, do you know that?’

‘Hey!’ Jericho leaned over. ‘I’ve no idea why you guys came to Berlin, but I want to find Andre Donner, is that clear? So sort your issues out somewhere else.’

‘Tell him that.’

Tu kneaded his hands morosely. He slurped tea, took a bite of a sausage, shoved the rest in after it, scrunched up his serviette and threw it carelessly onto the plate. Clearly he wasn’t anywhere near as untouchable as he liked to imply. For a while, hurt silence reigned.

‘Fine. As far as I’m concerned you can have a nap. But at some point in the course of the morning it would be advisable for you to stock up on the essentials, underwear, T-shirts, cosmetics, whatever. Perhaps we’ll be back home again by this time tomorrow, but perhaps we won’t. There’s a shopping mall just opposite. Go and get what you need. After that we’ll pay Muntu a visit. Is the place open at midday?’

‘From twelve until two. According to the website.’

‘Good.’

‘I’m not sure.’ Jericho tore a croissant to pieces indecisively. ‘We shouldn’t just all rock up there at once.’

‘Why not?’

‘We want to warn Donner, not make him take flight. A European-looking guy, a Chinese girl, fine. In the city we’d just look like a normal couple. But add another Chinese guy and Donner could get suspicious.’

‘You think? Berlin is full of Chinese people.’

‘Do they go to African restaurants?’

‘Please! We’re the most culturally open people in the world.’

‘You’re as open as a vacuum cleaner,’ said Jericho. ‘You suck up everything that isn’t screwed on and riveted, but gastronomically you’re all ignorant.’

‘You’re confusing us with the Japanese.’

‘Not at all. The Japanese are culinary fascists. You lot, on the other hand, are just ignorant.’

‘I’m sure things would look different at McDonald’s.’

‘Oh, come on!’ Jericho couldn’t help but laugh. Discussing food with Tu was almost as absurd as explaining the benefits of vegetarianism to a shark. ‘When you guys are abroad you always go to Chinese restaurants, right? All I’m saying is that the man who now goes by the name of Donner has had bad experiences with Chinese people, if our theories are correct. He’s being hunted. The organisation that Vogelaar and Kenny belong to want to kill him.’

‘Hmm.’ Tu pursed his lips. ‘Perhaps you’re right.’

‘Of course he’s right,’ said Yoyo to her plate.