Ким Робинсон - Red Moon

Save communism geese fly south.

No. Red heart maze runner.

There will be fish every year.

Black-haired algae.

What about elliptical, what about construct the nation, what about glorious homeland?

At this Qi slapped the table, and Fred read on anxiously; happily it clarified a bit:

The Party works for the Party! Not for China! Only the Party!

Do you think so? Fang Fei inquired. Fred could see he was genuinely curious. What about your father? Is he like that?

Qi scowled at the mention of her father. How would I know what he is like? she said bitterly. I am only his daughter.

Daughters know. My daughters know me.

Do they? Do they know you are here now?

Yes, of course. They pester me with their knowing. Do this, do that.

But you do what you want.

He shook his head. I do what they want.

Then he actually smiled, a rather horrifying crack-faced leer. But genuine. Maybe I am like Party and they are like China. I try to help them take care of them. They yell at me and tell me what to do. Then I try to do it.

That is not how China works , Qi said. Or maybe you are right like this. Daughters yell at father and father still does exactly what he wants. The Party is like that. It works for itself.

It wants both. It works for itself and it works for China.

But when it has to choose, it works for itself. If a time came when abolishing the Party were best for China, the Party would not do it.

Our constitution says we run ourselves by way of the Party. I am a member of the Party, and so are you.

No I am not. I am only daughter of Party. I never joined.

Really?

Really.

No wonder your father is mad at you. Why not join Party?

I hate the Party. I want laws. That is what I mean when I say justice. The rule of law.

Fang Fei nodded. Do not hold breath on that.

What?

He repeated it in English: “Don’t hold your breath! Isn’t that how you say it?” he asked, looking at Fred. “If wish for something unlikely?”

“Yes,” Fred said.

Qi said, “I am holding my breath.”

Again Fang Fei nodded. He cracked another awful smile. “Cutting off nose to spite face?” he suggested. “Another good saying. Almost Chinese, it is so good.”

“English has lots of good sayings,” Fred protested.

Fang Fei nodded without assent. “Seems possible.”

Why are you helping us? Qi demanded.

Fang Fei stared at her.

Are you helping us? she said. You are not helping us. Are you. You are Party.

No I am helping you. You were in trouble.

“We have to go,” Qi said to Fred.

You are free to go of course , said Fang Fei to her.

“Go where?” Fred asked.

Again that ugly smile from the old man, which made Fred realize, too late as usual, that he needed to stay out of this conversation. “Sorry,” he said. “I’ll go wherever you want. But here we are now.”

“Be quiet,” she suggested.

“Okay,” he contradicted. “I’ll leave you to it. But I do like this place.”

To keep himself from diving deeper into trouble, he got up, almost fell over, and pronged unsteadily across the pavilion, over to the low wall that overlooked the lake. Carefully he sat on the wall’s broad top. The water lapped against what looked like concrete, and through the water he could see that the bottom also appeared to be concrete, painted jade green at the lakeshore, cobalt blue farther out. Or maybe it was just the bottom of the lava tube, scooped out and then painted. Fred sat on the wall and looked around. It looked very much like a Tang or Ming diorama in a museum or a theme park. The Disneyland in Hong Kong would presumably have just such an area in it, featuring Princess Mulan no doubt. He looked back at Qi and Fang, smiling to think of it. Definitely not something to mention around Qi.

Out on the water, a little armada of white swans was led by a black swan. Maybe Qi was her people’s black swan. Or maybe she thought she was. Fred wasn’t sure. What others thought was always hard to ascertain; he didn’t even know what he thought, most of the time. In this case he didn’t know the language, the culture, or the political situation. With a sinking feeling it occurred to him that this was only a particular case of a general situation. What did he know about anything?

Shadows of the pseudo clouds made dark circles on the lake. On the far bank a gang of monkeys were begging a fisherman for a handout.

Suddenly Qi plopped down next to him, holding her belly in both hands.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” she said.

“Where are we going to go?” he objected. “We were in trouble. We kept getting caught.”

“I know. But China is big. If we hadn’t left our apartment on Lamma, we wouldn’t have gotten caught.”

“I’m not so sure. Didn’t you say there were people waiting outside our door? If we hadn’t left when we did, they would have caught us then, maybe. Anyway we did leave. Why don’t you like this place?”

“I don’t trust him. We’re locked up here, and there are people on the outside who know we’re here. It’s a kind of jail.”

“He said we could go if we wanted.”

“I don’t believe him.”

“Do you think he’s working with your father?”

“I don’t know. He’s not working with my people, that I do know. And my people need me.”

“No one is indispensable,” Fred said, though he wasn’t sure about that. “Why don’t you just stay here at least until your baby is born, make sure that happens safely, and then you can think about it.”

She shook her head. “That’ll just give him another hostage.”

“He already has all of us. You don’t want to be on the run when your time comes. And the due date is coming soon, right?”

She shot him a glance full of distrust. She didn’t like it that he knew her due date. As if he was going to forget it now. He wasn’t sure if she thought he was stupid or just forgetful. But she was the one who was forgetful; she kept forgetting what he was like, it seemed, and then he popped back into her awareness and again she had to figure out what kind of creature he was.

He sighed and she said, “What?”

“Nothing,” he said. “I’m not really here.”

It was her turn to sigh. “Shut up,” she complained. “I don’t need you moaning and groaning right now.”

Fred stopped talking. Across the lake the monkeys were carefully rolling a bicycle into the water.

Ta Shu churned his pedal boat back in to the little marina, got out and stepped over to them, lofting unsteadily in the g. He came over to Qi and Fred without his usual smile, which was so unusual that Fred realized he had never seen Ta Shu’s face without that smile. Something must have happened.

Indeed it had:

“Sorry to have to leave you,” he said as soon as he joined them. “I’ve gotten news that my mother is sick, and I need to get to her as soon as I can. I’m the only family she has left.”

“You must go then,” Qi said.

Fred saw she would have done the same if it were her father who was sick. All that talk of what her father had done and not done as a politician would have gone by the board. Fred considered his parents: would he go to them if they fell ill? Yes, he would. If he could.

Now Ta Shu was saying, “Fang Fei got the news to me, and he is helping me leave fast. With luck I will rejoin you here. If not, I’ll see you again elsewhere.”