Ким Робинсон - Red Moon

In that fundamental sense, it was the same in China. The army and security forces were so far holding off, taking their positions and then remaining in place without further actions. It looked like the strategy used in Hong Kong was being tried again: just wait until people got tired and went home. No more May Thirty-fifths. Whether it would work this time no one could tell. Many people were in fact leaving the big demonstration in Beijing. Recently another manifesto had appeared on every screen in the country, a botware storm that again appeared to have originated within the Great Firewall. In stilted antique language, reminiscent of Mao Zedong or Sun Yat-sen, or even Confucius or Laozi, the previous iterations of reform lists had now become the Seven Great Reforms: return of the iron rice bowl, legal standing for the ecologies of China, reform of the hukou system, an end to the Great Firewall, full equality for women, an end to gross income inequality, and the return of the Party to the people.

“Interesting,” Qi said. Some of these demands, she told Fred, would be supported by urban youth, some by the rural populace, some by the migrant workers, some by intellectuals and the prosperous business class. Netizens or farmers or migrants, everyone wanted something from the Party, and no one outside the Party was convinced that it had been doing the best it could. President Xi had made valiant attempts to right the ship, some said, but after him there had been too much infighting to replace him, too much corruption, too much controlocracy, too little action on behalf of the people. The Chinese people were sick of it, things had to change. And there was a long Chinese tradition of going out and overrunning the authorities—a tradition three thousand years old at this point. Young people who had never experienced such a revolutionary moment seemed to have a desire for it. This too was part of the China Dream, Qi explained.

Fred shook his head. “It sounds awful.”

“What do you mean?” Qi said. “It sounds great.”

“You might want it if you’ve never seen it, but then if you get it, you won’t want it.”

“Revolution?”

“Chaos and disorder.”

“But the order was bad. The order was disorder. Think of it as dynastic succession on a global scale. The old world order was wrecking everything, so this had to happen. After these troubles there’ll be a sorting out, and then a better order will come into being.”

Fred shrugged, looking at an image on his wristpad of the National Mall in Washington, DC, packed with millions of people. Inspiring? Frightening? He wasn’t sure.

“I’m hungry,” Qi said. “How much food does this place have?”

“There’s quite a lot. It’s all dried or frozen or canned.”

“That’s all right. But what will we do when it’s gone?”

“I don’t know. Hopefully Ta Shu will figure out something, him and those Americans he was with. Someone who will help us.”

“If it comes to it, we’ll have to call for help. With some margin to spare, in terms of food and air.”

“Ta Shu knows we’re here.”

Then, as if called up by one of the old man’s dragon arteries, the station’s control panel pinged three times. Fred tapped it and Ta Shu’s voice was suddenly there with them.

“Fred and Qi, hello! Sorry to say this, but our China source is telling us that you’ve been found again. The people who destroyed your rover intend to do the same to the shelter you’re in. You need to leave there immediately.”

“We can’t!” Fred objected. “We don’t have anywhere to go, and we have no way to get there! And Qi’s had her baby!”

“Nevertheless! Be that as it may! You still need to get out! All this turmoil at home is causing a really violent backlash. It’s a big fight, and you’re in the crosshairs.”

“What about Peng Ling?” Qi asked loudly. “Is she on our side or is she trying to kill us?”

“She’s on your side. I talked to her!” He sounded very happy as he said this. “Your father is working with her, and they’re working together with others to secure the army and make sure the entire security apparatus is backing her and the new standing committee. That’s going pretty well, they say, which only means the rightists still on the loose are getting more and more desperate. They’re trying to eliminate their enemies at the top, as a last chance at success. Peng herself has had to move to a secure location. You need to do the same, because there are people in China who want you dead.”

“But I’m not even in contact with anyone!” Qi cried.

“It doesn’t matter. The Red Spear is being crushed, so they’re lashing out. They can’t retaliate against the demonstrators in the streets, so they’re going for the leaders of their enemies, and you’re part of that. And they found out where you are.”

“But we can’t get away!” Fred said. “The rover we were in was demolished.”

“I know. My friends here say those roadside shelters always have little motorbikes in their storage lockers, for moving from one shelter to the next in emergencies like this. And there are spacesuits in all the refuges.”

“For a baby?”

“No of course not. But it will fit in a regular one, I guess. Fred, listen to me: you have to get out of there. The missiles are already on their way.”

“What! From where?”

“From Earth. They were launched yesterday, so time is short. You have to leave.”

“Shit.”

Fred and Qi looked at each other. So much eye contact, after all those weeks avoiding it! It was a very quick mode of speech, they were finding. Now they saw immediately that they were in agreement: they had to get out.

“Fred, listen to me. Take the motorbikes, and ride south on that road ninety-seven kilometers to a mine station called Rümker. There’s a freight launch rail there, and the facility includes a passenger pod that can be loaded onto the rail. We can walk you through that and get you launched.”

“But where will this pod go?”

“It depends on when you take off. Right now that doesn’t matter. We’ll track you after you launch and someone will come get you. For now you just need to get off the moon as fast as you can. Anywhere is safer than here. Since they know where you are, nowhere on the moon will be safe for you.”

“Do you think Peng can get control of the situation?” Fred asked.

“I hope so, but she hasn’t done it yet. Until that gets resolved, keeping you alive is up to us. So get out of there. Leave as soon as you can.”

With that Ta Shu cut out without warning. No goodbye, just a click.

Fred and Qi stared at each other, then at Qi’s baby.

“Shit!” Fred said. “So sorry about this!”

“It’s my fault,” Qi said. “It’s me they’re trying to kill.”

“But why? I thought you said you weren’t the leader.”

“I’m a symbol. I made myself a symbol. I’ve worked for this for years, and a lot of people know that.”

“So you think we should leave.”

“We have to! I believe what Ta Shu is telling us, don’t you?”

“I guess so.”

“He was right last time.”

“Yes.”

“So we have to leave.”

Fred didn’t want it to be true, but there it was. “Yes.”

She sat up, turned and put her feet on the floor, stood up carefully beside her bed, winced.

Seeing this Fred said, “How are you doing?”

“Not good,” she said.

Now that they were no longer in her moment of extremity, she didn’t want to talk to him about that, he could see. But if they were going to be riding some kind of lunar motorbike, well—it struck him as a terrible idea. But there wasn’t any other option. She was tough, and she hadn’t been bleeding onto the bed for a while now; the latest towels he had put under her were still almost clean. So hopefully that would be all right. Maybe the motorbike had a sidecar.