Fonda Lee - Jade War

Someone in the Mountain, however, had provided Mudt Jin with jade, shine, and the information that had enabled him to run his criminal enterprise in No Peak territory. Before he’d died, Mudt had given up a description of an unnamed Green Bone. It might have been any one of several men who’d answered to Gont Asch, none of whom Tar could get to easily now, but given Hilo-jen’s renewed insistence, he picked up the trail once more. Hilo had assigned him two more men, so he had four Fingers who reported to him directly, and through his brother, he could call upon No Peak’s wider network of spies as well. All of these he brought to bear on his goal.

Initially, Tar had been skeptical about being removed from the Horn’s side of the clan, but now he was pleased with his arrangement. Some of his work as Pillarman was routine and administrative, but the rest was sensitive and vital to the clan. Tar was glad he did not have his brother’s job, managing hundreds of clan members and never filling Hilo-jen’s shoes. This role suited him much better. He didn’t have to deal with the layers of clan hierarchy or handle interactions with Lantern Men or the public; he answered only to the Pillar, who trusted him implicitly.

It was no small task, to ambush an enemy Green Bone in his own territory—and to take him alive, no less. Tar planned the operation down to the smallest detail. His target was a junior Fist in the Mountain named Seko, who had an elderly mother who lived in the Commons district. A fake phone call was placed to Seko early on a Fourthday morning, informing him that his mother had collapsed on the sidewalk on her way to the grocer’s and been taken to Janloon General Hospital in the Temple District. Seko rushed off at once.

At an intersection on the road between Little Hammer and the Armpit, he was met by an erected construction barricade. Two cars drove up behind his, blocking his escape. Had the man been any less distracted with worry, he might have Perceived the ambushers’ approach; as it was, he was entirely taken by surprise. Gunmen in the first car peppered his tires with bullets and blew out his rear windshield. Seko burst from the car with an enraged shout, running for the barricade and vaulting Light to clear it, but Tar had anticipated this and had in place two of No Peak’s Green Bones who were most skilled in Deflection. They hurled a combined wave that slammed into Seko in midair and knocked him to the asphalt like a flung doll. The Fist lay stunned, his energy spent in Steeling himself against the impact. He hadn’t had the chance to pull his gun from the glove compartment of his car, nor did he have a moon blade on him—only his jade-hilted talon knife. Before he could draw it, Tar’s men pinned him with Strength and tore his weapon away. They bound him hand and foot, gagged him, and threw him into the trunk of one of the cars.

Tar was pleased by how smoothly everything had gone. Seizing the man had taken less than five minutes. Kehn’s patrols had ensured that the avenue had been cleared, so no property had been damaged and no civilians harmed beyond the minor inconvenience of the road closure. Janlooners were used to occasional incidents of clan violence, but the intense street war last year had sapped their patience to its limit; the Pillar would not want unnecessary disruption to cost No Peak any more public goodwill.

Tar was tempted to stop by a pay phone to call Hilo-jen with the good news but decided that would be premature. He’d wait until he had substantive information to share. Besides, he needed to beat morning rush-hour traffic before it began in earnest; already the streets were filling with bicycle couriers and delivery trucks. Taking smaller roads, he drove deep into the Junko district. He could hear muffled thumps and bangs from the back of the car, but he wasn’t worried. The trunk had been thoroughly reinforced with enough steel that even the Strength of a man with twice as much jade as Seko would’ve only succeeded in denting it. Sure enough, the noises ceased after a short time, leaving only the Perception of the man’s panicked heartbeat and the shrill texture of desperation emanating from the compartment.

They took their prisoner to an old nightclub that had originally been built as an air-raid shelter fifty years ago but had stood empty for the past several months; it was scheduled to be demolished and replaced with a condo building. Seko’s wrists were bound with chains and attached to a rope tied to a ceiling support beam. He hung with his arms pulled over his head, the toes of his combat boots barely resting on the floor. Tar studied the man. Seko wore dark clothes, jade bolts through his ears, and a jade ring in his nose. He had a short, neatly trimmed goatee and an arrogant face; even in his dire situation, his lips twisted in a humorless smirk.

“So you’re Maik Tar,” said Seko. “Kaul Hilo’s hound dog.”

The smirk left Seko’s face as Tar ripped the jade ring from his nose and the bolts from his ears. The Fist bellowed in pain. Tar motioned for his men to stand by the door, then broke the two smallest ribs on both sides of Seko’s body. “If you’ve heard of me, then you know that’s just an introduction.”

“Where’s my ma?” Seko wheezed, in quite a different voice. “Is she all right?”

“Of course,” said Tar. “She’s probably getting back from the grocer’s now. What do you think we are, animals? In the No Peak clan, we don’t break aisho. We don’t use jadeless people as our puppets and tools.” He spat at Seko’s feet. “You were good about never using your name and covering your tracks in No Peak territory, so it took me a while to catch up to you. I’ve found most of your little rats by now, but you’re going to help me find the rest.”

“You’re going to kill me no matter what I tell you,” Seko pointed out.

Tar shrugged. “Sure, but wouldn’t you rather die quickly and spare your ma from suffering? You don’t want to hang there for days, going through jade withdrawal on top of everything. I’d rather not see it myself. You’re not one of those shine addicts you kept on your leash; you’re a Green Bone of the Mountain—you’ve got some self-respect, don’t you?”

Seko’s head hung between his straining shoulder blades. He nodded.

“Good, now we understand each other, you fucking pussy.” Tar rolled the man’s jade in the palm of his hand. “Here’s the thing, see: The Mountain’s never answered for Kaul Lan. Someone gave two assassins information about his habits, handed them Fullerton machine guns, and sent them to the Lilac Divine. I’ve done a lot of asking around, and I’m figuring that was you.”

After a moment, Seko nodded again without raising his head. Tar contained the excitement he felt and said, “They worked for your mole Mudt Jin, didn’t they?”

“They were a couple of punks who held up trailer trucks of fancy handbags and wallets and shit,” Seko said. “Just two jade-fevered kids. We didn’t figure them for anything.”

“What were their names?”

“How the fuck should I know?” said Seko. “I don’t remember their names.”

That was not the answer that Tar wanted to hear. He had a bad feeling that Seko was telling the truth, but he broke another two of the man’s ribs and said, “You’d better give me more than that, you goatfucking bastard. Or I’m going to change my mind about letting you meet the gods in one piece.” Seko hung limp, breathing shallowly through a slack mouth, twisting slightly on the rope. Tar left him and went outside to give the man some time alone in the dark to search his memory. Sometimes people remembered more after a good long ponder.

Outside, because he hadn’t had breakfast yet, he walked down the street to the bakery on the corner and bought a bag of round walnut paste cakes and a carton of sweetened milk. Junko was primarily an industrial district, full of brick and gray concrete, not very attractive, but No Peak was strong here; the businesses had white lanterns hanging over their doors or in their windows, and people on the street dipped in salute when they saw the jade around Tar’s fingers and neck. Tar returned to the building and shared the food with Doun and Tyin, two of his Fingers. Traditionally, the Pillarman was an administrative role in the clan and did not command Fists or Fingers, but in a time of war Kaul Hilo had made certain changes to the position. He’d given Tar and his men responsibility for finding and eliminating enemy agents in No Peak territory, and now he called upon the small team for whatever special tasks he needed accomplished that would otherwise be an additional burden on the Horn. To minimize confusion with Kehn’s organization, Tar was going to suggest to the Pillar that his people be called something other than Fingers, but he was not sure what yet.