Steven Harper - The Doomsday Vault

“What do the ladies at the Chinese Imperial court wear, my lord?” she asked. “I must have every detail.”

And when he started to answer, Alice pinned him down further, asking for finer and finer detail. “What color of fan? What shade of scarlet? Do the shoes match the gown or the embroidery?”

Gavin was squirming, and the food plates were empty when Jun Lung finally let out a soft sigh and said, “It is a pleasure to talk to you, Lady Michaels.”

“But I must hear more!”

Jun held up a hand, and Alice knew she had won. “I have heard that you, Mr. Ennock, have come into possession of a small object of interest.”

“I have,” Gavin said with relief.

“May I see it?”

Gavin held up the silver nightingale, and Ambassador Lung let out another sigh. “That is indeed the object.”

“What do you mean?” Gavin asked.

At that moment, the front door opened, and into the room strode a Chinese boy of perhaps seventeen, though he was dressed in an ordinary shirt and trousers. Gavin leapt to his feet. “My God!”

“You!” The boy ran over and shook Gavin’s hand in both of his. “It is you!”

Alice blinked, bewildered. “What’s going on?”

“He saved my life,” the boy said. “He saved me!”

“Where have you been?” Jun asked sharply, then dropped into Chinese. The boy responded in kind, alternating between looking abashed and stubborn. Jun was clearly struggling to keep his temper under control in front of guests.

“This is Feng Lung, my son,” Jun said finally. “And that nightingale he gave you was built by my grandfather, who was one of the Dragon Men.”

“Dragon Men?” Alice asked.

“Your empire calls them clockworkers.”

“You are unhappy that I gave him the nightingale, Father, but I would be a memory for your sorrow instead of a target for your anger if not for him,” Feng said.

“What are you talking about?” Alice said.

“It happened in Hyde Park,” Gavin began.

“Of course it did.”

As Gavin told the story of how he hid a young Oriental man from his pursuers, Alice’s eyes went wider and wider.

“I was in the park that day,” she said breathlessly. “I heard your music, the most beautiful music since God created the earth, and then I heard the shot. I thought I must have been hearing things.”

Feng added, “I gave my brave friend the nightingale as a token to one who saved me with his music. And now he can copy his music whenever he wishes.”

“Copy?” Gavin said.

Now Feng looked surprised. He dropped to the sofa next to Gavin. “Haven’t you seen? If you press the left eye, the bird listens to sounds until you press that eye again. If you press the right eye, it sings the sounds for you.”

Astounded, Gavin held the bird up. Feng pressed the left eye. “Good morning,” Gavin said, then pressed the right eye.

“Good morning,” the bird said in Gavin’s voice.

Gavin gaped. “Is that what I sound like?” he said.

“It’s wonderful!” Alice said. “A true treasure.”

“Yes.” Jun stroked his chin. “But now you must tell me why you came here. I thought it was about the nightingale.”

Alice shook her head. “It’s about the clockwork plague and clockworkers.”

“Ah. Did the Queen send you?”

“What? No!” Alice said. “The Queen has no idea we’re-”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Jun interrupted. “She’s a well-informed woman, and I’m surprised she allows your country to treat Dragon Men-clockworkers-with such deplorable disdain.”

“What do you mean?” Gavin asked.

“You Englishmen shun clockworkers as if they carry disease,” Feng put in. “In my country, Dragon Men are revered. We gather them up and give them workshops and money and status so they can create their wonderful inventions. A Dragon Man brings any family great honor.”

“And what about Dragon Women?” Alice asked.

“They are all Dragon Men,” Jun said, “whether they are male or female. Though I suppose China should not complain about the way Britain treats its clockworkers. The balance of power between our empires, as I’m sure you know, is delicate. The British Empire controls the oceans and most of the air, and it has colonies everywhere. The Chinese Empire does not expand its borders, but it does control the tea, silk, and porcelain trades. Europe and the Ukrainian Empire separate us, so we don’t come into direct conflict, but the. . tension is still there.”

“Especially over opium,” Feng said.

Jun shot him a hard look. “At any rate, our empires are locked in a continual game of ma que. Do you know the game?”

“I’ve only recently learned of it,” Alice said.

“It’s the best game in the world,” Feng said. “Father and I play against the Queen and the Prince Consort all the time. We let them win when Father wants something.”

“Does it work?” Gavin asked.

Feng nodded. “Usually.”

“What does ma que have to do with clockworkers?” Alice interjected.

Jun said, “The players draw ivory tiles of varying value and power, which they meld until a winner becomes clear. The Dragon Men and clockworkers are powerful, random tiles in our little game. They appear when they wish, helping out one player and then the other, but they balance out both sides in the long run.”

The world swirled dizzily for a moment. The solution hung there in front of Alice like ripe fruit, and she knew.

“Balance out,” she echoed. “Good heavens. Dear Lord. Ambassador, thank you for seeing us, but we have to go.”

“What?” Feng said. “I want to know my friend better.”

“Later.” Alice was already on her feet, which forced the men to rise. “Gavin, we have to leave. Now.”

Jun Lung caught Gavin’s arm. “My son may have repaid you the favor you did, but I have not. Honor still binds me to you, and I hope to see you again, young sir.”

With that, they left. Down in the lobby, Gavin turned to Alice. “What was that all about?”

“I understand what’s happening with Aunt Edwina and Lieutenant Phipps,” she said. “And I want a damned stiff drink before I tell you about it.”

A bit later, they were sitting at a corner table in a pub. Gavin had a Guinness at his elbow, and Alice had a very bad glass of wine. She gulped it down without tasting it, and her hands were shaking as she signaled for another.

“Tell me,” Gavin said worriedly, “before you get too drunk to talk.”

“It’s all about balance.” Alice leaned across the table, hardly able to believe she was saying these words, but knowing they were true nonetheless. “The Third Ward wants to lock Edwina up because the Crown wants to make sure her cure never, ever gets used.”

“What?” Gavin folded his arms. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it? Ambassador Lung reminded us how delicate the balance is between China and England. Little conflicts flare up between us, but never quite escalate into an all-out war. We both trade. We make and break treaties. We negotiate. Why? Because both sides collect clockworkers who build little toys. Both sides have the same technological advantage. What would happen if England released Aunt Edwina’s cure?”

“Countless plague victims would recover?”

“Unimportant,” Alice said, “from the British Empire’s point of view. The plague would stop creating clockworkers. Once the current ones went mad and died, we’d have none. An end to clockworkers means an end to world-bending inventions for England, and that means China would become the most powerful empire in the world.”

“The cure would get to China,” Gavin countered. “Their clockworker supply would dry up, too.”