Gunpowder Alchemy (18 page)

Though our hands and feet were not tied, there was no doubt we were prisoners. The rebels surrounded us, and the guards at the rear kept their bows trained on our backs.

The rebels referred to their leader as Lady Su. She was accompanied by her captain and a cadre of forbidding-looking warriors. She led us back to the river, where I saw with dismay that our ship had foundered upon the bank.

One of the brigands approached. Not long ago, this same man had been firing at us from the skiffs that now surrounded the larger craft.

“The crew are all dead except for one found on a sickbed. Opium addict.”

I bit back a gasp, surprised at the pang of sorrow that hit me. That was how quick death could be. Captain Deng and his crew hadn't deserved to die.

“I beg of you to spare the last man,” I pleaded. “He's weak and helpless.”

Lady Su looked at the surrounding forest. “Release him here? Killing him might be a mercy.”

“Please, madame.”

She gave me a look that was not unkind. “You have a soft heart. It won't serve you well in these dangerous times.”

One of her machinists went on board to inspect the engine. He came back and whispered something in her ear.

The leader of the skiff pirates reported that it would take them an hour and an additional twenty men to get the ship back afloat. The lady assigned a party to stay with the ship while the rest of us continued on.

I didn't see what became of Gao; whether Lady Su released him or ordered him killed with the others. I was stunned by the cold cruelty of it. If we had remained aboard the ship, we would have been shot along with the others. Death dealt blindly by a flying arrow.

At least we had been spared for now, but for what purpose, I couldn't say. Chang-wei and I walked stiffly side by side. My tunic clung to me, and a chill from the wet material had crept into my bones. I was shivering, but comfort was the last thing on my mind. All we could do was wait.

The rebel camp was larger than I had envisioned. There were more than a hundred men. Sleeping tents had been set up with a ring of lookout posts around the perimeter. I sensed that they had been encamped for several days now. Clothes hung out on a line and there were several cooking fires burning.

As we entered the heart of the camp, a guard took me by the arm. “Lady Su wishes to speak to you alone.”

Chang-wei tried to protest, but without his gun, he had nothing to threaten them with. They dragged him back as he called out my name.

“Tell her she can make any demands she wants of me,” Chang-wei gritted out.

I was taken to the main tent, one much larger than the surrounding ones. At the entrance I was searched once to assure I had no weapons before being allowed inside.

Lady Su was in her chair, but positioned behind a wooden table. She beckoned with an elegant wave of one hand. “Please sit.”

Seated we were eye to eye, yet I felt at a clear disadvantage. Aside from her delicate feet, or her “golden lotuses”, as the Han people called them, her features were bold. She sat tall with her shoulders rigid and square. The lines of her face were well-defined with only a hint of feminine softness.

But it wasn't her appearance that intimidated me. When Chang-wei had pointed his gun at her, she had stared back fearlessly. Lady Su had made it evident that Chang-wei was the one who was cornered. He was the one who needed to be afraid, not her.

“I apologize that Chang—that my husband threatened you.”

“He isn't your husband.”

I swallowed, caught completely off-balance. “No. But . . . but we were betrothed.”

I don't know why I chose to reveal that to this woman, a stranger. I no longer thought of us as promised to each other, and I was certain—I was fairly certain Chang-wei didn't feel that way, either.

“If not for you, he would be dead now,” she said coldly. “Another body to throw in the river.”

“Does a man's life mean so little to you?”

The words caught in my throat. I could see Captain Deng, his mouth open, eyes staring sightlessly.

“I was once married to a man.
His
life meant heaven and earth to me.” When her eyes met mine, there was sadness in them, but no remorse. “He was the mayor of our region. A good man, murdered by corrupt rivals. The magistrate would do nothing to punish his killers, so I vowed I would do it myself. And I did.”

“If his death has been avenged, then why—”

“Why do I still command this faction? Because my act of vengeance made me an outlaw along with all those who remained loyal and sought revenge with me. At first our numbers were small, but they grew as I found so many others who had suffered injustice from those in power. Men forced to work in the mines, farmers whose fields were confiscated by the state before they could be harvested.

“In the Heavenly Kingdom Army, it does not matter if one is a man or a woman. If one can lead, then men will follow. That is why I joined their cause. I do not take lives without purpose, but the men who follow me, they must see that I'm strong. I can't allow anyone to challenge my authority. Certainly not a
Yangguizi
sympathizer.”

She placed the firearm onto the table between us.

“The bullets have been removed,” she assured me. Even so, I didn't like having the gun pointed at me. “It took the most knowledgeable machinist among us some time to figure out how to open the chamber. Similarly, the engine on that ship is like nothing he's ever seen before. Your betrothed is more than a simple machinist. Who are the two of you and why are you here?”

“Please, Lady Su, I only wish to get to my family. He was only trying to help me get home.”

“This is not an answer.”

The sharpness of her reply silenced me. She might be a woman, but there was little softness to her ways. If there had been once, it had been bled away.

“He's an engineer from Peking.” That much was true. I didn't tell her of his governmental position in the Ministry. Given the rebels' hatred of imperial authority, I thought it wise.

“Peking. I could hear it in his speech. Yours as well,” she confirmed.

“He's no
Yangguizi
sympathizer. The firearm was only for protection.”

“He is highly skilled. And connected with the throne in Peking, no doubt.” She let out a slow breath, weighing her options.

“He's just . . . just an inventor. A man of devices and engines and machines.”

“Wars are won and lost by such machines,” she argued. “My men will see it as weakness if I let him live. Make your final farewells to him. I will see it done quickly.”

The speed with which the decision came down stole my breath. Desperately, I reached for her hand. “Wait! I said we could help you. What if—” I stared at her chair. “What if we made it so you could walk again?”

“I can walk,” she said through her teeth.

“Not without pain.”

I knew it was only with a slow, tottering gait. Han women who hoped to marry well had no choice but to bind their feet from a very young age. Even in our village, where there was little chance of noble marriage, many families still engaged in the practice to mimic the upper class in hopes of securing a good match.

“The pain is there to remind me,” Lady Su said stubbornly. “Of what it required in order to be suitable for my husband's family. Of how beautiful and desirable he considered me because of my delicate feet. Of what my mother and her mother also endured to have their feet bound.”

Despite her bold declaration, I could hear the hint of longing beneath her resistance. “You must always address your men while seated,” I pointed out. “That's how they always see you. I saw how the gears of your transport struggled over uneven terrain. Whenever the wheels slowed, your bodyguards had to slow their pace to remain by your side.”

“And you say your betrothed is talented enough to change this? My feet have not been simply bound. The bones have been broken and reshaped, something a Manchurian like you would not understand,” she said bitterly. “This is nothing like fixing an engine or the gears on a chair. It is nothing that
needs
to
be
fixed.”

Lady Su had shown no emotion when she had been threatened or when she had condemned Chang-wei to death, but the emotion was there now, raw and naked for me to see. Her feet were a source of pride for her and of sorrow. Of so many things.

“Not fixed,” I amended. “Enhanced. And you are correct that Chang-wei won't be able to perform this task. This is a personal matter, one for the woman's chamber and not something for a man to meddle with. That is why he will only be assisting. I am the one who will be giving the lady back her ability to walk, to stand tall beside the men she commands, to run if she so pleases. And all I ask for it is our lives.”

“Biomechanics is an extremely specialized study,” Chang-wei protested once I explained the situation to him. “I have no knowledge of it, and unless you've kept it from me, neither do you.”

“I don't,” I confirmed. “I never had the opportunity to study formally.”

“Then how—”

Chang-wei hushed as rebels entered the tent to set down crates full of metal parts and fasteners. Lady Su had ordered an area set up with a makeshift worktable created from loose boards. Our tools had also been retrieved from the ship. When we were alone again, I opened the case containing my acupuncture tools.

“My father had a mechanical arm fitted to him after he lost his. Sometimes I would help him attach it. I remember the connection points and fittings. The principles of pressure points and nerve energies aren't completely unknown to me. And you build machines powered by engines, but you also know how to build structures with joints and ligatures. Figures that move as if they were alive.”

A light dawned in Chang-wei's eyes as he looked from the acupuncture needles to the spare parts. “It won't be easy.”

“We only have three days.”

I don't know if he even heard me. He was already sketching.

Merely minutes later, he showed me a drawing of what would be a pair of mechanical slippers that would fit over Lady Su's feet.

“The device has to rise up to the knee,” I advised. “We'll need the pressure points there to move the leg appropriately.”

Slippers became boots.

“And they can't be too heavy,” I reminded him.

“The material will need to be hammered thin. Steel and maybe . . . aluminum. The metal is malleable, but not strong, but we can reinforce it by tempering.”

For the moment, we were able to push aside that we were being held prisoner, but I made certain not to forget that we were dealing with killers.

We worked shoulder to shoulder, heads bent over the paper. With red ink, I marked out the locations of the pressure points along the lower leg.

“The feet will be the challenging part,” I warned him. “Our feet have over a hundred pressure points. The controls will be very intricate, and Lady Su's bones have been reshaped.”

“We should create a prototype first. So we know the principles will work.”

Hours passed before they brought us food, but we had barely glanced up the entire time.

“We better eat,” I suggested. “There won't be much rest for the next three days.”

“If we truly are going to do this.”

I stared at him in surprise, slipping a glance over my shoulder to make sure no one was listening. “What do you mean?”

He handed me a bowl of stew and took up the other, bending over it and making as if he were eating. “If we haven't found an escape in three days' time,” he said in a lowered voice.

“There are over a hundred men here! Lady Su was ready to have you executed, but she agreed to spare your life in return for our service.”

“You believed her?”

“Yes.”

“Because she's a woman,” he said dismissively.

“Because we spoke with each other at length. She didn't gain her position through lies.”

“She's a rebel leader and a murderer,” he reminded me. “It's obvious they've positioned themselves on water and land for a reason.”

At the sound of footsteps outside, Chang-wei straightened and shoved some stew into his mouth. I did the same and we ate the bland meal in silence until we were certain no one was coming.

“There's going to be an attack,” he continued. “And this is the northern arm of it. They're here to either cut off escape or any attempt to send supplies or reinforcements.”

“Changsha,” I murmured, feeling sick to my stomach. If the rebels had come this far, then what had become of the surrounding villages?

“In three days' time, we'll be caught in the middle of a war. That woman may spare our lives but force us to join her army as the price. That would be death for me, Soling.”

“There is a chance she'll keep her word.”

Chang-wei shook his head. “There is no chance. She can't risk releasing us this close to the battle.”

Or appearing weak if she did. Lady Su commanded from a tenuous position. Her men had been intent on cutting our throats from the start.

“But you were so focused on designing the walking boots,” I said in dismay.

“It gave me an opportunity to survey our materials.” He gave me a sheepish look. “And perhaps I did get carried away with the challenge of it. What's wrong?”

I ran a hand over my eyes, forcing back tears of frustration. For the last few hours, I had lived and breathed in the comfort that I had negotiated our freedom. But we were still very much prisoners with our lives hanging by the barest of threads.

“We need to keep working on the solution regardless,” I insisted. “If Lady Su suspects that we're plotting against her, we'll be executed on the spot.”

“I don't think you realize how dangerous this game is—”

“I know it!” I snapped. “She was going to kill you, Chang-wei. She was going to kill you! You need to listen to me, please.”

Lady Su had called me to her. She'd confided in me and that had to mean something. Chang-wei had saved my life by getting me off the boat. I had to believe that I could do something here in return. I had to believe this was a problem that had a solution. I just needed to find out what it was.

***

“Are you awake?”

Chang-wei spoke from beside me in the darkness. It was nighttime and the lanterns had all been put out. Though there was plenty of space in our tent, we chose to sleep close for comfort and security, even if it was only an illusion.

“I can't sleep,” I answered.

“Me neither.”

I could hear him turning toward me. His hand brushed against mine and I stilled.

“I think better when I can speak my ideas aloud,” he confessed.

Though he was whispering, his voice filled every corner of my awareness. I clung to his presence, in my heart if not physically.

Make your final farewells
, Lady Su had told me. It was the only leniency she had been prepared to offer, and a part of my soul had died in that single moment. I wasn't sure it would ever come back to life.

“You can say them to me. I don't have any ideas at all right now.”

“Most of them will sound ridiculous,” he warned.

“All right.”

“First I thought of building a weapon, but I doubt there's anything I could do against so many. My pistol was no use, as we saw. I thought perhaps two weapons, so we both would be armed.”

“Against an army of a hundred?” I returned.

“Yes, so I abandoned that thought. My next idea was armor that would protect us from their weapons. But I would never be able to hide it from our guards.”

“Build it in parts that can be assembled quickly?” I suggested.

He made a thoughtful sound. “That might be possible. But in three days . . . building just a pair of biomechanical boots in that time is a sufficient challenge.”

Oddly the discussion had a calming effect on me. I even formed a few ridiculous ideas of my own. “Can you build another glider? We can wait for a strong wind and fly out of here?”

Chang-wei chuckled. “Or flap our wings and take off like a bird does? Perhaps I could make boots with coiled springs attached.”

“Springs?” I echoed, incredulous.

Absently, he drew a series of loops against my hand, sending a tingle up my arm. “We would build up a considerable amount of pressure and then unleash it all at once to propel us upward. We can use the boots to hop out of the camp faster than the rebels could catch us.”

Picturing this made me burst out laughing, which was entirely out of place given how much danger we were in. I tried to stifle the sound and ended with my face pressed to Chang-wei's shoulder. He grew still suddenly.

I started to apologize and pull away, but he reached over to drape an arm around me, as if it were natural for us to embrace. It wasn't. His arm felt awkward and yet wonderful around me.

My pulse skipped and I closed my eyes to hold on to the moment. I was disappointed when he finally spoke.

“Soling, I have other ideas as well—” He broke off the sentence and his arm tensed about my shoulder. “Ones that are much more practical. They might even succeed.”

“What are they?”

“These plans all involve me staying to create a distraction to allow you to escape.”

“No.”

“We have to consider it—”

“
No
. I wouldn't be able to go on without you.”

“You would. You were clever enough to buy us time; you'd find a way through these woods. We're only a few days from Changsha.”

“That isn't what I meant,” I said, frustrated, yet unable to find the words to explain myself.

I listened to the rhythm of his breathing. It didn't matter that we were surrounded by a hundred outlaws. With Chang-wei beside me, I could think, I could hope, I could even laugh. Even though I was frightened and had no idea what to do, I wasn't lost.

I was awake. I was finally awake.

“We go together,” I told him defiantly.

“All right,” he said after a long pause.

“Swear it.”

“I swear it.”