The Middle Kingdom (16 page)

Crimson Lotus
and Sweet Honey had settled themselves at the far end of the room and
were talking with another of the girls, Golden Heart. Mu Chua went
across to them and settled herself on the floor between them,
listening to their talk.

"I had a
dream, Mother Chua," said Golden Heart, turning to her. She was
Mu Chua's youngest girl, a sweet-faced thing of thirteen. "I was
telling Crimson and little Mimi. In my dream it was New Year and I
was eating cakes.
Nian-kao
—year cakes. Above me the
clouds formed huge mountains in the sky, lit with the most
extraordinary colors. I looked up, expecting something, and then,
suddenly, a tiger appeared from out of the West and came and mated
with me."

The other girls
giggled, but Golden Heart carried on, her face earnest. "Afterward
I woke, but I was still in the dream, and beside me on the bed lay a
pale gray snake, its skin almost white in places. At first it moved,
yet when I reached out and touched it it was cold."

Mu Chua licked
her lips, disturbed. "That is a powerful dream, child. But what
it means . . ." She shrugged and fell quiet, then changed the
subject. It would not do to worry Golden Heart. "Listen. I have
a special favor to ask of you girls. We are to have visitors. Three
important men from the Above. Soldiers."

Crimson Lotus
clapped her hands in delight. "How wonderful, Mother Chua!
Soldiers! They keep themselves so fit, so trim!" She gave a low,
seductive laugh and looked across at Sweet Honey. "If Mother
Chua weren't here to look after us I'm sure I'd do it for nothing
with a soldier!"

Mu Chua joined
their laughter. "Yes. But these are not just any soldiers. These
are the great General's own men, his elite, and you will be paid
three times your usual fee. You will entertain them in the Room of
Heaven and you will do whatever they ask."

"Whatever
they ask?" Sweet Honey raised an eyebrow.

Mu Chua smiled
reassuringly at her. "Within the rules, of course. They have
been told they are not to harm you in any way."

"And if
they are not pleased?" asked Golden Heart, her face still
clouded from the dream she'd had.

Mu Chua reached
out and stroked her cheek tenderly. "They are men, child. Of
course they will be pleased."

EBERT STOPPED at
the curtained doorway and turned to face them. "Here we are, my
friends. Mu Chua's. The finest beneath the Net."

Fest laughed,
delighted, but at his side Haavikko looked uncertain. "What is
this place?"

Fest clapped his
shoulder and pointed up at the sign of the lotus and the fish above
the doorway. "What does it look like, Axel? We're in Flower
Streets and Willow Lanes here. In the land of warmth and softness. At
home with the family of the green lamps." He saw comprehension
dawn on Haavikko's face and laughed again. "Yes, Axel, it's a
singsong house. A brothel."

He tried to go
forward, his arm still about Haavikko's shoulder, but Haavikko held
back.

"No. I
don't want to go in." Haavikko swallowed. A faint color appeared
in his cheeks. "It—it isn't my thing."

Ebert came back
to him. "You're a man, aren't you, Haavikko? Well, then, of
course it's your thing."

Haavikko shook
his head. "You go in. I'll wait for you."

Ebert looked at
Fest and raised an eyebrow. Then he looked back at Haavikko. "That's
impossible. I've booked us in for the night. We're staying here. This
is our billet while we're down here. Understand?"

"You mean
they do more than . . . ?"

Ebert nodded
exaggeratedly, making Fest laugh once more, then he grew more
serious. "Look, Haavikko, if you don't want to screw one of the
girls you don't have to. But come inside, eh? Mu Chua will bring you
a meal and show you to a room. You can watch a trivee or something
while Fest and I enjoy ourselves."

Haavikko looked
down, angered by the slightly mocking tone in Ebert's voice. "Isn't
there somewhere else I could stay?"

Ebert huffed,
losing his patience suddenly. "Oh, for the gods' sake, Fest,
order him inside! Don't you understand, Haavikko? We're a squad. We
need to be together when the call comes. What's the fucking good if
you're somewhere else?"

Haavikko looked
to Fest, who smiled apologetically. "It's true, Axel. My orders
are to keep us together at all times. Look, why don't you do what
Hans has suggested? Come inside and take a room. Then, if you change
your mind, you've not far to go."

"I've told
you—"

"Yes, yes.
I understand. Now come inside. I order you. All right?"

Inside Mu Chua
greeted them expansively, then led them through to a large room at
the back of the House where three girls were waiting. As they entered
the girls knelt and bowed their heads, then looked up at them,
smiling, expectant, as if waiting for them to make their choice. Axel
stared at them, surprised. They were not at all what he had expected,
nor was this place the gaudy den of harlotry he had so often seen in
vid dramas.

"What is
this room called?" he asked, surprising both Ebert and Fest by
being the first to speak.

The girl on the
far left looked briefly across at her companions, then looked up at
Axel, smiling radiantly. "This is the Room of Heaven. Here a man
may dream and live his dreams."

She was
beautiful. Even for these tiny Han types she was quite exceptional,
and Axel felt something stir in him despite himself. She wore a
bright red satin
ch'i p'ao
patterned with tiny blue flowers
and cranes and varicolored butterflies, the long,

one-piece dress
wrapped concealingly about her dainty figure. Her hair had been cut
in a swallowtail bang, the two wings swept down over a pale ivory
brow that would have graced the daughter of a T'ang, a clasp of
imitation pearls holding the dark flow of her back hair in a tight,
unbraided queue. Her hands, small as a child's, were unadorned, the
nails varnished but unpainted. She was so astonishing, so unexpected,
that he could not help but stare at her, his lips parted, his eyes
wide.

"What do
they call you?"

She bowed her
head again, a faint smile playing on her tiny, rosebud lips. "My
name is Crimson Lotus."

"Well!"
said Ebert, laughing. "I see Haavikko has made his choice."

Axel broke from
the spell. "No. Not at all. I-I meant what I said. This—"
he looked about him again, surprised anew by the tastefulness, the
simple luxury, of the room and its furnishings— "this
isn't my thing."

He looked back
down at the girl and saw, behind the surface smile, a faint hint of
disappointment in her eyes and at the corners of her mouth. At once
he felt upset that he had hurt her, even in so small a way, by his
inadvertence. "I'm sorry—" he started to say, but
Ebert spoke over him.

"Ladies,
please forgive our friend. We thought we might change his mind by
bringing him to your most excellent house, but it seems he's
adamant." Ebert looked to Fest and smiled. "I should
explain. My friend is
ya,
you understand? A yellow eel."

Haavikko
frowned, not understanding. His knowledge of basic Mandarin included
neither term. But the girls understood at once.

"My pardon,
honorable sir," said Crimson Lotus, her face clear, her smile
suddenly resplendent, showing her pearl-white perfect teeth. "If
you will but wait a moment I shall call back Mother Chua. I am
certain she could provide you with a boy."

Axel turned to
face Ebert, furious. "What do you mean . . . ?"

Ebert roared
with laughter, enjoying the confusion on the faces of the girls.
Ignoring the edge in Axel's voice he reached out and touched his
shoulder. "Only a joke, my friend. Only a joke."

The girls were
looking from one to the other of the soldiers, their faces
momentarily anxious. Then they too joined in with Ebert's laughter;
their heads lowered, one hand raised to their mouths, their laughter
like the faint, distant laughter of children.

Axel turned away
from Ebert and looked at them again, letting his anger drain from
him. Then he smiled and gave the slightest bow. No, he thought. Make
nothing of it. It is Ebert's way. He cannot help it if he is ill bred
and ill mannered. It comes from being who he is; heir to one of the
biggest financial empires in Chung Kuo. He does not have to behave as
Fest and I. We serve, but he only plays at being servant. He, after
all, is a master.

Yes, but watch
yourself, Hans Ebert. One day you'll make one joke too many, speak
out of place once too often, and then your riches will not help you.
No, nor your connections.

The smallest of
the girls rose with a bow and came toward them, head lowered. "Would
the gentlemen like ch'a?"

Ebert answered
for them. "Gods no! Bring us something stronger. Some wine. And
something to eat too. I'm ravenous!"

Embarrassed by
Ebert's brash, proprietorial manner and awkward on his own account,
Axel watched the others sit on cushions Crimson Lotus brought for
them. "Will you not sit with us?" she asked him, coming
much closer than she had before. The sweet delicacy of her scent was
intoxicating and her dark eyes were like a lover's, sharing some
secret understanding.

"I'd best
not," he said, rather too stiffly.
My sisters
... he had
almost added. He looked down, suddenly embarrassed. Yes, that was
why. He had promised his sisters. Had sworn on his honor that he
would keep himself clean. Would not do as other men did.

He shuddered and
met the girl's eyes again. "If you would send for Mu Chua.
Perhaps she would find me a room. I'll eat there and take my rest."

Crimson Lotus
smiled, unoffended, nothing behind her smile this time. Her
disappointment had been momentary; now she was the perfect hostess
once more, all personal thoughts banished. "If you will wait a
moment, I shall summon her."

But Mu Chua had
been watching everything. She appeared in the doorway at once,
knowing what to do, what to say, in this instance. She had been told
beforehand that it might be so.

"Please
follow me,
Shih
Haavikko. There is a room prepared. I will
take you there."

Axel bowed,
grateful, then looked across at Ebert and Fest. Fest met his eyes and
gave the briefest nod, acknowledging his departure, but Ebert ignored
him, concentrating on the young girl—she looked barely ten—who
sat beside him now.

"What is
the young girl's name?" Haavikko asked Mu Chua, keeping his
voice low.

Mu Chua smiled.
"That's Golden Heart. She's the baby of the house. A sweet young
thing, don't you think?"

He stared at the
girl a moment longer, then turned back to Mu Chua. "If you would
take me to my room."

Mu Chua smiled,
all understanding. "Of course."

AXEL WOKE to
find the room dark, a strange smell in the air. He sat up suddenly,
alert, his training taking over, then remembered where he was and
forced himself to relax. But still he felt on edge. Something was
wrong. Something. . .

He heard it.
Heard the second thread of breathing in the silent darkness. He felt
to his left. Nothing. Then to his right. His hand met a soft warmth.

He swallowed,
recognizing the musky smell for what it was. What had they done?
Drugged him? And what else? He had seen too many covert operations
not to feel vulnerable. What if Ebert had set this up? What if he'd
had him drugged, then taped what he'd subsequently done? He shivered
and slowly edged away from the girl—was it a girl?—who
lay there next to him in the bed, then felt behind him for a lighting
panel.

His hand met the
slight indentation in the wall. At once a soft light lay across the
center of the bed, blurring into darkness.

Axel gasped and
his eyes widened, horrified. "Kuan Yin preserve me!" he
whispered. •

The girl was
Hung Mao. A
tall, blond-haired girl with full breasts and an
athletic build. She lay there, undisturbed by the light, one hand up
at her neck, the fingers laced into her long, thick hair, the other
resting on her smoothly muscled stomach, the fingers pointing down to
the rich growth of pubic hair.

Axel stared at
her, horrified and yet fascinated, his eyes drawn to her ice-white
breasts, to the soft, down-covered swell of her sex. Then he looked
at her face again and shuddered. So like her. So very like her. As
if...

He turned away,
swallowing, then looked back, his eyes drawn once more to those parts
of her he'd never seen. Never dreamed he'd see.

It couldn't be.
Surely it couldn't. . . ?

"Vesa. . ."
he whispered, leaning closer. "Vesa. . ." It was his
sister's name.

The head turned,
the eyes opened. Astonishingly blue eyes, like his sister's. But
different. Oh, so thankfully different. And yet...

He pushed the
thought back sharply. But it came again. Like Vesa. So very like his
darling sister Vesa.

The girl smiled
up at him and reached out for him, making a small sound of pleasure
deep in her throat.

Instinctively he
moved back slightly, tensed, but he was betrayed. Slowly his penis
filled with blood until, engorged, it stood out stiffly. And when she
reached for it and took it he could do nothing but close his eyes,
ashamed and yet grateful.

As he entered
her he opened his eyes and looked at her again. "What's your
name?"

She laughed
softly, and for the briefest moment the movement of her body against
his own slowed and became uncertain. "Don't you remember, Axel?
I'm White Orchid. Your little flower." Then she laughed again,
more raucously this time, her body pressing up against his, making
him cry out with the pleasure of it. "And he said you were
ya
. . ."