Zero and Other Fictions (22 page)

That night, Xi De saw Commander Du and the core comrades in the Administrative District of the industrial city. The situation had become urgent. Du's expression was dignified as he paced the small room.

It was easy to talk about evacuating three hundred people, but it would take nothing less than a miracle to accomplish, and miracles only happened in religious texts.

“What is their current situation?” the commander asked one of his comrades.

“They haven't had anything to do in a week, and some are becoming restless.”

“Has anyone been sent to spread rumors?”

“Yes, we dispatched a peripheral comrade to tell them that everyone would be deported to the North Pole.”

Perplexed, Xi De shot a glance at Du, who explained softly, “No one believes that they will be ‘disappeared.'”

“They would rather die than go to the North Pole.”

“What's the response in the Administrative District?”

“None. However, security forces have been sent to the industrial city from other areas and the factory district is under close watch twenty-four hours a day.”

“That's troublesome,” said Du, shaking his head. “These idiots don't understand a thing. They just want to cause a ruckus.”

The meeting continued, and it was finally concluded that the Defend the Earth Army could rescue only thirty people at most. The workers most strongly opposed to the trend of society would be chosen. Given the urgency of the situation, the rescue operation was set for the following night at midnight.

“Xi De, your mission is complete,” said Du. “On account of the danger involved, you needn't participate in the rescue operation.”

“No, since joining the Defend the Earth Army, I haven't done anything. This time I want to be involved.”

Du thought for a moment and said, “Okay. But we hope you will also keep the larger picture in mind. After all, working in Central City is far more important than rescuing a few workers.”

“I will,” said Xi De, “but where are we going to take them?”

“To the mountains,” replied Commander Du. “Our armed forces are all there.”

25

After nightfall, the five of them—Commander Du, three core comrades, and Xi De—boarded a small boat and quietly crossed to the other side of the lake. They took a small path and hid from several security patrols along the way until they arrived at the brightly lit streets of the Steel District.

Amid the throngs of people, no one paid them the slightest notice. Finally, they entered an inconspicuous building, where four comrades were already waiting. After shaking hands, the oldest comrade addressed Du:

“Commander, I still favor violence, just to give them a drubbing in any case.”

“We can't do that. Do you know how many security forces there are? Anyway, headquarters has decided.”

“If that's the way it is, I won't say another word,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Commander, we're ready.”

“Okay,” said Du, “this is our rescue route. A truck is waiting for us—it's a truck from the agricultural city used for transporting pigs. It can take us part of the way.”

“Is everyone going?” the old comrade asked.

“Xi De and I will go. The rest of you have to cover us.”

After quickly discussing the matter, the three who had come with Du and the two others in the room saluted and left one after another.

Four people of relatively higher rank now remained in the room. Du looked around and said:

“I have to make it clear that our mission this time is dangerous. By tomorrow morning, this place will be crawling with security forces. We have to do everything according to schedule, there's not a moment to lose. We're set for eleven tonight—we'll go on foot to where we are supposed to meet the transport truck. At one we will reach the rendezvous point, from where the guerrilla force will take them into the mountains. We must stay alert along the way. The thirty workers are all fools and will be as skittish as rabbits.”

“Commander, can we leave now?”

They left together, taking a long way around before finally entering another building. Inside were the thirty workers ready to be evacuated. They each carried a backpack, and their faces were filled with sadness.

“We vow to serve the Defend the Earth Army unto death,” mouthed a young comrade, taking the lead.

“We vow to serve the Defend the Earth Army unto death,” repeated all the workers together.

After saluting, Du stood in front. In a low, forceful voice, he firmly said:

“Comrades: it is my honor to stand before you today. To be able to work together with you on this worthy project at this historical moment is the proudest moment of my life. This great revolutionary act will certainly be recorded in history. Our descendants will call you the thirty revolutionary comrades from the industrial city …”

Xi De listened to Du's openly encouraging and deceitful remarks. Strictly speaking, it was just a bunch of corny expressions such as “mission,” “sacred,” “great,” “ideals,” and “glory” heaped together. It was more or less the same as the preaching on television, only it took place in a different location.

Xi De looked over at the faces of the “thirty revolutionary comrades” and saw that their sadness and confusion were gradually being replaced by a flush of excitement and anger. Xi De felt it odd that they could be so quickly and easily affected by such plain and simple words.

The cadence of the commander's voice carried throughout the room. He frequently waved his fist. Every sound and gesture was just right. It seemed quite possible that he had fallen for his own fairy tales.

The speech was followed by a momentary silence, which was in turn followed by thunderous cheers. Du frowned and motioned to them to be quiet.

“Keep quiet, keep quiet,” shouted Commander Du, achieving the expected result. “Comrades, check your bags.”

“Commander, do we need money?” asked one of them.

“Money is not used in the mountains.”

“Commander, can we take wine?”

“Yes, if you can fit it in your bag.”

Du patiently answered their many questions. Some were sensible, others were simply childish. When there were no further questions, Du looked at his watch and said, “We should hear a signal any time now.”

A minute later they heard a loud siren in the distance. It was a fire alarm. Their “cover” was setting a fire. A lot of running feet were heard outside the door.

The Defend the Earth Army left in an orderly fashion by the back way. In the backyard, the commander moved aside a large flagstone that concealed an underground passage.

“This underground passage has been around for ages,” the commander said, turning to Xi De. “It leads outside.”

They proceeded by the light of a flashlight. No one uttered a word. After half an hour, they climbed out of the underground passage and found themselves in a forest.

They continued walking. After climbing a hill, they looked back on the factory district at their feet. The whole place was lit by the fire.

“It would only take ten minutes to put out the fire during the day,” said Du, “but we found some phosphorus.”

On the far side of the hill, a gray highway stretched before them.

“We'll follow this road,” said the commander, turning around. “Hurry up. In another hour we'll arrive at the rendezvous point, where the truck will be waiting.”

The road was very flat. There was nothing to interrupt them save a few false alarms. In an hour, they saw a container truck parked beside the road in the distance. The commander signaled with his flashlight. Then they proceeded to board the truck in an orderly fashion. The door closed, throwing everyone into utter darkness.

“No one is to speak,” said the commander, his voice coming from beside Xi De. “We have to go through two checkpoints, and voices might tip them off.”

“Commander,” said Xi De, unable to restrain himself, “after we meet with the people in the mountains, will we be returning right away?”

“We'll be coming right back,” said Du. “We carried out a similar mission a few years ago, but not as large as this one.”

The truck proceeded in silence. Someone seemed to have fallen asleep in the dark and was snoring. Xi De closed his eyes and leaned against the pack of the person beside him. His head was filled with a chaos of images of the meeting, the fire, the speech, and the flight. After a while, he too fell asleep.

26

A strange metallic sound that Xi De seemed to have heard before woke him. He struggled for a moment and opened his eyes. A bright light shone from four sides, hurting his eyes. He raised his hand to block the light.

“Where am I? What is this place?” he muttered.

The light slowly dimmed and Xi De lowered his hand. He could see clearly now. He was sitting on a sofa in the middle of an otherwise empty room. It was a shiny metal room, brightly lit. The light came from a shining sheet of metal in the ceiling. There was no door or windows. He didn't know what time it was, whether it was day or night. He didn't know what had happened. Perhaps it was just a dream. He shook his head and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened his eyes, everything was the same. It was no dream. Everything around him, the cold, metallic walls and the abnormal atmosphere of the room, was all real.

Confusion, unease, and fear swept over him. Xi De tried to get up from the sofa, but found his limbs unresponsive and had to give up the idea of standing. Paralyzed, he waited for something to happen.

In perhaps another hour or so, that metallic sound again recalled him from his trancelike condition.

“Xi De, wake up.” The voice emanated from the wall facing him.

Xi De shuddered, opened his eyes, and fixed them on a strange image that was materializing on the wall. The overhead light slowly dimmed. Suddenly the wall became a huge screen. On the screen a person sat at a desk with his back turned. He was dressed in a gray uniform Xi De had never seen before. Under his startled gaze, the chair suddenly turned toward him. As the camera slowly zoomed in, the person's face grew larger until it filled the screen. It was a terrifying image and made Xi De's hair stand on end. The face had been so enlarged that every pore, wrinkle, and even the saliva at the corners of his mouth were clearly visible. As the face was fixed on the screen, the gray background gradually turned black and in contrast, the man's face took on a deathly gray patina. His facial features looked artificial and inflexible. He looked like a face on a wrinkled banknote. Only his eyes displayed any anger. Xi De looked away in order to avoid those piercing eyes.

“Xi De, do you know where you are?”

A reply crossed his mind at once, but he shook his head.

“You are at the Ministry of Security.” The face remained expressionless.

Although Xi De had suspected as much, he was still startled.

“How come? How could I—”

“In this new world where civilization has reached its technological pinnacle,” the metallic voice continued, “the most advanced, newest, and most effective security ministry in history is actually overlooked by most people. It's inconceivable. Xi De, although you had heard of our existence, you still had your doubts. You only saw a few kind and genial security police, who would never do anything more than check your ID. Even your intelligence activities in the park seemed not to attract the slightest notice; nor did your public dissatisfaction or complaints about the authorities draw attention. This resulted in a misperception on your part. You believed that even if the Ministry of Security existed, it was nothing more than a third-rate organization that did nothing.”

Xi De was silent.

“But of the eight ministries under the Supreme Committee, the Ministry of Security is the largest, tightest, and most effective. For most people, a government's security measures consist of nothing but a few spies, undercover agents, eavesdropping, interrogations, and other activities. But the definition of ‘security' in the new world is completely different. You don't have to worry about being beaten, given electric shocks, or tortured in other ways. We are not interested in such out-of-date methods, because we are omniscient and omnipresent.”

At this point, the face suddenly smiled.

“You must be filled with doubt and have a lot of questions you'd like to ask, right?”

Xi De nodded. One smile and the atmosphere of the entire room relaxed a bit.

“What happened to the others?” he asked.

“The container truck you boarded was sent by our Ministry of Security. It didn't take you to the rendezvous point, but to Central City.”

“This is Central City?”

“Where did you think it was?” replied the face. “I may as well tell you that you are in the Administrative Building.”

The Administrative Building! It was the very symbol of Central City, and he could see it from his own office window. The building housed not only the all-powerful regional committees but also the Ministry of Security.

As the situation became clearer, Xi De's mind revived; the fear and confusion of a moment ago had vanished. He had to bestir himself. He had no illusions about his situation: he was a prisoner. The same could probably be said for his comrades, but why hadn't they been locked up together? Perhaps the Ministry of Security planned to extract something from them. If, as the face said, the Ministry of Security knew everything, then there was no point in speaking with him. They would in all likelihood throw him in prison or some other place. Something was up. Perhaps they wanted the location of the Defend the Earth Army headquarters. Perhaps it was still safe. That was the last hope. He had to deal cautiously with the difficult situation facing him.