The driver studied Paul. The man’s features had become stony and then thoughtful. “You have a lion’s heart,” he said. “Follow me.” The driver took Paul and Romo to the back of the truck and opened the gate.
A dozen Mexico Home Army soldiers sat in the gloom on benches. On a stretcher lay Colonel Valdez. One of the men held up Valdez’s head. Another whipped back a blanket covering the Colonel, showing that Valdez held a pistol aimed at Paul’s chest.
Paul saw eyes of burning hate. Those eyes flickered to take in Romo.
“Both of you are here,” Valdez whispered. His skin was gray and he seemed feverish.
Paul wondered how much of an idiot he was, but he decided to play it through. “Do you want to live?” he asked the Colonel.
“I want to put a bullet in your chest,” Valdez whispered. “You are a pig and a traitor.”
“Colonel,” the driver said, surprising Paul by speaking up. “This man just interfered for your sake. The MP would have forced you to wait. Now you can leave on a helicopter and get the medical help you need.”
“I heard what this traitor said,” hissed Valdez. He glared at Paul. “Do you think you can buy my forgiveness?”
“Apparently not,” Paul said.
The Colonel began to cough and his gun-hand lost strength so he set the weapon on the floorboard, although he kept his hand around the butt and his finger curled around the trigger.
The Mexico Home Army soldiers in the truck stared at Paul and stared at Romo.
“He needs medical help,” Romo said. “I doubt he’ll get it if he shoots the American.”
“Traitor,” Valdez hissed so spit flew from his mouth. A particle landed on his chin as he raised the gun.
Before he could fire, the driver lunged into the truck. The man had a leopard’s swiftness. He grabbed the gun and twisted. A shot rang out. Amazingly, the bullet hit no one.
The captain and his MPs raced back. “What’s going on here?” he demanded.
The driver had ripped away the pistol, holding it in his hands. With hostility in their eyes and as they gripped their weapons, the others in the truck watched the MPs.
“The Colonel is delirious,” Paul said. “He thought we were Chinese soldiers and fired at us.” Paul put his fingers on the end of the stretcher. “Come on, Romo, give me a hand.”
Paul dragged the Colonel out of the truck-bed and Romo grabbed the other end of the stretcher.
“Let him go with the Colonel,” Paul said to the captain. He used his chin and pointed at the driver. “The others can wait.”
“The others can walk along I-70 with everyone else,” the captain said. “Only the wounded are getting a ride out. Well, he can go, I guess. But don’t give him the gun until he’s well.”
“I won’t,” the driver said.
“Come on,” Paul told the driver. “I’ll show you the way.”
Paul and Romo carried a sick Colonel Valdez onto the Chinook, laying him down among other wounded.
Valdez’s hot eyes flickered open. “This changes nothing,” he told Paul.
“No,” Paul said. “You’re wrong. This changes everything. I just saved your life. Heck, I probably saved you from jail, too, or from the firing squad. That’s what would have happened to you if you’d killed me.”
“My men—”
“Would have been badly outnumbered here,” Paul said. “Anyway, just shut up for change. I’ve listened to you rant before. The way I figure it is that you owe me big time. Most people are grateful to someone saving their life. How about you: are you an ingrate and a dog, or are you a man who pays his debts?”
Valdez’s eyes seemed to burn hotter.
“Think about it,” Paul said. “What I know is that I’ve paid you back for what happened to Maria. There isn’t any more guilt in my heart that you can tap. If you keep coming after me, I’ll kill you just like the assassin Santiago that you sent after Romo.”
“Words,” Valdez said with a sneer.
“It’s time to start channeling your anger the right way,” Paul said. “Kill the Chinese, drive them home and then worry about your stinking honor, as worthless as yours is.”
“No one speaks to me like that.”
“You ready?” Paul asked Romo.
“Si.”
“Then let’s go. Be seeing you,” Paul told the driver. “And thanks. I owe you one.”
With that, Paul left Colonel Valdez in the Chinook, which took off five minutes later. It was strange, but it felt good saving a life for once instead of taking it, even that of a man who hated him.
Shun Li knelt in the cage with the small polar bear cub. The fur was so soft and she loved listening to the little fellow as she held the milk bottle for him.
He sucked strongly, drinking deeply. The Chairman no longer let the mother bear pace in the next chamber, watching. Shun Li smiled. She wondered how much longer she would get to do this.
She’d been agonizing over the correct course of action. The Police Minister’s plot continued apace. She had written many reports for Xiao, and his questions about the Chairman and his Lion Guards had become very pointed. She enjoyed Tang and his rough lovemaking. She loved this little polar bear cub. But she did care for either enough to die for them?
She had come to wonder if the Chairman’s days were numbered. China’s armies had suffered hard defeats. The North American conquest hung in the balance. How could the Chairman defeat Xiao if the military backed the secret policeman?
She stroked the cub’s fur as he suckled.
“You love him,” the Chairman said.
Shun Li twisted around in fright. She hadn’t heard the Chairman sneak up behind her. Tang waited with Hong.
There was one thing about Tang that impressed Shun Li. The Lion Guardsman never acknowledged her while he was on duty, never winked or joked. He acted utterly like the Leader’s protective guardian. He was loyal.
“I have been studying you,” Hong said. “And I have finally reached a conclusion.”
That sounded ominous. She tried to smile, but failed. So she went back to helping the cub suckle the bottle.
“There,” Hong said, as if speaking to Tang. “That is why I trust her. She loves the cub. Xiao Yang could never love.”
“He loves China,” Shun Li heard herself say.
“He is a fanatic,” Hong said. “He has always been a fanatic and it warps his judgment. I’ve begun to wonder if having Xiao around me has warped my judgment.”
Shun Li stared at the cub. If Xiao won, he would slaughter the polar bears. She sighed as she thought about that. She had spent a lifetime killing people. It had warped her. She had no doubt about that. Likely, she was going to pay a bitter cost for her killings. She’d fled to China to escape her fate, but it looked like that wasn’t going to happen.
She thought about an interview she’d had with Xiao several days ago. The Police Minister had almost seemed emotional, delighted as he told her about the Behemoth Manufacturing Plant. It had proved much smaller than her estimate. He had wondered aloud if she had doctored her document. The threat was obvious. He would tell the Leader about the forgery if she did not do exactly as he wanted.
“Sir,” Shun Li said. “I have something to tell you.” As she squatted before the cub, holding the bottle, she twisted around.
“The Police Minister has…forced me to write reports about my visits here.”
Hong glanced at Tang. When the Leader looked at her again, he seemed like a different individual. His eyes had hardened and his lips firmed.
“The Police Minister spoke with Marshal Gang in his office,” Shun Li said. “It occurred the day the heavy lasers destroyed many Behemoth tanks.”
“Gang was in Beijing?” the Leader asked.
“Yes sir.”
“You have evidence of this?”