"We could close the Shen Wu Gate and the Shun Ch'en Gate and cut off the six eastern palaces and the six western palaces, here and here. That would make things easier."
Shepherd came around him and looked at the two huge gates at the rear of the Imperial City for a moment, then nodded.
"Yes. But why stop at that? Why not seal the whole of that area off? That way we could concentrate on a much smaller area. In fact, why not seal off everything we're not going to use? Close the Hung I Ko and the Tijen Ko too. Confine the lesser guests to the space between the Meridian Gate and the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Likewise, confine those special guests who will attend the second ceremony to the Inner City and the Imperial Gardens."
Tolonen shook his head. "Not possible, I'm afraid. Li Shai Tung has prepared a banquet for the lesser guests outside the Arrow Pavilion. He would lose face if he had to cancel that."
Shepherd put his hand to his neck, rubbing away the tiredness. He had barely slept these last three days. And now this. He looked at the model, realizing once again how difficult Tolonen's task was. The Ku Kung, the Imperial Palace, was composed of almost nine thousand buildings and measured more than two li in length, one and a half in width. It covered fifteen hundred mou—almost two hundred and fifty acres in the old measure. Even if they sealed off everything he had suggested, it still meant policing over five hundred mou.
He looked up from the glass-covered model to the original. They had set the table up in the center of the courtyard in front of the Ta'i Ho Tien, the Hall of Supreme Harmony. In less than twelve hours the whole of this huge open space would be packed with courtiers and guests, servants and Security. He turned, looking back toward the Gate of Supreme Harmony and, beyond it, the five white bridges crossing the Golden Water. Would something happen here today? Would their enemies succeed? Or could they stop them?
They had talked late into the .night, he, Li Shai Tung, and Tolonen, knowing that the thing they had found—the "copy" of Klaus Ebert—signified something hugely important. Copies of living individuals—it was something the Seven had long feared would happen, ban or no, and while the Edict carried the strictest penalties for straying from its guidelines in respect to human genetic technology, there had been numerous cases over the years where scientific curiosity had overcome the fear of punishment. Now those harsh measures were vindicated. With such copies in the world who could feel safe in their own body? Who could be trusted?
It was only two days since Wyatt's execution and the shock of that still reverberated around the world. It might be that the Dispersionists planned to answer that. But it was more likely that they had set things in motion long before, hoping to maximize the impact of their scheme by striking when the whole of Chung Kuo was watching.
"The gods be thanked we found the thing in time," Tblonen had said, showing the T'ang the holo of the copy Ebert. "At least we know what we're looking for now." But Shepherd had had his doubts. What if it'was a blind? What if all of this were some huge diversionary tactic, designed to make them look elsewhere while the real attack took place? "Would they waste two hundred million yuan on a decoy?" Tolonen had asked him, and he had answered yes. A thousand million. Two thousand. Whatever it took to make them look elsewhere. But the T'ang had agreed with his General. It was a fortunate accident, Ebert returning to his office when he did, and anyway, the thing was too good a likeness to throw away so casually. It was clear that they had meant to kill Ebert and then penetrate the inner sanctum of the Imperial City. There would be others; Li Shai Tung was certain of it. They would set up the gates and check each guest as he entered. And not only guests, but Family and Seven too. For the good of all.
"We'll see," Shepherd had said, bowing low, accepting his T'ang's final word. But he had been thinking, And what if there are no further copies? What if they plan to strike some other way?
Tolonen had been considering his suggestion about sealing off parts of the Imperial City; now he broke into his thoughts. "Maybe you're right, Hal. It would be no great task to seal off the whole of the western side of the City, likewise this part here in the northeast. There's enough room here by the southern kitchens to take the overspill and it won't interfere with the banquet."
Shepherd yawned, then laughed. "Best do it quick, Knut, before we all nod off."
The General stared at him a moment, then laughed. "Yes. Of course. I'm sorry, Hal. Would you like something to pep you up? My adjutant could fetch you something."
Shepherd shook his head. "Thank you, but no. I don't believe in tablets. They bugger my system. No, I'll sleep when it's all over."
"As you will." The General hesitated, then reached out and took Shepherd's arm. "Are you feeling real?"
Shepherd laughed. "Real enough. Whys that?"
"The gates are ready. I wanted to test one of them. Will you come through with me?"
"Of course. Lead on."
At the Gate of Heavenly Peace, Shepherd stopped and let his eyes stray upward. Only one li away the blank, pearled walls of City Asia began, climbing two U into the heavens like the sheer face of a huge glacier, surrounding the ancient capital on every side. This, he reminded himself, was the center of it all—the very heart of Chung Kuo. Where it had all begun one hundred and eighteen years ago. These had been the first stacks to be built, constructed to his great-great-grandfather's design. Three hundred levels high, they towered over the old Imperial City. Yet, turning, looking back, he could not decide which was the greater. The new City was a magnificent achievement, yet did it have even a fragment of the grandeur, the sheer, breathtaking splendor of the Forbidden City?
No. Not the least part.
The gates had been set up in the space between the two Cities. Six lines of them, linked by a mazelike series of corridors, open to the air. It was a hasty, crude-looking arrangement. At various intersections between corridors watchtowers had been set up on stilts overhead, from which both manual and computerized guns pointed downward.
"They'll not like that," Shepherd said, turning to Tolonen.
"No. I'm afraid they won't. But for once they'll have to put up with it."
Shepherd shook his head sadly. It was bad. Particularly after the execution. It would give the impression that they were entering a new, more brutal era. What ought to be a day of celebration would, for many, take on far more ominous overtones.
But whose fault was that? What other option had they?
"You really think you'll catch some of these copies?"
The General smiled bleakly. "I'm certain of it, Hal. You think I'm wrong, I know. Well, it's possible I am. Anything's possible. Which is why I've prepared for a hundred other unpleasant eventualities. An assault from the air. Bombs. Assassins among my own elite guards. Poison in the food. Snipers. Treachery in a hundred different guises. I've read my history. I know how many ways a king can be killed."
Tolonen's granite face showed a momentary tiredness. "I've done dreadful things to safeguard my T'ang, Hal. Awful, necessary things."
Yes, Tolonen thought. Like the killing of the fifteen men who designed these security gates. Fifteen more to add to the vast tally against my name. Good men, too. But their deaths were necessary. To safeguard the Seven. Because without the Seven...
He shuddered and pushed the thought away, then began to walk toward the gates. Shepherd fell in beside him, silent now, deep in thought. As they approached the nearest of the gates the elite guards came to attention, shouldering their arms.