The admiral grimaces. “We want nothing from your hand.”
“Please, don’t be hasty. We offer in good faith. And regarding that other project, if you change your mind about our assistance, whether it happens in a week, or a year, or ten years, you will always find us supportive.”
“A very fine speech.” Akkarat says. He’s smiling, even as he shoots the admiral a sharp look. “I’m sure there are no hard feelings, here. Please, at least have one last drink. We’ve troubled you to come so far, there’s no reason we shouldn’t part as friends.”
Still in the game then. Anderson feels a rush of relief. “Our sentiments exactly.”
Soon the drink is flowing, and Carlyle is promising that he would happily ship an order of saffron from India as soon as the current embargo is lifted, and Akkarat is telling a story about a white shirt trying to take three bribes from three different food stalls who keeps losing his count, and all the while, Anderson watches the Somdet Chaopraya, waiting for an opening.
When the man goes to a window to look out at the water, Anderson moves to join him.
“It’s a pity that your proposal wasn’t accepted,” the man says.
Anderson shrugs. “I’m happy to be walking out alive. A few years ago, I would have been trampled by megodonts for simply trying to meet with you.”
The Somdet Chaopraya laughs. “You’re confident we’ll let you walk out?”
“Confident enough, anyway. It’s not a bad gamble,” Anderson says. “You and Akkarat are honorable, even if we don’t agree on every particular. I don’t consider it a particularly risky bet.”
“No? Half the people in this room suggested that feeding you to the river carp tonight was the wisest course.” He pauses, hard sunken eyes staring at Anderson. “It was a very close thing.”
Anderson makes himself smile. “I gather you weren’t in agreement with your admiral?”
“Not tonight.”
Anderson wais. “Then I’m grateful.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I may yet decide to have you killed. Your kind have a very poor reputation.”
“Would you at least give me a chance to bargain for my life?” Anderson asks wryly.
The Somdet Chaopraya shrugs. “It wouldn’t do you any good. Your life is the most interesting thing I could take.”
“Then I would have to offer something unique.”
The man’s hollow eyes flick back to Anderson. “Impossible.”
“Not at all,” Anderson says. “I can give you something you’ve never seen before. Could do it tonight even. Something exquisite. It’s not for the squeamish, but it is astonishing and unique. Would that keep you from feeding to the river carp?”
The Somdet Chaopraya gives him a look of annoyance. “There is nothing you can show me that I have not already seen.”
“Would you care to wager?”
“Still gambling, farang?” The Somdet Chaopraya laughs. “Haven’t you risked enough for one night?”
“Not at all. I’m just trying to make sure my limbs stay attached. It hardly seems like a risk, given how much I might lose otherwise.” He meets the Somdet Chaopraya’s eye. “But I am willing to bet. Are you?”
The Somdet Chaopraya gives him a hard look, calls to his men. “Our calorie man is a gambler! He says he can show me something I haven’t seen before. What do you all think of that?”
His men all laugh. “The odds are very much against you,” the Somdet Chaopraya observes.
“Still, I think the bet is a good one. And I’m willing to place good money on it.”
“Money?” The Somdet Chaopraya makes a face. “I thought we were talking about your life.”
“What about the plans for my kink-spring factory, then?”
“I could simply take that, if I wanted.” The Somdet Chaopraya snaps his fingers, irritated. “Just like that, and they’re mine.”
“All right.” Anderson grimaces. All or nothing. “What if I offered you and your Kingdom my company’s next iteration of U-Tex rice? Would that be a worthwhile bet? And not just the rice, but the grain before it is rendered sterile. Your people can plant it and replant it for as long as it’s viable against blister rust. My life can’t be worth more than that.”
The room falls quiet. The Somdet Chaopraya studies him. “And to balance that risk? What is it you want if you win?”
“I want to go forward with the political project we discussed earlier. Under the same terms as we already proposed. Terms which we both know are entirely favorable to you and your Kingdom.”
The Somdet Chaopraya’s eyes narrow. “You’re a tenacious one, aren’t you? And what’s to keep you from simply withholding the U-Tex you’re offering, if you lose?”
Anderson smiles and waves a hand toward Carlyle. “I assume that you would have myself and Mr. Carlyle here torn apart by megodonts if we fail to make good. Would that be satisfactory?”
Carlyle laughs, his voice tinged with hysteria. “What kind of bet is that?”
Anderson doesn’t take eyes away from the Somdet Chaopraya. “The only one that matters. I trust absolutely that his Excellency will be honest if I manage to surprise him. And we will place ourselves in his hands as a token of that trust. It’s a perfectly reasonable bet. We’re both honorable men.”
The Somdet Chaopraya smiles. “I accept your bet.” He laughs and claps Anderson on the back. “Surprise me farang. And good luck to you. To see you trampled would be a pleasure.”
They make a strange party as they move across the city. The Somdet Chaopraya’s retinue guarantees them access through checkpoints, and the surprised shouts of white shirts echo in the darkness as they realize who they are trying to halt.
Carlyle wipes his forehead with a handkerchief. “Christ, you’re a crazy bastard. I should have never agreed to introduce you.”
Now that the bet is made and the risk defined, Anderson is inclined to agree. The U-Tex rice offering is a real risk. Even if his handlers back the play, the finance people will fight. One lost calorie man is infinitely more replaceable than primary seedstock. If the Thais start exporting the rice, it will undercut profits for years. “It’s fine,” he mutters. “Trust me.”
“Trust you?” Carlyle’s hands are shaking. “Trust you to put me under a megodont?” He glances around. “I should just run for it.”
“Don’t bother. The Somdet Chaopraya gave his guards instructions. If we have second thoughts now…” He jerks his head back toward the men riding in the rickshaw behind. “They’ll kill you as soon as you try to run.”
A few minutes later, familiar towers rise into view.
“Ploenchit?” Carlyle asks. “Jesus and Noah, you’re seriously taking the Somdet Chaopraya here?”
“Calm down. You’re the one who gave me the idea.”
Anderson gets down from his rickshaw. The Somdet Chaopraya and his retinue all mill before the entrance. The Somdet Chaopraya gives him a pitying look. “This is the best you can do? Girls? Sex?” He shakes his head.
“Don’t be too quick to judge.” Anderson indicates that they should come inside. “Please. I’m sorry that we’ll have to climb the stairs. The accommodations do not befit your rank, but I assure you that the experience is worth it.”
The Somdet Chaopraya shrugs and lets Anderson lead. His guards crowd close, nervous in the dark confines. The junkies and whores in the stairwells all catch sight of the Somdet Chaopraya and collapse into panicked khrabs. Word of their arrival rushes up the stairwells. The Chaopraya’s guards run ahead, searching the darkness.
The doors of Soil open. Girls drop to their knees. The Somdet Chaopraya looks around himself with distaste. “This is a place you farang frequent?”