"Not long," she answered, nodding her thanks. Then, moving past him, she hastened from the study.
Back-in her room, she sat on the edge of her bed, the file in her lap, letting her thoughts grow still. They would all be here, of course—all of those important names from Above society one might expect to turn up for the Coming-of-Age party of the Marshal's daughter, but there was only one name she was interested in. She counted ten then opened it, scanning the list quickly with her finger.
Most of the names were familiar—Security mostly—but some, she knew, were there because one could not hold such a party and not invite such people. She would have to go through it more carefully later on, but for now . . .
She came to the end. Nothing. There was no sign of his name.
So it was true. He really was keeping his word. Very well. She should not really have expected other of him. But this was her party, her Coming-of-Age, and there was one person, more than any other, she would have there on that day. Kim Ward.
She went through to her study and sat at her desk, leaning across to take the ink brush from its stand. Inking it, she tried to remember the last time she had seen him, after his Wiring Operation. Seven years had passed since that day, and never, in all that time, had she stopped thinking of him, wondering about him, {preparing herself for him.
She took the list and wrote in his name, there between Wang Ling, the Minister for Production, and her father's friend, Colonel Wareham.
There! she thought. Yet even as the ink dried, she knew it would not end with that. He would fight her over it, she knew, for it was the one thing they had always fought over.
Damn you, you old bugger! she thought, angry at him yet loving him all the same. Why can't you want what I want just this once?
But she knew it was no good wishing. Her father was like a rock, impervious to time and good opinion. She would have to face him out on this. Tonight, perhaps, or tomorrow.
She shivered, frustration and anger threatening to drive her to distraction. Then, controlling herself again, she switched on her desktop comset and turned to the front of the list, determined he would have no other reason to find fault with her.
TOLONEN GAZED OUT of the window of the cruiser, then looked back at his T'ang, answering him finally.
"I don't know, Chieh Hsia. I think you should try other means before taking such drastic action."
Li Yuan gestured wearily. "I wish I could, but time is against us. Each day sees the man grow stronger at my expense. The situation in Africa is worsening and my armies there are restless. If I do nothing, things will simply deteriorate until . . . well, until Li Min will merely have to raise his voice and the whole thing will come tumbling down."
Tolonen sighed, troubled by such talk. "Forgive me, Chieh Hsia, but surely things are not so bad? We have had peace these past three years. The House has been docile, food rations have increased . . ."
Li Yuan huffed out a breath, exasperated. "Can't you see it, Knut? The peace you talk of, it's a fragile, brittle thing. No. Time is running out. Our options are dwindling. We must either fight the bastard now or hand the City over to him."
"Then send Karr to negotiate with him, as I suggested. Have him offer Li Min a temporary peace—something that'll give us time to draw up a proper plan of campaign. To fight him now, without preparation"—Tolonen made a bitter face—"it would be madness!"
Li Yuan sat back, smoothing his chin nervously. Tolonen, watching him, saw the gesture and looked down, reminded of the young man's father, Li Shai Tung. So the old man had looked in those months before his death—his eyes haunted, his face made gaunt with worry. And maybe Yuan was right—maybe things were worse than they seemed—but to hit out blindly, simply for something to do ... well, he had said it already: it was madness.
Tolonen sighed. "Besides, there's always Ward. If he delivers the goods . . ."
Li Yuan nodded distractedly, then met Tolonen's eyes again. "I understand you had some visitors this morning?"
"Ah, that."
"Is there a problem, Knut? Something I can help you with?"
Tolonen gave a short laugh. "Nothing I can't deal with, Chieh Hsia."
"No . . ." Li Yuan stared at him a moment, then laughed. "I doubt there's anything you couldn't deal with."
They were both silent awhile, then Tolonen spoke. ( '
"Do you think Ward will sign up again?" ;
"For SimFic?" Li Yuan considered a moment, then shrugged. "It's hard to say. One thing is for certain, he doesn't need the money. I am advised he's worth close on four hundred and fifty million, with the royalties on jSimFic products he's had a hand in, that's likely to treble within the next five years. If I were in Reiss's position I would be looking beyond financial incentives."
Tolonen stared at his hands, suddenly uncomfortable. "He's a strange one, neh?"
Li Yuan nodded. "It must be strange, being as he is."
Tolonen hesitated, then looked up. "What do you think of him as a person?"
Li Yuan frowned. The question was unexpected. "I ... respect him. His talent is formidable . . . frightening. I can't begin to imagine how he thinks. It's as if he's thinking in a different direction to the rest of us. Rather like Shepherd."
Tolonen was leaning forward now, his face set, waiting.
"But as a person?" Li Yuan shrugged, then pulled his silks about him, as if suddenly cold. "I don't know. I cannot make him out. There is something . . . dark in him. I have tried to like him, but . . ."
Tolonen nodded, understanding. It was how he himself felt—at one and the same time awed and repelled by the boy.
6031? He laughed inwardly at the slip. Why, Ward was a man now ... a young man of twenty-five years, but still he thought of him as a boy, perhaps because Ward still had the body of a child—an effete yet threatening child. He shivered. If the truth were known he thought Ward an ugly, stunted little creature and what his daughter had ever seen in him he couldn't imagine. Clayborn he was, and like all of the Clayborn there was something deeply, intrinsically repugnant about him.
He sat back, then locked his hands together in his lap, gold metallic fingers alternating with pink-white flesh. He had not seen Ward since he'd come back from America—in truth, he had hoped never to see him again. When America had fallen he'd believed the boy was dead—had thought it done with for good and all. But Ward had got out—SimFic had protected their investment and shipped him out on the last flight—and he, hearing the news, had felt a bitter disappointment.
A curse—Ward was a curse on him, an evil spell, always coming between him and his daughter.
He felt the cruiser begin to bank, the engine tone change, and knew they were approaching their destination. Below them lay the great three-hundred-level city, like a giant glacier filling the central European plain, its hivelike sections gleaming whitely in the late morning sunshine. Looking back at Li Yuan he saw he was staring out the window; but his hazel eyes were looking inward, his mind worrying over some problem of State. Tolonen, seeing him thus, felt his own worries dissipate. They were as nothing beside his Master's. To serve his T'ang, that was—had always been—his prime directive, and whatever he felt about Ward, he must let none of it come between him and his duty. To serve ... he nodded, then straightened in his seat, pushing out his chest and placing his hands firmly, decisively, on his knees ... it was the very reason for his existence.
KIM LEANED IN to the screen, tracing the slowly descending line of the graph with his index finger, his worst fears confirmed.