Ebony Scales

Chapter 5

“I can only assume that the incident in Chengdu last night was your work?”

Joy rubbed at her eyes. She had driven for another four hours after Longwei woke her around midnight, getting in to the city of Xinyang just before five in the morning. Pulling into a rest stop, she had made sure the doors were locked before dropping back off to sleep, only to be woken what felt like far too early by the ringing of her normal cell phone. Nobody had called the number in the entire time she had been in Chengdu, and it startled her.

“Good morning to you too, Billy. If you don’t mind, keep your voice down, because I’m going off about three hours sleep right now.”

“I’m not surprised. If what the bloggers on Weibo are saying is correct, you stirred up quite a ruckus.”

Joy yawned, the impact of her actions still blunted by the exhaustion she was feeling. While she had gotten seven hours of sleep last night, it was split into two blocks, with four hours of driving in between. Still, her old reporter instincts were kicking in, and she felt hungry for information. “What’s Weibo saying? And how’d you guess it was me?”

“Well, the building went up like a torch, whatever it was you used was good. The fire department is claiming only one death, although Weibo is saying at least a dozen, all of them Triads. Black Dragon’s a pretty easy name to guess knowing your situation, by the way. You didn’t get the heads of the Chengdu Triad, but you bit them pretty hard. Should I ask you as a minister if you should be trying to take lives?”

“Not now, Billy. I made a decision, and I’ll discuss it with the man upstairs when the time comes, I’m sure. As for now, I need your friendship and your connections.”

“This is a lot different than when you were asking for help to write some newspaper stories,” Billy seethed over the phone. “Men are dying, two of them shot, one with a broken neck. Weibo’s blowing up about a truck driver babbling on about Black Dragon, and by the way, they’ve already tracked down that Frank Miller misquote. You think you’re Batgirl or something?”

“No Billy, but we’re playing for higher stakes than ever now,” Joy replied, getting out of the truck and into the cool morning air. She could feel her voice rising, and she didn’t want to disturb Longwei or Yingtai, who were both still sleeping inside. The rest stop was deserted, a thin fog drifting along the ground. “They attacked the village first. We defended ourselves, and yes, men died then too. Billy, I’m going to be honest with you, between these two attacks I’ve shot five men, although I didn’t know I had killed the last two. We attacked Chengdu to protect the village, and get the Triads focused somewhere other than the village itself.”

“Maybe, but my sources are telling me that the Triad heads in Hong Kong are going in another direction.”

“Which is?”

“They’re waiting for some central government cooperation, but as soon as Beijing gives the go-ahead, they’re going to wipe the village off the map. I’m talking every man, every woman, every child, and the village plowed under.”

Joy felt the blood rush out of her face, and gorge rise in her throat. What had she done? “How long do we have?”

“Best guess? Two, at most three weeks. The Beijing government wants to make sure there are no major incidents right now, President Xi is in negotiations with the UK on a new trade deal, and he’ll want everything looking good for at least that long. After that though, it’ll be time for the next round of pissing off the Japanese and Koreans, and he can use the Daiyou dispute to distract the people as perfect cover for the operation.”

“Will the Triads have governmental support?”

“Maybe, but most likely not,” Billy said. “You didn’t attack a governmental facility, so while they may want you out of the way, all it takes is one photo uploaded to the Web to give him a major headache.”

“Thanks, Billy. Let me talk this over with Longwei. Can I give you a call later?”

“Sure. I’m still pretty safe, the Triads know I haven’t been seen with you in months. As long as I’m still seen over here in Shanghai, I’m in the clear.”

“Okay. I’ll call you later then. And Billy?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks,” Joy said honestly, blinking her eyes as she watched a stray cat run across the parking lot. “You’re a good friend.”

“You too, Joy. Later.”

The phone went dead, and Joy looked around. Two weeks. What the hell were they supposed to accomplish in only two weeks?

*****

Joy felt a sense of deja vu as everyone gathered into the temple grounds. The entire village had been surprised when Longwei, Yingtai and herself had arrived back in the village with three vehicles, the original pickup truck along with two minibuses that could hold twenty or thirty people. The warm welcome was peppered with questions, which Longwei dismissed by saying only that everyone would have to meet at the temple at sundown in order to discuss the situation. Yingtai had promised to keep her mouth shut at least that long, staying on the temple grounds after greeting her family. Joy watched her, and realized she had changed during the months in Chengdu. She was still the village girl she had been before, but not as simple, and quite a few of her friends were looking at her with perplexed glances. Joy only hoped their relationships could be mended.

When the sun touched the western horizon, the people started arriving, so that by the time full darkness descended, the village population was gathered in the courtyard. Joy sat next to a stone pillar, looking at the gathering. She had missed these people, and Longwei’s news weighed heavily on her heart.

Longwei’s speech was short and somber. The villagers took it with what Joy thought was a remarkable calmness, most of them nodding as if to say it was expected, and all right, before heading back to their houses for the evening. When it was just the two of them, they sat on the stone steps, watching the torches sputter in the soft breeze. “They took it well.”

“They still think I have some sort of magic power to protect them,” he replied. “Considering that we did it once, then took the fight to the Triads and walked away with none of us hurt, they think we have some sort of power. I’m not sure what I can do to change their minds on that.”