The Windup Girl(141)
Anderson nods, distracted. "We're going to need to start shipping calories right away. Famine relief. I want to commission your dirigibles immediately, as a stopgap. We'll bring U-Tex in from India. Give Akkarat something to crow about. Benefits of open markets, all that. Lots of good press from the whisper sheets. Get things cemented."
"You can't just enjoy the moment?" Carlyle laughs. "It's not often you escape a black hood, Anderson. The first thing we do is go find some whiskey and a rooftop, and watch the damn sun rise over the country we just bought. That's what we do first. The rest of the crap will all wait for tomorrow."
The limousine makes a turn onto Phraram I Road and their escort forges ahead of them, hurtling across the rapidly lightening city. They come down off a flyway and detour around a rubbled Expansion tower that has been entirely toppled in the fighting. A few people are scavenging in the wreckage, but no one is armed.
"It's over," Anderson murmurs. "Just like that." He feels tired. A pair of white shirt bodies lie half-off the curb, rag-doll limp. A vulture stands beside them, edging closer. Anderson touches his ribs gingerly, suddenly glad to be alive.
"You know someplace we can buy that whiskey?"
46
The old Chinese man and the young girl crouch away from her, watching carefully as she guzzles water. Emiko was surprised when the old man allowed the girl to help her crawl over the balcony's edge. But now that she is safe, he keeps his spring gun trained on her and Emiko understands that he is not motivated by charity.
"Did you really kill them?" he asks.
Emiko gingerly lifts her glass and drinks again. If she didn't hurt so much, she could almost enjoy the fact that they are afraid of her. With water, she feels vastly improved, even with her right arm lying limp and swollen in her lap. She sets the glass on the floor and cradles her wounded elbow close. She breathes shallowly through the pain.
"Did you?" he asks again.
She shrugs slightly. "I was fast. They were slow."
They are speaking Mandarin, a language she hasn't used since her time with Gendo-sama. English, Thai, French, Mandarin Chinese, accounting, political protocol, catering and hospitality… So many skills she doesn't use anymore. It took a few minutes for her memories of the language to surface but then it was there, like a limb that had atrophied from long neglect, and then miraculously turned out to be strong. She wonders if her broken arm will heal as easily, if her body still holds surprises for her.
"You are the yellow card secretary from the factory," she says. "Hock Seng, yes? Anderson-sama told me that you ran away when the whites shirts came."
The old man shrugs. "I came back."
"Why?"
He grins without humor. "We cling to whatever flotsam we have."
Outside, an explosion rumbles. They all look toward the sound.
"I think it's ending," the girl murmurs. "That's the first one in more than an hour."
Emiko thinks that with the two of them distracted, she could probably kill them both, even with her shattered arm. But she is so tired. Tired of destruction. Tired of slaughter. Beyond the balcony, the city smokes against a lightening sky. An entire city torn to ribbons over… what? A windup girl who couldn't keep her place.
Emiko closes her eyes against the shame of it. She can almost see Mizumi-sensei frowning disapproval. She's surprised that the woman still holds any power over her at all. Perhaps she will never be free of her old teacher. Mizumi is as much a part of her as her wretched pore structure. "You want to collect the reward for me?" she asks. "Wish to profit from catching a killer?"
"The Thais want you very badly."
The apartment's locks rattle. They all look up as Anderson-sama and another gaijin stumble through the door. Dark bruises decorate the foreigners' faces, but they're laughing and smiling. They both stop short. Anderson-sama's eyes flick from Emiko to the old man, to the pistol that now points at him.
"Hock Seng?"
The other gaijin backpedals and slips behind Anderson-sama. "What the hell?"
"Good question." Anderson-sama is studying the scene before him, pale blue eyes evaluating.
The girl Mai makes a reflexive wai to the gaijin. Emiko almost smiles in recognition. She too knows that knee-jerk urge to show respect.
"What are you doing here, Hock Seng?" Anderson-sama asks.
Hock Seng gives him a thin smile. "You aren't pleased to capture the killer of the Somdet Chaopraya?"
Anderson-sama doesn't respond, just looks from Hock Seng to Emiko and back again. Finally he asks, "How did you get in here?"
Hock Seng shrugs. "I did, after all, find this flat for Mr. Yates. Presented the keys to him myself."
Anderson-sama shakes his head. "He was a fool, wasn't he?"
Hock Seng inclines his head.
With a chill, Emiko sees that this confrontation can only turn against her. The only person here who is disposable is herself. If she is quick, she can simply strip the pistol from the old man's hand. Just as she took the pistols from those slow bodyguards. It will hurt, but it can be done. The old man is no match for her.
The other gaijin is slipping out the door without another word, but Emiko is surprised to see Anderson-sama does not retreat as well. Instead, he eases into the room, hands held up, palms out. One of his hands is bandaged. His voice is soothing.