Spatz laughed. ‘Is this some kind of joke, Marshal?'
Tolonen felt himself go cold with anger. He glared back at Spatz and saw the man go white beneath the look.
Spatz stood quickly, bowing his head almost to the desktop. ‘Forgive me, Marshal, I did not mean...'
‘Look after him, Spatz,' Tolonen answered acidly. ‘Allocate a man to take care of him for the next few days until his tutor, T'ai Cho, joins him.' He shivered, letting his anger drain from him. ‘And you'll ensure he comes to no harm.'
He saw Spatz swallow drily and nodded to himself, satisfied that he had cowed the man sufficiently. ‘Good. Then I'll leave him in your custody.'
Spatz watched Tolonen go, then turned his attention to the boy. For a moment he was speechless, still too astonished to take in what it all meant, then he sat heavily and leaned forward, putting his hand down on the summons button. At once his assistant appeared in the doorway.
‘Get Hammond in here,' he said, noting the way his assistant's eyes went to the boy. ‘At once!'
He sat back, steepling his hands together, staring across at the boy. Then he laughed and shook his head. ‘No...'
Now that the first shock was wearing off, he was beginning to feel annoyed, angered by the position he had been put in. Now he would have to return the money he had been given to put names forward for the vacancies. Not only that, but in the place of real scientists he had been lumbered with a no-hoper and a child. What had he done to deserve such a thing? Who had he angered?
He looked down at his desk, sniffing deeply. ‘So you're a scientist, are you, Ward?'
When the boy didn't answer, he looked up, anger blazing in his eyes. ‘I'll tell you now. I don't know what game people higher up are playing, but I don't believe a word of that file, understand me? And I've no intention of letting you get near anything important. I may have to nursemaid you, but I'll be damned if I'll let you bugger things up for me.'
He stopped. There was someone in the doorway behind the boy.
‘You called for me, Shih Spatz?'
‘Come in, Hammond. I want you to meet our latest recruit, Kim Ward.'
He saw how Hammond glanced at the boy, then looked about the room before finally coming back to him.
‘You mean, you're Ward?' Hammond asked, unable to hide his surprise. ‘Well, the gods save us!' He laughed, then offered a hand. ‘I'm Joel Hammond, Senior Technician on the Project.'
Seeing how the boynd azin foquo; Hamm stared at Hammond's hand a moment before tentatively offering his own, how he studied the meeting of their hands, as if it were something wholly new to him, Spatz understood. The boy had never been out in society before. Had never learned such ways. It made Spatz think. Made him reconsider what was in the file. Or, rather, what wasn't. But he still didn't believe it. Why, the boy looked nine at the very most. He could not have done so much in so brief a time.
‘I want you to look after the boy, Hammond. Until his... guardian arrives.'
‘His guardian?' Hammond looked at Kim again, narrowing his eyes.
‘T'ai Cho,' Kim answered, before Spatz could explain. ‘He was my tutor at the Recruitment Project. He was like a father to me.'
Gods, thought Spatz, more convinced than ever that someone up-level was fucking with him; willing him to fail in this. A boy and his ‘father', that was all they needed! He leaned forward again, his voice suddenly colder, more businesslike.
‘Look, Hammond. Get him settled in. Show him where things are. Then get back here. Within the hour. I want to brief you more fully, right?'
Hammond glanced at the boy again, giving the briefest of smiles, then looked back at Spatz, lowering his head. ‘Of course, Director. Whatever you say.'
‘Well, Yuan, can I take it off yet?'
He turned her to face him, then untied the silk from her eyes, letting it fall to the ground. She looked up at him, wide-eyed, uncertain, then gave a small, nervous laugh.
‘There,' he said, pointing beyond her, smiling broadly now.
She turned, looking about her at the stables. The grooms were standing about idly, their jobs momentarily forgotten, watching the young Prince and his bride, all of them grinning widely, knowing what Li Yuan had arranged.
She frowned, not knowing what it was she was looking for, then turned back, looking at him.
‘Go on,' he said, encouraging her. ‘Down there, in the end stall.'
Still she hesitated, as if afraid, making him laugh.
‘It's a gift, silly.' He lowered his voice slightly. ‘My way of saying that I'm sorry.'
‘Down there?'
‘Yes. Come, I'll show you...'
He took her arm, leading her to the stall.
‘There!' he said softly, looking down at her.
She looked. There, in the dimness of the stall, stood the horse he had bought her. As she took first one, then another slow step towards it, the horse turned its long white head, looking back at her, its huge dark eyes assessing her. It made a small noise in its nostrils, then lowered its head slightly, as if bowing to her.
He saw the tiny shudder that went through her and felt himself go still as she went up to the horse and began to stroke its face, its flank. For a moment, that was all. Then she turned and looked back at him, her eyes wet with tears.
‘He's beautiful, Yuan. Really beautiful.' She shivered, looking back at the horse, her hand resting in its mane, then lowered her head slightly. ‘You shouldn't have, my love. I have a horse already.'
Yuan swallowed, moved by her reaction. ‘I know, but I wanted to. As soon as I saw him I knew you'd love him.' He moved closer, into the dimness of the stall itself, and stood there beside her, his hand resting gently on the horse's flank.
She looked up at him, her eyes smiling through the tears. ‘Has he a name?'
‘He has. But if you want to you can re-name him.&rsqun tweread s hand ro;
She looked back at the Arab. ‘No. Look at him, Yuan. He is himself, don't you think? A T'ang among horses.'
He smiled. ‘That he is, my love. An emperor. And his name is Tai Huo.'
She studied the Arab a moment longer, then turned back, meeting Li Yuan's eyes again. ‘Great Fire... Yes, it suits him perfectly.' Her eyes searched Yuan's face, awed, it seemed, by his gift. Then, unexpectedly, she knelt, bowing her head until it touched her knees. ‘My husband honours me beyond my worth...'
At once he pulled her up. ‘No, Fei Yen. Your husband loves you. I, Yuan, love you. The rest...' he shuddered, ‘well, I was mistaken. It was wrong of me...'
‘No.' She shook her head, then lifted her eyes to his. ‘I spoke out of turn. I realize that now. It was not my place to order your household. Not without your permission...'
‘Then you have my permission.'
His words brought her up short. ‘Your permission? To run your household?'
He smiled. ‘Of course. Many wives do, don't they? And why not mine? After all, I have a clever wife.'
Her smile slowly broadened, then, without warning, she launched herself at him, knocking him on to his back, her kisses overwhelming him.
‘Fei Yen!'
There was laughter from the nearby stalls, then a rustling of straw as the watching grooms moved back.
He sat up, looking at her, astonished by her behaviour, then laughed and pulled her close again, kissing her. From the stalls nearby came applause and low whistles of appreciation. He leaned forward, whispering in her ear. ‘Shall we finish this indoors?'
In answer she pulled him down on top of her. ‘You are a prince, my love,' she said softly, her breath hot in his ear, ‘you may do as you wish.'
Joel Hammond stood there in the doorway, watching the boy unpack his things. They had barely spoken yet, but he was already conscious that the boy was different from anyone he had ever met. It was not just the quickness of the child, but something indefinable; something that fool Spatz hadn't even been aware of. It was as if the boy were charged with some powerful yet masked vitality. Hammond smiled and nodded to himself. Yes, it was as if the boy were a compact little battery, filled with the energy of knowing; a veiled light, awaiting its moment to shine out, illuminating the world.
Kim turned, looking back at him, as if conscious suddenly of his watching eyes.
‘What did you do before you came here, Shih Hammond?'
‘Me?' Hammond moved from the doorway, picking up the map Kim had set down on the table. ‘I worked on various things, but the reason I'm here is that I spent five years with SimFic working on artificial intelligence.'
Kim's eyes widened slightly. ‘I thought that was illegal? Against the Edict?'
Hammond laughed. ‘I believe it was. But I was fortunate. The T'ang is a forgiving man. At least, in my case he was. I was pardoned. And here I am.'
He looked back down at the map again. ‘This is the Tun Huang star chart, isn't it? I saw it once, years ago. Back in college. Are you interested in astronomy?'
The boy hesitated. ‘I was.' Then he turned, facing Hammond, his dark eyes looking up at him challengingly. ‘Spatz says he's going to keep me off the Project. Can he do that?'
Hammond was taken aback. ‘I...'
The boy turned away, the fluidity of the sudden movement &ndm">he th="says ash; so unlike anything he had ever seen before – surprising Hammond. A ripple of fear passed down his spine. It was as if the boy was somehow both more and, at the same time, less human than anyone he had ever come across. For a moment he stood there, his mouth open, astonished, then, like a thunderbolt, it came to him. He shuddered, the words almost a whisper.