第42节

s this

possible? Hhhawwwwh! This conversation was taking a dangerous turn.

He would have to find some excuse to get rid of the ronin so that he

could talk privately with the cloud warrior. It was vital that this

disturbing piece of news did not reach the Shogun's ears until he had

had an opportunity to prepare the ground.

'Can you prove you are not a grass-monkey?"

'Yes." Steve indicated Noburo. 'I gave the samurai-captain my

radio-knife."

Toshiro nodded. 'Yeah, I've seen it,' he said flatly.

'The Plainfolk do not possess such devices. Neither do the Sons of

Ne-Issan. Only the Federation has the knowledge and the power to

create these things. I can show you how it works."

And who knows, maybe this time I might get Karlstrom on the other end

of the line. That would rock them back on their heels.

'The device is of no interest to us."

Steve found his reply bewildering, but then the ronin had also shown a

certain reluctance when presented with the knife. Steve recalled

Side-Winder telling him the dinks didn't have electricity. Okay.

Neither did the Mutes. But these guys were different: they were into

making things in a big way. They should have been falling over

themselves to find out about it but instead they gave the impression

they couldn't care less. Maybe they were just scared of new ideaslike

the M'Calls not wanting the Iron Masters' rifles. Never mind, if he

couldn't blind this guy with science he still had a couple of cards to

play. 'This skin colour comes off. But I need some water and some

leaves that are in my bag."

Toshiro looked across at the ronin. Noburo got up and left the room.

As the screen door slid shut behind him, Toshiro said, 'What else do

you know, cloud warrior?"

Steve raised his eyes, hesitated for a moment, then decided to play his

hunch. 'I know that you and the samurai-captain serve the Shogun and

that there are those who seek his downfall. Lord Yama-Shita is one,

his friend Min-Orota is another."

Toshiro's eyes gave nothing away. 'Go on..."

'If I'm right, maybe you and I can do business."

'What kind of business?"

'I was sent here to take out the Mute who is building flying machines

for Lord Min-Orota."

' "Take out". you mean kill?"

'My orders were to bring him and his female companion back alive if

possible. If not . . ." Steve completed the sentence with a shrug.

'If I fail, the Federation will be obliged to resort to other. more

destructive means.

We do not seek a wider conflict, but we cannot allow this enterprise to

succeed. It's also possible that what is going on. at the Heron Pool

does not have the wholehearted support of those you represent. If this

is the case, you may feel that perhaps it would be in the best

interests of all concerned if it was closed down. Permanently."

'Mmmmm . . . interesting thought. Are you making me an offer?"

'It would save everybody a lot of grief."

'Who gave you all this information - my colleague?"

Steve shook his head. 'Apart from disclosing that his name was Noburo

Naka-Jima, he didn't tell me a thing.

He didn't need to. The Federation has ears and eyes all over the

sky."

That last part was pure invention, but Steve was closer to the truth

than he realised.

Noburo returned with a small bucket of water and the deerskin

waist-bag. When his wrists had been untied, Steve spread out the

fingers of his left hand towards the man in black and pointed at them

in turn. 'Pick one."

Toshiro said nothing until Steve switched hands and reached his right

middle finger. 'Stop right there."

Pulling one of the five-pointed pink leaves from the bundle, Steve wet

it thoroughly, then scrunched it up in his left hand. He then dunked

the chosen finger in the bucket and screwed it around vigorously inside

his closed fist. A couple of minutes and several rinses later, no

trace of the dye remained. Stretching out his arm, he closed his fist

and extended his middle finger upwards in front of Toshiro's face for

him to examine, The Herald, who was unaware of the symbolic meaning

behind the gesture, stared silently at the pink-skinned digit.

'Satisfied?"

Toshiro managed to control his anger, but it took a great deal of

effort to do so. He would dearly have loved to cut off the cloud

warrior's arm to punish him for his insolence, but this was not

possible. Not yet, anyway. But he had to let this outlander know he