The Code War

by Ciaran Nagle

  Within minutes more lights ahead told them additional reinforcements were on their way. Not that they were needed. Soon there was an escort of hundreds of flying and mounted seraphs cheering and offering to help Luke with his burden. Which of course he declined.

  'We're out of danger, we'll soon be home,' gasped Luke to Ruth who was recovering in his arms but showing no interest in spreading her own wings.

  'That's real nice, Luke. What a story I'll have to tell Michael and Gabriel when I see them at the next cocktail party. They'll be so interested. I'll put in a good word for you too, you know?'

  'You're just too big-hearted, Ruth. I'm thrilled to know that the archangels will be interested. Really, I'm excited. Well OK, not very excited. Anyway, I thought you were too frightened to go to Earth. You were most reluctant when Jabez first mooted it.'

  'Y'all must know, that was the most scary thing ah ever done in my life. It was excitin' though. Specially when you showed up in the side street with the sands o'time runnin' out, just like in the movies.'

  'Movies? If that was a movie it was nearly a horror. That demon was a nightmare.'

  'Mebbe. But it just might have been worth the risk. Nancy and Dan got talkin', just like we bin tryin' to arrange all along.'

  'Tell me later. I don't know whether I'm still furious enough with you to drop you down the Glacier Chimneys of Choldotsk. They're on the far side of Paradise a long way from me, Jabez and Agatha. A long way from everyone really.'

  Luke was cruising now that the danger was over. Other angels were circling them, globing their friends in flight.

  'Oh, they sound cool Luke, tell me more. Glacier Chimneys. Fun.' Ruth was now as wide-eyed as an 8 year-old. No longer gasping for breath. Still no inclination to fly, though.

  'Oh, you want to know, do you? You're up for a little scaring? OK then, see how you like this. You see the tunnels in Choldotsk are too narrow to fly in and angels have been known to get lost and wander around there, out of the Music and even out of Creator's sight, for centuries. Crying bitterly. And when angels cry there, it's so cold that they cry ice. Only, there's no gin and no tonic to go with it. Yeah, it's that bad.'

  Ruth was showing mock horror, her fingers in front of her mouth. 'And no lemon?'

  'No. And when those sad, beautiful but hopelessly misguided angels do eventually find their way out of those extremely dark, extremely cold, extremely endless tunnels they're normally reformed characters who are cured of a passion for loneliness and doing things on their own and meeting evil creatures on the sly in yoghurty alleyways in British colonies. Instead they delight in company and friends and telling people what they're up to and being generally thoughtful and considerate and all.'

  Ruth looked up at him adoringly. 'Oh, Luke, that's a wonderful story. You know my daddy used to tell me tales like that when I was a little itty bitty girl back in San Antone. He frightened me and my sister under the bed and we loved it. You've got such a gift for story time. You should develop your talent.'

  Luke looked up with a long-suffering sigh.

  She tapped him on the chest. 'Hey, don't stop now dude, tell me another one. Make up a horror story for me about a girl who fell off the edge of Heaven and landed on Earth in a barn full of check-shirted cowboys all keen to practice their chat-up lines on her and smiling with those corn-fed white teeth they have. That'd be a real scary story.'

  The joyful escort gradually peeled off and departed with many waves, kisses and hurrahs.

  Luke flew Ruth back to her home where he found that Agatha had already arrived and was preparing dinner for them.

  'Welcome home, oh wandering one,' she said to Ruth. 'My, my, what lengths some girls will go to just to get carried home in a man's arms.'

  'Shucks, it's an old trick of mine. Never fails. But you know, I think next time I'll try sump'n different. I'm just a home town girl after all, not one for adventurin'.'

  'I think you're incredibly brave and resourceful,' said Luke. 'And you sure fooled me with that image of a sensible, pragmatic strategist who rarely gets away from Paradise's corridors of power.'

  'Thank you, Luke, and I wouldn't be here right now if you hadn't noticed my less than fulsome agreement to the new regs on armed escorts and decided to follow me. So thank you. And I promise you I feel suitably chastised and I won't be doin' anything' like that again any time soon.'

  Agatha broke in. 'I hate to dispel the cuddly atmosphere guys and dolls, but once you two have finished making up there's some breaking news I have to update you on and it's not all good.' Agatha stirred the mushroom and iron risotto and added some more shamrock basil.

  'The good news is that Augustine has agreed a deal with the other side that will definitely result in us getting Jabez back. But the bad news is it will mean the biggest humiliation in history for Heaven in general and the Lamb in particular. It's going to be a catastrophe. Even if we manage to pull off something extraordinary with Nancy - and right now the odds are still against it - we may not be in time.'

  She pulled her clenched fist to her chest and stifled a sniffle as a tear outed her emotion. The saucepan voiced its sympathy with her misery, sucking at the rice like a child clinging to its mother, puffing its simmering impotence. Luke's long outbreath whispered his gloom. Only Ruth could still surface some hope. 'Don't be upset y'all. If Jabez was here he'd say carry on and work the problem. And that's what we gotta do. This here is Heaven and we Heaven-folk don't know how to do despair, we just don't do it. It's not in our kit-bag. So let's sit down and eat Agatha's wonderful supper together and then carry on working. Agreed?'

  The aroma of the basil wound around the kitchen and temporarily worked its magic on the angels' senses. But once they had finished eating, the bare facts of Nancy's predicament reasserted themselves and despondency set in. Hope was spread thinly about. Outside Ruth's apartment darkness descended. Jabez's angels went to sleep that night wondering if they dared face what the new day would bring.

  Nathan Road, Kowloon

  Holzman fell back to Earth and lurched his way to Nathan Road. He was too injured to continue his surveillance and instead made a call to Kodrob asking for a relief. Demons did not possess the sophisticated technology available to their feathered rivals. But they could send a small number of basic thought impulses across the airs to their mates. Holzman's plea for help was a primal cry wracked with anger and bitterness.

  While he waited, he walked down towards the Golden Luck. He was just in time to see Nancy in the distance as she arrived back and turned off the street to enter the building. She was carrying some shopping bags and wearing some new jewellery. But he was too self-absorbed with his wounds to look any closer.

  His relief was a long time coming. It was Kodrob himself.

  'Where are the others?' enquired Holzman.

  'Lafarge was husked by angels, as you know. And Zhivkin's busy. Anyway, I wanted to get a grip on things myself. You look a total mess. Get back to Hades and get yourself fit. The mission's coming to its endpoint soon and you may be needed.'

  As Holzman departed, Kodrob reflected he didn't have much time left in his current existence. When they eventually found Zhivkin's husk where he had hidden it and hunted him down, it would all get ugly.

  He surveilled the traffic, the people and the lights. He listened to a myriad urban sounds and sniffed the scents of a thousand woks. And as he watched the sauntering lovers, the dour roadsweepers and the sleepless night shift taxi drivers he wondered, which of you is destined to join me in Hell?

  Furama Hotel, Hong Kong Island

  The Datsun taxi's headlights chased the shadows of the ornamental palms and cacti at the entrance to one of Hong Kong's most prestigious hotels.

  The working vehicle's scratched and battered bodywork, scars of honour resulting from thousands of tactile lane-changes on one of the world's busiest road networks, made a striking contrast with the marble, glass and chrome structure to which it had brought its latest passenger.

  The red high-he
eled shoes which emerged from the rear door of the vehicle were also in sympathy with the surroundings. They tallied perfectly with the elegance and grandeur of the polished forecourt and the hourly swept steps. So too the slender legs in their sheer black tights that poured out in pursuit and then the svelte female form wrapped in a simple but perfectly fitting knee length red dress that followed.

  Nancy's long brown hair framed her ivory face neatly. The light green hue of the jade six-pointed star laying on top of her dress was a perfect match for her only other adornment, a pair of elegant jade earrings.

  The footman allowed himself a covetous glance at the ghost female's nimble form before springing to the door to open it and remove one more barrier between her and her destiny.

  Nancy tip-tapped up the steps and was greeted by the tailored concierge.

  'I am meeting Mr Lo.'

  'This way, madam.'

  Nancy followed the concierge up two flights of stairs, her stillettoes clacking crisply on the mezzanine floor as she passed a swanky restaurant, a cocktail bar and a bistro to a set of double doors. He bowed slightly as he opened the door and Nancy walked in.

  In front of her was Fatty Lo with a glass in his hand. It was a banqueting hall and he was smiling slightly and standing at the end of the room behind a long table. But he wasn't alone. Eleven other senior Brother officers stood beside him, Frenchy included. Nancy was relieved to see Chopper Kwok was absent.

  All were wearing traditional Chinese silk jackets and baggy silk trousers. Two large red candles burned at either end of the table and a row of traditional burial urns were laid out in a line between them. The door closed behind her and Nancy stood still.

  'Welcome Nancy,' said Fatty, looking appreciatively at his protégé and sweeping his eyes around the other officers, nodding his approval to them. 'This is a very important night for you.'

  Fatty spoke slowly and allowed pauses between his sentences to increase their import. 'You are not having dinner with me alone. I have brought you to a secret meeting of our brotherhood for a very important event. Tonight we welcome you to the heart of Brother. In a little while you will no longer be our little sister. Tonight we initiate you fully in our order and we invest you with your proper rank and title. Tonight you will become a very important sister. Nancy, please step forward and approach the table.'

  Inferno, Human Ancestor Research and Manipulation HQ

  'Why is she wearing that..that thing around her neck?' Hideki shouted at Bezejel. 'How did that happen?'

  Bezejel's red face dropped a few shades of colour. 'I don't know, it's the first I've seen of it.'

  She looked away from the neon cloud displaying Nancy's straight-backed frame with its proud six-pointed star and turned to Magog. 'Get Holzman in here, fast.' The satyr took off at a sprint.

  'Hideki, can that religious icon stop the vanity transplant taking place?'

  Hideki's eyebrows almost came together. 'I do not know. I have never uploaded a human vanity store in these conditions. It is impossible to be sure.'

  'Damnation, we are so close, so close.' Bezejel thrust her face at Hideki's. 'Maybe it's just an emotional throwback to her childhood. But if it has a deeper significance it could mean trouble. Hideki are you ready to make the transplant?'

  The Japanese returned to pontificating form. 'The transplant is set up and will happen automatically when Nancy's soul is opened up by the ceremony at the Furama. At the moment when they announce the presence of the ashes and proclaim Nancy as Red Sister, the ambition of her ancestor will tumble through the centuries and flood into the empty spaces in her spirit. Then the vanity transplant will be complete and Nancy will hunger to take over Brother and steer it to be the world's first truly successful criminal society.' Hideki looked down imperiously at Bezejel, persuading her with the force of his conviction.

  'How can you be sure?' Bezejel was bordering on panic.

  'Nancy has already sunk deep into the world of organised crime,' he continued, his eyes sparkling with zeal. 'She could hardly be prised away from Brother. She has a passion for her work there, it's given her a reason for her existence.'

  Bezejel regarded him doubtfully.

  Holzman stomped in, his arm in a sling. Bezejel surveyed his broken nose and neck. 'The squawhouses will charge you double now, Holzman. So you'd better start working on your charm. Now, look down at Nancy and tell me everything about your last watch on Nathan Road. I need to know how Nancy ended up buying that religious necklace.'

  Holzman stood to attention. 'As I told Captain Kodrob in my report, I missed some of what she did because I was chasing that tramped-up angel. I saw she'd bought some clothes and jewellery. I thought that was normal.'

  Hideki backed him up. 'Many people wear a six-star but not really believe. It is often just a statement of identity. Even if she become a bit sentimental about her origins, it will be overwhelmed by the rush of the transplant. She can be head of Brother and take some weak tribal feeling with her. This very common among humans. If it make her feel good it not matter.'

  Bezejel looked at Holzman again and then back at the gas cloud. 'It's out of our hands now. If we fail, the Leader will have no mercy upon us. Let's just follow what happens and get ready to take whatever next steps are required.'

  She looked at Gog and Magog. 'If it goes well tonight, you two are gonna find me a six pack of satyrs to take home with me.' She looked down at Nancy's star and back at them again. 'And if it doesn't, you're gonna find me two six packs.'

  Furama Hotel

  Nancy approached the table. Fatty Lo and Frenchy stood at the centre on the other side. The other ten officers arranged themselves five on each flank.

  'Nancy would you like to sit?' Fatty took out a page of speech notes.

  Nancy nodded and a chair was brought up and placed behind her. She sat and crossed her legs, folding her hands on her lap and looked along the line of short, tall, balding, hirsute, fat and thin men, smiling and nodding at the faces she knew, which by now was almost all of them.

  She was at ease as the only woman in the room, the centre of attention for the dozen pairs of eyes which picked over every curve of her shape, every blink of her eyes, every hair that cascaded over her fine-boned shoulders.

  A thoughtful officer brought her a glass of wine. She took it with a smile.

  Then Fatty related the story of Tsuen Liu, Hong Li-Zhang, Mya Ling and first Mountain Dragon Li, a story that clearly evoked pride in the men ranged in front of her.

  Their brotherhood was born in a time of trial for China, the story told them, a time of war when there was little trust in government by the governed. Yet ordinary people stood up against the tyranny and cruelty of the age and placed their hope in each other with unbreakable bonds of comradeship.

  For a few hours the Brother hoodlums could forget their prostituting, heroin trafficking and casino-running day jobs and soak in a collective spirit of fraternity, unity and loyalty. Never mind that there was little real honour in their chosen outlaw careers. The ancient roots of their business were respectable and that was enough.

  Nancy hadn't heard the name Mya Ling before. But when she looked at the miniature red urn in the centre of the table she knew with a certain intuition whose ashes were inside. What did the pretty, quiet, fiercely ambitious woman look like? Fatty mentioned a marriage to a Russian naval officer. A business based on Chinese manufacturing. A gradual dominance of the Hong Kong export trade to the west through Moscow and St Petersburg. The eventual return of a wealthy Mya Ling to Hong Kong in 1902, when her children had grown up and left home.

  A half recollection of an overheard conversation between great-aunts stirred in Nancy's memory. She was playing in a corridor, colouring in some picture books when voices were suddenly hushed and something unusual, almost shameful was hinted at. A Chinese ancestor in Russia? An oriental shiksa among her strict Jewish forebears?

  Fatty had finished his history. No need right now for the rest of the story, he said, his purpose was to
set the scene for tonight's ceremony.

  Fatty Lo and Frenchy now pulled out red bands from their inside pockets and put them around their heads.

  'We are both Red Brothers,' explained Fatty. 'Nancy, in the time you have been with us, you have impressed all the brothers with your hard work, skill and above all, your flair for leadership. Mya Ling was chosen by the great Li to be an important commander of our order at a time of change in China.' He picked up the red urn with both hands and held it high. 'In this urn are kept Mya Ling's precious ashes and we believe her spirit is with us in this room right now, leading us on to ever greater success.'

  With great care he replaced the urn on the table. 'Now, new challenges and new markets are opening up for us outside of Hong Kong and we believe you have the capability to help us expand and seize those markets. This is indeed another time of change. Nancy, we invite you to take up a high rank in our organisation.'

  Fatty produced another red band and held it out across the table to Nancy with both hands. An officer took her wine glass as she rose and walked towards him.

  'You are initiated into Brother at the highest possible level.' He placed the band around her head. 'Behold Nancy, you are now our Red Sister.'

  As all twelve men broke into spontaneous applause and cheering, Nancy placed her hands on the sides of the red urn. She picked it up and held it in front of her at eye level. The urn was mainly of porcelain with small embossed red panels separated by recessed lines of plain white. One of the embossed panels contained a tiny rectangular mirror, barely two centimetres on its longest side. Something about the miniature mirror caught and held Nancy's eye. She already knew what she would see and so there was no surprise when the silvered glass showed her a small but perfectly formed red r in its centre. The final letter in the code. But what happened next did surprise her. The r faded and was replaced by