by P J Tierney
Jamie watched in awe, gasped and felt his own palm under the water, remembering the melted tablecloth. Jade tightened her grip over his mouth.
The man in the light faded and became see-through, as if he’d been reduced to smoke. Mr Fan tensed and the beam of light grew brighter and made the man solid again. Mr Fan snapped his hand back, yanking the man out of the light and onto the hard stony ground.
The man stumbled to his feet and looked around, seemingly surprised to find himself in the square. Then he spotted Mr Fan and attacked. Mr Fan’s roundhouse kick collected the man’s jaw with a sickening crack. But he shook off the blow, jumped up high and lunged with both feet at Mr Fan’s face. The man had timed it well; Mr Fan would never be able to dodge quickly enough. Jamie held his breath and waited for the impact. But somehow the flying double kick never connected.
Jamie wondered if he’d blinked at the crucial moment. One second, both feet were millimetres from Mr Fan’s skull; the next, the man was sailing past him, with a bewildered expression on his face.
‘How did he —’ Jamie began, but Jade yanked him back down into the water.
He bobbed up to see the man crash onto the ground. Mr Fan charged towards him, a stream of brightly lit vapour extending from his palm. Fear flickered across the man’s face and he started to dissolve.
‘The box!’ Mr Fan screamed.
Jade clawed through the water towards the shore. The man was now almost totally see-through, a shadow of himself.
Mr Fan yelled, ‘I’m losing him!’
Jade splashed free of the water and charged to the dock. She leaped aboard The Swift and clambered up onto the bridge. On her return she cleared the stairs in one bound. She raced to Mr Fan’s side, holding the box Jamie had brought up from the reef, the one that had held the rogue spirit that had attacked his father.
The man saw the box too and struggled even more. With a flick of his palm, Mr Fan swept the man up in a ball of light and suspended him above the ground. Jade held the box open and ready. Mr Fan pulled his palm back and curled his fingers inwards. The white light formed a peak that stretched into a long tendril, which Mr Fan directed towards Jade and the box. The man’s form stretched and distorted with the tendril, and his face stretched into a scream as he was sucked into the tiny carved box. Mr Fan flicked the tendril from his hand and Jade slammed the lid shut.
For a moment, everything was quiet. Then Mr Fan bent double and took great gulping breaths.
‘It’s a good thing we had this box,’ Jade said.
Jamie pointed at it. ‘Wh-who was that?’ he stammered.
Mr Fan waved him out of the water. ‘Not Zheng, sadly. But he will be highly annoyed at losing his Remote Viewer.’
‘His what?’ Jamie looked from Mr Fan to Jade, waiting for an explanation.
‘Whoever is in that box was watching you,’ Mr Fan said. ‘It’s a mental skill that allows a person to see someone or something that is otherwise inaccessible because of distance, time or a shield.’
‘You mean, seeing stuff with your mind instead of your eyes?’ Jamie asked. ‘So he was watching us from somewhere else?’
‘Not us,’ Mr Fan said, ‘you. You felt the hair standing up on the back of your neck, didn’t you? That was him locking onto you.’
Jamie rubbed furiously at his neck, trying to wipe away the memory of the sensation. ‘And that thing in the box, is that the part of him that was watching?’
‘His spirit,’ Mr Fan said. ‘The disadvantage of Remote Viewing is that the spirit must disconnect from the body to do it.’
‘If that’s his spirit,’ Jamie said, looking at the box again, ‘where’s the rest of him?’
‘Wherever he left it,’ Mr Fan said. ‘Without the spirit, the body will fall into something like a coma.’
‘What will happen to him?’ Jamie asked.
‘Without help, he will die.’
‘And with help?’
Mr Fan sighed. ‘He will die more slowly. A body cannot live for long without its spirit.’
Jamie’s expression must have shown his horror, because Mr Fan said, ‘You saw his clothes, Jamie, the black patterned leather? That shows his allegiance. He is one of Zheng’s men.’
Jamie watched as Jade carefully picked up the box. ‘He won’t get out, will he?’ he blurted.
‘We’d better hope not,’ Jade said as she clamped the box under her arm, ‘because this would be one highly annoyed spirit.’
Back on The Swift, in dry clothes and after a gallon or two of hot tea, Jamie still felt chilled to the bone. ‘Why did you tell Jade to throw me into the water?’ he asked Mr Fan.
‘So the Remote Viewer could not see you. Water is too dense a medium to View through.’
Jamie sipped more tea. ‘So if you want to hide something from a Remote Viewer, you put it underwater? Like on the reef?’
Mr Fan nodded. ‘Yes, like on the reef.’
‘Can anyone learn Remote Viewing?’ Jamie asked as he surreptitiously checked around them for shadows. Jade had wrapped almost a whole roll of electrical tape around the box to make sure it couldn’t accidentally open, but it still made him nervous.
Mr Fan smiled. ‘I suspect you could learn to be a very good Remote Viewer indeed, Jamie.’
Jamie was surprised. He hadn’t been good at anything else Mr Fan had tried to teach him. ‘What makes you say that?’
Mr Fan put his teacup down. ‘Because, Jamie, you can see underwater.’
Jamie’s eyes grew wide. ‘Like being able to see the Gate?’ he asked.
Mr Fan nodded.
And then Jamie thought about how this meant his spirit could get captured just like the one in that box and he concluded this might not be such a great thing after all.
‘So what are you going to do with that?’ he asked, jutting his chin towards the box.
‘It’s going back where it came from,’ Mr Fan said. ‘Deep underwater. You never know who might come looking for him.’
Jamie knew just the right spot, where the ocean floor dropped away to a great depth.
‘No-one will ever be able to retrieve it from there,’ he said.
Chapter 17
It was cold and grey the next morning as Jamie took the dinghy and the box out beyond the Gate. The putter of the outboard engine bounced off the mountainside in the otherwise still morning.
Jamie had fashioned a net from old ropes and wrapped it around the box. Then he had filled the net with rocks as ballast. He didn’t want that box breaking loose and finding its way to the surface. Shame he couldn’t drill holes in it because that was a sure way to keep it on the bottom.
When he was close to the area he’d pointed out to the others, he cut the engine and let the dinghy drift above the rock shelf. At the edge of the shelf the water changed to a deep, dark turquoise that turned to black a few metres below the surface, indicating the ocean floor was a long way down.
Jamie looked over each shoulder, scanning the horizon, then dropped the box over the side. He watched it sink into the depths.
He waited until he thought the box would have reached the bottom, then he checked again for boats. He took a deep breath and concentrated. He felt a sensation in the pit of his stomach and he thought of the box on the ocean floor. Behind his eyes an image formed. It was blurry and dark and he was surrounded by seaweed. Startled, he opened his eyes to the dull morning light. He was still in the boat. He grinned, checked over his shoulders and closed his eyes again. This time Jamie saw the underwater box and the ballast clearly: it had settled on its side in the weedy depths. He looked around, saw a shimmering school of fish and the sharp edges of the rock shelf. Mr Fan was right: he could View underwater.
He puttered back to Sai Chun, pleased to be rid of that box and thinking how he might use this skill on his next salvage trip. This Viewing underwater thing might not be so bad after all.
The village was still quiet when he tied up the dinghy. Then he heard a distinctive ‘psst.’ Jamie froze. He pivote
d, looked all around and checked for shadows. He felt the back of his neck.
‘Psst,’ he heard again. He brought his fists up and held his breath.
Then he heard an exasperated, ‘Over here.’
Jamie turned to the voice. It was Feng Chow, skulking behind the bollard at the end of the pier. He made desperate little sweeps of his arm, calling Jamie over.
‘What are you doing?’ Jamie asked.
‘Where are they?’ Feng said, looking past Jamie and towards The Swift.
‘Mr Fan and Jade? I don’t know, on board I suppose.’
Feng looked dishevelled and his eyes were rimmed with red, like he hadn’t slept at all.
‘How long have you been here?’ Jamie asked.
Feng’s eyes darted nervously. ‘I don’t know. I saw you go out in the dinghy though.’ Then he said, ‘Hey,’ like he’d just remembered something. ‘What did you throw overboard?’
Jamie tensed and tried to keep his voice casual. ‘Nothing, just some old rubbish.’
Feng shrugged. ‘Come here, I want to show you something.’
Jamie followed Feng up the stairway to his room above the shop. It was bedroom, kung fu dojo and shrine all in one. A portion of the eastern wall was covered in a mirror for him to practise his kung fu, and there was a high-density foam mat on the floor. His wooden training dummy stood to the side and a punching bag hung from the ceiling. At the other end of the room was a television with a couch in front of it and a set of shelves that held every kung fu movie Master Wu ever made.
Feng flicked on the television and pushed Jamie onto the couch.
‘It’s not a good time for movies,’ Jamie said, trying to get up.
Feng pushed him back into the seat. ‘Watch this,’ he said and pressed the remote.
‘Feng, do we have to —’
‘Wait,’ Feng snapped.
Jamie saw a look in Feng’s eyes that made him cautious. He nervously eased away from Feng and resigned himself to watching whatever it was he wanted him to see.
Feng scrolled through an old Master Wu film — some sort of epic with men in long, sweeping robes fighting with thick, glinting swords. Jamie watched the figures move in a high-speed cartoonish way. Then Feng paused the film and pointed. ‘There it is.’
Master Wu’s character had been ambushed in a village square. There were three men attacking him. The director allowed Master Wu to finish off one villain before the next took a turn. Jamie glanced at Feng; he was transfixed, leaning forwards in his seat, his eyes narrowed.
On screen, Master Wu avoided a swinging blade by ducking low and countered with a sweeping back kick that got the attacker under the ribs. As Master Wu straightened up, there was a close-up showing him deep in concentration. Then Jamie saw something he’d never noticed before: as Master Wu glimpsed off screen, a very brief flicker of surprise flashed across his face. Jamie leaned in, watching intently.
‘Waaait for it,’ Feng said, then, ‘There. Did you see that?’
Feng jabbed the remote, rewound the image and cued it up again. Jamie perched on the very edge of the couch and stared at the screen. He watched the back kick, Master Wu righting himself, the look, then a wide shot showing an overeager actor swinging too early and taking Master Wu by surprise. It was Master Wu’s reaction that made Jamie’s mouth drop open. Master Wu was there one instant and gone the next. Jamie pointed at the screen and looked at Feng.
Feng smiled and nodded.
They watched the sequence over and over again.
‘You know what this means?’ Feng said.
Jamie nodded. He knew exactly what this meant. He needed to speak to Mr Fan!
Jamie cooked breakfast for his guests. Their stocks were running low, so it was simply rice with a crispy fried egg on top. Jamie waited until they were all eating to ask his question. He reached for the bottle of soy and sprinkled it on his egg, then broke the yolk and let it seep into the rice.
‘So,’ he said casually, poking at his egg with his chopsticks, ‘tell me about Master Wu.’
Mr Fan choked on his rice. Jade slammed her bowl down.
Mr Fan regained some composure and dabbed at his mouth. ‘And what makes you think we know Master Wu?’
‘The way you can time-jump in fights. You did it last night when the Remote Viewer was about to kick you. I didn’t realise that’s what it was till Feng showed me a fight sequence in one of Master Wu’s films.’
Mr Fan and Jade shared a worried look.
Mr Fan said, ‘Feng knows as well?’
Jade scraped her chair back and stood up. ‘I warned you to be careful,’ she said, pacing the narrow galley. ‘I told you how risky it was staying here. Now he knows everything.’
‘He doesn’t know everything,’ Mr Fan said. ‘Calm down, Jade.’
She turned on him, her eyebrows arched. ‘You’re serious?’
‘Jamie,’ Mr Fan said, his voice stern, ‘it is imperative that you do not discuss Master Wu with anyone. Do you understand?’
Jamie shrugged. ‘Sure, but is it true? Do you really know him?’
Mr Fan smiled and poked at his food. ‘Know him? I trained him.’
It was Jamie’s turn to choke. ‘You trained Master Wu? Wow, Master Wu,’ he said in a dreamy voice, then his eyes grew wide. ‘And now you’re training me. My trainer trained Master Wu.’
Jade flicked a gob of rice at Jamie; it hit him on the forehead. ‘Yeah, you’re amazing. It’s all about you. And what about Feng? What do you know about him?’
‘He’s okay,’ Jamie said. ‘He just loves kung fu, that’s all — that’s how he figured it out.’
‘What else does he know?’ Jade asked.
Jamie shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Not much.’
Jade huffed. ‘We need to get our things together, Sifu. We can’t stay here any longer.’
‘You can’t go,’ Jamie said. ‘What about Zheng? What about my spirit guide?’
What about me? he wanted to scream. What about me? I can Summon the orbs, I can Ride the Way; why are you leaving me here? But he didn’t say it. Instead, he sent Mr Fan an imploring look.
Mr Fan held his hand up to Jade. ‘Wait,’ he said. ‘We cannot leave Jamie.’
Jamie breathed again. They’ll take me with them. I’ll be a Warrior of the Way.
But Mr Fan hadn’t finished. ‘We can’t leave him without a guide. We need to find him a talisman.’
Jamie’s heart sank. Whatever a talisman was, it was little consolation to training to be a Warrior of the Way.
Jade and Jamie trudged across the village square. The grey and heavy sky matched their moods, neither of them excited about the prospect of finding a talisman.
Feng Chow was on the verandah of his shop. He had dragged his wooden training dummy down from his room and was practising his routines out in the open, where, Jamie thought a little unkindly, he’d have a better chance at an audience. Jade tensed when she saw him. She clenched her hand into a fist and gave a curt nod to Feng’s enthusiastic ‘good morning’.
Feng swung into his training routine, pummelling the dummy with a series of punches and blocks, all the while watching Jade from the corner of his eye. Jade made a point of being interested in the stonework of the well. She acknowledged Feng’s performance only when she could no longer ignore his grunts and ‘hiyas’.
Old Mama Chow and her broom came barrelling through the shop’s swing doors. She banged the broom into the dummy’s base and into Feng’s feet, making him hop from foot to foot.
‘Off, off!’ Old Mama Chow yelled. ‘This place is for eating, not for banging.’
Feng Chow’s cheeks burned scarlet. ‘I’m training,’ he hissed at his grandmother.
Old Mama Chow swept at his feet again. ‘Off, off!’ she yelled.
Jamie felt Feng’s embarrassment. He ran forwards and helped him drag the dummy down the stairs and reposition it in the square.
‘Jamie,’ Feng whispered, his eyes wild, ‘I know why they’re here.’
‘Why?’ Jamie said, glancing towards Jade. Fortunately she was showing no interest in Feng at all.
Feng’s eyes flashed and a smile formed on his lips. ‘They’re looking for the Spirit Warrior.’
‘Shh,’ Jamie said. He glanced at Jade, terrified she had heard.
Feng ignored him. ‘They’re looking for the Spirit Warrior — they have to be. There’s a legend that the Spirit Warrior will lead the Warriors of the Way into a golden age. It’s me they’re looking for — I’m the Spirit Warrior.’
If Jamie wasn’t so worried that Jade might hear, he would have burst out laughing. Then he saw the serious look on Feng’s face and was glad he hadn’t.
‘What makes you think it’s you?’ he asked.
‘The Spirit Warrior’s the first son of the dragon. My father’s a dragon. I’m his first son. And I’m really good at kung fu.’
‘But there was a Ki-Lin,’ Jamie said. ‘That creature only appears when someone important is born.’
‘I know what a Ki-Lin is,’ Feng said sharply.
‘But it appeared twelve years ago. That makes the Spirit Warrior twelve right now.’
Feng leaned in close and smiled in a conspiratorial way. He looked a little crazy. ‘What if it wasn’t announcing the Spirit Warrior? Maybe it was sent for some other reason?’
Jamie forced himself to smile, but he felt sorry for Feng Chow. He knew there was no way Feng Chow could be the Spirit Warrior.
Feng turned on Jamie and with a desperate fervour he said, ‘Tell them about me. Tell them it’s me.’ There was a dangerous glint in his eyes.
‘Yeah,’ Jamie said, ‘I’ll tell them.’
‘Promise me.’ Feng smiled, but he didn’t look like Feng at all. ‘This is it, Jamie, this is really it. I’m finally on my way.’
Jamie knew what that felt like.
‘You two finished?’ Jade said, coming up to them.