“MOS?” Yuki asked.
“It’s my Occupational Specialty. My jacket is so garbled now, I don’t see how there’s any coherent career path for me.”
“I’m pretty sure O’Brien and Lukasziewicz will make whatever adjustments are necessary when you’re done in Beijing,” Michael said.
“That’s just it. I really don’t want to have to rely on ‘adjustments’ from SECNAV or the Commandant. I just want to be able to do my boards and progress up the ladder normally. Is that asking too much?”
“What about the Attaché staff… are they really going to take it out on her?” Yuki asked.
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Michael said.
Emily frowned and pressed her forehead into her hands, and sat down on one of the barstools so that her elbows could rest on the counter. “I worked so hard to just fit in… and now, to have to start over with a new unit, full of resentful assholes…”
“The word from Lukasziewicz is that the White House wants it to look like you’re just another Marine, you know, not someone flown in special.”
“I am just another damned Marine. I hope the Commandant realizes that.” Emily raised her head to look at Michael as she said this last bit.
“I don’t know about Lukasziewicz, but I’m pretty sure Admiral Crichton and Admiral Hannifin think you’re pretty special.”
“They don’t know what they’re talking about. Any Marine could have done what I did… and probably without getting so many people killed in the process.”
“What’s this really about?” Michael asked.
“You know.” Andie lowered her voice and raised her eyebrows meaningfully. “That young lance corporal, the one who…”
Emily growled and stalked out of the kitchen and back up the stairs to find her not-so-little charges.
Trees reached over the road in places, their shadows stretching away from the late afternoon sun. A stream paced them on one side, until it veered off to avoid a rise topped by a clump of evergreens. Emily guided the car around a gentle curve to the left, and back again to the right, until the entrance to a parking area came into view.
“What is this place, Emmy,” Li Li asked. Stone grunted and whooped in the backseat.
“It’s a… you know, it’s just a place where some friends hang out.”
“Friends?”
“You’ll see.”
Broken asphalt and greasy dirt and gravel signaled a working machine shop on the near side, not to mention a collection of motorcycles in various states of disrepair. A hand-painted sign over the door of a long pre-fab steel shed announced the availability of “Good Food & Beer” within. A second sign, rather larger and standing on two posts, read “Bussey & Kane” with a neon flourish, and in smaller block letters underneath, “No Brawling.”
“Look at all the motorcycles,” Li Li said, pointing at a row of shiny chrome and black hogs stretching from the entrance to the end of the lot. “Watch out, Emmy. They look like dominos. Just a bump will knock over the whole row.”
Stone pointed to an empty space by the main entrance.
“Yes, this will do nicely,” Emily said, and pulled the estate car in.
“But it says it’s reserved, ‘park here at risk of grievous bodily harm’.”
“Oh, I don’t think we have to worry about that.”
“What’s that symbol mean? It looks like a tiara. Emmy, are you sure we’re not going to get into trouble?”
“You worry too much, sweetheart. They know me here. It’ll be fine.”
Li Li hesitated to get out, but when Emily and Stone gestured impatiently from the front of the restaurant, she complied and pushed the passenger side door open. A moment later, two men in shaved heads and leather jackets came running over, one short and stout, the other rangey and sporting a scraggly beard.
“Mija, you came, just like Roxie said you would.” The shorter one grinned at Emily, who laughed and threw her arms around his neck.
“Oscar, it’s good to be back.”
“How’s your ride?” the rangey one asked. “Still purring, I hope.”
“I don’t get to take it out much these days, Chester… and what’s with the smooth top?” Emily touched his head as she said this.
“Aw, you know, once the hairline starts receding, there’s no point hiding from it.”
“He decided to go all in, like me,” Oscar said, rubbing his bare scalp.
“Well, it looks good on you.”
“No need to bend the truth,” Chester said. “I can handle the fact I ain’t a beauty no more.”
“Aren’t you gonna introduce us?” Oscar asked.
“Yes, absolutely,” Emily said. “In fact, that’s why we’re here, so you can meet my little ones.”
“Not so little, this one,” Chester said, looking up at Stone, who stood a few inches taller than him.
“This is Stone,” Emily said, grasping his hand. “…and this is Li Li. They’re my… kids.” When Oscar and Chester stared at her in disbelief, she laughed. “It’s a long story, but I want you to treat them like family. Can you do that?”
“For you, mija, anything,” Oscar said. “Your family is our family, you know that.” Chester nodded vigorously over his shoulder.
Inside the wooden door, a jukebox blared some road-blues through a dusty haze, the air lit by the dying rays of the sun, and some torchières scattered about a large floor. Tables round and square sported smaller lamps, and a dull ambient glow emanating from somewhere near the ceiling warmed the scene. Emily headed straight for the far end of the bar, where two women huddled, one younger, maybe early thirties, probably taking a break from drawing beers, the other in her forties, more jovial with rosy cheeks and curly blond hair, in which a brighter light revealed scattered silver-grey highlights.
Li Li and Stone trailed after her, and all eyes turned to consider these strange newcomers. Lots more introductions followed, and Emily acted the proud mama to these borrowed children. The older of the two women, Roxie, doted on Li Li, and pronounced her “pretty as any picture.” At last, a deeper voice boomed down at Stone, seemingly from above.
“Who is this large fella?” Luther laughed and clamped a meaty hand on Stone’s shoulder, and Emily watched for his surprise. It wasn’t often that Stone encountered anyone larger than himself. Counting Ethan, Luther made two in all.
“I’d like you to meet my big, brave boy, Stone.” Emily beamed up at the two of them.
“… and this is her little girl, Lily,” Roxie added.
“It’s Li Li,” Li Li said, with all the petulance of an adolescent.
“I’m sorry, hon. Did I get it wrong?”
“Her full name is Tang Li,” Emily explained, with one hand on Li Li’s head. “But where she’s from, it’s the custom to double someone’s name, you know, to make it friendly.”
“Well, you can count on us to be friendly, Miss Li Li,” Luther roared.
“That’s what I was hoping you’d say, because when I’m reassigned, I want them to know it’s safe to come here.”
“You have a new assignment?” Roxie asked.
“Princess,” Luther said, as he reached for Roxie’s hand. “Your kin is always welcome in any place that’s ours. Surely you know that.”
“I do, don’t worry. But I wanted to make sure they knew it, too.”
“Where will this assignment take you, hon?” Roxie asked.
“China.”
Luther whistled at this news, and the others standing within earshot grunted and whooped to hear it. But Li Li stared darkly at the floor.
“That’s an awful long way,” Luther said.
“It’s not fair,” Li Li said, with a whimper.
“Oh, don’t you worry,” Roxie said. “She’ll be back before you know it.”
“No she won’t. It’s for two years.”
“Two years,” Luther moaned. “That’s awful long, and we’ve got some business to discuss with you.”
“It may not be that long,
” Emily said.
“But you said it to Andie and Yuki, in the kitchen. We heard you.”
“Yes, if it’s all official.” Emily placed her hands on Li Li’s shoulders. “But you never know with these things. It’s possible I’ll get reassigned before long.”
“To Afghanistan… probably… or the moon.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I know it’s hard. I don’t like it either.”
Eventually, Roxie arranged a plate of chips and guacamole for Stone and Li Li, and Oscar and Chester offered to show them the bike shop, and maybe teach them how to ride. At least, Stone was appeased by this offer.
Once the kids had been managed, for the moment, Emily turned to Luther, and reached up to touch his cheek. “That scar’s still visible.”
“Doc says I can get some surgery to make it less noticeable, but I ain’t got no time for plastic surgery.”
“… or all the needles that would be involved,” Roxie added.
“That’s not fair, Roxie,” Luther howled. “I just don’t care for someone cutting on me while I’m unconscious.”
“Well, I can assure you it’s much better than having someone cut on you while you’re awake.” Emily rubbed one shoulder as she said this.
“If you’re leaving town, we should probably settle this business now,” Roxie said, reaching an envelope across the bar.
“That’s not our arrangement.” Emily pushed a folded piece of paper, perhaps a check, back into Roxie’s hand. “You agreed to put my share back into the business.”
“But there ain’t any ‘capital improvements’ need doing,” Roxie protested.
“Besides, if you keep plowing your half into the business, we aren’t gonna be equal partners anymore,” Luther said.
“What about that parking lot?” Emily asked. “It could use some fresh pavement, and maybe make it a bit larger.”
“This ain’t no Stuckey’s, Princess,” Luther roared. “If you pretty the place up, we’ll lose our primary clientele.”
“What about expanding the kitchen?”
“No room,” Roxie said, then dropped to a whisper, “… not with that tunnel out back. You’re not saying we don’t need that anymore… are you?”
Emily shook her head, then rubbed her neck and turned to face Luther. “What about expanding the machine shop… or opening a bike shop?”
“You’d have to talk to Oscar about that.” Luther said, gesturing to where he was now sitting, with Li Li and Stone. “He’s kinda taken charge of that end of things.”
“Sure, mija,” Oscar said, once he’d responded to Luther’s summons. “We can do more on the other side of the lot. But we won’t turn a profit.”
“Find a way to put that money back into the business, or find a worthy charity,” Emily said.
“It would be easier to figure out how to spend it, Hon, if you were here more often,” Roxie said. “But now that you’e going away again...”
A shadow passed over Emily’s face and she seemed at a loss for words. “I’m sorry about that… and it’s not gonna get better any time soon.”
In the end, Emily had to accept the money, her share of the profits from the roadhouse, and laughed when Luther suggested she might need “a bit of folding money in China.” Oscar and Chester showed Stone how to shift gears, and even persuaded Li Li to take one of the smaller bikes for a spin around the parking lot.
Later that evening, lying on the sloping back lawn, she gaped at the stars with Li Li and Stone, the sky still dark before moonrise. What consolation could she offer her darling girl?
“Yuki and Andie have promised to learn Putonghua, and you can help them practice.”
“What good will that do? Mr. Sung says my tones are all wrong.”
“Don’t worry about him, sweetheart. You’ll figure it out.” Emily extricated her hand from Stone’s grip and shifted her position to look at Li Li’s face. Everything you need to know is here… and here,” she said, pointing to her head and her chest. “You learned it all from your mother and father, and it’s still with you. Just give yourself time.”
Stone grunted and squirmed on the other side.
“You, too, young man,” she said. “You need to practice writing characters with your sister. Make them as pretty as you can so you can send me postcards.” Stone grunted his approval of this new requirement. “I expect to get something in the mail from each of you every day.”
“Why can’t I come with you?”
Li Li stared off toward Cassiopeia, her heart pounding in Emily’s ears, or so it seemed. Couldn’t she accompany her to Beijing? The safe answer was no, of course. Her parents had been killed by enemies inside the Chinese spy agency, the Guoanbu, and for all Emily, or Michael for that matter, knew, they might still look on Tang Tian’s daughter as a threat, even if she was only thirteen years old. If only she could come… to think how her self-assurance would be restored by the experience of life in her homeland.
“I wish you could. You might show me around Beijing… but I’ll be so busy I won’t have time… if only…” This excuse had begun to spin out of control. It would be cruel to give Li Li the impression she wasn’t wanted, nor did Emily want to discuss the dangers that might still loom over the girl. Still, if her embassy posting really were the ceremonial sinecure Michael expected, perhaps she could manage a child by herself. No, this was foolishness.
Stone grunted and whooped, and nudged Emily’s shoulder. It wasn’t hard to read his thoughts. If Li Li could go to China, he could, too. If Emily had needed something to drive home how perilous this train of thought really was, the prospect of trying to keep Stone safe under the very eyes of the agencies that had practically called him into being did the trick.
Emily pointed a long finger to a spot in the sky just east of Cassiopeia. “Do you see the way it forms a ‘W’? The upper half points to a little fuzzy thing… Can you see it?”
Stone nodded furiously, but Li Li shook her head and let out a tiny whimper. “I can’t see anything.”
“It’s very faint, but if you turn your eyes away, you might catch a glimpse of it on the edge of your field of vision. Of course, if we had binoculars, you could see it much more clearly.”
“What is it, Emmy?”
“It’s another galaxy, with more stars in it than you can see on the clearest night, and it’s so far away that you can barely see it. But what’s really interesting is that it’s heading toward us, and will eventually collide with our galaxy.”
“And then what happens?” Li Li asked, and Stone clutched at Emily’s hand.
“It won’t be for millions of years, don’t worry… and they may just pass through one another, like two clouds of dust, or even come together to form an even larger galaxy.” She paused to let them strain their eyes to see. “While I’m gone, I want you to borrow Ethan’s binoculars and show him how to find it. It’s called Andromeda.”
5
Making Landfall
In the end, Connie’s idea proved to be rather better than trying to swim the whole distance. The inflatable was easily concealed, and the outboard wasn’t loud enough to alert the Thai shore patrol. Much of the coastline north of Satun consisted of rocky outcroppings. Very few beaches beckoned, and finding soft destinations in the dark was not easy. But Connie turned out to be adept at using GPS to navigate, even during one stretch when a passing motor launch meant they had to kill the engine and break out the paddles.
Mu Ko Phetra, an extensive marine park system stretching along the west coast, would be largely unpopulated. They’d have to trek through a few miles of jungle to find a usable road, much less a vehicle. The danger from wildlife striking at them in the dark was real, but perhaps not as pronounced as it might have been a few decades earlier. The larger predators had been hunted nearly to extinction, as had the elephants.
“Why didn’t we think to bring the machetes?” Danko paused to mop his brow, moonlight glistening off huge ferns hanging over the two of them.
“You d
idn’t tell me we’d be slogging through a rainforest. We need to find a road soon.”
“I think what we need is to find some poachers.”
“I see what you mean,” Connie said, once she noticed the commotion in the upper canopy of the forest. “Sounds like something promising over the next rise.”
Coming ashore had been a bit like childbirth, as Danko put it, when Connie suggested packing a few small arms on the inflatable. “You never know when a little firepower might come in handy,” she’d said.
“I don’t think so,” he’d said. “This is a world you have to enter naked, so to speak. No guns... not even a combat knife. We’re going in blind and we don’t want to be found with anything even more suspicious than our good selves.”
Now, lying on their bellies, peering through a bamboo thicket, the party they observed offered a tiny bit of salvation… or at least a respite from their labors. The screaming of the monkeys concealed whatever noise they might make.
“What do you think, a sudden charge, take ’em by surprise?”
“I don’t think that will be necessary.” Danko picked himself up off the jungle floor to walk in to the clearing. “The direct approach will do… and watch out for cobras.”
“Oh, shit. Thanks for the heads up.”
But Danko didn’t hear her gripe, having crossed the rise and descended into the midst of what looked like a work-gang. Three men and two women, small and slender, but sinewy-strong, had wrangled several cages off the back of a jeep-like vehicle that had been modified with a short flatbed. Lights on the rollbar over the open cab illuminated the scene, as two of the men tried to wrestle a pair of small monkeys into two of the cages, while several larger monkeys shrieked at them from the lower branches of nearby trees. A slightly larger cage held what looked to be a bear cub, and another housed a tranquilized cat.
Connie watched from above as the poachers finally noticed the presence of a tall westerner. Nearly a foot taller than the largest of the men, and probably fifty pounds heavier, she expected them to be cowed. But the one who looked to be the leader stood his ground and yelled some sort of challenge at the intruder, while one of the women ran to the cab to retrieve what turned out to be an ancient pistol. “I wonder if that thing will even fire,” Connie thought, once she got a good look at it.
Girl Goes To Wudang (An Emily Kane Adventure Book 7) Page 5