by Huang Fan
Du paused, his eyes fixed on the stunned Xi De. He slowly drained his glass and continued:
“We are in no way resigned to this fate. Although we are tools, we are in no way resigned to being used and then discarded—this is the existential imperative of the Defend the Earth Army.”
The room grew silent as the sound of Du’s voice faded. They looked at each other, their eyes filled with sadness and hopelessness. After a while, Xi De could be heard flipping through the old documents. They were the investigative reports of the Defend the Earth Army research conducted over many years. Xi De’s expression changed repeatedly under the light of the lamp.
Finally, the sound of turning pages ceased.
“I’m willing to join you,” said Xi De, pronouncing each word distinctly.
The following day, Xi De met the core members of the Defend the Earth Army in the same place. They came from different work units. One of them, who appeared to be from the opposite shore, had sneaked into the Administrative District.
In the presence of these comrades, Xi De took a simple yet solemn oath to the army. After this, Commander Du affixed a false and transparent fingernail to his hand.
“If captured, swallow this fingernail and you will be able to destroy all of your brain cells in a matter of a couple of seconds. This is the glorious martyrdom only the comrades of the core group are honored to possess,” said the commander. “Ordinary members of the army are normally not qualified to know our secrets. Most of them are young and can be roused as a group when needed.”
“Commander, what is my duty at present?”
“Your duty at present is to make a move when the time is right or to keep an eye out for disgruntled colleagues. It’s not your responsibility to recruit them, because convincing others to join the Defend the Earth Army is difficult. All you need to do is report to us and we’ll do the rest. We also feel that your posting to the industrial city is temporary and that there is a good chance you’ll be recalled to Central City. This is very important, because the security measures in Central City are much tighter than here. We have lost a lot of comrades there.”
“Why is Central City more heavily defended?”
“The Third Industrial City is perhaps on their list to be eliminated,” said the commander. “The Steel District, for example, can be eliminated as steel is no longer needed—when all steel buildings have been built or when a new alloy is created that can render the labor-intensive steel industry obsolete.”
“I have one question that I’d like to ask the commander,” said Xi De. “Is the regional committee already controlled by aliens?”
“That’s quite possible. Although we have not been able to infiltrate the highest levels, our observations suggest that not one member has made a public appearance in the last ten years and the images on television are in all likelihood always the same ones.”
“What about Chairman Mo Zhao?”
“I would hazard a guess that he was probably the first to be secretly replaced, because after the incident at the Central Train Station, I never again saw Liana or heard anything about her.”
22
One year later, Xi De of the Defend the Earth Army was recalled to Central City. When the head of the Bureau of Resource Analysis met his old subordinate, he took a close look at the face of the young man before him. It was uncommonly firm and mature, with two intelligent eyes. The chief sighed and said:
“Welcome back to the bureau. We’re giving you Ge Shu’s job.”
“What about Ge Shu?”
“We found out that he couldn’t handle it.”
Xi De returned to his dorm. He moved around in the room that had been Ge Shu’s. He thought of all that had happened that year and had a vague feeling that some mysterious force had compelled him to experience all these unusual things. He was now a member of the Defend the Earth Army, charged with the important mission of saving the entire human race. The chances of success were near zero, and the way ahead was paved with innumerable hidden dangers. From Du he had acquired an overall understanding of the structure of the new world, something only graduates of the Superior Academy who had received political training knew. But the more he understood, the weightier grew the state of affairs. The upper level of the new world was so tightly closed as to be impenetrable. The Supreme Committee that wielded ultimate power was headquartered in New York. Of the twenty committee members, half were standing members and half were holding concurrent posts as chairmen of the ten regional committees. Regional committees had a total of sixteen members, eight of whom were standing, eight of whom were holding concurrent posts as heads of the ministries of domestic affairs, resources, security, education, industry, agriculture, coordination, and scientific and technological development. The mid-level structure of each ministry was strictly hierarchical; the officials of each level, without exception, contacted their superiors through a computer network, and all administrative orders from the top were, without exception, distributed via computer. For example, the officials of the Ministry of Resources could ascertain via computer the actual situation of a meeting in any subordinate office or in any committee in, say, Resource Analysis. But the officials in Resource Analysis, for their part, did not have access to anything from higher up. They were under orders not to contact their superiors and other offices at the same level, because the use of information technology had replaced any sort of face-to-face contact. Therefore, it was impossible for any sort of class struggle to occur. If revolutionaries were to charge into an office, they would be confronted with an array of complicated and mysterious devices, none of which they would be able to operate. If they wanted to issue an order to occupy, they wouldn’t know where to start. If they wanted to locate a high-level official, they wouldn’t know who it was or where he lived. Even blowing up the entire section would be of no use because the high-level official would be safe at home and participating in an urgent televised conference from his living room, and via a wireless network would dispatch troops to suppress the revolutionaries. Therefore, in the new world, the definition of revolution was: the capturing of all organizations at the same time by similar numbers of professionals of roughly similar technical ability.
The next day, Xi De made a special trip to the academy to see the old professor, but the people there told him that Kang Zaoshi had died six months earlier. His belongings had all been sent to the incinerator and his ashes had been laid in the Building of Eternal Rest. Xi De made his way to the fifty-floor building, took the elevator to the twenty-third floor, and located the professor’s name on a drawer mounted in the wall. He stood in silence for several minutes. He felt he was standing in front of a huge bookcase. Death momentarily became an immense joke, a senseless nightmare. Then he left the building without so much as a backward glance.
That Sunday afternoon found Xi De standing beneath the bronze statue of Max Kristen in the city park, where he met the Defend the Earth Army contact person. After cautiously confirming their identities, they walked along the path skirting the lake. At that time a number of youngsters were sailing their remote-controlled boats. The colorful electronic contraptions cut through the water in pursuit of one another.
“I have orders from above. Tonight you are expected to attend a meeting in the number twelve game room in the bar on the third floor of the Agricultural Building. This is your ID card.”
It was a false ID for an employee of the Ministry of Agriculture. Xi De shoved it into his pocket.
“I am responsible solely for this preliminary contact. At the meeting someone else will inform you as to your mission in Central City,” he said, stretching out his hand. “So long and good luck.”
The bar was filled with employees of the Ministry of Agriculture. Passing through groups of laughing men and women, Xi De made his way to the number twelve game room. A man standing at the door stretched out his arm and prevented him from entering.
“I’m sorry, but the Ahka Game is already full.”
Xi De gave the
password and was permitted to enter. The door closed behind him. Six people sat in the room. On the video screen mounted in the wall were the words “Ahka Game.” It was a game in which two teams played at star wars. The players were sitting and punching their keyboards while on the screen appeared all sorts of strange weapons, in hot pursuit of one another. The whole thing was accompanied by exciting music. People often played till they were covered with sweat and totally oblivious to all else. Xi De nodded to each comrade by way of greeting. Thus the meeting began amid the raucous sounds of the Ahka game.
First, a middle-aged man sitting to the right in front stood up and said:
“Comrades, let me introduce you the new blood of the Fifth Action Group, Xi De, the Resource Analyst.”
Xi De raised himself in a show of respect.
Following this, the leader introduced the six other members. In addition to the group leader, who was a mid-level official in the Welfare Section of the Ministry of Domestic Affairs, there was his assistant, a low-level clerk of the Ministry of Industry; a street cleaner; two waste-disposal technicians; the manager of a bar attached to the Ministry of Education; and a city bus driver.
Xi De examined his partners in revolution and couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed because they were not really paying attention to the group leader’s lengthy introductory remarks. They were hitting the buttons on their keyboards, causing wildly funny images to appear on the screen accompanied by explosions and flashes, which made the street cleaner open his mouth in a hideous smile. The bus driver narrowed his eyes as he sized up Xi De, as if suspicious about why he had showed up at the meeting.
“The Fifth Action Group has been around for five years. In that time, we have gathered a lot of good intelligence, including a blueprint of the Central City Recreation Zone and the location of the Ministry of Scientific and Technological Development. Of course we have lost several comrades, but for the future of mankind, their sacrifice was unavoidable. We are happy to have Comrade Xi De join us today. He spent one year with Mr. Du, that great revolutionary theorist of the Defend the Earth Army.…”
That was the first time Xi De had heard Du referred to as a great revolutionary theorist. He felt strange.
After the group leader finished his talk, the clerk took over, saying:
“I report to the group leader. We have repeatedly requested precision weapons from above. Why has nothing happened?”
“Headquarters has always believed that armed violence is the final solution,” explained the leader in an amiable manner.
An expletive was heard near Xi De.
“What do you have to say, Zong Xuan?” Zong Xuan was none other than the street cleaner.
“I admit that theory is important, but what good is theory if there is no real action?”
“Let’s hear the new comrade’s opinion.”
Xi De considered the question before responding:
“I believe that our army cannot act recklessly at this time, because given our strength we would be able to occupy just a few insignificant organizations.”
Initially he had wanted to tell them that armed action was impossible.
“But through action, we can awaken the people,” said one of the waste disposal technicians indignantly, pounding on his game board. The screen emitted a number of static bleeps. “I’ve waited eleven years for this day, in this foul garbage heap. My life is not as comfortable as that of an academy graduate like you, who can spend all day talking. I don’t want to spend my whole life waiting here.…”
The group leader motioned to him to stop complaining.
“I’ll take this matter to the higher-ups.”
After the meeting ended, the group leader invited Xi De to have a drink. They took a corner of the bar.
“If I don’t give them a chance to blow off steam once in a while,” said the group leader, sighing, “something will happen sooner or later.”
“But Commander Du told me—”
“You still don’t get it, Xi De. Not one of them buys this whole story about being invaded by aliens from outer space.”
“Goodness!”
“With the exception of a few core comrades of the Defend the Earth Army, most members have joined because they are dissatisfied with their jobs or some other personal reason.”
“Then how can the revolution—”
“We have to be resigned to our fate,” said the group leader. “They’re even dissatisfied with you and me.”
“What are we going to do?”
“We must gain access to a high-level agency.”
“But that’s too difficult.”
“Sending you to an action group was a mistake on the part of headquarters,” said the group leader apologetically. “We are incapable of doing anything except complaining.”
23
The action group was not the place for someone as ardent and purposeful as Xi De. Their meetings were nothing more than gripe sessions, and there was no future for their efforts. After joining the Defend the Earth Army, they became acquainted with the lifestyle of the upper class and came to envy and hate them, and put down the ideals of the great army. However, according to Du’s theory, at the beginning of overthrowing the leadership class, only the unthinking masses were capable of bringing into full play the unbridled power of the revolution, and only could those who were passionate about the revolution actually placate the uneasy people. Du believed that a lofty goal was of use only for the upper level of revolutionary leadership. History had proven that the masses did not understand any plan to establish a new order. All they could remember were a few slogans such as, “Down with the landlords” and “Down with official corruption.” But after the old order was overthrown, then what? Either they were ignorant or they were uninterested. Therefore, after the revolution succeeded, these people would without a doubt become obstacles to the progress of the new society.
What was the likelihood of actually being able to topple the Supreme Committee? Du’s reply was disheartening: none. The Ministry of Security of the new world was the most advanced and efficient organization of its kind. Famous security organizations in history included the Russian KGB, Hitler’s Gestapo, and the U.S. CIA. They all adopted a method of spy versus spy and always made what ought to have been an easy-to-solve problem into a complicated mess on account of their pathological secrecy. But the Ministry of Security of the new world was different. The overwhelming majority were scholars or experts educated in special skills; they were not the spies in dark glasses and upturned collars of the movies. They wouldn’t follow you in the streets or bug your home. Every one of them was gentle and cultivated, polite, modest, and well mannered. Never in a million years would they rush off to put down a rebellion or run around catching revolutionaries. This is because they used “planned insurrection” or “armed rebellion,” which is to say they would not just sit back and watch rebellion ferment and break out naturally. They possessed superior information systems and painstaking computer analysis. When the analysis showed that a certain area was likely to erupt in violence at a certain time, they would rush ahead and set off the violence or create a reason for it to erupt. In this way all rebellion was predictable and controllable.
This was frightening. Xi De thought of Du’s words while examining his own situation and found it all very troubling. Up to this time, he and his comrades had not encountered the slightest obstacle or the slightest trouble. The Ministry of Security was like an irrelevant shadow on the wall, but he knew that they were somewhere, waiting calmly with a well thought-out plan.
Three months later, Xi De received new orders directing him to leave the action group. The same contact person told him to report to headquarters.
Headquarters was in a basement. There Xi De met the Central City commander, who was an older man around fifty, very thin, with fierce eyes. After scrutinizing Xi De for a moment, he said:
“I saw Commander Du a few days ago and discovered that we had assigned you to the wrong grou
p. The action group is a useless peripheral group. Did you tell them your true identity?”
“I mentioned it,” replied Xi De.
“That’s too bad,” said the commander, “but there is a way to repair the damage. Be a little more careful in the future.”
Two other people sat in the background, reading through some documents.
“As you can see,” said the commander, directing his eyes to the two men, “core comrades are few in number.”
“That’s what Commander Du said.”
“Therefore we cannot afford to lose even one. Do you know Lin Xing?”
“Lin Xing? We were colleagues at one time.”
“He is a core comrade in the agricultural city.”