The Golden Age of Science Fiction Novels Vol 04

by Anthology

  The Major leaned forward suddenly and spoke rapidly in a low tone.

  "There is no need to discuss this question further," he said. "You know the situation as well as I do — possibly better. Mr. Li has assured me that you are ready to sell the plans of your organisation to the International Federation. Is that so?"

  "I crave your pardon, Major Wilkie," the other returned suavely. "I informed my servant that I would sell those plans if the price you offered was high enough. I think that from the words I have spoken you can comprehend that the secrets I have to dispose of will demand a price far beyond the ordinary conception of man. In fact I doubt very greatly if mere money — no matter how large the amount — will buy them."

  The Major leaned back in his chair and there was an indescribable tenseness in the atmosphere that warned Leslie that his superior was about to play his trump card.

  "I offer you a throne," said the Major quietly. For an instant the unfathomable mask of the yellow man was lifted and a curious expression of surprise, doubt, eagerness, and insatiable ambition swept across his features, which a second later regained their accustomed calm.

  "And that throne is —?" he enquired mildly.

  "The throne of your grandfather Kuang Hsu — the throne which would rule over a third of the population of the world — the throne of Imperial China."

  "And you offer me this throne," said Wu, smiling slightly, "when it is not yours to give?"

  "Listen," returned the Major, "I know that the throne of China has been your ambition ever since you were old enough to realise from what parentage you sprang. I know that it has long been your dream to establish once again the power of the Manchus over the East and that it is because of this desire that you are taking part in this conspiracy, believing that in the upheaval that will follow you can accomplish your own ends. But have you realised that there are others who also have their dreams of rule and power? Do you not think Japan can produce a dozen men who have the same desire as yourself and twice the means to bring it about? Is it not possible that among the millions of Mohammedans there are a hundred who can enlist the services of an army to push them into power? But you say you have great influence over your fellow-countrymen, influence strong enough to make you a leader in the revolt against the .domination of the West. Is your influence one whit stronger than that of half-a-dozen of your colleagues? Remember, the secret of your illustrious ancestry is known to but a very few and you would have hard work to convince the masses that your claim was a valid one. You are undertaking a superhuman task, your Highness, and it appears to me that your chances of success are very slender."

  Wu shifted uneasily in his chair.

  "Is the aid you proffer any more certain?" he asked after a brief silence. The Major nodded emphatically.

  "The war is bound to come," he returned, "for things have gone too far now to stop. If we are ready for it when it comes, we will win, and winning, we will crush the power of the East once and for all. We will not be content merely to hurl the attack back from our borders. We will follow the beaten armies and annihilate them. We will overrun the Orient and stamp out rebellion until not a spark remains. We will kill without mercy and destroy without scruple, for we must be sure that the work will never have to be done again. Do you think when we are through there will be any left who will dare to oppose whomsoever we see fit to place as ruler over them?"

  Wu remained silent, but he could not hide the greed that shone in his eyes.

  "All these are mere promises," he said at length. "What assurance have I that if I fulfil my part of the bargain, you will hold to yours?"

  The Major drew a paper from the inner pocket of his coat and held it out to his questioner.

  "This," he replied, "is a promise and agreement, signed by the President of the International Federation, that if through your aid the plans of the conspiracy are in his hands in time for us to prepare to meet the attack, the armies of the Federation will place you on the throne of China and help you to hold it. Is that sufficient?"

  Leslie drew a quick breath. It came to him in that moment that the destiny of civilisation lay not in the clever brain of Colonel Villon or the inspired devotion of Signor di Conti, the High Commissioner; or even in the faithfulness and wisdom of the Major and himself. He understood as he had never done before that the real ruler of the world was that grey old man in London, who foresaw all and prepared for all.

  Meanwhile the descendant of the Manchus was studying the paper the Major had given him as if he sought to read in its lines the safe and sure path for his ambition to follow. Presently he looked up.

  "It is enough," he said. "I will aid you to secure the papers."

  He rose and going to a cabinet, opened a secret drawer from which he took a plan, rudely drawn in India ink. This he spread before Leslie and the Major, following the lines with his long forefinger.

  "The plans are hidden," he explained, "in the ruins of an old fu near the southern wall of the Tartar city" — he indicated the location on his plan —"which is said to be guarded by the spirits of the dead. For this reason and because the place has been for a long time deserted, we have considered it better not to station guards there who might, by their presence, arouse suspicion. Besides, the secret is known only to a few whose devotion to the cause" — he smiled grimly — "is beyond question. See, here is a diagram of the buildings. After crossing the first courtyard, you pass through a gate into an inner court beyond which is a large red-walled pavilion with tall columns in front. The hall of this pavilion is paved with stone and at one side you will find a loosened flagstone, which closes the entrance to an underground chamber. In the northeast corner of this vault, close to the floor, there are bricks in the wall which can be easily removed by hand and this gives access to the steel compartment in which the plans are deposited. You will have to make the venture alone, for I must pass the evening in the company of my fellow conspirators to ward off any suspicion of complicity in the theft. As it is, my head will not feel secure upon my shoulders until the army of the Federation marches into Peking. Do your work quickly and silently and you need have no fear of interruption."

  The Major nodded understandingly and rose to go. Wu took leave of the two officers ceremoniously and retired, leaving Mr. Li to accompany them to the entrance gate. As they were about to separate, the Chinaman placed a detaining hand on the Major's sleeve.

  "Do you wish me to go with you?" he asked hurriedly.

  The Major shook his head.

  "No. The fewer there are, the better are the chances of success. You can be making the necessary preparations so that we can leave the city as soon as the papers are in our hands."

  Li assented and withdrew and Leslie and his companion made their way swiftly back to their temporary abode.

  "Major," said Leslie as they swung along through the crowded thoroughfare, "I believe you have introduced me to a very complete villain. Lord knows, I've lived too long to be overburdened with many illusions concerning the integrity of mankind, but it's — well, it's just inconceivable that any man would sell his country in cold blood as your friend the Manchu prince has just done."

  "There are a good many reasons why men will do inconceivable things," returned the Major reflectively, "but I tell you, Gardiner, there's nothing on God's earth will turn a man into a devil incarnate, without honour and without remorse, quicker than the lust for power. If I didn't believe that, I'd never have put our lives into the hands of that rascal as I have done."

  "Heaven send you're right," said the Captain soberly.

  Chapter VII

  "For The Greatest Good Of All Mankind"

  THE Major counselled Leslie to eat a hearty dinner that evening, for, as he wisely observed, they would have some rapid travelling to do once they got started and there was no telling when they would have time for another meal. At eight o'clock they set out, wrapped in heavy coats of fur, for the night was freezing cold, and traversing uncrowded by-streets as much as possible, soon arrived op
posite the crumbling gateway of the old fu. Making sure that the street was deserted, the two officers crossed the road and, passing through the entrance gate, they moved rapid and silent as shadows across the inner courtyards. The door of the red pavilion yielded to a slight push and they were quickly swallowed up in the blackness of the lofty hall.

  Here the Major produced an electric lantern and swept its brilliant rays carefully over the irregular pavement, occasionally turning the light on a rough diagram which he held in his other hand. At length a stone rang hollowly under Leslie's feet and, stooping down, he began to feel around the edges for a handhold. But the Major waved him dumbly aside. Drawing a short steel crowbar from under his coat, he slipped its sharp edge into the crevice between the stones. And lo! the heavy slab moved easily to one side with a subdued murmur of well-oiled rollers, disclosing a black opening into which a flight of stone steps disappeared. Instinctively both men hesitated and listened with straining ears, but the heavy silence of the deserted pavilion cloaked them as closely as the darkness. Satisfied that all was right, the Major stepped quickly down the black stairway with Leslie close behind him and was presently throwing the light from his electric lantern along the walls and into the corners of the apartment into which they had descended.

  It was a brick-lined vault with a ceiling so low that Leslie's six feet of height reached clear to the roof, and it had a dead, dry, musty breath that oppressed the senses like carbon dioxide. To Leslie's imaginative brain it seemed as though he had been buried alive and he had an almost uncontrollable impulse to rush forth again into the comparatively fresher air of the pavilion. But the Major had finished comparing his plan with his pocket compass and now, advancing to one corner of the compartment, commenced tugging at the seemingly firm-set bricks with his crowbar. They yielded readily and in a few moments Leslie, crouching close behind his companion, saw him slide his arm into the hole he had made in the wall and draw it forth again, clutching a large bundle carefully wrapped in oiled silk. While the younger officer held the lantern, the Major rapidly tore off the coverings and immediately the tightly-rolled documents opened out before their eager eyes.

  "Here are the treaties," whispered Wilkie, swiftly separating a small mass of papers from the bundle, "and these are the mobilisation plans. Those we want anyhow."

  Feeling at his waist, he unbuckled a heavy canvas belt, which he wore strapped about him, and taking from a compartment it contained a thin nickle-plated case, he folded the important documents into as small a compass as he could and thrust them into it.

  "This other stuff," he said, running through the papers rapidly, "we can't very well handle and it isn't of much importance anyhow. Let's see if there's anything else in there we've overlooked." And he ran his arm once more into the hole in the wall and began feeling around in the black interior.

  "Good God!" cried Leslie suddenly in a frightened voice, clutching at his holster. "What's that?"

  The Major whipped about and the bright rays of the lantern glanced along the short barrel of his automatic as it pointed towards the vague shadows in the further corners of the vault. In the dead silence that followed the Captain's cry they heard soft footfalls on the floor of the pavilion above their heads. Then, as the Major leaped to his feet with a savage oath, the heavy stone slab that closed the entrance to their prison jarred dully into place.

  "My God!" screamed Leslie suddenly, as the full horror of their position came to him. "We're trapped, like rats! We haven't a chance in the world, Major! Not a single chance!"

  "Sold us — the damned hound!" roared the Major fiercely. "God! what a fool I was to trust him! Gardiner, it was my damned folly got you into this!"

  But the Captain was breathing heavily through dry, quivering lips as he mechanically fumbled at his holster.

  "We must fight 'em off as long as we can, Major — fight 'em off as long as we can — hey, Major? We'll send a few of 'em to hell before we go." He laughed recklessly as he jerked out his weapon. Wilkie's iron grip closed on his wrist and the pistol clattered to the floor.

  "Stop that!" commanded the Major hoarsely. "I've got to think."

  He dug his knuckles into his forehead, lashing his startled brain to meet the emergency. An instant later he raised his head again.

  "Listen!" he ordered tensely, tightening his grasp on his companion's wrist. "Whatever happens to us, we've got to save those papers. If we can hide them before those damned rats get us, there's always a chance that our friends will find them somehow and send them on. No, there's no place here" — as the Captain's gaze wandered vacantly about the narrow walls of the vault —"They'll turn this place upside down when they find the plans are missing. They'll search us, too. There's only one safe way."

  He drew from his pocket the little nickle-plated death tube which he had shown the Captain in London on the night of their departure. "Two seconds after I take this, I'll be dead. You must cut me open and hide the case with the papers in my body. If you're questioned about my death, say that I was afraid to fall into their hands and killed myself. They'll accept the story for a while, anyhow." He hurled his pistol into the black hole in the wall and snatching the Captain's weapon from the floor, sent it whirling after his own. "That won't be any use to you. We must have only our knives, or they may wonder why I didn't use lead. They'll take my corpse out of here and you must try to find out what they do with it. You'll probably be tortured, but they may not kill you. If you're left alive, try to complete the mission somehow. Get word to Li where the papers are hidden, even if you know you have to die. You can trust him absolutely. Forgive me, Captain — and goodbye!"

  He began to unscrew the tube swiftly, but Leslie caught his arm.

  "My God, Major — it's too awful — I can't do it! Isn't there some other way? Isn't there —"

  His comrade shook him off roughly.

  "You've got to do it!" he cried savagely. "It's the only possible way. Remember your oath, Captain. It's for the greatest good of all mankind. You swore to uphold that when you entered the Service. Damn you, Gardiner, I'm your superior officer! Pull yourself together, you damned coward, and obey me, or you'll be disgraced forever!"

  A blow from his heavy hand sent the Captain reeling back into the shadows. But he recovered quickly, and with chalk-white face and set jaw took the long-bladed knife the Major held out to him. In an instant, the latter had torn off the cover of the shining tube and with steady hand, poured the contents down his throat. A second passed while he tore convulsively at his breast. Then, as the swift poison burned out his life, he dropped in a huddled heap at the Captain's feet. For a brief interval, Leslie was shaken by a deadly nausea. But when it had passed, he took up the glittering knife and with a firm hand set about his horrid task.

  It was perhaps half an hour later that the slab slid open again, and amid the glare of many lanterns a throng of merciless yellow faces crowded down the stone stairway into the vault below. They gazed with curious eyes at the bloody corpse and the silent figure standing above it as motionless as the dead man himself. At length four men gathered up the ghastly bundle on the floor and the others, closing around Leslie, urged him up the stone steps into the lofty hall of the red pavilion, which now shone with many brilliant lights.

  A row of chairs ran along each of the side walls and at the upper end a bare wooden table, behind which three seats were arranged, marked the spot sacred to the presiding officers. They were already seated when Leslie was brought in and now his escort rapidly filled the remaining places, leaving him alone in the centre of the hall. He felt the many pairs of cold, cruel eyes turned upon him in silence, but the concentrated hatred with which they sought to overwhelm him glanced aside from him and left him unshaken. He was telling himself that after the terrible ordeal through which he had just passed, nothing could ever stir him again.

  Presently two men ascended from the vault below and advancing to the presiding officers, spoke with many gesticulations expressive of rage and perturbation and although Le
slie could not comprehend what they were saying, his senses told him that the encircling weight of malevolence was increasing with every word. As the speakers ended, an ominous stir ran around the assemblage and fierce ejaculations arose in different parts of the circle, but the old mandarin who sat at the middle of the bare table checked the rising tumult and motioned the prisoner to approach.

  "You and that other devil, your companion," he said in excellent English, although his voice quivered with rage, "have sought to spy upon us and rob us of our secrets. Why have you done this?"

  "I sought to uncover the treachery of your nation," returned Leslie between his teeth. "To show the Federation which I serve the danger menacing our civilisation and our principles of progress and the brotherhood of man."

  "You speak of civilisation," cried the old man angrily. "What is your civilisation but the thing of a day? Ours has lasted through centuries and will last through centuries more when yours is dead and forgotten. You speak of progress and the brotherhood of man! Is this the doctrine your traders profess who rob us of our resources and insult and revile us when we seek to protect what is only our own by right? Your missionaries come amongst us preaching a religion of universal love, while your rulers exploit us for their own gain as their forefathers did before them when, for money, they ruined our people with their hateful opium. Your nations steal our territory bit by bit, secure in the knowledge that we cannot resist their encroachments, and you tell us that this is the enlightenment that will make a paradise of the world. You usurp the rule of our cities and provinces and administer them for the benefit of your rapacious money-getters, soothing us with the smug assurance that it is for the greatest good of mankind, and when we must perforce submit, you taunt us with our weakness. Do you marvel that, when reason and the dictates of justice fail, we should follow the example you have so often held before our eyes and put our hands to the sword? But enough of this! You cannot understand us — you who would constitute yourself the arbiter of our destinies — any better than your ancestors could in days gone by. You have stolen our most valued plans and documents. Where have you hidden them?"