On Fire

by Thomas Anderson

There is an announcement over the intercom of the arrival of their destination, West Kowloon Station, in several languages. Everybody starts to line up at the doors to exit, loaded down with baggage. As this is the Red Eye there really aren’t that many people. Having impatiently taken up their positions, and it being three am and not really the morning, the riders quickly descend back into the stillness, each one, of his or her own particular night. They stand, awkward gazes averted, clearly only half awake.

  The CRH comes to rest. A full minute passes. There is a woosh of hydraulics followed an instant later by the doors opening wide. It is as if an electric current had surged through the crowd at the door, jolting them into action. They rush out onto the platform, heels digging in to gain momentum.

  As he leaves the train, Zak turns to look back at the lead car, impressed with its sleek silver and white bullet design. He turns back, only to see that Kim, leaning forward and holding on to the straps of her backpack, is pushing ahead in the line going to the escalator.

  The next higher level of Kowloon West is a below grade shopping center. It is mostly empty at this time of the morning. Zak sees a currency exchange and knows they both need to change currency, but it is not open at this hour. Instead, they stay on the escalator, rise to street level and are embraced by the slightly cool, moist air of a Southern China night.

  “Where are we?” asks Kim looking around at brightly lit high rises and office towers.

  “We’re between the West Kowloon and Austin MTRs. Everything is connected below ground with the retail arcade.”

  He points West.

  “Over there is the West Kowloon Cultural District and West waterfront Promenade.”

  She points at the Road in front of them.

  “What’s this?”

  “Jordan Road. We take it to Nathan Road and then go South to the Peninsula Hotel and the Cultural Center. The Avenue of the Stars is just beyond that along the waterfront.”

  “TST. Tsim Sha Tsui.”

  He gives her a look of amazement.

  “Very good.”

  She shakes her head, or rather her long auburn hair.

  “Oh, don’t look so surprised.”

  They set off through Jordan District to Nathan Road, South along the West side of Nathan Road and along Kowloon Park, essentially through downtown Kowloon to the Peninsula Hotel. The white face of the old iconic hotel sitting regally at the South end of the Kowloon Peninsula literally glows in the night. Above the pediment of its bulky seven story u-shape low rise are two soaring towers of rooms, covered with lighted balconies that reach into the sky.

  After the comfortable rest and food on the long train ride the walk down Nathan Road, busy even at night, feels good to Zak and Kim. The chill dampness of Hong Kong’s night air cools their fast walk through Salisbury Garden and past the tall Hong Kong Museum of Art.

  They approach the waterfront and a wide expansive vista opens before them, sparkling in the inky night sky. To their right stands the quadrangular International Commerce Center, the tallest tower in Hong Kong, positioned at the South end of Kowloon. Next in terms of height, across the rippling waters of Victoria Bay opposite is the rounded tower of Two International Finance Center, sitting imperiously at the water’s edge, vaulting above the harbor. And before them in a line along the North side of Hong Kong Island, from the pyramidal likeness of a modernized Empire State Building, the Central Plaza, to the east to the easily recognized cross braces of the Bank of China Tower to the west, lies the central skyline of the City, dazzlingly reflected in the water below. Illuminated sign banners on the tops of the skyscrapers serve as beacons of light, casting a spectrum of color onto bouncing waves. Tall buildings ring Victoria Harbor in every direction and as far as the eye can see, presenting an unending panorama of twinkling lights so bright that it seems to make the very atmosphere of the harbor effervesce.

  Zak doesn’t expect there to be anyone around at such an odd hour of the night, but the Promenade is full of tourists. The waterfront is lit by powerful lights situated on high stanchions that shine down on statues celebrating famous actors in the Hong Kong film industry. The harbor and the night time skyline of the City provide a backdrop for tourist’s photos of the statues and of each other. Because it’s a cultural district, there are few commercial or retail businesses on the promenade itself, but there is an occasional chain coffee or local specialty restaurant, most unfortunately closed at this hour.

  Zak and Kim reach the Lee statue. It stands on a block of granite and is surrounded by a black, decorative steel fence with a heavy double railing. A young Chinese couple, probably newlyweds, has paused for a minute to view the statue and the handprints of Mr. Lee that have been set into a brass square on the pavement. After shooting some pictures the couple moves on, leaving Zak and Kim to do much the same.

  Somewhere from out of the night a darkly clad figure appears and approaches them. The figure, whose face is hidden behind a hoodie, leans forward onto the guardrail. He speaks in slightly accented English.

  “Those who are unaware that they are walking in darkness…”

  Zak responds.

  “…will never see the light.”

  At this the man turns and extends his hand, which Zak and Kim both accept. Kim thinks the man looks like some kind of cat burglar.

  “Your trip, it has been a safe one?” the hooded figure asks.

  “Yes, thank-you,” says Kim.

  “You are Kimberly? Zachary?”

  “Yes.”

  “I am Yuan Cheng.”

  “Thanks for coming,” says Zak.

  “Please, it is a little thing. I owe much to Professor Xu.”

  “You were a cadet?”

  Cheng nods his head, from which he has removed the hood, but which is covered in turn by a dark stocking cap.

  “For a time.”

  He surveys the area. No one is approaching and, if anything, the crowd is starting to thin somewhat.

  “We should go,” he says summarily. “There is the hydrofoil ferry to Macua. It can take hundreds of passengers. But it is very public and everything is recorded. It will be better to use my family’s junk, which is in Aberdeen. It’s on the other side of the island.”

  “Of Hong Kong?” Kim asks, pointing across the harbor.

  “Yes,” replies Yuan Cheng. “At this hour it is best to take Star Ferry. The pier is not far from here.”

  Zak and Kim exchange approving looks. Knowing that Cheng was part of a Triad based in Macau, they assumed Macau will be their final destination before leaving China altogether. They start off walking East along the Avenue, transfixed by the beauty of Hong Kong at night.

  Cheng takes the lead, the other two following a short distance behind. Kim pulls Zak closer.

  “Hey, what’s the 411 on the walking in darkness? What was that about?”

  “It’s a Bruce Lee quote. Those who don’t notice the darkness will never see the light. It was just a way for us to identify each other.”

  “You get a decoder ring with that?”

  “Not this time.”

  “What a shame.”

  Zak gives Kim a bump.

  “Hey, Bruce Lee is a very quotable guy,” Zak says with a lot of positive affirmation.

  “So is Mao Zedong,” Kim observes drily.

  Zak puts his hand to his heart, as if just shot.

  “Wow, way harsh.”

  The promenade opens onto a pedestrian mall which surrounds the Cultural Center, a tall, windowless box performing arts center with intense blue uplighting. Along the base of the building is a continuous line of jutting modern buttresses. Nearby is the very English looking, well lit Colonial Clock Tower overlooking Kowloon Pier.

  Yuan heads for the adjacent Star Ferry ticket window and comes back with passage for all three of them. The Ferry boat is already waiting in the dock and there are few other passengers. As soon as they climb the boat’s ramp, the ramp is hoisted up and
the boat is off.

  Yuan, Zak and Kim go to the front and choose to sit in some empty folding chairs at the bow, comfortable despite the light breeze because the night is so agreeable. They are soon joined by other passengers, who take their places among randomly arranged chairs and tables. Everyone becomes animated by the spectacular view of the city’s skyscrapers. The tall slender buildings are arranged all around the water’s edge and sprawl in every direction. It is a unique and other-worldly view, glittering hi-rises separated by, but easily reached across, expanses of water.

  Tourists start taking pictures, often with one another, getting up, walking around and moving from one side of the boat to the other to capture the changing panorama. The Ferry takes a scenic, somewhat circuitous route, mostly for tourists, there being faster routes to Hong Kong in freeway and subway tunnels beneath the harbor.

  Taking advantage of the situation and the light hearted atmosphere, Zak and Kim join in taking pictures. Just as the boat swings southward Kim steps over to the railing, the City behind her. Zak is looking through the camera, letting it adjust to the low light conditions, when a man in a cap standing near Kim suddenly turns around. The dark figure grabs Kim from behind and places a knife to her throat.

  Kim’s reaction has knocked the cap from the man’s head and in an instant Zak recognizes the bald head of the man at the apartment and at Muxidi bridge, the man that Professor Xu helped them identify.

  “Let her go, Gu!”

  There is a slight grin on Dai Gu’s face, Zak notices, staring at him grimly. Gu’s expression shows that this has become personal.

  “Sure. Just give me the flash memory.”

  A woman near them on the bow suddenly becomes aware of what is happening and screams. This draws everybody’s attention. Others on the bow freeze where they stand or sit.

  Zak plays for time. To him, Kim doesn’t look half as scared as she should be. He figures that’s probably because she knows he’ll give up the flash drive without the slightest compunction.

  “You’ll never make it off the boat, Gu. You’ll be arrested. They’ll be waiting for you at the pier,” Zak asserts with confidence.

  Gu knows he doesn’t have much time for a debate.

  “Yes, but the thumb drive is waterproof and I’m not going to the pier. Give it to me or watch cutie here die.”

  By saying this Gu only hands Kim an idea and she wiggles a bit. Gu has her in a head lock, so the movement spontaneously makes him pull her even closer. This is exactly what Kim wanted him to do, and that’s when it happens. Kim lifts her feet, letting all her weight pull down on Gu, then plants, flexes her knees, and grabs his knife arm firmly with both hands. Kim uses her runner’s legs to push forcefully backward and upward with every ounce of her strength, the top of her head smacking into his chin, violently snapping his head back, practically putting his lights out.

  Kim powers them both over the bow’s railing as the two of them, locked in struggle, disappear over the side.

  An audible gasp issues from the crowd followed by a loud splash.

  Zak doesn’t have time to look for Cheng, but races forward, vaults the railing and dives for the dark surface of the water.

  Chapter 17