Sigma/Star

Chapter 70: Enter Beijing Part 3

Darkness surrounded Porter as he was guided along. A hand clutched his arm, making sure he didn't stray from the path he was taking. As he was shuttled out of the Jade Fang's base, blindfolded for insurance reasons, he thought over what had been discussed with Ling Shi...

"Now boys," Ling Shi said, addressing them with his friendliest smile, "the Jade Fang is quite interested in assisting your goal of discovering the whereabouts of this former Enian general. If you would allow it, we would like to commit our resources to helping you, in exchange for your freedom and recognition."

"But you're not getting anything out of this deal," Chase stated. "You let us go and we get the general. I don't get it."

"Notoriety my friends," Ling explained. "That is the goal of the rebel. We want to be known. We want actions and events to be tied to our names and whispers of our rumoured deeds to spread through the city like a plague. If your Enian general is freed and we take the fall, it will be the greatest accomplishment in our history!"

"But uhm...what if he is dead?" Porter timidly through out the question while staring at his feet, truly hoping it didn't come to that so he could repay Ardwen for his support.

"Then you are our hostages, sold back to the States' government so that they can in turn give you back to Enia, provided any of them agree to take you back at all." Ling Shi clasped his hands together and put on his smile, as if his words were frivolous and trivial.

"Or if we can't break him out?" Porter's second question was answered with the same grin and look, meaning the answer hadn't changed. The teens gulped down the fears they had always had lurking in their minds, that they wouldn't be able to rescue Ardwen's brother or, worse, that he was already dead.

"I believe you have settled to be a part of our new operation then?" Ling Shi tilted his head sideways with his query, fully knowing what was going to happen. The boys nodded anyways to give the gang leader reassurance. "Wonderful then. Let me explain how we work then..."

Porter had the blindfold pulled from his eyes, shocking him out of his memories as he was blasted by light. Chase was standing next to him, rubbing his eyes to try and erase his daze. The pair had been left in front of another library, one that shared many traits with the last, though it featured twin statues of koi fish at its entrance, with a thin moat running around the exterior where the real fish lived.

The pair had to cross an ornate, little bridge, completed with a red paint finish to match the colour of the building. A couple of soldiers stood at the entrance to the library, eyeing the different robed scholars who came in and out, keeping their guns strapped to their backs so as not to appear too intimidating. "This library is where you will find the kinds of military records you're looking for," Ling Shi whispered into the ears of the two boys. He placed his hands on their shoulders and leaned in between their heads to speak with them. "We like it for our personal use whenever we feel a need to keep up on our government friends. But we obviously cannot go in it, as you can see." Ling nodded at the guards as he talked. "Normally we use patsies to do our dirty work, but I fear the soldiers are starting to catch on. You look suspicious enough as it is in your outfits, as foreigners, but if there's one thing the Eastern United States is known for, it is for the hospitality it displays to its preferred allies. Show them that you are Enian generals and you may get a bit of a special treatment."

"Oh so this will be easy then," Chase declared, a little too loudly for Porter and Ling's liking. A few people passing by took a gander at them but didn't think much more of them.

"Not exactly." Ling Shi's grip tightened enough on Chase's shoulder to make him squeal a little (to which Porter snickered). "Special treatment means escorts. Escorts mean questions. Questions are our enemy. So we have modified your insignia, changing it so that you are classified as lower level diplomats, ministry workers for the Enian Federation. You don't know how to pilot Goliaths or fire guns or do anything of the sort. You just work for the Kaiser, that's all. If any of them want to know anything in specific you'll have to get creative."