فصل 24

Chapter 24: The Art of War

The Grand Hi-Lai Hotel was the nicest place I’d ever stayed. It had like five or six restaurants and a large fitness center with a yoga room and spa. Ostin and I had a room that faced west with a view of the Kaohsiung harbor. Across the street, twenty-two stories below us, was some kind of temple with green and blue dragons and tigers on its roof. It also had symbols that looked like swastikas.

“That’s a Buddhist temple,” Ostin said, looking over my shoulder. “The Buddhists and Hindus used the swastika symbol thousands of years before Hitler flipped it around and made it the symbol for the Nazi party. Ironically, the word ‘swastika’ is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘well-being.’ The Nazis kind of ruined that for the rest of the world.” There was a lot that I wanted to see, and I kept thinking what a shame it was that we weren’t there on vacation.

Ostin and I ordered room service (something we’d never done before), and a waiter brought us Cokes in Chinese bottles, ham fried rice, and barbecue chicken. Even though it was just a little after two when we finished eating, we were both exhausted, and I drew the room’s blinds and we went to sleep.

I woke early the next morning to the sound of classical music, like a symphony. I tried to turn off the radio, and then I realized it wasn’t on. The music was coming from outside our window. I got up and looked out. On the street behind the hotel a garbage truck was playing music from a sound system.

“That’s weird. It’s a garbage truck,” I said. “People are bringing out their garbage.” “They do that in Taiwan,” Ostin said. “It’s like the ice-cream trucks in America; they play music to let people know they’re there. He’s playing Beethoven’s Für Elise.” There was something funny and happy about the combination of garbage and Beethoven.

“What time is it?” Ostin asked.

“Time to go back to bed,” I replied, lying back down.

“I’m going to watch television.”

“It’s just going to be in Chinese,” I said, hoping to deter him.

“I know. I can practice my Chinese.”

“Practice softly,” I said. I pulled the pillow over my head and tried to sleep, but couldn’t. About forty-five minutes later I got up and looked out the window again. The harbor was filled with boats of myriad shapes and sizes. The sky was overcast and my view was slightly obscured by fog.

“I think it might rain,” I said.

“Rain’s never hurt anyone,” Ostin said.

“Tell that to Zeus,” I replied.

Ostin and I went down to the lobby a few minutes before ten. Everyone else was already there, though it took a while before I could tell since they weren’t standing together. Zeus, Jack, and Ian were sitting in the restaurant, and McKenna and Tessa were looking at jewelry in a display case on the far side of the lobby.

I could see everyone but Nichelle. Taylor had shared a room with her (in part because no one else was willing to, and also to keep an eye on her) and she was standing alone in the center of the lobby beside a massive display of flowers. I left Ostin next to the concierge desk and casually walked up to her. “Where’s Nichelle?” “She’ll be down soon. She didn’t want to wait around down here with everyone.” “I don’t blame her,” I said. “How was she last night?” “Quiet. She went out to buy some clothes. She brought back some pastries from the bakery over there. She gave me one.” “She gave you a pastry?”

“I know, amazing, right?”

“Anything suspicious?”

“No. She just ate her pastry, then rolled over and went to sleep.” At that moment Nichelle came walking down the hall from the elevator. She glanced furtively at us, and then kept walking toward the front door and went outside.

Less than a minute later Ben walked into the lobby. He looked at me and nodded, then went back out. I looked around at everyone else to make sure they’d seen him; then we individually started toward the door. It took about five minutes before everyone was in the van. Tessa and McKenna were the last out.

“Do you really think this pretending we don’t know one another is necessary?” Tessa asked as she climbed into the van.

“We don’t want to find out,” Ostin said.

“It is better to be careful,” Ben said.

“I’m hungry,” Taylor said.

“I have a breakfast surprise,” Ben said, then added, “It is not fish noodles.” “Thank Buddha,” Tessa said.

Ben drove out of the hotel’s driveway, down the street toward the harbor, and then several miles up the coast before we turned off on a side street and parked outside a small open café. “We will eat breakfast here,” Ben announced, shutting off the van.

An elderly man was sitting on a stool in front of the restaurant using the longest pair of chopsticks I had ever seen—at least twenty inches—to lift long bread sticks from a vat of boiling oil. We went inside the café and sat down.

“What’s for breakfast?” Tessa asked. “Monkey-brain mush?” Ben looked at her quizzically. “They do not make mush from monkey brains.” “Glad to know,” Tessa said.

“We are eating syau bing yo tyau. It means ‘little cookie oil stick.’ ” The man brought over plates with sesame-seed-covered biscuits and a plastic basket with long golden sticks of deep-fried bread.

“How do you eat this?” Taylor asked.

“Fold the oil stick into the sesame cookie, then dip into dou jiang,” Ben said.

“Dough what?” Taylor asked.

“Sorry,” Ben said. “Soy milk. He has not bringed it yet.” “Brought it,” Ostin corrected. “Brought it yet. ‘Brought’ is the past tense of ‘bring.’ ” “Sorry,” Ben said. “My English is poor.”

“Quit correcting his English,” Taylor said. “It’s embarrassing.” Ostin looked at her quizzically. “How else will he learn?” The old man returned and set out a bowl of hot soy milk for each of us. Ben folded one of the oil sticks into a cookie, then dipped it into the milk. The rest of us followed his lead. I thought it was pretty good.

After we had eaten for a few minutes, I asked Ben, “What’s our plan for today?” He glanced around, then said, “I will take you up to the Starxource plant to prepare.” “Have you been there before?” Ostin asked.

“Many, many times.”

“We were told the Taiwanese army is helping guard the plant,” Jack said.

“This is true. There are many patrols of soldiers. We cannot go as close as I used to.” After breakfast we drove north along the coastal road, past flooded rice paddies and old concrete buildings, some surrounded by bamboo scaffolding. It began to rain and Ben turned on the windshield wipers.

“That takes me out,” Zeus said.

“It rains a lot here,” Ben said. “Especially now.” “Would have been good to know before I came,” Zeus said.

A few minutes later Ostin asked Ben, “Have you ever seen the Lung Li?” A shadow crossed Ben’s face. He hesitated for a few moments before saying, “Yes, I have seen the Lung Li.” From his tone I could tell that he didn’t want to talk about them. It was maybe another twenty minutes before he said, “We are getting close now. We must be very careful. This is a public road, but the Elgen watch this area because it is near their plant.” Through the slapping windshield wipers we could see a fenced-in harbor with dozens of boats docked inside. “Is that it?” Jack asked.

“No. That is the Xing zheng yuan Hui an Xun fang Shu.” “I was just going to say that,” Tessa said.

“What is that?” I asked.

“It is the Taiwanese coast guard,” Ben said.

“They’re not going to be helping us,” Ian said.

Ben shook his head. “No, they will not. They will help protect the Elgen. The Elgen give them their electricity.” He pointed off into the distance. “The Starxource plant is there.” The Elgen’s Taiwan Starxource plant was made of concrete and surrounded by tall fences—though, from where we were, it was hard to tell how many. As I looked at it my stomach turned and I felt myself twitching. I hoped Taylor wasn’t reading my mind because the only word that I could think of was “impossible.” Away from the coast the land rose slightly and Ben drove about a quarter mile past the plant, then up a dirt road that led into a bamboo forest, and doubled back toward the plant. A few minutes later he pulled over and said, “We will hike back through the forest so we can look at the plant. We must be very careful. This many Americans here is very suspicious. If we are found we will tell them we are a member of the American Animal Protection Society and we are here to help the civet. Do you understand?” “What’s the civet?” Zeus asked.

Instinctively we all turned to Ostin. He was obviously used to it because he immediately started talking. “A civet is a nocturnal mammal that is native to the tropical forests of Africa and Asia. It looks like a cross between a dog and a leopard, but its face looks like a raccoon.” “You’re making this up, right?” Tessa said.

Ostin looked at her blankly. “No.”

“That is right,” Ben said, draping a pair of binoculars around his neck. “They are endangered and some have been found in this area. Recently some have been hit by cars. It is very upsetting to some people.” “Roadkill,” Jack said.

“Which is what we’ll be if the Elgen find us,” Tessa said.

It was still raining, and everyone except Zeus climbed out of the van and followed Ben to a small, overgrown path surrounded by tall, junglelike foliage. Walking in single file it took us nearly ten minutes to reach a clearing in the forest that looked out over the plant.

“It is there,” Ben said. “Be very quiet.”

We looked out over the expansive compound spread out below us. The plant was situated at the end of a peninsula that extended out from the mainland about two hundred yards, the back and sides of the plant facing the ocean. The landscape outside the fence and concrete was tropical, with palm trees and thick vegetation.

There was only one road in and out of the facility and it passed through four twenty-foot-high electric fences topped with razor wire. The main wall around the facility was concrete with large V-beams supporting more lines of razor wire. The concrete walls had been painted to look like the surrounding foliage. About every hundred yards along the perimeter were concrete octagon-shaped watchtowers with a 360-degree exposure. This compound made the Peruvian plant look like an amusement park.

“They added two more fences in the last month,” Ben said. “I think it is your fault. Because you broke the plant in Peru.” “It looks like a prison,” Jack said.

“Yes, it was a prison,” Ben said. “The Elgen buy the facility from the government four years ago. Then they added more electrified razor wire, motion-sensor devices, and cameras.” “Is that all?” Tessa said.

“What are those tents and buildings outside the fences?” I asked.

“They are new. I do not know.”

“They look like army barracks,” Ian said. “There are soldiers inside.” Ben looked out with his binoculars. After a few minutes he slowly lowered them. “It is the army. They must have decided to station around the plant.” “You’re freaking kidding me,” Tessa said. “We’re supposed to pass through an army camp, climb over four twenty-foot electrified fences and a twenty-five-foot concrete wall, with cameras, watch towers, and motion detectors, and not be seen?” Ben looked at her stoically. “Yes.”

Jack shook his head. “That’s impossible.”

“It’s even worse than that,” Ian said.

“What’s worse than impossible?” Jack said.

“There are landmines in the spaces between the fences.” “How many landmines?” I asked.

“Hundreds, maybe thousands. They’re everywhere.” “There’s no way to get in there,” Taylor said.

“Not without a helicopter,” I replied.

“This is a no-fly zone,” Ben said. “They will shoot anything near.” He pointed toward one of the turrets. “They have big guns.” “Anti-aircraft guns,” Ostin said.

“Of course they do,” I said.

“Maybe they’ll have a public open house,” Tessa said sardonically. “Or a tea.” Ostin scratched his chin. “I would doubt that. The security con—” I put my hand on Ostin’s shoulder to stop him. “She was kidding.” Ostin looked at Tessa, then said, “Oh.”

“How can you be so smart and still be so dumb?” Tessa said.

“How can you be so rude?” McKenna said.

“Stop it,” I said. “We’ve got enough to worry about.” “Look,” Ben said, handing me his binoculars. “It is a food truck. You can see them enter.” “Maybe we could stow away in one of those trucks,” Taylor said. “Isn’t that how you got into the academy?” “Just before we were captured,” Jack said, grimacing.

I raised the binoculars. A small white van was moving slowly down the plant’s long asphalt drive toward the building. The vehicle was stopped at every checkpoint and surrounded by guards and dogs before moving on to the next.

“They’ve got some kind of X-ray thing going there,” Ian said. “They’re scanning the truck.” I lowered my binoculars. “So much for stowing away. It looks like they’ve created the perfect defense.” We all stood there solemnly. Taylor put her hand on my back. After a few minutes she said to me, “What are you thinking?” “Why do you ask when you’ve already read my mind?” She exhaled. “All right, sometimes I just like to hear you say it. So you think it’s impossible too.” “I know it’s impossible. Even if we miraculously made it past the army, we would never make it past their checkpoints. And then we’d be captured. Houdini and David Copperfield combined couldn’t pull that trick off.” “We made it out of the Peruvian prison,” McKenna said.

“We had inside help,” Ian said. “And it wasn’t nearly that protected.” “And we still almost got killed,” Jack added.

“Small detail,” I said. I turned to Ostin. “What do you think?” “I think the odds are definitely not in our favor.” McKenna took his arm. “What if we shut down the plant? Then they wouldn’t have electric fences or surveillance cameras.” “How would we do that?” Tessa asked.

“Same way we did in Peru,” McKenna said. “We shut off the water supply.” “I don’t see any pipes,” Ostin said. “They probably have them running underground into the ocean. And after what we did in Peru, they probably have them guarded.” “They’re difficult even for me to see,” Ian said. “But it looks like there are pipes going deep into the ocean. Way too deep to reach.” “Could we clog them?” McKenna asked.

Ian shook his head. “How?”

“No,” I said. “That still wouldn’t get us in. And remember Joel said not to shut down the plant.” We were all quiet again. Then, for the first time since we’d arrived, Nichelle spoke. “If you think you can break into that place, you’re crazy. They’ll catch us.” “Thanks for the encouragement,” I said. “Any ideas?” I asked Ostin.

Ostin thought for a moment, then said, “I think Nichelle’s right. The only way to win this game is to not play it.” “What?” I said.

“Sun Tzu said, ‘There are roads which must not be followed, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested.’ This is precisely what he was talking about. If we attack this place we’ll fail.” “Are you saying we should just give up?” Taylor asked.

“No, I’m saying that we should choose to fight on grounds favorable to us.” “I’m sure they’ll agree to that,” Jack said.

“What are you thinking?” I asked Ostin.

“They’re going to be moving Jade Dragon out of the plant to the Volta. That’s when they’ll be most vulnerable. That’s when we should attack. Instead of breaking into an impossibly guarded fortress, we attack them outside of the fortress.” “You can bet that will be some armed parade,” Ian said.

“We stopped the Peruvian army to rescue you guys,” Tessa said. “And that was just two of us.” “They’ll be better prepared than the Peruvian army,” Ostin said. He rubbed his chin, then said, “But we still have one advantage. Hatch probably expects us to be here, but he doesn’t know for sure that we’re here. We need to let them know that we’re not.” “What do you mean?” Tessa said. “We are here.” “Sun Tzu said—”

“Wait,” Jack said, raising his hand. “Who is this Sun guy you keep talking about?” “Sun Tzu,” I said. “He’s an ancient Chinese general. He wrote a book about war strategy called The Art of War. Ostin’s been studying it.” “Oh,” Jack said. “That’s legit.”

Ostin continued, “Sun Tzu said, ‘All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.’ ” “Your point?” Tessa said.

“Right now, Hatch and the Elgen are most likely focusing all their attention on this plant. The last thing they’re expecting is for us to attack another plant.” “That’s the last thing I’m expecting,” Jack said. “Why would we attack someplace else? This place is bad enough.” “If we attack another plant, they’ll think they’ve been tricked and that we had no intention of attacking them in Taiwan. Then their security will be down and we’ll rescue Jade Dragon as they try to move her to the Volta.” I looked back out over the plant. “That makes a lot more sense.” “This part about attacking another plant,” Taylor said, “we can’t send all of us, or no one will be here to rescue the girl.” “Right,” Ostin said.

“So you’re talking about splitting us up?”

“Exactly.”

Taylor looked at me. “Into what groups?”

“We can figure that out later,” I said. “First we’ll have to get the voice to approve of the plan, but it makes sense. When it comes right down to it, what other choice do we have?” Ian shook his head as he gazed at the plant. “Not that one.” “We must leave,” Ben said. “We have been here too long.” We headed back to the van. As we climbed in, Zeus looked at us all expectantly. When no one spoke he said, “So, how was it?” I was ticking pretty badly and everyone was silent.

Zeus frowned. “That bad?”

“Worse,” Tessa said. “Much worse.”

We were quiet during the drive back to our hotel. After seeing the place, I wondered if they had purposely not told us more at the ranch. Our preparation hadn’t begun to prepare us for what we were facing. Nothing could. Even with Ostin’s plan, the chance of rescuing Jade Dragon seemed far less likely than us being caught trying. The idea of that sent chills through me. We’d escaped from the Elgen twice before. It was unrealistic to believe that we’d be that lucky again. I hadn’t felt that discouraged since Cell 25. It didn’t help that we were all so jet-lagged.

As we approached the hotel, I caught Zeus up on Ostin’s idea about creating a diversion by attacking another power plant.

“Who do you think should go?” he asked.

“I’m thinking you and Tessa.”

Tessa looked at me. “Us?”

“Your powers are perfect for attacking the plant,” I said. “With your help, Zeus will able to ignite the explosives from a much greater distance.” I turned back to Zeus. “Besides, if it rains here we won’t be able to use you anyway. That is, if you’re okay with the idea.” Zeus and Tessa looked at each other, then Zeus said, “I’m good with it. I just don’t like the idea of leaving you guys here hanging.” “If the diversion works, it will do more to protect us than you could here.” “Then I’m in.”

“I’m in too,” Tessa said.

“Okay. Now we just need to see if the voice agrees.” When we got to the hotel Ben pulled the van up to the far side of the driveway. It had stopped raining. “There is no need to meet early tomorrow,” he said. “I know you are tired, so we will talk after I hear back from the voice. Remember, do not be in a big group.” “We’ve got the routine,” Tessa said.

“I will see you later.”

Zeus and Jack went in first. We waited about a minute in between each group. Like before, Ostin and I were the last to leave. Before going to our room, we stopped at the bakery in the hotel lobby and got cream-filled pastries that looked a little like footballs with cream inside. Then we sat at one of the tables in the lobby restaurant. We weren’t alone. Taylor and Nichelle were sitting on the other side of the restaurant. We both ordered a bowl of hot noodles and orange Fanta to go with our pastries. While we were eating, Nichelle walked over. She stood in front of me with her arms folded.

“Vey.”

“Yeah?”

“You know this whole thing is insane, right? I said I’d help you, but I didn’t say I’d commit suicide. If Hatch catches me helping you, he’ll kill me. If I’m lucky.” “He’ll kill all of us,” I said. She didn’t say anything and I looked at her anxiously. “So you’re not going to help us?” She took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. “I think it’s crazy.” “You’ve already said that. Are you in or out?” For a moment she stood there looking uncomfortable, then she shook her head again. “All right, I’m still in. But if we somehow don’t die, I want double the money.” She turned and walked alone to the elevator. Taylor glanced at me and frowned, then stood and walked after her.

“I told you we shouldn’t have brought her,” Ostin said.

“It’s a little late for that,” I said.

Ten minutes later Ostin and I went up to our room. Even though it was barely afternoon I drew the blinds and we both lay on our beds. As usual Ostin fell asleep immediately. In spite of my exhaustion, I was so anxious that I tossed and turned for nearly an hour before I gave up and went to see Taylor.

Taylor’s room was just three down from mine on the same side of the hall. I knocked softly. She smiled when she saw me. “What’s up?” “I couldn’t sleep. What are you doing?”

“I was about to check out that mall next door. Want to go with me?” “Sure. What’s Nichelle doing?”

“Nothing. She’s just listening to her iPod,” she said, shutting the door behind her.

We took the elevator to the lobby. There was an entrance to the mall at the east end of the lobby, past the bakery.

The mall was nicer than anything I’d seen in Idaho. It was four stories high and had a Tiffany and Cartier and other expensive stores I’d only seen in advertisements. We stopped to look at a diamond necklace in the showcase window outside Tiffany.

“Isn’t that beautiful?” Taylor said, staring at the string of sparkling gems. She turned to me. “Did I ever tell you about the time Hatch offered to buy me a diamond necklace?” “No.”

“My second day at the academy I went shopping in Beverly Hills with Tara. Hatch met us for lunch; then he took me to a famous jewelry store called Harry Winston to try on necklaces. The one I liked was like a hundred and seventy thousand dollars. For about five seconds I thought I was the luckiest girl in the world.” “Then what happened?”

Her expression changed abruptly, revealing the pain she felt in remembering. “He touched me,” she said. “After they put the necklace on me, Hatch put his hand on my arm and I read his mind. It was the darkest, ugliest thing I’ve ever seen. It was the first time I realized how much evil he was capable of.” I took her hand. “I can’t imagine wandering through his brain. It would be like walking through one of those haunted houses they put up at Halloween time.” She nodded. “That’s exactly what it was like, except it was real.” We started to walk away from the window. “It’s never left me. It’s like once I go through someone’s mind, I have a connection with them.” “What do you mean?”

“It’s hard to explain. It’s like I understand them.” She looked at me sadly. “After I read his mind I felt dirty. In a way, I still do.” “He’ll never touch you again,” I said. “I won’t let him.” She kissed my cheek. “I know.”

We walked around the mall for another hour. Taylor tried on a few blouses but couldn’t decide on anything. Joel had given me plenty of money so I could have bought her almost anything she wanted (except the diamond necklace), but I guess she wasn’t in a buying mood as much as a looking mood. When she finally tired of looking, we walked back to the hotel to get some dinner.

We took the elevator to the tenth floor to the Shanghainese Dumpling Restaurant, which was exactly what the name said it was. A half dozen chefs behind a glass window rolled out dough into saucer-sized circles, added spiced meats or vegetable fillings, then crimped them into dumplings to steam in bamboo baskets. We ate chicken soup, ham fried rice, and three different types of dumplings. Halfway through our meal, Taylor dropped a dumpling into a bowl of soy sauce, splattering it on herself and the tablecloth.

“I give up,” she said, picking the dumpling up with her fingers. “Forks are just better.” Once we’d finished our meal, our server brought us dessert, a little cake with sweet red bean filling. It wasn’t my favorite, but it wasn’t horrible either. Afterward I walked Taylor back to her room. As we got off the elevator she said, “You’re really worried, aren’t you?” “You read my mind?”

“No. You’re ticking.”

“Sorry,” I said, forcing myself to stop. Then I slowly shook my head. “I don’t know if we can really do this.” She looked at me for a moment, then said, “Do you remember what you said to us in the Amazon jungle?” “I said a lot of things.”

“Just before we snuck into the Starxource plant you told us something your mother always said. ‘If you remember the why, the how will work itself out.’ Every time that I’ve been afraid or I’ve doubted, I’ve thought about that. You know, we’ve been worried about what will happen if the Elgen get the information, but there’s more to our mission than that.” “What’s that?”

“Jade Dragon is not just a scientific formula. She’s a little girl. And she’s afraid. Could you imagine what it would be like to be unable to speak or hear and to be taken from your family and home by the Elgen?” “No,” I said. I looked back into her eyes. “You have a way of putting things in perspective.” “And you have a way of making me feel safe. I think I have a really great boyfriend.” She leaned forward and kissed me. “Now try to get some sleep. It makes me tired just looking at you.” She opened her door and went inside.

I walked back to my room. The television was on and Ostin was lying sideways on top of his covers snoring. I figured that he must have gotten up and started watching TV, then fallen back to sleep. I turned the television off and lay back on my bed. In spite of Taylor’s encouragement, what we were up against frightened me more than anything I’d faced so far: more than the academy, more than the Peruvian army, more than the Ampere. Even more than the Peruvian Starxource plant with its two thousand guards. At least the Peruvian plant had been in the middle of a jungle. This one was completely out in the open with no place to hide.

I still couldn’t sleep. It didn’t help that Ostin had his snore going. I wanted to smother him with his pillow. A little after midnight I went down to the lobby lounge and ordered a hot chocolate. About a half hour later Ben walked into the restaurant as well. He looked surprised to see me.

“Michael, you are still awake.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” I said.

He sat down across from me. “I think you are jet-lag.” “Probably.” I said. “Why are you up?”

“I could not sleep too. I am nervous.”

“I’m not nervous,” I said. “I’m terrified.”

He nodded. “Yes. I am also . . . terrified.”

I exhaled slowly. “Do you want something to drink?” “Maybe tea.” He waved to a waitress, who came over to our table.

“May I help you?” she asked in English.

Ben answered in Chinese. “Wo yau yidyan cha.”

“Ni yau hei cha, ma?”

“Heide hau.”

She looked at me. “Do you want more chocolate milk?” I shook my head. “No, thank you.”

She nodded. “Okay.” She turned back to Ben. “Wo ma shang hwei lai,” she said, then walked away.

Ben smiled at me. “She thought I was American.” “It’s the company you keep,” I said. I took a sip of my cocoa, then asked, “How did you get mixed up in all of this?” “Mixed up?”

“I mean, how did you get involved with the resistance?” “Oh,” he said, nodding. “After I complete my military service, I work at a computer shop in Taipei. My mother was a reporter for the Taipei Times. When the government made the announcement about their agreement with the Elgen to take over Taiwan electricity production, everyone was very happy. There was much celebration. But my mother was not sure. She began writing a story about the Elgen. She traveled to other countries where there are Starxource plants to do research. She even found guards who had left the Elgen and were hiding. She learn about Dr. Hatch’s plan to take over the economies of the countries they moved into. She wrote a long story about this, but it was never published. Her boss at the newspaper kill the story.” His expression fell with his voice. “Then someone kill her.” I set down my cup. “Someone killed your mother?” He nodded. “The Lung Li. The police said that it was an accident—she was electrocuted by dropping a radio into the bathtub. But my mother did not like baths because she had arthritis and had trouble getting into them. She only took showers. The day after she died a letter came to me from my mother. She wrote that a group called the Lung Li had been following her and she was afraid for her life. She told me that she was certain it had something to do with the story she wrote about the Elgen. She said if something happen to her, I should hide because they might kill me, too.” “I’m sorry,” I said. “How did you find the resistance?” “They find me. At my mother’s funeral there was an American man. He introduced himself as a friend of my mother’s. His name was Joel.” “I know Joel,” I said.

“Yes, I have been working with Joel for three year now. He introduced me to the voice. Have you met the voice?” “No,” I said. “Have you?”

“No. We only talk on the telephone.”

“I don’t think anyone has met the voice.”

“The Elgen now make almost all of Taiwan electricity. I fear that we are too late to stop them.” I took another sip of cocoa. “I don’t understand how people can be so blind to what the Elgen are doing. Don’t they care that someone will take their freedom?” “The Elgen are very clever. People are busy with their lives. It is like people are watching a show on an airplane—they do not know where the airplane is going, they are just watching the show.” The waitress returned with Ben’s tea and he stopped talking for a moment to drink. After he’d had a few sips I asked, “Did you ask the voice about our plan?” “Yes. He will call us back in the morning. Until then, you should sleep.” “I keep trying,” I said.

“You must get sleep. We have difficult things ahead.” “I should go back.” I finished drinking my hot chocolate, then stood. “I’m glad we talked.” “Me too,” Ben said. “Wan an.”

“Good night,” I said. Difficult things indeed.