The Blood Market Chapter 10

It didn't take long to get to the University and find the office of Professor Zhang Wei. Professor Zhang sat in his office, door open, answering a litany of questions directed at him by a group of student not much younger than myself. I felt very much out of place as I stared at the students. Their hands laid bare their wealth, soft and without callouses, pale or at most lightly tanned, some were even manicured. None of the students smelled of either body odor, perfume or cologne- which meant they all recently bathed. During the Dry season bathing became a luxury of the elite and the wealthy.

Zhang saw us approaching, and his posture stiffened slightly. He dismissed the students, and they rumbled past, giving us curious or bemused looks as they went.

Harbinger smiled and offered a hand to shake, "Hello again Professor Zhang, I understand that you lied to us when you explained why the thugs decided you would be a useful translator. Why don't we talk about that."

Zhang paled, "Yes. I lied to you. I did not have many options. There are debts that must be paid. Money owed. I owed money to the Hummingbird. I owed money. Yes. To pay for my schooling and my position here at the University. And so, I was known to Sons of War. And so when they needed a translator. They came to me. "

Harbinger shook his head, "I think that it's more likely that they came to you because your husband works for them."

"My husband is an honest business man, an importer of luxury goods from the nations and lands of South East Asia."

"And we have witnesses who have photographed him managing the transportation of illegal immigrants through the Ring under the supervision of our Ms. Li Jing."

"You are lying!" Zhang practically spat the words.

"He's not an inconspicuous man in a burgundy pin stripe suit and sporting a very stylish pompadour haircut," I added as casually as I could.

"He is a good man! You don't understand!" Zhang said, his voice cracking.

"Make us understand." Harbinger answered, "We can help."

"No, you can't," Zhang, "The Hummingbird is invincible. All opposition makes him stronger. He is a God of war as his name suggests."

I decided to try an alternate tactic, "People are suffering. People are dying. You are being complicit in murder, extortion and human suffering."

"The illegal immigrants are fleeing the conflicts in Southeast Asia. The Rise of the Restored Republic of China has threatened the dominance of the Empire of Hong Kong. The Empire has taken a cold war approach in response, attacking the Restored Republic indirectly by inciting rebellions in territory controlled by their allies or fomenting civil wars and border disputes, attempting to undercut the Republic's rising prominence in the region. People are fleeing north into the arms of the various nations of China, west to the nations of India and east to Olam. The situation in The Papuan Emirate is so dire, with the Catholic Majority in revolt against the Emirs, some people are even fleeing south to the Graveyard Lands in the hope of surviving there. Perhaps you do not understand, but the suffering of the illegal immigrants here at the hands of the smugglers is positivelya respite from the suffering they faced at home. It is tragic. Indonesia survived the Fall with it's government intact, Signapore as well. Malaysia and the Phillippines recovered remarkably well, especially compared to the nations of Olam, China or the India subcontinent. And now, a squabble between regional powers is sending these people howling down the fury road to conditions just like the Fall itself."

"And when they get here, some of them end up putting a pistol to their head after they are processed by your husband," I pushed, "Does that seem better to you?"

"I know nothing of that," Zhang shook his head.

"I bet your husband does. Maybe he's lying to you?" I said.

"Impossible," Zhang shook his head.

"Not even to protect you?" Harbinger asked.

Zhang did not answer.

Harbinger continued, "Something nasty has been going on. People are dying, apparent suicides, and a number of them are illegal immigrants just having reached New Jericho. Bodies are frequently found with organs removed, and evidence indicates that this either started in June, or something siginificant changes about the whole affair in June. We understand that your hands are largely tied. We don't want to put you in any more danger, but we don't want to keep seeing apparent suicides that look suspicious under any light. We don't want to see refugees, legal or not, turn up dead with their torsos hollowed out and their eyes missing. Do you?"

"No."

"Then what happened in June? Point us in a useful direction, and we can pretend they told us and not you."

"I don't know what happened in June. They have not mentioned anything happening in June. Why is June important?" Zhang asked.

"If you don't know, it's probably best that you stay not knowing." Harbinger said, which I suspected was his way of hiding our own ignorance.

"You see. Everyone has secrets to keep. I am not an evil man because I am forced to do what I must in order to live in an imperfect world." Zhang nodded.

"Just keep telling yourself that," I said.

"Everyone compromises," Zhang insisted.

"I didn't." I said leaning in very close to the man's face, "I sacrificed lives and my career and I made strategic decisions the caused people under my command to die. But I never compromised my morals. That's why this uniform is purely decorative. I didn't compromise."

"Then be grateful," Zhang said quietly, "That you had that luxury. In the face of true evil, sometimes one if forced sacrifice one's morals in order to safeguard others. I hope you are never forced to do so. We have a son, they would hurt him if we wenta gainst them. They always use the family as leverage. That's why we have to cooperate, or at least be seen to cooperate."

Harbinger's eyes widened and his eyebrows raised, "Yes. I bet people would do all sorts of things to protect loved ones that they wouldn't normally do. Crazy things. Horrible things even."

"My husband does not enjoy what he does. But his family is here, safe from the Malay-Indoesian conflict, and he is here, because of the things that he has done. We are a family, and he and his family are safer than they would be in Indonesia right now."

"Even with these threats hanging over your head?" I asked.

"Well, obviously I would have been safer otherwise," Zhang admitted, "but everyone else is safer even wrapped up in this criminality as we are."

"And you are wrapped up in it aren't you?" I asked.

Zhang sighed, "He is. As payment for arranging for his escape and the escape of his family from Indonesia, the Hummingbird has extracted my husband's assistance in running and expanding their smuggling operations, both people and luxury goods. And to ensure silence regarding my husband's illegal actions, the HUmmingbird has extracted continued assistance in the running of this criminal enterprise."

"So what is he, the second in command?" I asked.

"No. More like middle management or a bookkeeper."

"Is he instrumental to the operation?" Harbinger asked, "If we got you and he into hiding, would that stop the whole thing?"

"No. He is useful, but not essential. And much of what they needed him for, he has already set up. I think they keep him involved, because it's easier. They could just as easily dispose of him and get anyone else now."

"It sounds as though this Li Jing woman and the Hummingbird are the linchpins in the operation. Those are who we should focus on."

"You cannot defeat the Hummingbird. If you must continue your hunt, focus on the woman."

"Do you think that would stop the whole operation?"

"I doubt it. But the Hummingbird is beyond your grasp. I doubt I can help in this, and my husband would never agree to speak with you, but I had been thinking about the Red Flag," Zhang answered, "That did match something that had crossed my mind, that perhaps the tattoo did not refer to the old communist flag of old China. You see, a famous pirate band from China about three hundred years before the Fall called themselves the Red Flag Fleet. They were led by a female pirate Ching Shih, so perhaps the name is reference to that."

"That doesn't tell us much."

"I know."

Zhang was unable and unwilling to say more. And in short order we left the University to regroup and assess our strategy.

"We know all of this is connected," I said, "But it's all a mess and I can't see how they connect. So what do we do?"

"Well," Harbinger said, "First we look at what we need to learn in order to get paid. As detectives we get paid to provide information, more accurately we get paid to provide solutions. So what we should be asking, is what will make our clients happy?"

"And?"

"Well, to make Hurley happy, we need to find out who is causing these apparent suicides to keep showing up. And to make Blackwater and my sister happy we need to find a big name in this smuggling ring that they can parade around for maximum politcal effect." harbinger said.

"I think Blackwater would rather not parade anything around." I answered.

"I agree, but I suspect that the ship has sailed on that option. So know he will need a victory to show in order to save face."

Something odd about what Zhang told us. His original description of the two thugs reminds me of Jaromir Hus, "I said, "Hus is Son of Perun. He's not part of the Hijos de la Guerra. Is he?"

"I see possibilities. The person Zhang described might simply be somebody with a similar appearance to Mr. Jaromir Hus. Also, possible are that Mr. Zhang lied to us or Jaromir Hus has loyalties that are less than clear. If Hus is the culprit, then he's likely playing both sides of some dangerous game- a possibility that requires bravado, chuztpah, guile, cleverness and a strong affinity for deceit. Does Mister Hus seem like that person?"

"No, he seems like a straight forward thug, almost amiable in his violence."

"And if Mr. Zhang has lied to us, then there are three possibilities. He may have lied to us in his original testimony. Not a startling possibility, given that he has admitted to it. He may have lied to us just now in his most recent testimony. In which case, he is still protecting something. Of course we know he lied originally, and he may simply have lied and then lied again. So in the majority of possibilities. Mr. Zhang is hiding something further from us. Either that or Mr. Hus is much more clever than he appears."

"Should we go back and question him again?"

"No, because I know what June means. I know what is going on. I may even know how this all ties together. The suicides, the smuggling, that missing girl that Mr. Brand lost."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Not yet. I need to check something, confirm suspicions. I'll tell you once your date is done."

I froze, "I'm late."

"Not that late. If you run it won't be that bad."

I ran.