down a large corridor leading to Police Minister Xiao’s chamber. Each had an open holster, with his gun-hand drifting near the weapon. The leftward operative had a jet-black ring on his middle finger.
The two operatives had picked her up at her apartment after Tang—one of Hong’s Lion Guardsman—had dropped her off.
They had said nothing driving her to the Police Ministry. Now the three of them hurried. The truth of the matter was that Shun Li had been expecting something like this for several days.
She visited Chairman Hong’s country estate every day. She often played with the polar bear cub. Each time was a frightening experience. She played with the cub as the mother bear paced behind iron bars, watching. Often, the mother roared at Shun Li, furious that a human should touch her precious cub. Shun Li had begun to wonder if this was a game with Hong. Would he let the iron bars rise one of these days and laugh as the mother bear destroyed her?
I am a barracuda, Shun Li told herself. I swim among larger, more dangerous predators, but I, too, am dangerous and capable of battle.
She knew it was a vain thought. What could a barracuda do to a killer whale? The answer was: absolutely nothing.
No. A barracuda could gnaw the killer whale’s flukes. But what good would that do the barracuda?
The trick, she supposed, was swimming away fast enough if a killer whale chased her. She could swim toward a monstrous great white shark and dart aside as the two creatures fought for supremacy.
She had come to this conclusion yesterday for a specific reason. Chairman Hong continued to question her about Police Minister Xiao. Hong wanted to know all kinds of things: the Police Minister’s habits, his various visits, his comments, his work orders, the way Xiao treated her. Hong had listened with avid interest as she’d told him how Xiao had once slapped her across the face. The Chairman seemed to have forgotten that he’d witnessed the incident himself.
“Indeed,” the Chairman had said. “How very interesting. I wonder if Xiao would like it if I slapped him across the face.”
Shun Li didn’t think so. What troubled her with all these questions was Hong’s motive. The Chairman relied upon East Lightning as part of his power base. He needed the secret police in order to corral the generals, the Army. Had Hong come to fear Xiao? She could understand that. The Police Minister was a crocodile, an emotionless beast with hidden thoughts and likely a hidden agenda.
“Stop,” the operative on her left said.
Shun Li stopped before the Police Minister’s ornate entrance.
The East Lightning operative knocked. Twenty second later, a small red light winked above the door.
“You may enter,” the operative told Shun Li.
They had of course divested her of her gun. She touched the cold bronze latch and twisted. Nothing squeaked. Everything was well oiled. As she walked through, the door shut behind her. One of the operatives must have closed it.
Across the spacious room, Police Minister Xiao stared out of a wall of windows. He had his hands clasped behind his back.
Should I approach? Should I announce myself? What am I supposed to do?
Shun Li did none of those things. She waited nervously, disliking this game playing. What was the purpose of it? He’d pressed a switch to cause the red light to shine. He knew she was here.
Finally, he turned. It was impossible to tell where he stared due to the ceiling lights shining off his thick lenses. Xiao seemed like a robot then. He seemed inhuman. At that moment, Shun Li believed she knew whom to trust, and it wasn’t the Police Minister.
No, no, don’t make up your mind so quickly. You must survive, not attempt to fight these stronger creatures.
“Guardian Inspector,” he said in his emotionless voice. “This is a surprise. Usually, you are too busy to report to me: your superior. You are too busy hobnobbing with the Chairman to see the lowly likes of me.”
Shun Li had no idea what to say concerning that. So she continued to wait while standing at attention.
“Please, come, sit down so we may chat,” Xiao said.
Shun Li strode across the chamber and sat in the nearest chair, sitting upright.
“Are you comfortable?” Xiao asked.
“Yes, Police Minister.”
“No,” he said. “I do not want you to be so formal. You must relax. You are worthy of the Chairman’s time and I must now take that into consideration.”
Xiao moved to his desk, sitting, folding his hands on