Lion Guard reached a door and drew it open.
Harsh eagle cries, baboon shrieks and lion roars assaulted her hearing. As she moved through, animal odors abounded. She faltered, bewildered at this.
The big Lion Guardsman must have sensed something. He turned, and he grinned down at her. The grin was a nasty thing, full of menace.
She opened her mouth. Maybe she would have asked a question. She wasn’t sure. One of the guardsmen from behind pushed her so she stumbled.
“We cannot keep the Chairman waiting,” the first guard said.
“Of course not,” Shun Li managed to say. So they’re taking me to the Chairman. If it’s a good thing, why are they acting so boorishly?
They passed large cages. In one, an eagle sat on a branch, tracking her as if she was a rabbit. In another, a baboon troop argued on fake-looking rocks. The biggest male with a mane like a lion exposed his fangs, causing the others to grow quiet. In the third, two prime tigers snarled at each other as they ate chunks of bloody meat. In front of the fourth cage, a lone man stood watching what took place in it.
The man was Chairman Hong. He wore a dark suit and tie. His extra-clean hands gripped the rail before the large pen. He peered down…at polar bears. That’s right. She’d heard of his mania concerning them. She could see one slept down there. The white bear curled around something, it seemed.
“Guardian Inspector,” Chairman Hong said. “It is so good of you to arrive on time. The traffic was light then?”
She had no idea if it had been heavy or light, but she nodded.
“Excellent,” he said. He indicated the big bear. “What do you make of it?”
She turned toward the polar bear. With its black nose, the huge creature nudged something small—
“It has a cub,” she said, surprised at this.
“Yes. It is her first. She’s nursing it.”
Shun Li had no idea what to say.
“If it lives,” Hong said, “the cub is yours.”
She blinked with astonishment. “I…I thank you, sir. It is a marvelous gift.”
“I hear the truth of your words in your voice, Guardian Inspector. Yes, I can see you love the bears as I do. They are a symbol of strength and virtuous purity. They are like China, at once savage and gentle, powerful and given to tender kindness. Only a fool antagonizes a polar bear. It is the supreme master of its domain.”
“Where should I raise the cub?” Shun Li asked. “It must have the best facilities possible.”
Hong turned to her. “Would you raise the cub in your home?”
His scrutiny frightened her. What she said next seemed terribly important. “Leader, I lack the proper funds to raise the cub properly. But yes, if I could and can, I will raise the cub in my home.”
He nodded with a gentle serenity. “I sensed this in you: that you are capable of love. This is good. Police Minister Xiao Yang cannot love. It is his greatest gift and his worst failing.”
Frightened by the comment and thoroughly alert, Shun Li said nothing.
“Ah, you are loyal to your chief,” Hong said. “That is admirable in an underling. Yet I am curious. Are you more loyal to him or to China?”
“Leader, I beg to say that I love China above all else. With that said, I cannot conceive that Xiao Yang would do anything to hurt our great land. But China is always my first and abiding love.”
“I am China and China is me,” Hong told her.
“Yes,” Shun Li said, as if that made perfect sense.
Hong’s gaze lingered on her face. Then he turned to the nursing polar bear. “You have earned my gratitude by your loyal service. You ferreted out the existence of the Behemoth Manufacturing Plant. Because of that, we know Denver’s importance. Last night, the tanks made their appearance, inflicting a deadly loss at precisely the correct moment—for the Americans. I have now instructed Marshal Wu to level the entire city if the enemy proves resistant to capture. We must stamp out this hatful tank plant and annihilate each of the dreadful Behemoths.”
Shun Li stood at attention, deciding to treat the Chairman as if he were a god come to Earth. There was something unsettling about him, and it horrified her to think he could sense her unease. He was like a beast, a creature, and she knew dogs could sense or sniff out discomfort. Perhaps in that way the Chairman had become like a dog, a beast.
“Because of your