Wednesday 14/09/61, Location: 22.22743, 114.2497, Time 07:00
As the team gathered for breakfast, Aswon stretched and grabbed his commlink, sending a quick message to Germaine.
[Good morning Germaine – didn't want to call you too early, but just checking everything is ok with you – the world has gone a little crazy in the last few days!]
He gave a start or surprise as the commlink buzzed in his hand barely a few seconds later, the caller ID showing her name.
"Good morning, Germaine? Is everything ok? It's very early with you, isn't it?" He studied the small screen, then frowned a little and bought the display closer to try and see more clearly. Germaine seemed to be in a dark room, a single light source positioned behind her, meaning he could only see her silhouette.
"Darling! Good morning. I was up anyway and got your message – so thoughtful of you to check in. How are you?"
"We're good, thank you – we're over in China at the moment, just working on some deliveries. But we've been seeing the news and a lot of trouble over here, and I just wanted to make sure you were ok." With mounting concern, he grabbed a link cable and shunted the call through to one of the larger screens in the rear, letting him see the picture more clearly. It looked like Germaine was in a study or snug, lit only by an old-fashioned standard lamp, positioned behind her while she sat looking at her comm terminal.
"Oh marvellous. Lovely country, though you have to keep the locals in line sometimes! They're always trying to get something from you."
"Indeed – but sometimes there's good business opportunities. Are you sure everything is ok?"
"Simply marvellous darling. I'm actually just taking things steady for a day or two. We're trying an exciting new adventure in fashion, you see!" She moved slightly, spinning her chair a little and the light level increased slightly, showing some of her features as she moved to the side. She looked a little tired and drawn, and then Aswon paused as she raised a hand to her head, casually sweeping her hair to one side and showing a distinctly pointed ear."
"Oh – Germaine. Well, if that's the worst that has happen…"
"No darling! FASHION! We're trying new things for FASHION." The rest of the team in the back paused mid-bite or swallow as they heard her voice, turning to examine the screen themselves. Shimazu in particular looked over at Aswon and mouthed a word to him silently
[Stressed.]
"Oh, I seeeeeeee! I do apologise Germaine. You've had a little touch of cosmetic surgery, to give yourself an exciting new look. I understand now! Well, it certainly looks like excellent quality work – though I'd expect nothing less from a lady with your discerning tastes." Aswon tried not to lay it on too thick, but he saw a little slump in Germaine's posture – and he hoped that was her relaxing rather than admitting defeat.
"I knew you'd understand, Aswon. So – where are you in China. Interesting culture. We used to own Hong Kong, you know?" Germaine started to chatter away, seemingly relaxing now that her news was out, and Aswon let the conversation flow, not giving too much away, but giving plenty of detail where he could – describing in great detail the martial art tournament they'd been to the previous night. Germaine seemed hungry for conversation, and he wondered how many days ago the strange mutation had afflicted her, and if she'd hidden herself away since then. Kai poked him, then held up his own tablet, letting Aswon read the message there while he listened to her talk.
[You think everyone at the ranch will be cool with her changes? If so, want to offer to let her go stay for a little holiday? Do some horse riding and shooting and stuff?] Aswon nodded at him, then while trying to stay in frame of his own camera to talk to Germaine, reached out and tapped away under Kai's message.
[Sure. Maybe ask Marius to call Nadia and explain – for fashion. Keep things covered.] Kai nodded to him and went to check with Marius, while Aswon continued talking away. She chattered to him for the next ten minutes, more than long enough for Kai to come back and give him a big thumbs up, and when he extended the offer Germaine barely paused for a moment of contemplation before accepting with gusto.
They chatted for a few more minutes, with Aswon telling her about some of the places they'd been – mentioning some of the fuel stops along the way and their various oddities. Tads interrupted him, asking him to ask Germaine if she had a source of 'fan' material that they might get for the Trafford stop, but he shooed her away, not feeling that they owed them anything.
At the end of the call, once he'd safely hung up and checked the call had terminated, he told the rest of the team that it looked like Germaine had definitely had some effect from the changes – though she clearly wasn't happy accepting that.
"Is this thing like goblinisation then? Or UGE?"
"No, it doesn't look like it. They're both the same thing – the scientists called it 'unexplained genetic expression' or UGE, but most people said goblins – which just goes to show how stupid most people are. But that was a second worldwide sweep of changes, and people transformed into orks or trolls. But while there are variations by country, most orks are the same, and most trolls are the same – in terms of what happened to them, at least. Tusks change in size and shape just like teeth do – but they're all in the mouth, not growing out of people's ears or elbows. This…whatever it is…is far more random and varied.
Aswon paused as Kai raised a hand, accepting the call that he was now receiving. His face blanked as he saw the caller, and his had waved for quiet.
"Ahh – Miss. Yat-Gwan – how lovely to see you."
"Hello Kai. We've just had a package delivered to us here, with your name on it. A small box, quite heavy for the size. It has postal information on it saying the origin is Japan?" Her voice wasn't angry, but it was firm, and she raised an eyebrow at him, clearly expecting some kind of justification.
"Oh good – that's a delivery from a Japanese swordsmith of our acquaintance – it should be a block of steel, forged using traditional methods. For the ritual, obviously."
"I see. Very well, then. How are you coming along with those ingredients?"
"Very well actually. We've managed to obtain the paragon ruby required, you have the lump of metal there, we have the sweat of hard work…" he glanced around at the others, his brain suddenly drawing a blank.
"And the rocks, Kai." Aswon reminded him. He opened his mouth again, about to say something else, but then closed it silently, choosing not to mention the dragon.
"Oh yes – and the calcium rocks for the dust. The only thing we still need is some fire bamboo, and we have a source for that up in the north."
"Really? Very good." They eyebrow was joined by its partner, as she looked at Kai with surprise. "Clearly you are motivated about this issue. Where are you heading for the bamboo?"
"Some monastery in the Shanxi province."
"In that case – come and collect me and the mother and child. We can collect the bamboo along the way. It will be more efficient this way."
"Alright then. Um… do you have fuelling facilities there, or somewhere nearby? We could do with topping up our tanks."
"That depends – how long until you get here." Kai looked up and over at Hunter and Marius, who quickly checked the map and worked out the route, then held aloft a single finger.
"We should be with you in one hour or so."
"In that case, no. Not long enough to arrange for a fuel supply to be available here. We will have to make other arrangements. But I must make preparations to leave if you are this close. I will see you when you arrive – and you may approach the mountain directly. Time will be of the essence." Kai went to say goodbye, but she was already disconnecting the call.
"Well, you heard the lady. Let's get ready to head out!" They quickly packed away their breakfast gear and tidied up while Marius started the engines, and five minutes later they were in the area, heading north from Hong Kong towards the sacred mountain once more.
The journey to Zhurong Peak passed swiftly and without incident – it was all inside the Canton Confederation, so there was no border to spoof or evade, and the flight was smooth and easy. Rather than landing in the town as they had done previously, this time they over-flew the snaking path of ten thousand steps, flying low over the monastery until Marius could spot the small helipad discreetly nestled on the far side and start to manoeuvre for a landing. This whole area of the temple was nestled on – and in fact cut into the back face of the mountain ridge, and was concealed from the more public side entirely. One of the priestesses was waiting on the raised pathway leading from the landing spot, seemingly waiting for them. As the Broadsword came in to land, she looked up – probably alerted by the dust and engine noise that made it past the concealing spirit despite its best efforts to hide them.
Aswon took a quick look around the passenger area to check things over – he and the rest of the team had made efforts to tidy things up and make sure it was ready to transport Yat-Gwan, Spook and her son, so they'd had to clear the normally spare seats of their junk and cast-off equipment, stowing them away into the cargo area. All seemed ready, and the team exited from the cabin and down onto the landing pad, emerging from the concealment into the early morning light.
"Hello. You are expected. The mistress is waiting in the audience chamber. I will take you there."
"Why isn't she here already?" snapped Tads, irritation colouring her voice. There was a moment of absolute silence as the priestess looked over in shock, while the rest of the team looked at their shaman with concern.
"Oh – we're back on the mountain. Shimazu – you need to deal with this. You're the shrink." Hunter looked over at Shimazu expectantly.
"Err, right. So – what's up Tads?"
"Nothing."
"Something's bothering you though. Clearly."
"I'm fine."
"But you're being a bit snappy and…"
"I said I'm FINE."
Hunter came over and grabbed Tads by the shoulder, giving her a squeeze. He turned to look at the others. "Remember – she got bitchy last time we were here too. Not sure why." He released his grip, only to pat her on the shoulder a little condescendingly, then leered at her. "If you need to be snarky, you can be snarky at me. I don't care. Come on, though." He gave her a prod, forcing her to take a step forwards, then immediately started to walk behind her, forcing her to take another step or collide with him. "That's it… let's go." She shot him a poisonous look, but continued to walk forwards, her eyes glaring at the rest of the team, but managing to hold her tongue for the moment.
They were led inside, quickly descending into the complex and the same tunnel system they'd seen before – and it was no surprise to them when they were led into the same audience chamber that they'd been in when they first met Yat-Gwan. She was sat in her throne waiting for them, but this time there were a number of chairs set out in an arc around it, and they were motioned to sit down.
"Bring out the materials that you have so far." She commanded, rising from her seat to approach them, examining each of the items carefully before setting them down. "Good. We will need to start with the ruby." She took the large ruby from Hunter, turning it over and over in her hands, and then raising it up to eye level, spinning it gently between her fingers as she examined it. "Excellent, this will do nicely."
The door opened, and Spook and Li were ushered in, along with a number of other priestesses who ushered the two newcomers to the remaining seats and then gathered at the rear of the room – where they waited silently until a hand gesture from Yat-Gwan. They started to hum, building to a quiet tone that was sustained by the group, each of them pausing to take a new breath in turn. As they did so, Yat-Gwan grabbed the ruby and placed it in one hand and started to squeeze it, enveloping the gemstone in one hand and then adding the other over the top.
Hunter watched and couldn't help but grin, though he did manage not to scoff – he wasn't sure what she was trying to do, but he couldn't see her getting anywhere. Rubies normally scored about a nine on the Mohs scale – diamonds were up at ten, of course, as the hardest natural material normally found, while stuff like talc and gypsum were down at one and two. His grin faded away though as she opened her hands to reposition the gem and he could see noticeable crush marks along it and a distinct reduction in size.
"What the…" He leant in, sliding forward until he was only just sitting down, and watched carefully as she resumed her efforts, visibly deforming the gem and compressing it – but somehow not shattering it. "How is that even possible?" His mind boggled as he contemplated the strength required to compress the material at all – as well as wondering what bogus magical bullshit must be taking place to compress the crystalline lattice at all.
There was a gasp to his side as Marius' eyes went wide as something occurred to him and Hunter shot him a glance – but the pilot just shook his head, refusing to comment, quickly turning back to watch as Yat-Gwan finished manipulating the stone.
"Bring forth the harness." The humming stopped abruptly and one of the choir approached, bringing a hand-made leather head harness. She approached and gently placed it on Li's head, while Spook reassured him.
"Remember – this is your special adventuring hat. They made it especially for you, and that means we're nearly ready to go on our trip – but you need to keep this on, while we go!" Li nodded as the straps were placed over his head and attached – while Aswon in particular looked on with concern. When the harness was secure, the priestess returned to the choir, while Yat-Gwan descended from the throne to approach Li. She slid the ruby into a leather pouch located on the front strap of the head-harness, holding it in place directly over the boy's forehead. At a nod from the dragon, the choir started again, though this time it wasn't a simple pitch but a complex melody that rose and fell, sweeping back and forth across the room. Tads recognised the feeling as the mana shifted in the audience chamber – whatever they were doing, it was creating a ritual effect and power was being gathered – though she couldn't say for what purpose.
"Tell me about your son. Tell me… about the day he was born."
"It was a Wednesday… and the weather was miserable. I remember because I was in a meeting with some people, and hoping that it would not be that day. There was too much to do, too much to arrange – but little Li had other ideas…" She continued to describe the circumstances of the day, with encouragement and open questions from Yat-Gwan, retelling the details of his birth. How she felt, how he looked, how he smelt when she held him in her arms for the first time. The questions were relentless, asking her to describe in intimate detail what had occurred, drawing forth a clear picture of the events of that day.
"I think she's trying to get a ritual link, or a symbolic one at least, of the boy when he was born – before he was affected. Something to compare to what he is now, to work out how to remove it. At least that's my guess." Aswon managed to subvocalise the message, but still caught a quick glance from the dragon, and fell silent again, content to watch. He relaxed somewhat now though, as he pieced together various guesses as to what was going on – looking at the harness on Li's head he could see other pouches and spaces for things, and he assumed that each of the ingredients would relate to a phase of his life or some aspect of his soul, and would be used to bind memories or parts of his mental makeup together. He didn't know HOW that would work, but he could guess at the very basic concepts, at least.
The questioning went on for thirty minutes, and Li was fidgeting by the end of it, though he at least stayed in his seat – flanked as he was by his mother and Yat-Gwan. But the dragon suddenly straightened up and turned to Marius.
"We are done here – now we need to move onto the next location. We need to get to Hua Shan."
"Just give me co-ordinates, and I will get us there." Yat-Gwan reeled off the location, and he nodded, then headed for the door. "I will go and start the engines. We can be ready to leave in two or three minutes if required."
"We are all done here – lead on." Yat-Gwan waved for the rest of the group to follow her, and lead them out, following Marius back to the helipad and the waiting aircraft. Aswon overtook her on the approach and made sure he got up the steps first, so he could escort her, Spook and Li to their seats, while the rest of the team made sure they were ready for take-off.
"About eight hundred and thirty klicks to the next location – mountain of Hua Shan, Shaanxi province." Hunter announced over the intercom as they started to lift off. "Probably looking at about two hours flight time. Crossing into and back out of Chengdu province on the way."
"How long will this whole ritual take?" Aswon asked.
"We should be done by nightfall, if we move swiftly. One way or another." Aswon didn't like the sound of that and called forward to the cockpit.
"Guys, it might not be most fuel-efficient, but I'd recommend doing best speed rather than cruising speed if we can. It sounds like we've got a lot of ground to cover to make this work." There was silence for a few seconds, then the sound of increased power being fed to the jets and a small surge of acceleration. Aswon could imagine the sound of grinding teeth from Marius, too…
"New estimate one hour twenty-eight minutes. Will keep you posted." Hunter signed off, and Aswon turned back to let the rest of the team and their passengers know about the flight time. He felt a buzz on his wrist, and then cracked a smile as he read the message, calling Hunter and Marius back again.
"What now?"
"Got an update for you from Mr. Hu, my weapons broker. He's provided co-ordinates for a fuel stop – in Shaanxi province. Some place called 'Big Wok'. Location is thirty-seven point five oh four three, by one hundred twelve point oh one four one. No special radio codes or passwords, just use Mr. Hu's name if we're asked."
"Checking, one second… got it. Ok, that's less than four hundred kilometres from this next mountain, so that's not too bad. Right, ok, well at least we can top off there then, and that gives us a pretty big bubble from there. Oh – by the way, I've been looking at the info on this mountain thingy. Mount Hua is a set of five peaks in a short ridge, rising up to a maximum two thousand, one hundred and fifty four metres high. Mount Hua is located near the southeast corner of the Ordos Loop section of the Yellow River basin, south of the Wei River valley, at the eastern end of the Qin Mountains, in Southern Shaanxi Province. It is part of the Qinling or Qin Mountains, which divide not only northern and southern Shaanxi, but also China." Aswon grinned as Hunter's voice took on the weird cadence and pitch that told him he was reading the information verbatim from his matrix feed, rather than interpreting it. "Bunch of other information here – it's a big tourist spot apparently. Westernmost Sacred mountain of China."
"Ok, you might want to do a quick redirect on the Sacred Mountains. We came from one, we're going to one… I have suspicions."
"Yeah, probably not a bad idea. Ok, there's five of them. Next one… well, that's nice. We go past the Big Wok place to get to the next one to the north, Xuanwu. Then there's two more east of the one we're going to – Song Shan, and T'ai Shan. Plotting them on a map now and sharing with the back."
"Thanks – that's up now." Aswon responded as one of the screens in the passenger compartment lit up with a map of China and the various warring provinces, now showing the locations of the five sacred mountains as well. "Hmm… five… maybe tied to the elements? I dunno, we'll have to see."
"I thought there were four elements – earth, air, water and fire?"
"In western terms, yes – you're right there, Hunter. But in the eastern Wujen tradition there's five elements – earth, water, fire, metal and wood. I'm not sure it's got anything to do with anything yet – but it might be worth digging into later."
Their journey was again thankfully smooth and easy, with Marius finding a quiet area to cross the border into Chengdu province, protected by the advanced stealth systems of the aircraft and the concealing spirit. They arrived into the Qin Mountain range, and saw the peaks rising up ahead of them, towering cliffs of near vertical rocks festooned with trees on what seemed like any available horizontal space. As they closed in though they could start to see narrow trails that zig-zagged up the steep slopes along with rickety looking bridges that spanned from ridge to ridge. The paths were considerably more treacherous looking than the broad and controlled ascent at Zuhrong peak to the south – some of them were barely more than planks laid over metal struts driven into the side of the mountain, and a close up view of some of the people clambering over them showed them holding onto chains that ran along at chest height, also pinned to the cliff face.
"Target area in sight. We may have issues finding a flat space. Everything appears to be covered in tourists or pilgrims…" Marius sounded annoyed by the concept of not being able to land due to pedestrians.
"Well, we'd better not ask Tads – she'll just suggest shooting everyone to clear a space!" Aswon quipped, wondering as he said it if it was a good idea to antagonise her.
"I would not." Her voice was calm, and not at all confrontational. "But, it raises a good point – if we did have to use the guns to clear some space – would they be up to the task? Is this something we should think about investing in? But in terms of moving the people, I'm sure a simple illusion will do the job. Though that in turn begs the question – should I perhaps purchase a foci to assist with such things?"
"What?"
"What?" Tads looked at Aswon with equal confusion – seeming to think those were extremely logical suggestions and not subject to any level of confusion. "Anyway, just let me know as we come in to land, and I'll find a way to move people. But in the meantime, Shimazu, can I have your sword?"
"Why?" His hand dropped to the hilt immediately and he looked at Tads with alarm. Since she'd enchanted it, she'd never asked to 'see it', and in fact nobody else had touched it but him, and he suddenly felt nervous.
"I just want to check it over." He handed her the sword, watching carefully, his hands clenching unconsciously as she ran her hands over the flat of the blade, her eyes closed as she traced the magical energies running through it. "Right, this won't do at all. I mean, it was what we could manage at the time, but this needs a serious upgrade I think. Might cost a lot of money, but we should be making this a lot better for you. Can't expect you to deal with horrors from the eldritch realm with a low-quality weapon." She handed it back to him, and he swiftly took it, sliding it back into the scabbard and looking at her with curiosity. She'd never expressed any doubt or lack of faith in her enchanting skills previously, and the sword seemed plenty powerful to him.
"Hey – when we land, do we all need to go and do this ritual thing?" Hunter called back over the comms, before Shimazu could say anything else.
"Not in theory. More support for the child is good, but it is not actually necessary."
"Right – Marius and I are going to stay with the aircraft then and keep an eye on things, and leave you magic folk to go wiggle your fingers."
"Sounds ok to me. While you're here though Hunter, could you perhaps do some matrix searches to look for bigger guns?" Tads asked.
"What?"
"What?"
"You want bigger guns?"
"Well, I don't. But surely you do? I want a powerful spell foci, some orichalcum, some time to re-enchant Shimazu's sword. And then I should probably upgrade Kai's punch-dagger as well. I'm not sure I can do that with Aswon's spear, but I could perhaps make him some magical armour or something like that. But I was thinking bigger guns for the aircraft, and you, and Marius, and his mechanical minions."
"Riiiiight. Sure." Her request seemed to have thrown him for a loop – she'd never before expressed any interest in upgrading the team's weapons like this. "I'll look into that. But for now – we're coming in to land, if you can clear a space."
Tads pulled on the optics and swivelled the view around to face to the nose of the aircraft and spotted the small courtyard or plaza that had been opened up on top of one of the mountain ridges, providing some respite to people as they got ready to cross the bridge and path to the last ascent. It was currently fairly busy with people stopping and resting, admiring the view and looking at the chalky white mountains that surrounded them. Taking a deep breath, she drew in mana from the area and cast her spell, crafting an illusion of a large swarm of hornets starting to boil out of a crack in the mountain. Understandably, people soon vacated the plaza as the roiling mass of insects appeared to flow back and forth, swirling around the centre.
It was still going to be tight – but Marius was a superb pilot, wedging the Broadsword down into the open space with barely a handbreadth of space between his engine casing and the rock face. Appearing out of thin air and walking unmolested through the swarm of flying insects caused some cries of alarm and panic – but Yat-Gwan ignored them and lead the way forward, with the rest of the group following on behind.
"Across this bridge and up the stair case, there is a tea-house, close to the summit of the mountain. It will suffice for our needs. Sometimes capitalism is a useful thing, you see…" She stepped out onto the rope bridge, walking along with the group following along in single file, until she was halfway across – then stopped suddenly. They stopped too – as did the brave tourists that had edged past the insect cloud to try and resume their pilgrimage to the top of the mountain. There wasn't room to get past them, and they started to call out angrily. Yat-Gwan once again ignored them, and raised her arms to shoulder height on either side of her body, standing still for a moment while the wind whistled past her, her robes rippling in the breeze while she stood suspended hundreds of metres in the air.
She bought her hands together with speed, her hands clapping together with a sound that rivalled a gunshot, the sharp bark echoing back and forth across the chasm with a noise fit to wake the dead. She spoke, seemingly to thin air – asking for permission to climb and make use of the mountain, staring straight ahead as she did so. Tads let her vision drift into the astral and saw a large mountain spirit standing at the far end of the bridge, present only in the astral realm. People were moving through its body, getting off the bridge after the loud sound – but the spirit was locked in a stare with the Dragon. She didn't try to assense it, not wanting to invade its privacy, but from the size it appeared to be larger than 'Pebble', the spirit she had released in Nigeria. And this was its home, no doubt, making it more powerful still. It nodded to Yat-Gwan though, seemingly granting her permission after a few moments of contemplation, and the dragon started to stride forward again.
They climbed the steps, then headed for the tea-room that had been built inside an ancient temple, converted long ago to cater to the needs of the weary and thirsty tourists who climbed the mountain. It was very clear from the price list that there was no competition up here for their trade, and though it was also a remote location with difficult supply routes, the spirit of capitalism was alive, well and flourishing. Yat-Gwan strode over to one of the larger tables and then stared at the occupants, her deep red eyes fixed upon them. She never said a word, but after only a few seconds the people there hastily got up and gestured for her to take their seats – perhaps it was the way the extra eyes in her hairpiece all seemed to converge on one poor soul and stare at them unnervingly.
"So. Tell me about Li some more… tell me about his early years. How his character was formed. The moral choices he made – or the morals he learnt from you." As Spook started to talk, Yat-Gwan pulled out the iron billet and started to crush it in her hands, shaping the metal into a small rough cylinder that could be slotted into the next opening on the headpiece still fixed around Li's head.
"Tads… perhaps you could make us some food or water? Or for some of these people, that might not afford the prices here?" Aswon suggested.
"No – sorry, there's no energy for that. I need to concentrate. Must plan how to upgrade our gear. We must be stronger. Need to invest more in our future!" She stared into the corner of the room, her lips twitching as she talked quietly to herself, planning out spell formula and enchanting recipes, while Aswon, Shimazu and Kai gave her a very concerned look.
The questioning continued as Spook talked about Li, while Yat-Gwan listened, the eye-gems on her headpiece flicking between her and her son. Several people left the tea-house, feeling the strange aura that was building up in the room, while others looked uncomfortable but remained at their tables, not sure what was causing their feelings of unease as the ritual power seeped throughout the building. After twenty-five minutes, though, Yat-Gwan signalled that they were done, and the team gathered their gear and left the building, much to the relief of the staff inside. Once she was back outside she raised her arms once more and bought them together for another thunderous single clap, signalling her thanks to the spirit of the mountain.
Heading back to the tilt-jet was an interesting experience – the path was generally only wide enough for one person, and it seemed that this early in the day everyone wanted to be up, and not down. That was unfortunate for them, as Shimazu led the way and while it might have been technically possible to squeeze past him on the narrowest sections, Shimazu had no intention of squeezing anywhere, causing a lot of people to have to turn and retreat back down the mountain to some of the wider points so they didn't get squished.
With the mutterings of a hundred disgruntled pilgrims behind them along with some cries of alarm and warning as they seemingly walked towards the swirling mass of hornets that disguised the location of the Broadsword, the team returned to the aircraft.
"Where we going next?" Marius called back as they settled in.
"Just to the bottom of the mountain, on the north-east side. Right at the base there's a big car park apparently, next to an old monastery. That's where Han Lee is, and the fire-bamboo." Aswon informed him. "I'll call now and let him know we're coming down."
Tads manipulated the illusion, making the cloud of insects swarm outwards and driving people further back, ensuring they were clear of the dangerous part of the jet-blast as they took off – though plenty of people lost hats, sunglasses and other small items as the sudden blast of hot air took them by surprise.
Once they had safely lifted off, the insects apparently retreated back into the cliff face, disappearing into the cracks in the chalky white rock before Tads dropped the spell, relaxing a little into her seat. Much to her annoyance, she realised she was going to have to cast it again a minute later as they approached the car park and realised that the only space they could land would block the entrance to the area – and there were still people driving up trying to find spaces to squeeze into. This time she decided to keep it simple and just use an illusion of a large cargo chopper landing, and told the rest of the team.
"NO!" came back a chorus of replies, disrupting her concentration as she started to cast. "That's a really bad idea, I think. Can we do something else?" Kai exclaimed. "Having a Russian military chopper landing in a Chinese province is likely to cause some pretty extreme reactions. I know you're familiar with the look of the old chopper – but can we go with something else? How about an airship? Just put some generic logo on the side or something confusing. But not a big red star!"
They touched down in a gap in the traffic, and in the absence of any better ideas Tads crafted an illusion of a large articulated truck – parked across the entranceway and clearly blocking the entire access road. Traffic stopped and people started to complain angrily about their way being blocked, but there wasn't a lot they could do – and nobody complained too violently once Hunter descended out onto the tarmac, folded his extremely muscular arms and started to grin at people…
Aswon, meanwhile, headed out towards the monastery where he soon met Han Lee emerging from the building. He looked to be in his late 40s or perhaps early 50s, and his frame was starting to bulge out a little at the middle, possibly from a mostly-sedentary lifestyle. He had a friendly smile on his face though, and he greeted Aswon warmly, and then said hello to Kai and Shimazu, too.
"I'm afraid we don't have much time to gather these materials. We have our passengers waiting, and we need to do several more rituals and a lot of travel by nightfall. Though I would love to stop and chat, we may have to save the social side of things for our next visit." Aswon tried to sound as if he regretted their haste, making sure that Han Lee wasn't going to take offence at their very quick visit.
"Not a problem. There's a giant stand of the bamboo over there – just on the other side of the main road. It grows so quickly, and it's hard to manage – though I guess that is part of the reason you want it! How do we gather it?"
"I asked, and was told not to cut it – but to see if we could pull it up entirely, including the roots. We only need a single plant it seems."
"Ahh, very well – let me get a fork then." Han Lee headed to the side of the monastery and opened a small shed, pulling out a few gardening tools and then lead the way over to the stand of bamboo growing by the roadside. "And is Gentle Flower with you?"
"Spo… yes, she is. One moment." Aswon called over to Tads in the aircraft. "Han Lee is just outside. Can you ask Sing to come out for a moment to see him?" A moment later he pointed Han towards the truck, where Spook had just emerged, pointing her out to the monk. "There… we'll get the plant out, if you want to go say hello."
Aswon, Shimazu and Kai worked carefully to isolate one of the bamboo plants and carefully extract it from the soil, moving cautiously and checking carefully that nothing they were doing was harming the magical aura of the plant – the last thing they wanted was to ruin the plant. It took a few minutes to pull it up and loosen off the soil, but they then headed back towards the 'truck', catching up with Spook and Han Lee. Listening in on the conversation as they passed, Aswon was surprised to find out that they'd never met face to face previously – having only chatted over the matrix and commlinks before. They got the sample handed over to Yat-Gwan who examined it carefully and then gave a nod of approval, before the trio headed back outside.
"Sorry to cut things short… but we need to make tracks. We've still got a lot of flying to do before the day is out."
"Thanks, Aswon. Ok – well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lee. I'll speak to you when we're all done and let you know how my son is."
"Very good, Gentle Flower. My best wishes go with you, and the blessings of our mountain." He turned to Aswon. "And a pleasure to meet you, too. It is regrettable that we do not have more time to talk – but perhaps later. I would be most interested to hear the tale of this adventure."
"We'll see what we can do. Now, you've been very helpful, Mr. Lee. Perhaps we can make a small donation to the temple, or your order?" Aswon shot a glance over at Kai, who nodded and reached into his pocket for a credstick.
"I err… apologise, if this seems mercenary. But our work does require support, as I mentioned before." He grimaced at them, as he pulled out a cred-reader from inside his robes. "I do apologise…"
"No, you have helped us, and you deserve to be compensated." Kai said smoothly, slotting in his credstick and then tapping a two and three zeros into the keypad. Aswon made a sucking noise as he saw the total, and turned to look at Kai, vague disappointment on his face. Kai sighed, and then hit the arrow key, moving back and erasing the two and changing it to a three, before glancing at Aswon and giving a deeper sigh. Tap tap… and the three changed to a five – at which point Aswon grunted in approval and smiled up at Mr. Lee.
"There. Hopefully that will keep your order in good standing."
"If he's not after cash, we can always offer him some of the rubies?" Tads called out over the radio, not understanding what was going on outside."
"Will you stop trying to give our shit away!" Hunter shot back. "Honestly! It's a wonder we've got anything left! Get your asses onboard anyway – we've got a four hundred kilometre flight to reach the fuel stop, and Marius is ready to go!"
Aswon apologised once more, then motioned for people to get either back onboard, or to clear the area.
"Mr. Lee – you might want to get well back. This is not a truck, and the jet blast will be quite strong." He watched as Mr. Lee grinned at him, then hustled back towards the monastery building, then trotted back up the stairs and watched as they sealed behind him. Marius fed power to the engines and concentrated on the take-off – but Hunter saw the reaction of the crowds outside and the drivers waiting to enter the car-park, and fed the sensor image through to the rear.
"What's going on?"
The team watched as the people on the ground pointed and waved in their direction, watching with rapt attention as they rose into the sky. All of the team were looking out through the illusion, so they didn't see the truck articulate and flex, rising up and transforming into a giant anthropomorphic robot in dazzling primary colours, before it transformed once more into a sleek jet fighter that pivoted and then shot off to the north.
"Just changing the illusion – there, it's dropped now. We're just under the spirit concealment as normal now." The cabin fell silent for a moment and Tads realised that the rest of the team were looking at her. "So um… the other mountains. Is there anything you can tell me about them? Or about the way they might make you feel?"
"I don't know, dear. It's your baggage you're bringing with you." Yat-Gwan's voice carried an edge of amusement, and several of the eyes in her hair winked at Tads, leaving the shaman feeling nervous and confused.
"So… Li… what did you do while we were away for a few days? Did you tour the monastery and learn about interesting history?"
"No, uncle Aswon! I made a powerplant explode! Five times! They said that was a record! I made the best meltdown they've ever seen!" Aswon glanced at him with alarm and then started to question him further, hearing the story of how Li was allowed to go into the nuclear control room and play with all of the levers, dials, switches and controls – making interesting patterns and seeing what all the alarm noises sounded like. As his rambling story was told with typical childish details and coherence, Aswon relaxed slightly – from the sounds of things he had been allowed to play in some kind of simulator or training room that duplicated a nuclear power plant, and under the supervision of some adults who had indulged his childlike glee for making things go up into danger zones or trip alarms, and had, in fact, actively encouraged him to explore.
It was at least slightly amusing to hear, and did chew up a chunk of the time as they flew north towards "Big Wok", wherever that was, and Aswon couldn't help but smile as he saw Spook staring at her boy, the love evident in her expression. It also kept him from thinking and worrying too much about Tads, and whatever Yat-Gwan had meant by her comment about baggage. He wasn't sure what that meant, or what it boded for the future, and he was even less sure he could do anything about it.
Hunter threw up a high-orbit map of the area they were headed for, covered in lines that segmented the brown terrain up into visible contoured strips that seemed devoid of life.
"Not sure what this place is – but it has the look of a massive open cast mine. If it's been abandoned or worked out, that might explain why some smugglers have moved in?"
"What time are we due there, Hunter?"
"A little after eleven… maybe 11:15, Kai. The maps of the area are really shit – I've been trying to find some decent images, but there's nothing in the general matrix, so unless we're paying for access to something or I go raiding, this is the best we've got. It's low-res, and pretty old – so might not look like that when we get there!"
The Broadsword streaked through the sky, unseen by the people below thanks to the concealing spirit, unobserved by the various sensors and radar systems that slid off the electronic countermeasures built into the aircraft. As they travelled north across Shaanxi, the saw the mountain range rising up before them, the southern extent of the massive region that had been crumpled and distorted by millennia of tectonic activity.
Clearing the top of a ridge as they approached the co-ordinates revealed a large valley, twenty or more kilometres long and nearly five kilometres wide. A large reservoir had been created on the far side at some point, holding millions of litres of water and feeding large hydro-turbines that probably fed many of the cities down on the plains to the east. But more obvious now they were here were the steps.
Not the ridges and stepped surface of a huge strip mine, it was instead the labour of generations, terraforming done with spade, pick and bucket. The efforts of tens of thousands of workers over countless years, digging into the hillsides and creating excavations on one side, building up berms and backfilling soil on the other. It was hard to guess how many hectares of rice paddies and other crops were growing in the area, but looking down they could see the fields covering every available bit of space. Hundreds, maybe thousands of workers were in the fields, along with scores and scores of drones, harvesting fresh food, perhaps the last growth of the season.
A two-lane highway wound up from the plains along the length of the valley, curving around the mountains and switching back and forth to climb the steeper sections. At one place in particular, there was almost a hairpin turn as the road rose up the flanks of the hills, and right on the corner was a large truck stop and rest area – matching the co-ordinates that they'd been given. Behind the diner, there was a long strip of dirt that had been spared from agriculture – or perhaps converted – that gave a dirt landing strip that would allow smaller aircraft to pause here, and there was more than enough concrete parking area to put down a number of choppers, tilt-wings and even their own tilt-jet.
"Coming in for a landing at the rear of the building."
"Nice, Marius. Soon as we're down, we'll go for a quick poke around, find some fuel and see what we've got."
They touched down a minute later, Marius gently placing the Broadsword down precisely where it was supposed to be, despite the strong crosswinds that bounced down the valley. As soon as they were secure, he opened the doors and let Kai and Shimazu head over to the restaurant in search of supplies. He watched them on the sensors, while Hunter grabbed his rifle and lurked by the door, just in case – Aswon watching over their passengers and Tads monitoring the situation astrally through the viewing prisms.
Inside, the front part of the building was a typical truck stop or rest area… toilets, some entertainment machines, a small shop selling snacks and goods, and the main till area for the filling station. But the back part of the building, where they'd entered, looked to be a large sit-down restaurant, built around a large open plan cooking area – with a central feature that was clearly the inspiration for the name. A huge wok, filled the central area, nearly two metres across it could hold enough food to satisfy a bus full of tourists in one go. An elderly Chinese man was using a long handled implement to stir and toss a somewhat regular looking portion of vegetables and meat, occasionally throwing in spoonsful of spices or seasonings.
"Hello? I'm looking for Peng Fan? Mr. Hu said to speak to him…" Kai tried
"Ahh, I am him. Yes, yes. Welcome to Big Wok. Hu said you would come. You need fuel, yes? And something to eat, perhaps?"
"Fuel very much so. We're in a bit of a rush, so I don't know about food…"
"Maybe we can get something to go?" Shimazu suggested.
"Ahh, very good. Ok, I send the boys out for fuel first." He let out a piercing whistle, and two younger men appeared at the back of the kitchen. "Fuel needed!" he shouted over the sudden sizzle as he threw a cup of liquid into the wok and a loud sizzle filled the air. "You go, get fuel started. Then come back."
"That does smell good. Lots of local vegetables, I guess?" Kai gestured out towards the hillsides.
"Yes, yes, all grown local. No soy here!" He grinned at Kai.
"What about the meat? Is that from local animals – or do you have to bring that in?"
"From down on the plains. No livestock up here."
"Oh – then maybe we can do you a deal. How about if we unload a few kilos of nice quality steak to bring in – that worth something to you?"
"Give you membership to Big Wok club? Gets you discounted rate on fuel!"
"Ok, sounds like a deal. Let me go sort that out…"
Heading out, he found Tads was already at work making some steaks appear in preparation to trade with the restaurant, while Hunter and Marius were outside the aircraft, ready to guide the fuelling team in. The two younger men spotted them and dragged out a fuel bowser, looking curiously at the space the aircraft was in, but unable to see it. It couldn't have been the first time they'd encountered this as they seemed to take it in their stride, but they did look curiously at the team, and Hunter spotted them glancing around several times, trying to see if they could catch a glance at the aircraft – to no avail it seemed.
Kai and Shimazu took the steaks in, and got a nod of approval from the chef, and after paying for the fuel were presented with a huge container full of stir-fry 'to go' for their troubles. They quickly headed back out and shared it out amongst the team, while Marius vaulted them into the air once more for the next leg of the journey.
"Two hundred and eighty kilometres to Mount Heng – so just under half an hour."
"Can you tell us anything about the mountain, Hunter?" Tads asked from around a mouthful of noodles and leaves. "Just so I know what to expect?"
"Um. It's about two thousand metres high, so likely to be fresh and cold, like the last one. Checking… says here that due to its northerly location, that historically it was often under control of non-Chinese nations, and that because of that the mountain has a weaker history of pilgrimage than its four fellows. It's the least-visited and least-developed of the five, and also the smallest in area. Because of this, Hengshan is not nearly as religiously important in China as the other Taoist mountains, and as a further consequence, it is also less commercialized—there are no hotels on the mountain. The main peak is a hike of around three hours round trip from the parking lot and that's halfway up the eastern side of the mountain. Apparently the summit is covered in fragrant lilac blossoms in June, and temples set into the cliffs. The slopes are largely covered with hemlocks, pines, elm, fir, poplar, and hawthorn, in the barer areas. But that's written by tourists and stuff, so take that with a pinch of salt.
"Oh – well that's useful information, I suppose. But I meant what does the mountain mean in the culture. Both the mountains we've been to so far have made me feel… odd."
"You're not wrong there."
"Thanks, Hunter. I'm well aware. But I'd like to know what I'm going to be facing up there."
"No idea. Let me search some more, and I'll get back to you."
Tads sank back into her seat and continued to eat her meal, apprehensive about what strange change to her personality might affect her with this third mountain peak, and wondering why it was affecting her so badly…