By Temptations And By War by Coleman Loren L

Author:Coleman, Loren L [L, Coleman, Loren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-10-12T09:29:30+00:00

19Paths Into Future Glory

“We have heard our brothers, our sisters, calling out for a return to Capellan ways. For too long we have denied them. For too long we have capitulated to a government created by treachery, by threats, and by force of arms, which sits in stewardship of Liao, one of our most blessed worlds. Father, we return for you.

—Chancellor Daoshen Liao, Public address, Sian, 1 July 3134

Celestial Palace

Zi-jin Chéng (Forbidden City), Sian

Sian Commonality, Capellan Confederation

3 July 3134

On one of the Celestial Palace’s restricted floors, Agent Michael Yung-Te paused just outside a darkened doorway, bowing his head as if in prayer. His dark eyes remained open, though, as he searched with every sense for warnings, for danger.

The supports on either side of the door were thick, red-grained and exquisitely carved with the semblance of a sleek tiger clawing its way up toward the top. The tiger’s stripes were detailed in gold and, when looking closely enough, one saw that each small crescent was actually a dadao sword—some rough edged, some with fresh blades. He couldn’t see the heavy teak lintel up at the top. Didn’t need to. Everyone knew what was carved there.

Liào Su¯n Z? i. Yì Guó Zhi Fù.

Sun-Tzu Liao. Father of the State.

The corridor’s blue-tinted light fell into the room, framing an irregular rectangle on the hardwood floors, but adding very little in the way of illumination. Darkness held sway here, pushing back against prying eyes. Not a sound came from within. Michael would have to step into the doorway, but he hesitated. Being summoned into the Chancellor’s presence provoked uncertainty enough in anyone, even an agent of the Maskirovka. Sent to summon Him, to remind the Chancellor of an audience he should be giving, that was for court functionaries who were better suited to gauge the Chancellor’s moods and risk his wrath. Daoshen the Inscrutable, His Celestial Wisdom, God-Incarnate of Sian, kept his own counsel. He was not a man to be hurried along.

Some believed he was not a mortal man at all.

Michael did not know what to believe. He’d heard many of the whispered legends. Assassins plucked out of closets by the Chancellor’s own hand, left broken and dying. A farmer on estates bordering one of the Chancellor’s rural retreats, trapped under an overturned combine; Daoshen Liao freed him with a demonstration of superhuman strength. Divining the future, the reading of minds, a channeling of his father’s spirit... nothing was left unattributed to the Great Soul of the Confederation.

Michael Yung-Te had already languished in the shadow of the Chancellor’s disfavor for eight long months, for no other reason than his assignment to oversee the interrogation and confession of the traitor, Mai Uhn Wa. And now he was being asked to put his face before the Chancellor again?

As if his question had been spoken aloud, the whisk of sandal against wood shuffled out of the darkened room. Michael tensed. The God-Incarnate of Sian was indeed spending time in his father’s old office, one of several rooms preserved in the memory of the great Sun-Tzu Liao.

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