Chung Kuo 02 - The Broken Wheel by David Wingrove

Author:David Wingrove [Wingrove, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fiction, General, High Tech, Science Fiction; English
ISBN: 9780440209287
Google: w0lsygAACAAJ
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 1990-01-02T05:00:00+00:00

* * *

CHAPTER NINE

The Veiled Light

LI YUAN STOOD with his father at the center of the viewing circle, looking down at the great globe of Chung Kuo, 160,000 li below. Down there it was night. Lit from within, the great, continent-spanning mass of City Europe glowed a soft, almost pearled white, bordered on all sides by an intensity of blackness. To the south—beyond the darkness of the Chung Hai, the ancient Mediterranean—glowed City Africa, its broad, elongated shape curving out of view; while to the east—separated from City Europe by the dark barrier of the East European Plantations—City Asia began, a vast glacier, stretching away into the cold heart of the immense land mass.

The room in which they stood was dimly lit; the double doors at the top of the steps leading to the T'ang's private rooms were closed. It was warm in the room, yet, as ever, the illusion of coldness prevailed.

"What have you decided, Father?"

The T'ang turned to his son, studying him thoughtfully, then smiled.

"To wait to hear what the Marshal says. He saw the boy this morning."

"Ah . . ." Li Yuan glanced at the slender folder he was carrying beneath his arm. In it were copies of the records Karr had brought back with him from Mars: Berdichev's personal files, taken from the corpse of his private secretary three days before Karr had caught up with Berdichev himself.

It had taken them two weeks to break the complex code, but it had been worth it. Besides giving them access to a number of secret SimFic files—files that gave them the location of several special projects Berdichev had instigated—they had also contained several items of particular interest.

The first was a detailed breakdown of the events leading up to the assassination of the Edict Minister, Lwo Kang, ten years earlier. It was similar in many respects to the document Tolonen had brought to Li Shai Tung shortly after the event—the papers drawn up by Major DeVore. That document, and the web of inference and connection it had drawn, had been enough to condemn the Dispersionist Edmund Wyatt to death for treason. But now they knew it for what it was. Though Wyatt had been against the Seven, he had played no part in the murder of Minister Lwo. No, he had been set up by his fellow conspirators. But Wyatt's death, almost as surely as the destruction of the starship The New Hope had brought about the War that followed.

Li Yuan looked back at his father, conscious of how much he had aged in the years between. The War had emptied him, stripped him of all illusions. Five years ago he would not have even contemplated the Wiring Project. But times had changed. New solutions were necessary. The second file was confirmation of that.

"About the Aristotle File, Father. Do we know yet if any copies were made?"

Li Shai Tung looked down past his feet at the blue-white circle of Chung Kuo.

"Nothing as yet, Yuan. So maybe we've been lucky. Maybe it wasn't disseminated.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.