The Chinese Vase by Steve Turnbull

Author:Steve Turnbull [Turnbull, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: india, empire, alternate history, steampunk, crew
Publisher: Tau Press Ltd
Published: 2017-09-06T04:00:00+00:00

viii

The sun had barely broached the horizon and all the city streets were still in shadow. The air was the coolest it would be for this day, and almost refreshing—save for the stink of the effluent that ran through the open sewers.

Fanning led the way through the back streets, between buildings that seemed to fold in over Qi and her. Balconies protruded in haphazard patterns; women and children leaned out over the railings and called across to neighbours.

Behind Fanning walked the captain. They had come to an agreement: if Fanning could get a buyer for the package, Qi would let Fanning take passage on the Beauty—as long as she was willing to work. It was a good deal as far as Fanning was concerned. She was tired of Delhi, and the lack of any enquiry as to her gender status, even in private, showed the captain to be a person of good manners.

They had talked until the early hours when Ding had come in and related his encounters.

As the sky had turned pink with the dawn they had made their way through the shadows of the air-docks. The captain had taken a complicated route with the intention of evading both criminals and customs.

Fanning retraced the steps she had taken the previous day when pawning the woman’s jewellery. As they travelled, the buildings around them changed from tenements to warehouses and factories. They passed over a river flowing through the city and under the tube railway elevated on brickwork arches that spanned the flowing water. On each bank, at opposite ends of the span, stood the pumping stations pushing pressurised air into the tubes.

They reached the far side of the river and climbed the slope into a pleasanter region of the city. The roads became wider and cleaner, with sewer pipes below the surface. The buildings were more solid, more ornate; their glass-filled windows were wider.

At this time of the morning there were few people on the streets, and those were involved in commerce of one sort or another. They did not judge her looks any more than Qi’s Chinese features because they themselves were just as varied.

The door to the pawn shop was locked tight when they arrived, but Fanning was not put off. They circled round to the end of the shops, passed down an alley wide enough for a cart, and made their way to the rear of the building.

A young Chinese woman was brushing dust from the red-tiled steps onto the bricks which had been laid in a herringbone pattern at the rear. Low walls separated each of the shops’ yards, and there were double-width doors for loading at the back of each building. Three shops down, a large cart stood close against the building and boxes of fruit were being taken inside.

The girl ceased brushing and eyed them suspiciously.

Fanning approached her and gave her a smile guaranteed to win the heart of any woman. “Is your master in, pretty one?”

She paused a moment to regard Fanning’s features, then turned her head towards the darkness beyond and shouted some words in Mandarin.

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