tune
with Snow. Her father was preparing to accompany her to the
investiture. Her mother had declined to come. Jackal called and
recorded an awkward message, but perhaps she'd left it too late.
Donatella never called back.
There was another issue hanging over her
head, and she made up her mind to attend to it after an earnest talk
with Snow. “You have to,” Snow said. “It's not just about the two of
you, it's about the whole web. Everyone's waiting.”
So on a Saturday in mid-December, she
rolled out of bed and kissed Snow and took herself off to Tiger's
apartment. It took all her nerve to press the intercom button. He
wasn't there. She made a good guess and found him in the gymnasium,
sitting in a half-lotus, eyes closed, on the thick mat in the area
reserved for martial and meditative arts. His nose was still taped, but
the bruising had gone down.
He opened his eyes as she approached. She
braced herself for the conversational barbed wire, but all he did was
sigh and say, “I give up, Jackal. Call off your dogs.”
“What do you mean?”
He looked at her without expression.
“Didn't you hear? I had a little chat with Executive Vice President
Chao last week.”
Jackal said stupidly, “Analin Chao?”
“Maybe she's Analin to you. She told me to
call her ma'am and she handed me my ass on a platter. You say jump, I
ask how high.”
“Oh, hell,” Jackal said. She sat down on
the floor next to him. “I didn't know she was going to do that, honest.
I'd have asked her not to. I wanted to take care of this myself.”
“You already handed me my nose.”
A deep breath. “I'm really sorry about
that. I got mad.”
“You know, I was ready to hurt you back.
If security hadn't been there so fast, I would have tried. Chao told me
that if I'd laid a hand on you I could have been terminated from Ko.
Maybe my whole family.”
That chilled her. “I'm sorry.”
“No need to apologize to little old me.
I'm just a pebble in your road.”
“Tiger, can't we just make up?”
“I suppose we can if you say so. You seem
to be in charge of everything else around here.” He sounded so bitter,
and there was a part of her that wanted to cup his face in her hands
and try to smooth away all the misunderstanding. But she didn't know
how to do that in this public place, when perhaps he felt that he
couldn't refuse her touch; and it would kill her if he flinched.
“I wish things weren't so hard,” she said,
and stood up. “I don't want us to be like this.”
“How do you want us to be?”
She opened her hands helplessly. “I'll see
you later,” she said finally, and left him. At the other end of the gym
she turned around and saw him, head down, pounding one fist over and
over on the mat.
“Nobody else can make him that mad.” She
turned back and found Bat next to her, watching Tiger with patient
sadness. “Would it kill you to be nice to him?”
“It wasn't like that,” Jackal said, and
began to move away, but Bat caught her arm.
“There's a trip to Hong Kong next week. To
shop for the holidays. Do you want to come?” They both looked at Tiger.
“He'd like it,” Bat said finally.
“I might.” But she knew the right thing to
do. She had hurt Tiger and damaged the web, and now she would have to
roll on her back and show everyone her throat so they would know she
still belonged to them.
She said, “All right. I will.”
Jackal and her web mates took the Nan Hai
tunnel train from Ko Island to the Apleichau Island Omniport. The
omniport was a gift from Ko, a multibillion dollar project that had
included extending Apleichau's land mass by twenty-seven percent to
make room for the immigration complex and the water, air, and
tunnel-train arrivals. No one entered or left Hong Kong without passing
through the port. The security network, the immigration computer, and
the entire port-of-entry traffic management system were Ko technology.
Jackal imagined Hong Kong had been very grateful.
She spent the entire
with Snow. Her father was preparing to accompany her to the
investiture. Her mother had declined to come. Jackal called and
recorded an awkward message, but perhaps she'd left it too late.
Donatella never called back.
There was another issue hanging over her
head, and she made up her mind to attend to it after an earnest talk
with Snow. “You have to,” Snow said. “It's not just about the two of
you, it's about the whole web. Everyone's waiting.”
So on a Saturday in mid-December, she
rolled out of bed and kissed Snow and took herself off to Tiger's
apartment. It took all her nerve to press the intercom button. He
wasn't there. She made a good guess and found him in the gymnasium,
sitting in a half-lotus, eyes closed, on the thick mat in the area
reserved for martial and meditative arts. His nose was still taped, but
the bruising had gone down.
He opened his eyes as she approached. She
braced herself for the conversational barbed wire, but all he did was
sigh and say, “I give up, Jackal. Call off your dogs.”
“What do you mean?”
He looked at her without expression.
“Didn't you hear? I had a little chat with Executive Vice President
Chao last week.”
Jackal said stupidly, “Analin Chao?”
“Maybe she's Analin to you. She told me to
call her ma'am and she handed me my ass on a platter. You say jump, I
ask how high.”
“Oh, hell,” Jackal said. She sat down on
the floor next to him. “I didn't know she was going to do that, honest.
I'd have asked her not to. I wanted to take care of this myself.”
“You already handed me my nose.”
A deep breath. “I'm really sorry about
that. I got mad.”
“You know, I was ready to hurt you back.
If security hadn't been there so fast, I would have tried. Chao told me
that if I'd laid a hand on you I could have been terminated from Ko.
Maybe my whole family.”
That chilled her. “I'm sorry.”
“No need to apologize to little old me.
I'm just a pebble in your road.”
“Tiger, can't we just make up?”
“I suppose we can if you say so. You seem
to be in charge of everything else around here.” He sounded so bitter,
and there was a part of her that wanted to cup his face in her hands
and try to smooth away all the misunderstanding. But she didn't know
how to do that in this public place, when perhaps he felt that he
couldn't refuse her touch; and it would kill her if he flinched.
“I wish things weren't so hard,” she said,
and stood up. “I don't want us to be like this.”
“How do you want us to be?”
She opened her hands helplessly. “I'll see
you later,” she said finally, and left him. At the other end of the gym
she turned around and saw him, head down, pounding one fist over and
over on the mat.
“Nobody else can make him that mad.” She
turned back and found Bat next to her, watching Tiger with patient
sadness. “Would it kill you to be nice to him?”
“It wasn't like that,” Jackal said, and
began to move away, but Bat caught her arm.
“There's a trip to Hong Kong next week. To
shop for the holidays. Do you want to come?” They both looked at Tiger.
“He'd like it,” Bat said finally.
“I might.” But she knew the right thing to
do. She had hurt Tiger and damaged the web, and now she would have to
roll on her back and show everyone her throat so they would know she
still belonged to them.
She said, “All right. I will.”
Jackal and her web mates took the Nan Hai
tunnel train from Ko Island to the Apleichau Island Omniport. The
omniport was a gift from Ko, a multibillion dollar project that had
included extending Apleichau's land mass by twenty-seven percent to
make room for the immigration complex and the water, air, and
tunnel-train arrivals. No one entered or left Hong Kong without passing
through the port. The security network, the immigration computer, and
the entire port-of-entry traffic management system were Ko technology.
Jackal imagined Hong Kong had been very grateful.
She spent the entire
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