Mouse by Jeff Stone

behind him.
    HaiZhe removed his pistols and set them down, then backed away until he was out of ShaoShu's sight.
    Tonglong headed for the doorway, and ShaoShu remembered the trip wires. “General Tonglong, wait!” he called out. “It's a trap! HaiZhe has silk strings connected to muskets in the ceiling.”
    Tonglong stopped. “What are you doing here, ShaoShu?”
    “I came to see if I could help, and I'm glad I did, sir. Commander Lei cut me off before I could tell you about the trap. I had to sneak beneath it, or I would have been blown to bits.”
    HaiZhe laughed. “That little rat can't be trusted. Come into my office, General, and let me tell you about my old friend LoBak.”
    Tonglong took a step forward, and ShaoShu sprang into action. He grabbed a bag of musket balls and headed for Tonglong, hurling the bag through the doorway.
    KA-POW! POW! POW! POW!
    Musket shot rained down from the ceiling, ricocheting off the floor and walls. Thick smoke billowed through the doorway.
    Tonglong's face hardened, and ShaoShu stared beyond him, through the doorway. From this angle, ShaoShu saw LoBak, bound and gagged, lying next to HaiZhe. Neither appeared to have been injured by the musket fire.
    HaiZhe reached for his pistols.
    BANG!
    HaiZhe's body suddenly lurched backward and went limp, lying still. ShaoShu turned to see Lei holding a smoking pistol, a huge grin on his face.
    “Congratulations, General Tonglong,” Lei said. “You are now officially the Southern Warlord.”
    Tonglong spun around. “I thought I told you to stay with the ship!?” he said angrily.
    “And miss all the fun?” Lei replied. “Not a chance.”
    Tonglong scowled. “I would have preferred to take HaiZhe alive. How long have you been standing there?”
    “Long enough to know what I had to do, sir. I am sorry if you feel I did the wrong thing. It won't happen again.”
    Tonglong cursed, walking away toward his new soldiers and the huge stockpile of gunpowder barrels against the far wall.
    Lei headed for ShaoShu. “Why did you say that I cut you off before you could tell General Tonglong about the trip wires?”
    “I … I don't know,” ShaoShu replied nervously.
    “You had better watch your back, Little Mouse,” Lei said, tapping the pistols across his chest. “Accidents happen all the time with guns around.”
    ShaoShu swallowed hard, and Lei breezed past him into HaiZhe's office. Lei hauled LoBak to his feet. “You're coming with me, Medicine Man,” he said. “You know too much about HaiZhe's operations to be running loose.”
    ShaoShu followed them back to the docks, where Lei handed LoBak off to a group of sailors. “Take him below,” Lei said. “I shall return shortly.”
    “Aye, sir,” the sailors replied.
    Lei turned to ShaoShu. “Get on the boat and staythere. If you step out of line, you will join the old man in the hold. Is that clear?”
    “Yes, sir,” ShaoShu said.
    Lei hurried back to the warehouse, and ShaoShu climbed aboard Tonglong's man-o-war. He considered trying to sneak belowdecks to check on LoBak but decided not to risk it. At least, not yet.
    Bored, ShaoShu scurried up one of the ship's tall sails. He found it remarkably easy to do with the bamboo slats. Stopping near the top, he surveyed the surroundings. From this vantage point, he could see all around HaiZhe's warehouse. Soldiers and sailors were busy removing items from the weapons wing, transporting them to Tonglong's ship and the six merchant vessels. They were making quick work of it.
    After some time, Lei returned with a box under his arm. He entered Tonglong's cabin and emerged a quarter of an hour later with the box, plus a small scroll. Lei was blowing on the scroll's wax seal to cool it down, and ShaoShu noticed that he was now wearing a large ring. It was shiny, so it caught ShaoShu's attention. He strained his eyes and saw that the ring had a raised image on top. ShaoShu knew that these types of rings were used to imprint a special pattern or