The Dragon Men

“I would like to hear the Chinese perspective,” Phipps replied smoothly. “I am sure it differs from the English one.”

“To be sure,” Li said dryly. “I assume you know of the first battle over opium.”

The soldier dove back below, and there was another crash. A moment later, Click emerged with the soldier’s hat in his mouth. He dropped it on the deck and strolled innocently away. The other soldiers laughed, and for that Gavin was grateful. It would have been all too easy for the mood to run the other way. The Lady had passed the desert some days ago and was now gliding over lush green farms and pine forests blanketed in drowsy mist. The air was cool and damp, a refreshing change from hot, arid winds. They had stopped twice for supplies, and both times the local farmers in their peaked straw hats had given the soldiers everything they demanded with a fawning deference that clearly masked an underlying fear.

“I know the Opium War well,” Phipps said. “We English were flooding China with cheap opium from India-”

“Creating addicts everywhere and taking silver out of China,” Li interrupted. “It was a terrible problem. You Westerners have no idea what your greed for silver was doing to us.”

“Of course I know. Just as I know what your greed for petroleum has done to the Middle East and what your greed for metal has done to the United States.” Phipps stroked her monocle with a brass fingertip. “Perhaps, for the sake of this conversation, we could acknowledge that both empires have done good and evil.”

Li gave a nod. “Perhaps. In any case, all that opium created an entire class of addiction in China, and it meant tael after tael of silver left our country. England also had the right to sell factory-made products in China, and they were cheaper than those we make in small shops or at home, which meant our people bought them and pushed Chinese workers out of their jobs. The last straw came at Taku.”

“What happened at Taku?”

“A fleet of British ships carrying soldiers and diplomats sailed up the Peiho River toward Taku. It’s an important fortress, and the emperor was afraid-”

“You mean his generals were afraid,” Phipps interrupted.

Li waved a hand. “It is the same thing. The emperor was afraid that so many armed soldiers in the same area might lead to fighting, so he asked the fleet to anchor farther north. It was a reasonable request. Unfortunately, your envoy deliberately took it as an insult and decided to attack Taku. It sparked a war, one that we initially won. We threw the British out of China, and the emperor closed the borders.”

“Interesting.” Phipps scratched her nose. “But that’s-”

“It’s not the entire story, if I may,” Li said. “A year later, the British invaded in force. They fought all the way to Peking. There was a sort of desperation to the attack, actually.”

“The cure was pushing them,” Phipps said.

Li nodded. “The British knew they had only limited time with. . what is your word?”

“Clockworkers,” Phipps said.

“A pejorative in your language.”

Phipps glanced at Gavin, who kept his face neutral, as if he had no idea what they were talking about. “Depending on how it’s used.”

“The English Dragon. . clockworkers were dying out, and soon our Dragon Men would have the upper hand worldwide. If the English were going to invade, it had to be right then. But in the end, the British lost at Peking. General Su Shun-or rather, Emperor Xianfeng-ordered the execution of everyone who had any contact with British soldiers to ensure the destruction of the cure within China, and then he sealed the borders again. Our Dragon Men are safe.”

“And so is your ability to invade the rest of the world once British and European builders of clocks have died,” Phipps added with a bitter note. Gavin uneasily concurred. It was the only conclusion.

Li shrugged. “I do as the emperor commands.”

At that moment, a single nightingale flittered across the deck. It was carrying something in its claws. The little metal bird dropped the small object in Lieutenant Li’s hand, then perched on his shoulder. Gavin heard a faint voice, though he didn’t catch the words. He glanced at Alice’s pocket, where his silver nightingale currently resided. Li’s face went pale at the nightingale’s recorded message. The military demeanor left him. Slowly, with deference and fear in every movement, he sidled across the deck toward Gavin, the object clutched to his chest and the nightingale on his shoulder. Gavin exchanged puzzled looks with Alice. What now?

“Do you need something, Lieutenant?” Gavin asked.

With a lightning movement that caught even Gavin’s clockworker reflexes off guard, Li clapped his hand to Gavin’s left ear. A hot needle pierced his eardrum with white pain. Gavin howled. He snapped out a hand and stiff- armed Li so hard, the man flew backward across the deck. Gavin dropped to his knees, still screaming, his hand on his ear. The hot pain was excruciating. It went on and on. He was vaguely aware that Alice was kneeling next to him with her arm around his shoulder and that most of the soldiers on deck were standing around him with their swords and pistols out. The pain drilled a molten hole through his skull, leaving a trail of coals behind it.

And then it stopped. The pain vanished as if it had never been. The change was so abrupt, he became light- headed.

“Gavin!” Alice was saying. “Darling, what’s wrong? What did he do to you?”

He got to his feet. The hand at his ear was a little warm and sticky, and he felt bumpy metal beneath his fingers. The soldiers kept their weapons at the ready. Outside their circle, Li had already risen. He looked unhappy. Phipps looked furious.

“How dare you attack him!” she said in Chinese. “You bring shame to your-”

Gavin brought his hand down, revealing his ear. There was a group gasp. A tinkle and clank of dropped weapons indicated numb fingers all round. Every soldier, including Li, dropped to his knees and knocked his forehead on the decking.

“What the hell?” Gavin looked at the soldiers, then at the little smear of blood on his palm.

“Oh!” Phipps wove her way among the kneeling soldiers, who kept their facedown position, and put out a finger to touch Gavin’s ear. “I didn’t even consider. Oh, damn it. I’m sorry, Ennock. I should have thought-”

“What’s going on?” Alice demanded.

“Li put a salamander in Gavin’s ear,” Phipps said. “That messenger bird brought it. I’m guessing it also told him Gavin is a clockworker-a Dragon Man.”

“So?” The salamander lay curled around the outside of Gavin’s ear. He followed its contours with his finger. The tail seemed to be lodged in his aural canal. He tugged at it, and a blinding pain came over him again. He staggered and let go. The pain stopped.

“Don’t touch it,” Alice cautioned. “Let me have a look.”

“You can’t take it out,” Phipps said. “Not without killing him.”

“What?” Gavin almost tugged at it again, then thought better of it. “What do you mean? What’s it for? What’s it doing?”

“Dragon Men are revered in China.” Phipps gestured at the kowtowing soldiers. “But they’re also feared, and with good reason. Clockworkers-Dragon Men-always put rulers in a tough spot. They have great power, but they’re deadly lunatic. The British Empire coped by creating the Third Ward and building the Doomsday Vault. China has a different solution.”

“A salamander?” Alice was examining the object as best she could. Gavin remained still, though he felt sick. It seemed as if he could feel the thing’s tail worming into his skull.

“All Dragon Men in China have to wear one,” Phipps said. “It’s the law. Rogue Dragon Men are executed.”

“But what does it do?” Gavin demanded.