Free Floating City by Eric Van Lustbader Page B

one else saw. He wore dark glasses and it was only because I stood at his side that I was aware of the depth of his feeling.”
    Akinaga, gazing at the bloody banners of the kamikaze hanging over their heads, gave a little smile. “But I know that the son is not the father. The Colonel understood the expediency of elasticizing the codes of American law, but I question whether Nicholas Linnear would be able to do the same. His is a rigid code of honor. If he had been a seventeenth-century samurai, I believe that he would refuse to hire ninja to circumvent the laws of Bushido. He would have perished in the political imperatives of infighting.”
    “Still, I would urge extreme caution with Linnear,” Ushiba said. “There are stories that he is even more powerful than we believe. Stirring up a Demon Spider from slumber is not usually the best strategy. At this crucial time when the Godaishu is in its final phase of consolidating its power, it would be better to do nothing to arouse his suspicions.”
    “Perhaps. But when I hear arguments such as yours, Daijin, I am reminded of the hero Yoshitoshi, who set out to destroy the great Demon Spider that had slain nine thousand and ninety heroic men. When he found the hideous monster, it was sick and in pain because of the many wounds it had suffered at the hands of these heroes. It was incapable of defending its nest where its young lay sleeping.” His eyes, now seeming even more sunken into his face, were sad. “The truth isn’t always as we perceive it or wish it to be, Daijin.”
    Ushiba nodded, thinking of Chosa’s promise that he had found Linnear’s Achilles’ heel. “Yes. I suppose even Demon Spiders can be destroyed.” He gazed upward at the bloody banners of the kamikaze and thought again of the Demon Spider and his brood. Akinaga had meant the myth to be illustrative of Nicholas Linnear, but Ushiba suspected that it could equally exemplify his father, Colonel Linnear. Nicholas Linnear had within him the true nature of the legendary Japanese hero, a moral center holding fast in the face of overwhelming odds.
    “You don’t sound convinced.”
    Ushiba drew his shoulders up, trying to warm himself. He would have loved a heavier coat, but he was determined not to show signs of weakness among these jackals. To do so would surely undermine his complex position of counselor with them. “Akinaga-san, I spend half my days with the iteki Americans so I can say with an authority you lack that I cannot respect them. Unlike Chosa, I see their culture as a corruptive influence on Japan. But Nicholas Linnear is no iteki. In fact, I am convinced that he is not like other men. Chosa does not understand this.”
    “Huh, Chosa.” Akinaga made a face as if being offered spoiled fish. “I think he aspires to ascend to the Kaisho’s throne even while he so artfully argues that the very idea of Kaisho is unacceptable since it puts too much power in the hands of one individual. I don’t approve of his rashness, but I can certainly understand it. Imagine the stature of the man who destroyed Nicholas Linnear. I see this excuse to destroy Linnear as another attempt on Chosa’s part to gain influence over the rest of us.”
    So Akinaga did not see the danger in involving Nicholas Linnear either. Like Chosa, he was too wrapped up in the personal maneuvering for power among the remaining oyabun of the inner council to consider the long-term ramifications of another abortive attempt on Linnear’s life. Ushiba was abruptly weary of the constant infighting between these oyabun. How he missed the Kaisho, who, whatever his faults, had kept them united and equal. Since Mikio Okami’s disappearance, it seemed every issue was viewed in terms of how it would impact the individual members of the council. Still Ushiba was surprised that he missed Okami, someone who, just months ago, he had wanted out of office.
    “I swore an oath, as we all did. My duty to the Godaishu comes first.”