Free Chasing the Phoenix by Michael Swanwick Page A

knees. “Well, sir, you can’t blame me for trying. But, you see, being big as I am, I’ve been sought out by gangs all my life. Now, the leader of a gang doesn’t want a bruiser like me thinking I can maybe take over control of his operation. So the first thing he does is pick a fight and thrash me good and proper, to show who’s the boss. In all my life, I’ve never won one of those fights because the gang leader is always the toughest and dirtiest scrapper in the batch. I was simply hoping to skip the painful part of the interview.” He put up his fists. “But I suppose I’ll have to go through with it now.”
    Surplus barely managed to suppress a laugh. “There is no need for that. I can see that you have the qualities I’m looking for. What is your name, soldier?”
    â€œVicious Brute, sir.”
    â€œSurely that was not your given name.”
    â€œNo, sir, all respects sir, but it was. My mother saw I was going to grow up big and thought it would give me a leg up in my profession.”
    â€œThat is the second time I have heard such a story,” Surplus marveled. “Clearly, China is a land of remarkable and foresighted mothers. You seem to be a prudent man, Vicious Brute, in spite of your name, and I do not imagine you ambushing a cavalryman and taking his mount by violence. The odds would be too uncertain.”
    Vicious Brute looked abashed. “Sir, I was acting as … an agent, you might say.”
    â€œAhhh. Then perhaps we should continue this conversation in private.”
    A look of profound relief spread itself over Vicious Brute’s face. “I knew you was a smart one, sir. First moment I saw you, I said to myself, there’s a thinker.”
    â€œObsequiousness is, in an inferior, a fine thing,” Surplus replied. “But let’s not lather it on too thickly.”
    *   *   *
    BECAUSE DARGER’S negotiation of an alliance with Southern Gate had won both rogues the Hidden King’s trust, Surplus was easily able to requisition two good horses, a sturdy pack mule, and as many provisions as the mule could carry. Because that trust was far from absolute, he could not obtain the silver that would have made his mission infinitely easier. So that afternoon, after sending a terse note to Darger explaining his absence and reporting to Ceo Powerful Locomotive, who gave him a curt warning that his friend’s life was forfeit if he did not return, Surplus saddled up and departed in the company of his new recruit.
    Following paths so overgrown that they frequently had to dismount and lead their horses, they made their way through forests of fir and birch and thick stands of bamboo, occasionally crossing one of the small stony streams that leapt and skipped down the mountainside. Vicious Brute led.
    As the shadows lengthened and daylight bled from the sky, Surplus began seeing shadowy figures in the undergrowth, gone at a glance but reappearing later to watch them from a distance. “Oh, those are just the guardian apes that our ancestors created to protect the pandas from molestation,” Vicious Brute said when he remarked upon them. “So long as you don’t get too close to one of their charges, you’re perfectly safe.”
    â€œThey look to be carrying spears.”
    â€œSpears!” Vicious Brute scoffed. “Those are little more than pointed sticks. The guardian apes are very dim creatures indeed. Do not give them a second thought.” He reined in his horse and dismounted. “We must go afoot from this point on.”
    Pushing aside a leafy bough, Vicious Brute led them into a ravine. It was darker inside, and cooler, too. Trees and brush all but crowded out the sky. Alongside a scurrying stream was a path just wide enough for them to lead their horses and donkey along it, provided they went slowly. “Be careful where you step, sir, for there are slivers of Utopian