argue. His arm felt like lead. He had been fatigued two hours ago. At this point he was staggering with exhaustion.
“Now that we have cured you of your samurai impulses…” Ming took Bolan’s sword and walked to a rack loaded with Chinese kung fu weaponry of every description. He picked up a length of bloodred silk ribbon and tied it to the ring in Bolan’s hilt. “Observe.”
Ming slowly swished the blade through the air, the red ribbon twirling behind it like an angry serpent. “The dadao is called the war sword. One reason is that you could issue it to a raw recruit and with little training he could take it in both hands and smite an enemy with some effectiveness. However, in the hands of an adept, the dadao becomes a thing of great subtlety.”
Bolan watched as Ming wove a web of steel with the blade. The ribbon twirled along in its wake like the prop of an Olympic rhythmic gymnast. “The ribbon can be used to distract the enemy…or worse.” Ming suddenly snapped his wrist and the end of the ribbon licked out and whipped against the vase of flowers on the table. The pottery cracked and Bolan realized the end of the ribbon was weighted. Ming let go of the sword as he swung it and caught the silk ribbon by its weighted ends. The gangster dropped low into a spinning crouch. The sword deployed at the end of the ribbon, adding three feet to Ming’s reach. It scythed around at ankle level and sank into the wood of a courtyard beam.
Ming yanked the ribbon, and sword’s hilt leaped back into his hand. “The dadao has endless possibilities.”
Ming nodded at a samurai sword in the rack, and Bolan drew it. Ming motioned for Bolan to attack.
“Now the iron ring pommel,” Ming lectured, “cannot only be used to strike an opponent, but to trap his weapon and disarm him.”
Bolan slashed, and Ming twirled his weapon like a baton. He slapped the pommel ring around the tip of Bolan’s sword and yanked it halfway down the blade. It took all of Bolan’s strength not to have the sword ripped from his grip as Ming twisted and yanked.
Ming grinned as they played tug of war for a moment with the trapped blades, testing each other’s strength. “But should your opponent prove too strong for you to take his weapon away…” Ming roared like a lion and torqued his wrists. The blade of Bolan’s trapped katana snapped in two. “You may destroy it, and then him.”
Ming sighed as he held up the weapon and ran his eyes along the edge. “The dadao is a two-handed sword, but you have discovered that a strong man may easily wield it like a saber in one. Thus, in the morning you shall practice one handed, and then again in the afternoon we shall practice with two hands. There your training on the Japanese katana may be of some assistance to you.”
He handed the blade back to Bolan.
“I thank you, Sifu.” Bolan bowed slightly and used the Chinese honorific for teacher.
“It is my pleasure.” Ming bowed too. He clapped his hands, and two beautiful women appeared in the silk robes and coiffures of medieval Chinese courtesans. “Butterfly, Jade, see to our guest’s injuries.” Ming leered. “See to his every need.”
Butterfly and Jade bowed to Bolan. Beneath their thick lashes, the women’s eyes roved over Bolan’s naked and bloody torso like horse traders presented with a strange and powerful new breed they did not recognize.
“Gau,” Ming called. Gau instantly appeared at Ming’s right hand. “Summon Du, and tell him to bring his butterfly knives.” Ming drew his broadsword once more. “I feel…invigorated.”
Bolan didn’t envy Du. He paused a moment as Jade and Butterfly gently took him by the elbow to lead him back to his chambers. “Sifu?”
“The lesson is over. You may call me Ming. All my friends do.”
Bolan bowed slightly. “May I inquire, my friend, if you have heard from any of your agents since yesterday?”
“Indeed. Three of my men have made inquiries into the matter and reported back already.” Ming clapped his hands. “Ho!”
A hulking, shaven-headed servant Bolan had not seen before came through the curtains behind Ming’s throne. He bore a large carved box and held it out for Bolan, who lifted the lid.
Three severed heads lay nested in the box. They gazed up at him, their faces frozen in the contortion of their final fear and agony.
“I will need to send more men.” Ming smiled his enigmatic smile once more and dropped his eyes to the dadao in Bolan’s hands. “In the meantime, I suggest you practice.”
CIA Safehouse, Macao
BOLAN DRANK SOME TEA. Butterfly and Jade had taken him to his chambers and applied liniment to his bruises and ointments to his cuts. He smelled like a Chinese herbalist shop, but his bruises had subsided and the cuts had been reduced to thin pink lines.
Once they had been assured of his survival, they had been insistent on seeing to Bolan’s other needs, as well. He smiled at the memory and wondered if he’d have any strength left for the evening’s sword lesson. He’d been limp when Du had taken him by rickshaw to the safehouse. Du had been sullen, silent and covered with bruises himself. His knife technique had not been enough to save him from a beating at Ming’s hands.
Bolan checked the time and hit a key on the laptop. Kurtzman’s face appeared on the monitor via satellite link. He cocked his head at Bolan’s salve-smeared body.
“Do I want to ask?”
Bolan thought about Butterfly and Jade. “You might.”
Kurtzman read Bolan’s expression. “Man…you have all the fun.”
Bolan shrugged and drank more tea.
“Well, tell me about Ming, then. I hear he’s quite a character.”
“That’s an understatement.”
Kurtzman looked curious. “And?”
Bolan smiled proudly. “He says my swordsmanship is salvageable.”
Kurtzman blinked. “Well, that’s good news.”
“I think he’s taken a shine to me.”
Kurtzman paused. “That’s a good thing?”
“If we want his cooperation, yes. I get the impression he’s been kind of lonely since the triads pushed him out of Shanghai. He’s been wasting away in exile like fallen royalty. I got his blood moving again. He really seems to be enjoying having a student.”
“That’s all well and good, but where’s the mission payoff?”
“In China, the criminal underworld and the martial arts are deeply intertwined. Both have their code of honor. By taking me on as his student, his code obliges him to help me against my enemies. It’s his plausible excuse to himself and his superiors for getting involved in business he shouldn’t.”
“So what have you learned?”
“So far, not much. Ming apparently got a few nibbles, and his agents promptly got their heads cut off. The interesting thing was that they were spread out. One was in the Philippines, one in Malaysia and one in Java.”
“A real pan-Southeast Asian movement.” Kurtzman chewed his lower lip. “It’s not good, but if it’s a charismatic movement like you suspect—”
“Then I’ll have to find that charismatic head and cut it off,” Bolan finished.
Kurtzman scowled. “That’ll be a neat trick, especially doing it without turning him into a martyr.”
“Yeah.” Bolan considered the fanatical movements he’d fought before. “I’ll just have to do it in a way that doesn’t leave any doubts.”
“First, you’ve got to find him.”
“Speaking of which, where’s Rosario?”
“He’s in Central America.