Jade War

Rohn Toro stepped back through the broken window as the sound of sirens rose distantly. “Anyone with jade needs to leave now before the police arrive,” Rohn said. “Split up and lie low for a while. Don’t talk to any cops; you don’t know anything about what happened here. I’ll call and leave messages when it’s safe.”

“All the people still downstairs in the grudge hall—we need to get them out,” Cory said.

“I’ll take care of that,” Rohn said. He turned to Anden. “You stay and help.”

Anden nodded dumbly, though he had no idea why Rohn thought he would be useful. Cory protested, “Don’t pull Anden into this; he shouldn’t even be here.”

“He already is,” Rohn said. “I’ll take him back to the Hians’ house afterward.” The sirens barreled closer; still, Cory hesitated. “If you’re caught here now,” Rohn growled, “you won’t be going to Watersguard.”

Cory looked as if he wanted to argue further, then closed his mouth. “Cory, you should go,” Anden urged him. The Pillar’s son gave Anden a distressed look, then turned to the others. “Okay, you heard Rohn-jen.”

The six Green Bones left in a hurry, parting ways on the sidewalk and disappearing down different streets. Rohn turned to Anden. “I need time to get everyone out the back of the building before the police have a chance to detain and question them. The cops who show up might not be as easy to handle as the ones we regularly see; if they get a chance, they might harass and threaten people into pointing out who in the neighborhood’s a Green Bone, maybe even point to the Dauk family.” Rohn’s eyes raked over Anden’s face. “I need someone to go out front and delay the police for a while. Can you do that?”

Anden said, “I’ll do it, Rohn-jen.”

Rohn nodded and clapped him once on the shoulder with a gloved hand. Anden felt the momentary pressure of the man’s jade aura, then Rohn strode back through the wreckage.

Anden went out to the front of the building and ran down the block toward the sound of the approaching sirens. When he saw the red-and-blue pulse of the squad car’s lights, he stepped off the curb and waved his arms urgently. The vehicle came to a stop in front of him. Anden brought a hand up to shield against the glare of the headlights as the door opened and a middle-aged policeman stepped out. He had a thick mustache and squinty eyes—not one of the cops Anden had seen collect from the grudge hall before. “What seems to be the problem here?” the officer demanded. “Were you the one who called in a report of gunfire in the area?”

Anden had no idea who had called but he nodded at once. He understood why Rohn had given him this task. Anden wore no incriminating jade and looked Espenian. He could pose as a concerned non-Kekonese bystander, not anyone that might be connected to the grudge hall and to the Dauks in any way.

Out of spontaneous inspiration, Anden spoke with a mild Stepenish accent. “I saw three cars racing up and down the street.” He had never been to Stepenland and did not speak a word of the language, but a few of his classmates in the IESOL program were Stepenish. A Stepenish accent was distinctly recognizable and easy to affect, and as Anden’s Espenian had greatly improved but was not perfect, it would serve to hide the only obvious indication that he was Kekonese. “They were going too fast, and the people inside were waving guns and shooting out the windows.”

“Typical bloody Southtrap goons,” the police officer grumbled. “Did you see which direction they went?”

Anden nodded and pointed west, away from the community center. “That way. About five minutes ago.”

The officer nodded in thanks, got back into his squad car, and drove in the direction Anden had indicated. Anden doubted he would be misled for long. In short order, he would discover the bodies of the dead men, the burned car, the bullet casings in the street and the shattered windows of the community center. But Anden had done as Rohn had asked: He’d bought time.

Anden waited until he was sure the squad car was gone and there were no others on the way. Glancing around to ensure he was truly alone and unwatched, he walked quickly, but not too quickly, back toward the community center, circling around the building to the grudge hall entrance at the back. Rohn Toro was closing the metal door. He was alone, and all the cars in the lot were gone. It appeared as if he’d succeeded in clearing out the building and sending everyone home. “I sent the policeman toward Fifty-Fourth Street,” Anden said as he hurried up to the man. He looked down at the puddle of blood next to the grudge hall door. “What about Sano?”

Rohn said, “Mrs. Joek took him to the hospital. It was too late, though.”

Anden muttered, “Let the gods recognize him.”