Today is the start of Chapter 29, which I will warn you in advance, is a lot of backstory exposition. Most writers dispense with such chapters these days and just leave their plots and character motivations unspoken and implied. Frankly I don't like that kind of thing and I want to know how the puzzle pieces fit together. So today and the next couple of postings, I will start to connect some dots for you.
You will recognize this scene. Clete gets his ass hauled out of bed early for a breakfast meeting. It's happened at least twice before and every time it's happened, something bad happened not too long after. So, as a good scientist, he takes note of the pattern that has emerged and he tries to take it seriously.
But the tides of Dog Island are inexorable and he eventually must succumb and relent. But right now, whether he wants to or not, he needs to sit and listen
... as the story continues ...
Personal Journal Entry
U.S. Time: Wednesday,
August 29, 2012
Island Time: Dragon,
Month 7, Day 13, Xingqi 3
Project Time: Week 10,
Day 4
There was a knock on my door early
in the morning. I expected to find one of the Daughters issuing some sort of
summons or request, but it was, surprisingly, Mu. Of all the Cousins, she was
the one who has kept the most distance from me. The incident leading up to my
adventure with Skipper and Hari and the boys out on the ocean yesterday changed
all that. If there was a message from her it was always relayed by someone
else, usually Nu. I guess the “royal wall between peasant and nobility” had been breached
yesterday.
I thought I had successfully eluded
being confronted by her after returning Nu. After a lot of thought last night,
maybe getting to know these people was a mistake. Getting knocked unconscious
and then having an earring forced on me against my will gave me a lot of
misgivings. I left the earring alone, so I’m learning to sleep differently
until this thing heals. In fact, when Lee saw what had happened to me, she lent
me her “pillow.” A pillow to Dog Islanders is not sealed bag of feathers like
it is to us Gringos. It’s a wooden rack that you put under your neck, just at the
nape. It looks uncomfortable as hell, but what it does is hold your head in a
posture in relation to your torso as if you were standing straight. It keeps
your airway clear because the tube is not bent and you sleep more soundly. And
it kept me from rolling onto my side possibly reinjuring my ear. I think it’s a
Manchurian thang. Those traditional ladies had very elaborate hairstyles and
apparently such pillows were good for keeping them from needing even more
maintenance.
I decided my curiosity about Dog
Island history was starting to fade now that it was having implications on my
corporal integrity. I decided NOT to call in my chips on having all my
questions answered. With knowledge comes responsibility. If things continued as
past experience indicated, to learn something new meant having to deal with a
subsequent problem. Right now, I wanted to be left alone.
Mostly, I feared greatly that
cutting Nu’s hair was going to land me back in jail or worse. There are
certainly Pacific Islander cultures where if you touch a kid’s head, you’re
subject to the death penalty by the kid’s dad. It would be like molesting a
9-year-old back in the States. I was
hoping against hope that administering tonsorial services, even those asked
for, was not such a case here on “Weird Island.”
“Mu. What a pleasant surprise. I was going to report in after completing
the mission, but it was pretty obvious that we accomplished the goal, and I was
pretty tired. So I hope you didn’t mind that I turned in rather early, because
I was thinking …”
“You seem nervous. Is there a problem? Are you hiding something inside
your cottage that I should know about?”
“Do I look nervous?”
“Yes. Very. And guilty.”
“Well, I’m not.”
“Luckily for you, I’m not here to conduct an investigation. Please join
me for breakfast this morning.”
“It’s my custom to always take breakfast with Lee and Ling.”
“You’ve been excused.”
“I’m a man of habit. I’ll stick with Lee’s porridge.”
“Don’t be difficult. Are you ready to go now?”
“You’re not going to send me on any other missions, are you M?”
“M?”
“Ian Fleming. Never mind. Let’s go.”
We proceeded into Feng’s territory,
the Phoenix Domain, up to a high point that they call “The Turret,” because it
is a natural promontory and observation location. A carpet had been dragged out
and set upon the ground. A squarish “coffee” table had been set on top of the
carpet.
Feng and daughter Gwen were setting
out several covered dishes. I was invited to sit down on the rug at the table.
Feng brought out a hot pot of tea and served out the three places that were
set. When everything was set, Feng and Gwen faced us, gave a deep bow, and Gwen
excused herself while Feng also took a seat. Feng removed the lids from the covered
dishes revealing five types of dumplings, small bowls of porridge, small
grilled fish, and some sweet rice.
“How many hours before dawn were you up making this?” I asked. “This is
much too elaborate.”
“I apologize if this disappoints you, Dr. Wong,” said Mu.
“It’s fine. It’s wonderful! But why?”
“You fulfilled your assignment yesterday. It’s a token of our
appreciation. And now I am prepared to fulfill my part of the agreement.”
“No need. Let’s just keep it all at arm’s length? OK? I am no longer
curious about your internal or personal affairs.”
“What’s wrong with you? A scholar who has lost his will to inquire?
Unheard of.”
“I finally remembered I’m on vacation. It’s OK for me to slack off. Feng?”
I said trying to change the subject, “you haven’t said a word. Are you upset or
something?” She merely smiled and nodded at me.
“She is acting as my attendant today. She will remain silent. She will
speak if I say something wrong or if I ask her to corroborate something.”
For Feng to sit silent seemed
entirely incorrect to me. And yet, she knew exactly how to play the role of
complacent attendant. It struck me as both disorienting and strategic. To have
her there like that felt like we were in front of an intelligent supercomputer
analyzing my every word and movement. I didn’t like it.
“Feng informs me that she had promised to make disclosures to you about
her personal history in return for your sharing stories with the Second
Princesses and her about your personal life, particularly your prior
marriage. She apologizes that she never
made good on that and that is part of the reason why she is participating with
me today.”
“I figured you’d eventually get around to it,” I said directly to Feng;
she merely diverted her eyes coyly downward. What game was she playing I
wondered.
“She intentionally delayed because she was afraid you would think poorly
of her and Wen.”
“Meh. All of us have things in our past we’d do differently if we had
the chance. Let’s leave it at that.”
“Indeed. Please partake.”
Once that she saw my mouth was full, she started to talk.
Damn.
“Let me begin then while you eat,
it was late in the year of the Water Monkey that I felt that it was necessary
for my body to produce a daughter. I was 35 and still unmarried …”
I bolted down what was in my mouth.
Again, trying to not learn more than I needed to know.
“Mu, if this is an uncomfortable topic for you, Captain Andou already
shared with me the circumstances of Nu’s conception. If you’d rather not go
into it yourself,”
“Did he? How did the topic come up?”
I related the story that I was given.
“It’s good that you have it from his viewpoint. And I am very gratified
to hear how he describes it himself. He is most delicate and commendable.”
“I like the Skipper. He seems a reliable sort. Maybe morally ambiguous,
but in a good way.”
“Now you know. We all have similar stories. And tell me what you are
thinking with all of this?”
“It’s not that big a deal. In the U.S. we do the same thing. Women like
you who are running out their biological clocks use an even less biological technique
for acquiring offspring that we call fertility treatments.”
“What do they do?”
“The sire and … uh, ‘dam?’ … is that a good word? They never see each
other. The materials are combined in lab petri dishes and resulting embryos are
implanted surgically, either into the mother herself or sometimes a designated
surrogate.”
“That sounds perfectly awful.”
“It’s
perfectly acceptable and normal. It has the advantage of avoiding transmission
of venereal diseases. I suppose, like seedlings, they can thin out the weak
ones eh? Or the wrong sex.”
“So you’re perfectly fine with either approach?”
“It’s terribly expensive in the U.S. So test-tube babies are a luxury
item. Your method is certainly cost effective if nothing else. Although I’ve
heard that lesbians have figured out low-cost alternatives with turkey basters
and scheduling volunteer gay male ‘chicken chokers.’ You don’t need a medical
degree there. But, hell, I know it’s important for people to have children.
It’s why we’re all here right?”
“I don’t know half of the words you just threw out there. I’m sure they
are NOT polite. You don’t think it’s all a breach of fidelity?”
“Against whom?”
“Against ideal circumstances.”
“Oh God! I hope I’m never judged against unreachable standards. HOWEVER,
I think you set yourselves up to be in that situation. You had to know if you
live someplace without men, getting married and having babies is going to be a
problem right? Take me back a step and tell me why you are here. Andou said
there was a flood and he left. Natsuki mentioned the flood too. Why did you all
stay? It’s not an easy life here by any means.”
“It was more than a flood. Dog Island was more than twice the size that
it is now. There were several hundred people living here quite sustainably.
People cycled on and off all the time, it’s a very isolated existence, but
there are 13 clans who made up the core, and we were very close.
“In 1988 on the day after the Seven-Seven Festival, there was a storm,
an earthquake, and a surge, and the northeast portion of the Island, beyond
Ting Ting’s domain, receded under the sea. It took away the primary food
production area, and where most people made their home. Many, many people
drowned. Bodies washed up on the shore every day. Forty-seven people were never
accounted for. I think the best word is cataclysm. Everything man-made was leveled except The Shrine and the structures in The Outside in the heart of
The Grove.
“After the initial shock subsided, there was great debate over why such
a thing would happen to us. The answer came. All of the survivors started to
have the same dream. It was interpreted to mean that judgment had been made
against a generation that had fallen away from our primary virtue of loyalty.”
I interrupted.
“Do you know what the dream was?”
“I had it myself, but I don’t really remember entirely. It was a vision
of one fish overtaking another, one after another. It was not the content so
much as the feeling of despair you had when you awoke. The Sea Witch made the
interpretation. Once it was explained, no one disputed it.
“On the official side, the Protectorate decided the Island was no longer
inhabitable for the population and they instituted a relocation program. We
were to be moved to their primary civic center. This violated the treaty that
had been in place with every sovereignty since our family’s arrival. The royal
family had been in uninterrupted possession for at centuries. But there seemed
to be nothing else to do. No national power had ever been able to tame and use
The Island other than our family and it seemed that the gods were banishing
us.”
“1988 … you were all about 30 at
the time. You were in charge and running
the place?”
“No. Power was always held by people over 60. We were 29. We were
trained, but not entrusted with anything. Deposing the rulers was part of the
judgment of the gods. Survivors said that in the surge the water seemed to rise
in order to target the two men in charge. They had sought high ground which is
why so many other were taken with them.”
“So they were washed away then?”
“Yes.”
“Who were they?”
“The old Sea Witch and The Regent.”
“The Regent?”
“The consort of 18th avatar of The Empress.”
“My father,” said Feng. “The surge took my mother too. And my little
brother, Liu, too. I lost all of my family that day. He was only 23.” Feng had
to stop and compose herself. “Father was not a bad or evil man. If anything he
was too complacent. Too trusting, too willing to be directed by others. Mother
was the last of her cohort. They were nine as we are. And they died, one each
month in the time leading up to the surge. Always on the eight day of the lunar
month.”
“An odd coincidence,” I said, almost as a reflex.
“There are no coincidences here,” said Mu. “Or have you not figured that
out yet Professor? Everybody wanted to believe what you believe. And that is
why they did not read the portent correctly. The portent that scientists like
yourself believe in had emerged—a pattern. Not that there was anything we could
have done about it.”
“And so the day came when a ship was sent to evacuate the last of the
inhabitants, us, the nine princesses, and Moriko and her daughter.”
“Moriko?”
“The current Sea Witch. She didn’t give you her name when you visited
there? It means ‘Forest Girl’ since she was born in The Grove as we were.
But
there we were already in the boat which had anchored in the harbor, ready to
leave when Lee gets up and asks to be taken back. The authorities of course
refused.
“I’m going back on my own. I
will swim.”
“We will not take
responsibility for your health or welfare,” the official said.
“That’s fine. You never had
responsibility for me anyway, ever.”
“Lee,” I said. “Why?”
“Someone must walk the
beaches and bury the last 47 when the water god gives them back and puts them shore.
When that is done, I will leave.”
“Their bodies were probably
eaten. They are all part of the essence of the life around us now,” I answered.
“Perhaps. But I am not as
sure as you. No matter. I accept it as my 法, my dharma.”
“And the Prince?”
“What of him?”
“You would then keep him all
for yourself?”
I
thought she would bite off my head for that comment, she gave me such a look of
contempt.
“If … that … worthless person
ever comes, I will berate him for abandoning his duty. It will take all that is
within me to suppress the urge to tear his heart out after I ask him why he was
not here to save us as was prophesied. I am done with such things. I hate that
I was born for such a one.”
And
as simple as that, she went overboard and started swimming. The Sea Witch
immediately started tying Natsuki to a life preserver. The Protectorate captain
asked her what SHE was doing.
“I am pledged by my office and
clan to serve The Empress as long as she is on the Island. So I am going as
well.”
The
Third Branch girls, Lum, Ting Ting, and Qi, whispered among themselves and were
all inspired by Lee and immediately shed their clothes and were likewise diving
over the side. Qi said to me as she went over.
“We have our own reasons
too. We are sure that the capital of the Protectorate, or any settlement
really, has no place for such useless, spoiled, and rotten rice-bucket girls as
the three of us. We choose to die in our own home than as a foreigner in a
strange place.”
Lum
went over the side last. She said to me.
“Well? Are you coming?”
“What would have me do,
Cousin?” I said. “The Gods have moved against us. The contract is obviously broken.
There is nothing for us.”
“Are you not only a Dog, but
the Dragon among us?”
“Such an unworthy title for
me.”
“Given by the Tiny Empress.
Didn’t she say we had to grow into them?”
“We will starve and die on
that ruined island.”
“Don’t be afraid. I think
not. We will not die. Not so soon. It is now our turn.”
“Did you not hear Lee and
Qi? Hope is dead.”
“I am not as fatalistic as
Qi. The Empress divided herself among us. Maybe the task that we have is bigger
than can be done by any one person. Perhaps it is for Qi to hold all of our
disappointment? And for Lee to hold all our anger?”
“If so, what terrible fates
for them. And what do you hold?”
“I don’t know. But I am
Wood. I know I can grow things. I will do my part. Take heart cousin. If you
come, I will feed you. Rise up. Rise up and handle those dreadful tyrants who
would dispossess us of our birthright, my Dragon Princess and Protector. You
too Phoenix Princess. You must fly together to be your strongest.”
After
laying that charge on us, she left us to make for the shore. Feng put her hands
on Moriko before she could throw her baby over the side.
“As daughter of The Regent and
successor apparent of the office of The Regent,” Feng spoke up, drily and
authoritatively, “I am asserting and assuming the right to my hereditary office
today. By the terms of our treaty, the royal family requests safe passage by a
lighter escort back onshore.”
“As Dog Island’s Dragon
Guardian Princess of the East,” I declared, “would you give me something to write
with? I need to draft our formal request for aid pursuant to our treaty.”
© Copyright 2012 by Vincent Way, all rights reserved.
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Be truthful and frank, but be polite. If you use excessive profanity, I'll assume you have some kind of character flaw like Dr. Wong. Tks!