Read The Land Leviathan (A Nomad of the Time Streams Novel) for Free Online Page B

turn, noting his reaction, had become cautious of revealing anything more.
    He seemed to relax, momentarily satisfied with my reply. “I would advise you against visiting the valley,” he said. “There are bandits in the area.”
    I wondered to myself sardonically what he called himself, but of course let nothing of this show on my face as I said: “I am grateful for the warning. Perhaps with the protection of your army...”
    He gestured impatiently. “I am fighting a war, monsieur. I cannot spare men to escort foreign journalists about the country.”
    “I apologize,” I said, and bowed again.
    There was still considerable tension in the situation and I noted that the soldiers had not relaxed but were still pointing their rifles at us. There must have been at least a hundred of them in well-protected positions on both sides of the valley. The general returned his attention to Mr. Lu. “What goods do you carry for trade?”
    Mr. Lu had folded his arms. He said impassively: “Many kinds. Mainly articles of artistic interest. Statuettes, ceramics and the like.”
    “They will be inspected,” said the general. “Instruct your men to unload the goods.”
    Again Mr. Lu obeyed without demur. As his men began to unpack the bundles which they had so recently strapped onto the pack horses, he said to me in English: “We might escape with our lives, but not, I fear, our possessions...”
    “Silence!” said the general firmly. He rode forward to where Mr. Lu’s goods had been laid out, looked them over with the shrewd eye of a Chinese peasant woman inspecting fish in a market and then rode back to where we stood. “They will be requisitioned,” he said, “to help us win freedom from the Manchus.”
    Fatalistically, Mr. Lu bowed. “A worthy cause,” he said dryly. “The horses—?”
    “The horses will also be requisitioned. They will be of particular use...”
    It was at this point that he was interrupted by the sound of machine-gun fire and I thought at first that he had somehow given the signal for our slaughter. But the gunfire came from higher up the hillside and I saw at once that it was his men who were the target for the attack. My spirits lifted. Surely these must be government troops coming to our rescue!
    My relief was shortlived. Almost at once General Liu Fang shouted an order to his men and, head well down over the neck of his horse, spurred rapidly for the cover of some nearby rocks.
    It had begun to rain suddenly—a heavy, misty rain which acted like fog to obscure visibility—and I had no idea of what was happening, save that the general’s troops were firing on us.
    Mr. Lu’s men dived for their own weapons, but half of them were cut down before they could reach their rifles. Those who remained snatched up their guns and sought what cover they could. Mr. Lu grabbed my arm and together we ran towards a depression in the ground where we might escape the worst of the concentrated fire from above. We flung ourselves down and buried our faces in the soft moss while the three-sided battle went on all around us. I remember noting that the machine-guns kept up an incredibly efficient chattering and I wondered how any Chinese army could have acquired such artillery (for the Chinese are notorious for the poor quality of their arms and their inefficiency in maintaining those that they have).
    Bullets thudded about us and I expected to be hit at any moment. I shouted over the noise of gunfire and the cries of the wounded. “Who are they, Mr. Lu?”
    “I do not know, Mr. Moorcock. All I do know is that whereas we might have escaped with our lives, we now stand a very good chance of being killed. They doubtless consider it more important to destroy General Liu Fang than to save us!” He laughed. “I regret that I shall be forced to return your fee—I have not kept my part of the bargain. Your chances of finding the Valley of the Morning have become exceptionally slender. My protection has proved