Jade War

CHAPTER 28 Not That Stupid

Bero’s prospects, which had seemed so promising last year, had been stalled for months, ever since the Mountain raided the scavenging operation and murdered the Uwiwan work crew. It had taken him and Mudt the rest of that miserable night and another two whole days to walk down the mountain and hitchhike back to Janloon. When they finally arrived, hungry, sore, and bedraggled, and told Soradiyo that Green Bones had killed the pickers, stolen the trucks, and taken the jade, the barukan manager’s face had turned purple, and he looked fit to kill both of them on the spot.

“All the fucking jade you’re wearing, and you couldn’t Perceive them in time to get out of there with anything?”

“We got out with our lives,” Mudt muttered.

“Yes, how are you alive?” Soradiyo asked, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. “Why didn’t Nau snap your necks?”

“He sent us back to give you a message,” Bero said. “Says he wants to talk. Says you’re not going to make money at this rate. I think he wants to buy you out.”

Soradiyo’s narrow face seemed to lengthen further with his scowl. “Get the fuck out of my sight,” he told them.

Bero thought their next job would be an opportunity to make up for the prior disaster, but it turned out to not even be a scavenge; they were trucked out to a windy cove on the remote west side of the island to help pack motorized fishing boats with raw jade stones hidden under ice and seafood. Apparently, the clans were unofficially running the coast guard and patrolling Kekon’s waters so vigorously that it was becoming increasingly difficult to sneak jade offshore. Soradiyo was splitting up his shipments to the Uwiwa Islands and sending half a dozen boats in different directions at the same time, hoping that at least a few would get through. Bero could smell rotting fish on his clothes, his skin, and his hair for days afterward.

The next scavenge job Soradiyo scheduled for them was canceled due to a tip-off about a Green Bone patrol in the area, and then the torrential spring rains arrived, rendering the mountains inaccessible and shutting down both legal and illegal jade mining activity for three months.

Bero expected to return to work once summer came around, but Soradiyo did not contact them. The barukan manager seemed distracted and was becoming difficult to pin down in person. The one time Bero found him in the Rat House and demanded an explanation, he said testily, “Soon, soon, all right? I’ve got other things going on, things that might solve a lot of our problems,” but refused to further elaborate. Bero became frustrated and impatient.

Mudt’s attitude did not help. “I told you from the start, keke, we don’t need that unreliable barukan asshole. It was a bad idea to begin with, but fine, we did it, we’re still alive and we made enough money to last awhile. The clans are hitting the smuggling harder and harder, and Soradiyo’s going to end up as worm food, so it’s better we get out now while we can. Get back to training seriously, and then to going after Maik.”

“I don’t give a fuck about the Maiks,” Bero snapped.

Mudt yelled at him, “Maik Tar killed my da.”

“Your da had it coming,” Bero said, “messing in a clan war, and you’ll end up the same way if you don’t shut up.”

The next day, however, Bero felt a little bad for having spoken so harshly to Mudt. They had been through quite a few harrowing times together, he and Mudt. They had stolen jade and risked death together. They were each alone, and so they were friends, of a sort. He was surprised to realize that he did not want to lose the kid, that deep down, he kind of liked him. So he called Mudt up, and they went to play pool in the basement of the Rat House. Bero said, “I didn’t mean what I said about your da. We’ll get Maik. I’ll help you get that fucker back for what he did. And then we’ll take his jade for ourselves, the same way we took Kaul’s. You and me.”

Mudt looked up with eagerness in his small black eyes and was a lot more cheerful after that. They hung out and trained, and Bero went back to dealing shine, but still he hoped that Soradiyo would call with some other work, or a new opportunity would materialize, because despite what he’d said to Mudt to make the kid feel better, Bero had no intention of going after the Maiks for the sake of some foolish sense of revenge that wasn’t important to him.

When Soradiyo finally called them up to meet in the Rat House, he clapped Bero and Mudt on the backs and spoke to them in a perfectly friendly way, as if there had never been any problems between them. When they’d all had a few drinks and gone through the usual conversational bullshit, Bero said, “We’ve been working as rockfish for more than a year. Where’s the jade you promised we’d be earning by now?”

Soradiyo spread his hands. “You’re getting it soon, keke.” He seemed to have picked up some Kekonese slang and mannerisms since Bero had first met him. “But the rainy season doesn’t count. That’s vacation time. You’ve got another couple months to go.”

Bero scowled. “So you’ve got more work for us, then?”

For the first time that Bero could remember, Soradiyo appeared nervous. He wetted his lips and leaned in to speak so that no one could overhear them. “Yeah, but it’s not a scavenge,” he said.

“What is it, then?” said Bero. “Packing rock, again?”

“It’s what you call a whispered name. Can’t wear jade to do it either, because it’s not just any name. We’ve been offered the chance to go on the offensive. To go into the tiger’s lair, so to speak. I need a couple of kekes who’re fearless and want to make a shitload of money.”

“Who are we going after?” Mudt leaned in, sounding interested for the first time.

“First, I have to be sure you’re both up to the task. We’ve got a plan to get you in, do the job and get out, no problem. Still, it’s going to be—”

“Not interested,” said Bero.

Soradiyo sat back, surprised by his quick refusal. “It’s a big opportunity. If you don’t take it, I’ll give it to Mo and Shrimps.” They were another pair of his rockfish managers.

Bero shrugged. He didn’t care to explain that he’d already been down this road. Every time he’d had a run-in with Green Bones, he’d been lucky to escape the encounter alive, and far from gaining what was promised, his fortunes had taken a nosedive. He’d had enough near-death experiences for someone who was only twenty years old, and he’d learned by now that there were easier ways to get jade than trying to kill a Green Bone directly. He finally knew what it was like to wear jade and walk around with a secret sense of power over all the weaker people around him—but the Green Bones could take it all away from him in an instant, leave his body floating in Summer Harbor.

“Give me another scavenge job. I’ll even pack fish like last time, but I’m not taking off my jade for anything, and I’m not doing any whisper work, not if it involves Green Bones,” Bero said. “I’m not that stupid.”

Soradiyo got out of his chair. “Wait, what about me?” protested Mudt, but the barukan threw down some money for the drinks, gave both of them a scornful, disappointed glance, and walked out of the Rat House.