Soft come the dragons

unbolted the seat and tossed it out. The victim, we encased in blown plastic.
    "Antiseptics hardly seem to work," Shukon said. "We've tried."
    The sample tray of the specimen analyzer swallowed the corpse, plastic coating and all ...
    Fifty miles along the track, Orgatany wobbled back through the aisle, black face gleaming with perspiration, looking almost as young as he had when I saved his life during the South African rebellion against U.N. control. He had been a brilliant but uneducated boy then. Now he was a doctor, and a good one. "Walt, we got the final analysis report."
    "And?"
    He slumped into the opposite seat. "You won't like it"
    "Try me."
    "The Duo says he didn't die of any disease."
    I turned angrily to Shukon.
    Sincere face, surprised look . . . "I assure you—"
    "What did he die of, Bill?"
    "Nothing."
    "What?"
    The lowlands of China flashed by the window.
    "The Duo says: 'no discernible affliction of any nature whatsoever.' That means nothing."
    "Something is wrong with the Duo."
    Fear of fears, our God has died . . .
    Orgatany shifted his weight. "We checked that first thing, Walt. We used one unit to check its mate, then reversed it. Then, unlikely as it may be, we thought maybe both halves were out. We used one of the other units to check the Duo. Everything is tiptop, great, fine, perfect. And maddening."
    "We too found this a stumbling block," Shukon said. "We have not your advanced facilities, but we found no symptoms before the disease struck, no traces afterward. The victim is healthy one minute, dead the next. I would say this is Dr. Lin Chi's greatest discovery."
    "Fine!" I snapped. "It just might be so damned perfect that it kills us all!"
    "If we could get another victim," Orgatany said, "we could find a pattern, no matter how minute."
    "You tried multiple analysis?" I asked Shukon.
    He nodded.
    "We'll try it anyway. When we reach Yangchun, well secure two more specimens."
    But we got two more specimens before we were halfway there.
    Eight miles farther, the train was halted by a large weighted drum lying on the tracks. And by fifty horsemen with carbines. There were sixty-five horsemen in all—fifteen dead, strapped across their saddles. Even roaming barbarians felt the needle plunge of the plague's hypodermic. The fifty horsemen fanned out in an arc in front of the locomotive, guns trained on windows and roofs.
    I had thirty-two untrained fighters, medical men. Shukon refused to have his henchmen fire on their countrymen. We could only negotiate. With a number of vicious indictments, I forced Shukon into the locomotive where we crouched behind a metal baffle, watching the horsemen, only our heads visible.
    "What do you want?" I called in Chinese. I hoped they had not wandered down from the northern provinces and did not understand the only dialect I spoke.
    "You are the Americans," the chief of the horsemen said. It was not a question.
    "Yes."
    "We want you."
    "Political conservatives, opposed to surrender," Shukon said, eyes on the horseman.
    "Tell them to move on."
    "You tell them. You are in charge."
    "Off the train!" the horseman shouted.
    "Dammit, Shukon, tell them!"
    "Am I to understand you are unable to cope—"
    I swung, connected a fist with his mouth. He wobbled, surprised. He lost balance, fell from haunches to behind. Blood trickled down his chin. Vomit tingled the back of my throat. Physician what have you done? Father, father, there was a need . . . "Tell them," I choked. "Make a deal. Do something, for God's sake!"
    "If I offend your sensibilities, I will take my men and leave, claiming we were held prisoner." He refused, damn him, to wipe the blood from his face. It trickled down his neck now.
    "Look, Shukon, your people asked for our help. Now, if you don't really want it, I'm prepared to send these men back and to recommend to the president that we concentrate on bolstering the West against the disease and stop our efforts here. Before you answer, think of the old woman on the dock. For that matter, think of the boy."
    For a long moment, our eyes met. He tested the ire boiling in my eyes, I tried to investigate his. His were inscrutable. Mine must have been too, for he didn't see the physician's heart that couldn't walk away from sickness. Finally, h« pushed up, very dignified and faced the bearded horseman. They spoke so fluently that my limited Chinese was useless.
    A moment later, the barbarian chieftain directed two of his men to unstrap and hand over two bodies.