Nano Bytes

«Rebellion is not a pretty thing, Mr. Winters. Of course, you Americans know all about rebellion. Your former nation was founded on it. But your nation is not what it pretends to be any longer. The United States is an empire. You have Cuba, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Hawaii, and the Philippines.» He took a moment to sit down in the other colonial sofa chair by the round table. When he was comfortable he continued, «Gone are the days of republican idealism, Mr. Winters. The United States is now the perpetrator. How pathetically sad it is to see a nation constantly declaring itself as a defender of the people’s right to self–government, when at the same time they are preventing such a right for the Filipino people, the Cuban people, the people of Hawaii, Samoa, et cetera. You know all about that, Mr. Winters, you have seen it for yourself.

«But we are happy to see the U. S. align itself in such a way with the British Empire. It is inevitable, Mr. Winters. There will always be empire.»

«So what the hell does this all have to do with me?»

«How did it feel to see so many innocent men, women, and children butchered by your countrymen?»

«We were at war,” he answered with clenched fists.

«You call that war?» he laughed again. «I call it massacre–a murderous slaughter! It has been estimated that in the province of Batangas, from a population of 300,000, that U. S. guns, disease, and famine has killed off a third of the population. So horrible is the killing that I have just learned that members of the 24th Infantry have deserted to join with the Filipino rebels to fight against the country of their birth.»

«Who are you to place judgment on my country? A subject of the British crown lecturing me on the immoralities of the American empire?»

«You are right, Mr. Winters. You are quite right. We have strived to learn our lesson. Violence begets violence. Thus it is in the interest of the crown to steer clear of conflict and war with the people of the lands we are occupying. Lives can be saved, Mr. Winters. And you can help us save those lives here, in this place. Otherwise, history may repeat itself. A case in point, what was it that provoked the Spanish—American War?»

«The destruction of the USS Maine. Two hundred and sixty six navy men died in that explosion.»

«Thus tipping the balance among the American populace, the McKinley administration, and the Congress to finally seek war with Spain. ‘Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain!’ Was this not one of the many slogans among the American people pressuring their government to seek war? How convenient for the war hawks of your country to have had such an event as the sinking of the USS Maine.»

«What are you getting at?»

«Come here, Mr. Winters,” he stood up from the sofa chair with his drink. «Stand with me before this view.»

Nicholas, suspicious, did not move.

«Come, believe me, I do not bite. Come and look at the magnificence of the scene before us.»

Nicholas took a few steps toward the open window.

«There before us is the most magnificent multinational city on this side of the globe. Look how we took a sleepy, little old fishing town and turned it into this glorious site. Just look at the scene before you, Mr. Winters. There is the future of China. Trade with the outside world, advancements in technology, education, the further expansion of rail lines, factories built, jobs created. We can do all of this peacefully. But there are agents out there seeking to destroy that future; all it would take is one, singular event, and war is at hand. Just like the Maine. Lives lost. The innocent killed. Children orphaned.»

Nicholas looked down for a moment as he thought of his childhood.

«In six weeks time,” Kell continued, «we will launch for all to see, here in Shanghai, a British prototype rigid airship based on stolen designs from both David Schwarz and Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin. It is a message to the Germans that we are winning the race for air superiority. But as you can imagine there is great need among our enemies to ensure that the launch ends in failure; and failure, Mr. Winters, of an airship filled with helium means an explosion. I can just see it now, this view of Shanghai at night and the destruction of a British airship crashing down into the Bund killing hundreds of onlookers.

«Who will be blamed? The British will blame the Germans and thus begins our war her. But it is not the Germans that are striving to do this, Mr. Winters. It is the Chinese. We believe that the Righteous and Harmonious Fists are planning to do this, and if they succeed then there will be war. An airship crashing down upon the Bund will end British, German, French, Russian, American, and Japanese lives. European nations and the U. S. will call for war and they will rain down upon the Chinese a hailstorm of gunfire taking everything that they desire: the coalmines, iron mines, land, waterways, et cetera. Tens of thousands of lives will be lost.» Kell paused to take another sip of gin from his glass.