The Windup Girl

"Revolutions are a rough business. I don't hold a grudge." Anderson grins, feral, willing the man to believe. "No harm, no foul. We still want the same things. Nothing's been done that can't be undone."

Akkarat cocks his head, thoughtful. Anderson wonders if he's about to get a knife in the ribs.

Abruptly, Akkarat smiles. "You are a hard man."

Anderson stifles a flutter of hope. "Just practical. Our interests are still aligned. No one benefits with us dead. This is still a small misunderstanding that we can undo."

Akkarat considers. Turns to one of the guards and requests a knife. Anderson holds his breath as it comes close, but then the blade is slicing between his wrists, setting him free. His arms flood with tingling blood. He works them slowly. They feel like blocks of wood. Needle pricks follow. "Christ."

"It will take a little while for your circulation to recover. Be glad we were gentle with you." Akkarat catches sight of the way Anderson cradles his injured hand. Smiles with embarrassment and apology. Calls for a doctor before going over to Carlyle.

"What is this place?" Anderson asks.

"An emergency command center. When it was determined that the white shirts were involved I moved our operations here, for security." Akkarat nods at the kink-spring drums. "We have megodont teams in the basement sending up power. And no one should know that we had this center equipped."

"I didn't know you had something like this."

Akkarat smiles. "We are partners, not lovers. I do not share all my secrets with anyone."

"Have you caught the windup yet?"

"It's only a matter of time. Her likeness is now posted everywhere. The city will not permit her to live amongst us. It is one thing to bribe a few white shirts. Another to attack the palace."

Anderson thinks back to Emiko, to her huddled fear. "I still can't believe that a windup could do something like that."

Akkarat glances up. "It is confirmed by witnesses, and by the Japanese who constructed her. The windup is a killer. We will find her and execute her in the old way, and we will be done with her. And the Japanese will be made to pay reparations unimaginable for their criminal carelessness." Abruptly he smiles. "On this at least, the white shirts and I agree."

Carlyle's hands come free. Akkarat is called away by an army officer.

Carlyle pulls off his gag. "We friends again?"

Anderson shrugs, watching the activity around them. "As much as anyone in a revolution can be."

"How you doing?"

Anderson touches his chest gingerly. "Broken ribs." He nods at his hand where the doctor is splinting his finger. "Busted finger. Think my jaw's okay." He shrugs. "You?"

"Better than that. I think my shoulder's sprained. But I wasn't the one who introduced the rogue windup."

Anderson coughs and winces. "Yeah, well, lucky you."

One of the army people is cranking a radio phone, gears ratcheting. Akkarat takes a call.

"Yes?" He nods, speaks in Thai.

Anderson can only catch a few words, but Carlyle's eyes widen as he listens. "They're taking the radio stations," he whispers.

"What?" Anderson scrambles to his feet, wincing, pushing aside the doctor still working on his hand. Guards lunge in front of him, blocking him from Akkarat. Anderson calls over their shoulders as they shove him back against the wall. "You're starting? Now?"

Akkarat glances up from his phone, finishes his conversation calmly and hands the receiver back to his communications officer. The winding man settles back on his haunches, waiting for the next call. The flywheel hum slows.

Akkarat says, "The Somdet Chaopraya's assassination has brought out a great deal of hostility for the white shirts. Protests outside the Environment Ministry. Even the Megodont Union is involved. People were already angry at the Ministry's crackdowns. I have decided we will capitalize on this."

"But we don't have our assets in place," Anderson protests. "You don't have all your army units down from the northeast. My strike teams aren't supposed to be ashore for another week."

Akkarat shrugs and smiles. "Revolutions are a messy business. It is better to take the opportunities that come before us. Still, I think that you will be pleasantly surprised." He turns back to his hand-cranked radio phone. The steady whir of the flywheel fills the room as Akkarat talks to people under his command.

Anderson watches Akkarat's back. The man, once so obsequious in the presence of the Somdet Chaopraya, is now in charge. He issues orders in a steady stream. Every so often the phone buzzes again for attention.

"This is crazy," Carlyle murmurs. "Are we still in it at all?"

"Hard to say."

Akkarat glances over at them, seems about to say something, but instead he cocks his head. "Listen," he says. His voice has become reverent.

A rumble rolls across the city. Through the command post's open windows, light flares briefly, like lightning in a storm. Akkarat smiles.

"It's starting."

39

Pai is waiting for Kanya in her office when she comes bursting in. "Where are the men?" she asks, panting.