Virginia had asked to go in front and do the talking. Perhaps Stone should have been less of an alpha male and just let her do it. When they got there, he found himself forced out of the boat and up the beach onto the island with an AK47 practically up his nose, and two more behind his head. It seemed only polite to raise his hands. They had him spread-eagled against a tree by the time he spotted Virginia, who was most definitely not spread-eagled, with her head tilted elegantly to one side, brushing her hair as if ready to meet someone.
‘I told you to let me go first,’ she said. Perhaps a little too smug, that.
One of the Chinese guards was searching Stone through his clothing. What they call a “finger tip search”. Who were these guys? Security guards — or doctors? It was like they were studying for an anatomy exam: part twenty-four — thecolorectal region.
Stone and Carslake were finally let go and walked up some steps behind Virginia, the guns still on them. She led on through half-lit trees and gardens. She’d been this way before, and Stone knew why. It explained why she was hanging around the Polo Club when she should have been driving the “in-depth investigation” into Semyonov’s death. Virginia Carlisle was nowhere near the lazy actress she’d painted herself to be. She knew all about Semyonov. Knew more than anyone. And she was keeping the story alive, without asking the one obvious question. Because she knew the answer already.
‘You told everyone he was dead. You told me you’d seen the body,’ said Stone. ‘Why would you do that?’
‘Because she was an old and loyal friend,’ said an American voice through the trees. ‘The only one I ever had.’
Unmistakable, that baritone voice. Semyonov sat like a ghost in the half-light, wearing a white silk robe and with his whitish pink skin glistening. He rose and made to kiss Virginia on both cheeks, then sat back clumsily on the white plastic chair. His movements were old, even though his skin was smooth and hairless, and young-looking. He sat breathing heavily from the exertion of standing to greet Virginia. And Stone noticed he hadn’t actually touched Virginia. They’d kind of mimed the kisses.
On one wrist he had two open sores. The fattened skin had split open, and someone had been working hard to deal with the wound. In all, here in the warm evening, Semyonov resembled more than anything, an old white beluga whale. Corpulent with blubber, his skin fat, white and shiny, its intelligent, bird-eyes darting around the scene. But the beluga was painfully out of its element. On land it was heavy, its breathing laboured, and its skin would dry and split, however much water was thrown on it. Somewhere, Semyonov’s mind could swim free in a dark, rich ocean, with a freedom and grace no human could emulate. But not here. Right now, only Semyonov’s red eyes gave any idea of his true nature.
‘Is this what a man looks like when he makes a pact with the devil?’ asked Carslake.
‘Perhaps it is,’ said Semyonov. He tried to smile. Quite a kind smile, but only his lips moved. His lips were pink, cracking red on the inside. The rest of his face didn’t move. ‘Perhaps that’s my problem. I’ve over-reached myself. It’s made me sick and fat and ill.’
Stone said nothing.
‘But it’s a pathology I never heard about, Mr Carslake. I’ve been sick since I was fourteen, before I started any of this. I must have indulged in the Devil-worship back then in a fit of absent-mindedness.’
‘Fine words, Semyonov,’ said Stone, walking up to him. He was about to confront him about the weapons he’d created, but something stopped him.
Semyonov’s tired red eyes stared, piercing, out from under the smooth white flesh. He knew exactly what accusation Stone was going to throw his way, but it didn’t bother him. He just opened his hands, with the palms upwards, as if to say, whatever. Semyonov might be brilliant — the alien intelligence Carslake talked about. But did he really think he’d get Stone on his side and get him to cover for him like Carlisle had? Was that was this was all about?
The truth was slithering into Stone’s consciousness.
‘It was Oyang, wasn’t it?’ said Stone. ‘All that stuff with the weapons. You never even knew about it.’
‘Not until Miss Terashima brought it to my attention,’ he said.
‘Junko Terashima? Is she why you did all this? Faked your death? You got Virginia Carlisle to cover for you in the media. No one ever asked whether you were really dead, because Virginia said she saw the wrecked car, the tyre marks. And she’s an utterly credible source. Privately, she even told people she’d seen the body, as it was spirited away to Beijing.’
Semyonov didn’t smile. Or frown. He just stared, blinking slowly with the red eyes, his face immutable, like the worst case of botox you’ve ever seen.
‘She didn’t mention that the body was alive when she saw it,’ said Stone, thinking aloud. ‘And someone else was in on this. The Chinese authorities, who must have known at the highest level that the death was a hoax. But it was a very high level, because not even Oyang, with all his contacts, had suspected.’
Oyang? Oyang and his stories about the giant intelligence that went bad, the computer that was so bored it turned to mayhem and evil. That’s all it was — a story. Oyang had made that elaborate story about Semyonov going mad and going bad, “just because he could.” Stories from Virginia, narratives from Oyang. All garbage. Oyang had done it all alone — the weapons, the patents, the drug smuggling. Not Semyonov, not the Chinese. There was no evidence that the People’s Liberation Army were using any of these new weapons. Oyang made them because he could, and because he wanted to turn some coin.
‘So why am I here?’ Stone asked Virginia Carlisle in front of Semyonov. Maybe Semyonov would answer why he hadn’t had him shot.
‘Virginia said it was getting kinda hot over there. Dangerous. Some guy wanted to kill Oyang. Then he wanted to kill you. Frame you, then kill you.’
‘I noticed. It’s nothing I can’t deal with.’
‘You didn’t need to. Oyang left a suicide note written in Chinese. Suicide. He was already dead with a broken neck when the guy shot him.’
‘Oyang was selling weapons,’ said Stone, getting Semyonov back on topic. ‘Creaming off the technology.’
‘He was. Yes.’
‘You didn’t notice?’
‘It was pretty half-assed stuff, Stone,’ said Semyonov. ‘Nickel and dime stuff. So, no, I didn’t notice. No one noticed till he sold the patent for an oil refining process for five hundred million.’
Perhaps Semyonov would have raised an ironic eyebrow. If he could. Instead his eyes remained laser-red on Stone, his face uncreased and expressionless. ‘One question,’ said Stone. ‘Why have we been let into the big secret? You’re going to say you have to kill us before you let me go. Lame, don’t you think?’
‘You flatter yourself. Virginia’s a control freak — you must have realized by now.’ That’s what passed for an answer from Semyonov. Things seem obvious when you have an IQ of 200. Semyonov was expressionless, but his movements and the odd mannerism spoke of great weariness. ‘What do I care? I’m dying in case you hadn’t noticed.’
‘You’re not dying!’ cried Virginia.
‘Virginia. Please.’ Semyonov tried to throw her a reproachful look, but only his eyes said anything. His facial muscles were swollen — shot. ‘Not long for this world, Stone. I don’t care what secrets come out. Why would I? I’m not working for SearchIgnition anymore. I don’t have a hundred lawyers analyzing my words like I had a couple of weeks ago. I say what I like. Why would I give a shit? Come on.’ he said.
Semyonov's eyes wore a sheen of inexpressible fatigue and resignation as he looked into the trees. ‘It’s the little things of life, you know. The little things. Because you’re rich and you have a brain, doesn’t mean it isn’t a hassle. I just can’t deal with all the fuss that goes with my life, and my body. I give my life savings to research in China, and what’s my reward? I gotta host a party. Can you imagine how hard that was? I had a bunch of Communist Party make-up artists spend four hours on me before we even started. A party. It’s like my un-favorite thing, and they make me do it all the time. And to cap it all, Robert Oyang tries to siphon off all the cash to Switzerland. What a pain in the ass.’
Stone loved some of the words Semyonov used: have a brain, life savings, rich, pain in the ass. Words ordinary people would use. It made him sound ordinary. It wasn’t the real Semyonov. Ordinary? Semyonov was possibly the least ordinary person in the world. For him, someone trying to steal twenty-five billion dollars was “a pain in the ass”. Stone recalled one of the notes Semyonov wrote for him at that same party. Odi profanum vulgum. I hate the vulgar masses. Words written in the middle of a party. That was the real Semyonov.
‘You ask why you’re here, you and Carslake,’ said Semyonov, wearily, finally explaining. ‘It’s simply because you figured it all out. Virginia’s a control freak, remember? She thought we should get you onside, because there’s something I need to do before the story breaks. The story about Oyang, and the faked death. ’
‘Steven wants some help,’ said Virginia, continuing for him. The mistress of spin. A clear statement, saying virtually nothing. Just like her news reports. ‘I said you could help him. We could help him, the three of us, before the story gets out.’
‘What kind of help? Looks like you’ve got quite a few helpers here.’ Stone gestured to the number of guards in the shadows.
‘It’s a simple thing, but in my condition I’m really no use at all,’ said Semyonov.
‘You’ve achieved a lot for someone who’s no use, Semyonov. Even in the last few months, the amount of technology…’ said Stone. The flood, the absolute cataract of new technology in the last six months alone. Didn’t look like the work of a man who’s sick and dying.
‘It all came from the Machine,’ said the big white man, waving his hand like a useless white fin. ‘I did nothing,’
‘Steve, come on!’ said Virginia, like she was a teacher giving a pep talk to a kid. ‘You’ve done so much. You should be proud.’ The bright kid who got a B in maths when he should have got an A.
‘It’s all going to shit, Virginia. We both know it. I haven’t done any decent work in months. And I haven’t got long now.’ Semyonov stuck out his fat white hand for her to help him up. There was bleeding around the fingernails. Painful, irritating. His eyes were red and bloodshot, red to their core. Stone noticed that Semyonov’s robe was not silk, but hypoallergenic plastic.
Virginia slipped on latex gloves before she touched him. Then took his hand and leaned back, heaving Semyonov’s bulk from the chair. ‘I’m going for my alcohol rub, Virginia. I’ve had enough. You tell this guy what he has to do. If he won’t do it — well, shit, what the hell… Somehow, I have to get it out of the ground in Sichuan, and I’ve no time left. We should go there tomorrow and just do it. If these guys won’t help us, then we’ll think of something else.’
Semyonov tried to get up, but couldn’t manage it. He flopped back to the plastic seat to recover his breath, then made a wheezing rant at Virginia. ‘Look at this guy,’ he said, jutting his chin towards Stone. ‘He thinks I’m a freak. For your information, it was the bleach I used in prison that made my skin like this. I was desperate. Most of my problems are allergies — allergies to bacteria, and I fucked myself up trying to get clean. I didn’t realized back then that all that itching was liver failure. By the time I had the money to do something about it was too late. I’ve had my bowel removed and two liver transplants, but I still can’t eat anything but over-cooked boiled rice. My body is constantly attacking itself. Every three days they inject me with a biological culture to ease it off. Costs ten thousand bucks a shot, takes half the day, and leaves me wide open to infection and cancer.’
Semyonov was overtaken by a coughing fit. He collapsed to the chair, wracked with pain, shouting for help. A jagged, helpless roar of pain.
A couple of Chinese medical men materialised in white clothing and led him away. Virginia explained that Semyonov was prey to so many allergies, and his skin suffered so from any bacteria, that he had to be rubbed down three times a day with anti-bacterial gel. Then came sterile lotion in a losing battle to hydrate his cracking skin. Steroids, cortisone injections. And at some stage the guy had obviously been depilated in a bid to control bacteria on his skin. On top of that was the asthma that made it so difficult for him to breath.
‘Poor guy,’ said Virginia. There was a wistful look about her. She’d seen all that too many times. ‘Looks like a freak, but he was my first boyfriend, would you believe? Fourteen years old. Quite a good-looking dude back then.’
So many stories. Semyonov a good-looking dude? Could be true, could be bullshit. It was getting out of hand. Stone waited for her to finish, then asked again.
‘What does he want us to do?’
‘You have to go down there and bring it out.’ She said it quite directly. Blurting it, but vague again, and with no eye contact. And no mention of what “it” was, although it was plainly the “Machine” that Semyonov was obsessing about. Virginia was reluctant to mention its name.
‘Down where?’ said Stone. She didn’t want to say it, but it was down there, down that mine in Sichuan. Something Virginia didn’t want to talk about.
‘Do you know the worst thing?’ she said, changing the subject. ‘They insisted on giving him an X-ray when he arrived in Beijing. To see if he was for real. Can you imagine? I mean — how humiliating.’
Stone realised he believed Virginia and Semyonov and their narrative. It said “Semyonov is the victim,” yet Stone was beginning to buy it. Finally it seemed she was genuine — a real woman.
Stone realised he liked that about her. He liked her fluff talk. He who had always to be so authentic. He liked Virginia for her changeability, her persuasiveness, her sheer falseness. Except that false wasn’t the real word. It was the artifice, the glorious construct of her public image. And the fact that she had let him behind that facade, and let him see the real woman. There were layers to Virginia. You may like some layers more than others, but they were each beautifully constructed in their own way. A living work of art as much as any performance artist.
Ying Ning was a work of art too, but she had only one layer. A hard, flinty exterior. If any part was injured or broken, and you saw the layer beneath — you realised it was the same all through. Hard, sharp, impenetrable. Was the real Ying Ning hiding within, all soft and emotional? Seemed unlikely.
What about Stone himself? How many layers did Stone have? A few, certainly. Some were hard. There was damage below the surface. Deep down, some of those layers were very ugly indeed.
Here it came again. Another jagged roar of pain from Semyonov ripping through the warm, evening air. Virginia grabbed out for Stone, held his hand. Her eyes were screwed tight with anguish. ‘I’ve never seen him as bad as this,’ she said. ‘We don’t have long.’
She stood up, and Stone put an arm round her. She was taking deep breaths to calm herself. ‘I’ll go and see what I can do for him. He needs to go to hospital — but where can he go?’ She looked exhausted. She’d been keeping up such a front for so long. ‘You and Carslake will have to stay here,’ she said. ‘There’s an empty room in back. You can sleep in there.’
She walked off inside the villa, wiping a tear from her eye. One hundred percent genuine for once.
Carslake watched her go. ‘So that was Semyonov?’ he said, looking around as if unimpressed. ‘Do you think one of these guards has a cigarette?’
Stone sat with Carslake on the deck in front of Semyonov’s luxury villa. It was an idyllic setting — warm air, tropical plants, a Spanish-style fountain playing a few metres away and a cicada singing at a distance. Then there was an overpowering smell of citronella, lest any insect inflict any more suffering on Semyonov’s skin. Stone noticed that the guards were all still there, armed with AK 47s, at a discreet distance. At this stage they appeared to be taking orders from Virginia Carlisle. It was control-freak Virginia who had made Stone and Carslake prisoners on the tiny island, for no other reason than to control the news.