Chapter 9: Day Nine

On the ninth day there were twenty people in the room, and every one of them had something to lose.

The Norvane delegation sat on one side of the long table with the Minister at its center.

The Group's side sat opposite, with Yan in the middle, Gao at the far end, and the two company lawyers between.

Lu Wen stood at Yan's right shoulder.

Cheng Ao sat behind him with the leather notebook open on his knee.

It was the last working session before the heads of terms.

The berths had been settled, the grain rates agreed, the concession term fixed at twenty-five years.

Lu Wen had felt, for the first time all week, that the room was nearly at peace.

At eleven, Cheng Ao stood up.

"Chairman Yan," he said in Chinese. "Minister. Forgive me. I'm obliged to raise a matter of professional conduct before this agreement is signed."

Nobody moved.

Gao Bingcheng folded his hands on the table and looked up at the ceiling.

"Over eight days I have compared the Chairman's words with the interpretation given to the delegation," Cheng Ao said.

"I have a record of fourteen occasions on which they were materially altered."

He turned a page.

"I will read them."

Lu Wen's mouth had gone dry.

Cheng Ao read the first one, which was the son.

He read it in Chinese, then in Norvane, with great clarity, so the Minister could hear exactly what had been withheld.

The Minister's deputy sat forward.

Cheng Ao read the second, and the third.

By the sixth, the deputy's pen had stopped, and by the eighth the Minister's eyes had closed.

"Item eleven," Cheng Ao said. "Day six, two forty-one in the afternoon."

He read it slowly.

"The Chairman said, 'I will watch the Haldeck harbour burn.' Mr. Lu told the delegation, 'Mr. Yan hopes the harbour will see new investment.'"

A murmur went round the table.

"Teacher Lu," said Gao softly. "Is that true?"

Lu Wen opened his mouth, and for a moment nothing came.

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