'He's been through one h.e.l.l of a lot in the last couple of years. He, ah, told me about Roz. And Professor Shaw. Must have been rough on him.'

The Doctor didn't answer. Joel took a bite out of the chocolate bar. 'So, what's the plan?'

'I try to persuade Gufuu to abandon his interest in the pod,' said the Doctor, 'while I investigate the local politics.'

And Chris gets to wing it on his own for a while. 'Why did they invite you to dinner? Kind of a one-eighty after trying to lop your head off.'

'I dropped Gufuu Kocho a line,' said the Doctor. 'Actually, I left a message with Kadoguchiroshi. When we didn't return after a day, he would have sent it on to the daimyo.'

'"I have information that might be to your advantage"?'

'I threw in a lot of my official t.i.tles to let him know I meant business. President of the High Council of Time Lords. Keeper of the Legacy of Ra.s.silon.

Defender of the Laws of Time. Honorary Kang. And so forth.'

Joel's eyes widened. 'You're the President of the Time Lords?'

'No,' said the Doctor, 'but Gufuu doesn't know that. I also gain extra status through being a doctor, of course that puts me on the same footing as the samurai. I wonder if I can convince Aka-san to lend me some clothes.' He tipped his hat at the samurai's leader, who looked bewildered.

Joel said, 'This is all kind of small-scale for you, isn't it? The Earth's not going to blow up or anything. Unless you know something about that pod that you're not telling.'

'Oh yes,' said the Doctor. 'This is just an adventure. A bit of swordplay, a few jokes, nothing worth taking very seriously.'

75.'Yeah, but Chris is about ready to burst, and you ' The Doctor glanced at him, and Joel found himself shutting up suddenly.

The Time Lord steepled his fingers. 'Mr Mintz,' he said. 'What do you you want?' want?'

'Never ask that question,' growled Joel. The Doctor looked at him blankly.

'Er. Anyway, I guess I wanted a chance to strike out on my own. For a while.

I like working for the Admiral. He's still my hero. But thirteen years. . . I wanted an adventure of my own. A bit of swordplay, a few jokes.'

'And what do you think so far?'

Joel shrugged, watching him. 'Nothing worth taking very seriously.'

The daimyo was watching a play when they arrived, just after sunset. Joel wanted to be dazzled by the great castle rising above the courtyard, the reinforced walls, the armoured warriors who watched them and the seated samurai who ignored them, watching the chanting and posturing of the Noh performers. All he could manage was a sort of numb exhaustion and the overwhelming need for a hot bath.

Servants came scurrying out, bowing low as they took the horses and led them to their quarters. The three samurai disappeared as quickly and politely as they could manage. Embarra.s.sed to be seen with the gaijin gaijin?

A pair of nervous servants lead the Doctor and Joel to a large room in the palace. At first Joel thought it was empty, but then he saw the bedding rolled up in the corner, the low wooden rests for writing or eating.

One of the servants bowed. 'The daimyo would like to speak with you after you have eaten,' he said. 'Let us bring you some supper.'

'No meat or fish for me, please,' said the Doctor absently. He was pacing around the room in his socks, as though he was looking for something.

'Er, thanks,' said Joel. The servants bowed and went out.

The Doctor finally settled, kneeling on one of the straw mats. He folded his hands, suddenly looking totally serene. It was as though he'd drawn into himself, gathering strength for the confrontation with Gufuu.

'What did happen to Liz Shaw?'

The Doctor didn't stir for a moment, his eyes focused on nothing in particular. Joel had been hoping for a bit more of a reaction. The Time Lord murmured, 'What did Chris tell you?'

'He said he killed her.'

Now the Doctor looked up, catching Joel with his ancient eyes. 'Good grief,'

he said. 'Is that what he really believes?'

'Uh,' said Joel, 'not exactly. He said she died because of him.'

'Liz's death wasn't anyone's fault. It was just a terrible set of circ.u.mstances.'

The Doctor shook his head. 'She didn't give him his life so he could spend it feeling guilty.'

76.They both looked up. One of the servants was back, carrying a large box.

'Ah,' said the Doctor, brightening up. 'The clothes that make the man.'

'It's quiet,' said Kame.

'Too quiet,' said Chris, and then, 'Argh, I can't believe I just said that.'

The ronin had insisted on Chris's dining with him that evening. He had cooked a proper j.a.panese dinner for them rice, soup and three small main courses and then spent so much time lecturing Chris on the correct way to eat it that both of their meals had gone cold.

Now they were sitting beside the firepit in Kame's hut, drinking tea and listening to the night sounds. Penelope was in the house, tinkering with the engine of her time machine, while the village women giggled and watched.

'Those samurai with the flower on their banners,' said Chris. 'Who are they working for?'

'Those are Umemi's men,' said Kame. 'He and Gufuu Kocho have been skirmishing through the valleys for the last ten years. Neither one ever gets enough of an advantage to destroy the other. One of these days there's going to be an almighty ma.s.sacre at one of the two castles. And then we'll see.'

'One of the samurai,' persisted Chris, 'said they were attacked by tengu tengu. I thought those were the little demons that lived in the forests. Not much of a threat to a war party.'

'Oh, you should never underestimate the tengu tengu,' said Kame. 'They're cun-ning little goblins, and clever with a sword. People who've tried tricking them have ended up falling out of trees or into cold rivers. If the samurai gave the tengu tengu offence, they'd have known about it pretty quickly.' offence, they'd have known about it pretty quickly.'

'So how will I know one of these guys if I see them?'

'Well,' said Kame, 'if you see anything up a pine tree with hands and a beak, either be d.a.m.ned polite to it or give it a wide berth!' He laughed.

'Sonchou-san says you came from Doa-no-naiheya Monastery. Is that old dog Kadoguchiroshi still there?'

'Yes,' said Chris.

'We called him old dog,' added Kame, 'because he would bite you with a riddle or a question, and he wouldn't let go until you solved it.'

'You were a monk?'

'Yes. A very awful one. I got tired of trying to solve the same koan koan, day in, day out. And I missed sake!'

'What koan koan was it?' said Chris, hopefully. was it?' said Chris, hopefully.

'Nansen's Cat,' said Kame. 'Don't tell me the old dog gave you one as well.'

'It was a different one. Kosen's student.'

'What's that one?'

77.'Kosen the calligrapher keeps trying to write something, and every time he does it, his student says it's rubbish. When his student steps outside for a moment, he dashes off the phrase and the student says it's a masterpiece.'

Kame nodded knowingly. 'Well?' said Chris. 'Can't you even give me a hint?

I've been going nuts trying to work it out!'

'Don't try so hard. It'll come to you.'

Chris made a face. 'You wouldn't happen to know the story of the preta preta and the snowman?' and the snowman?'

Kame drained the last of his tea. 'If we weren't on duty, I'd suggest we change to sake,' he muttered. 'Yes, that's about Hungry Ghost Castle, up in the mountains. It's a real place, I've been there.'

'So have I,' said Chris.

'It's haunted now. The ghosts of travellers who fell prey to the jiki-ketsu-gaki jiki-ketsu-gaki. I can remember when everyone avoided that pa.s.s in the mountains. You had to go around the long way it took three extra days.'

'What is a jiki-ketsu-gaki jiki-ketsu-gaki? Some kind of vampire?'

'There are pretas pretas which eat flesh,' said Kame, 'and which eat flesh,' said Kame, 'and pretas pretas which drink blood. which drink blood.

She was one of the latter. Reincarnated as a demon, a ghost. Unable to move on to her next life.'

'A vampire,' said Chris.

'She would offer hospitality to travellers in her Castle, but they never emerged alive. The head monk at Doa-no-naiheya Monastery fashioned a man out of snow, and recited sutras over it for three days and three nights until it took on the semblance of life. What are you smiling about?'

'It's a good story,' said Chris. 'Go on.'

'The monk instructed him to go to the Castle, and allow the jiki-ketsu-gaki jiki-ketsu-gaki to drink from him. She would be drinking melted snow, of course, instead of blood, a trick which would destroy her. So the snowman did as he was told. to drink from him. She would be drinking melted snow, of course, instead of blood, a trick which would destroy her. So the snowman did as he was told.

She welcomed him into the gates of Hungry Ghost Castle and bade him sit next to her fire. He came in, but he wouldn't sit next to the fire!'

'He let her drink his blood,' breathed Chris.

'Well,' said Kame, 'he got into the bed he was offered, and pretended to be asleep until he heard the hungry ghost coming to drink from him. But after she'd taken a few mouthfuls, he got up, jumped out of the window, and ran down the mountainside!'

'He ran away?'

'Now, the head monk was returning to the monastery after a visit, and was amazed to discover a snowman halfway up the mountain, as though it had been made by flying children! Suddenly he realized it was his snowman. "You must go back," said the monk, "and finish your mission."

78.'The snowman protested, "But Roshi, won't I die if enough of me melts away?"

'The head monk said, "Perhaps you will. I cannot force you to obey me. You must decide whether or not to return."'

'He ran away,' said Chris again.

'In the end, the snowman trudged back up the mountain, and went back into the Castle. A month pa.s.sed, and nothing more was heard of the snowman or the vampire. So the head monk sent a group of fighting monks up to the Castle, to see what had happened.

'They found the body of the jiki-ketsu-gaki jiki-ketsu-gaki, quite frozen. But of the snowman there was no sign. The head monk once again recited sutras, and had a vision: the hungry ghost had slain the snowman, but, as his reward for destroying the monster, he had been reincarnated as a human being.'

'He ran away,' said Chris. 'I can't believe it.'

'Facing a human foe takes one kind of courage,' said Kame, 'but facing the supernatural takes a very different kind. Even I, ferocious and bold bushi bushi that I am, might think twice about battling a monster like that.' that I am, might think twice about battling a monster like that.'

'Tea,' said Chris.

Kame poured Chris another cup. The Adjudicator bowed automatically.

'Why would you give someone tea?'

'Eh?'

'As a present.'

'Only at funerals,' said Kame, 'because of the white flowers.'

'Kame?''Yes, Kuriisu-san?'

'When you died. . . where did you go?'

'Ah. . . ' Kame put down his teacup. 'I dreamt I was walking along a long, long road, towards the sun going down between two mountains, and then distantly I heard a woman calling my name. Over and over, louder and louder.

I did not wish to turn from my journey, but in the end I had to turn around, and find out what the voice wanted. And then I discovered myself on top of that old bamboo trunk, with an aching back and an aching neck, and a raging appet.i.te.'

Chris frowned. It was a very ordinary near-death experience. Or perhaps it was just Kame's way of putting that experience into terms he could deal with.

'Don't worry, my brave lad,' said Kame. 'If you want to find out what's on the other side of death, remain a samurai you'll find out soon enough!'

It was late. Gufuu Kocho, daimyo of the three districts, would much rather have been in bed, but his curiosity was keeping him up. Who were these 79 foreigners? Were they even human? And what could they tell him about the kami kami?

The old daimyo sat down on the wooden stool, flicking out his sleeves. His swordbearer, a young page, was doing his best not to yawn. Gufuu smiled to himself The lad wasn't quite used to the hours kept by war.

Gufuu gestured to a servant, who brought him his pipe, and to another, who bowed and knelt to open the sliding door.

The foreign doctor stepped into the room. Gufuu was instantly struck by his bearing. He wore a black skirt and coat that accentuated the pallor of his skin and the white kimono beneath. Two swords were thrust through his waist sash or rather, physicians' scabbards, probably filled with medicines and calligraphy equipment instead of steel. The Doctor carried a small package in his hands, wrapped in silk.

He knelt before the dais and bowed low. Gufuu said, 'Thank you for accept-ing my invitation.'

The Doctor bowed again. 'Please allow me to present you with this gift.' He put the package on to the wooden stand beside him. The daimyo took a puff on his small pipe and gestured, and a servant picked up the stand and brought the gift to him.