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“This is not to say that we should dawdle. We need men—or women”—he quickly amended—“who are familiar with danger and prepared to come very close to it. We need people who can move quietly, and who know the area with great precision. ”
Doctor Wong frowned. “But the north side,” he said in heavily accented English. He switched to Chinese to ask the rest of his question, and Yaozu replied in kind. Then, to everyone else, Yaozu said, “It’s true that the area is a wasteland—that’s why our enemies chose it. If they’d been smart enough to fix the hole in the wall, even with a flawed, temporary barrier, we might not have noticed their presence so soon. But their carelessness is our good fortune.
“So that leaves the question: How many of you know the north wall area well enough to monitor it, and the men who’ve settled in there?”
Angeline let out a little cough.
“Obviously Princess Angeline is familiar with the terrain. Anyone else?”
Houjin’s translation provided a soft echo.
A burly man with a fluffy beard put up his hand. “I knew the spot, years ago. I knew it well. I worked at the sawmill, before it burned. My boss had a home up there. ”
Intrigued, Yaozu asked, “And you regularly visited your employer’s home?”
He shrugged. “I was a foreman. I delivered messages and supplies to Mr. Yesler. I saw the tower while they were building it. The park layout’s pretty straightforward,” he assured the room at large. “Several streets, all running alongside one another. They dead-end … well, at the wall, I suppose. But they used to dead-end at the park, right around the tower. ”
Angeline added, “And the wall runs right behind that tower, over the cemetery. Cuts it in two. ”
The lumber man said, “All right, I can imagine that. ”
“What’s your name?” Yaozu asked.
“Terrence Miller. By coincidence. ”
“Excellent. Anyone else? We have Princess Angeline, and Mr. Miller. ”
Captain Cly was elbowing Houjin, who finally gave in and said, “I remember everywhere we went, and could find my way around. I’m good with directions. ”
“That you are,” Yaozu said approvingly. “You’ve only been there once?”
“Just the once. ”
“Your recent visit probably makes you as good a guide as Mr. Miller, who hasn’t been in years, if I judge his implication correctly. Between the three of you, could you make a map? Something we could pass out to those who might join you?”
Angeline told him, “We could. We will. ”
“Good, good. We’ll need to educate a few chosen people about the terrain. ”
“Only a few people?” Lucy O’Gunning asked.
“For now, only a few. And if possible, we should send out a party this afternoon. We can’t waste time. ”
“But then what?” Lucy pressed.
He paused. “It depends on what we learn. If we can take a few days to gather ourselves and ready our defense, so much the better. If we can’t, then we rush our plans and hope for the best. ”
“So you do have a plan?” Houjin sounded positively hopeful.
Yaozu gave him a chilly smile. “Yes. But it’s not a plan I can enact alone. I’ll need the whole underground to assist. And that’s only fair, isn’t it? Since it’s the whole underground we mean to save. They’ll come for the Station first, yes, but they’ll come for the rest of you eventually. Or the Vaults will collapse upon themselves without my people—and my finances—to restore them. ”
Grudgingly, Briar Wilkes said, “That’s true. ”
“Thank you, Sheriff Wilkes,” Yaozu said with carefully presented deference. “We all must agree to work together, and we must understand that the solution will not be clean, tidy, or peaceful. ”
Kirby Troost, one of the men from the Naamah Darling, said, “I think we’ve got that part figured out. I, for one, am tickled pink at the prospect of dirty, untidy, and violent. So what do you intend for us to do, anyhow?”
Cly nudged the little man gently, as if he was concerned that too much had been said. But Troost stood his ground, and stared levelly at the Chinese man on the bar.
