Rainbow Bridge Read Online Free Page B

too,’ said Chip. He sipped deep, sighed, and passed the mug to Verlaine. ‘Okay, behave naturally.’
    ‘Act as if we’re, say, squabbling over a set list—’
    ‘Bad-mouthing a stupidly successful boyband.’
    ‘Whatever rockstars normally do. We’ve forgotten.’
    ‘What the fuck are you on about, idiots?’
    Her heart thumped. Someone else she knew must be dead or worse—
    ‘We have something to tell you,’ said Verlaine, handing back the tea, not badly depleted. ‘Don’t worry, it’s good news. Excellent black! Where do they get it?’
    ‘There’s a bloke called Dave, a poacher. What do you have to tell me?’
    ‘Dave Wright? He’s a legend, isn’t he. Did you know he does Stand-Up?’
    ‘Yeah, only unfortunately I can’t stand Stand-Up. If it’s good news, why couldn’t you tell me last night, when you all got here?’
    ‘It’s probably better if the folks don’t know.’
    ‘Maybe better if Ax and Sage don’t know, either,’ added Verlaine. ‘For now.’
    ‘I don’t like the sound of this.’
    While their leaders were quietly hiding in the Forest, the Few had been in the midst of the invasion. At the close of official hostilities they’d been holed up in the Tower, last stand of the Republic of Europe partisans; except for Dilip, who’d died in the firestorm at Buckingham Palace. The Chinese had taken out the partisans in a hand-to-hand fight (trying not to damage anything mediaeval), and the Few had been held by Hu Qinfu, until they’d been given special permission to join this festival. Only Roxane Smith, veteran music critic and the Reich’s post-gendered court philosopher, was unaccounted for; but s/he’d been seen on tv once, looking okay.
    ‘The debriefing last night was a pinprick,’ said Chip, sternly. ‘Layers upon layers of things happened to us, that we haven’t told you yet.’
    ‘This particular thing is about how the Republic of Europe desperantos had robbed the Jewel House—’
    ‘They did? I suppose that makes sense.’
    ‘It hasn’t been reported,’ explained Chip. ‘We reckon Hu cut a deal, let a few top partisans through the net, and has most of the loot squirrelled in his own kitbag.’
    The characters of the Four Generals were established. Wang was articulate, smooth and ruthless. Sheng of the North East was an effective soldier, political lightweight. Lü, the ‘little brother’, Commanding General of the South East, seemed like a kindly old geezer (unlikely!). And Hu Qinfu was bent as a safety pin.
    ‘Anyway, it happened, and we knew there was a bag of loose stones hidden in a bedroll, in the room where we’d been assigned.’
    ‘All non-combatants had to sleep with the soldiers. They’d split the Few up, into different dorms, we didn’t know if the others were still alive—’
    ‘It was horrible, but listen. We saw our chance—’
    ‘Battle was raging. Panic-stricken Chinese were trying to skewer desperantos without denting the sacred holy ancient stonework, it was an opportunistic thing.’
    ‘We should just show you.’
    Ver unslung his daypack, burrowed inside and pulled out a dirty sock with a lump in the toe. He rolled it down, circumspectly, under the rim of the table so nobody around them could see. She was scared it would be some grisly relic of Dilip, that was how her loopy mind was working… A white diamond, stellar brilliant-cut and bigger than a baby’s fist, sat in a nest of soiled Argyle knit—catching rainbow fire from the ATP patches on the tent’s walls.
    ‘Jaysus fockin’ God,’ breathed Fiorinda. ‘That is a pretty thing.’
    ‘It’s the Koh-i-Noor,’ whispered Chip.
    ‘I thought it might be,’ said Fiorinda softly. ‘Put it away.’
    Verlaine buried the sock again.
    Fiorinda rolled her eyes. ‘You’re right about not telling the folks. They’d go mental, we’re supposed to be on our best behaviour. What were you planning to do ?’
    ‘Er, we weren’t planning. It just seemed too good to