Cold War -- Fiction; Psychic ability -- Fiction; Science fiction
Then he gave his attention to the room itself. He went over it
carefully, running his fingers gently over the walls and the furniture,
noticing every detail with his eyes. He examined the chairs, the low
bed, the floor--everything.
He was not searching for spy devices. He didn't care whether there were
any there or not. He wanted to know that room. To know it, become
familiar with it, make it a part of him.
Had there been any spy devices, they would have noticed nothing unusual.
There was only an old man there, walking slowly around the room,
muttering to himself as though he were thinking over something important
or, perhaps, merely reminiscing on the past, mentally chewing over his
memories.
He did not peer, or poke, or prod. He did not appear to be looking for
anything. He picked up a small, cheap vase and looked at it as though it
were an old friend; he rubbed his hand over the small writing desk, as
though he had written many things in that familiar place; he sat down in
a chair and leaned back in it and caressed the armrests with his palms
as though it were an honored seat in his own home. And, finally, he
undressed, put on his nightclothes, and lay down on the bed, staring at
the ceiling with a soft smile on his face. After ten minutes or so, his
eyes closed and remained that way for three-quarters of an hour.
Unusual? No. An old man must have his rest. There is nothing unusual
about an old man taking a short nap.
When he got up again, Spencer Candron was thoroughly familiar with the
room. It was home, and he loved it.
Nightfall found the honorable Mr. Ying a long way from his hotel. He
had, as his papers had said, gone to do business with a certain Mr. Yee,
had haggled over the price of certain goods, and had been unsuccessful
in establishing a mutual price. Mr. Yee was later to be able to prove
to the People's Police that he had done no business whatever with Mr.
Ying, and had had no notion whatever that Mr. Ying's business
connections in Nanking were totally nonexistent.
But, on that afternoon, Mr. Ying had left Mr. Yee with the impression
that he would return the next day with, perhaps, a more amenable
attitude toward Mr. Yee's prices. Then Mr. Ying Lee had gone to a
restaurant for his evening meal.
He had eaten quietly by himself, reading the evening edition of the
Peiping _Truth_ as he ate his leisurely meal. Although many of the
younger people had taken up the use of the knife and fork, the venerable
Mr. Ying clung to the chopsticks of an earlier day, plied expertly
between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand. He was not the only
elderly man in the place who did so.
Having finished his meal and his newspaper in peace, Mr. Ying Lee
strolled out into the gathering dusk. By the time utter darkness had
come, and the widely-spaced street lamps of the city had come alive, the
elderly Mr. Ying Lee was within half a mile of the most important group
of buildings in China.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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