Weakness and a Wink
Crimson in the setting sun; In the valley of the fox Gleams the barrel of a gun. —WH Auden
Weakness and a Wink
Crimson in the setting sun;
In the valley of the fox
Gleams the barrel of a gun.
—“Domesday Song”, WH Auden
Martin Fuchs and his colleague Mariko Tanaka were enjoying an evening by the fire in Fuchs’s home. “Walk with me, Kit.”
They stepped outside and walked into the dark woods that surrounded the house and sat on a bench in a glade.
“Can we be heard here?” Kit asked.
“We should be safe here. My people patrol the woods. Also, do you hear the songbirds?”
“Yes,” she answered. “They will warn us of the approach of others? Security au naturel!”
“The news is bad.”
“It’s been nothing but bad since Jaeger declared martial law two weeks ago. I very much fear that we will never have another election. Is there more?”
“Hearth and Homeland has taken over the television and radio stations. They’re filtering net traffic.”
“Are we proscribed?”
“Not yet. But it can’t be long.”
“Democracy… it was nice while it lasted.”
“I do not utterly despair of keeping it,” said Fuchs.
“It is always darkest just before it becomes totally black?” Kit answered.
“Something like that. But they have a weakness.”
Kit laughed. “Give me some hope, Sensei. They have the guns, the money, the media. How are they weak?”
“Hearth and Homeland has a single point of failure.”
“Felix Jaeger. He is not just the leader of Hearth and Homeland. He is very nearly its only able man or woman,” Kit said. “The problem, though, is that he is able.”
“He is. There is no denying it. He’s a smart guy, an experienced military man who knows how to lead. But he has the usual weaknesses of the autocrat,” Fuchs replied.
“Which are?”
“He’s not used to questioning himself. He’s been in charge so long, and so long in the right, as he sees it. He can’t really imagine being mistaken. He doesn’t let others question him or find fault with him. To hold power, he must concentrate it.”
Kit said, “You know the saying ‘a fox knows many things, but a hedgehog knows one big thing’. Jaeger is a hedgehog. He knows how to defend his power. You, Martin, are an old fox.”
“You, Kitsune-san, are a younger one.”
#
They had returned to the capital.
“Have you ever seen this picture, Kit?” said Fuchs, gesturing to an enlarged photo on the wall of his office.
Kit stood and looked at it. The photo showed a man in black pants and white shirt standing in front of a line of four tanks. “No, I don’t think so. Dramatic!”
“There was a time when almost everyone outside of China would recognize it.”
“Who is it?”
“No one actually knows. He was called ‘tank man’ after the photo became famous. He stood in front of those tanks, and when they maneuvered to go around him, he moved and stood in front of them again.”
“Did he live?”
“He lived that day. No one knows for sure what happened later. There are a hundred stories told about him. We’ll never know.”
“How could that be? You say this photo became world famous. I would have thought every journalist on Earth would want to interview him.”
“You would be right. But the Chinese leadership wanted to erase him from history. As far as China itself was concerned, they succeeded.”
“Are you showing me this for a reason, Fuchs?”
“Yes. I keep it to remind me of a rebellion that failed. This photograph was taken after the brutal suppression of protests. Hundreds or thousands of protesters were killed. Hardliners gained power. It became impossible to talk about reform. And as I say, the protests were erased from history. We have to do better. We must not be erased!”
“Well, it all comes down to Jaeger,” Kit replied.
“It’s true. Without Jaeger, Hearth and Homeland is nothing.”
“The problem for us, though, is that Jaeger is no fool.”
“It’s more complicated than that, Kit. You’re right, Jaeger is not a fool. He’s a very intelligent man. But he is a fool in certain specific ways. And I think those will be enough to bring him down.”
“By ‘bring him down,’ you mean?”
“Kill him. Yes, I intend to kill Felix Jaeger.”
#
Felix Jaeger read the transcript on his desk. He knew instantly which photo Fuchs meant by “tank man.” In fact, he had carefully studied the events of the 1989 protests. It was to him the opposite of what it was to Fuchs. It was an example to be emulated—successful retention of power.
He chuckled quietly when he read Fuchs’s words, “he is a fool in certain specific ways.”
“Oh, Martin, Martin!” he thought. “You say these words in your own office in the headquarters of your own Democratic Front! How could you not realize that I would hear them? ‘A fool in certain ways,’ indeed.”
He read on. At Fuchs’s final sentence, he gasped.
“We have him!”
He called for an aide. “Send police to arrest Martin Fuchs immediately.”
“The charge?”
“Conspiracy to assassinate the Premier.”
#
“Mr Fuchs, you know the charge. We understand that you intend to represent yourself.”
“Indeed.”
“How do you plead?”
“Innocent.”
The State prosecutor said, “Your honor, we’d like to show Mr Fuchs some of the evidence we have gathered.”
“You may proceed.”
“First, we have a recording of a conversation that took place in Mr Fuchs’s office.”
The voices of Kit and Fuchs played back, ending with, “Kill him. Yes, I intend to kill Felix Jaeger.”
The prosecutor continued, “We asked Mariko Tanaka to be present at this hearing. Ms Tanaka, would you be kind enough to take the stand?”
She did.
“Ms Tanaka, do you recognize the conversation we just heard?”
“I do. It was I that Mr Fuchs was speaking to.”
“Did Mr Fuchs tell you that he intended to kill Felix Jaeger?”
“He did.”
“Were these words spoken in jest?”
“I think he was and is entirely serious.”
Fuchs stared at her with the grimness of a man betrayed by a close friend, on whom he thought he could rely.
“You may return to your seat, Ms Tanaka.”
Kit returned to her seat. As she walked past Fuchs, her right eyelid fluttered ever so slightly. Jaeger, seated further back, stiffened as if he had received an electric shock.
“At trial, Ms Tanaka will testify that Mr Fuchs expressed a sincere intention to assassinate the Premier.”
Fuchs spoke, “Your honor, and State counsel, I request trial by ordeal.”
The judge responded, “Don’t be absurd, Mr Fuchs. I’m sure you know that trial by ordeal is an archaism.”
“I am aware, Your Honor. But the provision that allows it is still in force. Our Constitution still allows proof of innocence by ordeal for capital crimes.”
“Even so, Mr Fuchs, you can be tried by ordeal only if the State consents.”
“I know this, your Honor. But I lose nothing by asking for it.”
#
Back in his office, Jaeger exploded, “Did she wink at Fuchs!”
“I saw it, too,’ the aide answered. “It was subtle. We weren’t intended to see it, but she winked.”
“They’ve cooked something up between them. They want her on the stand, in a public trial.”
“We could try him in secret.”
“No,” said Jaeger. “Fuchs is a public figure and a hero to many. If we execute him after a secret trial, his followers will see it as murder. Justice must, in this case at least, be seen to be done.”
“Well, then, we go to trial as planned. We control the judge. If they try to stage something, our judge will cut them off.”
“You’re probably right, but I don’t trust the old fox. He’s an experienced courtroom lawyer. He has something planned. If there’s one thing I have learned these many years, it is not to walk into a trap set by Martin Fuchs.”
“Do we have to have a trial at all?” asked the aide.
“Now, that, Sir, is a good question. Fuchs asked for a trial by ordeal. Just playing to his supporters, of course. It’s the kind of thing they would eat up. Perhaps we should give him what he asked for.”
“Who would you propose as the State’s champion, Mr Jaeger?”
“Why, myself, of course. I will lead the hunt for Mr Fuchs myself.”
#
Kit’s phone buzzed. [It’s time for me to vanish, Kit] said the encrypted message from Fuchs.
[The hunt is on?] she responded.
[It is. Jaeger is their champion.]
And like a drop of water into his native soil, Fuchs vanished.
#
“We’ve lost him, Sir. He was released on bail, under close surveillance, in the hope that his movements would reveal his plans. He returned to his family’s home country, Fuchstal, where he remained quietly in his home. He messaged Ms Tanaka just after the news was released that his plea for trial by ordeal had been granted. Then he disappeared. He was not seen to leave the house, but when the hunt began, he was not there. Our men searched the place down to the ground. They have not found any bolt-holes or any means by which he could have left, yet he is not there.”
Jaeger was infuriated. He did not, however, lose his temper. He knew his men were competent. Experience had taught him not to punish those who brought bad news.
“Well, we knew this was likely to happen. Fuchstal is his home, and he is surrounded by his supporters there. Eyes and ears open! Inform me instantly of any news.”
#
The video appeared the next day. It showed a seated Fuchs in front of a digitally synthesized background. He said,
“My friends and supporters, I am proud to have revived an ancient tradition of our country. Any citizen accused of a capital crime has the right to request a trial by ordeal. We have the right to request this, but not to receive it. The State and the State alone chooses to grant trial by ordeal. Until two days ago, this had not happened in almost a thousand years.
“You are of course wondering what trial by ordeal amounts to. In our land it takes the form of a hunt. The State chooses a champion. Premier Jaeger honors me by taking that role. His job is to hunt and kill me. He can do this with no further legal forms—if he kills me, it is not deemed murder, but justice. Mr Jaeger can draw on the full power of the State in this hunt, but he must slay me himself. If any other hand does it, it is murder.
“A similar right is extended to me. If I kill Mr Jaeger, it is deemed justice, not murder. And I am acquitted of the crime of which I was accused.
“Although you, my friends, may not harm Mr Jaeger, you are permitted to assist me by any non-lethal means. This means, for instance, providing food, medicine, and weapons. And crucially, intelligence! The Democratic Front has set up an email address for tips, as well as a web page and a phone app. These communications are encrypted and anonymous. Send us anything you know about Mr Jaeger’s location, activities, and plans. Leaks from well-informed insiders are especially welcome. But stay safe, and stay secret, friends!”
The speech was followed by a ten-second burst of video and audio noise.
#
“What do we think about those final ten seconds of static?” Jaeger asked.
“We think they carry an encrypted message to his supporters. Ten seconds of video is a lot of information. And the unfiltered output of any efficient encryption scheme looks like white noise.”
“Have the Democratic Front ever used this form of encryption before?”
“We think so. We have found a few examples of white noise video with similar technical characteristics on the net, that may have come from the Democratic Front.”
“You’re trying to crack it, of course.”
“Of course. We have some idea of the method used. But it’s not easy without cribs.”
“Cribs?”
“A crib is an encoded message of known content. For instance, in World War II the Bletchley Park team used weather reports, which the Germans sent out every day both encrypted and in the clear.”
“Can we give them a crib?”
“What do you have in mind, Mr Jaeger?”
“They have called for ‘leaks from well-informed insiders.’ Suppose we record a meeting whose participants discuss information damaging to us. For instance, I could become dangerously ill. I disappear from public view without explanation. We hold a meeting to discuss how to deal with my illness. We leak that recording to the Democratic Front. Then we look for a white-noise video of the appropriate length to appear.”
“Let me run this past our cryptography experts. But I fail to see how this can be a bad idea. Even if it doesn’t help with decryption, we may deceive them into thinking that you are ill. That can only be helpful.”
#
“They fell for it, Mr Jaeger! We have broken their encryption. We can read the white noise videos. Not just the one that was openly released, but several that have appeared in the days since. And we know where Fuchs is.”
#
Jaeger grasped the door handle. “Is he in there?”
“Almost certainly. Sonar detects a single person on the other side of that door. Trace evidence on this side shows that Fuchs has been here.”
Jaeger drew his pistol, opened the door, and darted in. He was in a dimly lit, elongated cave. At the other end of the cave was a bunker. The barrel of a rifle gleamed from the slot in its center. The crimson dot of a laser sight appeared on his chest.
“Fuchs, no!” he shouted.
His shout was interrupted by the “Crack! Crack!” of two rifle shots in rapid succession. His chest and head burst in a fountain of blood and bone.
Fuchs stepped out of the bunker. His rifle clattered to the ground as he raised his hands. A dozen or so of his supporters raised anechoic trap doors set in the floor of the cave and surrounded him protectively where he stood, shaking in reaction. He had never before killed a human, nor ever fired a gun in anger.
Epilog
It was the end of a long night, but a good one. They had managed to hold an election. While it had not exactly come off without a hitch most parties agreed that the contest had been fairly fought and fairly counted. Candidates supported by the Democratic Front and its allies had won a clear majority of seats. It had been a long night and a big party. Staffers were cleaning up, but Fuchs and Kit had found a quiet corner.
“Are you ready for glory?” Fuchs asked.
“Me?” said Kit. “Are you crazy? I’m just a lowly staffer. You will lead.”
“No. It can’t be me. Half the country still thinks of me as a murderer who got off on a technicality.”
“That’s not fair!”
“No, of course not. Jaeger was a soldier, experienced in killing. And he had the entire force of the government behind him. I’m just an old country lawyer. The smart money was on him. In fact, until I pulled the trigger, I was not sure I would be able to. But suddenly I was furious.”
“But you know, Martin, it was not the gun that beat him.”
“I know. Our deadly weapons were my weakness—my ability to get people to underestimate me—and you. My God, Kit. That wink!”
“That was tricky. Jaeger had to see it, but it had to be all but invisible to make him believe I meant it only for you.”
“You judged it so well. Jaeger liked to think he had the perfect poker face. But when you winked, he stiffened as if someone had slapped him. He was hooked. After that, it was easy. He was not going to spot the con once he’d seen that wink. He could never bear the thought that someone was putting something over on him.”
She grinned at him. “Weakness and a wink! We won with weakness and a wink!”
“It’s up to you now, Kitsune-san. Win the peace! You have hard work ahead to repair Jaeger’s damage. You kept your nose clean, even testifying against me.”
She looked at him, calculation in her eyes. “You’ve already spoken to Hearth and Homeland members, haven’t you?”
“I have. You are acceptable to those who want to return to politics as usual.”
Afterword
This story was inspired by some lines from the poem “Domesday Song” by WH Auden.
Crimson in the setting sun;
In the valley of the fox
Gleams the barrel of a gun.
—“Domesday Song”, WH Auden
That gave me the idea of a hunt. Of course, the idea of the fox who tricks the hunter is a classic, and it grew from there.
The cover image is a phase portrait of f(z):
A phase portrait is a visualization of a complex function introduced by Elias Wegert in Visual Complex Functions: An Introduction with Phase Portraits.
On top of this I placed mottled gray walls outlining an oval, meant to represent the cave in which the shot was fired.
Great story! 💯
I’m glad that democracy survived! 🙏