From there they climbed a ladder to the main deck.
“The captain would like to introduce himself,” Bentley said as they all sat down on bamboo mats.
“His name is Zur FaHuang.”
Marissa and Tristan smiled and bowed as did the captain.
Then they had Bentley introduce them. After more bowing and smiling Tristan asked Bentley if the captain was aware of what they wanted to know.
While Bentley was speaking to Zur, Marissa noticed that two women had appeared from below, both dressed in black. The younger woman was carrying a small infant. The little girl they’d seen earlier was clinging to her mother’s leg.
Bentley turned back to Marissa and Tristan.
“Mr. Yip’s man told the captain that it was permitted for you to ask him about people he has been smuggling out of the Middle Kingdom. I trust you understand what that is about?”
“We do indeed,” Tristan said.
“Then the first order of business,” Bentley said, “is to determine how much this will cost you.”
“You mean I have to pay this bloke as well?” Tristan asked with dismay.
“If you want any information,” Bentley said.
“Bloody hell,” Tristan said.
“Find out what he wants.”
Bentley negotiated. In the middle of the conversation, the captain appeared to get angry and leaped to his feet. He proceeded to parade around the deck, gesturing wildly.
“What’s happening?” Tristan asked Bentley.
“He’s talking about inflation,” Bentley said.
“Inflation?” Marissa questioned with disbelief.
“Well, he didn’t use that term,” Bentley admitted.
“But what he’s irritated about amounts to the same thing.”
Marissa watched the man, trying to remember that they were dealing with a swaggering, modern-day pirate who happened to be living in one of the unabashed capitals of capitalism.
Finally a price was established at a thousand Hong Kong dollars. After Tristan gave the man the money, he sat back down and tried to be helpful.
With Bentley as translator, Tristan asked about the men that Zur had been smuggling into Hong Kong for the Wing Sin and ultimately for Female Care Australia: who were they and where did they come from? Unfortunately, the answers were short. Zur had no idea.
Tristan couldn’t believe it.
“I paid a thousand Hong Kong dollars to hear that he doesn’t know?” he asked with aggravation.
Tristan got to his feet and paced like the captain had.
“Ask him if he knows anything at all about these people. Anything!”
Bentley asked.
Once the captain had replied, Bentley turned back to Tristan.
“He says that some of the men were monks. Or at least he thinks they were.”
“Now that’s helpful,” Tristan said irritably.
“Tell me something
I don’t know.”
The captain talked to Bentley at length while Tristan fumed about all the money he’d paid for nothing.
Bentley turned back to Tristan.
“The captain is upset you are not happy. He has made another offer. It seems that he is leaving this afternoon at six P.M. to make another one of these pickups.
That was what he was arguing about with Mr. Yip’s man. He was supposed to have more up-front money. He says that for two thousand Hong Kong dollars each, you and your wife can go with him. It only takes about three or four hours to cross the pearl River. Then you can talk directly to the men he picks up and get answers to all your questions.”
Taken off guard by this unexpected offer, Tristan hesitated Without conferring with Marissa, he said to Bentley, “Tell him that I will only pay three thousand dollars Hong Kong, and that’s final.”
While Bentley translated for Zur, Marissa stood up and went over to Tristan.
“I hope we know what we’re doing,” she said.
She was miffed he hadn’t consulted her and fearful about the venture
It hardly sounded safe.
“Are you sure we should go through with this?”
“It could be our best bet,” said Tristan.
“If we can talk to a pair of these mainlanders before they get to Australia, we would most likely get to the bottom of this whole affair.”
“Possibly, but we’re talking about smuggling,” Marissa said.
“We’ll be in Communist Chinese waters. And what if it involves drugs? Smuggling drugs is a capital crime in most of Asia.”
“You’re right,” Tristan said reluctantly.
“But we can find out if it’s drugs.”
Tristan went over and interrupted Bentley and Zur.
“Ask him if picking up these men involves drugs in any way,” Tristan said.
Bentley did as he was told. Zur listened, then shook his head.
After a short conversation, Bentley turned back to Tristan.
“No drugs,” he said.
“Zur has on occasion been involved with drugs, but not lately. He says that drug running has become too dangerous.
“What about his price?” Tristan asked.
“Three thousand five hundred,” Bentley said.
“I can’t get him down any lower.”
“Fine!” Tristan said.
“Tell him we’ll be back at six.”
“Tristan,” Marissa said.
“I don’t know..
“How do we get off this junk?” Tristan asked, interrupting Marissa. He motioned for her to be quiet.
“We are not going on that piece of ‘junk,” Marissa said the moment they climbed into the armored Mercedes. She was irritated with Tristan for committing them without her approval.
“Even if Zur is not involved with the drug trade, he goes into Communist China waters. If we get picked up, we could be in prison for God knows how long. We can’t take that kind of risk.”
“Seems to me we’ve been taking more risk just being here in Hong Kong,” Tristan said.
“The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that going with Captain FaHuang will be the only way to solve this affair: trace it back to its origins. That had been my original idea.”
“Where to?” Bentley said from the front seat.
Tristan motioned for Bentley to wait.
“People go to the PRC all the time,” he said.
“I happen to know that we can get visas in a matter of hours. It just means paying a little extra. If there is any trouble, then we can just say that we’d hired the captain to take us to the PRC, which is true. We’ll say we were supposed to go to Guangzhou, but that the captain cheated us.”
Turning, to Bentley, Tristan asked: “Aren’t there a lot of people going back and forth between Hong Kong and the PRCT’ “More and more each day,” Bentley answered.
“The PRC encourages people from Hong Kong to come to spend their dollars. I have a permanent visa and go frequently to Shenzhen.”
“Good,” Tristan said.
“Because I was hoping you’d come with
US.”
“It’s possible,” Bentley said slowly.
“But we’ll have to renegotiate my hourly wage.”
“I expected as much,” Tristan said.
“I’m finally beginning to understand how Hong Kong works.” Then, turning to Marissa, he said: “Will that make you feel a little better?”
Marissa nodded, but she still had an uneasy feeling about the proposed venture. Tristan could tell she still wasn’t convinced.
“Well,” he said.
“If you really don’t want to do this, just say the word. We can still catch a plane out of here this afternoon.
I personally think it’s less risky than what we’ve been doing here in Hong Kong. Zur’s apparently been doing it for years.”
Marissa wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. She was anxious about the proposed trip, but she hated the thought of giving up.
Finally she said, “Why don’t we go ahead and get the visas. Then later we’ll talk about it again.”
In a private suite in the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation building, Ned Kelly waited patiently to see Harold Pang, one of the Taipans of the city. As the chairman of the board of several corporations, he was one of the most powerful men in the colony. Befitting his station, his was one of the most sumptuous homes on Victoria Peak. Yet in addition to his far flung legitimate business connections, he was also the Dragon Head of the Wing Sin. It was largely due to this illicit position that he’d been able to achieve so much legitimately.
Ned had met Harold on several occasions, both in Hong Kong and in Brisbane. He remembered him as a gentle, cultured man who was a master at tai chi chuan.
“Mr. Pang will see you now,” a tall, soft-spoken receptionist said in a sultry voice. Ned saw that the slit of her skin-tight traditional Chinese dress went clear up to her hipbone. He shivered from the effect, wondering how anyone got much work done with her walking around.
Mr. Pang got up from his massive desk when Ned entered his office. Behind him, through floor-to-ceiling glass, was the entire sweep of the harbor with Kowloon and the new territories in the background.
“Welcome, Mr. Kelly,” Mr. Pang said.
“G’day, Mr. Pang,” Ned said.
“Mr. Charles Lester sends his warmest regyards.”
Mr. Pang bowed, then clapped his hands. Almost immediately the receptionist reappeared with an ancient porcelain tea service.
Soon Ned was relaxing on a long leather couch, balancing one of the priceless cups on his knee. He waited until the receptionist withdrew before speaking.
“Mr. Lester wanted me to thank you for the long and profitable business relationship Fertility, Limited, has enjoyed with the Wing Sin.”
“It has always been a pleasure,” Mr. Pang said.
“As friends, we profit together. It has been a good marriage.”
“Mr. Lester has also asked me to request another favor of the Wing Sin,” Ned said.
“There are a man and woman in Hong Kong who are interfering in our established business relationship.
They must be eliminated.”
“Are these people public figures?” Mr. Pang asked.
“No,” Ned said.
“They are only doctors. One is Australian and one American.”
“If they are not public figures,” Mr. Pang said, “then it will cost only one hundred and fifty thousand Hong Kong dollars.”
“Isn’t that somewhat high for an old business friend?” Ned asked. He felt a twinge of hope; he knew the figure was less than the bonus he had been offered. He was hoping to pick up the difference.
“Such a price only covers expenses,” Mr. Pang said.
Ned nodded.
“It must be done immediately,” he said.
“Then you must go to see the enforcer today,” Mr. Pang said.
“This afternoon Mr. Yip is at the Shanghai Shipping Company’s container facility in Tai Kok Tsui. He will be expecting you.”
Ned bowed. He was relieved. He was also confident. When the Wing Sin promised to do something, it always got done, no matter what.
Bentley pulled the armored Mercedes directly into the receiving dock in the back of the Peninsula Hotel. The early afternoon had passed quickly with the effort of obtaining entry visas for the People’s Republic of China. Bentley had proved invaluable. He’d known exactly where to go and had taken them directly to the China Travel Service office as soon as they left Aberdeen. He’d also known where to go to get the necessary passport-style photographs.
Bentley stopped the car and turned around to face his clients.
“Well,” he said, “what have you decided?” He knew that Marissa still had reservations about going.
Tristan looked at Marissa, “What’s it to be?”
Marissa hesitated. As the business with the visas had progressed, she began to feel better about the venture. After all, they would have the necessary documents. But she still had her doubts.
“Bentley, you’d better wait,” Tristan said.
“It appears that we still haven’t decided.”
“At4FI7t.M Getting out of the car, they walked into the hotel lobby. Tristan went to the front desk and used the safe deposit box to get more money for the captain if they decided to go. While he was occupied, Marissa kept an eye out for the Chinese man who’d attacked them the day before.
After obtaining the money and returning the safe deposit box,
Tristan led Marissa to the elevators. Marissa didn’t relax until the elevator doors closed behind them.
