Qin Shang was an egomaniac with a stratospheric level of insane optimism. He held the firm belief that his day of reckoning would never come. Even if it did, he was too rich, too omnipotent, to be broken. He already paid enormous bribes to high-level officials in half the governments of the world. In the United States alone, there were over one hundred people in every agency of the federal government on his payroll. As far as Qin Shang was concerned the future was wrapped in a nebulous fog that never fully materialized. But just for added insurance, he maintained a small army of bodyguards and professional assassins he'd pirated away from the most efficient intelligence agencies in Europe, Israel and America.
His receptionist's voice came over a small speaker on his desk. "You have a visitor arriving on your private elevator."
Qin Shang rose from behind his immense rosewood desk, raised on legs intricately carved in the shape of tigers, and walked across the cavernous room toward the elevator. The office looked like the vastly expanded interior of a captain's cabin in an old sailing ship. Heavy oak planking was laid for the floor. Thick oak beams supported a skylighted ceiling with teak paneling throughout. Large builder's models of Qin Shang Maritime ships sailed on plaster seas inside glass cases on one side of the room while on the opposite wall a collection of old diver's suits with their lead boots and brass helmets hung suspended by their air hoses, as if they still contained the bodies of their owners. Qin Shang stopped in front of the elevator as its doors opened and greeted his visitor, a short man with dense gray hair. His eyes bulged as they protruded from fleshy pouches. He smiled as he came forward and shook Qin Shang's outstretched hand.
"Qin Shang," he said with a taut little grin.
"Yin Tsang, always an honor to see you," Qin Shang said graciously. "I did not expect you until next Thursday."
"I hope you'll forgive this unpardonable interruption," said Yin Tsang, the minister of China's internal affairs, "but I wished to speak with you privately on a matter of some delicacy."
"I am always available anytime to you, old friend. Come and sit down. Would you like some tea?"
Yin Tsang nodded. "Your own special blend? I'd like nothing better."
Qin Shang called his private secretary and ordered the tea. "Now then, what is this delicate matter that brings you to Hong Kong a week ahead of your scheduled visit?"
"Disturbing news has reached Beijing concerning your operation at Orion Lake in the state of Washington."
Qin Shang shrugged carelessly. "Yes, an unfortunate incident beyond my control."
"My sources tell me the holding station for the immigrants was raided by the Immigration and Naturalization Service."
"It was," Qin Shang freely admitted. "My best men were killed and our security people were captured in a lightning raid that was totally unexpected."
Yin Tsang looked at him. "How could this happen? I can't believe you failed to prepare for such a possibility. Didn't your agents in Washington, D.C., alert you?"
Qin Shang shook his head. "I've since learned the raid did not originate in the INS national headquarters. It was a spur-of-the-moment operation conducted by the local district director, who took it upon himself to launch an assault on the holding station. I was given no warning by any of my agents within the American government."
"Your entire North American operation has been compromised. The Americans now have broken a link in the chain that will surely lead directly to you."
"Not to worry, Yin Tsang," Qin Shang said calmly. "American investigators have no evidence that directly ties me to illegal immigrant smuggling. They may have their pitiful and insignificant suspicions, but nothing else. My other staging sites along the American coastline are still in operation and can easily absorb all future shipments programmed for Orion Lake."
"President Lin Loyang and my fellow ministers will be happy to hear you have everything under your control," said Yin Tsang. "But I still have my reservations. Once the Americans scent a crack in your organization, they will hound you unrelentingly."
"You are afraid?"
"I am concerned. Too much is at stake to allow a man more interested in profit than the aims of our party to remain in control."
"What are you suggesting?"
Yin Tsang looked at Qin Shang steadily. "I shall recommend to President Lin Loyang that you resign from the smuggling operation and be replaced."
"And my contract to carry the bulk of national Chinese cargo and passengers?"
"Revoked."
The expected response of surprise and anger did not materialize. Nor was there the slightest sign of annoyance. Qin Shang merely shrugged impassively. "You think that I can be that easily replaced?"
"Someone with your special qualifications has already been selected."
"
Anyone I know?"
"One of your competitors, Quan Ting, chairman of China & Pacific Lines, has agreed to fill your shoes."
"Quan Ting?" Qin Shang's eyebrow rose a millimeter. "His ships are little better than rusting barges."