Actions and Variables

I watched the sun rise this morning. Really not much different than that of any other morning these past few months. It seems sleep won't come and when or if it does, it is fitful at best. I'm not really complaining, it is something I have grown accustom to. It has given me the chance to think about a lot that has been going on in my life, take stock of myself so to say.

I posted a small leaf under my profile here, I guess you could say it is the culmination of everything I have been thinking about. For the most part, it is true, we all have learned lessons in life one way or another, whether by seeking an answer and learning from that discovery or having it come to us by our own actions. I have also learned that life is full of variables, and that those variables are determined by many things, our words, our thoughts, our actions or how we present or represent ourselves. All these are determining factors that create the variables in which we are viewed or to a degree judged.

These variables I speak of come in many guises, such as insomnia, lack of appetite, low self esteem, lack of tolerance, inability to have cohesive thoughts (confusion) and many more. I call them variables instead of moods or mental depression. The reason why is because they are controllable without the use of drugs or outside intervention. Anything that you can put yourself into, you can pull yourself out of. It is something that with self discipline and the will to want to change, it can be changed, unlike a chemical imbalance which is something we do not have control over.

When by our actions, deeds, words or thoughts we have experienced one of these variables, it sets us on a path of discovery about ourselves and what it was that may have put us in that specific variable. A lot of times we seem to want to shift responsibility and not own the reason that we are there, it is much easier to think that it was because of another's action we have been thrust in that particular event in our life. In some cases that could be justified by another seeking some sort of vindication, but most of the time it is nothing more than our own actions that have caused it. Once you start to accept responsibility for what it was that has put you where you are, that is when you start to understand why you are there.

One of my personal beliefs is that everything starts with self, no matter what it is, it's origin is with self. As will the result or the final outcome. With that thought in mind and to go back on something I said, "what you can put yourself into, you can pull yourself out of", is something I believe strongly in, because I have been there. We all have the willpower to make a change in ourselves, in our lives and in the outcome if it is something we truly want. I do not believe anyone lacks the willpower to do anything, we are born with it, from the first gasp of air we breathe in until that final gasp we exhale, it is in us. It is those who do not wish change or lack the desire to change that feel they do not have the willpower to make that change they lament about. Utilizing that willpower within you is the controlling mechanism in that variable I have been speaking of.

As an example: Being a "child" of the 60's and 70's I had a very rebellious and turbulent teenage life. There was nothing I felt I could not do or nothing I felt that could affect me, that everything was in my control. To a certain extent that was right, but it was the abuse of that control that led to me being taken to the emergency room at the age of 17 and my parents being told I would not live out the night. That they should go home and start making preparations and the hospital would call. There wasn't a drug I had not done during those years from age 13 to 17. In four short years I had virtually tried everything except heroin, my only personal taboo.

I think a lot of it was due to the freedom I had as a child, even though at that time I did not feel I was one, after all, I had a job, I earned my own way and did not have to depend on my parents. I have worked from a very early age in my life, my first real job at 13. My father always told us that if we were old enough to work, we were old enough to make our own decisions. Little did he know I think how destructive those words could be. It gave me the freedom to come and go as I pleased. I mean I was one of very few, if any other at all that carried a notarized piece of paper in my pocket from my father that basically gave me that emancipation all kids want. To be looked at and thought about as an adult.

My drug of choice after running the gambit of what was offered at the time turned out to be methamphetamine. Crystal. I had tried all kinds of hallucinogens, chemical and organic, smoked pot and did any kind of prescription drug that was put in my hand, but it was crystal that finally won out so to say as my drug of choice. To me it was a euphoric drug, one that made me feel invincible. One that I let destroy me. Not just physically and mentally, but morally. I lost interest in school, family and my work as this drug slowly started taking control of me. Actually, I let it take control, the feeling I got when under its influence was one of, I felt anyway, self enlightenment, and I thought it could give me a deeper understanding and meaning to myself and to the world about me. To give me that chance to understand life and my place in it. Truth be known, it is all about the rush and the euphoria you experience.

As I said it was that abuse of self control, not the lack of it that finally ended with me in the emergency room three days before my senior year in high school was to start. We had been on a run for a week, not coming down, but pushing our bodies as far as we could, it turned out to be too far. When I ran that final shot, I got nothing from it, I felt no different than I did before I took it. I looked around and told the friends I was with that it was enough, I was going home to crash and sleep the next few days before school started. I got home, made me one of those dagwood sandwiches you see in the comics, grabbed the bag of potato chips and a glass of milk, then headed for my bedroom. Finishing what I had ate, I laid down and closed my eyes. Thoughts were screaming through my head as I tried to bring myself down. I started to feel a numbness in my left arm and a pain radiating from my chest, up my neck and through my jaws. I had a cold clammy feeling and my heart was pounding and started skipping beats or beating irregular. I made my way to my parents room, I was disoriented but still managed to make that few feet down the hall to their bedroom. I woke my dad and told him what was happening, he wasted no time and started making the phone calls. We end where this started.

The reason for this personal example was to demonstrate something. I was addicted to a chemical drug, one most would go to rehab to recover from. What I would suffer afterwards I would not wish on my worst enemy, it was my living hell. I spent eight weeks in the hospital recovering from the physical damage I caused to myself, but the mental healing would take years before I felt as if I were back to myself. I felt as if I were bathed in a storm of emotions, I could not think, I could not understand simple things and I found myself slipping into a darkness within me. The drug was still working in me, still screaming in my head. The spasms and cramps that would attack my body at night when I tried to sleep were like demons that beat at me. My mind and body screamed for it, begged for it. I was not going to give in to it. My love of life was stronger than my love for this drug. I was determined to beat it.

The physical addiction was one I could deal with. Eating right, exercising and and getting rest, I found soon that the physical addiction was wearing off and my body slowly started recovering. I was 5"7" and 87 pounds when I went into the hospital, not much to me at all. It was the mental addiction that proved to be the hardest to beat.

A friend of mine that I went to school with mother talked to me one afternoon about what all that had happened. She asked how I was feeling, I told her fine, I was gaining weight and I could finally sleep at night, my body no longer experienced the cramps and spasms that would come upon me each night. She looked at me and again asked, this time with an inflection in her tone, how was I doing? I told her with a trembling voice how I was feeling, afraid, alone, confused, ashamed and any other emotions. She held my hand and told me I wasn't alone, that I had friends and family all around me. I told her that I felt I was going crazy, that I was losing it. She squeezed my hand and smiled. She said that I wasn't crazy, sane people think they are crazy, it was crazy people who thought they were sane. She said that it all started with me, in me, that no amount of help from a doctor, psychiatrist or drugs could heal me. It had to be with me, that there was nothing they could do that I couldn't do myself. I had to have the will, the desire to want to heal, to make that change I was wanting. She said it was in me and it was up to me to bring it out and make it work for me, that before I could depend on others, I had to depend on myself first. It was with her words that I found that willpower within me and it was with those words that I bolstered that willpower and it was with that willpower inside of me that I was able to recover, to find reason to want to make something out of my life and beat this demon I let take control.

To take control, take responsibility, to see and understand, take responsibility. To overcome and heal yourself, find that desire to want to. Master it, just as you have things in your past, find that willpower you were born with, strengthen your resolve to heal yourself with it. It has not been your first time in this life that you have had one or more of these variables place on you and it won't be the last. If it something that you really want, you can do it, you just have to have that need, that desire, that conviction to do it and see it through.

What was it that echoed these thoughts through my mind? Last night I was told by someone that they could not marry a nobody. After we departed our online session it started me thinking about my past and all I had been through to get where I am at today and I found out something, I am not a nobody, I am somebody. Someone of substance, of worth. I may have slipped, transgressed and hurt that one that I love and I know that I have a lot to make up to her for what I have done. It will be with that same willpower within me that I have used to overcome the demons in the past that will give me the strength to see this through. It will be the determination that willpower gives me and the subtle persistence to win her heart again.

China Blue VI ©

Stepping out of the elevator onto the floor of his hotel room, Travis looked at his watch. 11:30, "Damn, I didn't expect to stay out this late." he said out loud. Putting his key in the lock and entering his room, what he saw, he could not believe. His room was in a shambles. Luggage had been gone through, his mattress up turned and left balancing on one corner of the box springs. Drawers left open, clothing scattered everywhere. Nothing had been untouched. Even the pictures on the walls had been taken down and pulled apart. "What the hell happened?" Travis thought to himself. Placing a cushion back in a chair he sat down and surveyed the damage. Taking his cell phone from his pocket, he placed a call to Ted. "Michaels here." came the familiar voice. "Ted, Travis here, we got a problem.", Travis said with a sense of urgency in his voice. "Just got back into my room and someone thought it needed remodeling. Everything has been turned upside down and gone through." After a short pause Ted spoke, "Who do you think it might be Trav?" "Don't have the slightest idea. I haven't checked with the desk to see if there had been anyone here asking about me nor have I had a chance to talk to security and see if they have surveillance on the halls. They really made a mess of things though. My mattress has been shredded and the linings of my suits ripped out. They even pulled the frames apart on the walls. They definitely know I am here for a reason Ted.",Travis waited for Ted's response. Another pause, this time a bit longer, "Alright Trav, you check the room for any thing they might have left behind?" "Not yet , haven't had time to. I thought I would call you first and let you know what is going on. Ted, outside of my cover, I have not told anyone why I am here, so this is very confusing right now. Is there a possibility that someone back there could have leaked anything?" Travis asked. "No, I know everyone involved in this and they are high above our heads. Leaking anything would just be cutting their own throat. You check your room to see if they left anything behind and then check with the desk and hotel security, you find out what you can and I will do a little checking here and see if I can come up with anything. By all means Travis, be careful, if they are on to you and what you are up to there, the results could be very bad." Ted warned Travis. He ended the call and started looking around the room, this time much closer than he did when he first came in. Lifting the mattress, he noticed a small piece of paper, nothing that couldn't have already been there before, but just to make sure, he picked it up and set it on the table. Next, he looked around the dresser and through the clothes that were scattered around it. Not finding anything, he went over and started checking around where his jackets hung. Nothing found here either. "Damn, professional job.", he remarked to himself. Back out his door and to the elevators, Travis scanned the hallway to see if there were any cameras that might have recorded someone entering his room. None that he could see, but then again, that did not mean they weren't there. Standing in front of the counter in the lobby, Travis waited impatiently for someone to notice him standing there. What he did not notice that in the lobby at that moment was Sammy, standing off in a corner watching Travis as he waited for the evening clerk. "Good evening sir, is there anything I can help you with?" the clerk politely asked him. "Maybe you can, my name is Travis Williams and I am staying in room 1108, has anyone been in this evening inquiring about me?" Travis asked. "Not that I am aware of sir. Unless they have come in the past hour, I would not know. My shift started at 11:00 this evening. But, if you like, I can leave a note for the day shift and see if anyone has been in asking for you." the clerk offered. "Thanks anyway, but it is not necessary. Is there anyone with hotel security available tonight?" he continued asking questions of the clerk. "Yes, there is. Han Luc is in charge in the evenings, but he would not know if anyone has been asking about you, he comes in at the same time I do." the clerk explained apologetically. "May I speak with him anyways?" Travis asked. "Let me get him on the radio Mr Williams, I am sure he will be happy to assist you in any way he can.", answered the clerk. A few moments later a man wearing a black suit, white shirt and black tie with a badge pinned to the left breast pocket came walking across the lobby and straight up to Travis. "Good evening Mr Williams, my name is Han Luc, is there anything I can help you with?" Luc offered him holding out his hand. Travis shook Luc's hand and said, "I am in room 1108 and I was wondering if you had surveillance cameras in the hallways to monitor the security." "No Mr Williams, I am sorry, but we do not. However, we do have them in all of the elevators and in the lobby as well as over the reservations desk." Luc offered. "Is there some concern of yours that the hotel should be aware of?" "Is there anyway I could take a look at those recordings?" Travis asked. "No, I am sorry Mr Williams, it is against hotel policy to let the guest look at the security tapes. Guest privacy, I am sure you can appreciate that." Luc answered. "Sure, I understand, I would like to know if I had any unannounced visitors tonight. Someone has been in my room while I was out and I just wanted to see if your cameras had picked up anything." Travis returned. "Is everything okay in your room?" Luc continued to ask. "Not really, it is in shambles. I will need another room.", Travis informed him. "Please Mr Williams, show me your room so that I can make a report on it and contact the authorities. While we are gone, the clerk will see to another room for you sir." Luc told Travis. As they headed towards the elevator, Sammy made a quick exit for the lobby doors. Back in the room, Travis and Luc stood at the door way looking about. "You are right Mr Williams, someone did pay you a visit tonight and it seems they were set on finding something. As I asked earlier, is there anything the hotel should be aware of sir?" Luc asked again. "No, there is nothing, I am nothing more than a security analyst for Memdec, here to evaluate their security protocol and report back to the corporate headquarters my findings. That is why this is so puzzling to me. ", Travis said in a matter of fact manner. Luc did not need to know anymore than Travis had told him. He was not connected to Memdec, he was just some hotel security officer. Luc pulled a digital camera out and started to take pictures. Travis noticed the piece of paper he had left laying on the desk and casually walked over and placed his hand over it. Palming it, he looked over at Luc, whose back was to him as he took pictures of Travis's torn suits. Travis took another quick look around the room and was satisfied that he had covered the place pretty thoroughly. "I think I have enough Mr Williams, we can go back down to the desk and see what the clerk has found you to stay in." Luc started, "Then we will have to call the authorities and report this incident. I am pretty sure that your suits will not be covered by the hotel on this, I am sorry to inform you." "Considering how tonight has gone, I am not surprised at all." Travis said almost laughing about it. Walking out of the room, Travis took the piece of paper and shoved it into his jacket pocket.

Back at the front desk, the reservationist handed Travis a key to another room and informed him of the room number. She could not apologize enough for the inconvenience he had been through and assured him that was not a common occurrence. Travis accepted her apology and told her not to worry about it and turned and headed towards the elevators. As he was stepping inside, from the corner of his eye, he saw a man in dark clothing quietly slip down a side hall. Travis took note of the man’s features and pressed the button to his floor. Entering his room, the first thing he noticed was it’s carbon copy appearance to his previous room. Shaking his head, he smiled to himself and thought, “First rule is never be repetitive, always change things.” Walking over to the window, Travis peers out into the night, looking in the direction of SuMing’s home. His mind drifting back to that dance and the way she felt in his arms. As he stood there, he put his hands into his jacket pocket. There it was, that little piece of paper. He had almost forgotten it was in there. Pulling it out he studied it. Really not much there, a couple of Chinese characters and a phone number, but maybe just enough to get him the answers he was looking for. Taking his wallet out of his inside breast pocket, he placed the piece of paper in it and put his wallet back. “I will look into this tomorrow.” He thought to himself. He stretched out on the bed, not taking his clothes off and closed his eyes. Drifting in and out of sleep, he could not keep his mind off SuMing.

The next morning, Travis got up and immediately went to the bathroom and took a shower. Once he had cleaned himself up, he put on a clean shirt and pants and grabbing the jacket he had worn the night before and headed out the door, set on getting some answers to what had happened. Once in the elevator, he started thinking about the events of the last couple of days and back tracking himself to see if he had done something that might have given him away. Outside of SuMing, he could not think of anyone that would have known what he was up to. It could not have been SuMing, she was the one who had offered him information concerning China Blue in the beginning. And other than the fact that all it was, was entries on a spreadsheet, she really didn’t have a clue as to what was really going on. He hated to think she had anything to do with what had happened. Getting out of the elevator, Travis headed across the lobby towards the entry and out on the street. Grabbing a cup of coffee from the Starbucks next to the hotel, he hailed a cab and climbed in. Informing the driver as to where he wanted to go, he settled into the seat and started thinking again.

Arriving at Memdek, Travis pays his fare and heads to the building. Not really paying attention to the cab that pulled up a few seconds after he did. As he entered the revolving doors, the same figure who had disappeared down the side hall at the hotel emerged from the cab and headed around to the alley, entering at the loading docks.

Heading straight for his office, Travis asked Lei to pull the file on Mark Littleman. “Sure.”, she answered, “Just his employee file?” Travis turned and looked at Lei, “You mean you have more than just his employee file locked away in there?”, he asked Lei smiling. “Of course, you said I should be very resourceful and get all the information about the employees on the list you gave me.”, she smiled answering him. Travis could not believe his eyes when he opened the file. Mark Littleman had more than a few skeletons in his closet. Perusing the pages he found he liked to gamble and it seemed he did not like using his money to do so. He liked living a lifestyle beyond his means and seemed to be very fond of young women, much younger than he should, more girls than young women. Travis kept thumbing through the pages, looking for something that might tie him to the reason he had been sent there. Any leads in that direction were coming up as dead ends. He noticed Mark kept more than one residence in town and looked at the address. Looking a bit further down the page he noticed a telephone number. A puzzled look came across Travis’ face and he reached for his wallet and pulled out the little piece of paper and held it next to the page. “Bingo!”, he said aloud. “Same damn phone number!” Whoever was in his room last night phoned this number and talked with Mark. But what exactly was his involvement with what he was doing there? It could have nothing at all to do with it, Mark could have had his own agenda not even remotely related to why he was there. Maybe Mark felt the company had become wise to what he had been up to and was planning on replacing him. That his book keeping was not as tight as he thought it was. Truth is, it was better than he thought. Memdec had no idea of what Mark was up to as far as the books went. Travis was thinking when would be a good time to confront Mark with this. Too early and he could blow everything, too late and he might not be able to place Mark anywhere near the chinablue project. But he was going to talk to him. That was for sure, and the sooner, the better. Turning around, he walked over to Lei and hugged her. Lei looked at Travis with surprise and turned a little red. “How did you ever get all this information Lei?” Travis asked. “You told me to be resourceful, so I contacted a few of my friends that owed me.” Lei responded smiling. “Well I hope you haven’t used up all your favors, we still may need a bit more information before this is all over with.”, Travis replied. “Oh, no sir, still a few favors out there to be returned yet.”, Lei informed Travis.

“I couldn’t find a damn thing!”, Sammy burst out at Mark. “I even took my best man with me and he couldn’t find anything. We went through that room thoroughly. I’m telling you Mark, there wasn’t anything to be found.” “Keep you voice dawn Sammy. You think I want the rest of the building to know what you were up to last night? It is bad enough you have to make an appearance at my office and then to have you rant about.”, Mark said in a quiet but stern voice. “Listen Mark, if this guy is up to something, he isn’t letting anyone know about it here. I have called all my contacts within the government and on the street. Nothing is known about him. Or why he is here. Outside of him working for the same company you do, there is nothing else to be found out.”, Sammy informed Mark. “I spoke with our friend Mr. Ling last night Sammy. I was not very comfortable with him at all. I just want you to understand and remember that you are in this just as deep as I am and if anything should happen to disrupt the balance of this very fragile agreement with Mr. Ling, your name will be mentioned more than Christ’s at church on Sunday. Just stay on him, you Sammy, not one of your so-called trusted monkeys that spend more time shooting up heroine than they do working for it.”, Mark instructed him. “Don’t worry about me Mark, I will take care of Mr. Williams. Sammy assured Mark. “Just be sure you do.” Mark reiterated.

China Blue V ©

Mark placed a phone call, "Sammy, Mark Littleman here, I need you to do something for me." Mark requested. "Yeah Mark, how can I help you man?" came Sammy's reply. "Listen, I had this problem arrive today and I need it looked into." Mark stated. "Sure, no problem Mark, just let me know what it is you want me to do and when. Have I ever let you down before?" Sammy assured Mark. There was a pause, and then Mark started again, "A man arrived today from the states. He is from the home office and I want to know what he is up to. I know the company has used your services in the past for background checks on potential clients, so I want you to use some of your well placed connections to find out exactly what he is doing here.” “Sure, sure thing Mark. Just give me his name and where he is staying and I will see what I can dig up on him." Sammy answered. "His name is Travis Williams, he is staying at the Four Winds, I don't know what room he is in. He is not a small man Sammy and he looks as if he can handle himself pretty well if he has to, so watch yourself on this one." "No need to worry about me Mark, I can handle myself just fine." Sammy stated. "What I meant Sammy is don't screw this up. Just make yourself available when I call, understand Sammy?" Mark demanded. "Yeah Mark, I understand you okay. You know that if this is something personal, I can't offer you the same rates s I do Memdec, right? And I will need half up front and the rest when I finish, as soon as I finish. Not that I don't trust you man, it is nothing more than business." Sammy replied, trying not to let Mark have the upper hand on the conversation. Sammy liked to feel he was in control and not being controlled. "Don't worry about your money Sammy, you will get it, just do like I ask and see what he is doing here, okay?" Mark parlayed and then hung up then phone. Standing there, he was trying to think what Travis was up to and why he wasn't told more by his boss. Paranoia started setting as he tried to think of anything he may have failed to cover over or for something he may have over looked. Sitting at his desk, he logged on and went to the accounting server and searched for the files he kept on the financials. He had always kept two sets of financial s once he arrived here. One for corporate and the accruals of the revenue the facility took in and the one that he kept for himself. Mark had a bad habit of selling chips at higher price than Memdec would have normally sold them for, then entering the amount that it would normally sell for on the corporate accounting system and taking his profit from the sale and entering it on his personal statement. Once the contracts were signed, he would take them back to his office and change the numbers on them. It did not bother him that the client had a copy of the contract with the higher price, if it was caught, he would make it up with a few free chips to the client and smooth things over. As long as he could keep it in Tianjin, he could control it. He would not do it with every contract, just the high volume contracts, where the profit margin per chip for him was low enough; it was rarely caught by the client, but yet enough in volume that Mark could make his life in Tianjin very comfortable. Mark then pulled up the electronic copies made of each of the contracts he had altered and compared them to the information that was entered in the corporate accounting files. He did not notice any discrepancies here. Everything looked good as far as he could tell. He then looked at his records to see if maybe something had been transposed from his files to the corporate files. Sitting back and stretching, trying to ease the soreness in his shoulders, he happened to glance at his watch. "Crap!" Mark said to himself. 8:47pm, he had a dinner engagement with a possible client at 9:30pm on the other side of Tianjin that he could not afford to miss. Logging off and shutting down his system, Mark grabbed his jacket and hurried out the door of his office.

As he exited the elevator in the lobby, he fished his cell phone out of his pocket and started dialing. "Ahh, Mr. Ling, I am happy I was able to catch you. This is Mark Littleman and I wanted to inform you that I may be a few minutes late." Mark started his apology. Ling Tung, a very powerful man with a reputation to back it up, was not one to keep waiting. "Mr. Littleman, is this how you normally conduct your business by being late and apologetic for it? I have many things that I have yet to do before I can call my day finished and do not have time for tardiness, especially with so much at stake." Ling Tung said in a calm but commanding voice. Mark continued his apology, "I understand Mr. Ling, but something came up at the office that required my personal attention. It is not time for our appointment, I still have 40 minutes before we are to meet, I just wanted to let you know I could be a few minutes late. I assure you, in the future Mr. Ling, this will not happen." "I hope not Mr. Littleman, for your sake, I hope not. It is a very poor reflection on you and worries me that maybe you will handle our shipments in the same manner. I will expect you shortly Mr. Littleman and I have very little time to waste on waiting. If you do not make it, I will have to look in other places for what I am seeking." Ling Tung's voice a bit sterner pushed the point across to Mark.

Ling Tung, before Mao's revolution, had been here, exploiting the vast resources China held. In the days of dynasties and kingdoms, he would have been seen as a warlord. Placing his claim on anything he could see as useful and profitable, by force if necessary, but found subtle intimidation as his preference. He had always been a man who could get his point across without getting physical very often. He commanded a small army of questionable soldiers to do his bidding when it came to that unseemly task. He was not one who liked to get his hands too dirty. He had spent his time in the trenches, developing his skills and his strategy. He was orphaned at a very young age, his father killed by the Japanese during WWII and his mother abandoning him shortly after. Left to wander and beg on the streets of Shanghai at the age 0f 11, Ling Tung quickly learned what it took to survive. An unguarded duffle bag or knapsack here and there, left alone by some wide eyed absent minded soldier to gawk at the sinful marvels Shanghai had to offer, made for a quick coin or two and a full belly thereafter. The American and British soldiers always offering the best in what was stored away in those canvas treasure chests, often taken advantage of early in his career, as he liked to call it, by the more experienced purveyors of opportunity, Ling Tung quickly learned the tricks of his trade. Enlisting the help of the prostitutes, Ling Tung would lure soldiers to the women, and as they were being "entertained" by these ladies, Ling Tung would quietly slip in and relieve them of their worldly possessions. This was always much more profitable than pilfering their duffle bags and knapsacks, a bit more risky, but worth it in the long run. He would give a share of his ill-gotten gains to his female collaborators and then head down to the docks and air strips to set his trap for the next unsuspecting victim. He always found the Americans and British much easier than the others that came to China, their vanity and egos always worked in his favor. As peasants started coming in from the rural areas, Ling Tung found another valuable resource, they would bring with them the medals, watches, samurai swords and other military accoutrements the dead Japanese soldiers would have with them, and Ling Tung would greet them on the out skirts of town and barter for their spoils, often gained by personal misfortune and loss. Ling Tung knew how to take advantage of this and soon relieved them of all except the clothes on their backs. He also found another valuable commodity in them. The peasants themselves, cheap, affordable and when hungry, willing to do his bidding. This is when Ling Tung started building his army, or his Shanghai Soldiers, as he liked to call them. Recruiting the brightest and the strongest, he started training them and molding them into images of himself. Taking into account each one's specialty and exploiting that. Never letting the other know all of his operation, but just enough to work effectively, he soon found that he could manage his growing numbers comfortably and through others that he felt he could trust, from a distance. If one got a bit too ambitious or tried to take more than his share, Ling Tung would see that a weighted swimming lesson in Shanghai harbor was forth coming. He did not tolerate disloyalty or dishonesty within his ranks and ruled with a fist and fast justice. He found teaching by example was far more effective than wagging his tongue.

The war couldn't last forever and he realized this. His coffers growing daily, he soon started expanding his operations and looking at other ways to exploit the riches around him. He found that in the antiquities of China. With the world as his market, he found that there was a very high demand for these priceless items and much more profitable than what the foreign soldiers could bring in. He also found another way to increase his profit line, reproductions of these artifacts and selling them as the original piece. Museums, some of his best clients and ones that could not be fooled, would get the originals, but not before Ling Tung had his craftsmen make what seemed to be perfect copies, and using these copies he exploited the foreigner’s greed and vanity in another way. Soon, Mao's revolution started and he had to hide his fortune outside of China. He found British controlled Hong Kong to be safe and easily accessible for his minions to mule his money to banks there, which again earned money as it gained interest by investing in Hong Kong's growing and viable economy. A capitalistic safe haven in a sea of communism, Ling Tung felt safe and secure knowing that his empire within this new empire would survive.

Not one to get complacent in his success, Ling Tung was always looking for new ventures to expand on. One he found towards the early sixties and into the seventies was the opium trade, very lucrative, with very little investment capital, but very high return upon delivery. He set up trade routes throughout China, Mongolia, Tibet and close Middle Eastern countries for this raw material that was converted to high grade heroin in clandestine labs scattered from Shanghai to the Wuliang Mountains. Not one operation being able to complete the processing of the opium into its final product, but rather done in stages at various labs. Ling Tung found that in this way, it was harder to track, easier to hide as each facility just concentrated on a specific point of production, they could be kept small. Another plus, was that his inventory was kept split up and constantly moving. No warehousing of the product made it harder to detect. His routes outside of China were varied and not used in succession in order to export his product. North Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal all offered an easy and often unmonitored exit out of China. Most of it sent via caravans through the jungles and over the mountains, out of sight of roads and check points. Once out of China, the caravan, accompanied by Ling Tung's most trusted associates, would head for the nearest port and meet with the buyer where final arrangements and payments were made. With the heroin trade waning in the mid eighties and borders tightening up and the US DEA and Drug Czar cracking down on heroin and it's trafficking, Ling Tung started looking for other ways to keep the cash flow continuing. He could have stopped and retired long ago and lived very comfortably on his past successes, but Ling Tung was not an idle man. And for now, it was not as much for the money to be made as it was the challenge to make it. With each new venture, came new challenges and this is what he lived for. Out witting his opponents and staying a few steps ahead of them, disappearing around each corner in their pursuit of him.

He found his most recent venture in technology. Small, easily hidden and something everyone wanted, by far the most lucrative yet, but with a higher price and much more serious consequences if caught. This would be considered as treason if caught and he would have to answer with his life. But that was the attraction this brought to him, the challenge. Now he would not be dealing with peasants, farmers, thugs and the like. Now he would be dealing with politicians and corporate heads. He considered them the worst thieves and liars of the lot. Their game was cut throat and full of intrigue. He never had been in the arena with such opponents before and there were a whole new set of rules when dealing with them. But like him, they played for keeps, worthy adversaries in this high stakes game of intrigue and espionage.

Mark pulled up to the valet at they entrance to the Golden Panda restaurant and handed the keys to the young man eagerly waiting to park his car. "Please be careful with it." Mark politely asked the young man and handed him 50 Yuan, "There will be fifty more later if nothing has happened to my car when I am ready to leave." Mark said smiling. "No problem sir, I will watch it myself.", the young man assured him. Turning Mark walked beneath the gate of the entry to the restaurant. Four large square teak posts, two on each side, topped with two quarter crescent cross members, the larger one on the bottom spanning all four posts with the smaller one above, just the two inside posts. He could smell the scent of jasmine flowers as he walked along. It was growing everywhere you looked. Sweetly fragrant, it covers the walled garden outside as well as the gate he had passed under. It grew over head on slated pergolas where you could sit beneath while you had your meal. "A very nice place indeed.", Mark thought to himself. Looking about, he spotted Ling Tung towards the back of the outside walled garden facing the crowd with his back to the wall. Even though Ling Tung had spotted him the moment he entered, he paid no attention to him as he walked in his direction. Standing in front of his table, Mark held out his hand, "Mr. Ling, made it sir, with ten minutes to spare." Not even looking up Ling Tung replied, "Your promptness is noted Mr. Littleman, please have a seat.", Ling Tung motioned to the chair directly across from him. Feeling a bit put off, Mark took the chair across from Ling Tung and pulled himself up to the table. "Might I suggest the duck Mr. Littleman, they have a wonderful way of preparing it here, an orange sauce with a slight hint of jasmine. Very delicious." Ling Tung suggested. Please, Mr. Ling, call me Mark, all my friends do." Mark said, smiling, wanted to bring the business at hand to a more personal level. "Ah, Mr. Littleman, we are not friends though and I do not see this relationship attaining that level of trust. No, Mr. Littleman, this is strictly a professional arrangement and I think it is best if we keep it that way." came Ling Tung's answer without looking up. "It makes things much easier to deal with, should the occasion arise." Mark sat looking at Ling Tung across the table, feeling a bit nervous and apprehensive now about dealing with the man. He would not want to make any mistakes on this one. "Accepted Mr. Ling." Mark complied. Ling Tung finally looked up when the waiter came to the table, "We will both be having the duck, black tea with honey and moon cakes afterwards."

"Mr. Ling, what I bring to the table is a new technology, well not exactly new, they have been experimenting with it in the states for several years now and its applications were limited, mainly due to software restrictions and code when compiling the programs to utilize it. But our researchers have made tremendous break thru’s in the last year and a half and the possibilities for this new technology is unlimited. Right now, we are looking at military applications for it's use. Imagine, having a missile that can virtually think for itself once launched. Being able to avoid detection or any threat to destroy it and its payload, unmanned vehicles on the battlefield that will be able to think and correct themselves without human intervention, to know the difference between a tree and a soldier. A technology that is able to learn and expand its knowledge and teach itself how to utilize that, to create battle plans and then execute them on the field, able to change and adapt at a moments notice and still carry out its mission. Pilot less fighter planes carrying out bombing raids and dogfights all without one person controlling it. Biotech applications Mr. Ling, yes, cyborgs are another arena where this technology can be applied. Experiments are already under way in France and Russia looking into the soldier of the future, medical uses in the replacement of limbs and even enhancing the thinking process of the brain. Mr. Ling, we are now standing on the threshold of a new tomorrow and we are the lucky ones to be standing at that door now. The possibilities are endless." Mark sat back in his chair looking at Ling Tung, whose expression had not changed at all. "Very nice Mr. Littleman, but it's application and capabilities mean nothing to me. You could have saved all of that for your mirror while you were shaving. All that concerns me is the price, availability and delivery. My clients I am sure have already thought about its applications. Several of my clients only require two or three chips, as they have the facilities to manufacture them themselves. The others, will want them in quantity and when needed. Mind you Mr. Littleman, this is nothing like that corporate world you live in. There are no parameters for a delay in the product or miss-shipments. No excuses for additional time or a change in the plans. No Mr. Littleman, my clients run a bit tighter ship than what you are used to. And the penalties for any delays or failures in delivery can be very harsh. They as myself do not deal in what ifs and maybes or possibilities. We deal in reality, in what is placed before us and its worth on the open market. I am nothing more than a middle man, one who provides a service for others. And Mr. Littleman, let me make this very clear, what comes to me, good are bad, will eventually be visited on you. So, how is it you Americans like to express it? Ahhh yes, don't let your tongue overload your ass Mr. Littleman, if you do, it will have less worth than pig dung. ", Ling Tung looked intently at Mark waiting for his reaction.

The waiter set their meals in front of them and uncovered the dishes. Mark sat there looking at his, having somewhat lost his appetite. "Everything okay Mr. Littleman?", Ling Tung questioned him. "Is it not to your liking?" "No, No, everything is fine and I am sure it is quite delicious. It is just that it is getting late and to have such a heavy meal this time of night, I am afraid it may not set too well with me." "Now, now Mr. Littleman, do not let our little talk worry you. I just believe in laying all the cards on the table so we both know where we are standing at in this matter. Nothing hidden, it would make me feel much better if someone had been so open with me and not let me believe this is going to be a walk in a garden. Now, cheer up Mr. Littleman. We both have a very good chance to get very rich off this new venture," Ling Tung said smiling for the first time. He had Mark right where he wanted him. Off his guard and that was the way he was going to keep him. Mark picked at his dinner for the next hour, unlike Ling Tung who ate like it was his last meal. There was nothing more than a pile of bones on his plate when he finished. The waiter set their tea on the table and poured each a cup of the dark strong liquid. "At least try the tea Mr. Littleman, it will help calm you and relax you. Let the stress of the day melt away." Ling Tung kept at him. He knew it would be a long while before Mark would feel anything near being calm and relaxed. Ling Tung looked at Mark over the rim of the cup as he sipped his tea.

The waiter brought the check over to the table and Ling Tung gestured to the waiter that Mark would be taking care of it. As they both stood to leave, Ling Tung looked down at Mark's plate. "Sad you had lost your appetite Mr. Littleman and such a waste of food. So many children in China are starving right now." Ling Tung said chuckling. Looking Mark straight in the eyes, "Don't feel sorry for them Mr. Littleman. I was one of those starving children your parents used to use as an example to get you to finish your meal and look at how prosperous I turned out." As they started walking out, Mark noticed four men in dark suits get up and follow close behind. Once they exited the restaurant, Mark handed the valet his ticket. While he waited on his car, Mark noticed that Mr. Ling did not have to wait for his car. It was waiting on him. Before he entered the back seat, Ling Tung turned and looked at Mark and said, "Mr. Littleman, until we meet again. I hope you have been very enlightened by tonight’s meeting." Mark looked at him and forced a smile on his face, "I enjoyed our talk very much Mr. Ling. I hope you have a nice evening." Mark handed the valet the second fifty Yuan as promised and got behind the wheel. "What the hell have I gotten myself into?" he said to himself out loud. Driving off he looked into his review mirror, as he pulled away, he noticed another car pulling away from the curb and leave in the direction he was taking. Mark could feel his hands start to sweat.

Parking his car in the parking garage of the apartment building he lived in, Mark looked back at the entrance just in time to see the car that had left the restaurant at the same time he did, slowly drive by. Locking his car he quickly headed for the elevator and up to his apartment. "Damn, I need a drink.", he thought to himself on the way up.

China Blue IV ©

As SuMing walked slowly back to her office, she found herself thinking about Travis. Shaking her head as if to expel him, she thought to herself, "Why am I thinking about him, why am I letting him bother me, I just met him." She tried to think of the spreadsheet and the discrepancies she had found to try and get him off her mind, but again she found herself thinking about him. "Why would he being leaving with her? I am sure he understands company policy concerning fraternization with subordinates and the possible actions that could be taken against both of them. Why should I even care?" she continued to think to herself. "It is none of my concern." Again she found herself thinking about him, those deep soft brown eyes and that sandy hair flecked with a bit of silver here and there. His rugged complexion and the way he carried himself. The self assurance and confidence he displayed. It had been a very long time since she had felt such an attraction to a man. A long time since she even wanted to feel such emotions and she wondered if she really wanted to feel that again. The last time she did, she was left with twin girls and a very bitter divorce. She did not relish the idea of that repeating itself. She had no regrets when it came to her girls. She cherished them and would not trade them for anything in the world. It was just sad to think that it had all ended so badly. All he had done once she started to move up in her career was accuse her of sleeping her way to the top. He could not accept the fact that a woman had worth outside the marriage. Every time she had gotten an award or a promotion, he would accuse her of sleeping with someone in order to be awarded it. She could remember running into their bedroom and crying, not believing what he had just accused her of. He could not understand that she was not just doing this for herself, but for both of them, so that their girls could have a better life than they each had had. And he would not have to work so hard to support them. As time went on, it just got worse. He started drinking and missing days at work. He was remiss in remembering their anniversary, her birthday, the girl's birthdays. He was starting to withdraw from them, pulling himself away. He even started telling her that maybe the girls weren't his at all. SuMing remembered the pain this had caused her when he started thinking that. How he refused to sleep in their bed now, staying instead in the front room, passed out in a chair from drinking himself into a stupor. She remembered the day she came home and found him drunk again. "Already?" she sadly said to him, "Can you not stop that long enough to talk to me or to your children? You have to start drinking as soon as you get home?" Tears had started flowing from her eyes. He looked at her, his eyes cold and blank, "I did not go in today. I called in after you had left and they told me that I needed to think about what was more important to me, my job or my drinking. I chose drinking SuMing. And you want to know why? It is because of you SuMing. It is the only way I can forget about your cheating on me. How you have slept your way into your position. How your career is more important than me or our marriage. I can't even look at the girls anymore. They do not favor me at all. I blame you SuMing for what has happened to me." SuMing started crying uncontrollably, her voice trembling, "How....how can you say such horrible things about me? Why do you accuse me of things I have never done? I have earned what I have been given, by my hard work and loyalty. I’ve not slept with anyone, I have never even thought about it, much less done it. I do this for us, our family. Can't you see that? Can't you see and understand that it is because of our family, our marriage, our children that I work as hard as I do? Have I complained at all? You sit around and drink, thinking of things, conjuring up secret liaisons between me and men at work that have never taken place. It does not help you to forget, all it does is add fuel to your anger and your hate. You never wanted to see me succeed at all. You would have been perfectly happy if I stayed at home and catered to you. Be there like the dutiful housewife with dinner ready and inquiring as to how your day went. It eats at you to know that I am of worth outside of our marriage. I have honored my vows that I made to you. I have stood by you through everything and you cannot give that back to me. You do everything you can to try and destroy what I have worked for and our marriage. You say it is my fault that you are the way you are today, I do not agree, you put yourself where you are right now. I had nothing to do with it. I have done nothing to warrant your false accusations towards me. You drink because you are weak and jealous." His eyes were seething now as he stared at her, "Jealous! Jealous that you cannot pass up the chance to lay down with another man?" He had started walking towards her, his hands doubled into fists. "You think I do not know what it takes for a woman to make it anywhere in business?" She found herself starting to back up, trembling, afraid that she had pushed him too far. "You whored yourself to where you are at today and you know it." he was screaming at her, "Never would you have obtained the authority you have today without putting a smile on the face of your superiors. Men SuMing, your superiors are men and they do not just award a woman with such a position because they think she works hard!" SuMing could not believe that he actually believed what he was saying. "I should have never married you!" he lashed out again, "All you have done is cause me pain and dishonor my name. You have brought shame on our marriage. Everyone laughs at me because of you SuMing. They think I am less of a man because of your position. That I cannot provide for you, that you have to work so that we can make a living and that you are willing to do anything to be successful, even sleep with your superiors!" She found herself shaking now, not from the pain he was inflicting on her, but from the anger that was raising deep within her now. She was tired of this and all she wanted now was out of it. "I dishonor your name?" she screamed out, "You bring shame on yourself because you know you lack what it takes to be a good husband and provider. They laugh at you because you are weak and can only find strength in a bottle. Do not blame me for your lack of self confidence or your inability to be successful. You are the only one to blame for the problems you have put into our marriage. You should not have married me? No, it is I that should not have married you; I should have seen your weaknesses before I accepted your proposal. You and your petty accusations have destroyed everything that was between us." SuMing could feel the strength her anger had given her. She started pulling herself together now, staring back at him with just as much loathing as he had. "I want out of this, this marriage or what is left of it. I am not going to suffer your jealous tirades any more. I have a life and a future and I do not see you in it any longer. She noticed that he had gone slack; she was not cowering from him as she had done so many times in the past. All expression was out of his face as he stood there looking at her. "You can have it your way SuMing. You can have your life, if that is what you call it." his last attempt to belittle her, "You will never make it without me. You will beg me to come back." SuMing found herself laughing at him now, this was the final blow to his ego, he had went after her to get her to submit to him and had ended laying himself open to the truth about himself. He looked around the room, spotted his jacket, without looking back, he left. It was the last time; he would not be coming back. SuMing sank down in the chair, feeling empty, drained. It was over, she had nothing to worry about or fear from him again.

SuMing blinked and found she was standing in front of her desk. Not even remembering when she had got there or how long she had been standing there. "You just going to stand there all day?" she heard Lucy asking her. She turned around to see Lucy looking at her with a puzzled look on her face. "Everything okay Su?" Lucy asked again. "Yes Lucy, I am fine, I just got side tracked on something for a moment." she answered. "For a moment? You have been standing there for half an hour." Lucy continued. SuMing looked down at the file folder she was carrying. It was stained with tears and the blue ink on the file label had run in streaks across the face of it. "Oh, why do I let myself keep going back to that?" she asked herself. "Go back to what?" she heard Lucy asking. She had not realized she was talking out loud. "Nothing Lucy, nothing at all, just something I resolved a long time ago." she sat down at her desk and placed the folder on it. Turning to her terminal, she logged in and opened the chinablue spreadsheet. A splash screen came up on her monitor, "Unable to open file. File in use." She stared at it for a moment, "In use? How can that be?" She looked down to see if it was minimized on her task bar. No, it was not open. She clicked the Ok button and tried to open it again, with the same results. "Lucy, has there been anyone at my desk while I was gone?" Answering, Lucy said, "Not that I know of, at least not while I have been here. I took a break right after you left, so I cannot say for sure. Sorry." She picked up the phone and immediately called Wong Fey. "IT, Wong Fey here." came the greeting. "Mr. Wong, this is Ms Chang, I cannot open the chinablue file, it is saying it is already open." There was a pause, "Do you maybe have it open and just minimized?" "No, I do not have it opened; I have already looked to see if I did." SuMing impatiently answered. "Let me see what I can do Ms Chang." Wong Fey started, "Did you have it open at another terminal someplace in the building and forget to close it?" "No, I have been in a budget meeting this afternoon with Human Resources, I have not opened the file since before I left.", she informed Wong Fey. "Is the file local to your computer or is it stored on the network?" Wong Fey continued to ask. "Local.", came her reply. "Hmmmm, I want you to look in the bottom right hand corner of your screen and tell me what programs are currently running Ms Chang." Fey had requested of her. Looking she told him, "The system clock, network connection, antivirus and one that shows two hands shaking, as in a greeting." "Two hands shaking? Place your cursor over it and tell me what it says." Fey instructed her. "It just says "connected"." SuMing replied. "Do not touch anything, do not close any programs or shut your system down. I will be there in two minutes." Fey informed her. SuMing sat there and stared at the screen. "What on earth is going on here?" she asked herself and then waited on Wong Fey.

Arriving a few moments later, Wong Fey requested her chair. Sitting down, he went directly to a command prompt and started a session in Hyper Terminal. "Let's see if we can sneak up on who ever is at the other end of this." Fey said, half talking to himself and half to SuMing. Entering in a number of commands, he sat back and waited for a response. After a few moments came a reply, an ip address of 210.69.24.128 port =3sb52. "Yes, he is in the building.” Fey said excitedly. He got up from his desk and started to leave. "Where are you going?" SuMing demanded. "Sorry Ms Chang, it returned with an ip address within our building and a port location. I am going to go see who has your file open.", Wong Fey told her. "I am going with you, I own the file and I am responsible for it. I want to know who it is that finds it so important to steal information from it." SuMing stated. Following Wong Fey, they headed to the elevator. "Shouldn't we notify security?' SuMing asked Fey. "Don't they normally handle things like this?" "Normally, yes we would and normally, yes they do." Fey replied. "But, this is not a normal situation and I think that the less people that know, the easier it will be to find out who is behind this. Too many red flags are raised and it could give us away to whomever it is connected to your system." Stepping onto the elevator, Fey pushed the button for sub-basement 3. "Isn't that where all the mechanical rooms are located Mr. Wong?" She asked of him. "Yes it is. Even more reason to be suspicious and not to alert anyone right now. If we do find something, I will take directly to the chief of security and fill him in on our findings." Fey continued to assure her. Stepping off the elevator in sb3, Fey went directly to a terminal and brought up an IT floor plan of the port designation for that level. Locating it, he started off with SuMing right behind him. Once they arrived, they found it more of a disappointment than a revelation. All it was was a computer without a monitor. Just a keyboard and mouse connected to the box. It was connected to the network and the modem was connected to a phone jack. It had been placed behind the chiller lines to the air-conditioning system, for the most part out of sight. If it had not been for the network cable and the phone line, you would not have known it was there at all. Looking at the box from behind, the modem and the nic showed activity. "This box is being controlled remotely, off site it seems." Wong Fey informed SuMing. "Shouldn't we disconnect it and shut it down?' she inquired of Fey. "No, that is the last thing we want to do. It will alert them that we are aware of what they are doing and it could make it even harder to catch them. I will leave it just as it is. Do not tell anyone that we have found this. I will go to the chief of security and inform him of our findings." Wong Fey instructed her. "We need to know who it is exactly that is doing this without them knowing." Fey slid the box back exactly the way he had found it, hoping there were not any motion sensors to alert who ever it was at the other end that they had been discovered. Returning to the elevator, they did not speak a word, riding in silence back to their respective floors.

SuMing sat at her desk, the floor quiet. Most had already went home for the evening and the only ones left were either coming out of meetings or finishing up a deadline and preparing to leave. Trying to think of who it could be, she sat there. Then Travis came back to her mind. "Him?' she thought to herself. He had been wandering around, trying to get a "feel" of the place. Maybe his wanderings had brought him to the sub basements. He had never been seen at the facility before, at least not by her. And she would have noticed him anyways. He was the type that made his presence known easily. It is not as if he blended in with the crowd so to say. Tall, muscular, with sandy brown hair and brown eyes, not your typical Chinese SuMing thought smiling to herself. No, Mr. Travis Williams would take a bit more scrutiny as far as she was concerned. She remembered his eyes again. They seemed to invoke trust, or a sense that he could be trusted. But why would he want access to that file? That file, she thought. What is it about that file? All it was was an inventory listing with a few undecipherable notes that she did not have a key to unlocking. Alpha numerical coding that only those in the Dallas corporate office knew how to decipher. She heard a soft beep which caused her to turn to her screen. The two shaking hands were gone. She turned to her desk and tried to open the file. It requested a password. She entered the one she had created when she had closed it the last time. It worked. She sat there, now why did my password work this time and the last time it didn't? One has to be created each time you close it and if it had been used, it could not be used again for another 45 logins. This puzzled her. With the spreadsheet opened, she opened the backup file she is required to create in case she needs to restore any information in the current file, initializing the macro she used to check for inconsistencies and started the comparison, cell by cell to see what had been altered this time.

Knowing it would take a while she called her ex-husband to ask him to pick the girls up from school. Dreading the phone call and his innuendos that she was "working" on another promotion, she started dialing the number. It rang twice, "Hello?" he answered. "Lee, it's me, SuMing, something has come up at the office and I am not going to be able to pick the girls up from school. Would you mind getting them and bringing them home later? I will call you as I am leaving the office." she asked him as politely as she could. "What? You have a promotion or a review coming up and need to polish a few apples?" he remarked sarcastically. "Please Lee, just do this. I have a lot of work to do and I do not have time for this right now." she said calmly. "I will call as soon as I am leaving the office. You won't have to keep them any longer than I need you to. I just need to get this wrapped up before I go home." Sighing, and seeing that he was not going to get a rise out of her, he agreed, with some reluctance, to pick the girls up from school and see that they got back home later. "Oh and Lee, see that they get something to eat and please, don't be drinking." she implored of him. "Don't worry SuMing, I know how to conduct myself like a father and do not be telling me what to do." he shot back at her to satisfy his ego. SuMing hung the phone up without saying goodbye and started back to work. About forty minutes later the macro finished running. SuMing reviewed the results and looked for any changes in it. None....it showed that there had not been any changes made in it at all. It was just as she closed it before going to her meeting in Human Resources, or so it appeared to be just as it was when she had closed it. Now why would someone open the file and just view it? They already had the information from earlier and it was not due to be updated until tomorrow by R&D. So, making a copy of it would be useless right now. Then she started thinking about the terminal in the sub basement and Fey saying it showed activity. That someone had the spreadsheet opened at that very minute. "Fey." she thought and picked up the phone, dialed his extension, hoping he had not left for the day. "IT department, Wong Fey." Fey answered. "Good, you haven't left yet, this is Ms Chang. I wanted to tell you that I was able to open the file about 45 minutes ago. I heard a beep from my computer and when I looked, the hands were gone. So, I went ahead and opened the file up and the backup copy I create each time I close it. I ran a consistency check on it to see if there were any changes made to the spreadsheet, it showed that no changes had been made." SuMing told him. "You have a backup copy? Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Wong Fey asked her, sounding a bit irritated finding out about the backup now.”You didn't ask and I just assumed you would know that backups are always made." she responded. "Company policy, yes I should have known that there would have been backups. Was it password protected?" Fey queried further. "No, it is not required that we password protect the backups." she replied. "There was this young man from the Helpdesk that came the first time and reset my password, he said that he had installed something on my computer, so that the next time it happened they would be able to tell who it was. That they always leave something behind." she continued. "Do you remember who it was?” Fey asked. "Just a minute, he wrote his name down somewhere." SuMing answered. Hoping it had not been left on her desk when her office had been cleaned, SuMing looked in the top drawer of her desk, where she raked everything at the end of the day. Digging for a moment, she came across it. "Tran Vu Duc is his name." she informed Fey. "Vietnamese....hmmm, just a minute, let me check the roster and see what shift he is working." Fey said. "I do not show a Tran Vu Duc as a helpdesk support tech Ms Chang. Are you sure that was his name?" "Yes, positive. He wrote it himself." she answered. "Are you going to be there for a while Ms Chang? I would like to see exactly what it was that he installed on your system." Fey asked. "Well, I was fixing to leave for the evening. I need to be home. My girls will be arriving soon and their father gets impatient easily." SuMing informed him. "It won't take more than a few minutes, I promise, then you can be on your way." he stated. "I guess I can stay a few more minutes Mr. Wong, but then I really need to get going." she reluctantly agreed.

Once Fey arrived at SuMing's cubicle, he got to work right away. Bringing up a command prompt, he queried for any directories created on the date Tran Vu Duc was on the system. He found two, "dir_one and dir_two". He opened it up dir_one and checked the files. In it he found a thin client and a .sys file. The directory dir_two was empty, suggesting that it was used to hold temporary files that were deleted once the program was terminated. Opening up the autoexec.bat file he found a path from the dir_one directory to the chinablue file and to the backup file SuMing created at the end of each session. Another entry to the config.sys file to activate the drivers for the client and a third path to a net1.cfg file. All created on the same day that Tran Vu Duc had worked on SuMing's computer, even the time they were created coincided with him being there. "I think we have found the first piece to this puzzle Ms Chang." Fey informed her, "Tran did install something on your computer that day, an easier access to your files remotely." "How could that be? I called the Helpdesk. The number provided by your department." she stated. "Calls, Ms Chang can be intercepted. They could have been watching you electronically and when you called the Helpdesk, the call was rerouted to another phone and Tran picked up the call." Fey went on. "He is good, but like he told you, they always leave something behind and he did." With that, Fey left things the way they were on SuMing's computer and shut it down for the evening. "Thank you Ms Chang for your patience and I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience I have caused you. Please have a pleasant evening." Fey apologized. "Thank you Mr. Wong for all your help. I would have never figured this out on my own. You have a nice evening also." SuMing said in return.

"This still doesn't mean he isn't a part of all of this." SuMing thought to herself while leaving the building. "He could have been involved with Tran all along, Tran following his orders." She tried to give herself a reason not to think about Travis and to kill this attraction she felt for him. She boarded the bus and headed home for the evening. "Damn!" she thought to herself. "I forgot to call Lee and tell him I would be home soon." She knew this would upset him, so she got off at the next stop to find a phone and call him. She had gotten off near Travis' hotel. Not knowing that he was staying at this particular one. Looking for a phone, she glanced into the window of a restaurant as she passed it. Close to the window sat Travis and his assistant Lei. They were eating dinner and laughing. She paused for a moment looking at Travis. He just happened to glance out of the window and saw her standing there, the light from the street just illuminating her face down to her shoulders. He smiled at her and waved. Lei looked up and quickly turned her face away. Travis stood up and headed for the door. SuMing turned and started walking quickly away from the window, hoping to disappear in the crowd. A minute later, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She froze, and then she heard his voice saying, "Hey, hold on a minute. I was hoping to see you again. Ms Chang? Correct?" Travis asked her. His slight tug on her shoulder got her turn in his direction. She looked up at him, "Yes, Ms Chang, you are correct." she said in a flat tone of voice. "Please come inside and have dinner or a drink at least." Travis politely asked her. "I would like to make up for my insensitive attitude if I may." "You have nothing to apologize for Mr. Williams and as it is, you already have company. Wouldn't that be impolite to her, to bring another in as you were having your dinner?" SuMing said coldly. "I am sure Lei wouldn't mind at all." Travis insisted. "Well I would Mr. Williams and as it is I am running late and do not have the time." she curtly responded. "I hope you have a very pleasant evening Mr. Williams." "Yeah, you do the same Ms Chang." Travis answers sounding like a child that had just been scolded. He watched SuMing as she turned and walked away. Shaking his head he put his hands in his pockets and went back inside to finish his meal with Lei. He did not notice, but this time SuMing turned for just a moment and watched Travis as he entered the restaurant. "Damn." she again thought to herself and then continued to look for a pay phone.

China Blue III ©

Travis walked out into the hallway and turned left. Not knowing at all where he was going, he thought he would just stumble through department by department. He first walked through Human Resources; he never thought much of that department. They all acted like a bunch of demi-gods with the power of life and death at their fingertips. And if it was your career life, then yes, they did. He always related that department to a morgue, a bunch of stiffs with no life at all outside of the company. He laughed to himself. He dated a girl back in the Dallas offices for a while that was in Human Resources, he always felt as if he was being evaluated each time they went out. Review time used to scare the hell out of him, thinking that something might come up from one of their dates. His level of paranoia started worrying him, so he broke it off with her, hoping she was not the vindictive kind. But those fears were soon squashed as rumors reached him that she was telling everyone she had broken it off with him. She had told everyone she thought it was best to do so, as he traveled all the time and she could not reach the level of trust needed to take the relationship any further. "What ever floats your boat Baby." Travis thought to himself. Leaving the Human Resources department, he found himself in the Accounting department. Walking down the maze of cubes, it amazed him how anyone found their space each morning. It was almost as if you would need a map to find yourself around the place. It was huge. As he rounded a corner, he noticed a very lovely young lady, she could not have been more than 28 he thought to himself and he found himself drawn down her aisle. He was looking around, trying to be nonchalant about what he was doing. Poking his head in cubes and looking up at the ceiling. That is when he noticed she was looking at him. Getting up from her chair as he approached, she said to him, "May I help you?" "Just trying to get a feel for this place." he replied awkwardly. What a stupid answer he thought to himself. "Let me know if I can be of any assistance to you. Lots of halls here one can get lost in." she said to him. "We had a delivery boy come in last week and we have yet to find him." Travis looked down at her and cocked one eye and replied, "Thanks, but I think I can manage." Then continued on his way, he wanted to turn around and see her again, but his male ego would not permit. If he had, he would have seen her looking at him as he disappeared around a corner. He wandered around for the next hour and a half, thoroughly lost. He had wanted to find his way back to Su Ming's cubicle, but for the life of himself couldn't make heads or tails of exactly where he was at. Each row melted into the next, long gray corridors of one cubicle after another. It was almost surreal in it's formal layout. He had found himself thinking of her, which caused him to lose his orientation. Finally he found himself standing in the long main hallway he started in outside of his office. Standing there he looked right and left, trying to get a feel for where he was at. It all looked the same to him. He had crossed back and forth the main hall so many times; he forgot which way his office was at. Taking a chance he turned left, left never failed him and started out walking. It wasn't too long before he decided he was completely lost. Everything looked the same in that sea of gray cubicles. Looking like a lost kid in the mall, he plodded along. Rounding a corner he almost ran into Su Ming. Coming up short, he apologized and smiled at her. "Still finding your way about I see." SuMing said, still gathering her composure after their near run in. "Yes, you could say that." Travis answered, still looking around. A smile crossed her face, "You're lost, aren't you?" Travis looked at her, cocking that eye again, "And you're enjoying this right now, aren't you?" The smile leaving her face and looking, or trying to, a bit more serious, "Where are you trying to find? Maybe I can help you." Travis explained approximately where his office was at without sounding as if he was totally blank between the ears. She looked at him and a slight smile crossed her face, "This is your lucky day, it just happens that I am headed for Human Resources now. You should be able to, how did you say it? Oh Yes, manage from there." He smiled sheepishly and decided that if he had to eat crow, he would rather it be her feeding it to him. They walked in silence for the most part, it was only when they were nearing Human Resources did he find it in him to ask her name. "SuMing, Chang SuMing. " SuMing informed him. "Nice to meet you Ms Chang, my name is Travis Williams. But please, call me Travis." he replied in turn. "And you can call me Ms. Chang, Travis." she answered a bit smugly. "Here we are, I think you can manage from here." Travis knew the cold shoulder when it was presented. He thanked her and went on down the hall.

Entering his office he found Lei still working diligently on the reports he had requested from her. "Still hard at it I see." he directed at her. Lei looked up and smiled, "Oh yes. And I am sure you will be quite pleased with it." Looking at his watch he saw it was a quarter to one. "You hungry?" he asked Lei. "Yes, I was just waiting on you to return." she answered. "Well then, let's go, I am starving." Travis replied holding his hand out to her. She accepted his hand and they walked to the door. They sat down at an empty table and started to eat, making small talk about Tianjin and the surrounding area. Travis looked over at Lei and asked her, "Do you happen to know Chang SuMing, Lei?" "Yes I know of her, why?" came her reply. Travis looked at Lei's face and he could tell she was not very happy with his question. "Just curious Lei, I almost ran into her in one of the halls and she seemed quite distant to me." "Well she is an accountant, an account exec to be exact. She goes over all the accruals that go to the corporate headquarters to look for inaccuracies and makes the corrections." Lei told him. "She is a divorced woman, or so I have been told. She is not of my peer group, so I have not had the opportunity to talk with her." Travis sat silent for a minute. "Does she handle all the spreadsheets that goes to corporate, or just the financial?" Travis quizzed her. "I believe all of them." she answered. "You can ask Lucy, she sits in the cubicle across from her. She is a clerical secretary for Ms. Chang's supervisor. She would know. That is how I know of Ms. Chang, through Lucy, we go out together after work sometimes." Travis sat there and nodded, thinking to himself. Looking up at Lei, he found her staring at him. He smiled, "Food on my chin?" Lei blushed and turned away realizing then that she had been staring at him. Travis smiled, shaking his head. "You like Ms Chang, Travis?" Lei asked. "Now what would you make you even think that Lei, just because I asked about her? Asking questions is what my job description says I must do." Travis returned. Outside of idle talk, nothing else was said or asked about SuMing. Finishing up their meal, they walked back to the office. It was almost 2:30pm and Travis sat behind his desk and reached for his briefcase. Opening, he pulled out the plain manila envelope Ted had given before he had left Dallas. Staring at it for a few minutes, he opened it and pulled out the papers. The cover page had a large red stamp on it "CONFIDENTIAL", that word always sent shivers up Travis' spine. It usually meant that something very serious was in the works and a tedious game of cat and mouse was about to take place. He hated that type of assignment. Turning to the next page was a cover letter from

Ted Michaels, Chief of Security
Memdec, Inc.
1 Memdec Blvd.
Suite 1402
Dallas, Texas
Travis,
What is being disclosed in the following documents is for your eyes only. None of what you read can be divulged to anyone on site. Your direct point of contact will be myself, there is no alternate. Be aware that this assignment has been given the highest priority by the board and is considered highly sensitive. You are not to email any information you uncover or use the phones on site. Any and all communication to me will be from the cell phone provided to you before you left. Do, not, I repeat, do not call on the cell within 3 miles of the site, I cannot emphasize strongly enough how a breach in the operation you have been sent on could be devastating to everything that has been uncovered up to this point.

Approximately four months ago, discrepancies in certain sensitive documents, mainly spreadsheets, had been noticed in the home office. Certain information had been altered concerning amounts on inventory and shipments. Normally, it would have been looked at as an over-sight and the corrections would have been made and forwarded on to the board for the quarterly meetings. But these documents passed through very specific people before landing here. They concerned the development of a new technology working with fuzzy logic and military applications. No one person enters all the information on the reports and spreadsheet, but rather, it is entered in at each log point at the various operations during processing by Research and Development. No one is suspect at this level. There is one however that does have total access to this information at a higher level, the head of Research and Development, Dr. Ching Chaing, the lead scientist on this project. He is one of the original developers of this new technology. Once it leaves him, it goes straight to accounting, to the Account Exec, a Ms. Chang SuMing. She is the person in charge of all reports and spreadsheets concerning this project, no one else in accounting have access to the files except her. At this point, she takes full ownership of all files and information contained in them. You will need to concentrate on these two individuals and see if these are our points of concern to the espionage we have suspected that has been taking place.

Once again, I cannot express at this point just how sensitive this operation is and how any leak in your directive could destroy many months of hard work. Your cover is to be there to inspect the general protocol for security of the facility. An annual directive to evaluate it's effectiveness and to see if there are any weaknesses in the system at all levels. This should make it easy for you to get around without too much notice and keep a low profile while on assignment. If anyone gets suspicious or tries to hinder your inspection in any way, let me know right away, no matter how small it may seem. Do not take on any personal assistants or request any documentation from anyone there. You are to retrieve any information you need yourself. You will be given total access to the entire system, including all databases, employee information as well as to the information concerning the research and development of this project, code name "China Blue".

Respectfully,
Ted Michaels

"Well crap!", Travis thought to himself. "I should have read this on the plane like I was told." He looked over at Lei, working diligently on the various reports he had requested of her. "Damn!", he was thinking to himself again, "Why in the hell do they put me in these situations to begin with. I screwed this one up from go it looks like." Travis turned to the next page in the packet, "Hmmm, employee profiles." It was on Dr. Ching. Born in Shanghai in 49, both parents dead, no siblings, basic education completed and then received his diploma in electronics at MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with advanced schooling in nano technology, specializing in research and development. He held the title of PhD. Been working for Memdec since he graduated MIT in 1975 in Austin, then was transferred to Tianjin in the early nineties, has received numerous awards for his ideas and inventions from Memdec, MIT, Skunk Works, Lucent Technologies and other prestigious concerns. "Impressive." Travis muttered to himself. Lei looked up, "You say something Sir?" Travis had forgotten Lei was in the office, "No, just commenting on your work Lei." he covered himself quickly. "Thank you, I told you that you would be very pleased with it." she said smiling. Turning the page again, it was SuMing's profile. He shook his head as he started to read it. Born in 1971 in a small province south of Tianjin, two sisters, parents still living, twin daughters. Graduated from the University of Beijing in 1995 and has been with Memdec since then. Steadily worked herself up as Account Exec, glowing reviews from her supervisors as a hard dedicated worker, easy to get along with, shows strong ability to continue to grow with the company, takes all directives handed to her without complaint and completes her assignments on or before they are due. Always willing to help out whenever and wherever she can, a definite asset to Memdec. Employee of the month, quarter, year, .numerous awards and commendations..etc..etc.. This wasn't making things any easier for him.

Two people suspected in this and nothing in their profiles to indicate anything unusual. But then again, their profiles would be outstanding. They would want this to seem as if they are the dedicated employees noted in their profiles, beyond reproach and suspicion. It is the ones you least expected he had learned in the past, ones that do not complain or try to draw any type of unwanted attention to them, wanted to be seen as outstanding employees and assets to the company. "Yes." Travis thought to himself again, "I should have read this on the plane. Now I have a bit of explaining and back tracking to do with Ted. And I have a feeling he is not going to be too happy." Ted looked at his watch; it was 4:35pm. Looking over at Lei again, he asked, "What time do you call it a day around here?" Lei looked over at him, "Depends on what time you came in. If you came in on the 7:30 shift, then it would have been 5 minutes ago. 8:30, then it will be another 55 minutes from now. I came in at 7:30 this morning, so I am starting to go on overtime." "Then by all means Lei, let's call an end to a busy day and get out of here. I could use a drink myself, how about you, my treat.", Travis, looking at her smiling, asked . "Oh, not allowed to fraternize with management sir. Sorry. I could lose my job here for such an impropriety." "Nonsense." Travis replied, "Are you not my assistant while I am here? How would it look if you let me wander around the streets of Tianjin lost? And I have been told that there are certain parts of the city I do not want to be lost in." Lei, still looking at Travis, smiled, "Then you are justified in your request and I apologize for thinking it was anything more. Just let me clear my desk and lock the file cabinet and we will be on our way. I know of a nice little place near your hotel where we can get dinner and a drink." Lei quickly cleared her desk and put the reports in the filing cabinet, locking it as she finished. "Ready." she said as she turned around towards Travis. He was already at the door holding it open for her.

As they exited his office, passing Human Resources heading out, they passed SuMing leaving an office. "Evening Maam." Travis said politely as they neared her. She glanced up at him and then to Lei, nodding her head and not saying anything to acknowledge him, she continued on her way. Travis' eyes followed her as she quickly turned a corner. Lei, looking up at him had a disappointed look on her face as she watched Travis looking at SuMing as she walked away from them. As they crossed the parking lot to his car Mark watched them from his office window tapping a pen in the palm of his hand. He had been doing the math, Memdec had just inspected security here about 8 months ago, now why would they want to again so soon? They had passed all specifications and had received a glowing report. No, there had to be more to it than this. He was here for a reason, not just to inspect the security here, if he was here to check security at all. Turning around, he picked up the phone at his desk, "Get me Sammy Wong, I'll hold.", he instructed his secretary.


Friday April 20, 2007 - 07:25am (PDT)

China Blue II ©

Travis Williams, also known as Trav to his friends, sat back in the seat of the Boeing 777 and awaited it's take off. He looked out the window and he could see SuMing standing there behind the waiting area windows waving. He pressed a little closer to the window and waved, knowing the probability of her seeing him was zero. But still he waved at her. As he waited for the plane to take off, he closed his eyes and thought about the last few weeks. When he was first told he would be going to China to check the integrity of the security there, he had winced. He did not look forward to going there at all. He was not used to being a stranger in some foreign country, uneducated to their language and culture. "Wouldn't it be more plausible to send someone familiar to the site?" he had tried to reason with his supervisor Ted Michaels. "You would think so and at any other time, I would agree with you and send someone else. But, they are wanting someone fresh, new eyes on the situation so to say." he returned. "Situation", that word always meant there was reason to check something out. Apparently someone had noted that there was something going on that required a hands on evaluation. But why me Travis thought. He could not speak the language. He would be a "duck out of water" there. He shook his head and looked at Ted. "What is it I am looking for?' he asked. "It will be in the brief and you can read it en-route to Tianjin on the plane." Ted answered. Continuing, "We will forward all the necessary memos to those concerned and tell them not to mention your arrival there. Do not use the email to send any information or any phone on site to contact us. Use your cell phone and do it away from the facilities when you do." Ted further instructed him, "Do not talk to anyone while you are there concerning what you are doing. Or give the remotest hint what it is you are looking for. We are telling them it is nothing more than an annual evaluation and nothing more. I do not want anyone set on there guard there. Everything must be SOP." "Hell Ted, I don't even know what it is that I am looking for, so how can I breach that?" Travis responded. "And if I do find something, what is it that I am supposed to do with it? Or who will I let know that I even found something?" he asked. "You will let me know Travis, no one else. Not even another here, you report straight back to me." he replied in answer. "Travis, I cannot tell you how important this is right now, but something is going on and the higher ups want to know what it is and why, and most important, who." Ted continued. "They said send your best man and one not familiar to them there, we want someone that can get around without too much notice." Travis started laughing now. "That's good Ted, someone who can get around without much notice. Let's see. I am 6' 3" tall, weigh in at 225, brown hair and eyes, yes I can see how I will blend in very easily Ted." he said, still laughing. Ted scowled, "Travis, this is serious, not something to laugh about. Just do as you’re asked and let's get this over with, with as little trouble as possible." "Let's? You are the one staying here Ted, remember? I am the one who is going to be leaving and damn it, I just got back from assignment to Australia." he snapped. "I just moved into a new place, haven't even had a chance to unpack and you are sending me right back out." "No use in arguing about it now, it is a done deal and you are going. Like it or not Travis, you are the best I have and I need you to do this." Ted said, as if pleading with Travis now. "I understand you just got back and you have a new place you want to get settled in. There will be plenty of time for that when you return Travis, I promise you that." Ted turned his back to Travis and was looking out the window in his office, "Just find out what is going on over there and get back home." Travis turned and walked out of Ted's office back to his.

Closing his office door, Travis opened the packet Ted had handed him. There was an airline ticket to Tianjin, China, a rental car voucher, hotel reservation and a perdium check for expenses, nothing about why he was going there or what he was looking for when he got there. He sat at his desk and spread everything out in front of him that is when he noticed his departure date and time. "Crap!" he thought to himself, "I leave in four hours." Picking up the phone, he called Sarah, a girl he had been dating for a few weeks before he had left for Australia. She would be at work right about now, so he called her there. "Langwith & Stiles, this is Sarah, how may I help you?' was the greeting he got. "Sarah, this Travis, I need to talk to you about our date tonight." "Oh?”, Was what she started with, "And what is it you need to talk about?' she asked. "I won't be able to make it tonight, I am leaving out on an assignment in four hours." he told her. "But you just got back and we were supposed to go out tonight. Where is it they are sending you and how long will you be gone? "she inquired. "Sarah, I can't say where and as to why or how long, I do not know, they are keeping this one close to their vests for some reason. I tried to get out of it, I really did, but Ted would not listen and insisted that I go." he explained to her. "If you like, we can meet at the airport and have a drink before my plane takes off." he offered. "No Trav, I don't think so. I am not going to put my life on hold and find myself waiting for you to come home, just to have you leave again. I just got out of a situation like that with my ex-husband. I want someone that is going to be there and not off running around all over hell and creation, all for the good of someone else." she said coldly. "No, you go on your assignment and do whatever it is you have to do." "How about when I get back then?' he asked her. "We can go out then; I promise I will make this up to you." "Don't make any promises Trav, I have heard enough of them before and they all went unfulfilled." she quipped. "I have a life to live and I am going to start living it." No goodbyes were said, the next thing Travis heard was the dial tone. "Damn!" he thought to himself and headed for the door.

Arriving at his condo, Travis grabbed his suitcase he had not even had a chance to unpack yet. Going to his bedroom, he grabbed a few clean shirts, threw his dirty ones on the bed and looked for his brown suit. Stuffing it into his garment bag, he zipped it up and headed out the door to the airport. All the way to the airport Travis thought about how mad he was that they were sending him. Spending three months in Australia setting up the Loss Prevention branch there and having the security system updated and audited, he had thought for sure that he would have had a little time to himself. But Ted had seen that he wasn't going to able to do that. He laughed when he thought of Sarah's comment of unfulfilled promises. "Wake up!" he thought to himself. "Life is nothing more than a string of unfulfilled promises. Look up and stop smelling the flowers." He thought about all the so called unfulfilled promises that had been made to him and thought how he had many more to come in his future. It was just something he was going to have to accept and live with. Sarah needs to understand the same thing and get a good grasp on it. If she didn't, she was going to have a life full of disappointment. We were only guaranteed today, with no promise of a tomorrow. And if anyone was idiot enough to think that, they would be standing in line for a very long time.

Reaching the terminal, Travis went ahead and checked his baggage, looking at his watch; he saw that he still had almost three hours until his flight left. He headed straight for the bar. He was on his second bourbon when he heard the boarding call for his flight. "This is going to be a long one." he thought to himself as he wearily rose from his stool and headed down the concourse to his departure gate. Passing security he waited in line for his boarding pass. "At least I will be traveling first class." he mumbled to himself. Checking his watch again, it was 5:25pm; his flight would take off in about 35 minutes. Boarding was quick and went fairly smooth. He sat in the extra wide seat in the forward cabin, buckled his seatbelt and waited. Closing his eyes he tried to rest a bit. Feeling the plane jolt forward brought him back up. Looking around, he noticed they were already off the ground. He had missed the safety instructions. He was a bit more tired than he had realized. It didn't take long for the plane to reach altitude and when it did, he got up to go and relieve himself of the two bourbons he had earlier. Accounting for the two layovers and the change of airlines in Manila, he arrived in Tianjin late the following afternoon, around 4:30pm.

After retrieving his luggage and going through Customs, he headed for the rental car agency. Signing his contract, he asked them how to get to his hotel. They marked it and the route to take on a map and wished him a nice stay while he was in China. Taking the shuttle to the rental car parking lot, he waited for them to bring him his car. "Damn it a compact!" he scowled out loud. "Couldn't they see a compact was like riding a child's peddle car to him. " Throwing his luggage with some force into the back seat, he sat in the car and found his knees almost under his chin. Reaching for the adjustment lever, he let the seat slide back all the way. Still not far enough, but a lot more comfortable than having to drive like a sardine in a tin with one too many packed in it. Grabbing the map, he headed for his hotel. At least it was almost a straight shot. With little trouble, outside of a few traffic issues, he arrived at his hotel about one and a half hours later. Tianjin was a very large and modern city he had found. Nothing like what he had thought earlier. It could compare to any modern city back in the states. Travis was impressed. Modern office complexes, housing and entertainment offered any visitor a good time and a variety of things to do. Outside of the advertisements being written in Chinese as he drove along, he would think he was still in the states. As he waited for his room keys the clerk at the counter gave him a message that had arrived for him earlier that morning. Opening it he read, "Mr. Travis, Welcome to Tianjin and to China. We are looking forward to your stay with us. Please let us know if we can be of any assistance to make your stay more enjoyable or with your directive here at the Memdec facilities. If you have any questions concerning the security at the site, please contact Lei Ming and she will be happy to assist you. Respectfully, Mark Littleman, Director of Operations, Memdec, Tianjin, China." He folded it back up and put it in his inside jacket pocket. As he turned around, he found the bellhop standing there, smile on his face, keys in his hand and saying to Travis, "This way please." and headed off to the elevators. Travis almost had to run to keep up with him.

Entering his room, Travis turned and handed the young man his tip. By the smile on his face, Travis saw that he had over tipped him. Smiling he thought, "What the hell, isn't like it is my money anyways." The young man bowed, turned and left the room. Setting his suitcase and garment bag on his bed, he started to unpack and hang shirts and suits on the garment rack. A few moments later, his phone rang, "Hello." Travis answered the phone. "Mr. Williams, this is Mark Littleman. Have you settled into your room yet?" "Almost." was his reply. "What can I do for you Mr. Littleman?" Travis asked. "Please, call me Mark." Littleman replied. "I was wondering if you had plans for tonight, and if not, I would like to show you around Tianjin a bit and get you acquainted with your new surroundings." At first Travis thought about refusing his offer, he was very tired from his flight and all he could think about was sleep at the moment. Then for some reason he said, "Sure, why not. I could use a drink and a bite to eat as it is." "Good, glad to hear that. I won't keep you out too late. Just show you how to get to the facilities and then grab a drink and a bite to eat." Mark assured him. They made plans to meet in the lobby at 8:00pm that evening. Travis continued to unpack after hanging the phone up. Jumping in the shower and shaving, he put on a clean shirt and his brown suit, finding a tie, he finished off his suit and headed down to the hotel bar. In the elevator he looked at his watch, 7:30pm, and just enough time to numb his brain a little before Littleman got there.

He had been standing in the lobby just a few minutes when a gentleman came through the revolving doors. He paused and looked around a bit, saw Travis and headed straight for him. He was dressed in a dark suit with a dark blue shirt and a red tie. "Likes to let everyone know he is in charge." Travis mused to himself. Smiling, Littleman held out his hand, "Mr. Williams?" Travis took his hand, "Please call me Travis, Mark. Mr. Williams was my father's name." "Good, this country is based on deep seated formalities; it will be nice to let that go for an evening. Now then let's go and get this evening started." Mark invited. Settling into the passenger's seat of Mark's car he noticed that he had plenty of leg room. He sighed and Mark picked up on it right away. "Yeah, I know how you feel. Seems all they have here are those subcompact cars that remind one of a roller-skate on two wheels" Mark laughed. "I bitched enough to corporate about if they did not do something about the transportation problem here, I was going to start sending them all my chiropractor's bills. Next thing I knew, they sent me this Lexus from Tokyo." Travis thought to himself, "And they couldn't have me something waiting when I got here." About 45 minutes later, Mark turned down a wide boulevard named Memdec Blvd. and it terminated at the guard shack for the Memdec entry drive. Mark rolled down his window and informed the guard, "Just showing someone from corporate around Wang." The guard asked to see Travis's company identification. Handing it to him, the guard checked it out at the terminal in the shack. Returning his badge, the guard apologized for the delay, wished them a good evening and waved them through. "Things are a lot tighter since 9\11 and Iraq." Mark said. "Even the guard's security dogs have to have a badge now." Mark noticed the enormity of the operation here. There had to be at least seven buildings, all four stories high and a quarter of a mile long, all on a well manicured campus, landscaped like a park, hosting administration, manufacturing, development, research and test facilities. "First time to see it?" Mark asked. "Impressive I know. When I first saw it, I could not believe the scope of the operations myself." he continued. "We also have dormitories on the south end of the campus that houses about 4700 employees. All have cafeterias, Laundromats, convenience stores, barbers, beauticians, bowling, theaters and internet cafes. We employ a total of 6748 employees here; work a 24/7 with compressed shifts for manufacturing, mainly products for communications, like satellites, cell phones, medical equipment and radios; very little automobile products here. That is mainly in our Philippines facilities. Any questions so far Travis?" Mark asked turning to him as he stopped the car in his reserved parking space. "No, nothing I can think of right now Mark.", Travis answered him. "You have been a fountain of information." "Would you like to get out for an impromptu tour of the site?" Mark continued. "No, I can wait for tomorrow and get a more thorough tour of the place, if you don't mind. Right now, I would like to take you up on the offer for dinner and drinks. Airline food just does not set to well with me.", Travis finished. Backing out of the space, Mark headed for the exit and to the restaurant district.

Mark had chosen a very nice restaurant for the evening dinner. He looked at his watch and Travis noticed how busy it was for 9:30 in the evening. "Late eaters here I see." Travis mentioned to Mark. "Not really, most eat at this time here. Something being from the states you are not used to." Mark informed him. "Order the Kung Pao Shrimp, very tasty and it is the chef's specialty here. You won't regret it." Mark offered Travis. They were still nursing their drinks, Mark a vodka martini and Travis with his usual bourbon, when the waiter finally came to the table. They placed their order and as the waiter turned to leave, Mark spoke something to him in Chinese which caused the waiter to hesitate for a moment before continuing back to the kitchen. "Told him you are a very generous tipper, treat him good.", Marked chuckled and winked at Travis. Travis watched the waiter out of the corner of his eye as he disappeared through a door in the back of the restaurant. Travis looked back at Mark and thought, "Now why would he inform the waiter I was a good tipper if the meal was on him?" Travis made a mental note then shook it off and waited for his meal. After finishing his second drink, the meal was placed in front of them. The rest of the evening was filled with small talk, eating and a few more drinks. Mark dropped Travis off at his hotel a little after midnight. "See you around 10:00 in the morning.", Mark said before driving off.

Travis woke around 6:45 and lay there for a moment. He felt tired and his body felt as if it was weighed down with bricks. Between the flight and the drinks, his body didn't seem to have the energy to pull himself together enough to get going. As he laid there, Travis looked around his room. It was nicely furnished and the bed was very comfortable. At least they were seeing he was comfortable, it was the least they could do sending him out on such little notice. Micro suede covered lounging chairs; mahogany and ebony wood table and dresser. Oriental framed silk screens on the wall, very nice indeed. As he was admiring his surroundings, he saw that the red message light on his phone was blinking. He picked up the receiver and dialed his room number. "Turn on your damn cell phone and answer it Travis." It was Ted and he sounded a bit upset. Travis reached for his cell phone. He had forgot to turn it back on when he landed in Tianjin. An easy thing to forget he thought. He hit the speed dial button for Ted and then the send button and waited for Ted to answer. "This is Ted." "Ted, Trav here, sorry about the phone, I forgot all about it." Travis said apologizing. "About damn time Travis, I have been waiting for you to call and they have been breathing down my neck for a status. Now what the hell is going on there?' Ted barked over the phone. "Christ Ted, calm down. I just got here yesterday, what did you expect? I haven't even been here 24 hours and you sound like you have not heard from me for weeks." Travis fired back. "24 hours of travel and you expect me to hit the ground running Ted, is that it? There isn't a big red "S" painted on my shirt here Ted, and I am not Kresgin, so don't expect me to read minds and see through walls on this." "Sorry Travis, but they are very impatient on this one and they want a few answers. Give me what you have so far." Ted said backing down on his tone some. "I met Mark Littleman when I arrived, we drove out to the Memdec facilities here and he showed me around the campus. I did not tour the facilities themselves, just got acquainted with the grounds and the buildings there. He filled me in on the general stats, press release stuff, nothing ground breaking in it. Then we went out for dinner and drinks." Travis filled Ted in. "Oh, and by the way Ted, what is the damn subcompact car I am driving all about? That thing is killing my back and legs driving it. You really should have put a little more thought into my stature before reserving me this tin can on wheels." Travis complained, mainly to throw Ted on the defensive. "I'll have Marianne work on it for you Travis. " Ted offered. "See that you do Ted." snapped Travis. "Anyway, I need to get up and moving. I have to be at the facility by 10:00 this morning and I want a shower and breakfast. I'll call you later and give you an update." "Later then Travis, and keep your eyes and ears open." Ted instructed him. Travis ended the call and rolled out of bed.

Passing the mirrored wall, Travis glimpsed his reflection. "Damn I look terrible." he was thinking to himself. Not so much in his build, but in his face. You could tell he had been working too much, drinking and keeping late hours. "Really need to exercise and get more rest." Making his way to the shower, he stood under the spray and let it rinse the trip and the previous night down the drain. The hot water felt good and he felt like he could stand there forever, the heat feeling so good on his tired muscles. Finishing up his shower, he finished getting ready and dressed. Exiting the elevator, he headed to the restaurant and ordered an American breakfast off the menu, eggs over easy, hash browns with bacon and toast. Strong black coffees for that kick start he felt he needed. As he ate, he felt the caffeine start to do its work and his mind started clearing. "I really need to formulate a plan of attack here. Something that will divert their attention as to why he was really there." he started thinking. "Inundate them with requests for reports and logs, especially transaction logs, shipping logs, visitor logs and inventory audits. That should keep their eyes buried in file cabinets and monitors and might let him go about unnoticed."

Finishing his breakfast, he started across the lobby, near the entrance stood a man dressed in a white jacket, black slacks and white cap, holding a placard that read, "Travis Williams" on it. Shaking his head, he walked over to the man and introduced himself. "I am Travis Williams." he informed the man. "Ahh, very good." the man said to Travis. "Mr. Littleman has sent me to drive you to Memdec. Please follow me if you will sir." Travis followed him to the waiting car. As the door was held open for him, he slipped the doorman a tip. Once on their way, the man looked in the rearview mirror and said "You really shouldn't be tipping everyone like that. If they see you have money, they will inform others of the same thing and soon you will find yourself relieved of it and left stranded someplace. And there are parts of Tianjin you do not want to be left alone in, being an American. You would stand out like a weed in a vegetable patch and treated as such Mr. Williams." "Thank you for that information, but I think I can handle myself." Travis responded. "As you wish Mr. Williams." the driver replied in turn, and then looked forward keeping his silence until they arrived. "We are arriving sir, please have your badge ready for the guard." the driver requested of Travis. Showing the guard the badge, he nodded and waved them on through.

Entering the building, there was a young lady waiting there for him. "Mr. Williams?" she asked as he entered. "Please, call me Travis, Miss." he requested of her. "Oh no sir. That will not do. It is impolite to address one in such a familiar way considering your status with the company and I would lose my position here for being so forward." she told him. "I have never been much on formalities and protocol and I would feel much more comfortable and at ease if you would honor my request in that respect." he requested of her. "I am so sorry Mr. Williams, but I cannot do that. My name is Song Lei and I will be your assistant and liaison while you are here. Please follow me, if you will." Lei asked Travis. "I really do not need an assistant while I am here Ms. Song. I work well alone and I get much accomplished when left to my own means. I appreciate the offer of your services, but if you will just show me to Mr. Littleman's office, I can take it from there." Travis told Lei. You would have thought he had just had her dismissed from her job. She bowed her head and without looking at him said, "I am very sorry if I have insulted you Mr. Williams, I did not mean to. I was doing nothing more than following my instructions from my supervisor. Please understand." Travis stood there for a moment, quiet, feeling remorse in the words he had chosen. "Maybe there is something you can do for me. Can you get me a list of the personnel that work the Loss Prevention department here? Also, I will need to see the inventory audits for the past six months. Then bring to me, where ever they find a place to park me." She looked at Travis a little confused, "Park you sir? You will be working from your car while you are here?" Travis laughed, "No, no, I should have made myself a bit clearer on that. It is an American term for where they decide to give me space to do my work while I am here." Laughing still, he looked at Song Lei and smiled. Looking up at Travis, Lie smiled back and giggled, "I am sure I can find a very comfortable parking place for you here." She then led him to Mark Littleman's office.

Standing at Mark's secretary's desk, he informed her who he was and that Mr. Littleman was expecting him. She called in to Mark and let him know Travis was there, then showed him into Mark's office. "Mr. Littleman, Mr. Williams to see you sir." his secretary announced as they entered the office. Mark stood up as Travis entered his office and offered his hand again. "I hope you had a comfortable night Travis. I know how hard it can be the first few nights traveling from one side of the world to the other." "I slept very good, thank you." Travis returned the formality. "Good, glad to hear." Mark said. "Now Travis, how might me or my staff assist you in your endeavors here?" Travis looked past Mark and out the window, "Just give me a space I can work at. Something with a modicum of privacy and a place there too for the assistant you have been so generous in supplying me with. I will also need a network connection and access to you database with a high level of clearance. Something on the line of the db admin will work." Mark looked blankly at Travis, "I don't think that will be possible Mr. Williams. Asking for access like that would require you to have a security clearance higher than mine and I just do not see that happening at all. That would be a breach of company protocol and directives." Adjusting his tie, Mark sits down behind his desk, avoiding looking at Travis. Travis walks over to his desk, bending, he places both hands flat on Mark's desk coming down hard to get his attention. "Yes, Mr. Littleman, I see it happening and I see it happening very quickly, or I will place one phone call back to Dallas and make more than my request to you happen. Are we on the same page here Mr. Littleman? Or do I have to make my point a little bit clearer?" Travis said sternly while reaching into his breast pocket and pulling out his cell phone. Mark, looking up at Travis said, "If this is nothing more than an audit of Loss Prevention and our security system here, why would you need such a high level of access?" Travis, shaking his head looked back down at him, glaring this time, "You know, if they would have wanted you to know anymore than you do now, they would have told you. But it is apparent that you do not need to know, all you need to do is to fill my request so I can do my job and be done with it. Now, will you see that by the time I get to my space that I have the access that I have requested granted? If I do not, all it will take is one phone call over your head to get it done." Mark, looking to one side to avoid Travis' glare said " I will take care of it myself Mr. WIlliams" Travis spun around in a 180 and started walking to the door, "See that you do Mr. Littleman, see that you do." Mark, thoroughly humiliated by now, but more concerned as to how deep Travis would probe in his audit started granting him the access he had requested. He then picked up his phone and asked his secretary to get him the Dallas office right away.

I have Dallas on the phone for you Mr. Littleman. "Mr. Dunbar?" "Yes Mark, what can I do for you?" Stephen Dunbar asked Mark. "I know it is late there sir and I apologize for disturbing you, but I have something I need to discuss with you right now that is very urgent." Hearing Stephen's sigh, "What is it this time Mark?" "There is a Travis Williams here requesting deep access into the databases, all the databases sir. Said he was here to audit the security and Loss Prevention department here. I really don't feel comfortable with granting that type of access to a Loss Prevention Investigator. Not even one of our own sir. There is a lot of sensitive material stored on those databases. Some of it, even I do not have access to, who is going to take responsibility if something happens to any of the information there sir?" Mark asked. "Mark, what is it exactly you are asking of me?" Stephen started out, "What do you want to hear from me? Is there something that you need to hide, something that you have failed to mention to me that he should not find?" "Oh no sir, it is nothing like that, I assure you. I was just thinking of the company and protecting it's assets." Mark defended himself saying, "All I want is some type of clarification as to Mr. Williams' level of security clearance and access to all the information on the system. How deep do you want me to allow him access." "Mark, let me put it to you this way. If you are so concerned about protecting the company and it's assets, I would think you would welcome Mr. Travis and facilitate his request with the utmost diligence and speed. That he is there for a reason and if you had needed to know anymore than that, I am sure someone here would have informed you. But as for right now, I suggest you grant him what he is asking for and stay out of his way Mark. Do not hinder him in his assignment." Stephen Dunbar hung up the phone and left Mark holding his receiver in his hand.

Song Lie met Travis out in the hallway. "Mr. Williams, I have found you a very nice parking space, I think you will find it very comfortable and quiet, very conducive to working." "Why thank you Miss Song. I appreciate it very much. Please show me and then get those logs and reports I requested earlier." Mark said to her. "It is done already sir." Lei replied smiling up at him. Travis smiled back and thought to himself, "Very efficient young lady, maybe she can be of help to me." Entering the office Lei had chosen for him, Travis was very impressed. It was a corner office with a view of the gardens outside. It had windows from floor to ceiling on the two outside walls that traversed the entire length. A large rosewood desk and an overstuffed leather high backed desk chair. To one side was a smaller desk of teak and a small wooden desk chair behind it. One wall had a bank of shelves while the fourth had a built in credenza. All the surfaces were paneled and it had very lush thick carpet on the floors. On the wall by the credenza was a door that led to a private bathroom complete with a shower and a small clothes closet. "This will do very nicely Miss Song, very nicely indeed." Travis said smiling. "If you had done nothing else outside of finding me a parking space I would have to say you out did yourself on this." Lei smiling and a bit red from Travis's accolades said, "I am happy to see that it pleases you sir. I was hoping you would find it to your liking. I took the liberty of having a small desk put in here for myself. If you do not like, I can have it removed and sit in the cubes outside." "You stay right were you put it. That way, if and when I need you, I won't have to go looking for you. You thought right on that one Miss Song." Mark said winking at her. Lei smiled again, "Thank you Travis." "Whoa there, what happened to protocol and being respectful Miss Song?”, Travis laughed. "I think since we will be working so close together, when we are away from prying ears, it will be okay to use our given names, don't you think?" Lei inquired of Travis. "Yes Lei, I think it will be okay. Now let's start to work." Travis continued. "I want you to take the personnel rosters for the Loss Prevention department and list them in descending order as to their employment dates. If they are six months and under, I want their complete file along with pre-employment screenings. Then I want the inventory for the last six months broken down by device number and who it was shipped to along with quantities shipped. I want the inventory on scrapped devices and how they were disposed of." "Yes Travis, I will get right on it." Lei assured him. "I have no doubt that you will Lei. I am going to go and get my self acquainted now with my surroundings. I should be back in a couple of hours, then you can show me where the cafeteria is and we will have lunch." Travis informed Lei.

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