On Fire

Hui Lee has found out that Zak and Kim are gone and he is not happy. Much of his displeasure lies in the report before him, telling him about Wang, Dai Gu and Professor Xu. It indicates that Wang was probably attacked by Gu or an associate. Further, that Wang was a long time investigative journalist with ties to UNK. And of course he knows of Xu’s expertise in the Chinese underworld. He, Hui Lee, had once been one of Xu’s students.

  Mostly he is displeased because it would appear that Zak and Kim are now probably involved, maybe by virtue of the passing of information, and appear to have enlisted the assistance of local triads in the South in leaving China. Ironically, he had not yet placed a hold on their leaving, largely because of the necessity of filing a report with the DI, but also because of the need to file some kind of formal charges through the Beijing prosecutor’s office. That would involve too many people and take too long. Now, as if to prove his point, Zak and Kim are already gone.

  Lee’s conference room is in the corner of the building and is supposedly very high tech bug proof. He will concede that is not saying much these days. The intense white of the room almost hurts his tired eyes. The only thing that is not white in the room is the ashen blonde hardwood floor, of which there happens to be a great expanse. At the center is a large oval table, super white of course, and around it are over a dozen chrome office chairs on rollers. The chairs have thin leather seats and backs stretched tautly over steel frames, whether vinyl or leather he hasn’t a clue, but they are, of course, intensely white.

  It’s a coffered ceiling and has ribbons of strong, indirect lighting running all around the edges. The walls angle steeply into the room, the window casements set back deep at the top, shallow at the bottom. And the two interior doors opposite the windows have three glass portholes cut into their middles, like portholes on a ship. Lee has no idea if any of this has any real significance for security or anything else, but he would be the last person to offer up the question.

  Hui Lee sits at one end of the table, in front of a white wall panel with a big monitor bolted onto it. The monitor is positioned high, above his head, in such a way that everyone else can see it. Lee, on the other hand, has to swivel his chair in order to do so.

  But at least the location of the monitor over his head helps to keep everyone’s attention focused in his general direction. Keeping them focused is, however, harder all the time. Younger staff members are always being given upgraded training, training that is increasingly more elaborate and sophisticated, requiring the juggling of many competing demands while keeping track of a lot of balls in the air, all at the same time. The result, as far as he can tell, is that new personnel are even more scattered than they used to be, before experiencing the enhanced training. If anything, they have to be re-trained. He is fortunate to have Huiliang to help knock them into shape.

  Eight of the staff sit before him. They are Qiu, Zemin, Wing, the men, and Ling, Huiliang, Zin, De, Yue, the women. Don’t ask him to remember their last names. It is enough to be able to remember their first names. Sometimes, when he is on the computer, he gets them mixed up because it is more common to use their last names for email. It’s a struggle. But it would be made much easier if his colleagues would stop raiding his office for the more experienced and therefore more competent staff people. The colleagues tend to take the most physically attractive people first, which is why he still has Huiliang, his most valuable staffer. Lee’s revenge is to seek out and hire the nerdiest, geekiest, and yet most promising people he can find.

  “Huiliang will prepare a report for us on the Wang matter and I want everyone to cooperate. Give her any support she needs. Qui, use your contacts and see what you can get us on Mr. Wang’s history. What have you got for us today Zemin?”

  Zemin with Yue’s help keeps track of anti-government protests around the country. He taps an e-pad and a map pops up on the wall monitor showing dozens of ongoing protests in virtually every corner of the Republic. Zemin and Yue launch into discussion of several of the most important of these direct challenges to local and national authority. They are quickly besieged by very pointed questions.

  Lee’s mind wanders. He can’t help it. He regrets letting these American students go.

  Chapter 28