Chapter Seven
Clarity ignored the phone message of Shalia to go out. Aiguo Liang led her to a basement below their shop which looked like a state of the art communications center. Several men were seated in the room, dressed in orange robes. The robes symbolized simplicity and detachment from materialism. Their wireless technology gave them access to a satellite view of Singapore. One of the monks, named Banko, which meant everlasting, zoomed in on the docks, onto one ship which was docking in Jurong.
"It's the Mairangi Bay, the shipment has reached Singapore." The other monk, named Fushin, which meant guardian of the mind, handed Aiguo Liang a message transcript picked on the wireless line of Dao Bin.
"Dao Bin is going to get the cargo tonight, we must go before him."
"What cargo?" Asked Clarity.
"Rare earth metals," answered Aiguo, nodding to the skin-tight-haircut monk named Banko, "it's important that we get access to these, they are part of Meridian 57."
"What is meridian 57?"
"It is our name for the project of immortality," said Aiguo, "I am not allowed to tell you more until you see our leader. But first, you have to go through a loyalty test, and that involves getting those rare earth metals for us." Clarity nodded, not displeased with doing something against the interests of Dao Bin, which she found unpleasant.
Before dusk, around six in the evening, Clarity ate a light meal, soup and vegetables, and some fruit. Aiguo handed her a piece of paper with the layout of the Mairangi Bay inside. The rare earth metals were inside one container of the second cargo bay of the ship. Her task was to board the container ship with the two monks, with the assistance of an informant on board, and lift the container they were seeking, container AV 345G, on board a fishing boat, using a large crane available on the ship. At eight PM, with night fully settled, Clarity said good bye to Aiguo and his wife, and got in a taxi with Banko and Fushin, who had traded their orange robes for jeans and a dark gray turtleneck. They reached the harbor of Jurong and boarded a fishing boat, the Histria Agata, which had an empty cargo bay large enough to fit a container. Fushin and Banko started the engines of the boat and they set off in the direction of Terminal two. Officially, they were a refuelling boat instructed with refuelling the Mairangi Bay. After twenty minutes, the front light of the Agata lit up the name of the large cargo ship, which was docked on terminal two.
"Our informant is on board, we are all set." Bunko maneuvered the boat along the cargo ship and Clarity saw a hatch opening, which matched the height of the fishing boat. A woman whose face was covered with a veil pushed her head out of darkness waving at Clarity.
"Come in," she said.
Clarity entered the cargo bay of the MV Mairangi Bay through a hatch opened by the informant on the ship, a woman whose face was covered with a veil. The ship was docked in Jurong port for a night, before continuing towards Penang in Malaysia. While Clarity made her way to the galley of the ship with the informant, she recognized the features of the woman. She'd seen her before somewhere. It was Devi, the hostess who'd welcomed her at the airport.
"Devi," said Clarity. The woman lowered her veil a few inches.
"Shh, we mustn't talk," she said. They made their way towards the engine room without meeting anyone, moving on to the galley. Devi used a set of keys to lock the hatch which led to the crew's cabins. Everyone was sleeping and locking the crew and captain left Clarity and Devi some room to get to the cargo. They found the crane used to lift containers and Devi stayed on the ship's bridge, to turn on the crane. Clarity sat on the crane cabin post and began moving the crane towards the row holding the container. Along one aisle, she noticed two silhouettes moving swiftly towards her, Jeng and Mai Sei, the two henchmen of Lim Li and the mogul. They were also looking for the crane. Clarity lowered the crane and picked up Jeng, dropping him off into an empty container. Moving backwards with the train, she grappled the jacket of Mai Sei, and lifted the former sumo wrestler towards the same crane, dropping him with a loud thump a few feet from his accomplice.
Her way clear, Clarity read the piece of paper given by Aiguo, focusing on row AV. She found the container a few minutes later and used a rack pallet vehicle to take the container out of its position. Then, she stepped on the large crane of the ship used to unload containers on the harbor shore. The crane lowered the container carrying the rare earth metals on the Histria Agata. Clarity returned the hoist to its original position, hearing Jeng and Mao Sei yell at the crew to lift them from their own personal container. She stepped off the crane and ran through the engine room and the galley, back to the hatch which had allowed her to board the ship. Devi extended her arm to help her on board the Histria Agata. The fishing boat engine roared away from the cargo ship, leaving the docks of Jurong, headed for the docks of Pasir Panjang.
Less than fifty minutes later, Shalia was calling her on the cell phone that Devi had provided at the airport.
"Darcy?"
"It's me," answered Clarity.
"Where have you been? Something happened, several containers carrying a sample of rare earth metals purchased by our communications technology division have disappeared." Clarity listened to the alarmed voice of Shalia, who was visibly altered, albeit from her luxurious Suite at the Marina Bay Sands hotel, facing Marina Bay. Advertised as the world's most expensive casino property at more than five billion U.S. dollars, the resort included a twenty five hundred room hotel, and boasted a convention center, an art science museum, notable restaurants such as DB Bistro Moderne, Waku Ghin and Sky on 57, and the infinity swimming pool, set on the largest public cantilevered platform, producing the effect of water without boundary. Shalia was using her spare one hundred thousand dollars for the month allocated by her father to book a Suite at the hotel, and she periodically vented out the refusal of her family to be part of the Board of Directors of O&O by playing a few thousand dollars at baccarat at the casino.
Leaving Devi and her decryptor with Aiguo Liang, Clarity took a taxi and made her way to the fifteenth floor of the Marina Bay Sands, entering the Suite of Shalia, who was dressed in underwear from Agent Provocateur. The wealthy, blond socialite threw herself in the arms of Clarity, and began kissing her lips, rubbing her cheeks against those of Clarity.
With one hand, she called the head of logistics at Owens & Owell, Dale Irwail, to speak about the latest news of the theft. The logistics specialist spoke to her for a few minutes, without explaining much of the reason that the company had bought the rare earth materials.
"I needed to see you," said Shalia, "I missed you Darcy." Shalia held the hand of Clarity and brought her to a credenza, opening one of the drawers. With a solemn gesture, she gave Clarity an anklet studded with diamonds.
"This is for you, you mean a lot to me," she said. She kissed her on the lips and kneeled down to take off one of the loafers that Clarity was wearing. With particular dexterity, she took off the white sock off Clarity's foot and placed the anklet on it, satisfied with the look of her lover. Then, she got up and went on to explain the situation.
"Dale Irwail, our head of logistics called earlier about this theft. He wants me in charge of the affair here, knowing that I am here in Singapore. I'm going to need you to work with me."
"Why?"
"Can't do this on my own."
The fact that Shalia admitted her professional limitations so readily touched Clarity to an extent. Then, she realized that the girl facing her was not precisely poor or living in a one room apartment like she was in Malibu, and that brought her a proper perspective on the issue, her own self reliance back to her senses.
"Our health and technology division was the final client of these raw materials. Some important heads of the Infocom Media Development Authority in Singapore have called Owens & Owell to inquire about the theft. I am seeing one of the representatives tomorrow here at the hotel. I want you to be with me." Clarity nodded.