Chapter 7

“Master J and Miss Cyn are from home. By your look, you are Miss Surprise ... and these are?” asked the butler.

Only JW, I thought.

“My guests.” I said. “A surprise.”

“Amelia?” said the man. It was obvious he was speaking to our chauffeur. “Have you retrieved their luggage?”

“Yes, Mr. Kwan.”

“Please to assist Mary,” Mr. Kwan instructed her.

“Yes, Mr. Kwan.” She disappeared in the nether regions of the apartment.

“Master J and Miss Cyn are at the boat,” Mr. Kwan said. “If you wish, I can send for them.”

“I prefer that my guests are made comfortable. How do I find the boat?”

“Never say you would walk!” He was shocked. Walking was something Europeans never did ... even if it was a few blocks. The boat yard was near the water. Security was extremely tight. Even so, things routinely went missing. Labor was cheap but precision equipment was expensive.

“I don’t see why not,” I said. “I have legs.”

“We’re losing this place soon, I’m sure you noticed all the construction. When the high-rise building is finished, we’ll be moving to a government forced swap, a floor or two of flats equal to the square footage of our housing setup. This will all be torn down and more high-rise housing erected.”

On the way I had noticed a disreputable town ... like a squatters village that was being bulldozed ... make room for? What did they do with all the poor?

Oh ... that’s right. Communism ... there are no poor ... everyone is equal.

We saw how that worked in Russia.

“How far to the boat yard?”

“Maybe six blocks. Let me call you a red taxi...”

“For six blocks?”

“Miss Flintkote ... in case you hadn’t noticed ... this area is full of displaced people. They’re not happy about it. You have an obscure accent ... not British but not Hong Kong ... they have lost ancestral homes ... such as it is ... you’re the enemy. Let me call a red cab.”

I opened my mouth to complain...

“Don’t walk home in the dark.” Mr. Kwan said, “Not even in a group. No matter how many people you have ... they have more.”

He picked up a modular phone. “Red cab is number 1 on speed dial,” he said.

“Hóngsè chūzū chē zhì xiānggǎng bǎo yǒng wān shēn wān dào 11 hào. Qù xīng jiàn,” is what he said. What he told me was, “Red cab to 11 Shum Wan Rd, Po Chong Wan, Hong Kong. Going to Starship.”

“Tā huì chūlái de. Xièxiè,” he said to the phone and hung up. “He’ll honk you go out.”

HONK

I ran out the door.

“Missy to Starship?”

“Yes.”

I got in ... the meter started. Six blocks. The meter stopped.

“2.30HK$.”

I paid with a five. A Five dollar Australian bill.

The driver looked at it ... did the math in his head 5au$= 27.79HK$. I slammed the door and ran to the gate.

The gate guard said, “Miss Flintkote. Forgive me. I did not see you leave.”

“That would be Cynthia ... I’m her sister, Surprise.”