by Ed Nelson
I won’t say I was happy when she whiffed her first swing, but I was a little concerned that she might be Supergirl.
I taught her how to line the ball up and the proper position and how to swing the club. Yes, I had to put my arms around her. There was nothing to it.
Ben came out and watched her start hitting the ball correctly.
“You better watch it, Rick, she will take your titles away from you.”
May-ling asked, “What titles are those?”
I guess she knew nothing about me.
Ben was glad to explain that currently I was the best golfer in the world. He took great delight in telling her about the Grand Slam of golf and that I was the first who had done it since Bobby Jones.
What she found amazing we were both amateur golfers and hadn’t turned professional.
“Why didn’t you, Rick, I have heard professional golfers made a lot of money.”
Where do you even start?
I gave her a condensed version of my finances which were based on my inventions and the businesses I had founded.
“So that is how you were able to help China, you gave us the money.”
“Yes, Empress Ping didn’t publicize it, but I underwrote the revolution.”
She gave me a considering look. I had no idea what she was considering.
Back at the house, Mum gave her and her mother a tour of Jackson House. The ladies agreed it was a nice little home. When compared to the Forbidden City it was. Mum didn’t show them the sub-basement, that was closely held.
That afternoon the women went shopping for clothes that would be appropriate for a ranch in Spain. I wanted to ask if they had bought shit kickers but knew I would be in a world of hurt if I did.
I took the opportunity to call Mr. Norman and asked that it be relayed to the Empress that we would be flying to Spain tomorrow. It was only after I hung up that I realized I was asking the Queen of England to be my errand girl.
The next day I flew us down to LAX from the Forestry Service station where we boarded a chartered 707 for Madrid.
Poor Harold had to stay home this trip. He must have been in a tizzy about what I would wear. I had a carryall with several jeans’ outfits and one suit. I was afraid the airplane might be overweight with what the ladies had bought on Rodeo Drive.
I didn’t even want to think about the cost of being over the luggage allowance.
Chapter 18
We had one refueling stop on the way to Spain. Even though we had first-class seating I realized that having my own 707 had spoiled me for commercial travel.
The service was good but not at my every whim. The food was good but not the top-shelf quality I was used to. I could go on for hours. Why they wouldn’t even let me fly the plane!
I didn’t ask if I could fly it, though if I had blown my Duke of Hong Kong cover, they might have. I was Edward Butler a young man on holiday.
Ann and May-ling were a mother and daughter named Margret and Sarah Johnson. I had seen their passports, though on the trip we weren’t sitting together or supposed to know each other.
I kept a watchful eye on them during the flight. They both kept a brave face, but you could tell something was wrong in their lives.
They were sitting together but a young man behind May-ling decided he wanted to get to know her better. Since they both had aisle seats he kept leaning forward and tried to talk to her.
She ignored him as much as she could and even was rude in telling him to go away. The young Spaniard must have felt he was god’s gift to women and wouldn’t take, ‘go away,’ for an answer.
I was about to get up and have a talk with the caballero. Though I doubt he was a gentleman.
A stewardess asked May-ling if the man was bothering her. When she told her yes, the guy was told to sit back and shut up or move back to coach.
I liked the stewardess’s style.
The rest of the flight was quiet and uneventful.
From Madrid, we took a local flight. I had a car waiting for us at the airport as I knew Alejandro’s SEAT wouldn’t hold us, much less the luggage.
When we passed the intersection of 902 and 44 the new truck stop came into view. I owned it in conjunction with some Spanish businessmen and Colonel Frade from Argentina. How we ended up on good terms was a mystery to me, but I wasn’t going to second guess it.
We drove down the long road to the main house. When Jackson House España came into view the ladies were complimentary. It met their expectations for a Hacienda in Spain.
I described the estancia to them and all its products which included olives, grapes, almonds, walnuts, cherries, apples, quinces, and many acres of wheat.
They thought this was a very rich country being able to grow all these crops. When I told them how many people lived on the ranch, they thought it was a waste. Fifteen hundred people were nothing, there should be fifteen thousand.
China is China.
I had sent a telegram warning of our arrival, myself and two female guests. I didn’t explain more than that so they must have been very curious.
At any rate, Mrs. Echevarria, Alejandro, and Elisa were waiting along with Fra Tomas. I introduced everyone. The royals by their Noms de Guerre, I always wanted to use that phrase.
Mrs. Echevarria caught on quickly there was no hanky panky going on or Juegos de Manos as she would say.
It took Fra Tomas longer. From the way he looked at Ann I thought he would have an interesting time at his next confession.
Mrs. Echevarria and Elisa took the ladies to their rooms so they could rest and freshen up. Why do women always freshen up after a long trip? All I wanted to do was to pee.
After Alejandro showed me my room and I changed clothes into more appropriate attire for a ranch we met Fra Tomas on the front veranda. He was anxious to show me the improvements that had been made to the school.
Both the outside and inside had been painted along with cracks in the walls being repaired. New desks were in the single classroom and there was evidence of many new textbooks. I felt the money I had donated had been well spent.
I choose not to notice that the church itself had similar repairs. I hadn’t designated the funds for the church, but I hadn’t forbidden it either.
The good Fra told me that the Bishop still wanted to meet me. I bet he would. I didn’t reply to the hint.
At dinner Elisa recounted her experiences being a model for Mary's clothing line. She found it to be great fun. She once again apologized for thinking that I was short. I didn’t take it any further.
Mrs. Echevarria gave a very concise update on the estancia’s progress. Things were going well. The worker's homes had been repaired and upgraded as I requested.
As far as the crops were concerned the fields and orchards had all been reconditioned with the new machinery and the proper fertilizers applied. It wouldn’t be until next year until we knew how successful the efforts were.
I told her since that was exactly what we foresaw in our planning, that it looked like we were on our way back to making this an estancia we could be proud of.
I told her that it appeared the only place that hadn’t had a lot of money spent on it was this hacienda. She replied that it was the leader's duty to see to their people first, and then if anything were left over, they could enjoy the fruits of the labor.
You could see that May-ling approved of this attitude. She would be a fine ruler of China when her turn came. I hoped it wouldn’t be for many years.
The next day we took a horseback tour of the estancia. It was beautiful now that fences had been repaired, fields reconditioned. Almost all of the machinery that I saw was brand new.
I asked Mrs. Echevarria how many of the machines had to be replaced and she told me almost all of them. She looked afraid for a moment as though I would chastise her for that.
“Good I’m glad to see that you aren’t being penny wise and pound foolish. As things progress you should have a plan to replace the machinery regularly, farming
is hard on the machines.”
“A breakdown at the wrong time of the season can cause a lot of problems.}
That gave me a thought.
“Do we have a maintenance man with helpers to keep them in the best condition?”
“The crews look after their machines.”
“An American practice is to have a maintenance shop with qualified repairmen performing preventative maintenance and repairs.”
“It is a separate facility with the tools they need, along with the manuals on all of the equipment. They will also keep spare parts for those that need frequent replacement or have long lead times to replace. This requires an extensive record-keeping system.”
“I will have one of my American companies send an expert over to help you get set up.”
Mrs. Echevarria exclaimed, “You would do that for us?”
“It is in my best interest. I want a successful estancia that will earn us all a living rather than trying to make money on the cheap.”
We spent the next few days doing very little. I would get my run in, in the morning. Sometimes May-ling and I would arrive at the front of the house at the same time and run together.
It was never planned and only happened three days out of seven. Other times we met with me coming back and her going out.
Fra Tomas had me talk to the students at the one-room schoolhouse one day. I told them if their grades were good enough to get them into a university, I would pay for all their schooling if they maintained a C average.
You would have thought I was St. Michael descending from Heaven.
It was when I found out that the school had no accreditation, either the school or Fra Tomas as a teacher. I had no option at that point but to make phone calls.
With the help of the British Embassy, I was put into contact with the Spanish Minister of Education. I explained my problem. From there it became a mere matter of money.
I had to pay for six certified teachers. One for every two grades. Also, enlarge the number of school rooms. Plus, have all students tested to determine their appropriate grade level?
All those requirements floored me, but when I found out what the cost was going to be it wasn’t that great. The largest cost would be adding to the current school building.
None of these items had been completed when it was time for us to fly to China for the funeral.
We took a charter with Harold on board to Madrid where my plane was waiting. This time we flew to Cairo for refueling, then onto Bombay. After that, it was straight through to Beijing.
Chapter 19
The flight was long, and everyone was feeling the stress of the situation. Each of the ladies sat alone with their thoughts. There was no use in trying to lighten their moods as occasional tears would be running down their cheeks.
Anything I tried would seem to be a crass attempt to lessen the grief of their son and brother's death. That on top of the recent death of the husband and father was a heavy burden.
Add to that May-ling was now a walking target. I made a personal vow to track down that SOB Haoran and kill him. While we had no direct links to him, he was the only one that would benefit from these deaths.
If I were wrong about him, it would be a shame. I didn’t like him anyway. I stopped my thoughts in their tracks. What was I turning into? I wasn’t one to kill on a whim. This left me sitting by myself looking introspective for the rest of the flight.
After enough hours had gone by, we had to eat. The ladies picked at their food. I ate mine, not with gusto, but with a healthy appetite. I guess even potential mass murderers get hungry.
There was no talk at the dinner table, only polite remarks like, “Pass the salt, please.” After dinner, we each went back to our seats and our solitary thoughts.
I finally put it together that thoughts weren’t actions. So, I didn’t care for Haoran and wouldn’t cry if he died. That was separate from his trying to kill his way to the Chinese Throne.
I also realized that if I acted without more evidence then I was crossing a line that could never be uncrossed. So, I modified my vow to finding evidence that he had ordered the killings, then I would track down and shoot the son of a bitch.
That thought cheered me up. Now the question was how to obtain the evidence. At this point, I had to rely on the CIA investigators. These were primarily retired CIA agents in China.
I had no way of knowing if they were even qualified to perform the investigation. Being a spy in place had to be different than being a police detective. I made a mental note to ask JFK if he had any idea of the investigative team's background.
We finally landed in Beijing. There was a whole army convoy waiting to take us to the Forbidden City. We rode in an armored car. It was one of many in the parade of vehicles which included tanks. We weren’t in the lead or the middle, it was hoped we would be lost in the shuffle.
Halfway there we were just entering the city proper when the middle-armored car was hit with an anti-tank missile.
I didn’t see it but heard two tanks firing. There would be no one to question. The convoy picked up speed. If anyone had been in the street they would have been run over.
At the Forbidden City, we were immediately taken to an inner building different than any I had seen before. It was a solid construction that looked like a fortress.
Inside we descended in an elevator down. It was a long way down but there were no indicators of floors along the way.
At the bottom, our accompanying bodyguards were turned aside. It was only the three of us that were allowed to proceed. We were escorted to another room where the Empress waited.
There were hugs between the ladies and many a tear shed. I stood there awkwardly not knowing what to do.
The Empress turned to me and thanked me for bringing her daughter-in-law and granddaughter safely home.
She then clapped her hands and when a servant appeared asked that tea be served. By this time, I had a chance to look around. This room could be a reception room for an Empress. On second thought, that is exactly what it was.
I think I figured out where we were.
“Is this the Atomic war bomb shelter and command post?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Then you are safe from outside attacks, but what about infiltration or corruption?”
“Everyone down here has been screened. Their families are all intact and moved to a safe army base for the duration.”
I let it go at that, hidden bank accounts and favorite mistresses could be a weak spot, but since there was no way to track all this down quickly it was better left unsaid than create more stress.
I asked if I could make an international call from here. I was taken to the largest communication center I had ever been in. I think if they had phones, you could call the moon.
I was put through to the White House in record time. They were using the identification words I had been provided. I was connected to the Chief of Staff who in turn put the President on the line.
“Mr. President, I have some concerns about the abilities of the Chinese investigators. Being a spy and a detective are not the same, they require different skill sets.”
“We are way ahead of you Rick, each of our Chinese operatives has been teamed up with an FBI agent to direct them. The only problem we have is communications. We have to be careful not to expose their identities.”
“Why haven’t you pulled them out of China before?”
“I’m told that these stay behinds have extended families that would be at risk if they left the country.”
“None of these are current agents are they, they only worked against the communist?”
“That is correct.”
“What if I asked Empress to protect them as they have never worked against her. That would allow more effective communication.”
“That would help.”
“I will check right now; can we hold this line open?”
“From this end, yes.”
I asked the off
icer in charge if this line could be held open. He nodded yes. I hoped he understood my broken Mandarin.
My escort took me back to the Empress where I quickly explained the situation. She gave her consent to my proposal and told me that a pardon would be issued immediately to each of the agents for past actions against the communists.
Any future actions would be a death sentence. I hoped they were truly retired.
Returning to the phone I was put back on with the President. He said a list would be convoyed from the Embassy to the Empress quickly. He was putting all these lives at risk by trusting the Empress.
If they were betrayed it would do lasting harm to a relationship that was off to a good start. That thought hadn’t occurred to me. I was playing dice with a lot of lives. I had better not be wrong.
Just before we were leaving for the wake, I was told the list of agents had been received and that pardons were being delivered. That was a relief, to say the least. I don’t chew my nails but almost took it up while waiting.
I now knew we were three hundred feet down in bedrock. I timed the elevator ride at a minute and a half. I think I did that to keep my mind occupied as we were about to go into a large crowd.
It turned out that we didn’t. The wake was arranged with us in a room with Chun-Chieh’s casket. There were pictures and candles. People were escorted in to pay their respects after going through a security screening.
The Empress along with Ann and May-ling was sitting either side of her on small thrones. There was a lattice screen beside them and behind them. I suspected it was so they could make a quick exit to safety.
I was still nervous and viewed every group as potentially hostile. I would pick the order in which I would try to take down any aggressors.
After an hour of this, I was a nervous wreck. That plus the adrenalin that I had generated at the start was wearing off, so I was tired to the bone. The many time zones we had crossed didn’t help.
That was when disaster almost struck. Even in my tired condition, one man in the next group stood out. His clothes weren’t similar to the rest of the group, and he stood aside from them.
