Red Dragons

by K W Frost

  Samantha rose and approached the bed. Her hair was tied back by a single tie and the red sweatshirt and jeans she wore hinted at the curves underneath. He did wonder about the strange visitor during the night, although he remembered it like a bad dream.

  ‘You sound better already, but I wouldn’t enter any beauty contests just yet,’ Samantha said with a smile.

  Child raised his hands to the bandages around his head, a wry smile on his swollen lips.

  Just then the doctor walked in.

  ‘Ahhh, the patient is awake.’

  ‘How is he, Doc?’ inquired Samantha.

  ‘We’ll soon know, but I shouldn’t worry too much. He’s as tough as old boots, is young Simon, and this isn’t the first time he’s needed a stitch or two.’

  Doctor Michael was a local institution. He had served three generations and knew everyone locally, as eventually all came under his care. His practiced hand quickly removed the bandages and felt the cuts and bruises. The X-rays had shown no major broken bones, although the sixth rib was cracked and would need extra care. Ten minutes later, the examination of Child was done.

  ‘Looks worse than it really is,’ concluded Dr Michael. ‘We gave you some drugs to help you sleep last night, and you don’t seem to have any lasting effects of concussion. Lucky they hit you on the head.’

  Dr Michael’s summary included his dry sense of humour.

  ‘Well, the first thing you will want to know, is when you can go home,’ he said, correctly guessing Child’s first question. ‘The answer to that is today, provided you spend at least two days lazing about at home. Alright?’

  ‘Thanks, Doc,’ said Child.

  Child wasn’t as recovered as he thought. He already felt tired and lay back down onto the pillows to rest.

  Later that afternoon, Child sat in a lounge chair on his balcony, looking out over the Hauraki Gulf towards the Coromandel Peninsula that lay forty miles away. The rich blue colour of the sea glistened up at him. He counted eight small recreational fishing boats around Maori reef, just out of Leigh harbour. Further out, a large container ship powered up between Cape Rodney and Little Barrier Island.

  As Child watched the ship heading for Auckland’s main port, a speculating look crossed his face. He picked up his cheese and salami sandwich from the table beside him and took a satisfying bite out of it.

  Samantha walked out of the kitchen and placed the jug of juice on the table.

  She poured two glasses, picked one up and leant on the balcony.

  ‘Fantastic view you have from here.’

  ‘Yes it is,’ said Child, still eating his sandwich.

  His eyes took in her long legs and generously curved body. The t-shirt and jeans did little to hide her body.

  ‘Is that the Sky Tower you can see?’ Samantha continued, pointing and staring out in the distance, unaware of where Child’s gaze was centred.

  Child rose from his chair, joining Samantha at the balcony.

  ‘Yes, you can easily see the Sky Tower from here. To the left is the hospital, then Mt. Eden, and then the gentle slope of Rangitoto.’

  Samantha turned, her breast gently brushing against Child. She looked at him, aware of his closeness for the first time.

  ‘Sit back down, you need your rest,’ she said gently.

  ‘But I was enjoying the view,’ Child said, looking directly at Samantha.

  ‘Come on, you’ve seen it before.’

  ‘Not the one I was looking at,’ said Child, easing himself down into the chair.

  Samantha smiled at the corner of her full lips.

  ‘I see that the doctor was right and you are making a quick recovery. I may have to be careful.’

  Her smile took any ill intent away from her words.

  ‘Now, is there anything else you need before I have a look around your kitchen to see what you might have in the way of food for dinner?’

  It was obvious that she thought that there would be little to find.

  ‘Yeah, could you please bring me my cell phone? — it’s in the bedroom on the dresser. Last room on the left.’

  Child lapsed into deep thought. Some of the ideas coming though, made him think that there was a lot more to the last twenty-four hours than a simple case of smuggling.

  Samantha returned a few minutes later.

  ‘Sorry I was so long, went to the loo,’ she said.

  ‘That’s fine, it’s given me time to think about what to do next.’

  ‘And?’ Samantha prompted.

  ‘I don’t like it when people hurt me and think they can get away with it.’

  Child’s flat tone was much more convincing than any hysterical outburst.

  ‘So, I’m going to keep going. Someone must have seen that boat. I’ve got a couple of ideas that may help us gain some information.’

  ‘And what might they be?’ Samantha asked curiously.

  Child’s cellphone rang, interrupting his reply. He answered, holding the phone to his ear. After listening for a few minutes, he rang off.

  ‘Right let’s go,’ he said, getting to his feet.

  ‘Go where?’

  ‘Come on, I’ll explain on the way.’

  Child was already heading down the stairs to the Toyota. Samantha had no choice but to follow.

  ‘Look, I’d better drive,’ said Samantha as they reached the car.

  ‘Climb in and let’s get going,’ said Child, ignoring the suggestion.

  Child drove quickly yet smoothly, taking the turns of the Pakiri hill with easy control. Two hours ago, he was struggling to stay upright, but now he seemed fully recovered. After five minutes of driving they approached Leigh. Samantha could no longer contain her curiosity.

  ‘Well, where are we going?’ she asked directly.

  ‘We’re going to visit a friend of mine. He may just have some answers for us,’ answered Child.

  Samantha realised that no more information was being offered, so she tried a different tack.

  ‘Okay, so what are your options from here? How are you going to find out who boat belonged to?’

  Child remained silent.

  ‘Are you going to look for the men who attacked you?’ she continued, a concerned tone entering her voice.

  ‘No, they were gang members. They didn’t even wear their patches, so there’s no way I can track them, although they’re probably somewhere on police files. The gangs in New Zealand control the drug trade, so by following up the boat I might eventually catch up with them again.’

  ‘But would you recognise their faces if you saw them again?’

  ‘Oh, I’d recognise them all right. But it would end up with my word against theirs, and they could probably get witnesses to say they were somewhere else,’ said Child, grimly. ‘No, I’m after the people who sent them.’

  Child paused. His driving was subconscious, taking the turns and making the gear changes automatically.

  ‘I still think that we can trace the boat. Commercial boats like that need to be registered, so there should be a record somewhere. We’ll just have to keep on looking. Steve may already have an answer for us. Also, how did the thieves who took the cocaine from the garage know that we would react to an emergency callout? Someone local is in on this. It’s possible, no probable that this wasn’t the first time and we have stumbled into drug ring.’

  ‘So how are you going to find this person… or persons?’ asked Samantha.

  ‘I’m not sure yet but I’ve got a glimmer of an idea.’

  Samantha didn’t try to press for more any more details. She had already worked out that Child thought in a slightly illogical, divergent way, and he would tell her when the idea was fully formed.

  ‘So, who are we going to see?’ she asked again, bringing the conversation back to its beginning.

  ‘A man called Gray Wardell. He’s a friend. I left that computer board with him and I’m hoping he has some answers for me, but he wouldn’t tell me for sure over the phone. He just said he wanted to show m
e.’

  Child turned off the main Leigh Road leading to Warkworth, and took Sharps Road to Snells Beach. Fifty metres behind him an old red Toyota Hilux had followed. Child wasn’t overly concerned as the road was a busy one, but on the principle that it is better to be safe than sorry, he decided to test the following utility.

  At Snells Beach, when he reached the main roundabout near the shopping centre, Child turned as if going to the shops, and the utility followed him around. Child simply kept on going around. The driver, intent on keeping close behind Child, followed him around. It wasn’t until the start of the second time around that the driver realised that he had been discovered. The vehicle sped off in the direction of Algies Bay, but not before Child had seen and noted its registration number, and caught a glimpse of the unkempt, bearded driver.

  Five minutes later, Child pulled up outside Gray Waddell’s home. He drove in and parked on the grass around the back. Samantha had said nothing about the roundabout incident, although she too had noted the following utility. Climbing out, Samantha followed Child to the basement door, where Child opened it without knocking.

  ‘Hello Gray —where are you?’ Child called out.

  ‘Down this end, Simon,’ Gray called back.

  Samantha followed Child in and was surprised at what she saw as they entered the room. Gray’s back turned has he worked on something on the bench. There were electronic gadgets on the two benches in the middle of the room, with more on the benches that lined two of the walls. Spectroscopes, amplifiers, strobe screens, high and low frequency monitors all lay in neat rows along one wall. Among all the high-tech equipment were the usual diodes, transistors and resistors, each item carefully sorted into boxes and labeled. Two computers and a laptop were at a workstation in one corner.

  Samantha had been in some well-equipped laboratories, but few that would have been better equipped than this one. The quality of the positional lighting and the high number of electrical power points showed that this was a purpose-built laboratory.

  ‘Ah, it’s finished,’ Gray exclaimed as he turned to greet Child. He proudly held up a small torch. ‘This is the electronic shark repeller I was telling you about…’

  Gray’s voice trailed off as he took in Child’s face.

  ‘Good god, what happened to you?’

  ‘I ran into someone who didn’t like the way I looked,’ replied Child.

  ‘Only one?’ inquired Gray.

  ‘Well, three of them actually. Now, will it work?’ Child inquired, looking at the shark repeller.

  ‘Of course it will. Range of about ten to fifteen metres, I think…’ Gray paused as he became aware of Samantha’s presence for the first time. ‘And who is this lovely creature?’

  ‘Gray meet Sam, Sam meet Gray.’

  Gray shook hands with Samantha, looking keenly into her face and noting her clear features. She wore a slight grin at his intense stare. Gray turned to Child.

  ‘Look after this one, Simon, she has intelligent eyes,’ he said, before turning to Samantha. ‘If Simon misbehaves you come and see me. I’ll point him in the right direction for you.’

  ‘Gray is a bit of an old romantic, Sam, perhaps I should’ve warned you.’

  Samantha, who felt slightly embarrassed by Gray’s compliment, smiled broadly. She had taken an instant liking to the eccentric older man.

  ‘Thank you, I may take you up on your offer if Simon ever misbehaves!’

  This time it was Gray’s cheeks that coloured slightly. He quickly moved the conversation on to the real reason behind their visit. Walking over to the centre bench he picked up the computer hard board.

  ‘Simon, this is a very unusual piece of apparatus. You should really get a computer component expert to give it a going over. However, I can tell you several things. First off, it was made using American parts, perhaps indicating its place of manufacture. Next, it has been adapted to be used in New Zealand or another similar country. You can identify this because it operates on two forty-volt currents.’

  Gray paused and adjusted his glasses. Simon leant back against a bench and waited patiently for him to continue. Samantha took Child’s lead and said nothing.

  ‘Next, the component itself has state of the art microchips, storing giga bits of memory,’ Gray continued. ‘There are seven of these linked in parallel, indicating tremendous storage capacity. Then there are a couple of bits that I don’t have any idea about. Next, we have what looks like a micro-transmitter, but it’s unlike any I have previously seen. Opposite these are a couple of input connections linked to what appears to be a miniature variable frequency resistor. The board and connections are standard enough and could’ve been picked up anywhere.’

  Gray stopped his narrative and handed the board back to Child.

  Child looked at it for a minute before tossing it onto the bench between him and Samantha.

  ‘Well, what does it do?’ asked Child.

  ‘My best guess —and mind you it’s only a guess — is that this is one part of a bigger computer network that specialises in receiving information from a variety of sources. It stores the information, and when activated, sends the information required out on a set frequency.’

  ‘The ultimate bug, perhaps?’

  ‘Well, that could be one connotation, but there could be many legitimate uses as well…’

  ‘Gray, we found it with a load of cocaine that we recovered below Goat Island,’ Child interjected. ‘I don’t think it’s legitimate.’

  ‘In that case, it would appear not. However, some of the components are completely new to me, so it could be that it’s being smuggled in to make counterfeit models. State of the art component production is big business — just look at Bill Gates.’

  ‘Yes, but why in New Zealand?’ questioned Samantha, ‘Does it have the manufacturing available to cope with this? Why not go to an Asian country like Korea or China?’

  Child looked out of the window, a faraway look in his eyes. It was obvious that he was thinking deeply about the strange board. Gray picked it up again and turned it over in his hands, hoping that it could give him some answers about what its ultimate use was to be.

  ‘Well, I don’t think this is going to give us the answers today,’ said Gray as he handed it to Samantha.

  ‘Do you mind if I get a second opinion?’ she asked. ‘I know some of the gurus at Auckland University, and they may have some idea about its specific function.’

  ‘Certainly, let them have go,’ agreed Gray. ‘It’s quite possible that some of them know more about this technology than me.

  Gray was in no way insulted by Samantha’s request. In fact, he supported the idea.

  Child seemed to return to the present.

  ‘Finding out what it does is only one way in which it may help,’ Child said, turning back to Gray. ‘Could you make me a copy? It only needs to look like this one.’

  Gray looked a little puzzled by the request, but shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘Sure, if you only want a visual replica… but why?’

  ‘Because I’m going to advertise that I’ve found a computer board looking like this one, and see what sort of response I get.’

  ‘But they already know you have it…’ said Samantha, not seeing where Child was going with this one.

  ‘That’s the beauty of it,’ explained Child. ‘They’ll know I’m telling the truth, and therefore they’ll want to make a deal. Why not? It would be an easy way of getting it back. Also, they couldn’t afford to have someone else reply to the advert who also may know what this board does and get their hands on it instead. Whatever its function may be, it’s clearly very valuable to someone.’

  ‘But as they know who you are and where you live, what’s to stop them taking it off you at any time?’ Gray asked.

  ‘Ahh but I know they know, so I’ll take the necessary precautions, and after what happened today I don’t think it’d be wise to leave it here,’ said Child as he turned back to Gray again. ‘Do you need it to ma
ke a copy?’

  ‘No, one of the first things I did was to take some digital photos and programmed them into my computer. I could make one better than the original. Take it with you — it sounds like I’d rather not have it here in any case,’ stated Wardell with understandable feeling.

  Chapter Seventeen

  For two days very little happened.

  Child put his advertisement in the paper, and Ritson successfully traced the fishing boat. It was registered in Whitianga on the Coromandel coast. A casual inquiry, sort through the local police, proved nothing. All of its business was of a legitimate nature. Samantha sent the computer panel down to the university labs to get it analysed. Child had made enquires from the shipping companies about possible ships entering Auckland on the day of and the days following the storm. Three had been identified as possible carriers and Ritson was following up on these.

  The red truck did not follow Child again, but he worked out that someone who knew what they were doing had searched his house. Child only discovered this because of the slight misplacement of his razor in the bathroom drawer, and the incorrectly made bed. He knew what they were looking for and as he no longer had it, he hoped that the investigation of his property would be put on hold. His weaponry cupboard was left undisturbed, so he knew nothing had been found.

  It was early on the third day when Child got a response to his advertisement. His cellphone rang he was finishing his usual breakfast of coffee, cereal and two pieces of toast.

  ‘Hello?’

  Child deliberately omitted saying his name whenever he had answered his phone over the past couple of days.

  ‘Hello, is this the person who placed an advertisement in the Herald yesterday? You just might have a piece of equipment that I recently misplaced,’ said a nondescript voice at the end of the line.

  ‘Well, you’re the first to respond, so it might just be yours. Could you describe your missing piece to me?’

  Whittingham didn’t like being questioned. He wanted to be the one asking the questions. However, he couldn’t refuse a seemingly legitimate request.