by Ed Nelson
It wasn’t directed at me. Rebels were attacking the guards at the entrance to the Forbidden City. I ducked back into the hotel. I had been shot enough recently.
I wondered how long this firefight would last. It wasn’t long as a motorized brigade of the Chinese Army came roaring in from a side street and took down the rebels in short order.
While this was going on, I had been talking to the concierge about the fighting. He informed me state radio was quiet about the events but that from what word of mouth spread, the rebels were fighting across the country and failing at all stops.
From my point of view that was good news. The rebels weren’t a concerted effort but various military leaders around the country who thought they could split off their kingdom.
After waiting an hour sipping tea in the dining room, I was able to safely cross the street. I was momentarily detained by two soldiers, but an officer came running up shouting at them. The only word I understood was a mangled Blackhoof. Being six foot five inches in China made one stand out.
My wait to see the Empress was short. She greeted me warmly and told me that China would forever be in my debt. The money I had provided would save many people and they would support the new China.
In the meantime, it would be best if I stayed out of China for a year or more and let things settle down. It was fine that I had an official opening and she thought it was hilarious that I would be the landlord to all the Embassies but the Russians.
She would ensure that all the Embassies rented or being built on my properties were given first-class support. The Russians who had failed China would receive nothing.
I know it is petty of me but the idea of the Russian Ambassador not having hot water tickled my fancy.
I promised to stay away until I was told things were settled enough and that I would await her word. There were many sights I wanted to see in China, the Great Wall is at the top of the list, but they would wait. She did ask that now China was open to foreign trade that I start modernizing the Port of Shanghai.
I promised that I would have our engineers survey the port as soon as possible to start the process. An aide standing behind her gave me a card with the office to contact in Shanghai to coordinate with.
That ended my China trip. I boarded my aircraft and flew to Hong Kong. As soon as we landed, we were told that we had to board the new American Ambassador and fly back to Beijing.
I called Ken O’Donnell at the White House and explained I wasn’t a taxi service. He practically begged me to make the trip. I was in high favor in China, and it would help immensely if I were seen bringing the Ambassador to China.
Yes, it would help the Ambassador to be seen in my airplane, but at the same time, it would make it look like I was at the beck and call of the Americans. If the government had called and asked, I would have done it no questions asked.
I was beginning to dislike the ‘Ugly Americans.’ As an American myself I knew that no one from Bellefontaine would act that way, it was those idiots that came to power in the government or Hollywood. Well maybe Tom Humphrey’s would, but that was it.
The upshot was I told him no. I had an important event that I had to get back to in California. I wasn’t lying, Valentine’s Day is an important event.
Chapter 14
Losing a day on the trip back got me into LAX at noon on a Tuesday the 13th of February.
I had slept on the plane but still had to go through the reverse time change. I wasn’t looking forward to it.
There was a limo waiting for me with a very pretty girl in the back seat. What a nice welcome home. When we came up for air, I asked her how things were going. She was in a particularly good mood, there was every sign her parents were getting back together.
I asked what the signs were. It seems there was only one bed being used by her parents. Most importantly they were talking, talking about what had upset them with each other, and how silly it seemed now.
Mr. Monroe had told me that he and Karen were getting remarried, then I never heard another word. Something had changed their plans but now it seemed like they were working it out.
I hope the best for them. I like Mr. Monroe and Nina’s mom seems nice. I agreed with Nina that it was a good sign that they were talking. I hope she isn’t too disappointed if it doesn’t work out for them.
Nina had a couple of days off school and had flown commercially to spend time with her parents. My being home was a bonus for us.
She had planned to return to Switzerland tomorrow, so I told her to take my plane. The flight crews could end up at their homes in England. I was going to be here for a while.
We had been hitting the air travel heavy, so we were all due for some non-flying time. You can only stay inside an aluminum tube for so long. I don’t know how submariners do it.
Arriving at Jackson House there was a welcome committee. Not my family but Secret Service Agents next to our regular guards. This didn’t bode well.
Inside Bobby Kennedy stood with my parents. It looked as though they had been having a tense conversation. When I came into the room all eyes shifted to me.
Kennedy started, “Jackson we need to talk, you haven’t supported your country and you are going to change your ways.”
He didn’t add or else, but it was implied.
“In what way are you asking me to change my ways?”
“When our Ambassador needs transportation, we expect you to turn your aircraft over to him. When we tell you to support our policy of nonintervention in Chinese affairs, we expect you as a private citizen to follow the lead of your government. Shall I go on?”
“Let’s take it one item at a time. You want me to turn over Queen’s Messenger One, a British diplomatic aircraft to you? I would think you would need the agreement and cooperation of Her Majesty’s government.
As far as nonintervention, when and where was this policy promulgated and when was it communicated to me or any other member of the public.”
“We know you are the registered owner of the aircraft and the call sign travels with you, not the aircraft.”
“You are correct; however, you mustn’t be familiar with the lease agreement I have with the British government that the aircraft is available to them at their call. When they exercise their rights, the plane is automatically Queen’s Messenger One.”
“So, I’m afraid we are back to the issue that you need the permission of the British government. Now again I ask when the nonintervention policy was put into effect?”
“The President signed an Executive Order last night.”
“Since I was in the air over the Pacific last night there was no way that I could have gone against American policy, now that we have that out of the way, what is this really about?”
“You can influence the Chinese and we need to do so.”
“What do you need done?”
“Viet Nam is about to explode; the Soviets are backing a popular communist leader Ho Chi Minh. We need the Chinese to tell the Soviets to back off and if need be let us blockade the port of Haiphong.
The civil government in the Southern part of the country is so corrupt that it will soon fall, but if the Soviets back the Northern part of the country in a civil war we will have to back the South. We don’t want to do that but will if needed to prevent Soviet influence from expanding.”
“If we don’t have a Chinese commitment soon, we will start training pilots in the South and providing support to their air force.”
“Why couldn’t you just ask me that in the first place?”
The Attorney General looked embarrassed.
“If I had been able to browbeat you into doing this, we would owe you nothing, now you will be doing us a favor and we will owe you.”
“My god man, some people ask what they can do for their country, not what their country can do for them. I will do this and there will be nothing owed by anyone.”
“If the Chinese are willing to tell the Soviets to back off what are you willing to
offer?”
“Most favored nation trade status and a loan package of twenty-five million dollars.”
“A little cheap, I just gave them a hundred million.”
I swear he turned green.
“I was told that but didn’t believe it.”
“It’s true but offer what you think is correct. I only suggest you make the offer to the Empress. She will have to turn it over to the Communist Leadership, but it will improve her value to the Communist and the country.”
He looked pensive for a moment.
“You are right, Lord Blackhoof, I see that we have underestimated you. May I call you in the future if we need help or have questions?”
“Yes, you may.”
He turned to my parents and thanked them for their hospitality as he left. I lifted one eyebrow at my parents to let them start the conversation.
It wasn’t nice. I don’t think the Kennedys will receive much in the way of campaign donations from the Jackson family in the future.
Nina had been standing there during the entire exchange. She had a look of almost fear on her face. I asked her what was wrong.
“I’m only a senior in high school, I don’t think I’m ready for your world. I thought I knew it, but I don’t.”
My Mum rescued me, “Nina, dear no one is ever ready for this level. One does what one can.”
“But Rick without saying it direct told the Attorney General of the United States to go to hell. Won’t there be a price for that?”
“There is always a price,” Dad told her, “But that goes two ways. They will be angry but so are we, both sides will weigh the damages we can do each other and most likely do nothing. That is unless a clear-cut opportunity arises.”
“If an opportunity comes about one of us will go for the others' throats. In the meantime, we will smile and work with each other. It is called politics.”
“In the world of politics, friends become enemies and enemies the best of friends in a heartbeat, sometimes both at the same time. Just look at Mary and Patty, they are living examples.
We talked for a little longer but there wasn’t anything more to add. I placed a call to Chairman Deng’s office. I asked that I be allowed to talk to him about an American Government request.
When he came on, I explained how the United States didn’t want to support South Viet Nam but felt like they would have to if the North accepted aid from the Soviets.
He told me that he thought that is how it would play out. I told him what the American government was requesting and that they were willing to offer a foreign aid package.
Since I was peeved at the Kennedys in particular, I suggested that they not accept the original offer.
He said, “bú yào bān mén nònɡ fǔ,” which the translator expressed as don’t teach your grandmother to suck eggs. That put me in my place.
I didn’t bother to tell him the offer would probably be extended through the Empress, first, I didn’t know they would do that, and second let them be the bad guys.
My parents and Nina had heard my end of the conversation and I shared what the Chairman said.
I called the number that Bobby had left me and told whoever answered that Chairman Deng’s office was expecting their call on Viet Nam.
After that Nina and I looked up my siblings. They were all watching TV. It was a new show about weird situations. The announcer, Rod someone looked familiar to me, but I couldn’t place him.
We watched it with them, then we all went up to change for dinner. This had become normal at our house. At times, a bit of a pain but it seemed classy most of the time.
After dinner, we played a rousing game of Monopoly. Nina and Mary teamed up and broke the bank. You could tell Mary wanted Nina’s approval as she was a big girl. In turn, Nina was understanding with Mary. This was a deadly combination if let loose on the world.
The next day, Wednesday the 14th, was Valentine’s Day. Dad had gone the traditional route with flowers and candy accompanying the card. Mary got cards from all the guys.
I gave Nina a small box. It was great to see Mum’s eyes get wide when she saw it. This was accompanied by a look of relief when Nina opened it to a set of Ferrari keys. I told her the car had been shipped to Switzerland and I had bought a garage next to her apartment to house it. I had to buy the garage as it was the only one available in the area and they would only sell, not rent. The price wasn’t that great, so I went for it.
It was treated as a big deal and I tried to downplay it as the car was gathering dust in England. Mum gave Dad a look like, see that is how it is done. I suggested to Nina that we go horseback riding, anything to get out of the line of fire.
Chapter 15
The next morning Nina left for Switzerland and John Jacobs came to my house along with Sam. We piled into the old jeep we kept for this type of jaunt and took the back way to the Forestry Station.
For some reason, the guys kept telling me to slow down as we bumped along. It was an original jeep and wouldn’t go over sixty-five and I kept it below fifty on the dirt road, but it was too much for them. Wimps. This wasn’t even a Leaping Lena.
The crew who moved the practice putting green and the driving range had done a wonderful job. You couldn’t tell the setup had been many miles away not that long ago.
It was getting a good workout as there were people on the driving range and several on the greens. No one said anything to us as we got out. There was a small shed to one side.
It was locked because John was using it to store my gear. There were also a couple of chairs and a small table which John and Sam pulled out and used. They weren’t going to suffer as I worked.
I went through the same steps as I had before my trip to China. It didn’t take more than an hour to get back to 98% at three feet and 20% at fifteen feet.
It took another four hours to get to 99% and 24%.
I alternated every hour with using the driving range working my way up from a chip shot to my driver.
When I started hitting the driver, I noticed that I was gathering an audience. Anyone who plays golf loves to see a long-hit ball. I didn’t mind, but as a taxpayer in the ninety-one percent bracket had to wonder if these government workers had anything to do.
I kept my mouth shut as I realized these were the people who would have to go into a raging fire to put it out. Their lives were on the line, they should have some perks with their job.
At noon I had enough hitting the golf balls for the day. John and Sam had sat there and watched me the whole time. John at least had a clipboard and kept track of my putts and calculated my percentages as I completed each practice session.
Sam just sat there beaming. Part of his beloved course was living on. I wasn’t going to rain on his parade. When John and I started to leave Sam got some equipment out of the shed.
He was going to tend our little golf course. He had met John here this morning, leaving his car here and rode with John to my house. I told them I would meet them here tomorrow morning. They seemed relieved to hear that.
After cleaning up and changing clothes I joined Mum and Dad at a restaurant on Sunset Drive. It had become a favorite of theirs. It hadn’t been ‘discovered’ yet. They had mixed feelings about that. They loved the good food, and service without the crowds but wanted to see the owners have success.
Mum had something green that looked like it was grown in a cow pasture. Dad and I kept with good old American Cheeseburgers; you couldn’t go wrong with those.
We talked about the Kennedys and if we would have any problems with them. I had been harsh with Bobby the day before.
As Mum said, “They started it, you finished it, that is the way it is supposed to be.”
She is gentle in her approach to the world. Not!
Dad didn’t think it would be an issue as the Kennedys were well known for being pragmatic. Also, they had enough skeletons in their closets that they didn’t want to tangle with the owner of as many newspapers and radio; and TV stations as he
had.
Dad was also gentle in his approach. Just like Chuck Bednarik.
If they weren’t concerned, I wasn’t either. At the same time if I could do anything reasonable to get back in their good graces I would.
After lunch, I stopped at my office and spent most of the afternoon signing cards to be sent to my many workers. There were a few that were noteworthy enough that I penned a short letter of congratulations.
Like one of our worker's children had won a statewide spelling bee and was on her way to the nationals. We knew this because the father was noted as working for Jackson Transportation, so the clipping service picked it up.
Besides the note, to the young lady, I also dropped a line to Todd Goodson to let me know when the nationals were occurring. If she made it to the finals I would like to be there. Also, we needed to ensure she was included in our scholarship fund.
It would look good in the company newsletter. Besides, I admired anyone who could spell that good. I knew how hard it was from all my typing. Typos were bad, not knowing how to spell a word was a time killer. The fact that I was taking an interest in these sorts of things should send a signal to my management that they should also. This is how you prevented unions.
After generating a decent case of writer's cramp, I went back to Jackson House after promising to come back this week and finish the job.
Clark Miller had called for me and left a message. I returned his call. He was excited he had just received the movie offer from John Wayne’s production company.
There was a real kicker, the script I had read in Hong Kong was a spy-type movie. Now they wanted me in an oater, a western. I just about hung up the phone but remembered in time that this wasn’t Clark's fault. I decided to hear him out, I did need something to do.
They were offering an incredibly low salary but five points in the movie. I had told Clark he was a winner if he could get five points, not telling him that I would be impressed with three.
I asked him what sort of production schedule they were looking at. He told me they wanted to start as soon as possible with a five-month shooting timeline and another five months in post-production.
