by Ed Nelson
I don’t think I have blushed so red in my life.
The Crown Prince had to laugh at his sister.
“He has been a hero many times over. All those medals on his uniform are for valor, not political.”
I thought for a moment.
“Maybe the ones from North and South Vietnam.”
“Not only that, but he is one of the richest people in the world. He has given China many millions of dollars. You could do worse than this bad boy billionaire.”
He made it sound like some cheap romance.
All this teasing brought a smile to her face. The first I had seen since her father's death. She must have realized it because she became serious.
“I am sure that the Duke of Hong Kong is all that you say but I have my duty to China. At the right time, I will find a husband that will be equal to my position as a Princess.”
Shot down in flames.
Turning to Empress Ping and the Dowager I saw them exchange brief smiles. I told them that when I had something else to report I would let them know.
“In the meantime, please put more bodyguards in place for the Crown Prince and Princess.”
The Crown Prince who was three years older than me, but with much less experience told me that he was fine with the two he had.
I bit my tongue, I almost said, “How did that work out for your father?”
Not the best thing to say on the day of his funeral.
I returned to my rooms and got comfortable again. I hadn’t planned to be here in China for some weeks yet. I had other projects that needed tending to. I had my flight crew notified that I would like to head back to the States in the morning.
The next morning, I was up and ready to leave bright and early. I was anxious to get on with it. As I left my suite in the Forbidden City, I noticed the red thread on the doorknob. It had worked, no ghost or spirits had bothered me in the night.
The flight across the Pacific was like all flights across the Pacific, long and boring. I had to see about getting an inflight movie set up installed.
I discussed that with the Head Stewardess and Chief Pilot. They both agreed it would be a good feature. It could be installed to display against the front bulkhead in the forward cabin.
He said he would get it costed out. I told him not to worry about the cost, just have it done. It is nice to have money. Even if some Chinese girls aren’t impressed by it.
I did get a night's sleep on the way home. This left me out of synch with the California time zone but at this point, I didn’t care. I just wanted off the plane.
We landed in Ontario and a light plane was waiting to take me to the Forestry Service station. I felt fine but knew a trip as I had just taken can play heck with your senses. All I would need was to become disoriented at ten thousand feet.
At home, the family was sitting down for dinner. I think it was lunchtime for me, but I was hungry no matter what you called the meal.
The funeral was the main topic of discussion at the table. They wanted to know how they differed from an American funeral.
When I told them that the women wore a white dress as a sign of mourning, Mary piped up.
“That is good to know. I will save my wedding dress so I will have something to wear if I have to go to a Chinese funeral.”
I was still trying to wrap my head around that image when Mum asked about the Crown Prince's children.
I described them in detail. I noticed Mum and Mary exchanging smiles. What is this with women exchanging smiles like they know something that we men don’t?
Dad told me to meet him in the library after dinner. He and I were there alone.
“Rick, things are all set for the CIA to begin its investigation. Their first report is about the bodyguards that were killed.”
“Both of them were married with children. Each of their youngest children was kidnapped and murdered. They were told that their eldest child would be next, then their spouse. These are bad people, please be careful.”
“I don’t think bad even begins to describe them. The Soviets just think I held a grudge.”
“Slowly son, slowly. If you rush into these things will go bad.”
“I know, Dad, it is so terrible what has been done.”
“If our suspicions are correct the Empress or her grandchildren will be next. I hope they are taking this seriously.”
“I know the Empress is, but I don’t know about the grandchildren. The Crown Prince took it lightly about needing more bodyguards. The Princess now that I think of it, did not comment one way or the other.”
“What sort of a girl is the Princess?”
“I don’t know, just a girl.”
“Nothing special?”
“Well, she is beautiful.”
“I see.”
He left it at that, he said he saw, I don’t know what he saw. That reminded me about the old chant about what he saw, she saw, etc. I knew it was time to go to bed no matter what time of day my stomach said it was.
I did and was awake at two in the morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. I tried reading but couldn’t get into it. Instead, I slipped on a running outfit and took off across the back trails in the state forest behind the house.
It only took two spills to convince me that this wasn’t the best idea. Luckily, I hadn’t injured myself but surely would if I kept it up.
I went back to my room, took a shower, and managed to get back to sleep until daybreak. I was able to get my run in without killing myself.
Chapter 14
I interviewed the man who would be President and CEO of FreightExpress airlines and ground delivery services. I was favorably impressed. He had a working knowledge of both industries but didn’t profess to be an expert in either. Instead, he was an organization expert.
We had lunch together which turned into a working lunch with us bouncing ideas off each other. I must say most of his were better than mine.
That is the reason I decided to hire him. He knew about Jackson Enterprises so wasn’t reluctant to deal with me. I did explain this was to be a completely separate operation. The Board of Directors didn’t think the idea had enough merit.
This was my operation and my investment. We talked about what would be needed to start an air fleet and truck line to service the entire state of California.
He did some numbers on the back of a table napkin and gulped.
“I can understand why your board doesn’t want to proceed with this idea.”
“How much.”
“Seventy-five million to start with.”
“Okay, I will make the initial capitalization one hundred million and add to it as needed.”
“I had been told you are rich, but this is a lot of money.”
“It will be a billion when we go national, and several tens of billions when we go international.
“Do you want the job?”
“I’m interested. What compensation are you providing?”
“Fifty-five thousand a year to start and five percent ownership based on your labor contribution plus annual bonus depending on successes.”
“I don’t see any profit for the first few years.”
“That is why I said successes instead of profits. Getting a working system in place will be a success.”
“I can accept the position right now. I will give two weeks’ notice at TWA, but they will let me go immediately.”
“Your first objective will be to hire a person to run the airline portion and another the ground delivery. We have candidates identified but they will be your choice and your hires.”
I handed him a sheet of paper with a level organization chart along with salaries and percent ownership. I was giving away twenty-five percent to the top management to help them buy into the company and its objectives.
“After you hire your top levels select an area for your headquarters. The only thing I ask is not LAX, it is getting worse every day to get in and out of.”
“Ontario airport w
ould be a natural. Not far out, long runways, the low population in the area, and not much air traffic. Also, near Interstate 10 for truck access.”
“We can put up buildings fairly cheaply out there to sort packages. We will also have to provide aircraft maintenance there.”
“What do you think we will need for aircraft when we start.”
“Something small, able to carry ten tons or so of cargo. Fuel efficient. Ease of maintenance. We will have to do a study based on the flight times to Ontario. I think there will be several different planes.”
“Sound like a plan, here is my card, meet me at this office tomorrow and the papers will be all drawn up.”
“Thank you, this sounds like a challenge that will be fun.”
“I’m all for fun, especially if money is being made while having it.”
I didn’t want to come across as an amateur only talking about having fun.
I went out to the country club and played a pickup round of golf. They were all duffers who didn’t recognize me, and I didn’t help them. It was a pleasant outing with no championship resting upon each putt.
Them not knowing who I was couldn’t last. At the turn, enough people asked for my autograph that they twigged. After that, it was, “What club should I use?” or “Or, “Good shot!” In other words, pain. They weren’t so bad I wanted to quit. I did autograph each of their golf balls on the last hole and signed their scorecards so they would have bragging rights.
I guess the afternoon was okay after all.
The next morning, I met John Davis for the contract signing. After he signed his contract, I handed him a checkbook and signature card.
I had arranged for one of the Jackson Enterprises part-time accountants to take care of the new company books.
Since they were part-time at JE, it would work well for them. It wouldn’t take long for them to be full-time at FreightEx which we were calling the new company.
Being home was nice and relaxing, I still received my company reports and spent an entire day signing notes and writing letters to employees and their families that had notable achievements.
There was one fly in the ointment. Mum’s charity balls. She was having one every several weeks and she thought I was her slave. Maybe not slave, dating service? I think the word might be Gigolo.
I had to escort the young ladies who attended without escorts. At first, it had only been an occasional one that events had caught up with, like the one whose boyfriend dumped her the night of the ball.
Now the word had spread if you wanted to meet the wealthy, elusive Duke of Hong Kong that eligible bachelor, just attend one of the Countess Jackson’s balls needing an escort.
The first time it was two young ladies, this week it was five at the same time. I pleaded with Mum to let me skip the ball. She asked if I knew how many hours, she had spent in labor with me while the bombs were falling.
How do you argue with that? Her solution was to have a separate table set up for me to entertain the young ladies while we ate.
It was a wonder that a real catfight with scratching, biting, and hair-pulling didn’t break out. I tried to have a pleasant general conversation with the young ladies, but they were a spiteful bunch. By the time dessert was being served I had enough and walked out of the ball.
After everyone had left Mum was contrite. She thought that she had an elegant solution. It was elegant if you liked wrestling on TV. She accepted the fact that I couldn’t escort more than one young lady at a time. That is when she realized she could auction me off.
That was it for me. Dutiful son that I am, I had always obeyed my Mum. Now I told her I was done with her charity balls. She reminded me she knew where I slept. I told her that the street went two ways.
That was the first-ever fight I had with Mum, and I felt bad about it, but I wasn’t going to back down. Fortunately for both of us, Dad came on the tense scene.
He listened to both our grievances and declared that I no longer had to attend the balls if I didn’t want to. I was old enough to make my own decisions. Mum looked like she was going to tell him she knew where he slept but must have thought better of it.
The next day I decided I should make myself scarce for a while. I arranged a flight to Spain to check on my holdings there.
So instead of having a relaxing time at home, I spent another day trapped in the aluminum tube in the sky. Halfway across the Atlantic, I had the plane turn around and fly to Atlanta.
Since I’m a member of the Augusta National Golf Club, I thought I might as well play a few rounds. I didn’t feel like business and besides, I don’t think Spain has any golf courses as nice as Augusta.
When I arrived in Atlanta, I called the Augusta clubhouse to see if I would have any trouble getting to play. From the response I received, I think they would have kicked people off the course to allow me to play.
The ever-present Harold and I with a trunk full of clothes rode in a limo to Augusta. He wanted to make certain I could be presented to the Queen of Sheba if she showed up to play a few rounds.
Those were his words, not mine. Being a female, I doubted the club would allow her to play.
We stayed at the same hotel as my last trip when I won the August National. It was slightly embarrassing to see that they had the same suite ready for me. What was embarrassing was the plaque with my name on the door.
In the morning after my run and exercises, I stopped at the front desk and asked the manager about the plaque. He told me that they could charge a premium for that room. Now that I was staying there again, they would raise the prices.
I was able to eat my breakfast in peace, golf fans patiently waiting at the restaurant exit to get my autograph. Thankfully, I still carried some of my movie publicity pictures.
I accepted requests to have my photo taken but they had to put five dollars in the March of Dimes charity jar at the cash register.
Chapter 15
I was at the first tee at Augusta when a golf cart came up to us. The driver was yelling my name. I was confused about what was going on.
“The President of the United States is on the phone for you, he says it is an emergency. Hop in, I will get you to the clubhouse.”
I had just met the other members of my foursome and had to wonder what they were thinking.
It was JFK on the phone, and it was bad news.
“Rick, Crown Prince Chun-Chieh has been murdered. Can you get back to China and help keep the lid on. We are afraid there will be a civil war and we won’t like the outcome.”
“I will fly directly there. Those are my friends we are talking about, not some abstract political game.”
“Take care of your friends and you will be helping your country.”
“Yes Sir. Will you tell them if they need to go to another country, they will need passports in some other name so they can’t be traced.”
“I will, good luck.”
I hung up and started making phone calls. The first was to Harold who had stayed at the hotel since he didn’t play golf. I told him briefly what was going on and to start packing.
Next was to a charter airplane at the Augusta airport to fly back to Atlanta to my 707.
Then a call to the Chief Pilot to inform him that we had to leave for Beijing as soon as possible. I gave him my charter information so I could be met at the civilian terminal at Atlanta Municipal Airport.
Then I called Harold back to tell him to meet me at the Augusta private air terminal.
Then I called my parents to let them know where I was headed. It was Mum who answered the phone, and she was all business and told me to be careful.
I met Harold at Augusta and we flew in a four-seater down to Atlanta Municipal. When we landed and taxied to the private aviation terminal there was a 707 sitting on the main apron. It dwarfed everything around it.
Our pilot expressed awe and surprise at it sitting there.
“Whoever owns that must be worth a bundle!”
The stairs were in plac
e, so I asked him to taxi right up to the plane. He gave me a look but did it. A couple of the crew came down and grabbed our bags. I had paid for the flight in advance, so we were good to go.
I smiled at the pilot as we were exiting the plane.
“A couple of bundles, if you are keeping count.”
We hustled up the steps and were barely buckled in when we started to move. After we were airborne the pilot came back and told me we were heading for Ontario our home base to refuel and pick up another crew.
Whenever we flew long flights like the Pacific, I paid for two flight crews so that each could have proper rest breaks. The commercial airlines didn’t do this for cost reasons. It was legal but I didn’t agree with their thinking. I knew the USAF had two crews onboard for such journeys.
I thanked him for putting this together quickly. He told me they called it a “snap-kick,” in the Air Force. That term was self-explanatory. I liked it; I had done a few snap-kicks myself.
As soon as we landed in Ontario the extra crew came aboard and the catering service delivered enough food for a month, or at least it seemed like it.
The fuel truck was there and pumping in minutes. The new flight crew had filed a flight plan and had the flight path weather reports with them and the latest NOTAMs.
Our downtime in Ontario was short, but my Mum and Dad met the plane. Dad carried a large suitcase. The way he handled the suitcase, it was heavy.
Mum hugged me, “Rick, this is going to be dangerous; don’t trust anyone you don’t have to.”
She handed me an envelope. She indicated I was to open it. It contains two passports, one American and one British. They both had my pictures but had different names than mine.
“Just in case.”
Dad indicating the suitcase told me, “There are some tools in here and some money that you might need. Heading into a possible civil war might get dicey.”
I thanked my parents and they left after a hug. They were no sooner out the door, and it was closed and the engines starting to spool up.
We taxied out and had the first takeoff slot, so we never slowed down as we turned onto the active runway.