by K W Frost
After ordering a bowl of spicy chicken noodle soup, he pulled out the package and wrote out the address from memory, then returned it to his pocket. After finishing his meal he checked again to see if anyone was watching him, before exiting the shop. He stopped at the general shop next door for some stamps and put on an excess number. Seiki didn’t want his package to fail postage and not be sent. He dropped it into the nearest postbox. His trust in the postal system was well founded, as no one could find an individual package amongst the millions of items handled each day.
Seiki returned to the high-rise office with a smile on his face, a very relieved man.
Seiki finished work that evening at 7pm. It had already grown dark and a soft mist drifted down onto the streets. Seiki’s worries had returned. Had he covered his tracks enough? Not usually given to self-doubt, this evening it consumed him. If Kioki found out about his computer invasion, then his future looked bleak indeed.
Walking out of the front of Kang Industries, Seiki turned to gaze up at the fourteenth floor where his office was situated. Lights were still blazing inside where other workers pushed on into the evening. From the outside there was nothing to show of the innovations that took place inside its simplistic concrete and glass walls.
Climbing aboard a crowded train, Seiki eyed up each of his fellow travellers, wondering if any were following him. He scanned each face but they looked like the bored commuters on any train in the world. Tired faces; not conversing with the stranger standing next to them; eyes staring blankly out of the train window into the darkness; a few idly reading a crumpled newspaper; some already drifting off for a quick sleep at the end of a long day.
Seiki lived at apartment 1402 in Thames Towers, up on the fourteenth floor. It was a plain apartment made up of three small rooms: a lounge with a tiny kitchen partitioned off it, a bathroom and a bedroom. The former wasn’t often used as he normally ate out. His apartment overlooked the world famous Hong Kong racing club, and although he occasionally had a bet and watched the races, he was more frequently at the adjacent Hong Kong Sports Club, playing squash, tennis or working out in the gym. In the hot season he enjoyed spending time in the rooftop pool. The Hong Kong Sports Club was where the British and many other European businessmen spent a lot of their leisure time. Seiki had made many friends here, over the last three years. It was one of these that he had arranged to meet at the club later that night.
Seiki didn’t take long to prepare for the evening. In his old sports bag he placed his laptop and its necessary equipment, along with a nice set of casual clothes and his passport. Next, a supply of emergency money held in a small leather wallet was added into the side pocket. His workout clothes, togs and towel went in last. Before he left, Seiki had a final look around the apartment. He decided there wasn’t anything of value here that he felt like returning to collect.
At the Hong Kong Sports Club, Seiki had a workout in the third floor gym, overlooking the mixture of soccer, hockey and rugby fields that filled the internal area of the racing track. Pushing weights always seemed to relax Seiki; he found that he could think about his problems while lifting the weights automatically. He usually went to the gym about three times a week. After the weight workout, where he had lifted close to his maximum, he went and had a relaxing sauna for half an hour, finishing with a cold plunge. Returning from the sauna area, he came through the open doors that allowed people eat outside in the refreshing cooler temperature. Seeing his friend already at a table, Seiki approached him.
Harold Phelps was a tall man and so thin that he appeared weak. This perception was deceptive, however, as his prowess on the squash court was well known and Seiki struggled to beat him. The evenness of the contest made him one of Seiki’s favourite squash partners. Phelps worked in one of the large British banks that used Hong Kong as its base to get into China. He was also a consultant for the British government and had some diplomatic influence. Phelps, as always, was impeccably dressed, if in a somewhat effeminate way. His light pink shirt blended perfectly with the pale honey coloured suit and dark coloured tie.
Looking up from the menu, Phelps saw Seiki coming and rose from his seat shaking hands in that typically English way.
‘Good to see you, Tenji,’ he said, shaking Seiki’s hand forcefully as he always did.
Seiki smiled, some of the stress of the day had dissipated with his workout and sauna.
‘Nice to see you too, Harry.’
Harold smiled, showing a set of gleaming teeth, and returned to his seat.
‘Sit down, sit down, I haven’t ordered yet. I see that they have some New Zealand lamb on the menu, I thought I might try that.’
Seiki sat down and felt relaxed for the first time that day. Almost immediately, a waiter arrived and asked if they wished to order a drink before their meal.
‘I’ll have a large orange juice please, and Harry have you ordered a drink yet?’ asked Seiki.
‘No, not yet,’ and looking at the waiter, Phelps added, ‘I’ll have a tonic with bitters, thank you.’
After five minutes of idle conversation, their drinks arrived and meal orders were taken. Seiki then steered the talk towards Phelps and his professional role. Phelps was one of those people who outwardly claimed to be a simple banker, yet Seiki had twice seen that information given, even hints, were acted upon in both a business and political sense. Out of all of Seiki’s British friends, it was Phelps who could be of the most benefit to him.
‘And how are things at the office, Harry?’
‘Fine, business is going well. Money flowing in and out of the country depending on who thinks China’s rule will change again.’
‘And on the political front?’
‘Same thing, politicians are negotiating as fast as they can, trying to balance the freedom we have here with Beijing’s desire to push more stringent rules. But they also don’t want chaos and wish to continue with many of the practices already running. There’s too much money in Hong Kong for China to want to spoil it.’
Phelps paused and looked at Seiki over his drink.
‘You’re not usually interested in politics —is there a reason you asked?’
‘Yes,’ said Seiki, leaning forward over the table. ‘You see some rather startling information has just come to my attention.’
‘Well what’s it about?’ asked Phelps, looking interested.
‘Look, it’s a delicate matter, and business wise it’s very sensitive. You must keep it confidential.’
‘Come on, Tenji, you can trust me. You know I won’t talk.’
‘I know, I’m sorry of course I can trust you. I will have to, in fact. This is why I wanted to meet you tonight.’
Seiki paused, choosing his words carefully.
‘You know that I work for Kang Industries.’
‘Yes.’
‘I work in a sensitive development department.’
‘And something new has been developed,’ prompted Phelps.
‘New and potentially concerning.’
A long pause followed this statement, until Phelps spoke again.
‘You haven’t told me anything yet — what has been developed?’
‘It’s not that simple. Kang Industries have a rather permanent way of dealing with those that betray the company. I feel as though I could be in danger.’
Phelps was definitely interested now and leaned forward towards Seiki to listen in more closely. Seiki was no fool or coward, so Phelps knew he must have discovered something major for him to feel threatened. Looking hard at Seiki, Phelps’s tone betrayed his interest.
‘Go on, what have you found?’
‘Last night I got into a computer file that I shouldn’t have accessed, I was testing the random search programme that I was working on, and it came back with this one programme that it couldn’t access.’
‘So you accessed it and…?’
‘No, it’s really not that simple. I have a very high security clearance, and I thought that I had access to all the
information regarding the work I was developing. I was told that it would be used to pick up faults in big networks, making it an invaluable tool for big companies like Telco, Microsoft etc.’
‘So they didn’t tell you about this file?’
Phelps was beginning to think it was a petty company dispute, and it wasn’t world shattering after all.
‘It took me four hours to break the security codes on it last night, and with the programmes and software I’ve got, I thought I could have broken anything in half that time, so this was tough.’
‘So what was in it?’ asked Phelps, for the third time.
‘Let me answer you this way. In business, what is the key requirement that separates you from the opposition?’
Phelps thought for a moment before answering.
‘Innovation, information, ideas plus sound practices and structure are the key features and are common knowledge… why do you ask?’
‘And how do we communicate this knowledge?’
’On paper, or more likely these days, electronically.’
‘Yes. Businesses are like ours in Kang use the intranet net for internal communication and a wide use of phones, Internet, e-mail and faxes between companies. Now what if those lines of communications were tapped and no longer secure? What if your competitor could access all your communication lines, and then listen and record everything?’
‘But that would have to be a massive undertaking… placement of bugs alone would be huge. Most major companies are screened for this very thing.’
‘No, no, this is very different. You will have no idea that you are being attacked with industrial espionage. You see, what we have developed is the capacity to access the fibre optic lines themselves, well away from the building, and record every transaction. Then all we need to do is punch in a key word and the programme will sort out all the references. Also, we could do the same thing with a couple of dishes outside and access all wireless communication. Kang Industries will soon have that potential. How would you like your office here in Hong Kong attacked, even for a day or a few hours? What sort of secrets would come out?’
Phelps was silent, slowly chewing on the tender lamb piece. He looked over at Seiki steadily.
‘You have this new technology?’
‘I have some — enough to stop its full implementation.’
‘And you want to get out?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you want my help, is that it.’
‘Harry, I know you’re not just a banker. I don’t know everything, but you’re no ordinary banker.’
‘Perhaps, but do not over estimate my power. I simply know a few people here and there — people who would be very interested in what you have just told me. People who may be able to help you.’
‘Good. I don’t feel safe at work now. They already know someone has accessed the file from my computer. Fortunately, they have given me too much credit and think that I wouldn’t be silly enough to access it from my own device.’
‘So you are safe enough then?’
‘No, they must suspect me.’
‘Can you give me what you have now?’
‘No, no… I must have something to bargain, for my own safety.’
Panic was beginning to show on Seiki’s face now.
‘But I must give my people something to work on,’ replied Phelps, evenly.
‘Nothing now, you will have to convince them of this yourself. I will only give you what I have, when I’m on a plane out of here — preferably tonight.’
The feeling of urgency made Seiki’s voice harsh and demanding.
Phelps considered what he had heard. Nothing that he knew about Seiki indicated that he would be afraid of shadows. He always appeared calm and considered. That he had approached seeking help only indicated that Phelps was giving out the right impression to the club. It was clear that Seiki was frightened, but considering the options and the implications of what he had found out, Phelps knew what he had to do.
‘Tenji, I must have something to take to my people.’
‘No.’
Phelps was an observant man and had noticed the old bag that Seiki had brought with him.
‘What’s in the bag?’ asked Phelps, gesturing to the bag tucked under Seiki’s chair.
‘Nothing of any use,’ replied Seiki quickly. ‘Harry, consider what would happen to your government in Hong Kong if every piece of electronic information was made available to the Chinese. Then consider if we apply the same to every embassy, every conference call, every business meeting. How safe would you feel? How safe would your company be?’
Seiki paused to let this sink in. Phelps remained silent.
‘The only other thing I can tell you is that there is a system being created and they’re going to test it, soon.’
‘When? Where?’ the questions exploded out of Phelps.
‘I don’t know. I can only say that they were very insistent about the system being able to function by the end of this week. I was told by my supervisor that they were going to trial our new innovations shortly.’
‘Look, Tenji, there are questions that we must have the answers for. We need more information on this — how does the whole project get set up? Can it be detected? How can we protect our systems? Who is this technology being designed for? Where, when is this trial going to be made? I need you to go back to work and find out.’
‘Harry, I don’t mind admitting this to you — I’m afraid. I think I’m covered at present but once the experts have gone over my computer thoroughly they will find my electronic signature on the file penetration, and then I’m finished.’
Aware that they were sitting in the middle of a restaurant, Seiki maintained a calm expression, but his voice trembled slightly.
‘Tenji, I need time. I will contact some people that might be able to help, but they will want the answers just like I do. You need to go to work tomorrow, act like normal and see if you can find out at least some of the things that we need to know.’
Seiki looked hard at Phelps, considering what he should do.
‘All right Harry, I’ll go back to work tomorrow, but that is all. If you can’t help me get out tomorrow then I’ll try myself. I’m sure that Kioki has the airport watched. I know that our movements are monitored once we leave the city. We are supposed to inform the company if we are to travel. I’m sure they wouldn’t give me time off at such an important time, even if they didn’t suspect me. I’ll go back to work, but you get moving yourself. In twenty-four hours I want to be out of here.’
Seiki stood up from the table and grabbed his bag.
‘I’ll be here at 6pm tomorrow. I hope that you’ll be ready, as I won’t accept anything else but a passage out.’
Phelps leant back in his seat, seemingly relaxed.
‘Go home and rest, Tenji. Go into work tomorrow, act like nothing’s wrong and see if you can find out any more details. I’ll meet you here tomorrow. Relax my friend, I’ll help you.’
‘Thank you,’ said Seiki simply, before walking away from the table.
As soon as Seiki was gone, Phelps pulled out his mobile phone and punched in the numbers. He spoke quickly for a few minutes, explaining the situation that had come to light. After he put the phone away, a half-smile crossed his face. He signaled a passing waiter and ordered a piece of Pavlova for dessert.
They will look after Seiki.
Seiki didn’t go home straight away. He spent the next hour slowly wandering the streets, finding himself down by the harbour looking out across the water towards Kowloon. He analyzed his situation, but nothing was good about it. He had done what he could to ensure his own safety. When he got back to the apartment he would need to make his own arrangements for leaving the colony. Now all he needed to do was survive one more day.
Seiki was still going over the details of his own departure as he opened the door to his apartment. Turning on the light, he had taken just three steps into the room before he noticed the man sitting in one of
his lounge chairs. Seiki stopped still. Cold fear flooded his head. There was no mistaking the giant man sitting before him.
Kioki watched the emotions cross Seiki’s face. If he had any doubts, they were now gone — Seiki had something to hide.
Seiki first thought was escape. He turned to run but before he could move, he was faced with a closed door and two men standing against it. They were dressed identically in dark suits, white shirts and black ties.
Taking a deep breath, Seiki regained his composure, and turned back towards Kioki.
‘Mr Kioki, welcome to my humble abode,’ Seiki said, with a shallow bow. ’It is a pleasure to see you here. May I offer you some tea?’
Seiki moved towards the small kitchen, and a third man in a black suit walked out from behind the partition. Seiki stopped in his tracks, his visions of using hot tea or a knife as a weapon vanished. He turned back towards Kioki, terror twisting his face as he struggled to control himself. He now knew he had no chance.
‘Can I help you, Mr Kioki? I promised the computer programmes for Friday,’ he said, quickly. ‘I’ll be running a few final tests on it tomorrow, and if everything goes as planned then I’ll be finished and the programme will be complete.’
Kioki was still seated, patiently waiting for Seiki to stop speaking.
‘No, Seiki,’ said Kioki quietly, ‘I don’t need anything from you. I’m glad that you have finished your part of the project, as it saves us from getting someone else to complete it. However, I do know that you accessed the unauthorized file. I know that you understand what that means.’
Kioki stood up and stepped towards Seiki, who remained frozen.
‘You were a valuable employee, Seiki. We would of even forgiven your unauthorized access if you had been honest with us right from the start. However, you had to go and try to warn others of what we planned to do, and that is inexcusable. For that, you die.’
Seiki stared at Kioki for half a second then turned and sprang for the door. One of the suited men thrust out his right hand, the heel of his open hand smashing into Seiki’s sternum, two ribs cracked under the force of the blow. Seiki fell backwards into Kioki’s arms. Kioki wrapped his giant forearms around Seiki’s body, imprisoning his arms next to his torso and squeezed. Pain surged through Seiki’s body. The breath was crushed out of him and the cracked ribs ground against themselves under the pressure. Seiki struggled pointlessly against the strength of Kioki’s vice-like grip. Calmly, one of the suited men stepped forward, placing one hand under Seiki’s chin and the other at the back of his head. The small red dragon tattooed on the back of the man’s hand burnt into Seiki’s brain. Too late Seiki tried to scream. With a deft twist and popping sound, the man broke Seiki’s neck. Kioki released his grip and Seiki dropped to the floor like a rag doll.